novelraw Chapter 244: Mission Reward: Tens of thousands of gold coins!
Chapter 244: Mission Reward: Tens of thousands of gold coins!
The future prospects are certainly very promising, but currently, the progress regarding "Demonic Qi" isn't going that smoothly.
Even though Lin Mo conducted many attempts and experienced that successful compression feeling once or twice again, it ultimately proved fleeting and difficult to maintain.
Forget it, I'll deal with it later...
Lin Mo glanced at his status panel.
After previously maxing out [Meteor Thrust] and evolving it into [Demonic Light Piercing Kill], his base Strength attribute had reached 93 points.
His base Mana attribute was currently at 106 points, significantly narrowing the gap between them.
The efforts during this period had been quite productive.
His Warrior profession advancing from Level 8 to Level 9 had also provided him with another 6 points in Strength, 2 points in Constitution, and 2 points in Agility, boosting his combat capabilities somewhat.
The time was about right;
it was time to go collect the rewards at the Adventurers' Association.
Lin Mo stood up and returned to the inn, with Sherfilia following closely behind.At this hour, Finnie and Ellie had already gotten up and finished washing up.
The group headed directly to the Royal Capital's Adventurers' Association.
Unlike the differences between Silverstream City and Fargard City, Fargard City as one of the kingdom's four major cities wasn't that far behind the Royal Capital.
Especially in aspects related to adventurers, it was even more complete than the Royal Capital in some ways.
So the Royal Capital's Adventurers' Association wasn't more luxurious than Fargard City's, and the number of adventurers was noticeably fewer than in Fargard City.
That said, being the Royal Capital after all, overall it was still quite lively.
Pushing the door open, the bustling, noisy scene inside the association was pretty much the same everywhere.
The decorations were just more luxurious, the space was wider, and the people inside were stronger, but the overall atmosphere was remarkably similar.
Lin Mo spotted Dirk and his crew sitting in a very conspicuous location at a glance.
The old guy had already ordered a table full of dishes and was waving toward them.
"Here already? Have something to eat first, there are people queuing over there, no rush..."
This was pretty well arranged.
Lin Mo smiled and didn't stand on ceremony, sitting at the wide long table and grabbing a chicken leg as big as a human face to munch on.
Ellie also ate voraciously;
she hadn't eaten breakfast this morning and had consumed a lot yesterday, so she needed to replenish her energy properly.
In comparison, Finnie remained more reserved, maintaining her elegant lady-like demeanor.
After a while, someone waved toward their table: "Boss, it's our turn."
Dirk stuffed a steak into his mouth and mumbled: "Lesh go, time to claim our rewarsh..."
When they reached the counter, Dirk had already swallowed that large piece of steak and greeted the association's Counter Lady with practiced ease: "Hello, mission number C-5547. The employer should have submitted the journey information by now, please settle the rewards."
"Okay, please wait a moment!"
The Counter Lady nodded, taking the adventurer badge Dirk handed over.
Then followed a series of operations on the Mana System, and shortly after, they heard her say: "Mission number C-5547, merchant convoy escort mission, confirmed completed."
"The mission base pay is 3000 Gold Coins. Encountered numerous sub-Lord Level magical creatures along the way. Based on employer-submitted information, calculated additional reward is 1200 Gold Coins;
encountered Low Lord Level magical creatures 3 times, calculated additional reward 1400 Gold Coins;
encountered Mid Lord Level magical creature once. According to employer-provided information, the creature's threat level was approximately... Level 14!"
At this point, the Counter Lady couldn't help but look up, staring at the group before her with shock.
Even in the Royal Capital, adventurers capable of killing Level 14 magical creatures were extremely rare.
"Calculated additional reward is approximately 3200 Gold Coins!"
"The total mission reward amounts to 8800 Gold Coins!"
This was already higher than the combined rewards from the two missions Lin Mo had previously taken,
And that wasn't all...
"Additionally, please recycle these materials as well."
"Okay... Please wait a moment, the association's appraiser will be right over."
Just as she said, the Royal Capital's Adventurers' Association operated with high efficiency. In about half a minute, the association's appraiser arrived on site and began analyzing the materials they submitted.
'These sub-Lord Level materials, while individually not that valuable, are quite numerous... Purchased at association prices, they total around 1800 Gold Coins. What do you all think?"
