For inexperienced runners, a dungeon run would take at least 48 hours. As they improve, this time may decrease over time.
The current schedule set by the academy made it impossible for inexperienced runners to challenge dungeons, as they simply couldn't finish them in their allotted free time.
This was essentially the same as barring them from using dungeons for a month.
After parting with Luna, Noah called a taxi to the market. Unlike the calm atmosphere of the rest of the city, the market was bustling with a loud crowd.
He walked through the cobbled path, watching vendors selling various valuable resources from dungeons.
The prices here were astronomically high, and Noah felt his heart ache at the sight of them.
He had sold his Tier 2 mana ball for three hundred thousand, while here people were paying millions for them.
Noah was confused. This difference was too significant. So, he asked around, and a nearby man shook his head.
"Oh, you're new here?" The man nodded, noticing Noah's confused expression. "Mana balls are rated not only by their grade but also by their elemental affinity.
This mana ball contains a trace of fire element, so for runners with fire element perception, it's more valuable than an ordinary Tier 3 mana ball."
Noah thanked the man, breathing a sigh of relief. His mana ball had no elemental affinity, which explained its lower value.
It wasn't due to the Chamber of Commerce cheating him.
Noah watched some exciting bids, which broadened his worldview. Most bids were in the millions, and a few even reached a billion credits.
'And here I thought I become rich...' he thought, glancing down at his million credits. He decided not to waste any more time and headed towards his objective.
The academy required everyone to choose a mandatory support subject, including Alchemy, Array, Blacksmithing, and Rune Drawing.
Training in any of these four professions required a significant amount of resources, and despite the academy's promise to provide these resources, Noah believed they would be of lesser quality and quantity.
That's why he was here, to try his luck at the famous stone gambling casinos in Zenith.
He had already chosen Blacksmithing as his mandatory support subject and Rune Drawing as an elective.
He believed that combining these two professions would be a game-changer.
Many in the history of Eldoria had tried to do what he was planning, but all had failed miserably.
Rune Drawing required acute mana concentration. Once a rune was started, it couldn't be stopped midway, as that would ruin the drawing.
Unless someone had a high mana regeneration rate, they couldn't concentrate for a long time and thus couldn't become a Rune Master.
Also, runes were typically drawn on thin metals, as the thickness of the metal increased the amount of concentration required to draw a rune.
Therefore, it was highly impractical to draw runes on weapons.