Wizard, I Have Another World – Chapter 151

Chapter 151: The Blacksmith and the City Lord

Karl, holding the worn pocket watch, wore a satisfied smile.

“I was worried about how to get in, and someone delivered the key to my door. But I didn’t lie to him either; ordinary people who enter the Dark Market are just eaten as food. Giving it to me can at least get me some money.”

“Click…”

A crisp sound came from the pocket watch, indicating the location of the entrance.

Karl turned and stepped towards the wall on his side, his body disappearing as if sinking into water.

At the same time.

A faint spiritual light emerged from the pocket watch, enveloping him.

To enter the Dark Market, you need a special token. Each time the market opens, the token will indicate the location of the entrance, and this worn pocket watch happens to be one of those tokens.

A blur before his eyes.

The scene suddenly changed.

Outside, it was nearing evening, and the sky was darkening.

But before him, it was as bright as day, except that the light came from the stars in the sky, not the sun.

The Astral Plane!

Or not quite.

Karl could feel that there were still some restrictions here. A wizard’s mental power could not easily draw upon Astral Plane energy.

But likewise, this place no longer belonged to the mortal realm, and certain ‘laws’ entangled themselves with the physical body.

“Croak… Croak…”

“Welcome to the Dark Market!”

A flower resembling a sunflower extended a slender stem from the side, smiling obsequiously at Karl.

The flower, which was originally full of seeds, had turned into a woman’s face, with bits of flesh stuck between her teeth.

Seeing Karl’s gaze, the woman’s face immediately stuck out her tongue and licked her teeth, swallowing the bits of flesh and chewing them carefully.

At its feet were a few pieces of clothing and some white bones.

Man-eating flowers!

The guardians of the Dark Market.

The surrounding flower bushes were dense, hiding countless such creatures.

Those that had been hungry for a year would pick out ordinary people who mixed into the market and then eat them to satisfy themselves.

If that young man had come in, the things under the man-eating flower’s feet would be his fate.

“Please remember.”

“The Dark Market does not allow the use of force, otherwise you will be expelled by the power of the rules. As for where you will go…”

“So far, no one who has been expelled has ever returned.”

“The three streets and six buildings are forbidden areas. Of course, you can go in if you must, as long as you don’t mind not being able to get out.”

“Don’t leave the market area. No one can guarantee what you will encounter. Maybe it will be a blessing from the gods, croak… croak…”

The man-eating flower let out a frog-like cackle, as if showing off its sense of humor.

“Never anger the blacksmith Gando. His hammer can easily smash you into a meat patty…”

“He is the only person in this market who can use force.”

“Or perhaps he is a person?”

“In short.”

The man-eating flower lowered its ‘head’, speaking respectfully:

“I hope you find something of value in the market.”

Karl continued forward.

Crossing the dense forest where the man-eating flower was, three forks in the road leading to different places appeared before him.

At the end of each fork was a street.

A signpost was stuck in the middle, with three plaques nailed to it.

The plaque pointing to the left was engraved with a bright rose, the symbol of the Bloodthirsty Rose.

The Bloodthirsty Rose!

An organization in the Other World similar to the Holy Sanctuary.

The leader was said to be a vampire walking in the night, whose origins were related to a fallen deity.

They were good at providing weapons that sucked the life force of others, as well as all kinds of magical items.

The plaque on the right was engraved with a hammer, the symbol of the blacksmith Gando.

This one was a permanent resident of the Dark Market. No one knew how long he had lived or how strong he was.

There were even rumors.

That the reason why several dukes allowed the existence of the Dark Market was because the blacksmith Gando was in the market.

The plaque in the middle was engraved with a stack of books, the symbol of the Wise One, but that being had long since disappeared.

Vampires, blacksmiths, and wise men, they had built the Dark Market, but now only one remained.

After thinking for a moment, Karl walked towards the road on the right.

He was very curious about the blacksmith Gando. This one should be a strong person who survived the War of the Gods.

Moreover, in Boken’s memory, the blacksmith Gando was not dangerous.

After walking not far, a street covered with weeds and desolate houses on both sides came into view.

Some of the houses had already been occupied, and the occupants had placed various goods at the entrances.

“Dark elves from Duke Joe’s territory. They are the darlings of the night, possessing a cruel and bloodthirsty nature.”

An old hunchback stood behind a few birdcages, shouting loudly:

“Just three thousand pounds of fine meat, and they are yours!”

There were no birds in the birdcages, but rather palm-sized elves. Unlike the elves in the books, which represented purity, the elves in the cages had black skin, sharp fangs, and claws, and they were constantly attacking the birdcages.

The wings on their backs created afterimages as they flapped, colliding back and forth in the cages, and they did not stop even when they were covered in wounds.

With the speed and sharp claws they displayed, they could easily wipe out a war squad if they were released.

To capture them alive…

A Grand Knight would have to take action to have a chance.

“Soul fragments!”

A person whose body was hidden in a black cloak stopped at the entrance of a house. Before him were clusters of flying soul fragments.

