My Muscle System in the Mage World

Chapter 43: Mysterious Woman

"I am doing you a favour in the hope of you becoming a daily customer of mine; otherwise, it will cost you around 22 middle-grade stones. You can ask around in the entire market; my shop has the best quality goods."

Aur rubbed his ears, hearing the old man's praises towards him.

"Show me the goods already."

"Very well," the old man said with a disappointed expression on his face as he pushed a lever.

Rumble!

The instant he pushed it, a door opened behind him, and the smell of herbs wafted into his nose.

Aur took a deep, relaxed breath, savoring the calming scent of the herbs.

"Hey kid, don't smell the herbs too much," the old man said with a frown, looking back at Aur.

"Cough cough." Aur just coughed as he followed the old man.

"This kid has thick skin," the man internally cursed. He didn't like people with thick skins because they were the shameless ones and were the most challenging to profit from since they had no shame.

"I will get the ingredients you will be needing; you need to wait here." Thinking of this the old man didn't want anything to go wrong, so he preferred if Aur stayed here.

"Alright." Aur nodded his head and sat on the floor patiently waiting.

The old man nodded his head and entered the room. "Kid, don't try anything funny, or you will face the consequences," he sneered as the door closed.

Aur just nodded his head while muttering, "Do you think I will be able to do anything funny?" He cursed as Aur could feel a gaze upon him that was constantly monitoring him.

He gritted his teeth from the gaze he felt; it was as if he would instantly die the moment he made a move. His back was already soaked in cold sweat just from feeling that gaze.

Aur didn't see the gaze physically; it was somehow ethereal like a ghost. He could only sense it but couldn't see it.

"This has to be a tier two mage," Aur could only come up with this explanation. "Does that mean she is an elder?" His eyes narrowed when he thought about this.

After all, the terrifying pressure that the person emitted was enough to overpower every teacher he had met in the academy, who were peak tier one mages.

"I shouldn't stay here any longer," he cursed. Although Aur disguised himself, those tier two mages had countless ways to find out the true identity of an individual. But it was unlikely that the person had found out his true identity yet.

"I have brought you all the things you need."

Suddenly, Aur was jolted awake as he looked around the entire room, his forehead shining with sweat already.

"Huh," the old man frowned as he looked at Aur.

"Oh, the elder must have taught you a lesson," he chuckled with a smile.

Aur coughed as he bowed. "I am sorry, elder."

"Good." a hoarse but feminine voice sounded as she withdrew her gaze.

He heaved a sigh of relief, feeling the terrifying gaze being withdrawn.

"Kid, this is your lesson for using your killing intent here," the old man said with a smug face.

"Yes, yes." Aur nodded his head, with horror evident in his eyes.

"So here are your herbs, and the time that you are looking for these is all in these bags."

He handed him a bag.

"Hmm…" Aur frowned, examining the bag.

"What, kid? Would you dare doubt me?" Seeing the doubtful expression on Aur's face, the old man erupted in anger.

Aur sighed when he heard this. "Yes," he said with a deadpan expression.

"Fine," the old man grumbled as he took out some other herbs from his pocket. "There."

Aur silently stared at the old man, not speaking a single word.

"You…" the old man erupted, however, Aur's red eyes never stopped gazing at him with eerie silence, making him shiver.

"Fine, you can take it all away, kid," he said as he took out the herbs from another pocket and opened the bag, showcasing all the herbs to Aur.

Aur just silently went to the bag and looked at each and everything carefully.

"This kid is really…" the old man gritted his teeth, "I can't scam this kid."After an hour or two passed, Aur finally stood up with a satisfied expression on his face.

"Thank you, old man," he nodded his head and tossed a bag.

The old man's eyes lit up as he hurriedly caught the bag full of mana crystals, feeling the weight.

"Why is this so heavy?" He looked inside, where there were 8 middle-grade mana crystals and countless low-grade mana crystals neatly arranged.

"Wait, kid, you can't go until I count everything inside the bag."

"But..."

"What 'but'? Weren't you arrogant before? Now let's see if you are true to yourself."

Aur just casually shrugged. "Count away, then."

"I hope you don't have to tell me to..." the old man hummed in anger and started to count everything one by one, without missing a single mana crystal unturned.

Aur patiently waited, growing bored of it soon after.

A hundred low-grade mana crystals were about the price of a medium-grade mana crystal, so there were at least 750 low-grade mana crystals.

Although they were relatively smaller than even a finger, the sheer number would naturally take longer to count.

"Don't you have a machine to count those, old man? You can hire a tier two mage, but can't even buy a machine?" Aur asked with a frown.

"The machine was broken just an hour ago. And what do you mean I own these places? If I did, I would be allowed to stay in this place as well, and me being a mere mage apprentice thinking I can hire her..." Suddenly, he shut his mouth and didn't speak any further.

Aur frowned upon seeing this; however, he too became silent, feeling the gaze lingering in the room again.

But he had already gathered some information from the old man, so Aur was rather satisfied already.

"Now shoo, kid. I have counted, and you have enough. You can get the hell out of my shop now," the old man said with a cold expression.

"Alright, alright," Aur just nodded his head as he left.

As he left, he saw George standing at the door.

"Here," Aur casually tossed a middle-grade mana crystal and vanished.

George took the low-grade mana stone with a satisfied expression and left. "I will treat myself today."

However, after both Aur and George left, William appeared in the place.

"How are you doing, old man?" Williams said with a smile on his face.

Seeing William, the old man smiled kindly. "The stupid kid is back," he muttered internally while having a gentle expression.

"Young master, please take a seat. Whatever you want, I will help you get it," the bald old man said with a fawning expression.

William just nodded his head.

In the ground below William, there was a spacious room with luxurious furnishings in a room that was entirely dark, so dark that one couldn't even see what was around oneself, with a woman sitting right in the middle in this dark, eerie place, sitting cross-legged.