Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 264: Quest Spoils, Forty Thousand Gold!

"Oh! You're already up..."

Among the crowd of hungover drunks, Dirk looked relatively okay. He still reeked of alcohol, but his mind seemed clear and his thoughts sharp.

"Alright, let's settle the rewards for the quests first."

This trip had been unusual. Besides the three quests they had picked up back in the Royal Capital, they had also been unexpectedly trapped in the lower layer of the Boulder Mine.

The haul from that lower layer was substantial.

However, most of the monsters there had been slain by Lin Mo. Some were killed by the students, mainly Eve, the top of the Warrior Academy, and that mage named Milun.

Before they left the mine, on the night they rested in camp, both sides had already done a rough division, splitting the materials gathered from the lower layer.

They took eighty percent. Partly because Lin Mo had contributed so much, and partly because the students didn't care much about the materials; Dirk, representing their side, had proposed 73 percent, and the students had even offered an extra ten percent.

Given the unexpected situation, the academy would probably give the students some academic credit compensation as consolation anyway.

They still needed to divide the eighty percent they got between the two parties, but it couldn't be the previously agreed 65/35 split, because Dirk's side hadn't contributed anywhere near 35 percent. But before that, they had to settle the rewards from the earlier quests.

Dirk found a counter that handled D-rank quests and submitted the quest turn-ins, holding both teams' insignia.

"Hello, I'm turning in quests."

"Okay, please present your team insignia and provide the quest numbers."

"Numbers D67234, D68889, and D70153. Here are the materials."

Dirk set the parcels on the counter as he spoke.

"Alright, please wait..."

The counter clerk checked each quest's information and cross-referenced them.

"Quest D67234, extermination of Shattered Rock Golems, confirmed rock core count is twelve, exceeding the quest requirement by two. Do you want the Association to recover the excess materials?"

"Recover them together."

"Okay, please wait..."

"Quest D67234 reward is 800 gold. With the extra ten rock cores recovered, evaluated by rock core grade, the total value is... 3,800 gold. Adding the quest reward, your total for this quest is 4,600 gold."

"Next, quest D68889 reward is 1,200 gold, material recovery 5,500 gold, totaling 6,700 gold!"

"Quest D70153, quest reward 1,000 gold, material recovery... material recovery 24,000 gold!"

Even the counter clerk, who had worked at the Adventurers' Association for a long time, was stunned by the numbers.

That figure already far exceeded many C-rank quests... it even reached two to three times that of relatively straightforward C-rank tasks!

Partly the crystallized spider webs themselves were valuable, or had good resale margins on the aftermarket. Also, the spiders' levels were high, making their materials expensive.

"Oh, please settle the crystallized spider male king's materials separately."

Lin Mo reminded them.

They had no contribution to that thing; Wei Rou had taken it down entirely by herself.

Dirk did not have the nerve to claim that money.

"In that case, the total is 22,000 gold."

The crystallized spider queen was also special; she was worth far more than a typical level-10 monster, valued at 2,000 gold.

So the total gains from these three quests were... 3,300 gold!

"Besides, there are these materials."

In addition, there were materials from monsters killed along the way, including those slain in the lower layer of the Boulder Mine.

After the appraiser counted and evaluated them one by one, their value was confirmed to be about 18,000 gold. With the crystallized spider queen's materials, that came to exactly 20,000 gold.

"We don't want this money."

Dirk looked at Lin Mo and spoke the decision he had long since made.

"Don't want it?"

Lin Mo was taken aback. "Isn't that a bit... not right?"

Although Lin Mo had indeed killed most of the monsters, Dirk and the others had also made real contributions. By rights they should get a share.

But Dirk's stance was firm. He shook his head. "If not for riding on your coattails, we probably couldn't have even completed that C-rank quest earlier. We might have died in the Blackwater Swamp. Completing this mission was thanks to you. Luke and I discussed it, we can't take this money."

"Well... alright."

With things already said that plainly, dragging it out would feel pretentious. Lin Mo stopped hesitating and nodded.

Of the previous 33,300 gold, according to the prearranged split, Dirk's side took 35% and Lin Mo's Silver Radiance Team took the remaining 65%, totaling 21,645 gold.