“Soul fragments of a Knight level, one thousand pounds of fine meat. Soul fragments of a Grand Knight level, five thousand pounds of fine meat.”

“Tamed ogre giants, their strength is equivalent to that of a peak Grand Knight, and they are only sold for eight thousand pounds of fine meat.”

“Special rune, Burning Hand. Although it is not a Super Rune, its power is not bad. The price is…”

“…”

Karl continued forward, his face expressionless, but his heart was secretly shocked.

As expected of the Dark Market, there were all kinds of people and all kinds of things for sale, truly eye-opening.

‘Fine meat!’

‘A fully grown wolf, after removing its skin, bones, and other parts, only yields about ten pounds of what can truly be considered fine meat.’

‘One thousand pounds of fine meat means nearly one hundred fully grown wolves!’

‘It seems that not only in Duke Ferdinand’s territory, but people in other places are also paying more and more attention to food.’

‘Fine meat has replaced God’s Grace Coins as the hard currency of the Dark Market. It is estimated that the outside world will be the same in a few years.’

‘However…’

Karl’s gaze shifted, as if pondering something:

‘Although the people in the market have strange auras, most of them are still at the Grand Knight level.’

‘There are not many people who truly possess first-order strength, and even fewer at the mid-first-order level. So far, I haven’t encountered anyone at the late-first-order level.’

Although the people in this world might possess some strange items or secret techniques, they had the ability to overcome stronger opponents.

Like Connie.

But he was at the mid-first-order level and also possessed many wizarding methods. In any case, he was considered a master in the market.

“Clang…”

“Clang!”

The sound of clanging brought Karl back to his senses.

At the end of the market, a building that was one size larger than the other houses was shaking rhythmically.

Huh?

Not a building!

But a person!

A burly giant over seven meters tall.

The giant was covered in thick hair, his body was half-squatting, and he was holding a huge iron hammer, constantly forging a weapon.

As his arms swung and his hair shook, chains as thick as arms were also revealed.

One end of the chains extended into the earth, and the other end held him firmly in place, only allowing him to move within the space of his hammer swings.

He wasn’t half-squatting either, but kneeling on the ground.

The blacksmith Gando!

In Karl’s perception, the giant before him was like a blazing sun, radiating terrifying energy.

Second-order?

No!

Very likely third-order!

“Clang…”

The sound of hammering suddenly stopped.

The hair on the giant’s face parted to the sides, revealing a pair of cloudy eyes that stared intently at Karl.

“Young man, don’t use your strange methods to spy on me, or else… my hammer will fall on you next time.”

As he spoke, he raised his arm and slammed it down.

“Clang!”

***

A terrifying roar reverberated throughout the market, and the sparks that flew caused the ground to shake. Karl’s body involuntarily tensed.

An extreme sense of oppression even made it difficult for him to breathe, and even his thoughts were momentarily stagnant.

Terrifying!

Frightening!

It was just pure power, yet it made Karl’s heart race, and even his Abyssal bloodline trembled.

“Sorry.”

Regaining his composure, he bowed and said:

“Respected Gando, please forgive my momentary curiosity.”

“Curiosity?” Gando snorted coldly, his voice like muffled thunder echoing in Karl’s ears:

“That word has killed many powerful beings, but I guess you won’t remember it either.”

He then snorted again.

“I can forge, repair, and upgrade weapons here, and I also sell runes. You can trade with God’s Grace Coins, soul fragments, or fine meat.”

“God’s Grace Coins?” Karl looked up:

“Senior, what do you need God’s Grace Coins for?”

“Of course, it is to live.” Gando retracted his gaze, no longer paying attention to Karl, and continued to hammer the weapon in his hand, muttering:

“Everything is for living!”

Living?

Karl intended to ask further, but the other party’s attitude was indifferent, obviously unwilling to say more.

After thinking for a moment, he asked:

“What kind of runes do you sell here, Senior?”

“Two kinds.” Gando’s hammering action did not stop:

“Eagle Eye and Rapid March. Each one costs ten thousand pounds of fine meat or ten Knight-level soul fragments.”

“Eagle Eye? Rapid March?” Karl frowned:

“Senior, these two runes are too common, and their grade is very low. They don’t seem to be worth this price.”

“Humph!” Gando snorted lightly:

“My runes are of a better grade than the ones outside, and they’re fresh. There’s a good chance you can gain new abilities from them.”

?

Karl expressed his doubts about this.

“Senior.”

He took out a high-quality beast pill and placed it in front of him:

“How much fine meat can this be exchanged for?”

“Beast pill.” Gando actually recognized the beast pill, his gaze swept over it, and he said:

“Five hundred pills for one rune.”

“…Okay!” Karl gritted his teeth:

“I want the Eagle Eye rune.”

With a wave of his hand, he took out all of the beast pill stock from his storage space, placing the wooden boxes filled with beast pills neatly in a row.

A large portion of these were supplies from the shop. Now that he had taken them out, he would have to find a way to replenish them when he returned.

“Good.”

There was a hint of a smile in Gando’s voice.

He finally released his large hand that was holding the iron hammer and reached out into the void, pulling out a tattered corpse.

