Eluard teleported to the commercial district. His students weren't at the academy now so he chose to entertain this mysterious entity who arrived at the academy.
The commercial district was located west of the academy's main grounds. It was situated atop a mountain similarly carved like a crescent moon.
The mountain was made of three sections with different elevations. They were connected by multiple staircases scattered around.
A person stood on the lowest section of the mountain. On his back was a large bag with tools, weapons, and other materials bulging as if there was too much stored in there.
His golden eyes glistened and emanated a deep aura. The wind breezed through, blowing his golden hair to the back of his head.
The two of them scrutinized one another.
[ Legend: Erazos Zecfanto a.k.a. The Cosmic Merchant ]
[ Age: 100,690 years old ]
[ Race: Human (Evolved) ]
[ Affiliation: Successor of the Primal Lord of Wealth ]
[ Power: Unknown ]
[ Talent: Wealth is Power ]
[ Wealth is Power (Passive) ]
[ User's strength depends on amassed wealth. ]
"Heavenly Magic Academy. It's been years since I was here.", Erazos sighed.
His words intrigued Eluard, 'He was here before?'
Before Eluard could ask, Erazos approached him and extended his hands for a greeting.
"The same set of robe and mask. There is no doubt you are the current academy master of this place."
Eluard accepted his hand and shook it firmly.
"I'm sorry but who are you again?", he asked.
Erazos pumped his heart with his right fist and proudly declared.
"I am the Cosmic Merchant of the Universe, dear academy master. I have traveled different worlds and traded with those who are lucky enough to gather my attention."
"Fortunately for you, your presence was recognized by yours truly and now, here we are."
"I'm going to be blunt, academy master. Let me take a spot in this place and I'll guarantee you special quality goods every visitation I make.", Erazos offered.
He didn't stop there and continued.
"In exchange, I will give you… wait a second."
Erazos took off the large bag and stretched his hands inside, looking for something.
"It must be here… It must be here… Ah, there it is!"
Eluard's eyes widened at the smooth small glowing stone in Erazo's right hand.
[ Undying Soul Stone (Empty) ]
[ Can store the spiritual manifestation of any creature. The stored soul will not deteriorate nor expire. Invulnerable to almost all damage. ]
Erazos gently shook the undying soul stone as if handing out good food to Eluard.
"This, academy master. I'm going to give you this in exchange for that spot. How about it?", he sounded confident.
It felt like he didn't care about freely handing the undying soul stone at all.
[ The Cosmic Merchant wants to take a spot in the commercial district. Do you agree? ]
Eluard nodded. The mountain trembled as sparks of light came from the sky and enveloped the highest spot available on the mountain.
A large three-story building formed inside. The entrance was two large wooden doors with a symbol engraved in the middle.
The symbol was a sack with gold laying around.
Seeing this phenomenon, Erazos grinned. He picked up the large bag and tossed the undying soul stone to Eluard before running to his 'abode'.
"It is still the same thing! Wonderful, I miss this place!", Erazos started laughing maniacally.
The windows were closed with a chimney on the left side of the building covered in thatched roofing.
Eluard teleported beside him. He wasn't fond of Erazos's lively attitude. It stemmed from the feeling that someone was on his turf acting carefree and disrespecting his identity as the academy master.
"I'm sorry, Cosmic Merchant Erazos Zecfanto, but have you been here before?", Eluard probed.
Since this guy was a hundred thousand years old and a human at that, he wanted to test Erazos's knowledge and reaction.
Hearing his name, Erazos narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, I have been here many times than you could imagine, Academy Master Eluard Kai."
A short bout of replies, with the succeeding ones more shocking than the other, occurred in the commercial district of the Heavenly Magic Academy.
"How do you-?!"
Erazos waved his hands, "Oh, don't worry. Me knowing who my clients aren't a thing to worry about. I'm the very confidential guy.", pointing his left index finger to himself.
