Second World

Jack walked into the magic scroll shop and looked around the place. His stock of scrolls from his last purchase had almost been depleted, only leaving 1 Heal and 1 Magic Bind scroll.

The storekeeper approached and asked, "are you looking for something, sir?"

"Yes, I'm looking for the Chain Lightning scroll, where do you put it?" Jack asked.

"I'm sorry, sir. We have run out of stock for that scroll. Perhaps I can propose another scroll for you?"

Peniel chimed in, "It was normal for elite spell scroll to be out of stock, especially the mid-tier elite ones like Chain Lightning. Perhaps the one you bought last time was the only one that was available in this shop. It will take a few weeks before that scroll is restocked."

'Then I am stuck with the low-level ones?'

"That can also be in your best interest. Have you ever thought that those guilds might have come to purchase the magic scrolls here as well? If they have gotten their hands on the high-level spells, you won't stand a chance. You should be grateful it is still rare to get those spells at this time."

That's true as well, Jack thought. After all, John had also come to purchase the Wall of Vines scrolls. The guild certainly would not be lacking in coins to purchase these scrolls. But then again, they had a greater expenditure, so they would not be spending them recklessly as well.

"What AOE spells do you have here?" Jack asked the storekeeper.

"AOE spells are mostly high-level ones, so we don't have many. Here are the available ones," the storekeeper said as he brought Jack to another section of the shop.

"Are you thinking of spamming the spells using these magic scrolls?" Peniel asked.

'What other choice do I have? I will be fighting against a crowd. Although I have done that before, I think this time will be very different. I will need firepower that deals damage in a large area.'

"It's good that you are looking for AOE spells, but you need to know that there is a cooldown for each usage of same magic scroll."

'There is such limitation…? Hey, wait a minute, I clearly remembered when I was fighting with the three guilds' members, I've used Magic Wall and Chain Lightning back to back. There is no cooldown restriction.'

"Can you please listen to me more carefully? I said same magic scroll…"

'Oh… So I cannot spam the same spell.'

"The same way as if you have cast the spell yourself, there will be a cooldown before you can use the scroll containing the same spell again."

'Then I'll just stock up on different AOE spells and used them in turn.'

"Look at that pile of magic scrolls first before you make such comment," Peniel told him. They had arrived at the section where the storekeeper took them. Jack looked at the magic scrolls on display.

Arcane Turbulence, Arcane Turbulence, Arcane Turbulence. Crap, they are all the same spell, Jack cursed in his mind.

'What is Arcane Turbulence spell?' Jack asked.

"It is an AOE damage spell. It is actually a standard advanced spell that Mage will acquire when they reach level 20. You are just one level away from getting this spell."

'Advanced spell? No wonder there are many stocks.' Jack then turned to the storekeeper. "Is there any other AOE spell available?"

"Regretfully not at this time," the storekeeper replied apologetically.

'How good is this spell?' Jack asked Peniel.

"It creates an area which deals continuous damage to all the ones within that area. It also caused Disoriented to those in the area and it lasts for ten seconds."

'Sound pretty good,' Jack commented.

"Yes, just buy some, but if you want a good AOE, you should go to another place. Good thing is, that place should still not be accessible to those guilds people at this time."

'Oh? Where is it?'

"Remember the Disruptive Bombs you bought before?" Peniel reminded him.

'Oh, that. Yes, I want to buy more of them as well, but it was not my first choice because I was still shocked by how awesome the Chain Lightning spell was. I thought I could get my hands on that scroll again. Is there a cooldown time for those Disruptive Bombs?'

"There are none, so you can spam them."

'They are expensive though. Almost as expensive as the Chain Lightning spell while they only deal 300 magic damage.'

"You can spam them though," Peniel said again.

'All right, let's finish up here and we will go there and buy up their entire stock of Disruptive Bombs!'

Jack went to see if there was any other elite offensive spell. He went to the section where he last bought the Fireball scroll.

"Why is there no fireball scroll at all? I remember there are still plenty of them the last time I was here," he asked the storekeeper.