He casually tore off a strip of meat from the corpse and threw it down.

“Here!”

“The Eagle Eye rune!”

With a wave of his hand, the corpse disappeared.

Huh?

So that’s how the runes are made?

Karl was dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong?” Gando grasped the hammer again:

“Are you surprised?”

“I am indeed a little surprised.” Karl regained his senses, took the strip of meat, and said with a somewhat complicated expression:

“The runes actually come from other people’s corpses?”

“The corpses of the strong contain their source power. After simple processing, they become the runes in your hand.” Gando’s voice was calm:

“When I die, I guess I can also be made into runes that increase strength.”

“You came a little late. Decades ago, I had a Super Rune for sale here.”

A Super Rune.

Naturally, it was from the corpses of those who were even stronger in life.

No wonder the runes produced in the Duke’s territory had become fewer and fewer over the years. It was probably because the corpses were running out.

“Heh…” Karl shook his head and asked tentatively:

“Senior, do you sell any Holy Techniques here?”

“Holy Techniques?” Gando glanced at him:

“Those are things that are used on the path of the knight. An existence like me… cultivates talent.”

“Young man!”

“I know you have a lot of questions you want to ask, but do you know how I survived that great war back then?”

Without waiting for Karl to speak, he continued:

“Put away your pathetic curiosity. Don’t spy on certain existences, and you’ll have a slight chance of survival.”

“That’s why I survived, and others died!”

Karl took a deep look at the other party. In any case, the existence before him was the first third-order he had come into contact with.

And he was not dangerous.

A third-order existence itself contained many mysteries, not to mention that this one had survived the War of the Gods.

Even if the other party’s attitude was indifferent, he would have to bother him more in the future.

…………

Leaving the Dark Market, Karl sat cross-legged on the magic carpet and rose into the air, looking down at the strip of meat in his hand.

It was two fingers long, one finger thick, the meat was pink and tender, and it was very resilient to the touch. It was indeed as fresh as Gando had said.

“Rune…”

He shook his head gently and placed the strip of meat on his face.

The flesh on his face immediately cracked open, and the serrated edges of his tentacles bit into the strip of meat, devouring it little by little.

The strip of meat wriggled like a living thing, turning into fine threads of blood that seeped towards his eyes.

In an instant.

Karl’s eyes turned blood red.

His pupils began to dilate and contract irregularly, and the blood vessels inside also changed under the effect of the rune.

Soon.

Karl squinted and dozed for a moment, then opened his eyes again. His gaze narrowed, and the scene a mile away was clearly visible.

His pupils dilated, and even the fine dust before him was clearly discernible.

“It’s somewhat useful, but not very much. The improvement in perception for a Legendary Knight is almost nonexistent.”

“Moreover, I also have the third-order Abyssal bloodline.”

Shaking his head, just as he was about to give up trying, Karl raised an eyebrow and looked towards the ground below Death City.

In his vision, a mass of black mist was swirling beneath the ground of Death City.

This aura was far less condensed than Gando’s, but it was extremely vast, and it was dividing into countless threads that covered the entire city.

As far as his eyes could see.

Almost everyone in Death City had a black thread connected to the black mist below.

The reason he said almost was because some people did not have it, or rather, did not have it yet.

“As long as you live in Death City for a period of time, unless you are redeemed, you will never be able to get rid of it for the rest of your life.”

“No wonder there are such rules. So that’s how it is!”

Karl suddenly understood:

“This city has a huge barrier. As long as someone enters it, they will be targeted by black threads. After living in the city for a period of time, the black threads will connect the person to the existence at the core of the barrier.”

“No wonder merchants don’t dare to stay in the city for too long. Otherwise, once they are stained, not being allowed to leave the city would mean that the black threads would harvest their lives.”

“The City Lord!”

“The Daughter of Death!”

“She is using the lives of nearly a million people in the entire city to maintain her power, but she is still not at the third-order level.”

Karl narrowed his eyes:

“No!”

“Something is devouring her energy. If she didn’t have these millions of people to support her, her strength would definitely be weakened!”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been discovered!”

Karl’s eyes suddenly felt hot, and two streaks of blood tears flowed from his eyes. He immediately flashed and hid in the Dark Market.

The rune was broken!

But after he entered the Dark Market, the sense of danger that had been lingering on him disappeared.

“That was close!”

Karl wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, and casually wiped away the blood tears from his face.

‘The state of Mevia, the Daughter of Death, should be the norm for the strong in this world. Their strength is suppressed and weakened, which is why they dare not and cannot easily show themselves, and have been huddled in their lairs for many years.’

‘This limit…’

‘Is most likely the second-order!’

‘No wonder the strong in this world rarely take action, and even when they do, they often do so quickly.’

Karl touched his chin, chose an unoccupied house in the market, and casually hung a sign at the entrance.

“Buying Holy Techniques and Marvels, prices negotiable!”

For the next period of time, he planned to have a good look around the Dark Market to see if he could find what he wanted.

He also needed to find the Holy Sanctuary deacon Lev and Yana, who was very likely hiding here.