Volume 3: The Nameless Chapter 14 When I say crows take a plane you should know where it comes from
"Tsk, another 'Beast'. I think there's something wrong with your card, young man."
In front of Mason's shabby stall, the old wizard who cosplayed as Gandalf had "scratch" twenty mysterious cards but still couldn't put together a complete set.
I have a lot of cards from each of the four sets: Beasts, Elements, Warlords, and Portals.
The old gambler was somewhat unhappy and picked up another card to inject magic into it, allowing its patterned surface to reveal its true appearance.
He looked at Mason, who was sitting in a chair studying something, and said with a straight face:
"Tell me the truth, is there any trick involved? Or is this all a setup? I feel like I've been fooled."
"I've already said this is mysticism, and I can't control the probability myself."
Mason shrugged and said:
"But you can see, guest, that these cards are indeed magical items, right?"
"What's the use of this!"
The old man curled his lips and threw the element card in his hand casually. A huge fireball appeared and hit the ground, exploding with fireworks, scaring several "rat people" who were wandering nearby.
"The power is just so-so, just at the level of a basic fireball. It's really hard to believe that eight cards of this power combined together can become a high-level magic item or something."
The old wizard snorted, rolled his eyes, and said:
"How about you give me a backdoor?
You should have some unsealed cards. Come on, give me the ones I'm missing, so I don't have to go out and spread the word that another swindler has appeared in the market."
"As you like."
Mason also snorted, spread his hands and said:
"I'm just a junk seller, I'm not after your money, but if you really want it, I can take it."
He took out a bunch of messy cards from his pocket and placed them in front of him. These were the cards that Mason had opened himself to play with when he made this kind of mysterious card.
He wasn't lying, this thing was indeed unpredictable.
“This thing!”
Mason stood up, took the little thing the old wizard had just given him, rubbed it in his hand, and said:
"If you still have some, give me a few more. I promise that even if I die of exhaustion today, I will definitely help you collect four magic accessories. I will keep my word."
"That's what you said, young man."
The old wizard suddenly came to his senses. He grinned and took out two "small stones" and threw them to Mason. The young man also smiled and took the two things in his hands.
The information tag pops up immediately:
Twelve Talismans: Yin Yang Tiger
Quality: Legendary Jewelry Processing/Inscription Creation·Perfect Craftsmanship
Condition: Severely damaged
Item Effect: The Tiger Talisman balances the conflicting forces within the bearer, and temporarily separates the good and evil sides of the bearer into separate entities when the Talisman is activated.
Notice!
This item is severely damaged and its abilities are temporarily unavailable until it is repaired.
Notice!
This item is one of the "Twelve Talismans". Collecting all twelve talismans can summon the Holy Dragon Lord, who will give the Golden Rooster King's treasure to the unsealer and then eat him in one bite.
Producer: Unknown
Item Description: Take my move and the crow will take the plane! Ha, Ah Fu beat that guy up!
Tips: [Photographic Memory] talent is now active, and the 12 Talisman production drawings are being collected... Estimated completion time: 554 hours. Production requires Jewelry Processing branch skill level 7, and repairing this item requires skill level 4 and a natural magic source.
Mason looked at the other two broken talismans in his hand, which were the Life-Binding Rat and the Rejuvenating Horse. The former could give life to dead things, while the latter was said to be able to cure all diseases.
Unfortunately, they are all in bad shape.
Mason couldn't feel any energy flowing in his hands. No wonder the old wizard in front of him gave them to Mason as junk.
But the young man didn't care. He put the three talismans away carefully and looked at the guy in front of him who had already started looking for mysterious cards to assemble a deck.
He hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice:
"Can I ask you where you found these three charms?"
"From a garbage dump."
As the old man "opened the blind box", he casually said:
"In a post-defeat world, the people there were transferred when the disaster occurred, leaving only a virus-ridden world waiting to die. Do you also want to go and pan for gold?
No, there's no chance.
It's finished.
The stars will regard it as a worthless place and block the way to it. I heard that they will sacrifice that world to a 'big devil'.
Well, this kind of words are just for listening.
There is no big devil. If the doomsday can really be resolved by sacrifice alone, it would be a good thing.
Hmm…
I won! "
The old wizard happily took out a ferocious lion card from the cards Mason took out and put it together with the seven different beast cards in his hand.
Then, under the wide-eyed gaze of Mason and him, the eight beast cards quickly merged together under the resonance of their own magic. With the roars of various beasts, they finally turned into a crystal clear card emitting a blue glow and floated in front of the old wizard.
This card looks different.
