Chapter 54
Trading
Matthew remained vigilant, keeping a close watch on Dolan's every move, while the magic within his body began to circulate.
Dolan seemed wary of Matthew as well. He glanced at Mold's half-body and the damaged surroundings, and did not rush forward. The two maintained a safe distance.
He raised his hands to show he meant no harm, saying, "My friend, I think there's been a misunderstanding between us."
Dolan paused, his face showing an innocent expression. "I've already explained what happened before, and I think we can talk again."
Matthew didn't believe Dolan's words; he had just sensed a fleeting killing intent in the woods.
Although the other party concealed it well, there was no doubt that he had intended to ambush him, but he was discovered in advance and gave up.
Dolan looked at Matthew, who remained silent, and continued speaking.
"I want Mold's body..."
Of course, his other belongings are your spoils, and I won't fight you for them!
Matthew couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. "You call this a transaction?"
Dolan's expression remained unchanged, and he was not angered by the other party's question.
"One hundred magic stone fragments. I'll give you one hundred magic stone fragments in exchange for Mord's corpse."
This is also considered compensation for that day.
Matthew didn't say anything, he just sneered.
One hundred magic stone fragments? That might be a lot for an ordinary apprentice, but for him it was just a matter of spending a little more time making some healing potions.
Dolan grew anxious as Matthew ignored him and slowly approached.
He quickly pulled out a spell scroll that was flowing with dazzling white light from his spatial ring. It was the [Lightfall Spell Scroll] that killed the Snow Demon Ape.
"Matthew, my friend."
Mold's body is now just a skeleton, so it's probably not of much use to you.
There's no need for us to both suffer losses over this!
"As expected..." Matthew stopped in his tracks and did not continue to approach.
He deliberately walked very slowly just now, actually to test whether Dolan had run out of reels.
The power of the [Lightfall Scroll] is not much different from his [Burning Claws], but Lightfall is a large-area attack spell.
The range far exceeds that of [Burning Claws]. Although Matthew could use his speed to rush in front of Dolan before the explosion and unleash [Burning Claws], he certainly wouldn't be able to dodge the attack of the Lightfall spell.
At this moment, the dragon scales on his body were also nearing their limit. If he forced himself to maintain it, his stamina would be rapidly depleted. Therefore, he temporarily abandoned the idea of attacking Dolan.
"Ten magic stones," Matthew said calmly. "If you want his corpse, trade ten magic stones for it."
"Otherwise, I will destroy the body."
One magic stone is equivalent to one hundred magic stone fragments, and ten magic stones are equivalent to one thousand magic stone fragments.
Seeing Matthew suddenly increase the price tenfold, Dolan couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
"This... I don't have that many magic stones on me."
"Then trade it for anything of value you have."
Dolan remained silent, his mind racing.
"I'll trade you the crafting recipe for the [Lightfall Scroll]!"
"Oh?" Matthew was somewhat surprised, not expecting that Dolan would actually offer the manufacturing method of the [Lightfall Scroll] in exchange for Mold's corpse.
That was a huge success!
For him, the crafting of the [Lightfall Scroll] was far more precious than ten magic stones. He could earn magic stones simply by spending more time, but the crafting method for the magic scroll was something that could only be obtained by chance!
However, Matthew didn't agree immediately. He shook his head, "That's not enough. [Lightfall Spell Scroll] plus two hundred magic stone fragments!"
"You..." Dolan froze, still forcing a smile. He gritted his teeth, "Fine, I agree!"
As he spoke, he tried to retrieve something from his spatial ring, but Matthew's words interrupted him.
"etc……",
At this moment, even the gentle smile on Dolan's face began to falter. "What else do you want...?"
"I need you to sign a soul contract, and you can't tell anyone what happened today."
Dolan breathed a sigh of relief and agreed without hesitation, "Okay!"
Matthew took a piece of parchment from the bracelet and quickly wrote the contents of the contract at his fingertips, gathering magic at his fingertips.
The terms of the contract were very strict, even harsh, leaving no room for loopholes.
Then, with a wave of his hand, the parchment shot out toward the other party's location.
After receiving the contract, Dolan carefully read its contents.
When he saw the extremely harsh terms, he instinctively clenched the parchment.
But after hesitating for a moment, he finally used magic to sign his name.
The moment the contract was established, the parchment spontaneously combusted without fire.
A dark flame spread rapidly, burning the contract to ashes, leaving not a trace.
Both of them felt as if something had been added to the depths of their souls.
Matthew's soul has gained a new connection; if Dolan tells him what happened today, he will know immediately.
Dolan's soul is now more bound; if he were to reveal what happened today, his soul would burn itself.
After doing all this, Dolan tossed Matthew the instructions for making the [Lightfall Scroll] and two hundred magic stone fragments.
Matthew, meanwhile, kicked Mold's corpse away with a heavy kick in the opposite direction.
After receiving Morde's remains, Dolan put them into his spatial ring and ran away without looking back.
Matthew watched his departing figure in silence, lost in thought.
Judging from Dolan's appearance, it seems he came for Mold's corpse from the very beginning.
When he offered to help me deal with Mold in the mission lobby, it was probably for this purpose as well.
but……
Why was he so fixated on Mold's body?
"You'd rather give up the manufacturing method for the [Lightfall Scroll] than trade with me?"
After thinking for a long time, I still had no clue.
Matthew turned his head and looked at the cave in front of him.
This should be the false god's ruins that Mold found, since we're already here.
Without hesitation, he stepped inside.
Once inside the cave, he activated the system and searched along the way, but found nothing.
He went all the way to the deepest part of the cave, where he saw only some murals on the walls.
The murals only depicted scenes of the monsters of the Winter Realm offering sacrifices to the false god.
He scanned the system but found nothing unusual, but adhering to the principle of better to miss than to let it go.
Matthew still managed to extract the content from the mural.
His gaze swept across the room and he spotted a huge, flat stone with some black ash residue on it.
It appears to be the residue left after the parchment had burned completely.
"Could it be that Mold conducted some kind of research here?"
Thinking of this, Matthew took out the spatial ring he had taken from Mold and found an experimental diary inside.