Beyond these Bloody Fingers, the other goods this secluded rchant had to offer were quite impressive as well.
They included ritual pots, a beast-repellent torch, and various uncommon materials.
Among the materials, there were many rare and valuable items.
For instance, uncommon materials like Trina's Lilies, Nascent Butterflies, and Arteria Leaves were available.
He even had items like Dewkissed Herba, which only grows underground, and dried fruit made from Golden Rowa, found only on the Altus Plateau.
Trina's Lily needs no further explanation; the sleep pots made from it are incredibly useful, and it's always good to stock up.
The Nascent Butterfly can be used to craft Speckled Hard-Boiled at, which increases resistance to various status effects and would be useful for exploring the depths of the Swamp of Aeonia.
As for the Arteria Leaf, it often deceived Bai Shi in the ga with its purple rarity, making him mistake it for an important item.
But setting aside prejudices, it was actually a very useful material.
This plant had thick, bulging veins and dark red leaves.
The veins pulsed faintly, making the plant resemble a heart.
Items crafted from this plant could make one's blood boil and spirits soar.
It was said that the exhilaration it brought was the sa as the thrill of being close to death.
In an ergency, consuming it raw would have an effect, but when processed and crafted into an item, its effects were much longer-lasting.
Exalted Flesh, for example, used Arteria Leaf as one of its ingredients.
The Dewkissed Herba and dried Golden Rowa weren't particularly useful; Bai Shi was simply astonished by the sheer number of places this rchant had visited.
Furthermore, upon seeing the Golden Rowa fruit, Torrent showed a rare, intense desire for it.
In the end, Bai Shi bought almost all of these materials.
Torrent imdiately trotted over, wanting to eat the dried Golden Rowa.
The dried Golden Rowa fruit was different from the normal kind; it slled incredibly sweet.
Coupled with its raisin-like appearance, it was indeed very appealing.
Bai Shi took one to taste it himself.
As he chewed, a honey-like sweetness burst in his mouth.
It was completely different from the sour and astringent taste of ordinary Rowa fruit.
In the Lands Between, sweet treats were quite rare, and it had been a long ti since Bai Shi had tasted anything sweet.
However, it wasn't a raisin, after all. Rowa fruit had too much fiber, which humans couldn't digest, and the texture wasn't great.
It seed he could only chew it like gum occasionally from now on.
While plucking a few pieces of the dried fruit to feed Torrent, Bai Shi continued to browse the rchant's wares.
A pile of grayish, semi-transparent crystals caught Bai Shi's attention.
This kind of item could only be an Ash of War.
"What skill does this Ash of War hold?"
The secluded rchant shook his head.
"It has no skill."
Bai Shi paused, not understanding for a mont.
Ashes of War were fragnts left by warriors of the past. How could there be an Ash of War with no skill?
The secluded rchant noticed Bai Shi's confusion and explained:
"I, too, always believed that Ashes of War, as remnants of mory, couldn't possibly exist in this state."
"But it did happen."
"It seems the mory of battle is so ancient that even the Ash of War has forgotten what it once carried."
"However, it's not entirely useless. It's an empty shell of an Ash of War, but it can hold any other mory."
"Fill it with the battle mory from another Ash of War, and it will beco a genuine article."
Bai Shi nodded. He understood now.
This was just a Lost Ash of War used to duplicate skills.
Ultimately, Bai Shi also purchased the beast-repellent torch and two ritual pots.
The beast-repellent torch had a wide range of uses, affecting various creatures to so extent.
He couldn't always rely on the Dragonscale armor's draconic presence to scare away beasts.
So maddened beasts wouldn't care, and while they weren't a threat, they could be very annoying.
Ritual pots were relatively rare in the Lands Between, so buying them when he found them was never a bad idea.
In fact, missing out on them would be rather troubleso, as he might not find a place to buy them when he needed them.
He could give them to Hilbert later to make so pot-based items.
After that, there wasn't much else of particular need at this secluded rchant's stall.
Before leaving, Bai Shi bought so information about the surrounding area from the rchant, as well as the maps he had drawn.
From him, Bai Shi obtained two pieces of intelligence.
One was that soone seed to be hiding in an abandoned cave.