The blue dragon carved on it is even more lifelike. When the old wizard's fingers touch it, it emits dragon roars and projects the illusion of ice crystal magic around it.
It's like a super cool holographic projection.
"Magic power...magic power has been mobilized."
The old wizard held the blue dragon card in his hand. His expression became serious as he sensed the inner power of this thing. After a few seconds, he said:
"Holding it can adjust the magic power. When casting a spell, it can also absorb the surrounding free elements to make up for the caster's loss and strengthen the magic effect. When necessary, it can even be destroyed to summon a projection of a magic dragon to assist in the battle.
Perhaps for high-level spellcasters, this card is still a toy, but it has indeed become a high-level magic item.
It’s still a very sophisticated one.”
The old wizard blinked his eyes as if he had found a treasure. He stood up straight, leaned slightly towards Mason, and said:
"I take back what I said before, young man. You are not a liar. In fact, I am surprised by the level of your inscription crafting. You really found a treasure tonight."
"To be honest, this is the first time I've seen a deck come together. Before, I just played it as a card collecting game for fun."
Mason rubbed his forehead and said:
"And the noise was a bit too loud..."
“That’s a good thing.”
The old wizard looked at the people around him who were attracted by the noise when the Blue Dragon Card appeared. He smiled and said to Mason:
"Your business is now open. I won't bother you anymore, young man. I am very satisfied with this exchange tonight. I hope you can bring me more surprises next time you come to Star Castle."
"Huh? You still haven't collected three sets of cards."
Mason raised his eyebrows and said:
"Don't try again? I can make a card on the spot. It's not difficult."
"I would, but I'm short of money."
The old wizard cosplaying as Gandalf shrugged, put away the Blue Dragon Card, and said:
"It's good enough that I can get this bargain for free today. If I don't know when to stop, I will be captured by greed, which will be a terrible result for an old man like me.
Look at the light in their eyes, young man.
Greed has been awakened, and your mysterious little card will sell well."
After saying that, the old man took a step back and quickly disappeared into the crowd, and the cards on Mason's stall were soon bought out by the low-level members who came after hearing the news.
Mason was stunned by everyone's enthusiasm for this low-probability gambling event. Seeing that more people wanted to exchange a few cards to play with, Mason had to give up his alchemy attempt and start making cards with all his strength.
Fortunately, this thing is not difficult to make.
You only need enough magic ink and some inscription materials to make a lot of them. He himself has no interest in this kind of "blind box" that gambles on probability.
But the masses like it.
Especially after the second set of Warlord decks and the third set of entry decks were released in succession, the people gathered around became more and more lively.
Before, only a small number of people really wanted to get something good at a bargain price, and most people were just joining in the fun. But after seeing the aura emanating from the sparkling magic cards with their own eyes, many people's mentality changed.
They ignore how difficult it is to open eight cards of the same series in a row under completely unknown circumstances, and instead become keen on betting on their luck.
After more than an hour, Mason's stall was already filled with broken items of various styles and sizes.
From the torn-up half of the magic book to the broken mysterious arm armor, from the "magic carriage" with only two wheels left to the bird feathers that were said to be able to fly, he even collected several broken lightsabers.
But that's not the point.
The key point is that when Mason was tidying up his stall, he saw with a twitching eye that there were already a few shifty-looking guys running around in the crowd next to his stall, showing the various cards in their hands to those who held cards.
Well, this even gave rise to scalpers!
It was not until this moment that Mason realized that he had underestimated the Star Society members' desire for harvest.
Especially these low-level members.
Team K never lacks these gadgets because they have a smooth journey and have Mason, the master of manufacturing, but for other pioneering teams, obtaining power items is never easy.
The news that a stall that sold good things and only accepted junk appeared on the edge of the market quickly spread throughout the Star Castle. As more and more people flocked here, the result was that the inscription materials that Mason had originally thought he could use for a long time were all turned into mysterious cards and sold out within a few hours.
During the whole process, Mason's hands were almost sparking, but he still couldn't satisfy the crowd's appetite.
"No more, no more materials, that's all for today!"
Mason, whose fingers were almost twitching, had no choice but to shout and announce that the stall was over for the day. Under the disappointed gaze of a group of people, he quickly packed up his stall and ran away.
On the way, Mason calculated that he had made at least three hundred cards in the past few hours, and even his inscription skills had been pushed to Lv3, but he didn't even notice this.
"It seems that the sales of Darkmoon Cards are very good, but everyone is so obsessed with this kind of gambling that it makes me feel sad for the future of the Star Club."
