Chapter 601 [Shark Bone] and [Flame-Scale Hybrid]

"The quality of this Wind-Seed Octopus horn is exceptional."

Inside a small underground appraisal room at the Adventurers' Association, a professional appraiser in an official uniform addressed Xia Nan, who sat across the table.

The man was in his forties or fifties with graying temples. Wearing a pair of round copper-rimmed glasses, he conducted himself with utmost professionalism.

He hadn't even touched the long horn on the table in front of him.

Instead, his right hand, clad in a black glove of unrecognizable material, gripped an iron spoon-like tool to lightly tap the horn's surface.

Instantly, the magic particles in the room fluctuated violently, surging toward the horn like a vortex. A faint sound, much like a howling storm, echoed in the air.

Then, like fading ripples on water, the phenomenon gradually calmed.

The Wind-Seed Octopus was a rare monster born in storms. It spent its entire life chasing fierce winds and thunder, reproducing amid torrential rain.

As the core of its power, the long horn growing from its head was the most valuable material harvested from its massive body.

An appraiser with average skills might not have even recognized its origins without the seller's introduction, let alone judged the material's quality and condition.

The refined man working for the official Adventurers' Association clearly did not possess "average" skills.

Sitting across the table, Xia Nan had no idea how the appraiser concluded that the horn's quality was exceptional. However, his sharp Perception still caught the man's gaze sweeping carefully over the textures at the tip, as well as the slight furrow of his brows from deep concentration when the storm echoed in the room.

"Although the Wind-Seed Octopus it came from has been dead for some time, this horn's condition is excellently preserved, and the magic core inside remains undamaged."

The middle-aged man pushed up his glasses, his expression serious and focused as he introduced his evaluation of the Wind-Seed Octopus horn Xia Nan planned to sell.

"It falls within the scope of items the Association can purchase."

Hearing this, Xia Nan gave a slight nod of understanding and pondered his options.

As it stood, he had two ways to handle this Wind-Seed Octopus horn.

The first was to sell it to a general store merchant in town, just as he had done before.

The second was to let the Adventurers' Association purchase it.

The convenience of the former lay in their extremely broad range of accepted goods.

Simply put, even scrap metal scavenged from a Goblin Lair—junk that couldn't even be considered second-hand gear and had zero chance of being repaired—would still fetch a few copper coins at a low-tier general store.

As for high-quality materials, whether they could ultimately sell for their proper price relied entirely on the adventurer's discerning eye and the conscience of the merchant.

There were countless cases of novice adventurers being scammed in this industry, selling rare items they accidentally acquired on quests to wandering merchants for less than a tenth of their actual value.

You could hear such stories in the taverns almost every night.

Of course, if you were exceptionally eloquent and the material itself held a premium due to various factors, selling it above market price wasn't impossible.

As for the latter option.

On one hand, the Adventurers' Association wasn't short on money and didn't need to rely on scrap metal to make a living.

Therefore, they only offered gold coin buybacks for select high-quality loot.

On the other hand, it was a proper, large-scale organization. Every branch, even the most remote ones, was staffed with senior appraisers whose skills far exceeded the civilian average.

It was practically impossible for a seller to stumble into an unexpected windfall here.

At the same time, because of the Association's legitimacy, their buyback prices always hovered around the market average.

You wouldn't make a huge profit, but you definitely wouldn't take a loss.

Having just returned from a quest, Xia Nan had a multitude of tasks to handle. Just the repair and customization of two pieces of equipment occupied the vast majority of his energy.

He also had to seize whatever time he could to train, familiarizing himself with his leveled-up body and his newly acquired Feat abilities.

Even if he had any spare time, he would use it to search for clues regarding secret realms.

With that in mind, the unusually busy Xia Nan simply didn't have the time or energy to survey the purchasing rates of all the general stores in Barracuda Bay, compare prices, and hunt for the best deal.

The gold coins he had saved in the bank were more than enough to reforge his equipment, so he didn't waste time asking for prices at the general stores. Instead, he planned to sell this Wind-Seed Octopus horn straight to the Adventurers' Association.

"How much can the Association offer?" Xia Nan cut straight to the point.

Riding the wave of his recent fame, the refined appraiser across the table had clearly heard of the black-haired young man in front of him, "Sea Fang." He had even asked a few colleagues about Xia Nan's personality and background, so he wasn't surprised by the bluntness.

