When he looked around, he realized that this was not the same portal he had entered. In the left corner, he saw the man who had set his portal earlier. Intrigued by how these portals worked, especially given his affinity for space, he resisted the urge to investigate further and headed towards the exit.
Upon reaching the main lounge, he texted Sarah to let her know he had many monster cores to sell. Finding a couch to sit on, he checked his phone and saw a message from Ms. Clarissa informing him that he could receive his reward from the school tomorrow. He thanked her and continued scrolling through forums.
After a while, he received a response from Sarah. She informed him that he could go to the League's Appraisal area on the 3rd floor. She also mentioned that this floor was dedicated to buying and selling items, so he could look around if he needed anything. Replying with an "Ok," he made his way to the 3rd floor.
Arriving on the 3rd floor, he saw various counters, each dedicated to different services. After a quick glance around, he spotted the appraisal area. It was crowded, with many adventurers trying to determine the value of their materials. As he pondered whether to come back later, he noticed some people entering through a small door in the corner. Curiosity piqued, he decided to follow them.
Just as he was about to enter, a guard stopped him and asked, "Do you have an appointment?"
"I don't," Asher replied, "but my exclusive receptionist, Ms. Sarah Fowler, told me to come here."
Although unsure whether she meant this room or the queue outside, he decided to bluff.
"Alright, let me check. What's your name?"
"Asher Embers."
The guard checked a tablet and said, "Alright, you can go in."
Asher sighed with relief and entered the room. It was not very large but contained many counters, each manned by someone who looked scholarly. He approached an empty counter and asked, "Can you help me confirm these materials?"
"Sure," replied the man at the counter.
Asher handed over more than 50 cores. The man was surprised by the amount, knowing that the young adventurer in front of him was only level 3, but he proceeded to check them all.
"Alright, there are 20 Creepweaver, 10 Nightspinner, 4 Bitewing, and 16 Duskvenom Crawler cores of Mundane level," the man said, looking at Asher. "Is there anything else?"
Asher took out the core and materials collected from the Venomshade Spider and handed them over.
The man looked at Asher with pleasant surprise. "You got lucky in Spider's Hollow. The mutated Venomshade Spider only appears occasionally, and the one you hunted has the bloodline of a Poisonshadow Spider, a Mystic-level monster." He wanted to ask how Asher had killed it but then noticed Asher taking out four skillstone fragments.
"Your luck is better than most," the man said, more surprised. "It's a pity you didn't get one more fragment; you could have combined them into a complete skillstone."
Asher smiled awkwardly.
"If you sell it to the League, they would give you a total of 100,000 Aetherium for all of them, or you could keep the fragments and buy the remaining one to learn the skill."
"I'll take the money," Asher decided.
"So, including the cores and materials, that would be a total of 150,000 Aetherium." The man said, transferring Asher the money through a panel near him.
Asher thanked him and was about to leave when he remembered the eggs in his side bag. He turned around, and the man looked confused.
Asher took out the 12 eggs from the bag and handed them over. "Do you guys buy monster eggs?"
"Absolutely," the man said, unable to hide his surprise. Although finding monster eggs wasn't rare, it was usually something only veteran adventurers could do. He hadn't expected a level 1 adventurer like Asher to have them.
"20,000 Aetherium for each egg, making a total of 240,000 Aetherium," the man said, transferring the money again.
Asher thanked him and left.
Asher noticed that an amount of 3,900 Aetherium had been sent to Sarah through his contract. He didn't mind and was grateful for not having to wait in line, as he saw that most queues hadn't even moved.
Deciding to look around, he spotted an array shop. He knew arrays were formations made by runes used for powerful attacks or defenses. Entering the shop, he found it empty but familiar with such places, he went to the panel at the counter and browsed the prices.
He purchased a runes basic kit for novices for 50,000 Aetherium. An alchemy puppet brought him a package containing various books, special paper, a scribe, and ink. He placed them in his storage and moved to the next shop, which was a potion shop. There, he saw a similar novice kit and ordered it for 80,000 Aetherium. This time, the puppet gave him some books, basic apparatus including a cauldron, flasks, and various other tools, along with some basic materials. Just as he placed these in his storage, the alchemy puppet pointed towards another section.
He realized this section was dedicated to fire control techniques, which he needed for potion-making. He decided to buy a fire skillbook called "Scorch Control" and another called "Flame Whisper."
Scorch Control: Fine-tunes the fire to target specific areas of the cauldron, ideal for complex potions needing varied heat zones.
Flame Whisper: Allows precise control over the fire's intensity and size with a gentle whisper or gesture.
These cost about 50,000 Aetherium in total.
After exiting, he noticed a weapon shop. Realizing he depended mostly on his spells and lacked a close combat weapon, he decided to take a look inside. The shop was similar to the previous one, and he checked the panel for weapons. During practice sessions at school, he found he could handle almost any weapon, but he was most comfortable with small weapons like daggers. As he was about to buy a dagger, he saw a claw-like weapon. Although he hadn't used this type of weapon before, he knew it would be useful as he could use it simultaneously with spells. He decided to buy the claw and a dagger. He didn't initially choose any armor, but thinking about his torn dress, he bought a durable robe made with monster skin.
Hunter's Claw (Common): These claw-like gloves feature sharp, curved blades extending from the knuckles, designed for swift and deadly strikes against agile prey.
Nightshade Dagger (Common): This sleek dagger boasts a dark, almost translucent blade infused with a mild poison, perfect for silent and lethal close-combat encounters.
Beast-hide Robe (Common): Crafted from the resilient hide of a formidable beast, this robe offers exceptional protection and durability, making it ideal for adventurers facing harsh environments.
All these items cost him a total of 100,000 Aetherium.
After exiting the shop, he looked at the remaining money and was surprised to see that he had spent almost everything he had received. He sighed and decided to go home.
After exiting the shop, he looked at the remaining money and was surprised to see that he had spent almost everything he had received.
He sighed and decided to go home.