Reyn nearly cried out in astonishment and barely restrained himself.
Outwardly calm, inside he was reeling. He could hardly believe his eyes: the soul of some Gold-Devouring Ant contained three whole elements!
"Calm down! Calm down!"
"Above all, don't let anyone notice."
Reyn averted his gaze. Several customers were busy selecting; no one paid him attention, especially that mage, presumably a skilled soul appraiser—he was quite far away. Only then did Reyn quietly exhale in relief.
Pretending nothing had happened, he stepped a couple paces closer and examined this Gold-Devouring Ant carefully.
Visually, the ant looked ordinary, indistinguishable from the others at first glance. But up close, its coloration was darker and more saturated, its body and limb segments more sharply defined. It was slightly smaller than the rest, like a more compact and sturdy version.
And for some reason, it sat motionless in the glass jar, devoid of vitality, as if an expertly forged steel figurine.
In the Soul Eye, the Gold-Devouring Ant's elements reappeared, this time crystal clear.
"Wow! Truly three elements!"
Reyn was stunned. Studying them closely, he quickly identified them—all had appeared recently in the "Book of a Thousand Souls".
The first was the "Power" element, greatly enhancing physical might. It was the primary element of Gold-Devouring Ants, and Reyn had already seen it in another.
However, he noticed this ant's Power element was far stronger than the previous one.
"Power" was a body element, and it could be enhanced. Each enhancement significantly boosted its power, sometimes several-fold.
This Gold-Devouring Ant's Power element had clearly been enhanced.
"Very likely, it absorbed its kin's souls, strengthening the Power element."
Reyn made a guess but didn't dwell on the Power element, because the second one shocked him completely.
"Steel Body!"
If not for the others present, Reyn would have shouted to vent his amazement and shock.
Steel Body was a superior body element!
Master Taimandora, author of the "Book of a Thousand Souls", classified the several thousand known elements by power and rarity into four tiers.
The most common and ordinary elements were "common elements", like Power, Stone Skin, Fireball, and the like. Next came rarer and stronger "rare elements"; the key abilities of many supernatural professions were based on rare elements.
Then there were even rarer and more powerful "superior elements". Possessing even one had a decisive impact on a supernatural profession, unimaginably boosting strength.
Finally, "legendary elements". Each was widely known, and their total number could be counted on one hand; the "Book of a Thousand Souls" listed only about a dozen.
Common, rare, superior, legendary.
The rarer the tier among these four, the stronger the element, but it wasn't an absolute rule.
A common element, when enhanced or upgraded, could reach rare-level power. And if enhanced enough times, it could surpass higher-tier elements.
For example, Power, if enhanced repeatedly, could match a superior element or even reach legendary power, though that was extremely difficult.
In general, an element's tier reflected its rarity and strength.
Steel Body was one such— a superior element, second only to legendary, and one of the most famous among superiors!
Reyn had just read the "Book of a Thousand Souls" and remembered Steel Body's description well.
It granted a superhuman an incredibly durable body: skin, muscles, bones, even hair became indestructible. The entire body had virtually no weak points; ordinary weapons couldn't pierce its defense—he became like a man forged from steel!
A person with a steel-like body naturally possessed immense strength too. Perhaps that's why this Gold-Devouring Ant's Power element was enhanced.
Known sources of the Steel Body element numbered only a few, all terrifying monsters, the most famous being Bronze Giants and Steel Dragons.
One a giant, the other a true dragon—both legendary-level monsters, unattainable for ordinary superhumans.
This superior element was the cherished dream of all Iron Guards in the world.
Of course, other superhumans coveted it too. Regardless of profession, Steel Body equated to an extra half-life—killing such a person would be exceedingly difficult for enemies.
A superhuman with Steel Body could stand still before ordinary people, letting them hack with swords and stab with spears, and they'd likely not even scratch his skin.
Moreover, Steel Body could be enhanced further.
Reyn's mind raced with possibilities. What would Steel Body become if enhanced to the limit?
If a mage acquired Steel Body, would his melee vulnerability vanish?
A vague idea began forming in his head.
But that wasn't all, for this Gold-Devouring Ant had a third element. Seeing it, Reyn exhaled in renewed amazement.
The third element was "Metallic Touch"—a rare element from the unusual abilities category.
Unusual ability elements were uncommon to begin with, and this one was rare-tier. Reyn nearly froze. What had happened to this Gold-Devouring Ant?
"Metallic Touch" was familiar, as he'd recently seen it in another shop.
There was a Rust Ghost demonic soul in a soul stone, priced at three hundred gold shields, drawing crowds.
The Rust Ghost was a spirit with three elements: "Rusty Screech", "Light Body Art", and "Metallic Touch".
Reyn had paid such close attention to the Rust Ghost because it was key to becoming a mechanic.
After successful soul transformation, merging with the Rust Ghost allowed one to become a mechanic, and Metallic Touch was the mechanic's most vital key element.
Metallic Touch granted a mechanic a special sense: touching any metal object let him instantly comprehend its properties and structure, like lines on a palm—everything became crystal clear.
Thanks to Metallic Touch, a mechanic crafting gear primarily from metal could maximize its potential and forge the strongest weapons!