After Bai Shi purchased the information, the rchant marked the location on his map.
If Bai Shi was not mistaken, it was the cave with the two Cleanrot Knights and the Golden Scarab talisman.
The other piece of information was that there was a portal in Fort Gael that led to Redmane Castle.
Bai Shi didn't use this portal much, but it seed Fort Gael was worth a visit.
Although he had already learned the Lion's Claw skill, he rembered there was a rather useful incantation and talisman there.
As for what exactly they were, he had sowhat forgotten, as he usually just grabbed the Lion's Claw and left in the past.
This secluded rchant could also provide another piece of information, about a hidden cave.
It was the hidden cave behind Sellia where Master Lusat was imprisoned.
However, since Bai Shi had already found this cave and had even wandered around its entrance, he didn't buy this piece of information.
As for the maps, this rchant had been to many places, and had maps for many regions.
Bai Shi obtained partial maps of the Altus Plateau and the underground Siofra River from him.
As he was about to leave, Bai Shi suddenly rembered sothing and asked curiously:
"By the way, there's one more thing I'm curious about."
"Those giant dogs and sheep outside, you're raising all of them, right?"
The secluded rchant had already sat back down in his chair and started chatting with Bai Shi.
He was quite fond of this big client and didn't mind talking with him.
"Yes, after all, Dragonbarrow is quite a remote place."
"The dragons moved here to escape the Scarlet Rot, and humans rarely co here."
"I also ca here for my retirent."
"That being said, food and drink are still problems that need solving."
"So I used the skills I learned while wandering to dosticate these beasts, which also serve to protect my safety."
Bai Shi pondered for a mont. He didn't seem to recall any place that had a custom of taming wild beasts.
"Where did you learn this skill?"
The secluded rchant chuckled but didn't say.
"Haha, it's nothing worth ntioning. I don't quite rember where it was."
Since he was unwilling to say, Bai Shi didn't mind. For him, it was just a matter of curiosity.
However, seeing that this rchant seed to know a great deal, Bai Shi asked another question.
"I heard the na 'the Great Caravan' from a friend. Do you know of it?"
To his surprise, the secluded rchant of this nomadic tribe's face changed as soon as he heard the na 'the Great Caravan'.
Although the change in his expression was very subtle, just a slight stiffening, and was mostly hidden by his scarf, Bai Shi keenly caught his unusual reaction.
"Sorry, I don't know..."
The secluded rchant regained his composure and tried to feign ignorance.
But Bai Shi saw through his disguise.
"You do know, don't you? I saw your reaction to the na just now."
"Don't worry, I'm not asking for myself."
"It's because I have a friend who, like you, is from a nomadic tribe. He cares a lot about the Great Caravan and has been searching for it for most of his life."
"I thought that since you are fellow people, and you are an elder, you might know sothing about it."
Seeing that he couldn't hide it any longer, the secluded rchant sighed.
"I don't know where he heard about it, but tell him to give up."
"I hope you will persuade him not to pursue the matter of the Great Caravan any further."
"The Great Caravan... it was once a place we nomads called ho, but alas, it has... disbanded."
"We nomads just need to keep drifting through this world, wandering aimlessly. We shouldn't ask for more."
Bai Shi could tell this was a well-intentioned lie. If it had really just been disbanded, he could have said so plainly from the start.
He wondered if the rchant had found so erased clues sowhere.
That would explain why he was so tight-lipped about it.
In the end, Bai Shi didn't press the matter further and bid farewell to the secluded rchant.
After so thought, Bai Shi had lina transport him back to Sellia at a Site of Grace.
He would first ask about the communication technology, which would make things much more convenient in the future.
After returning to Sellia, Bai Shi found Ranni.
Ranni was quite surprised to see Bai Shi back after only half a day had passed.
"Lord Bai Shi, have you already achieved your goal?"
Bai Shi had more or less completed what he had set out to do on this trip.
He confird that Millicent was not in the hands of the Kindred of Rot and also obtained the dallion.
"Yes, more or less."
"I ca back this ti mainly to ask you sothing."
Hearing that Bai Shi had sothing to ask her, Ranni nodded seriously and agreed.
