The possibility excited him first, but he calmed down soon after. He waited for the young miss and her guards to walk past first, offering a half-hearted bow as they did so.
'It would be a pity if some snotty noble guards killed me so quick after I became a mage,'
He'd calmed down, because there were many things still unexplained about the entire encounter. Erina was most certainly a mage, that he was sure of. What he wasn't sure of, though, was how he knew.
Magic was a capital offence for all peoples of the Empire. It didn't matter if you were a commoner, a merchant or a noble. As a matter of fact, Erina's aunt herself had been executed for the practice of magic a bit more than a decade ago, when the girl was just a child.
In that case, her magic would undoubtedly be a well-kept secret. It wasn't possible for her aura to be on full display like that. If anything she'd probably be using an item or a spell exactly like the one he performed earlier in the morning.
Luca went though the events in his mind and recalled an important detail.
The dark energy from the inheritance.
'It spun rapidly before I saw her magical aura,'
Somehow, he could see auras with the help of the energy.
If he wanted to see magical auras using his eyes, he would have to use a particular technique which was so un-daunting on the energy pool that it couldn't even be sensed by the user or anyone else. It was a foundational technique that was so easy to learn, it couldn't even be counted as a real spell.
Luca hadn't yet tried it out, but it looked like he wouldn't even have to, if the inheritance did it for him already.
'It's better to be safe than sorry, though.'
He left Mina's store and got comfortable in the nearest alleyway. Most buildings in Carinthia were tall, so alleyways did well to avoid most of the sun's rays. All sorts of rats and fungi creeped along the damp bases of the buildings, along with the occasional homeless man.
Most people in the city weren't far off from becoming homeless. They were as poor. The only difference was that they had places to stay, one way or the other.
Seeing that there was no one watching, Luca recalled the process for activating the minor technique. He felt his consciousness for the energy that pervaded every inch, and carefully called it into a specific part of his body; the eyes.
A cool rush spread through the front of his skull, concentrated especially at the eyes. It wasn't much, but the change was noticeable.
He turned to face the street this time. Horses and carriages trampled the cobblestone, towering above the sea of peoples.
Occasional bright flashes of flight burst at random areas. They were supposed spots of spiritual energy spikes, that normal people could possess.
It was surprisingly 'cleaner' than he had expected. The technique also revealed hidden things, but so far all he could see were the spikes of spiritual energy that could come from a number of reasons.
Luca took a few minutes to adjust to his new vision, then went off to the market area of the city to get a few items.
Dozens of small stalls sat, jampacked together with the traders and customers yelling out prices at each other.
He started at a small food stall, as though he was shopping for groceries. Well that wasn't completely false, but he did plan to sprinkle in other goods whilst he did that.
After buying a few items he'd need at home, Luca finally moved on to the catalysts he'd need for the various spells and rituals.
Catalysts weren't usually a lot in number, but they had to be prepared properly in order for the spell to work. For the spells and rituals he had—Salamander's Breath, Scry and Binding Pact— most of the materials weren't particularly hard to find, but he wanted more knowledge on the use of magic.
'Binding Pact will be a long term project. animal hide is rather easy, bu I don't think authentic Holy Water is on bargain right now.'
Instead he focused his attention on the animal hide. Nearly everyone still used that. Paper was reserved for nobles or merchants.
"Hey what's this?" He asked, pointing at a random piece of parchment hanging from a string
The man in the stall was rather burly with arms as thick as both of Lucas's combine. An apron with dried blood hung around his neck, and different dried, tanned and untanned animal hides swayed in front of him.
Luca recognized him of course. Benny the Butcher was the cheapest of all the people he'd ever worked for.
"Not bad, you always have such a good eye, kid" he scratched his scraggly beard, "That's some good quality wolfskin parchment. Only 100 pence apiece,"
"Horseshit. Why don't you just rob me instead? Give me 50 for 'em."
"50, are you crazy, kid? You'll put me out of business!"
"And you'll rob me blind if I just accepted such a price!"
The haggling continued for over five more minutes till Luca finally settled on 60 for each piece of wolf hide. He bought three and went on his way with a satisfied expression, drawing eyes especially from the other stall owners in the area.
'What a kind old man…'
He went around the market, trying to check as much as possible off the list. He was only able to get four more things; the salamander tail, red ochre dust, dried yarrow leaves and dead ivy.
The rest would be impossible to obtain at this time.
Iron rust scrapings weren't hard but no one sold them since they had no value at all. He'd have to stop by Humphrey's some time after. Rainwater also wasn't sold for the same reason.
The more difficult items were the last three. A mirror made with an obsidian shard, a dowsing rod and a chalk made with holy water.
"I'm not getting those anytime soon," he muttered begrudgingly.
He decided to call it a day and head back home to plan his next moves as well as see what magic he could practice