The appraiser looked up and asked.
Lin Mo glanced at Dirk beside him. Compared to himself, the more experienced Dirk clearly had a better understanding of these materials' values.
Dirk discussed with his companions nearby and nodded: "That's fine. Please also take a look at these remaining materials."
"Okay, wait a moment."
The appraiser turned to the next few materials, and his expression immediately turned serious.
"Festering Giant Frog, Marsh Slime, and Swamp Lizard? Lord Level magical creature materials are much more valuable..."
He pondered for a moment and finally said: "For these three materials, the association can offer a total of 2100 Gold Coins."
Dirk nodded: "Average 700 Gold Coins each, that's quite a good price already."
This was only possible in the Royal Capital. In places like Silverstream City or Roland Town, the prices would definitely be lower.
"Finally, there's this..."
Lin Mo pointed to the "Corrupted Swamp Stalker" core placed nearby.
The appraiser nodded and carefully examined it.
"Indeed, as stated in the mission information submitted by the employer, this should be a magical creature with threat level 14!"
This time the appraiser didn't hesitate, giving the price decisively: "If this material is recycled through the association, we can offer 3800 Gold Coins!"
3800 Gold Coins—this was already more expensive than most mid-tier Exceptional-Grade equipment.
After all, this thing could be used to craft Magic Stones, making it slightly more valuable than typical magical creature materials of the same level.
Speaking of the equipment Lin Mo currently had—mainly referring to the mithril gloves and the Magic Stones embedded in them—it was about time for an upgrade.
Back when he first arrived at Silverstream City, mithril gloves were considered quite advanced weapons for him, and Lin Mo had saved up for quite some time before finally buying the pair he now owned.
Yet now, not much time had passed, and this once expensive equipment for him was already starting to fall behind his progress.
Ultimately, the mithril ore used to forge these mithril gloves was relatively ordinary C-grade mithril, producing only low-tier Exceptional-Grade quality.
As for what to replace them with, Lin Mo now had some ideas.
He had a piece of Spirit Vein Mithril from Lady Behira.
This thing's value matched A-grade mithril, roughly worth fifty thousand Gold Coins.
This value had completely surpassed the vast majority of low-tier Epic Level equipment!
And what hadn't surpassed it, or was roughly comparable... naturally, were mage-type equipment.
Yes, the Mage profession was just that expensive.
In short, with this piece of Spirit Vein Mithril, plus suitable supplementary materials and a sufficiently skilled Blacksmith, they could completely forge an Epic Level spell weapon!
As for the form...
Lin Mo thought gloves would still be good,
Mainly because he often fought with his sword too, and he already had an Epic Level Frost Dragon Scale Sword in hand. If he made a staff, even with the Spatial Ring, using it wouldn't be as convenient.
So making a pair of gloves was better.
Moreover, the materials needed to make gloves should be much less than for a staff.
If this mithril were used to make a staff, it would be a bit insufficient, requiring many other expensive materials to be added. The final product might be considerably more powerful than ordinary low-tier Epic Level weapons, but relatively, the cost would also be very high, even comparable to some mid-tier Epic Level weapons.
At least for now, Lin Mo certainly didn't have the capability to obtain Epic Level materials.
Even if the supplementary materials didn't need to be Epic Level, just high Lord Level, meaning Level 21-30 magical creatures, were completely beyond his current ability to handle.
Epic Level magical creatures were on a completely different level...
So, forging a pair of mithril gloves was more practical. Because the Spirit Vein Mithril as the main material was tough enough, the supplementary materials probably only needed to be from somewhat stronger Mid Lord Level magical creatures.
As for specifically what was needed, that would depend on the Blacksmith they found later.
While lost in thought, the transaction before him was completed.
The total price for magical creature materials given by the appraiser finally reached an astonishing 7700 Gold Coins. Combined with the mission reward of 8800 Gold Coins, the total income from this mission had reached five digits—a full 16,500!
With such a huge amount, settling with Gold Coins wasn't really feasible.
So the association directly used Crystal Coins.
150 Crystal Coins, plus 1500 Gold Coins.
With the mission rewards settled, everyone returned to their meal table. Their food wasn't finished yet, and fortunately, due to the association's high efficiency, the dishes hadn't cooled down.
