Chapter 103 Fey Wind

Rivervale Town, Adventurers’ Association.

With two swords on his back and one hand guarding the bulging money pouch at his waist, Xia Nan squeezed through the crowd and stepped out of the association building.

The ice Forgan condensed almost certainly contained some form of Transcendent power.

Summer heat did nothing to it.

Even after being separated from Forgan for days, the frost surrounding the goblin ears showed no sign of melting.

So when Xia Nan brought his trophies in to claim the bounty, he had practically handed the receptionist two solid blocks of ice.

Fortunately, Molly, the short-haired receptionist, had clearly spent enough time at the association to see all kinds of strange things.

She did not make a fuss.

She inspected the frozen ears, confirmed they were intact, then tossed the bounty pouch onto the counter with visibly trembling hands.

Xia Nan suspected the transaction went so smoothly partly because Molly took her job seriously.

Another possible reason was the enormous one-silver tip he had given her last time as thanks for helping him find a buyer for the glowgarlic vine.

Either way, the result was what mattered.

Two bugbears.

Twenty gold.

Xia Nan thought for a moment, then removed the money pouch from his waist and buried it deep inside his backpack.

Better safe than sorry.

As he pushed it down, his fingers brushed against the wolf fang Forgan had left him as a token.

That touch brought yesterday’s conversation at the White Chickadee Tavern back to mind.

Forgan had clearly said he owed Xia Nan a favor.

At the time, Xia Nan had still been riding the high of raising [Fang Hunt] to novice level.

He was only one step away from gaining a class level.

So without thinking too deeply, he asked whether he could trade that favor for another combat technique.

Forgan had not rejected him.

But he had not agreed either.

He only asked one thing.

“Are you certain?”

Then the barbarian looked away and silently watched the winter wolf pup struggle with its piece of meat.

That was already enough to make his position clear.

Forgan had made a pact with Malar, the God of the Hunt, offering up his soul after death in exchange for power.

Until his “hunt” was complete, he could not remain in one place for too long unless he found traces of his prey.

His return to Rivervale Town had only been possible because the hunting ritual had nearly succeeded.

The mire druid had been forced to abandon most of his power and reincarnate, giving Forgan a temporary opening.

He used that opening to return and finish the half-elf’s commission.

That meant helping Xia Nan completely master [Fang Hunt].

Now Xia Nan had already done that on his own through one unexpected, absurdly fortunate battle.

Forgan no longer had a reason to stay.

Of course, if Xia Nan insisted on spending the favor and forced the issue, Forgan would honor it.

But that would mean Xia Nan could no longer remain safely in Rivervale Town, farming goblins for experience.

He would have to follow Forgan.

Sleep in the wilderness.

Travel at the barbarian’s pace.

Join the pursuit of the druid.

And that presented a much larger problem.

Forget whether Xia Nan’s current body could endure Forgan’s daily travel pace.

The harsh terrain alone would be difficult enough.

Then there were the monster territories along the route, places far more dangerous than the outer regions of the Misty Forest.

That would be more than enough to make Xia Nan suffer.

Forgan had grown up fighting through ice storms.

No one should expect that man to suddenly become a considerate caretaker.

And after blurting out the request, Xia Nan had quickly realized how reckless it was.

Forgan could certainly leave behind the training method for another combat technique and let Xia Nan practice it alone.

He had mentioned [Freeland Spear Thrust] and [Blade-Breaking Guard] before.

Both clearly belonged to the warrior path.

But Forgan had also said that neither technique suited Xia Nan’s fighting style.

Combined with [Spinning Slash] and [Fang Hunt], they might even create a situation where one plus one was somehow less than two.

If Xia Nan’s only goal in this life was to become a class holder, then none of that mattered.

Get a class level.

Call it a day.

Be satisfied forever.

But if he wanted to keep climbing…

If he wanted to reach the Transcendent Tier…

Maybe even Legendary…

Then rushing now for the sake of convenience would be irresponsible to his own future.

Especially when this body was not even twenty years old yet.

From the bits of information Forgan had let slip, Xia Nan had already realized that combat techniques were not merely prerequisites for gaining a class level.

They remained important afterward.

They might even affect class advancement.

That meant every choice mattered.

Perhaps Forgan felt that ending the conversation there was too abrupt.

