Eternal Thief

After leaving the city lord’s castle, Ace moved leisurely along the blackstone streets, his stride unhurried. Though he had told Mirage Shadow and Khazar he had to leave urgently, he was in no rush at all.

In truth, he had only been in the Black Hermit City for more than two hours. If he departed immediately, it would arouse suspicion from Mirage Shadow, and she would definitely think that he had done something in the city lord’s castle.

Furthermore, he was sure the Dread Duchess would definitely inquire about his ’visit’ to the Black Hermit City!

Besides, he had other plans for choosing the Black Hermit City.

’The Black Hermit Market…’ Ace’s lips curled faintly under the hood as he made his way towards the south.

The reason for this was that this market was famous across the Obsidian Myriad Kingdom. Built around the peculiar mineral veins beneath the city, it thrived as a hub for rare ores, abyssal stones, and crystalline materials not found anywhere else.

Even outsiders from other duchies would secretly send agents here to buy or trade, though few ever left unscathed by the city’s cutthroat prices.

The closer Ace drew, the denser the crowds became. The broad avenues opened into a colossal square layered with tiered platforms, each lined with hundreds of stalls and shops.

Jagged black obelisks ringed the plaza, each etched with glowing abyssal runes that suppressed fighting and theft—at least within the confines of the market itself.

Everywhere he looked, hawkers were shouting about ore veins, devils arguing over purity percentages, and cloaked merchants quietly haggling with customers over sealed boxes of unknown treasures.

As Ace entered this bustling market and walked around the stalls and shops, he suddenly stopped in front of a stall where he saw many strange ores glowed faintly in piles—some radiated ghostly flames, others hummed with suppressed lightning, and a few looked disturbingly like frozen, petrified organs.

“What is this ore?” Ace pointed towards the ores that seemed like frozen organs with metallic luster.

The vendor, a lanky devil with ash-gray skin and two stubby horns jutting from his brow, squinted at Ace’s finger. Then, his lips spread into a crooked grin, and his forked tongue flicked out briefly like a snake tasting the air.

“Heh… good eyes, friend. Perfect eyes.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as though savoring the weight of his words. “Most who pass by mistake it for some malformed corpse stone. But this—this is Heartsteel Ore. A mineral so rare that even among abyssal veins, you’d be lucky to dig up a shard in a year.”

He tapped the metallic organ-shaped lump with a claw. A dull, echoing clang resonated, sending faint shivers through the air.

“It is not simply pretty. When used as a catalyst in forging, Heartsteel Ore dramatically increases the success rate of weapon or armor refinement. In fact, the higher the forge’s grade, the more pronounced its effect becomes. For abyssal smiths, this ore is a luxury reserved for nobles and lords.”

The vendor’s eyes gleamed greedily as he spoke, clearly gauging Ace’s reaction, but he failed to find anything.

“But…” His voice dipped lower, husky with intrigue as he tried his best to sugarcoat this Heartsteel Ore, “This here is only the surface-born ore, mined from the outskirts of the Black Hermit Mines beneath this city. Even gathering these costs lives—the tunnels are infested with Abyssal Beast packs, vicious things that hunt in the dark.”

His grin widened, revealing sharp teeth. “Yet, deeper still lies something far greater. Beyond where Abyssal Lord-rank beasts dwell, the veins change. The Heartsteel Ore there mutates under the crushing abyssal pressure and becomes Blood-Heartsteel. That variant doesn’t just raise forging success rates. No, no…” He dragged his words, savoring the suspense, “…it can even trigger a chance for the forged treasure to evolve in grade. Imagine—a mere middle-grade (From Grade-4 to Grade-6) weapon, with luck and Blood-Heartsteel, becoming a true upper-grade (From Grade-7 to Grade-9) treasure!”

The vendor chuckled, shaking his head as though lamenting. “Of course, very few live to see it. Those mines devour even Abyssal Lords who grow greedy. That is why scraps like these,” He pointed at the petrified heart-shaped ores on display, “Already sell for prices that could bankrupt smaller clans.”

He leaned back, studying Ace’s hooded figure. “So, friend… do you wish to try your luck? I can see you have good fortune on you!”

Ace’s lips twitched slightly as he almost laughed in amusement because this vendor’s selling skills were really excellent. Nonetheless, this Heartsteel Ore still interests him greatly.

Furthermore, he has someone who can easily appraise the actual value of this ore. He sent a spirit transmission to his shadow.

“Senior, is what he said true?” He asked Mirage Shadow without seeking the system’s help because it would cost him thief points.

Mirage Shadow replied without hesitation, “He’s telling the truth except for all the exaggerations about the Blood-Heartsteel. The Blood-Heartsteel is another natural abyssal treasure, which is extremely rare and only born in Wandering Realms.

“The mutated variant of Heartsteel is called ’Crimson Heartsteel,’ which resembles Blood-Heartsteel greatly. So those who don’t know the difference would always fall for these traps. If the young lord wishes, her highness should have a genuine Blood-Heartsteel, and she would surely give it to him if requested. As for this lowly slave, he deserved to die for lying to the young lord!”

The vendor’s crooked smile suddenly stiffened as he felt an icy sensation crawling on the back of his neck, as his shadow seemed to be flickering as if it was about to become alive.

Ace was astounded as he could tell Mirage Shadow wasn’t joking about killing the vendor and quickly stopped her, “No need to kill him for something like that, I don’t mind since no harm was done.”

The vendor finally felt the chills were gone, but his face paled, and he didn’t dare look at Ace, fearing his lie had been exposed. He now wanted nothing more than for Ace to move on without finding trouble with him.

“Young lord is merciful.” Mirage Shadow hoarsely praised like a subordinate.

Ace smiled wryly but also felt good about having such a powerful subordinate under his command. However, he knew in the end, his own power mattered the most, and this was all just an illusion.

Ace then looked towards the pale vendor and asked dismissively, “I want to buy everything on your stall, how much?”

The vendor was startled, thinking Ace would either find trouble with him or, worse, force him to give away everything, and he would be absolutely helpless to resist because he felt Ace’s power for a moment.

Nonetheless, he was still an old fox and thought that as long as he didn’t try to hoodwink Ace, the latter wouldn’t make things difficult for him. After all, for truly powerful, he wasn’t worth anything.

“S-sir, everything is for 100 Tier-6 Gems! If Sir doesn’t have Abyss Gems, I’m willing to trade with other treasures or lower-tier Abyss Gems!” He quickly blurted out the price, which was extremely fair.

Ace knew Mirage Shadow had spooked this vendor, so he wouldn’t dare play any tricks; he nodded, “Deal!”

After that, Ace continued to move around the market, buying whole stalls of ores and emptying the ore stocks in the shops without hesitation, which gave rise to a rumor about a filthy rich young master entering the market!