When enhanced, Metallic Touch granted even more abilities beyond touch: recognizing metal info by smell, sound, and shape.
This ability was invaluable for ore prospecting, detecting internal damage in metal devices, or metal-related spells.
In short, Metallic Touch was akin to metal affinity—the foremost element for any mechanic.
Examining all three elements, Reyn could barely contain himself; his breathing grew ragged. He could hardly believe it wasn't an illusion.
In the soul of a tiny Gold-Devouring Ant, he had found three elements, none ordinary.
Enhanced Power, Metallic Touch, Steel Body!
One common element, one rare, and one superior.
Each of these three elements was a great rarity in itself, but they had merged into one soul—and such a weak one at that.
Reyn confirmed it again and again: even with three elements, the soul of this gold-devouring ant was far weaker than an ordinary demonic soul. And the three elements themselves were very weak. If sealed into a soul stone, many appraisers might overlook or ignore them.
But regardless, these three elements were an indisputable fact.
"This is a miracle!"
Reyn marveled inwardly, but immediately felt a pang of anxiety: this time, he couldn't let anyone else get ahead of him.
Fortunately, this gold-devouring ant looked very unremarkable and appeared lethargic, so no one had noticed its uniqueness yet.
He stood in front of the jar with this ant to prevent anyone from taking it, and pretending to examine the other gold-devouring ants, began pondering how to acquire it.
"Killing it here is definitely out of the question."
"If anyone learns the true value of this gold-devouring ant, let alone whether I could keep the demonic soul—I might not even get out of the market alive."
Reyn couldn't precisely assess the value of the demonic soul, but even a fool could see what a frenzy a soul containing an excellent element would cause.
Even if the gold-devouring ant itself was very weak, it could be sold for at least ten thousand gold shields!
There were so many superhumans around, and he was just an ordinary human. With such a treasure, he'd be like a child with gold in the middle of a bustling market: the moment it was revealed, certain death.
He might not even be able to extract the demonic soul from this store—the owner wouldn't allow it first.
Reyn glanced at the owner. He needed to let him make some profit first to avoid suspicion. Pretending that after careful inspection he'd selected three gold-devouring ants, Reyn picked them up and handed them to the owner with a hopeful expression:
"These three. Help extract the souls."
Before killing the ants, he paid three gold shields.
The owner gladly accepted the money, then crushed the ants one by one with a hammer. As expected, none had elements.
Reyn was prepared for this outcome but still feigned disappointment.
The onlookers watched him with some schadenfreude, while the owner beamed with pleasure. He easily freed the soul stones from the useless demonic souls, turning them back into ordinary white crystals.
Soul stones freed from demonic souls could be reused.
Reyn, feigning frustration, then selected a few more gold-devouring ants, but again without success.
Seeing his expression, the owner thought this young man had clearly gotten hooked, but said nothing, secretly chuckling. Profits in "soul roulette" came from players like him.
After spending ten gold shields, Reyn decided it was enough. With a dissatisfied snort, he loudly declared:
"Owner, I've bought so many, and not a single element! You haven't picked through all these ants already, have you?"
"How would I know if they have elements? How could I pick through them?" the owner retorted, sounding somewhat offended. He was used to dealing with sore losers and confidently added: "You just got unlucky—don't badmouth me. That gentleman over there just found an element; you saw it yourself."
Other buyers drew closer; someone nodded:
"Yeah, young man, you lost—so accept it."
Several people, possibly shills, even scolded Reyn, saying he'd lost and couldn't take it gracefully.
Reyn's face flushed red, as if he deeply regretted the spent money. He felt his wallet, hesitated, and finally gritted his teeth:
"Who can't accept it? I've got more money than I know what to do with! Give me five more!"
With that, he angrily pulled out five gold shields, tossed them to the owner, and selected five gold-devouring ants at once.
This time, the special one with three elements was among them.
The owner, ignoring Reyn's behavior, took the gold shields and began killing the ants and extracting souls.
The hammer and anvil clanged again—BAM, BAM! The gold-devouring ants were slain one after another. The first three demonic souls had no elements, and Reyn's expression grew increasingly desperate.
When the owner raised the hammer to kill the fourth gold-devouring ant, Reyn finally couldn't hold back and shouted loudly:
"Owner, I'm done playing! Give me my money back!"
The owner lowered the hammer with a displeased look and pointed at Reyn:
"Goods bought in our store are non-returnable. Young man, no money—no 'soul roulette.'"
The surrounding buyers watched the scene with interest—such incidents were common at the Demon Souls Market.
"I don't care, I'm not playing anymore!" Reyn was furious and insisted: "Those two ants are still alive—give me back the gold shields!"
"No refunds. You've already bought those two gold-devouring ants; they're your property. Kill them if you want, or don't—up to you," the owner had no intention of spitting out the bait he'd swallowed. He signaled, and the store workers, along with the shills, surrounded Reyn, eyeing him menacingly.
Reyn retreated a step in feigned fear, but inwardly he barely suppressed joyful laughter.
His face flushed from excitement, but in the end, he didn't dare demand a refund and stubbornly said:
"Fine, then I won't kill them! Give me the ants; I'll try at home."
The owner indifferently waved him off, letting Reyn take the two glass jars and leave.