Chapter 66: Time of Trade

The mage attendant quickly helped him arrange his long hair, then moved to the other side and pointed to a nearby lounge chair. "Lie down here first. I'll wash your hair, and then you can take a bath."

Shaoke nodded, placed his staff beside him, and lay down, positioning his head off the end to make it easier for the attendant to wash.

The mage attendant scooped some water from the bathing pool using a large copper basin, placed it on a stand positioned beneath Shaoke's head, and explained, "This pool's water has been infused with many medicinal herbs. If you bathe with it regularly, it can gradually improve your physique and make your skin better!"

Shaoke closed his eyes and slowly enjoyed the attendant's gentle ministrations as she washed his hair. The attendant changed the water five times before declaring the washing complete. Shaoke felt rather embarrassed in front of this female mage serving as an attendant. "It's mainly because I've been too absorbed in arcane studies. If it were before, I would have washed more often."

The attendant smiled softly and sighed lightly. "Actually, you don't need to explain. If you stay here for a month, most mages who devote themselves to their studies end up like this. Only a few who are particular about cleanliness pay constant attention to such matters. But that tends to cost them a lot of their time." She shook her head slightly. "Let me massage your head. It will help clear your mind."

After Shaoke nodded in agreement, he lay there and let her massage him. Within a few moments, he felt the pressure in his head ease. "Is this a special massage technique from the military? It's much more effective than the one I learned before." The female mage nodded, smiled, and fell silent, focusing on the massage.

Shaoke unknowingly fell asleep. When the mage attendant roused him, he felt his head was much clearer, and the mental fatigue from the past few days had mostly dissipated. The attendant smiled kindly at him. "You probably still have some mental fatigue. If you come here a few more times, you'll recover much faster."

The mage attendant pointed to the pool before them, blushing slightly. "You can bathe here. Of course, if you'd like a female mage to accompany you, I can call one over."

Shaoke felt somewhat uncomfortable. "No need to call anyone. I'll be fine on my own. You can go out first. I'll be quick!" He gestured for her to leave, as he wasn't accustomed to undressing completely in front of an unfamiliar woman.

The attendant smiled, pointed to herself, and said, "If you need a massage, I can provide that service. If you want something more... special, hehe, I can introduce you to a few. I'm sure you'll be satisfied." She gently closed the door behind her. "I'll wait outside. Don't lock the door. I'll give you a massage later. I think you'll need it, unless you want your body to recover from that fatigue slowly. What do you think?"

Shaoke felt the soreness and swelling in his legs and nodded. "Alright, I'll call you later."

After the attendant left, Shaoke soaked in the pool for a while. Although he didn't feel the medicinal effects of the pool, after casting the "Detect Poison" spell and confirming there were no harmful components, he decided to let it be.

After bathing, Shaoke didn't ask the attendant for a massage because he still wanted to read for a while. The mage attendant, who had waited outside for a long time, seemed a bit disappointed. However, Shaoke handed her ten common gold coins. "I think you should leave this place as soon as you've saved enough money. Staying here long-term won't give you many opportunities to advance further."

The mage attendant nodded somewhat reluctantly. "Thank you! But I can't accept your money without providing a service." She tried to hand the coins back, hoping this seemingly ordinary mage would take them back.

Shaoke shook his head again and refused. "Even though I'm just a mage who recently became an official mage and don't have much money, you should keep these ten gold coins. Consider it payment for trimming my hair." After saying this, he bid her farewell and headed down the dimly lit corridor toward the transcription room.

The attendant took the coins, stood there dazed for a moment, then hurried after him. "Mage Xueye, Mage Xueye, please wait." Her soft call caught Shaoke's attention and also drew the notice of some nearby mages.

"What is it?" Shaoke stopped and adjusted his cloak, not wanting the passing mages to see him clearly. "How do you know my name?" He frowned slightly as he looked at the female attendant jogging toward him.

The female attendant shook her head. "Mage Xueye, the information you filled out earlier was known to most people here shortly after you left. After all, it's been a long time since we've seen a mage affiliated with the military department come here, so I learned your name." She caught her breath slightly. "Actually, I wanted to wish you good luck. After all, you never know what might happen on the battlefield. I hope after you reach the Third Rank, you can come back here for transcription. I almost became a military mage once myself." After saying this, she performed a formal mage etiquette for the first time and left.

