|Catharina von Xenotra - Heiress of Baron Xenotra|

How? Why?! Why is he here?! Also, how did he grab her out of people?!

Annette, or Anny for short, is a non-recruitable NPC that works for the shop owner. Among the players, she has a nickname that many players curse or adore depending on the relationship between you and the shop owner.

Annette, the Shadow Thief, works for Madame Vermillion, and depending on the player's relationship with her, she can be a boon or a curse. She will give you random items in Arc 2 of the game if you have a positive relationship.

There are ten items she can give. All of them are good, but one piece of equipment is important for a magic user like me.

"Annette? Is that you? Are you okay? You look better."

"En! These weird men help me! They heal me and even heal the people in the slum!"

"Really?"

"En!"

Madame Vermillion looks at Gwyn from top to bottom. After almost a minute of silence, she suddenly says.

"I can see the Great Forest inside of you that encompasses the world of your soul. Above them, I can see an infinite sea of stars that give you knowledge of the ancient and the forbidden. Fascinating. You who Nature and the Stars bless; I welcome you to my humble shop."

Nature and Stars, huh? That must be his talent.

"Thank you. I hear from Anny over here that you did not accept money?"

"That is correct. I only accept a Barter System. If you want something unique in you, I can trade it with some of my items."

Gwyn nods, but before he can say something, I interrupt him.

"Excuse me, Gwyn. Can I ask why you are here?"

"Hmmm? Jullian and I decide to explore the city; this is the only place we have yet to visit."

"I see. Can I ask what the little girl means by you healing people in the slum?"

"As she said, people start to surround us when I heal Anny, and I decide to heal them all."

"I see. You know that healing is the specialty of the noble house, right? You can get in trouble if you decide to get into their business."

Gwyn looks at me for a few seconds before he releases a loud laugh. He laughed for a few seconds before wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Then let them come. We are just barbarians, right? We don't know anything about business and politics. We only do what we want and punch anyone without caring for anything."

I look at him for a second and smile.

"You really go with that route, huh?"

"The people here already think of us as barbarians anyway. There is no harm in acting like one now and then. It is not as if our reputation in this place can get any lower."

I look at him for a moment and release a sigh. I guess I understand why he can gather all those people under one banner. Gwyn has some kind of charisma that attracts people; even when his face looks like a face that cannot smile, his charisma easily attracts people.

I'm glad that the first arc will not happen.

"I see."

Gwyn gives me a small smile and looks at Madam Vermillion, who watches us with an amused expression. Gwyn takes out something from his pocket and places it on the table. It was a ring. I can see Madam Vermillion look at the ring and hear her muttering something.

"Fascinating. The metal is something I have never seen before. The jewel is Ruby, but there is something inside of it. Can you tell me what kind of enchantment it does?"

"Mana regeneration. It restores a little bit of mana every second. Not only that, but it also boosts any magic attack by five percent."

Mana regeneration equipment?! That is something rare. Only twenty pieces of equipment can restore a player's mana in the game, and one of them appears in front of me. However, why is he willing to sell them? Does Cunningham County have a lot of ruins that have rare items inside?

"Hmmm… This is a good item. However, I have a feeling you have a more powerful item."

Instead of answering her, Gwyn smirks and nods.

"I do. What do you want to trade for that item?"

Madame Vermillion looks at him for a second and laughs.

"Ha! You are interesting. Very well. I will give you this."

She takes out something from the drawer and places it on the table.

"An empty Grimoire."

WHAT?! That is an end-game item! It is counted as an accessory, and it is precious. The MC of the game will get them when she and her group go to the last boss's lair from the king. This item is considered a cheat item.

It can store any spell inside of them and let the player cast them without mana and casting time. This item is a lifesaver as many players use it as a crutch in case the last boss does a one-hit KO AOE spell.

Other classes can put their spell inside the book. That means the player can use invulnerability from Tank NPC or Absolute Dodge from Assassin NPC. I usually put Tank and Healer spells inside the book while I play DPS.

The book can store up to ten spells. It is not a lot, but it helps me in my walkthrough.

"What does it do?"

"It can store any spell inside of its page that you can use without chanting and mana. To store the spell, you only need to put your hand on one of the pages and cast your spell. It will be absorbed by the book and ready to use."

"You still have mana to cast the spell, huh?"

"Of course. However, this will protect any magic user from ambush as they do not need to chant their spell when fighting in close combat."

"How many pages can I use? And can I store two spells on one page, back and front"

"There are twenty pages in the Grimoire, and you can't. You can only store one spell per page."

"Shame. Can you add more pages to the Grimoire?"

"Yes. However, the ingredients to make them are rare, and making one takes time."

"Hmmm, are you willing to sell them and combine them with the Grimoire?"

"Of course. As long as you have something to trade it with."

Gwyn nods and creates a small black hole in front of him. I blink a couple of times when I see him putting his hand inside the black hole. A second later, he took out a staff from the black hole. Is that an inventory?! Dammit! Why can't I get the good stuff?!

The inventory system will be great and convenient for me. Not only can I carry many items in me, but I can also hide something I don't want others to know.

"What kind of staff is this?!"

I snap from my thoughts when I hear Madame Vermillion shout in shock. I look at the staff on the table and widen my eyes when I feel mana oozing out of the staff.

"This is [Ifrit Staff], a powerful staff that increases the user's magic attack, increases your mana-regeneration, and lets you make your chant faster."

"Make my chant faster? Is that even possible?"

I cannot help but ask that question, as in the game, there is no such thing as a reduction of chant effect. You can cut your chant by half, but it costs double the mana to cast that spell in return.

"How about you test it?"

I look at Madame Vermillion and see her nod.

"Go ahead. Aim at that."

Madame Vermillion snapped her finger, and suddenly a straw dummy appeared at the corner of the room. I nod, take a deep breath and start chanting. It is a normal Fireball spell, a low-level spell.

It usually takes five seconds to chant, but this time, I can feel my mouth move quickly, and all of the chants are correct. This time, it only took me three seconds.

"... leave nothing behind… Fireball!"

I look at the staff in awe at the result it shows. To cast your spell, you need to remember the word of the spell and make sure you say it correctly. A single mistake will make your spell fail. They need concentration to ensure your mana flow is stable and the word is correct.

That is why you need to disturb the mage so they cannot concentrate and cannot cast their spell. However, once they cast their spell, it can be a game changer as to how powerful their spell often is.

This staff can change the fight entirely. I can feel my mouth move on its own at such speed, which means this staff makes sure I can correctly chant at high speed without failing as long as no one interrupts.

"Fascinating."

Madame Vermillion looks at Gwyn, and I swear I see a glint in her eyes.

"I will take this deal. Take the Grimoire, and I will even give you five more pages for this magic staff."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Also… catch."

The shop owner threw him a familiar medallion.

"If you need help, push your mana inside it, and someone will come."

"Who? And how?"

"I'm a member of a guild, my dear. A guild that has a little bit of influence in the kingdom. We dwell on information and magic items. If you need our help, you know what to do."

Hmph. Small influence? What a liar. In the game, they are the main source of rumor in the game. Because of how big the game is, people have yet to find everything about the game, and the only source of information comes from her guild.

They are an elusive bunch and only think about themselves. When the enemy pushes the player too far in the game, they will be gone, and their service cannot be used anymore. The lore said that they go to the northern continent to start anew.

If the guild is gone, that means Madame Vermillion is also gone with all the rare items inside her shop.

"What is the name of the guild?"

"White Owl."