The intricate alleys were like a maze, connecting the edges of Tobesk's Lower City and University District.
Walking forward along the alley, turning a corner, he saw a broken steam pipe leaking water for some unknown reason.
To protect his boots, he walked around the puddle.
He then continued forward, and before long, he saw a rusty metal staircase clinging to the outside of a dark yellow wall.
He clanked his way up the metal stairs to the second floor, feeling the entire staircase sway.
After knocking, he spoke into the door:
"The cuckoo bird sent me; she said the last book had a quality issue."
"She always says our books have quality issues; that woman is too picky."
A muffled voice came from inside the door, and when it opened, a bare-armed man with a ship anchor tattooed on his arm led Xia De into the corridor.
Xia De held his breath behind him; the man had a strong body odor.
"Do you know the rules?"
"No, I just arrived in Tobesk from out of town."
Xia De said, holding back his voice.
"So what do you want to do? Buy books at the Library, or consign books?"
"Buy books."
Because he was holding his breath, his voice was muffled, but fortunately, wearing a mask already made his voice sound unusual, so the other party probably didn't notice.
"Alright, this way."
The corridor's floor was warped in many places due to dampness, creaking with every step.
The doors on both sides of the corridor were all closed, and it was unclear if anyone was inside.
The man led Xia De to turn left at the front of the corridor and arranged for him to wait in a small, temporarily empty room.
This room was unusually dim, with no windows, and the air was filled with a scent of... canned fish; Mia would probably like it here.
The space was even smaller than the bathing area of the washroom at Saint Delan Square No. 6, containing only a sofa.
The wall directly opposite the sofa had a small square hole, which was covered by a wooden board.
On the wall to one side of the small hole was a rusty black iron gas lamp.
The man who led the way turned on the lamp, allowing the dim yellow light to barely illuminate the room, then closed the door and left.
Xia De sat on the relatively clean sofa and waited for a while, looking at an oil painting of a hanged man on the wall.
The originally straight gas pipe wound around this painting before connecting to the gas lamp.
Xia De pondered why the gas pipe wasn't placed higher, which would have avoided the need for right-angle turns.
The wooden cover was suddenly pulled open, startling Xia De.
An impatient man's voice came from behind the cover:
"What do you want to buy? Do you have a specific book title, or just a requirement?"
The man had a distinct Tobesk local accent, and from his voice, he sounded to be only in his thirties.
However, the light was dim, not illuminating the space behind the cover.
As the cover was opened, the smell of canned fish grew stronger, indicating that the speaker had just been eating.
"Regarding the gluttony Miracle."
Xia De said simply, feigning an accent that wasn't from Tobesk, which was easy because he genuinely wasn't a local.
"gluttony? Hold on."
Then the man fell silent, and only the sound of constantly turning book pages could be heard from behind the opening.
gluttony is also not a rare Ling Rune; in fact, it's quite common.
However, common gluttony is mostly an inspiration or whisper rune, especially the black iron whisper gluttony.
Reading stories of the vanished fourth epoch cannibal tribes has a high probability of yielding it.
Relatively speaking, the silver blasphemy gluttony rune associated with evil gods is rarely seen.
"Yes, what price range do you want?"
The man's voice didn't sound again for at least ten minutes.
Xia De knew that bargaining wasn't allowed here, so he didn't try to hide his intentions:
"Around fifteen pounds is fine, not exceeding twenty pounds."
This was the answer he gave after considering his financial situation.
The man didn't reply, but instead scribbled rapidly behind the cover; judging by the sound, he was using a fountain pen.
However, what he placed on the wall by the opening were a note and a pencil.
When trading items here, the item's name is not spoken to prevent information leakage.
Two Miracles were hastily written on the note, suggesting that Xia De's price range was too low.
The two Miracles were "Parkinson's Gluttony desire" and "Gluttony's Feast."
The former, from its naming convention, was a newly developed Miracle in recent years, most likely originating from the Three Great Arcane Academies.
Its effect is to apply a "Gluttony" state to a target, making them intensely crave food for a certain period.
For ordinary people, doing so could very likely lead to them eating themselves to death; for Ring術士, the effect depends on various factors such as the difference in their levels.
This was a Miracle consigned to the Black Raven Library by someone else.
The seller's asking price was 14 pounds 3 shillings, and it did not include materials for learning the Miracle.
Learning requirements, in addition to gluttony and related Ling Runes, also stipulated that it must be an inspiration or whisper type of Ling Rune.
Even if Xia De bought it, he couldn't learn it.
"Gluttony's Feast" is a Miracle that can only be used on oneself, and its effect is relatively more complex.
The user needs to set a certain edible item as a target after using the Miracle, then consume this item continuously four times, with a ten-minute interval between each, and each time consuming more than the last.
It must be ensured that after the last consumption, one reaches a state of "satiety."
When the four times are complete, the "Gluttony's Feast" effect is satisfied, and this Miracle can be used to transform the chosen target food into a food that can achieve a "satiety" state with just one bite.
This is not only psychological satiety but also fulfills physiological eating requirements.
More importantly, consuming the target "Gluttony's Feast" has a healing effect, but both effects are only valid for the Miracle user.
If one wishes to change the target food, at least one full lunar cycle must pass.
This Miracle was also consigned to the Library by someone.
Because the food produced only works on oneself and the effect is not particularly prominent, the price is very low, only 9 pounds 7 shillings.
If the buyer wants to obtain learning materials, they need to pay 11 pounds in total.
To learn this Miracle, it must be a blasphemy type silver Ling Rune related to 【Food】, which Xia De coincidentally met.
"But is it useful for me to learn this Miracle?"
He asked himself, then decided it was very useful.
Not only could it save him food money, but in cases of injury during the day, he wouldn't have to tough it out with False Immortality.
More importantly, even at night, the effect of the Miracle 【Cindy's Silver Moon Gift】 is more geared towards mental healing, and Gluttony's Feast can slightly compensate for this deficiency, though unfortunately, the healing effect of this Miracle is not very obvious either.
【That's not necessarily true.】
The whispering voice in his mind sounded.
"Why?"
Xia De asked in his mind, but on the surface, he still appeared to be contemplating indecisively.
【Your Gluttony does not originate from contact with the remnant power of an evil god, but rather from almost devouring a part of a deity's power.
This Ling Rune, unlike normal blasphemy runes, is very powerful.
With the Divine Radiance state superimposed, the Miracles learned from it will likely be very powerful.】
Xia De could also feel the special nature of gluttony, because as long as he summoned his Destiny Ring, gluttony would flash with silver spiritual light, which is a manifestation that only occurs when ordinary Ling Runes are active.