Chapter 106 - 105 Bartering

Marcus stood there mouth agape when he heard that the bolt stag he wanted to purchase would cost him four thousand gold.

Even if he still had the entirety of the three thousand gold he had received as a reward for helping to save Mrazivý, he still would have been a thousand shy.

In fact, he only had just a little over a thousand left after all of the purchasing he had made earlier in the day.

With a resolute face Marcus looked up towards Hugo and said, "That is preposterous, four thousand gold for a single beast even of the rare grade is too much. I will give you a thousand gold."

Hugo stared down at Marcus and his expression turned angry as he said, "A thousand that had better be a joke, I was open to a bit of negotiation, but you are trying to rob me. Three thousand eight hundred take it or leave it."

"Ha, that bolt stag has already acknowledged me, and I have heard the amount of trouble it has caused you. When do you think the next time someone who can get that thing under control will come by? I only have a thousand gold so you can take it or leave it. By the next time you have a perspective buyer that bolt stag will have probably cost you far more than it was worth."

Marcus could see a vein popping up on Hugo's forehead as he became more and more furious, and after a couple seconds of thinking Hugo said, "Three thousand four hundred, I will already be taking a loss at that price, but I would rather wait another century then get robbed by you. If you do not have the money, then get out and you can come back when you do."

Marcus was exasperated since he had no idea how he would make that much money quickly. He was going to get three hundred more gold in a couple of days along with his title of baronetess, but even that would barely make a dent. He would still somehow have to come up with another two thousand gold.

However, as Marcus was thinking of ways to make money an idea dawned on him.

With a big smile creeping onto his face Marcus said to Hugo, "Will you accept payment in forms other than gold."

Hearing this Hugo looked at Marcus and stroked his beard while pondering for a few moments before he said, "It depends on what you have to offer."

Marcus then took out one of the ingots of mithril he had received from the treasure chest he won from beating the boss of the third layer in the Sea Bluff Temple.

Hugo was surprised not only to see the six inches by three inches by two inches mithril ingot but also by Marcus' item box.

"Where did you get an ingot of mithril, that is not something you just carry around with you."

Seeing that he had gotten Hugo's attention Marcus said, "It is not important where I got it, but are you willing to accept this in place of gold."

Hugo coughed once before saying, "Yes I believe an arrangement can be made, but that single ingot is only worth around eighty gold and will not be enough to offset the balance."

Hearing this Marcus inwardly scoffed since he figured that they should have been worth more, but it was not like he actually knew the market rate for most of things in this world.

Of course, Hugo was low balling Marcus since each one of his ingots if used absolutely perfectly could create two short swords and even the cheapest mithril swords cost around a hundred gold.

'I only have just a little over thirty mithril ingots so I would have to offer up most of them to cover the rest of the cost, but I still plan on using them when I learn to forge weapons.'

Marcus took out ten more of the mithril ingots and handed them over to Hugo before he took out one of the random vials of liquid he had obtained.

Marcus had no idea what was in the vials but figured they must be pretty valuable since they came from a dungeon chest.

Seeing the vial Hugo was once again surprised since it was a pretty powerful alchemical brew.

"Hm a strength enhancing potion, you certainly have a number of uncommon items on you, are you actually someone important, though I think I would have heard about you if you were."

Marcus hoping that it might score him a discount decided to tell Hugo the nickname he had somehow acquired and said, "Ah, maybe you have heard of me, I recently have been called the darklight princess and I am going to be given the title of baronetess in a couple of days."

Hugo looked at Marcus with a newfound respect since he had seen the explosion of darkness and ice, because he had also been aiding the kingdom during the ice ants attack.

Of course, as one of the strongest people in the town it had been expected of him, but even at level thirty-eight he would not have been confident in leaping out over the wall and coming back alive.

Hugo began laughing and after a couple of seconds said, "Yes I have heard of you, I even had the pleasure of witnessing your daring leap into danger, albeit from a good distance. I have no idea how you made it back alive, but you certainly are something. In light of your achievements in keeping this town safe I am willing to drop the price to three thousand two hundred gold, just make sure to remember me when you make it big."

Marcus nodded his head and said, "How much for the strength enhancing potion."

Hugo pondered for a few moments looking at the potion. He had planned to milk Marcus for everything he was worth but now that he knew who Marcus was, he had decided to give a fair price for the items presented.

"I am not certain of the quality, but it should be worth at least five gold. If it was a rarer potion it would be worth more but other than healing potions and antidotes this is the most common type."

Hearing this Marcus was a bit dejected but still took out one of each type of potion he had acquired and found that each of the different ones boosted a different stat for a short amount of time.

"Okay with those four other potions I will shave off another sixty gold. If this is all you have, I will allow you to leave it as a down payment and you can come back when you have the rest."

Marcus thought about it for a few moments, but he really wanted to obtain the bolt stag today and he doubted he was going to be able to raise the kind of capital he need in just two more days.

Coming to a decision Marcus let out a deep sigh before reluctantly taking out two items that made Hugo's eyes bulge.

In Marcus' left hand he now held a natural treasure shaped like a butternut squash that had a purple and green pattern and in his right hand was a melon that was completely blue.

Marcus had chosen these two fruits since among the remaining natural treasures he had left they had the strongest presence.

Hugo stared at the two items greedily since they were obviously natural treasures and high-quality ones at that.

Marcus seeing the look of desire in Hugo's eyes said, "If I give you these two that will be enough to cover the rest of the cost along with a thousand gold yes."

Hugo really had no idea how valuable Marcus' natural treasures were, but even at the level he had obtained he had only gotten his hands on a couple of natural treasures and they had been worth every copper.

Items that boost one's stats permanently were rare and there was no way that Hugo was going to let these two slip out of his grasp.

"Very well you have a deal, let's get the paperwork together and then we can go ahead and put the seal on the bolt stag for you."

Marcus then handed the two natural treasures over along with a thousand gold, and Hugo walked back into his office nearly skipping along.

After Hugo had stored the gold and items Marcus had used in exchange for the bolt stag Hugo personally walked back with him to the bolt stags enclosure.

Once they arrived the bolt stag who had been taking a quick nap opened its eyes and seeing that Marcus was coming back with Hugo it stood up and held its head high.

Hugo was a bit surprised by this reaction since every time he had approached this bolt stag it had shot electricity at him even when he came to feed it.

"I guess what you said is true, I am a bit surprised but hey now it will be off my hands."

Marcus and Hugo then walked up to the bolt stag who lowered its head towards Marcus and allowed Hugo to apply the seal of domination.

Once the seal was finished Marcus cut himself and applied his essence to the seal and could feel a connection form with the bolt stag.