Kenji couldn't believe his ears. Not even five minutes had passed, and Reyn had already refused.
Given his wealth and status, Kenji himself rarely handled recruiting newcomers to the Mechanics Guild personally anymore. Today's visit was pure chance: while near the Violet House, he heard from a friend about Reyn's soul appraisal. A talent like the young man's appeared only once every few years, igniting Kenji's keen desire to acquire such a raw gem. He immediately set aside all his affairs and hurried over.
Moreover, the conditions he offered were far more generous than for an ordinary mechanic. He was certain Reyn would agree and hadn't expected refusal at all.
Kenji smirked:
"Reyn, if you find these conditions insufficient, we can discuss them. No need to rush to a decision."
He assumed Reyn was bargaining for better terms this way.
Reyn shook his head.
"Mr. Kenji, I'm not bargaining with you. Your conditions are already excellent. As a commoner, I wouldn't dare ask for more. I truly need a house, wealth, status, and I believe the mechanic profession can provide all that, allowing entry into high society. Personally, I'm very interested in mechanics; I even have some ideas of my own. Mechanic is a wonderful supernatural profession, better than many others, with broad development prospects. Honestly, I really wanted to become a mechanic. However, this profession has one major flaw."
Reyn laid out his thoughts frankly, and Kenji listened attentively, but his expression grew increasingly grim. Hearing the last phrase, he couldn't hold back and asked:
"What is it?"
"It's not a mage," Reyn replied calmly.
Kenji froze, but almost immediately understood what the youth meant. He had no counter to such an argument.
Everything a mechanic could offer, a mage could offer too.
In terms of status, here in the Auriens Empire, the supreme rulers were the Holy Soul Mages.
In terms of power, at low levels mages definitely surpassed mechanics. Even at late stages, when mechanics' power surged, they could only match mages, hardly exceed them.
In terms of wealth—this was the mechanics' main advantage, but mages weren't far behind, with plenty of earning opportunities.
For a young man striving for greater power, the prospect of becoming a mage was far more appealing than the path of mechanic.
Kenji recalled his own youth: he too had yearned with all his soul to become a mage. But his talent wasn't the most outstanding, and he couldn't resist the tempting conditions offered by the Mechanics Guild, ultimately choosing the mechanic path.
Sometimes, in the quiet of night, he wondered: what if he had become a mage back then? Who would he be now?
He didn't know the answer.
But this youth before him seemed to know. He clearly understood what he wanted and thus refused so decisively.
Kenji's expression was complex. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed:
"Well, it seems you've truly thought it through carefully. I won't press you. However, by refusing me today, you should understand: even if you change your mind in the future, such favorable conditions and opportunities won't come again."
"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Kenji, for the ride."
Reyn opened the door without the slightest regret and stepped out of the car. Standing on the curb, he waved goodbye.
Before the car pulled away, Kenji unexpectedly lowered the window and said:
"Keep my business card. If you face difficulties in the future, come to me with it. I might be able to help you once."
As soon as his words faded, the car sped off.
Reyn examined the gold-embossed business card closely. "This must cost a pretty penny," he thought, certainly not intending to throw it away. Nodding in satisfaction, he pocketed it.
Looking around, he saw the sprawling Demonic Souls Market before him.
It was in the southern part of the Silverstar District. The market occupied half the street, and from time to time, indistinct growling sounds came from its various corners. An unpleasant smell wafted from the roadside ditches.
Reyn grimaced, rubbing his nose.
The stench was heavy with blood, reminding him of a slaughterhouse.
He hadn't forgotten the Seal of Discord on himself and didn't dare wander carelessly, fearing an encounter with Lohi's followers. He had planned to return to his apartment but didn't want Kenji to know his address, so at the last moment he asked to be dropped off at the Demonic Souls Market.
After some thought, Reyn decided to stroll through the market anyway. It was unlikely he'd be so unlucky as to fall into the clutches of the dark god's followers on his first day.
"Since I'm here, no point going back early; nothing else to do anyway."
The Demonic Souls Market was a vast covered space ten meters high and spanning tens of thousands of square meters. Trading rows were neatly marked on the ground, with people walking between them, examining the wares. Overall, the setup resembled the bird markets from his past life.
The only difference was that here they sold all sorts of exotic creatures!
Upon entering the market, Reyn first spotted a huge iron cage ahead.
The cage was six or seven meters tall, welded from steel bars as thick as an arm. Inside it was a giant snake. Its body was thicker than an adult man's waist, covered in fine dark-green scales. It coiled around the central pillar in dozens of loops; judging by its length, it exceeded twelve meters—a truly astonishing sight.