After Xia Nan withdrew his request, the barbarian added a few more words.

Judging from the talent Xia Nan had shown, the possibility was almost nonexistent.

But if Xia Nan somehow still had not gained a class before next winter arrived, he could go to Neum.

Forgan would probably stay in the city for a while around then.

And Xia Nan would not need to spend the favor.

Forgan would help him complete the final step anyway.

[You could have said that sooner!]

With that, there was nothing left to hesitate over.

Even a fool knew what to choose.

Combat techniques were difficult for ordinary people without backgrounds to obtain.

But difficult did not mean impossible.

Especially for a broadly distributed class category like warrior.

Spend enough time working as an adventurer, and sooner or later, some route would appear.

Translated by Bcatranslations. Read it at bcatranslation.com

A favor from a Transcendent who might already be approaching the Legendary rank?

That was a completely different matter.

And considering Forgan’s personality, a favor backed by an actual token…

Xia Nan suspected that if he asked the barbarian to turn the remaining half of Kalanfor into rubble, Forgan might do it without blinking.

[Keep it.]

[It’s another trump card.]

Xia Nan pushed the wolf fang deeper into his backpack until it was buried at the very bottom.

After confirming that Xia Nan had genuinely mastered [Fang Hunt] and no longer needed cold energy to guide him, Forgan left Rivervale Town with the fierce winter wolf pup.

He departed the same way he had arrived.

Wrapped in cold wind.

Silent as frozen stone.

Only the frost covering the stump of his missing left little finger hinted at the flame burning soundlessly beneath the ice.

[The bounty’s collected. Next…]

Xia Nan scanned the broad, bustling street ahead.

After a brief pause, he headed in a familiar direction.

…

Fey Wind.

It was one of the most famous general stores in Rivervale Town.

Its owner, Farlio, had supposedly spent several years as an apprentice at a large pawnshop in Neum.

His eye for valuables was excellent.

Even when adventurers brought in obscure or unusual trophies, he rarely misjudged the price.

That was why, despite Fey Wind’s offers being less than generous and sometimes outright harsh, the shop still earned a place on the recommended list in Rivervale Town’s [Adventurer’s Handbook].

Xia Nan had visited once after his first adventure.

Back then, he sold three pieces of malachite taken from a bugbear cave for thirty gold.

It had been a huge sum to him at the time.

Honestly, it still was.

Now Xia Nan had returned with more than twenty glittering stones collected from goblin caves.

Different colors.

Different sizes.

All of them shiny.

Unlike the equally famous Kukunur’s General Store, Fey Wind had a noticeably simpler interior.

A single row of shelves lined the walls.

Small, subtle decorations had been placed here and there with obvious care.

The shop itself was not large, yet it felt open and bright.

The difference between Fey Wind and the other general stores in town was obvious the moment one stepped inside.

[People from the city really are different.]

Xia Nan amused himself with the thought as he looked around.

No one.

He raised his voice.

“Boss? Is the boss here?”

“Coming, coming!”

Hurried footsteps sounded from the back room.

Creak!

A dark-brown oak door made from Misty Forest timber swung open.

A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses hurried out.

Xia Nan had been here before.

He recognized Farlio immediately.

The shop’s sharp-eyed owner.

But something was off.

The adventurers described Farlio as serious and old-fashioned.

The last time Xia Nan dealt with him, the man had been meticulous, calm, and unhurried.

Today?

His normally neat hair was disheveled.

Several buttons on his vest were fastened in the wrong places.

He looked like someone who had been buried under an endless pile of troublesome chores.

“My apologies. I was handling something in the back.” Farlio hurried behind the counter. “What do you need, sir?”

Xia Nan was curious, but this was not one of those games from his previous life where chatting with an NPC for three lines automatically triggered a side quest.

So he asked nothing.

Once Farlio settled behind the counter, he seemed to regain the composed manner Xia Nan remembered from their first meeting.

That was reassuring enough.

Xia Nan took a small cloth pouch from his backpack.

He did not dump everything onto the counter in one dramatic heap.

Instead, he carefully pinched each glittering stone between two fingers and placed them down one at a time.

Farlio might not have looked his best today, but the moment business began, his professionalism returned in full.

Most of the crystals were common enough that someone with his experience could probably identify and price them in seconds.

