The Flame Queen
"A lot of it could be fabricated, but after proper filtering — and since mages selling Intelligence Scrolls also want to command high prices — most of them try to pass along genuine intelligence. The higher a mage's false-information rate, the cheaper their scrolls become, and when it drops low enough, the auction house will revoke their Secret Intelligence Mage certification entirely. Oh, and for the record — you need to be Advanced Hunter rank or above to qualify as an Secret Intelligence Mage. Most are Hunter Masters, with no small number of Hunter Kings in the mix as well." Zhao Manyan went on.
Mo Fan felt like he'd genuinely learned something today.
If this intelligence was flowing from Hunter Masters and Hunter Kings, then these scrolls were extraordinarily valuable indeed.
Hunter Kings handled the most elite bounties in existence. In the course of those missions, they might spot traces of a Spirit Seed or catch hints of a rare Demon-Beast. Even recognizing the value of what they'd seen, they couldn't personally chase every lead — but leaving it all to gather dust was pointless too. Writing it into an Intelligence Scroll was the obvious solution: easy extra income for them, and for the lower-ranked Hunter-mages who could actually pursue those leads, a chance to act on resources they'd never otherwise know about.
When he thought about it that way, Intelligence Scrolls made a lot of sense.
"Why don't you pick up a few? I'll get you a discount." Zhao Manyan offered.
Mo Fan was a Hunter-mage, after all. Rather than chasing the same exhausted bounties that everyone already had their eyes on, trying his luck with Intelligence Scrolls wasn't a bad idea.
"Sure, get me a few. How much per scroll?" Mo Fan asked.
"Prices vary. High-end ones can hit tens of millions. Low-end ones go for a few thousand. Give me a budget and I'll sort something out."
"Something around ten thousand," Mo Fan said. He had decent funds at the moment and figured he'd test the waters.
"No problem."
This was Zhao Clan territory, after all. Zhao Manyan had his privileges here, and before long he'd procured three Intelligence Scrolls for Mo Fan.
The scrolls were exquisitely crafted — which made sense, since mages were the clientele, and anything marketed to mages was essentially a luxury good. An ordinary person, given the choice, would rather spend ten thousand on a designer handbag than blow it on this kind of shadowy tip-off intelligence.
"Go ahead and open them." All three scrolls Zhao Manyan had brought were pale blue. Presumably the more expensive ones came in silver and gold.
Intelligence sourced from Hunter Kings would be significantly more reliable, and there was no shortage of buyers willing to pay a premium for it.
Mo Fan unrolled the first one and read aloud:
"A Sword-Fin Sea Demon has been sighted in the Huangpu River. Encounters most likely during the dark of the moon."
Zhao Manyan leaned over for a look and laughed. "The Sword-Fin Sea Demon is a famous marine Demon-Beast. Its sword fins fetch extremely high prices on the market — apparently they're a critical material for pushing Slash Enchanted Gear to the next level... But whether one's actually in the Huangpu River is another matter entirely. These things live deep in the Pacific."
"Going fishing is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Well, there goes that money." Mo Fan sighed.
"Still two more," Zhao Manyan said.
Mo Fan nodded and cracked open the second scroll, reading it over almost automatically:
"In the northern reaches of the Blazing Plains, the Flame Queen shows signs of bringing forth new life."
"Holy — this one's a goldmine!" Zhao Manyan yelped before Mo Fan had even finished processing it.
"How so?" Mo Fan asked.
"The northern reaches of the Blazing Plains is one of the most famous fire-territory sites in the country — right next to Dunhuang. There's an extraordinary Demon-Beast that lives out there, born from the condensation of pure elemental fire itself. We call them Elemental Demons. The Flame Queen is the rarest of all Elemental Demons — her value is simply beyond estimation. If someone brought a young Flame Queen to an auction house, every prominent Noble Clan in Shanghai would show up without exception!" A tremor of excitement had crept into Zhao Manyan's voice.
"That dramatic?" Mo Fan raised an eyebrow.
"Honestly, you're hopeless..." Zhao Manyan muttered. "Though I have no idea how accurate this information actually is."
"It's *my* Intelligence Scroll. Why are *you* the one losing your mind over it?" Mo Fan said flatly.
"Because you clearly have no idea what makes the Flame Queen special! Her combat power makes ordinary Demon-Beasts look like amateurs. Elemental Demons have always been the dream Contract Beast for Summoning Element mages, and the Flame Queen is the absolute pinnacle of them all. If you managed to forge a contract with one, you'd be terrifying — the boost alone could carry you into the top ten without breaking a sweat!"
Mo Fan could tell from Zhao Manyan's reaction that the Flame Queen was something genuinely extraordinary. The real question was whether the intelligence on this scroll was accurate. He couldn't exactly drop everything and haul himself all the way out to the Dunhuang region for a scouting expedition.
"I'm genuinely interested in this Flame Queen," Mo Fan said, turning serious. "Is there any way to dig up more information on her?"
He'd heard about Elemental Demons before. When a Summoning Element mage contracted with one, the Summoner's corresponding element would be strengthened by the Elemental Demon's inherent affinity.
Take Mo Fan as an example: his primary element was Fire. If he contracted with a fire-type Elemental Demon like the Flame Queen, his Fire Element power would likely climb another full tier. And even if the raw strength didn't increase, there was probably some unique flame effect waiting on the other side.
"There's a way — throw money at it. Intelligence Scrolls are categorized, and subject-specific ones cost more. You buy up every Intelligence Scroll covering the Blazing Plains region near Dunhuang. If any Hunter-mages returning from that area have logged intelligence that overlaps with what this scroll says about the Flame Queen, you'll be able to confirm whether it's real or not," Zhao Manyan said.
"And how much would all that cost — and at the end of it you'd still only have the information." Mo Fan wasn't convinced.
"This whole thing is a gamble. If you believe it's real, you go all in — buy as many as you can get your hands on. Once it's confirmed, your competition will be a fraction of what you'd face on any posted bounty. Then it's just a matter of going and actually getting her. And honestly? The Flame Queen is a perfect fit for you. Your Rose Flame is already one of the most brutally powerful fire manifestations out there. Stack the Flame Queen's contract enhancement on top of that, and your Fire Element becomes flat-out unstoppable — below the Soul Seed tier, nothing would touch you!"
Mo Fan had to admit he was tempted.
Among the academy's students, Fire Element Spirit Seed holders were no longer rare. His Rose Flame alone no longer gave him a decisive edge. But if his Contract Beast could also amplify his Fire Element further — that would be an absolutely perfect combination.