"Also, I reckon to have remembered your name before.", touching his chin in contemplation, "Ah, yes. Thousands of years ago, I remember a similarly named couple looking for their lost son. I wonder if that was you…"
The entire dimension trembled. Eluard unexpectedly received this sort of news from a stranger who knew who he was and seemingly interacted with his parents a long time ago.
"Who are you really?!", Eluard's tone was hostile now.
"I told you, academy master. I'm the Cosmic Merchant of the Universe. Anyway, it seems like you have a lot to catch up on yourself.", he turned around and waved his hands, opening a portal to somewhere.
"Goodbye for now! Make sure to not lose that undying soul stone, academy master. You might need it earlier than you expect."
"Wait!"
Eluard tried to lock the area but Erazos simply bypassed it and left before he could inquire more.
The academy master was panting heavily. His heart was in turmoil and couldn't properly think for a moment.
'Mother, father! A thousand years ago!'
He remembered them as if yesterday he was still on Earth.
The mask took effect and calmed Eluard's palpating heart. Rationality returned to him and he started thinking about other things instead.
'It doesn't matter now. At least that guy will come back later. I still have other chances to ask him about my parents.'
He looked around again and sighed in defeat. The academy was desolate as ever even with the company of the 5 students.
He then remembered a system prompt concerning them.
[ Warning: One of your students attempted to enter the Tower of Ascension. ]
'The Tower of Ascension?', Eluard raised his head to the left and noticed a very tall tower in the distance.
[ The Tower of Ascension ]
[ This is a lost artifact from the legends. It contains the deepest nightmares and profound weakness of a person. One enters and is faced with one of their greatest nemeses. For each floor they enter, a new darker and more powerful enemy than the other will come over and challenge them. ]
[ Note: There is no limit on how many floors one can ascend into. [
[ Note: As the saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. ]
Eluard seemed to have partly understood the tower's existence. People generally stumble upon difficulties in cultivation or other walks of life.
Particularly the former, if one couldn't handle how difficult it was to enhance their strength to the next level, they wouldn't get anywhere until the end.
This tower can then be used to test the person's skills in all fields to overcome the wall blocking their path to advancement.
That was what he could come up with now as he has yet to try the Tower of Ascension.
Unfortunately, the system didn't congratulate him on almost getting the correct answer.
'I'll check that out later. It's best if the students are here so that they can start using that tower for their cultivation progress.'
He switched his tab to the shop and saw various items offered on the screen. He was currently in the daily shop tab and the amount displayed there was numerous.
'Damn, where the hell does the system get this? What's the purpose of the commercial district then?'
'Oh, wait. The students and staff might not have this functionality.'
Eluard scratched his head for thinking stupidly.
Some items can be bought either through personal achievement points or magic crystals. Others only have one medium of purchase.
Such was the single divine soul stone priced at 100,000 personal achievement points.
Eluard shook his head. His current personal achievement points were still in the hundreds. It wasn't worth buying anything right now.
'The materials here could be alternatively purchased in Aludia. Of course, there are some items here that are unique and might not be available out there.'
Also, the quality displayed was top-notch.
He moved to the monthly sets of materials and was more shocked by what he saw. The rarity and quantity were higher than the daily sets but their price was staggeringly high.
For example, there were 7 epic-rarity items and equipment with the lowest priced at 20,000 personal achievement points or 4 purple magic crystals.
A system prompt then attempted to explain the ratio of the cost between a personal achievement point and its equivalence in magical currency.
[ Additional Note: Magic Crystal (MC) Ratio to personal achievement points (PAP) is 1 Purple MC : 5,000 PAP. Cannot be converted either way. ]
[ Author's Note: 1 PMC -> 1,000 BMC -> 1,000,000 WMC ]
Eluard didn't continue to the yearly tab as the prices might cause him a heart attack.
'I'm poor! So poor!'
He lamented his poverty and went to the other system prompts to cheer himself back up.
[ Your students have arrived in Norva Assili. They are waiting for your presence in order to continue with the Special Task: Cold North. ]
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