He still took out a magnifying lens.

One by one.

No shortcuts.

No omissions.

“Two pieces of malachite. Current market price, ten gold each.”

“Rhodochrosite has fallen quite a bit over the last two years. Eight pieces, forty-eight gold.”

“Hardly anyone buys turquoise anymore. Even jewelers in the city don’t take much of it. Seven pieces, forty-nine gold.”

“The blue quartz is good. Quartz jewelry happens to be fashionable in Neum City right now. This is the lowest grade of quartz, but plenty of impoverished nobles still buy it to keep up appearances. Prices have climbed quite a bit. Three pieces, forty-five gold.”

“Oh… one moonstone too. Shame it’s small. Only really suitable for an earring or a ring setting. Common quality. Thirty-five gold.”

“One hundred and ninety-seven gold in total. Please count it carefully.”

Xia Nan had never learned how to haggle.

More importantly, he was not the kind of person willing to spend an entire day arguing over one or two coins.

And Fey Wind’s reputation mattered.

The shop had made it into the [Adventurer’s Handbook] because countless low-level adventurers in Rivervale Town trusted it.

Farlio’s offers might not be generous, but they were generally close to market value.

That was good enough.

Xia Nan nodded.

No bargaining.

He added three gold coins of his own, then received two crystal cards from Farlio.

Each card stored one hundred gold and could be redeemed at a bank.

Xia Nan slipped both inside his clothes and kept them close to his body.

He exchanged a polite farewell with Farlio and walked out of the shop with a perfectly calm expression.

Then he stopped beside the street.

Took a deep breath.

And tried to settle the excitement churning in his chest.

[Two hundred gold!]

[Two hundred gold!]

[Two hundred gold!]

He had known the stones were valuable before he came.

After all, the malachite he sold last time had been worth ten gold apiece.

He had prepared himself mentally.

Or so he thought.

But actually turning twenty-one tiny stones, not even enough to fill a small pocket, into a full two hundred gold?

His heart still trembled.

And that was not even the full haul from this expedition.

One hundred and ninety-seven gold from the stones.

Twenty gold from the two bugbear bounties.

More than thirty gold from the hobgoblin’s stash, which he had already deposited in the bank.

Less than a week.

One trip.

More than two hundred and fifty gold in income.

Xia Nan’s total wealth had now reached an unprecedented…

Four hundred and five gold, six silver, and three copper!

That was equivalent to 6,750 fragrant, steaming bowls of cream of mushroom soup.

The bounties on 1,094 goblins.

Enough goblins to wear a blade dull.

Eight bottles of healing potion.

And…

One-third of a complete suit of heavy plate armor.

That last comparison could be ignored.

For now.

The important part was that this expedition had not even been about earning money.

Xia Nan’s main goal had been to follow Forgan and learn a combat technique.

Collecting trophies was just something he did along the way.

Forgan occasionally helped preserve high-value monster parts with ice so Xia Nan could claim their bounties.

But beyond that, countless goblins had died in those nests.

There had also been piles of crude weapons and armor.

Most of it was too heavy to carry.

Individually, those things were not worth much.

Together?

They would have added up to a considerable fortune.

Then there was the spined devil Xia Nan encountered on the way back.

A monster with a challenge rating of “2” probably carried a decent bounty.

At the very least, there were likely useful materials on its body that could sell for a good price.

Unfortunately, Xia Nan had been busy running for his life.

And the creature’s flesh had been badly contaminated by spores.

Carrying chunks of it around might have infected him.

So he took nothing.

Otherwise, he could have made several dozen more gold.

At that point, only one thought remained.

[Having a big shot backing you really makes earning money easy!]

Xia Nan had never even set out intending to make much.

He just followed Forgan around while the barbarian swept through a few goblin nests.

And somehow, that earned him more than he usually made by putting his life on the line, fully armed, for ten days or half a month in the forest.

Unable to help himself, Xia Nan touched the crystal cards beneath his clothes.

Then another thought struck him.

His expression stiffened.

Yes.

He had made a lot of money.

The gains from this trip had been enormous.

But what had they cost him?

Xia Nan remembered the faint sweetness of the final mouthful of healing potion.

A breeze slipped through the holes in his armor and reached the padding underneath.

A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead.