Kyle was glad that his assumption about the Nurture ability had been correct. It had even exceeded his expectations making him feel both happy and relieved!
He had been able to nurture the withered meligna grass after using some of the stored energy.
It was an insignificant amount in comparison to what he had used to soothe Selene's pain, but enough to exhaust Kyle when he had used the Nurture ability on the meligna grass.
In the end, his efforts were rewarded and he had even received a small cloth pouch to store his wealth.
'To think that the Nurture ability is so versatile! Maybe I should try to revive something like this more often? The quality of the meligna grass should be able to become extraordinary too!'
He didn't think that his negotiation made the pharmacist suffer any loss and he had multiple reasons to support his assumptions.
After using his Nurture ability, the dried and withered grass blades had turned green and lively, increasing their freshness and overall quality.
Thus, the end product, that is, the paste produced from meligna grass would be more potent. As a result, it would consequently prevent infections from spreading further that were transferred by all kinds of low-ranked beasts, including even the vilest ones.
The Pryr and Maest crystals he had received in exchange for the grass didn't contain high-density primordial energy or mana, but it was enough to give his cultivation speed a boost for a limited time.
However, that was not what Kyle aimed for because he wanted to use the crystals as currency instead!
It was quite favorable that the Alsa village used cultivation resources as their currency because everyone required them, and he assumed the other villages would also follow the same trading method.
The ratio of one Pryr crystal to two Maest crystals with respect to its price was also quite beneficial for Kyle because the energy he perceived within the eyeball-sized crystals was roughly the same!
As such, Pryr crystals seemed to be high in demand and the most sought-after by the Nasga and Lohar race, while their supply was probably limited because the Sadorla forest didn't have many occurrences of crystal mines with primordial energy.
'With the price for both types of crystals being different, I should absorb the mana within the Maest crystals. When converted into soul force, it will have the exact same effect as a Pryr crystal has, for half the price!'
Kyle felt that it was a great advantage to not be restrained to a particular area because his Spirit Soul could absorb everything.
Thus, he could move freely around the forest without bothering to think twice about what kind of cultivation energy his surroundings had, as his Emerald Fox could convert all the three energies!
But even then, Selene had to absorb primordial energy for now and Kyle wanted to experiment with a few things.
Thus, he asked for 3 Pryr and 10 Maest crystals.
Kyle was not sure how rare or common the meligna grass found in the Sadorla forest was, but he could tell that the eyeball-sized crystals at the lowest quality were worth a lot.
Those were enough to pay for his lodging expenses in the tavern for two weeks! The rooms might be a little run-down and unkempt while he still had to look for food on his own, but Kyle didn't think that he could complain about the small fortune he had procured rather easily.
There was no way that he would use the crystal to rent a shabby room for two weeks. Kyle didn't plan to stay that long inside the village either way.
His plan was to acquire information about other villages and more resourceful areas in his surroundings.
The most important steps he had to complete were to build a solid foundation in his cultivation, which he could only do by nurturing his Spirit Soul as well as possible.
To achieve this to a certain extent, he could devour the souls of beasts that had been killed moments earlier, and utilize his Nurture ability to make up for the rest.
It was just perfect!
However, other than that, Kyle also knew that he couldn't achieve everything he had planned for his future, alone. This was also one of the reasons for him to include Selene in most of his new plans.
As long as he nurtured her well, which meant increasing her potential with his ability and making her feel more confident about herself by stabilizing her mental and physical state, it was possible to speed up his plans!
As such, the first thing Kyle did was to rent a room inside the tavern. It had only one bed, but Kyle was unbothered by this fact, while Selene blushed before she began pacing around the reception nervously.
Kyle handed the greasy-haired middle-aged man, who had crumbs of food stuck in his beard, three Maest crystals before he told him the number of his room.
He had already held out his hand to receive the key only to see the middle-aged man turning away as he said with a leer,
"We don't lock our doors. Either accept it or leave."
With that, the middle-aged man turned around to do his work and Kyle could only sigh,
'What a weirdo!'
Nevertheless, Kyle didn't think that having an open door was much of a problem. They didn't have anything valuable with them and looked no less than poor adventurers.
Fortunately, Selene's beauty wasn't clearly visible because she was malnourished, and smeared with dirt and blood of the hare she had killed a few hours earlier.
All-in-all, Kyle felt that they could easily stay in the tavern for the next three days before he decided whether they should extend their stay for a few more days or leave.
Now that they had found a place to stay, they had to eat something. Thinking about food, Kyle took out the hare, and Selene's eyes fell on the dead creature as she recalled how she had killed it.
In an instant, her face paled again.
Ignoring her nervousness, Kyle spoke to the middle-aged man again.
He might have feigned ignorance or was really busy with his work, but Kyle estimated that this was the man's normal behavior. Based on the gruff tone and an unwelcoming body language of the man, he was surprised how the tavern was still in business because both the characteristics would make him suffer losses.
However, he discarded the thought as he wasn't there to impart business lessons to someone.
As such, he got straight to the point and initiated a discussion with the middle-aged man, trying to persuade him to roast the hare's meat and organs for them in exchange for its bones, hide, and anything else.
After ten minutes of convincing, the middle-aged man agreed to Kyle's request.
He would only receive half of the hare's meat, but that was totally fine with Kyle, whose mouth was already watering at the thought of grilled meat.
Selene had never eaten grilled meat before, let alone anything fresh or hot.
All her life she had survived on crumbs and leftovers thrown at her that she would hungrily gobble. That was if her master remembered to feed her, which more than half the time, he didn't.
Because of that, her face lit up with joy, when the hare's grilled meat was served.
Their tastebuds exploded as they bit into the tender meat and its juices trickled down from the corner of their mouths.
Both of them savored every single bite they took while making loud slurping and chewing sounds as they feasted themselves to their heart's content and relished the taste.
The middle-aged man could only shake his head and call the two young adventurers insane before he went back to work.
After eating, Kyle looked up from his plate and saw tears streaming down Selene's face.
This caused him to look at her in pity and he wiped his oily and greasy fingers on his only set of clothes before he gently patted her head.
Kyle was not sure if that was correct, but most races that could be categorized as 'Demi-Humans' liked being patted on their backs and heads like pets.
Fortunately, it seemed to work and Selene stopped crying, but she remained silent as she wiped her tears quickly while Kyle tried to distract her by explaining what else he had to do today.
"If you want, you can cultivate in our room. I'll go visit the runemaster and blacksmith. Other than that, we walked past a butcher and I think I saw an old woman weaving too. I might as well pay them a visit to get to know their rates. In the evening I'll return to the tavern, but I'll stay in the pub to procure some information about the surrounding villages and resourceful areas. Merchants and other villagers will probably come over to drink!"
She didn't need to accompany him for this task, but from the looks of it, Selene didn't want to stay alone which she indicated by shaking her head in denial vigorously.
Kyle knew that he would have to make her understand that she couldn't tail him everywhere because there would be times she would have to do tasks without him and vice versa.
But now was not that time, and Kyle realized that she required some time and emotional support to get a grip on herself.
He was not sure if he was the right person to accomplish this because he didn't feel like he was good at being a pillar of support.
Yet, for Selene, Kyle was the only one whom she could trust and rely on!
Not only had he rescued her from a place she had described as a living hell, but he had accepted her for who she was while treating her far better than anyone had ever done before.
As such, she would follow Kyle everywhere, as long as he allowed her to!