"...Rangers skills here! Are you tired of always having to purchase new arrows? We got some magical arrow spells that will fix it for you!"
"...Mana Recovery Potions and Healing Potions over here!"
"...I got the 5th Floor Key with me! Who wants to purchase it as a souvenir?"
It was rowdy over in the Skill Market.
There was a constant buzz of excitement and chatter as players browsed the various stalls and vendors.
With a curious look, Fang Raon went through every stall—even looking at Ranger, Mage, and Tank skills—even though he couldn’t use them.
’I could purchase one of Mage’s skills for Abigail to use, as making her stronger would make the party stronger, but Mage skills are so expensive!’
Fang Raon took a deep breath.
He felt his wallet bleeding dry when he looked at the prices and just ignored them and went to a stall that was selling Warrior skills.
Most of the Warrior skills were the cheaper kind, but they were mostly Tier I and Tier II skills, which he had no need for.
’I want Tier III... But the price skyrockets, and I am not sure if I have anywhere close to enough coins to afford them.
’Players are extremely greedy with these prices, but it is hard to find Tier III skills in floors as low as this.’
Fang Raon moved on from that stall and kept wandering about in the Skill Market until he arrived at a stall with a sign that said, "Mana Swordsman’s Collection!"
He stopped in his tracks, and sitting at the stall, there was a sunglasses-wearing man with a rockstar-type haircut and a long grin on his face.
The man was middle-aged and looked like he was in the middle of a midlife crisis.
"Mana Swordsman? Who is that?"
Fang Raon asked.
"Me, of course!"
The man pointed at himself, lifted his sunglasses to show his rare gray eyes, and smiled wickedly.
"I am a level 5 Mana Swordsman of the Warrior Pathway. Laros is the name!"
The man said proudly.
It sounded like he expected Fang Raon to know him, but he just kept blinking blankly, as he had never heard of the man.
"I am also of the Warrior pathway. You became a Mana Swordsman because you chose to assign your points to Mana or what?"
Fang Raon asked curiously.
"Yeah, I thought about becoming a swordsman who can also use magic attacks. It sounded cool back then. Which is why I used most of my stat points for Mana.
"It was, of course, pretty useless because Magic Warrior skills are extremely rare, and I only have three of them!"
Laros said with a click of a tongue.
"Oh... What skills are you selling?"
Fang Raon asked.
"Non-Magic skill scrolls mostly. I found a trader over on the 32nd floor who sells Magic Warrior skills, so I thought about selling all my junk to afford those!"
Laros said.
’32nd floor... He must be very powerful then, and he considers these skill scrolls as trash. I see a lot of Tier I and Tier II, but there are also a couple of Tier III skills.’
Fang Raon rubbed his chin, looked at the Tier III skills, and picked up one of the scrolls, which sounded interesting.
***
[Name: Blade Catch]
[Tier: III]
[Level: 1]
[Type: Warrior]
[Attack: 0]
[Speed: 50]
[Cooldown: 1 minute]
[Mastery: 0%]
***
’It is a skill that allows me to grab an opponent’s blade without injuring myself. It sounds like quite a crazy skill, but I am not sure if that’s what I am looking for.’
Fang Raon thought.
He saw the price tag was a whopping 3,000 Square Coins, so he wouldn’t be able to afford another Tier III skill if he went with that.
’...Maybe not that.’
"What are you exactly looking for?"
Laros asked.
"Tier III skill. Something that can be used as trump card, y’know. It would be good to have something like that up my sleeve."
Fang Raon said.
"...I have something, but it’s a little bit more expensive. 5,000 Square Coins, as I believe that I can get that much from other trade markets."
Laros said.
"5,000 is a crazy amount."
Fang Raon said with a troubled look.
If he purchased that, he would barely have any money left, and he wasn’t sure whether he could even afford weapon repairs after that!
"Just wait and see the skill first. I am sure you’ll be very impressed!"
Laros grinned, took out a skill scroll from under the stall, and spread it across the counter of the stall.
Fang Raon checked it out.
***
[Name: Aurel’s Blade Dance]
[Tier: III]
[Level: 1]
[Type: Warrior]
[Attack: 50]
[Speed: 50]
[Cooldown: 3 minutes]
[Mastery: 0%]
***
The skill scroll showed a drawn image of a dancing swordsman, who held a thin-bladed sword and was slicing through people in a battlefield.
It looked graceful, beautiful, and deadly.
"Aurel the Dancer. This is one of the Named Skills, ever heard of it?"
Laros asked.
"...No, what’s that?"
Fang Raon asked with a frown.
He was momentarily mesmerized by the beautiful sight of the dancing swordsman and had the urge to purchase the skill.
"There have been several legendary locals of the tower that have created skills of their own into skill scrolls. Those are Named Skills, and they are the strongest of them all.
"Aurel was War General over on the 30th floor, who fought in many battles and killed too many to count—at least according to the tower’s lore."
Laros said with a smile.
’...It sounds quite good, but is he scamming me, I wonder? I would want to try to get some more information before making a purchase, but I might not see him again after today.
’And someone might snatch this skill.’
Fang Raon thought with a troubled look.
"This is a skill created to fight multiple enemies. Aurel never fought in one-versus-one battles, but against entire armies.
"It forced him to create his unique sword-fighting style—Dance Extinction—which was both beautiful and deadly."
Laros said.
"You seem to know a lot about him."
Fang Raon said.
"I am really invested in the tower’s lore. I spend late nights at taverns, sharing the stories I’ve learned with players and locals, which also helps me to earn a humble living."
Laros said with a smile.
Fang Raon pondered for a while—really deeply pondered—and eventually came to a decision.
"I’ll take it."