Among the two cultivation systems in Aurora, Michael was far more familiar with the knight system than the mage system.
In fact, this was the case for most locals, to the extent that the term "cultivator" almost felt exclusively associated with knights.
This might be due to the fact that the majority of people practiced the knight cultivation system.
According to Michael's knowledge, a mage was someone who possessed the talent to be an excellent knight—a prodigy even.
In a way, one could say every apprentice mage had the potential to be an exceptional knight.
However, this was a threshold few could ever hope to reach.
The original Michael, for example, would have been lucky to successfully light up a life seed before his death—a level of talent that wasn't particularly rare in the general population.
Only individuals like Brian had the exceptional ability to become mages, which was ironic considering he somehow awakened the two most popular professions in Aurora.
This highlighted how rare mages truly were.
The rarity extended into the awakening system as well.
The knight class was common grade while any mage-related class was considered at least rare.
Awakeners could also cultivate, and it wasn't that Michael didn't want to try his hand at cultivation now that he was an Awakener—it was just that he lacked the time for such slow and steady progress.
Miss Priscilla was the first mage Michael had ever seen, and he was understandably curious about her.
However, his curiosity was fleeting.
Her significance to him didn't come close to the value of the money his materials could fetch.
She had said they were valuable, and that alone made Michael all the more expectant.
Michael watched as Priscilla examined the rest of the materials, correctly identifying each one.
He was both impressed and anxious, waiting patiently as she worked.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she turned her attention to him.
"These materials of yours are quite valuable, but due to how you… handled them, their price will have to be adjusted downward slightly," Priscilla explained.
Michael listened in silence, understanding her reasoning.
There was little he could do about the state of the materials; killing the gargoyles cleanly wasn't an option.
Unlike the goblins or black apes, overpowering them outright had been impossible. The wingless gargoyle was okay but when he fought the other two, preserving their bodies had been the last thing on his mind.
Priscilla, too, seemed to understand this.
She knew that perfectly preserving monster corpses was a skill for the powerful, and the quality of these materials indicated the young man in front of her was no pushover.
The remnants of the gargoyles alone, combined with the quality of the materials and faint traces of technology, suggested that the creatures had been formidable golems.
All of this left her with a high impression of Michael, despite knowing he was an Awakener—information she had gleaned from the middle-aged man beside her.
What she didn't realize, however, was just how extraordinary Michael truly was.
He wasn't an old Awakener like she subconsciously assumed, but a mere four-day-old Necromancer with the equivalent power of an early stage Rank 4 cultivator.
After addressing the state of the materials, Priscilla got straight to business.
"I'll start by stating the price I'm offering for your materials. First off, let's start with the lowest, which are the Etherstone and the Runed Core," she said.
Michael's ears perked up at that, and he began listening attentively. She said the lowest first. From those prices, Michael could gauge how big the sale would be by the end.
"The Runed Core is partially damaged and will most likely be used as a research item that gets repurposed. As for the Etherstone, though rare, there are alternatives that serve the same function, even if they're not as durable.
For the Runed Core, I'll offer you $450,000. Had it been in better condition, it could've fetched around $600,000. As for the Etherstone, I'll offer $700,000 each. Since there are two, that totals $1.4 million. Together, everything comes to $1,850,000. Do you have any objections?"
Priscilla's calm tone made it clear she was prepared for Michael to raise concerns about the price.
With a neutral expression, Michael responded, "No, no problem." Though his tone was calm, his insides were anything but.
'Almost two million, almost two million, almost two million,' Michael wanted to scream but managed to hold it in, keeping a poker face.
Although he had anticipated that the Gargoyle remains would be valuable, Michael was still surprised—thrilled, even—and his excitement grew as he thought about the next items.
The next material Priscilla moved on to was the Veined Shards, which resembled short wires about the thickness of a baby's finger.
As she counted the shards, Michael did the same.
In the end, they counted 33 pieces.
Priscilla spoke again, her tone steady and professional.
"Once again, we're dealing with technology different from ours. However, these shards can be repurposed easily without much processing while also serving as valuable research items."
The way she spoke gave Michael the impression that she was an honest woman, which made him trust her just a little more.
It definitely wasn't because she was throwing out big numbers.
"For the shards, I'll offer $65,000 each. What do you think?"
Michael wasn't thinking—at least not about negotiating.
No, he was thinking. Thinking about $65,000 times 33.
The current Michael had no choice but to be a trusting customer.
A small part of him regretted not checking the forums to get an estimate of the prices, but even now, the urge to grab his phone and look things up didn't surface.
For some reason, his brush with death had made him want to be more in tune with life, at least for a little while.
That, and he didn't believe an Association staff member would scam him too heavily. At most, they might take slight advantage of him.
Of course, if they did, Michael could only chalk it up to experience.
However, he promised himself that after this, he would always come prepared—just like Mira had when she sold the Black Ape corpses, ensuring she wasn't taken advantage of by the old female supervisor.