It took Luca a while to find the next stall with the item that Erina described. More so because there were so many similar-looking items that he had to narrow his search down.
First off, it had to match the description to the letter, and second, it had to emanate stellar energy.
Any other thing would not pass. Still, it was rather time-consuming because he saw a multitude of magical auras, and it was difficult to separate them at such close distances.
One thing he noted was that despite the number of obviously fake items and claims, nearly every store still had at least a single item with even a speck of energy.
The items ranged from Artifacts and Catalysts to even talismans with unknown effects.
This made sense. After all, there was bound to be a much higher amount of magical items in a place dedicated to strange and unusual things.
Luca asked around for the price of those items but all in all chose not to buy anything.
Most of them had paltry amounts of mana, and besides, he wanted to synthesize all the new spells he had not yet had the chance to test.
'Hmm maybe I should look into altering one of my other spells again. Which one this time? Rust Hand? Carrion Stag?'
At the moment he was leaning more towards Carrion Stag, but it might be too complicated for his current level.
He might accidentally summon something far stronger than he could handle. Something told him that the Starpath Eyes spell would help him avoid that.
So the plan would remain largely the same for now.
The second Artifact Erina was looking for was rather conspicuous all things considered. It was a staff.
Luca did not understand why there were so many pieces of wood being sold in this place, but he was only concerned with the one asked of him.
After limiting his options, he easily found the one that fit the descriptions she gave him.
It was a black, burnt-looking stick about half his height, which meant it would be moderate for Erina. A constant, powerful stream of mana came off of it in small pulses.
Aside from that, there was a gouged-out hole at the top of the staff, as if there had been something there before.
The place he found it in, though, was more interesting than the staff itself.
A tall, beautiful lady stood near the table where the staff was being sold. She had long black hair and wore a sleek black dress that clung to her body seductively and accentuated her curves.
Her eye color was a little strange, a shade of purple.
But that was not all.
It was what the black energy was showing him that he paid attention to.
There was a thin cloak of light purple energy around her entire body, which meant that she was a mage and was trying to hide her power.
The item hiding her aura was a flashy diamond ring on her married finger.
Even more surprising than that was the fact that Luca recognized her — or her energy at least.
'It's Miss Raven!' he said, almost opening his mouth in shock.
Of course, he kept his composure for the most part, though a small part of his surprise still showed.
The woman on the other side of the table gave a coquettish giggle, thinking he was stunned by her appearance.
Luca noticed that and played into it immediately. He studied her expressions intently while coming up with a few words to say.
"I'm sorry miss, you captivated me and I can't help but ask your name."
"It's Thalia Cortese," she grinned.
"What is a lovely lady like yourself doing in such a place? I almost forgot what I came here to do," he said.
She laughed, twisting her waist to the side a little.
"You could remember what you came to do and make my day."
Luca grinned.
"Why yes, of course. What sort of things do you think would interest me?"
As soon as he said that she immediately pointed to a few items. Most of her products were rare-looking gems and stones.
"Those are precious stones mined from coasts in Aethiopia. The natives there claim that they have magical properties such as healing."
"Oh? Aren't you afraid of being executed by the Church for selling heretical items?"
Raven, or rather, Thalia rolled her eyes a little.
"Why would I be? It's all superstition, obviously. Who could believe stones have powers like that?"
It was a safe position to take, especially for a mage trying to hide. Luca admired it. He pointed at a random red stone.
"What's that one supposed to do?"
"The locals say it allows their chosen warriors to summon flames and become akin to dragons."
"Interesting," Luca said, though he was truly quite interested in these precious stones.
"What about that?" he said, pointing at another one.
This one was less random. It was one of about five rocks in there that actually had any stellar energy.
It was a risky move, as she was also a mage who could sense the energy, but he made sure to make it look random.
From her point of view it looked like a regular kid from the city who got a bit lucky.
The stone was a rough, unpolished thing about the size of his fist. It was a clear blue that glinted when the light bounced off of it.
"That one? Good pick. The locals say that it allows them to become one with the heavens above."
He would be lying if he said he was not tempted to test out the gemstone's magical qualities.
Still, he laughed it off.
"Wow. I'm certainly not quite sure about that, but do you think my mother would like that if I shaped it?"
"Of course. Will that be all?"
"And that stick, it will look nice over my fireplace."
Thalia had an exasperated look on her face. She could not sense a lick of mana from Luca because of the spell carved into all his clothes.
To her, he was just a regular person who had picked up two prime magical items and would utterly waste them.
Unfortunately, she had not found either of those useful at all after multiple tries at tampering with them.
However, she still smiled and handed him the two items.
Luca paid and walked away from the store with an oblivious expression on his face.
"Something's off about that handsome kid. Go follow him a little, Jinx."
Meanwhile, Thalia whispered something to her shadow, and a thin strip of darkness separated from her body and trailed him from behind silently.
No one in the black market seemed to see or notice.