But what drew the most attention was the pair of broad wings on the upper part of its body.
"Feathered Serpent!"
Reyn had read descriptions of this creature in books.
If this feathered serpent spread its wings fully, their span would exceed ten meters, but in the cramped cage, they were folded, clearly causing it discomfort.
A thick steel chain wrapped around its neck, securing it to the multi-ton central pillar and preventing escape. From time to time, it flicked out its bifurcated tongue, releasing translucent air blades toward the gawking crowd, leaving white marks on the steel bars.
Reyn activated his Soul Eye to examine the feathered serpent.
Feathered serpents were magic beasts, not too rare, but specimens of this size were uncommon.
"Indeed, a mid-rank magic beast."
Neither magic beasts nor other mindless creatures had clear levels.
People roughly classified them by strength based on past experience, correlating their ranks with superhuman ranks: from initial to high, then legendary.
When merging with a demonic soul, a superhuman generally could only use a soul of their own rank or lower; otherwise, success was nearly impossible.
A lower-rank soul could be used, but few did so, as it provided only minor enhancement.
Thanks to the Soul Eye, Reyn could directly see the soul and accurately determine the feathered serpent's strength.
Its soul was noticeably stronger than that of an initial-rank superhuman, as if it had undergone two stages of development, matching the power of a mid-rank superhuman. More precisely, its strength equated to that of a level five superhuman.
"Mid-rank feathered serpent, it has four soul elements."
Reyn stepped closer to the cage, enhancing his soul perception of the serpent, and soon obtained information on all four elements.
Two mystic elements: one allowed control of air, forming cutting blades; the other created a vortex around the body, accelerating flight and attacking nearby enemies.
One physical element: rapid regeneration from wounds.
The last element greatly surprised Reyn: it was an unusual ability element granting affinity with the air element, enhancing air spell power and resistance to them!
"This feathered serpent is truly a rare specimen, possessing air element affinity!"
Reyn marveled inwardly. All affinity-related elements fell into the unusual abilities category. If a demonic soul contained such an element, its value skyrocketed several times over.
Air element affinity was an excellent key element for both mages and blood sorcerers.
A mage could use this feathered serpent's soul to advance to elementalist, while a sorcerer could add another elemental bloodline.
However, until this feathered serpent was killed and its demonic soul extracted, no one but Reyn would know of its air affinity.
A thought crossed Reyn's mind: he could use the Soul Eye to profit from price differences.
There were two main trading methods at the Demonic Souls Market.
The first was trading live creatures, the second—dead ones.
Trading live creatures, as with this feathered serpent, meant the seller couldn't precisely determine the soul's elements. It might have several powerful ones or just one or two ordinary. The price difference could be enormous, sometimes hundreds-fold.
To hedge, many sellers preferred not to kill the creature but sell it at an averaged price to avoid a big loss.
The buyer, after purchase, could kill it on the spot and extract the demonic soul. The soul's quality and elements no longer concerned the seller.
This trading method involved great uncertainty but was a necessary measure.
The fact was, demonic souls were hard to preserve. Even in a soul stone, from the moment of the creature's death and soul extraction, its power continuously dissipated. The soul stone only slowed the process, not preserving it long-term.
Trading dead creatures meant direct sale of soul stones.
A demonic soul in a stone was more straightforward than in a living creature. At least, one could see how many elements it had. Experienced superhumans, observing the elements, could determine their purpose, strength, category, and name them.
Trading soul stones gave rise to a highly demanded profession—soul appraisers.
Some top master soul appraisers could even determine a living creature's soul elements with high accuracy from external signs.
Reyn's heart beat faster. With the Soul Eye, he surpassed any master appraiser.
He glanced at the price tag under the feathered serpent's cage. It read: eight hundred golden shields!
"So expensive!"
Reyn realized with annoyance that he had daydreamed a bit.
A mid-rank feathered serpent, even without air affinity, would cost around five hundred golden shields. The current price of eight hundred clearly indicated some soul appraiser had noticed its uniqueness, though not fully certain.
Of course, this feathered serpent was definitely worth more than eight hundred golden shields. The air affinity alone doubled its value.
Reyn felt his wallet. His entire fortune was three hundred sixty golden shields. Where could he get eight hundred?
"Maybe borrow?" Reyn immediately thought of Viola and Kenji but dismissed it. He had met them only today; why would they lend him money? Eight hundred golden shields was no small sum. They might show him the door if he even mentioned it.
"Alright, I'll look at something else," Reyn shook his head and walked away.
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