Shaoke watched the female attendant disappear around the corner before snapping back to reality. He didn't understand why a mage affiliated with the military department coming here would be considered strange. Shaking his head, he returned, as there were still some books he needed to read in detail, which would greatly aid his future magic studies.

When the time came, it was the same female attendant who had trimmed his hair who came to remind him. "Mage Xueye, if you plan to stay here longer, this transcription room will start charging fees. Do you still wish to do some transcription here?"

Shaoke shook his head and pointed to the neatly arranged items. "No, I have other matters to attend to. Can I purchase these books?" He also pointed to the few books he hadn't finished reading and asked.

The female attendant nodded. "Mage Xueye, these books are specially made by the library. If you wish to purchase them, you can only buy other versions." She walked to the writing desk where the books were placed, took a piece of white paper, and wrote down the names of the books. She waved the paper and handed it to Shaoke to check for errors.

After gathering his belongings, Shaoke picked up his staff and followed the female attendant toward the hall. They needed to settle the expenses for the past month there, as credit was not allowed here.

Having already spent half of his common gold coins on purchasing an advanced promotion method, after paying for the materials needed for transcribing spells and some other services, only a little over a hundred common gold coins remained in Shaoke's purse. This was only because the transcription room he stayed in didn't charge him due to the old officer's order. Otherwise, the fee of ten common gold coins per day was something Shaoke couldn't afford at the moment.

The female mages working there quickly settled Shaoke's bill. Shaoke quietly asked the mage serving as an attendant beside him, "Are there any high-level meditation methods suitable for a Second Tier Mage here? At least better than the common ones."

The female attendant nodded, placed a finger to her lips in a gesture to pause, and indicated she would discuss it with him later.

The books Shaoke needed were soon delivered. Although they didn't look as exquisite as the ones in the transcription room, as long as the content was the same, it was fine. Moreover, the original versions of these books weren't something he could access anyway, so he didn't mind.

After following Shaoke out of the library's main entrance, the female attendant looked up at the sky, pulled Shaoke behind a thick stone pillar, and whispered, "Mage Xueye, what kind of effect do you want from the meditation method? I know most of them. Well, but the effects are only slightly better than the common ones, and the price isn't high." She explained somewhat awkwardly, "Actually, these slightly better meditation methods are hard to obtain. I paid a great price to get them from a high-ranking mage."

Looking at the female mage before him, Shaoke suddenly noticed she was quite beautiful, not much less so than the female mage he had returned with. He somewhat understood how this mage obtained those meditation methods. He sighed softly. "One for cultivating magic power, one that maximizes the speed of magic gathering. How many gold coins for that?"

The female attendant's face lit up with joy. "A hundred common gold coins. Oh, no! Eighty. Mage Xueye, at least eighty. Otherwise, I don't think it would compensate for the great price I paid. If you want those higher-level meditation methods, you'd need nearly a thousand coins for just one."

Shaoke smiled wryly and touched his nearly empty purse. "What about a method to speed up mental energy gathering?"

"Same price. If you want both methods together, you only need to pay me one hundred and fifty-eight common gold coins. I know you don't have many coins left." She covered her mouth and laughed.

Shaoke opened his purse and carefully counted. "How did you know I have exactly one hundred and sixty-eight common gold coins? It seems I should thank you for leaving me ten coins." He waved his purse, took out ten common gold coins, and handed the purse to her. "Can you give them to me now? I'll take both."

The female attendant quickly took the purse, stuffed it into a small bag at her waist, then took out a small box from inside. She opened it, retrieved two high-quality snow parchment papers, and said, "These are the two. If you need anything else in the future, you can come find me." She stared intently at Shaoke for a moment. "I hope these can help you survive better on the battlefield. You're really brave. Many mages nowadays don't dare to go to the battlefield again. Good luck, Mage Xueye!"

The female attendant suddenly hugged Shaoke, gave him a light kiss on the cheek, and left. Shaoke stood there stunned for a long while before placing the two papers with the advanced meditation methods into a small box. With an inexplicable sense of emotion, he left the library, took a carriage, and headed toward the manor where he was temporarily staying.