The first place I decided to head toward wasn't a random shop on the outskirts of the city where I might luckily find some great skill books. Instead of relying on luck, I decided to go inside the Mercenary Center and use their shop.
After all, as far as I knew, it was the best in the whole city. They were the ones with the most stock and the rarest skill books. However, there was only one problem: your access to their Mercenary Shop would be restricted based on your Mercenary Rank.
Luckily for me, I had already gotten B-Rank, and I was well underway to reaching A-Rank. I also had a connection with a veteran. It was only a matter of time before I was allowed to buy even better skill books. Nevertheless, for now, I could only buy up to B-Rank skill books. And to be totally honest, with the amount of money I had, it was as good as it would get.
It didn't take long for me to arrive there, alone. Ivy and Amelia had decided to head back to the Royal Academy since they were quite tired at the moment.
I didn't complain. I had planned at first to complete my first Mercenary Quest without them, which... I sort of did.
"What skill books are you looking for?"
"Do you have B-Rank Space Affinity skill books?"
I already knew their prices would be absolutely crazy, but I had to try. Maybe there was a way I might be able to buy one.
The woman who was in charge of the shop immediately nodded with a smile.
"Of course, we have Space Affinity skills for every Mercenary Rank, even S-Rank!" the woman said proudly.
"And... how much would a B-Rank Space Affinity skill book cost?"
She continued to smile. "Our cheapest one is about 3M Gold Coins."
My eyes widened. I knew they were expensive, but this was on a completely different level than I had expected. The rewards from an A-Rank Quest weren't even enough to buy one.
"The price is quite high because of how rare the Space Affinity skill books are. It's the same with Light Affinity, for example. As for the more common affinities, for B-Rank skill books, you're looking more into the price range of 500K Gold Coins per."
'That's five skill books.'
It definitely wasn't a bad deal.
"What about a B-Rank Darkness Elixir? How much would that cost?"
"Given that we sell the highest elixir quality on the market, it would cost around 1M Gold Coins."
I nodded. 'I should probably get one B-Rank Darkness Elixir and then three B-Rank skill books.'
I repeated my exact thoughts to the woman behind the counter as she instantly smiled. She prepared the elixir as she told me to look around the shop for skill books that might interest me.
The rows of shelves stretched far deeper than I had expected. Every row seemed reserved for its affinity. On the left was Fire Affinity, then Water Affinity, and it went on and on until Darkness Affinity.
It was the row I was the most interested in. I also had Wind Affinity, but Darkness was my specialty. If I was to buy any skill books, they would most likely all be related to Darkness Affinity. It was what made the most sense.
With a glance, I could tell that the Mercenary Center was much more powerful than I could have ever imagined. The amount of skill books they had was on a whole other level than anything I had ever seen.
"Why do all rows only go up to A-Rank? Didn't you say you had S-Rank skill books too?"
She smirked at my naive question. "Those books are hidden from the public eye, and an S-Rank Mercenary Rank is required to even request seeing one."
My eyes widened at her response. It showed just how powerful those skill books were. If I managed to get S-Rank as a Mercenary, then I would be able to buy one of those... I already knew that it would take a long time, but I could already imagine myself buying it.
Nevertheless, instead, I was inside the B-Rank section of the Darkness row as I began reading many skill books, trying to find one that interested me.
And almost instantly, one of them caught my eye.
『 Shadow Thread 』
I tilted my head slightly as I observed the faint description that appeared beneath it.
[ Shadow Thread (B-Rank) ]
[ Description: Allows the user to manifest thin, nearly invisible threads of darkness that can be controlled freely. The threads possess high sharpness and flexibility. It is effective for binding and cutting. ]
It was the perfect skill for an assassin. I would be able to form a weapon out of my mana. Threads that were almost invisible to the eye... it would be an even better weapon than the Dragonic Gloves I had been given back in Altrix.
'My assassination skills are bound to rise even higher with this...'
I glanced down at the price and was stopped in my excitement.
[1.5M Gold Coins]
'Didn't she say that B-Rank skill books were on average 500K? Why is it so expensive?!'
"Um, I think there's a mistake here. This B-Rank skill costs 1.5M Gold Coins."
The lady asked for the skill book and grinned. "Ah, that's because of how powerful the skill can be when used correctly."
I clicked my tongue and still decided to buy it. I had glanced at the rest of the B-Rank Darkness skills, and none of them seemed to be on the same level as this one. I had no choice but to buy it.
"Fine. Then I'll take it and the B-Rank Darkness Elixir."
The woman grinned as she asked for my 2.5M Gold Coins that I had just earned. I painfully gave it to her as I grabbed my elixir and skill book.
However, as soon as I reached the Royal Academy grounds, I was called up by the headmistress for some unknown reason...