Instead, after carefully evaluating the Wind-Seed Octopus horn, he cautiously gave his quote: "Five hundred and thirty gold."

"Deal."

Although Xia Nan would occasionally haggle during a trade, he was never the type to squabble endlessly over a few coins and ruin the atmosphere.

Knowing that the Adventurers' Association's quotes were generally fair and that they rarely bargained with sellers—and since the offered price fell within his expected range—he didn't say anything more and decisively closed the deal.

Even though he already had some understanding of "Sea Fang's" personality, the appraiser couldn't help but show a hint of surprise at seeing a transaction involving three digits of gold conclude so smoothly.

He paused for a brief moment before snapping back to reality.

Taking out a few pre-prepared contracts from the drawer below, he grabbed a quill, swiftly filled in the numbers, and handed them to Xia Nan.

Waiting until Xia Nan had carefully reviewed and confirmed everything was correct, he smiled and took the contract papers back. "The gold coins will be transferred to your account within three days. Please make sure to verify the deposit when the time comes."

"By the way, I heard from Mar that you have two other enchanted items you'd like to put on consignment here at the Association. Is that right?"

Xia Nan naturally hadn't forgotten; his entire reason for visiting the Adventurers' Association was to process all his loot at once.

Hearing this, Xia Nan smoothly lifted the cloth sack resting by his feet. He took out the Bone-White Staff that had belonged to the elderly sahuagin priest leader and the longsword of "Algae Scale" Dodd one by one, placing them on the table.

As the equipment was exposed to the air, the magic particles in the room—which had only just calmed down from the Wind-Seed Octopus horn's storm—began to fluctuate violently once again.

The refined appraiser, looking as if he had just received a massive job, unconsciously stood up from his seat and began appraising them one by one.

[Shark Bone]

Type: Staff, Grade: Fine (Green)

Effects:

1. Evocation spell damage +15% (Fourth Circle and below);

2. Casting speed +10%;

3. While wielding this staff, your swimming speed receives a minor boost (Intelligence scaling);

4. Through a sacrificial action, the staff wielder can summon four deep-sea blood sharks with a Challenge Rating of "1" that obey your mental commands (Duration: 10 minutes. Environmental restriction: waters deeper than five meters and no smaller than three ares in area).

Description:

Made primarily from the spine of a giant shark, this bone staff from the deep sea was forged by an outstanding artisan among the sahuagin.

You are better off using it in the water.

Note: "Grow up fast, my little darlings~"

—Shark Enthusiast, Deep-Sea Rancher, Perudy. Thanks to the Attribute Panel, even without mastering any advanced appraisal techniques, Xia Nan fully grasped all of the staff's effects the second he obtained it.

Just as explained in the description section, this was a staff specially forged by the sahuagin race for their Spellcaster priests.

Half of its four effects required being in the water to activate, placing considerable restrictions based on the surrounding environment.

But honestly, compared to the spellcasting items Xia Nan had obtained before, even if the last two properties were removed and only the "Evocation spell damage increase" and "Casting speed enhancement" remained, this [Shark Bone] staff was still an excellent piece of equipment.

Furthermore, because spellcasting items were a special category in themselves, they were exceptionally sought after on the market and commanded a certain premium.

Exactly as Xia Nan predicted, after a period of careful examination, the refined appraiser before him also gave the [Shark Bone] staff a rather high evaluation.

Time was limited, and although the information gleaned from his appraisal wasn't necessarily as comprehensive as Xia Nan's, he still vaguely discerned a few of the staff's effects.

After thinking for a moment, the appraiser looked at Xia Nan and said seriously, "The staff's quality grade probably isn't very high, but the bonus effects are quite good."

"Not only can it slightly increase casting speed, but it also has a damage-boosting effect tailored for a specific type of spell."

"Beyond that, under specific environments—likely in the sea—the staff's wielder might also gain bonuses to other special abilities."

"If you want to put it on consignment at the Association, we can provide a thorough in-depth appraisal service."

"As for a recommended starting price—1,200 gold. The exact figure will depend on the staff's detailed attributes."

Unlike the Wind-Seed Octopus horn from earlier, Xia Nan chose to put these two pieces of equipment on consignment at the Adventurers' Association.

The buyers would be the adventurers coming and going in the Association hall, not the officials themselves.

The primary method used leaned toward an auction format; within a set display period, the highest bidder would win.

Knowing its specific attributes, a recommended starting price of 1,200 gold was entirely within a normal range for a green-quality spellcasting item whose effects carried certain restrictions.