Mason shook his head and pouted his lips and said:
"That's because the cards are made completely randomly, otherwise I would just need to play a little game of chance to get every dice out of their pockets."
"Hey, your idea is very dangerous. Do you know that gambling is prohibited inside Star Castle?"
A familiar voice sounded beside Mason.
The young man looked back and found that it was the alchemist brothers from before.
The two of them were walking towards Star Castle from the market with a bunch of snacks, and happened to meet Mason here.
"Hey, Edward and Alphonse, you seem to be in a good mood."
Mason held out his hand in greeting.
He had a good impression of the brothers, but he had never expected to meet them in person. Looking at the two alchemist brothers in front of him, Mason couldn't help but let his mind wander.
If the Fullmetal Alchemist is here, then will I be lucky enough to see the Giant of Light from the M87 Nebula one day?
"How on earth do you know our two brothers' names?"
Hearing Mason say their names again, the short young man with golden hair suddenly became unhappy. He put the snacks in his arms into the arms of his armored brother and strode towards Mason.
Then she raised her head and glared at him.
Well, this height difference is really despairing...
"We have been hiding our identities since we joined the Star Society. Our world is long gone. As far as I know, those guys who escaped never used their real names."
Edward Elric folded his arms and said:
"So don't tell me you heard it from other people. How can a C-rank rookie like you find someone who knows us? It's impossible."
"Oh, I did hear it from someone else."
Mason tilted his head and whispered:
“He was a big shot with a very strong background. He told me that there were two brothers in the Star Society who were good at alchemy and traveled around the world collecting all kinds of interesting things.
Okay, I won’t tease you anymore.
My team is directly under Mr. Hunter, so..."
"Tsk, it turns out to be a 'hound'! Disgusting!"
Edward snorted, as if he had lost all interest in talking to Mason, and planned to leave with his brother with a look of disgust.
"You called me a 'hound'?"
Mason narrowed his eyes when he heard this word. Mr. Hunter used this word to describe those guys who were completely devoted to the stars, and the brothers in front of him seemed to know this statement.
He stepped forward, blocking Edward's way out, and asked:
"What qualifications do you have to say that to me? Two B-level personnel, you must have committed many murders and arson to be promoted to this position, right?"
"My brother and I never get involved in those bad things!"
This time it was the armored brother Alphonse who answered. This ghostly but good-natured alchemist was holding a pile of food and emphasized to Mason in a very cold tone:
“We obtained our B-class personnel status through rewards for doing peaceful things, which is why the two of us have been wandering around in various worlds.
We have no team and never intended to join you.
Our hands are clean, unlike you troublemakers who walk through the worlds leaving ruins behind.
Get out of the way!
Otherwise I will take action.”
"So there are 'pacifists' like you in the Star Society. It seems that my understanding of this organization is indeed a bit superficial."
Mason rubbed his forehead and ignored Alphonse's dissatisfaction. He looked at Edward and said:
"Are you interested in chatting ? Just as an industry exchange between alchemists?"
“Not interested!”
The blond alchemist flexed his fist, and red light was already shining on his metal fist.
The short alchemist with a bad temper said coldly:
"Get out of the way! Last warning."
"I will give you gifts."
Mason blinked, but the two brothers were unmoved. They pushed him aside and turned toward Star Castle, but they stopped after taking two steps.
The two brothers turned around at the same time as if they had sensed something strange that was tugging at their hearts.
Behind them, a piece of blood-red crystal stone the size of a little finger was dancing between Mason's fingers, and the psychedelic light it reflected made Edward Elric's eyes light up.
"The Philosopher's Stone..."
The armored brother next to the short alchemist was just indifferent before, but now he was extremely angry. Amid the sound of armor colliding, he shouted:
"You bastard! How many people have you killed for such a big Philosopher's Stone? You hound who deserves to go to hell! If it weren't here..."
"Hey, stop slandering me! I am an alchemist who values tradition. I don't do those weird things involving human body transformation. And what if I say that no one died when this thing was made?"
Mason hid the fragment of the Philosopher's Stone in his hand into his bag like a magic trick.
He spread his hands and said to the two brothers:
"I know how the Philosopher's Stone is made in your world, but believe me, that is just a pathetic heresy, and I have a method to make the Philosopher's Stone using orthodox alchemy.
I would love to share it with you.
Of course you also have to give me something that interests me.
If you're willing to talk, we can find a quieter place to talk."
Mason paused, reached out and pushed down his hat, then said in a more serious tone:
"Besides, I'm not a hound! And I won't become one, so don't call me that, friend, it makes me feel like you're... humiliating me."