"I'm sorry, sir. We run out of that scroll as well," the storekeeper replied.

"Why are you looking for a Fireball spell anyway?" Peniel asked, "the spell has high damage but it is a single target spell. Aren't you looking for spells that damage a crowd? That Arcane Turbulence is still better even with less damage."

Jack shrugged, "beggars can't be choosers, but since there is none, I'll just make do with the ones available."

In this magic scroll shop, Jack bought 3 Arcane Turbulence scrolls, 3 Heal scrolls, 3 Regeneration scrolls, 3 Wind Jet scrolls, only 1 Magic Wall because that's the only one left in the shop, 5 Magic Bind scrolls, and 5 Wall of Vines scrolls. He paid 8 gold and 20 silver coins for all the scrolls. Now was not the time to be stingy, he said to himself as he bitterly handed the coins over.

After leaving the magic scroll shop, he hailed a carriage and went back to the noble district. He headed directly to the magic association shop which sold the Disruptive Bombs. He found that the shop's stock on the bomb was much more than the previous time he came here. There was a total of thirty bombs available. He went and bought them all up without reserve, which cost 18 gold coins.

He felt like crying, all this spending for one-time-use items. He was basically going to fight the enemies using coins.

When he was ready to leave, Peniel stopped him and asked him to look around more. He had not checked all the merchandise in this shop the last time he was here, Peniel wanted to see if there was any other thing that could be of help before they headed to battle. The fairy seemed genuine in her intention to help, she didn't want Jack to fall in the coming battle.

Jack saw that he still had plenty of time left, so he complied. After all, if he could get another useful tool, it would give him a better chance at surviving.

As he walked around the large store, Peniel abruptly asked him to stop. The fairy came out from her hidden dimension and flew to an item on a nearby shelf. She looked at the item, which was a tiny red statue with the shape of a cat. Jack used his God-eye monocle to scan the object.

Pyro Lynx Figurine (rare consumable)

Summon a special elite fire elemental lynx that match the summoner's level.

Duration: 1 hour

"Wow, good eye!" Jack complimented Peniel after he read the item's description. As his eyes moved lower to the price section, he added, "wow, shit!"

The price indicated was 4 gold. 4 gold coins for a single one-time-use item that only lasted for an hour. Wasn't that a bit too much? But a special elite monster was no joke, he had fought against two already and tested their power. Although on both occasions the monsters were at a higher level than him. He estimated if it was the same level, this special elite should be around the same power level as him with his dual-class attribute and fully leveled-up rare gears.

As he was still struggling with that figurine price tag, Peniel called out from the opposite shelf, "you should take these also."

Jack looked over and saw a batch of small round glass balls, like marbles. He picked up one of the tiny things and inspected it.

Liberty of movement (rare consumable)

Break free from all movement restrictions. Immune to movement restriction for the next 10 seconds.

Cost: 50 silver

Jack could see why Peniel asked him to buy it. He had been wondering what he would do if the other side had Magic Bind scrolls as well, or any other spells that could affect his movement. He would get beaten up if he could not move freely while being surrounded.

Jack went ahead and bought ten of the fancy marbles. He presumed the other side wouldn't have prepared more than ten Magic Bind scrolls, right?

"This as well," Peniel pointed at another item not far away. It was a potion bottle.

Reset Potion (rare consumable)

Reset all skills' cooldown.

Cost: 1 gold coin

Cooldown: 1 hour

Another good supporting tool. With this, he should be able to use Life Burning Art twice, in addition to his other skills which had a long cooldown. He glimpsed at the description again, an item that reset cooldown which had a cooldown itself, what irony.

He took the Reset Potion and that Pyro Lynx Figurine as well, so in total, he spent another 10 gold coins more. He supposed at this stage even the big guilds had never made such large spending as he did within today, except for the property purchase of course.

His gold coin saving was now down to 29 gold coins. A far cry from what he had when he started the day.

With all the new supporting tools, he was ready to move out. He again used a carriage to save time as he traveled to the city gate.