Even if it sold at that baseline price, Xia Nan would be able to accept it.

Thus, he naturally handed the staff over for the Association to handle.

Next was the longsword of "Algae Scale" Dodd.

[Flame-Scale Hybrid]

Type: Longsword, Grade: Rare (Blue)

Effects:

1. +75% Durability;

2. +15% Fire Damage;

3. +10% Slashing Damage;

4. When the concentration of the dragonborn bloodline within the wielder's body is between "one-eighth" and "one-half":

4-1. Fire Resistance +15%;

4-2. Attacks deal extra fire damage (When HP is below 50%);

4-3. [Agonizing Flame Healing]: The wielder's sensation of burning pain is doubled. When dealing fire damage to enemies, it will slowly heal the injuries sustained by the wielder.

Description:

His human face caused him to lose the flames' approval, yet the fleshy scales on his body made it impossible for him to ever return home.

Note: "They said my bloodline was like diluted poison—so I'll personally feed it to them."

—Exiled Prince, "Half-Breed," Erlin. It was a steel longsword that appeared entirely ordinary at first glance.

Much like the cheap, standard-issue wares sold by the dozens every day off a blacksmith's shelves, there was nothing visually special about it.

But if one looked closely, they could discover faint, fine patterns resembling dragon scales hidden among the metal's texture.

Xia Nan had tried holding it and swinging it a few times; the exterior of the blade showed no obvious changes.

Yet he clearly remembered that when he followed the adventurers charging to the shore, back when "Algae Scale" Dodd wasn't dead yet, the surface of this [Flame-Scale Hybrid] in Dodd's hands had been coated in a thick, fiery glow. The scale patterns within had even bloomed with blinding golden light.

Combining this with the specific details on the Attribute Panel, it wasn't hard to deduce that only a wielder who fit the "half-breed" criteria could induce such a transformation in the longsword.

To tell the truth, on the corpse-strewn, chaotic battlefield of Stodd Island, the very second Xia Nan plucked this unassuming longsword from the blood-soaked sandy soil and saw its Attribute Panel, the thought of keeping it for himself had truly sprung up from the depths of his heart.

It was a blue-quality weapon, and its type was the sword category he used most frequently. How could he not covet it?

But soon enough, after seeing the [Flame-Scale Hybrid]'s Attribute Panel—specifically the special effects that truly elevated it above green-quality weapons but required a half-breed identity to activate—Xia Nan put those thoughts to rest.

After all, he had never learned a combat method involving gripping a sword in his mouth. Never mind a three-sword style; he rarely even dual-wielded.

He had two main weapons: one for daily combat, and one specifically tailored for special types of enemies.

The attribute effects of the [Flame-Scale Hybrid] were certainly good, but even if he included the ones he couldn't use, it still fell far short of [Ember Fall]. Furthermore, it lacked the targeted effectiveness of his wooden sword, [Azure Pine].

Whether in terms of base attributes or special effects, it just couldn't compare to his two main weapons.

Taking everything into consideration, even though the [Flame-Scale Hybrid]'s quality grade reached the uncommon blue Rare tier, Xia Nan could only sell it for money instead of keeping it for personal use.

As for how to handle the [Flame-Scale Hybrid], if he were approaching it from the angle of maximizing profit, the best choice was undoubtedly to send it to the auction house in Barracuda Bay and let the adventurers bid on it.

Considering the recent hype surrounding the Stodd Island incident, as well as the notoriety of "Algae Scale" Dodd in the Southern Archipelagos, there were surely plenty of people—whether enemies or collectors—who would take an interest in his weapon. It would definitely sell for a hefty sum.

However, Xia Nan's current fame in Barracuda Bay was already considerable. If he added an auction into the mix, it was highly likely to completely detonate the town's already fervent atmosphere.

When that time came, Xia Nan, as the owner of the longsword, would undoubtedly be thrust into the eye of the storm.

This was not something he wanted to see. With his departure from Barracuda Bay imminent, he didn't want to get tangled in any unnecessary trouble.

But it would be too much of a pity to just leave it unsold. Furthermore, "Algae Scale" Dodd's moniker really could boost the longsword's price significantly, so saving it to sell back in Rivervale Town wouldn't be very cost-effective.

After considering all aspects, he thought about using the Adventurers' Association's channels to see if he could sell the item while keeping a low profile.