After finishing the meal, they began distributing the mission rewards.
Regarding this, they had already discussed earlier and decided on a 3.5 to 6.5 ratio.
So Dirk's side should receive 5775 Gold Coins, while Lin Mo's side should get 10725 Gold Coins.
Just the share they received had already reached five digits. Undeniably, although this C-level mission was quite difficult, the rewards were indeed substantial, even exceeding the scope of ordinary C-level missions.
Moreover, at the same time, Dirk achieved his wish and successfully advanced to Silver Level adventurer. For him, this was the greatest gain from this journey.
After dividing the money, Dirk's group quickly bid farewell. Judging by his excited demeanor, he was probably taking his brothers to relax properly.
On Lin Mo's side, since they had previously agreed to keep the majority of the money in the team treasury, they simply left the 100 Crystal Coins untouched. The remaining 725 Gold Coins were divided among everyone as pocket money.
Having obtained a huge sum of over ten thousand Gold Coins, as adventurers, they naturally couldn't let this money rot in the treasury.
Regarding the new mithril gloves, they definitely needed to start working on them. But the main material for this thing was already in hand, so no extra money was needed. As for the required supplementary materials, Lin Mo preferred to hunt for them himself rather than buy them.
So the real areas needing money were mainly Skill Scrolls, elemental reagents, and Magic Stones.
Not just for him;
Finnie also needed to purchase intermediate light element reagents and a decent light attribute Magic Stone.
But not now—they would wait a bit longer.
This wasn't Lin Mo being stingy, wanting to spend money only on himself, but because Finnie's mana wasn't very strong yet. If she used an Exceptional-Grade Magic Stone with overly powerful elemental energy, it might affect her own mana flow, actually hindering spellcasting.
So currently, the Magic Stone embedded in Finnie's staff was only excellent-grade.
Once she reached Level 5 or higher, she could upgrade to Exceptional-Grade.
Items like Magic Stones and elemental reagents were quite expensive.
Excellent-grade, meaning primary elemental reagents, cost 750 Gold Coins—a price difficult for suitable newcomers to afford.
Exceptional-grade, meaning intermediate elemental reagents, had astonishing values, a full ten times more than primary grade! Slightly better ones could even reach five digits!
If Lin Mo wanted to buy now, he could only afford one attribute.
Whereas if he chose to buy Magic Stones of the same grade, he could buy two.
So he was a bit conflicted...
Additionally, Ellie could actually buy a primary elemental reagent too. Ice element reagents and Magic Stones should provide bonuses to the bloodline power within her.
No need to buy a Magic Stone though;
Lin Mo already had one on hand.
Finally, Lin Mo decided to buy Magic Stones first.
Although elemental reagents provided permanent effects while Magic Stones didn't, upon careful thought, as long as he held his weapon in battle, the Magic Stone's effect would essentially be active continuously.
As for depletion... he probably wouldn't use a Magic Stone for very long, so it was basically negligible.
And when replacing it, the original Magic Stone could be sold. Although secondhand Magic Stones had some depreciation, again, he wouldn't use it for too long, so the loss wouldn't be much.
So the target was set: one primary ice element reagent, plus one Exceptional-Grade ice element Magic Stone and one Exceptional-Grade fire element Magic Stone.
With the target determined, Lin Mo took everyone to the Royal Capital's adventurer commercial district.
Although Fargard City was known as the Doria Kingdom's "Adventurer Holy Land," as the Royal Capital, this place certainly wasn't far behind.
In fact, regarding high-end goods and talent, the Royal Capital held some advantage.
The most famous alchemical item shop in the Royal Capital was naturally the Morin Family's "Morin Trading Company."
But Lin Mo definitely couldn't go there to buy things.
As the Morin Family's headquarters, the Royal Capital was one of the areas most deeply penetrated by the Morin Trading Company. Originally, if you didn't choose Morin Trading Company, there were almost no other choices.
But recently, this situation had changed.
A new shop called "Noren Trading Company" had opened in the Royal Capital.
Reportedly, it was also quite powerful and had already built some reputation in the Royal Capital recently. It was said they were planning to open a branch in Fargard City soon.
Lin Mo planned to check this one out.