While Fabio and Taliya began working together on what would surely be their greatest creation, Sol's squad had been resting in a small cave, safe from the harsh blizzard.
They talked about a variety of subjects eventually pivoting to their goals. Most of them lined up with what Sol knew of them, like Nataly's desire to improve her nature magic and Aron wanting to push the limits of his body to the extreme. But Rex's goals surprised him. He wanted neither knowledge nor power but money. Not for the sake of having a lot of money, but to buy one of the latest boats made by the Sapphire Scales Alliance.
According to Rex, these boats could weather any storm and fight off massive sea monsters. He said he would need such a vessel if he wanted to venture beyond the known lands and explore into the unknown, which had been his biggest wish since he was a child.
"How much would one of those boats cost?" Sol asked. Surely something capable of what Rex described wouldn't come cheap.
"Last I asked one of the alliance merchants, it was 42,000 gold."
Aron's mouth went agape. "42,000?! Rex, are you even close to that number?"
Rex closed his eyes as he ran the numbers mentally. "Hmm, gold wise I have a little over 2,000, but I also have a lot of saved up merit, which if I converted it all to gold, would be over 10,000."
Duncan was surprised when he heard the amount. The merit to gold conversion was 1:10, meaning Rex had accumulated at least 1,000 merit. Merit from a normal mission usually earns a squad 30 to 100 merit, but that is split between the squad members.
Even Sol couldn't help but harbor some jealousy as he was reminded of the sleepless nights before their journey where he had to carefully plan on what to spend the 50 merits he was given as starting funds. Many times he wished he had just 10 more merits so as not to be forced to choose some supplies over others.
Duncan had to ask, "Have you spent any merit at all since joining the knights?"
Rex nodded. "Of course! I spent 50 merits on this sword and 80 for my armor."
"That's it? No [Nurturer] blessings, skill books, lessons, or even items?"
These and other benefits, like access to the Royal Library, were the reason the knights became one of the strongest forces in the kingdom. The [Nurturer] talents the kingdom had employed were not the same as those in Kerman, as they had trained and evolved their [Nurture] skill to [Enlighten], massively increasing the growth of skills and the duration. Skill books were also another hard to acquire item, as they could only be made by people with [Writer] or [Legacy] talents who pass down a user's knowledge to written form, allowing others to read and gain the skill themselves. While this method of learning skills wasn't perfect, it was undoubtedly better than attempting to learn by oneself.
Rex shook his head innocently. "No, I didn't feel like I needed to, honestly."
Duncan simply couldn't believe Rex made no use of these opportunities and others while still being one of the stronger knights in the order. He himself thoroughly used the resources available to push him to become one of the strongest knights in the order despite his last talent. If Rex spent his vast wealth to improve himself instead of saving for a boat, he had no doubt he would be just as strong as him, if not stronger.
He slumped forward in defeat. "Gods, and for you to reach mid B-Rank without any of those resources… I would call you a monster if not for the fact we have two bigger monsters in our squad…"
Duncan mumbled the last sentence, but Rex and Sol easily picked up on what he said and neither knew how to respond because what he said wasn't wrong. Sol and Lapis were honestly bigger monsters in that regard, as they both were not only younger than Rex but had already reached the peak of B-Rank without any help or additional resources that the Royal Knights provided. In retrospect, it made the old man wonder why either of them joined in the first place, as the Royal Knights didn't have much to offer for either of them. It wasn't like they had a sure way to help them break through to A-Rank.
As Sol was about to ask more regarding the surprising amount of Rex's wealth, suddenly the resting Lapis jumped to her feet, catching everyone by surprise. She reached for her spear but realized it wasn't near her, but laying by the campfire with the rest of the squad. She didn't remember much of what happened; the last thing she could recall was when they were still outside traversing through the blizzard.
It was when she saw the rest of her squad sitting around a campfire, awkwardly staring at her, that she remembered what happened and composed herself.
Sol was the first to break the silence. "How are you feeling, Lapis?"
"Good, we can keep going," she stated once she got her bearings.
Her abruptness took them all by surprise, and Aron blurted out, "Already? You just woke up."
She nodded and urged them. "Yes, let's go."
The knights weren't sure what to do and looked to Sol for his decision.
Sol shook his head. "We aren't going anywhere yet. At the very least, we aren't leaving until you eat this soup."
"I'm not hungry."
Lapis wasn't lying when she said this; she truly wasn't hungry. Her body was strong enough to go without eating for a week if she didn't want to. Even if she fought or did rigorous exercise, she could last more than three days without eating. This was the case for all high ranked people, for their high vitality or mana as they both nourished the body in their own way, making them need less food. This didn't mean they should forgo eating as they would weaken over time, but it was possible nonetheless.
Still, Sol wasn't asking her to eat in case she was hungry; he explained, "The soup will give you [Cold Resistance], courtesy of Duncan. With it, you will be able to better endure the cold."
Hearing the benefits, she was no longer as apprehensive to eat. She took a bowl from Duncan, who served it for her, and ate it without hesitation. But what occurred next shocked the squad.
"... Is she for real?" Nataly asked, dumbfounded.
"I have no comment," Rex said as he looked away.
They all watched as Lapis tilted the bowl and poured the soup's contents directly into her mouth. She didn't bother to use utensils or anything, opting instead to consume the meal as quickly as possible. In less than ten seconds, she was already done. She handed the now empty bowl back to a bewildered Duncan.
"Done. Let's go," Lapis said as she grabbed her spear and signaled with her eyes for the rest of them to stand up.