"As long as I know it, I will tell you everything."
Bai Shi recalled what Ranni had said earlier and asked:
"You ntioned earlier that the Academy contacted you, inford you of my existence, and ordered you to assassinate ."
Ranni's heart skipped a beat, thinking that Bai Shi was still holding a grudge and had co back to settle the score.
Fortunately, Bai Shi's next words dispelled her worries.
"I'm curious as to how the Academy contacted you."
"Was it through so kind of magic, or so other thod?"
"How did they tell you what I looked like?"
The weight in Ranni's heart was finally lifted, and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Yes, the Academy uses a type of magic. Through this magic, they can communicate with others who have also mastered it."
"This magic requires imprinting a spell circle on a pair of glintstones."
"Then, whenever a conversation or contact is needed, this magic is used, and the ssage can be transmitted to the other party."
"It can transmit not only verbal information but also images and the like."
"However, it has so drawbacks. It cannot establish real-ti contact, and sotis ssages might not be received."
"If you need it, I can imdiately record this magic for you."
So, it was basically a mobile device without a calling function, with very rudintary features and prone to reception failure.
But for the Lands Between, it was quite the piece of black magic.
As she spoke, Ranni also showed him the glintstone piece she used to communicate with the academy.
Bai Shi took the glintstone from Ranni and observed it carefully for a while.
The academy's magic seal and insignia were imprinted on the glintstone.
After looking it over twice, Bai Shi found that he couldn't use it without first understanding the principles of the magic, so he returned it.
"Yes, thank you. This thod of communication would be of great help to ."
Ranni quickly found paper and a pen and wrote down the magic on a parchnt scroll, handing it to Bai Shi.
Bai Shi glanced at it and found that the intelligence requirent for this magic was not low.
He estimated it would be impossible to use without around thirty points in intelligence.
As for the technique of imprinting the spell circle onto the glintstone, that was sothing that couldn't be achieved with intelligence alone.
It required a craftsman with considerable skill.
Moreover, that craftsman needed to have a substantial understanding of magic themselves, to the extent of being a sorcerer.
Co to think of it, if it were easy to master, this magic would have beco widespread and very common long ago.
Bai Shi thought for a mont. Hewg definitely didn't know magic, so perhaps he could ask Iji for help.
Iji's skill was definitely up to the task. If Iji couldn't make it, then the people at the Academy certainly couldn't either.
The前提 was that Iji was still at Stormveil.
Although he had asked him to stay in the castle to help teach the blacksmiths, it was only for a few days, and he didn't know if he had left by now.
It would be best if he hadn't left.
If he had, it would be a bit troubleso. It wouldn't be right to call him back imdiately after he'd left.
Besides, he had already troubled Iji with many things before.
Unless his relationship with Ranni deepened, Bai Shi wouldn't feel right ordering her vassal around like this.
However, Bai Shi hadn't yet considered how to approach Ranni next.
It seed there was no reason to contact Ranni again until he could enter Nokron, Eternal City.
Of course, it wasn't because he was lusting after Ranni's body... well, okay, there was a little bit of that, since she was his wife in the ga.
But the real reason was that Bai Shi wanted to know what had truly happened on the Night of the Black Knives.
However, the two were only partners...
Thinking of this, Bai Shi suddenly had a glimr of an idea.
'It seems it's not impossible, but I should decide after more detailed planning.'
After a short while, Ranni gave Bai Shi so other Night sorceries from Sellia as well.
In her words, Sellia was now a force under Bai Shi's rule, so they should naturally do their best to help him.
Although Bai Shi suspected she was trying to flatter him, it didn't stop him from accepting all the magic.
Sellia had joined his ranks under duress, but since he wouldn't treat them poorly in the future, he didn't need to feel any burden about taking the magic.
After taking everything, Bai Shi directly teleported back to Stormveil via a Site of Grace.
With the map revealed, he no longer had to worry about missing the ti for the Radahn Festival, and travel was much more convenient.
There was still plenty of ti before the festival began, so he planned to see if Iji had left.
If he hadn't, he would ask him to forge the glintstone pieces for communication.
And, the Draconic Knights should also be setting out for Sellia to get their mounts.
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