Death… And Me

Hudin then continued the test for the other remaining candidates. However, that mattered little for Frandin since he already got what he needed. Besides, he wasn't exactly a fan of formations. Once he got the study materials regarding Soul Runes for Rean and Qia, he wouldn't pursue this side occupation.

Frandin's badge was given to him sometime later, which he immediately used to enter the Formations Guild Repository. There, he obtained a copy of all the things Rean and Qia requested before leaving right after. However, just as he was about to leave the guild with Rean and Qia, he was stopped by Hudin.

"Oh, there you are!" said Hudin as he rushed to catch up to Frandin's group. "Walton, about your master...pass a message to them for me. A few other elders checked your formations just now. Its arrangement, especially the runes that we have never seen before, are really impressive." 

He then took a deep breath before continuing, "Tell him that the Formations Guild is willing to pay a heavy price for the knowledge of those runes. Be it Spirit Stones or other things, we can negotiate."

Frandin then glanced at Rean and Qia for a moment. It was not his decision but theirs. 

Rean then sent him a Spiritual Sense message, saying, 'Ask him if Rank Four Spirit Stones are involved.'

In the end, Rean wanted to obtain Rank Four Spirit Stones again. He only had a few back in Sunkan Planet and thought it would be even harder to get it here. But if this guild was willing to part with some... he wouldn't mind giving them a few manuals with formations from Sunkan. 

'Alright.' Frandin agreed and looked at Hudin as he replied, "Hmm...it's not really out of the question. However, my master has no need for scraps. If you want to buy some of his knowledge, it'll cost you quite a bit. If you don't offer at least Rank Four Spirt Stones, I doubt he would even bat an eye at whatever you may offer."

Hudin couldn't help but feel a bit of tension after hearing that. "Give me a second. I need to talk about this with the Guild Leader." 

Rank Four Spirit Stones were no joke, even for a guild like them. However, the formations Frandin showed were probably worth just as much and would help the guild recover this investment sooner or later.

It didn't take long before Hudin came back with an old man and a few guild elders. "This is the Guild Leader of this branch, Kacin Tui."

"I'll get straight to the point," said Kacin with a serious expression. "We're willing to part with Rank Four Spirit Stones, but that'll depend on what your master can show us. That being said, we want to meet him."

Frandin shook his head as he replied, "That wouldn't happen. At most, I can give you the schematics and study materials. However, my master definitely wouldn't come all the way here just for that."

Kacin was taken aback, asking, "You have everything with you?"

"I do." Frandin then took out his bag, which had a few books inside. Well, it was Rean who put them inside by using the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. "You can check for yourselves and decide whether it's worth Rank Four Spirit Stones or not."

Kacin narrowed his eyes as he took the books. At the same time, a few elders sent him Spiritual Sense messages. 

'Isn't that a bit too convenient? Maybe he doesn't have a master and found an inheritance.'

'Indeed. If that's the case, we can just force Walton to give the rest of the material.'

'What if he really does have a master, and we're poking a hornet's nest? I don't think buying a fight with someone with such knowledge would be wise.'

'Even if he does have a powerful master, would the guild bother about it? Don't forget that the guild spans through the entire continent. His master would be the one who needs to think twice before acting against us.'

Kacin pondered for a bit, and in the end, shook his head. 'No, we won't force anything. It's not that I'm afraid of what his master could do if he has one. I'm afraid that we might not get anything else after this if we do that. They are valuable, but I'm more fearful of losing the chance of obtaining more knowledge than Spirit Stones,' said Kacin while thinking about the long run. His instincts also told him that if Walton wanted to leave, they probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

"Very well, Walton. Let me take a look at everything here first."

Frandin shrugged his shoulders with a smile, seemingly not afraid of being robbed at all. 

Kacin then passed a few books to the other elders, and they began to discuss them. The appraisal of the books took over two hours and many Spiritual Sense messages. In the end, they all reached the same conclusion. These books were the real deal but only depicted the low-level formations. 

After that, Kacin looked at Walton(Frandin) before asking, "Don't you have anything more elaborated?"

Frandin shook his head in response as he said, "How could I? I have just achieved the Earth Low-Level Rank as a Formation Master. Why would my master give me materials of anything above this level? It's up to you if what I have is worth anything in your eyes or not."

Kacin had to admit it made sense. He then discussed a price with the other elders before coming up with a number and asking, "These books are indeed useful as study materials. However, the level of formations here is just too low. That said, we can't pay you more than 500 Rank Four Spirit Stones."

Frandin smiled as he waited for Rean and Qia's answer. The two had been listening to everything until now, after all.

'Accept it.' Rean and Qia answered straight away.

Frandin then laughed as he nodded, saying, "That's fine. I also believe that such a price is well within these books' value."

With that, Frandin's group left the Formations Guild with 500 Rank Four Spirit Stones. Naturally, the guild tried to tail Frandin's group to find out more about him, but that turned out useless. Unfortunately for them, their group disappeared like smoke.