Wizards begin with Occlumency.

Chapter 71 A First Look at the Black Market

That's why it's called the black market.

There are three reasons: first, there are many stolen goods being sold; second, there are many unregistered people coming and going without identification; and third, there are no records of buying or selling anything.

Why does such a disruptive black market exist in the city of Rivosos?

Perhaps only those who have seized the largest share of the profits generated by the black market understand the reason.

Link dared not think too deeply about it.

Choosing to visit the black market during the day to explore it was for safety reasons.

No matter how chaotic the West District is, and no matter how many ruthless people are in the black market, they wouldn't dare to commit murder in broad daylight.

As long as Link doesn't do anything reckless, he's unlikely to get into any trouble.

The main tower and the city hall merely tacitly allow the West District to develop in a chaotic direction and condone the existence of the black market, but they will not allow the West District and the black market to become too rampant.

Since the founding of Rivosos City, the Tower and the City Hall have cracked down on the black market and swept through the West District countless times.

Whenever the chaos in the West End threatens to spiral out of control, and the black market's scale must be curbed, the merciless iron fist always strikes.

A catfish is a catfish; how could you possibly make it a spirit?

With so many turbulent historical lessons, how can the West End and the black market not progress?

Although chaos remains the underlying theme, killing is still the norm.

However, a brainless brute who robs and kills anyone he sees will not live long; he won't even be worthy of a single iron fist.

For example, a few months ago, there was that idiot who dared to sell a sorcerer's device that could block the signal of an intelligent law enforcement puppet for a period of time into the academy.

Isn't that just asking for trouble?

Among those who frequent the West Side and the black market, which one doesn't have connections with the Academy, and which one doesn't know the Academy's red lines?

They actually dared to defy the rules and break the college's security system; it's outrageous!

Leaving a big spectrum!

Even if you can argue that the artifact is on the verge of breaking down and can only be used once, and that its lifespan is still short.

so what?

Later, this difference attracted the attention of the academy's law enforcement department.

Not only did he get himself killed, but he also caused all the magical artifacts related to intelligent law enforcement puppets in the West District to be confiscated and destroyed.

What pained many black market owners and vendors even more was that the college's enforcement department later joined forces with the city hall and the police department to launch a month-long crackdown on the black market.

How many magic stones were given away to satisfy those people's appetites before the black market could reopen?

Many business owners and stallholders are eagerly awaiting a return on their investment.

Over the past few months, I've been sending messages to various organizations in the West District every few days, warning them not to make any moves against customers who come to the black market.

Under such circumstances, if those street thugs who were following Link dared to do anything inappropriate to him near the black market,

Without Link lifting a finger, the black market guards would have to scatter the ashes of all the street thugs.

Link strolled leisurely into the black market.

With this step, Link has completely and voluntarily stepped out of the ivory tower, left the safe zone, and entered the arena of life and death.

Only then did Link admit that his sudden change in style, becoming much more courageous and aggressive, was greatly influenced by the words of the wizard Paro.

Why is it that Sophie Lucia, with a surname that she herself doesn't even actively flaunt, can suppress Link to the point that he doesn't even dare to retaliate in kind?

It's all thanks to the power, influence, and strength that underpins the immense intimidation of the Rukia surname!

Normally, Link might not say it or show it on his face, but did he never feel smug inside?

In his first semester at the Rivosos School of Biology and Medicine, he was already striving to become a third-class wizard apprentice.

This speed, if not unprecedented and unparalleled, is at least comparable to those great figures who have left their mark on history.

Lin Ke did not slack off in his behavior and continued to study hard, but his mind did indeed become a little distracted.

Paro the Wizard's words struck Link like a thunderbolt, waking him up.

Since we've already fallen behind at the starting line of this race of life, we can only hope to catch up by putting in more effort than others.

So Link stepped out of his comfort zone and went to the West End.

At the entrance to the black market, Link took a mask that allowed him to sense when others were using witchcraft to probe him, put it on, and headed towards the underground black market.

At first, it was a dark tunnel, which took about a minute to walk through.

Then it suddenly dawned on me.

A huge market, roughly the size of five or six football fields, came into view.

There are no shops in the black market, only individual stalls.

However, some stall owners are at a higher level and can set up their own cubicles.

Those who don't meet the required level can only set up stalls "in the open air".

The stalls are also divided into sections, such as books and documents, magical artifacts, runic items, vehicles, mechs, plants, terrestrial animals, aquatic animals, etc.

There are all sorts of items, a wide variety.

The black market allows buyers and sellers to bargain, and even encourages bargaining, but once the purchase is made, it's done.

Once a transaction is completed, even if you discover something is wrong with the goods just after leaving the stall, you cannot hold the stall owner accountable.

Similarly, vendors cannot charge buyers who have found a bargain an additional price.

This can be considered a form of fairness.

Link kept his persona in mind: a newbie who had been to the black market a few times but didn't have much experience.

Instead of looking around, he lingered for a moment before heading straight for the scroll area of ​​the witchcraft model.

At this time, there weren't many customers in the black market.

Link's actions were quite conspicuous; as soon as he walked from the book and document section to the magic model scroll section, he attracted the attention of several stall owners.

"What would you like?"

The stall owner closest to Link was a young man with a youthful appearance.

Presumably, he had only recently taken over the stall and might lack experience, because he immediately stood up to greet Link as soon as he arrived.

Even their greetings sounded unprofessional.

Link ignored these questions, stopped, and asked, "Do you have any water or wood-based offensive spells?"

"Yes, yes, yes, please wait a moment."

Seeing that there was a real chance of getting business, the young man immediately agreed and started rummaging through the stall.

"The spells on your left are level 1 spells, there aren't many, only 5. The spells on your right are level 0 spells, there are 13."

A moment later, the young stall owner pulled out more than a dozen scrolls, divided them into two piles, and said, "I can give you a detailed introduction, do you want to?"

"Let me take a look first."

Link waved his hand, declining the young stall owner's offer, and went straight to look at the description of 0-ring sorcery.

He didn't even glance at the first-level sorcery.

Whether a person is a wizarding apprentice or a full-fledged wizard, their demeanor is distinctly different, and others can tell at a glance.

A top-tier third-class wizard apprentice who requires 1st-circle sorcery as their natal sorcery is almost impossible to find sorcery model scrolls on the black market.

When things reach that point, the academy will definitely provide support.

Link doesn't need to put on a show of being more than he is.

After reading through the introduction, only 2 out of the 13 level 0 sorcery spells are suitable for Link.

One is the Water Blade Technique, and the other is the Thorn Whip Technique.

Water Blade is a variant of Water Ball, and Thorn Whip is a variant of Thorn Entanglement.

Or, to be more precise, they are witchcraft developed based on similar ideas.

After comparing prices from several vendors, Link didn't rush to make a decision.

He wanted to visit other stalls and pick out some more.

The expectation on the young man's face vanished instantly.

(End of this chapter)