Add the remaining materials' money, and Lin Mo's team's total haul skyrocketed to a terrifying 41,645 gold!

Even Silver Level adventurers would envy that sum.

Of course, Dirk and his side still did very well, earning over 10,000 gold. For them this was an impressive payday. Combined with the escort mission payback from earlier in the Royal Capital, these two trips together were a major haul even for Dirk, a newly minted Silver Level adventurer.

For the other adventurers, this was more than they might earn in a month—enough to upgrade equipment and spend lavishly for a while.

After mingling a bit more, both sides parted ways.

As Lin Mo had suspected, Dirk and his group were going to rest for a while. They were also invited to enroll at the Royal National Academy, and since the Royal Capital and Fargard City were close, they would likely travel between the two frequently. The upcoming Hunting Competition would be held in Fargard City, so they'd meet again.

Once the tea at the Association was finished, Lin Mo led Sherfilia back to their inn.

There was no rush to head to the Royal Capital. After a big mission like that, a few days' rest was fine—time to recover and also to help Ellie and the others strengthen themselves.

They had just gained a big sum of money, which should be converted into combat power as much as possible.

Back at the inn, Ellie was still half-asleep. Drowsy, when Lin Mo called she clung to his thigh and acted spoiled.

That showed she had rested well; her Constitution was not low.

Lin Mo lifted the whining little wolf-girl off the bed. Sherfilia pulled Finnie from under the covers and roused the dazed girl.

If they didn't get up soon, it would be nearly noon.

After washing up they had lunch. Post-meal, Ellie finally perked up and became lively again. They decided to stroll out and buy some things.

Of course Lin Mo followed the prior agreement and handed everyone a little "spending money." He used the leftover 1,645 gold split for pocket money.

The remaining 40,000 gold became the team's fund for purchasing necessities.

Lin Mo quickly made a shopping list.

First, he needed to buy a knight profession skill scroll for himself. That shouldn't cost much. As for equipment, there was no immediate need to replace anything; they had already bought magic stones earlier, so buying more would be pointless. He planned to buy some elemental reagents instead.

So far, aside from fire elemental reagents, Lin Mo had only used novice versions of the other elements. Upgrading from novice to intermediate reagents could yield roughly a thirteen percent improvement even accounting for diminishing returns.

That improvement was significant. Elemental Affinity improvements affected not just raw power, but also resonance with an element, casting speed, and skill release efficiency. For a single element, its effect could be greater than a 13% increase in mana.

However, intermediate elemental reagents were expensive. Base prices were over 5,000 gold in smaller regions, and in big cities like the Royal Capital or Fargard City, often above 6,000 gold. Higher-quality reagents could cost 7,000–8,000 gold.

So even with 40,000 gold, Lin Mo couldn't buy many.

After careful thought, he decided to invest in ice and lightning elemental reagents. Ice was obvious—one of his most used elements. Lightning was the element he planned to develop next. Compared with water, wind, and earth—which focus more on utility—lightning excelled at offensive power, sometimes even surpassing fire.

Lin Mo also had two lightning elemental skills that urgently needed improvement, so investing in lightning was a safe bet.

For the rest of the team, Finnie should get an intermediate light-element reagent as a reserve. She's already level 4; with her talent and Lin Mo's future help, reaching level 5 shouldn't take long.

For Sherfilia, Lin Mo planned to buy her a decent piece of armor. Many believed an assassin's most important stat was speed—and that was true—but thanks to Lin Mo's assistance Sherfilia was no longer a conventional assassin. Normal assassins didn't possess her strength or Constitution. With a good armor piece she could achieve defense surpassing many warriors, approaching knight levels. In short: tanky and high damage.

Ellie, on the other hand, had been gifted an epic item by Lady Behira when they left Fargard City—the Blood Tiger Hide Boots—and she used the Steel-Cleaving Sword that Lin Mo had previously replaced for her. Her equipment was already solid. What could immediately and affordably boost her power were elemental reagents.

They had already given her novice reagents before, and the combat results had been clear. After drinking the reagent, Ellie's Frost Slash skill improved noticeably—she could release it faster and more smoothly. The Ice Wolf Clan's bloodline was essentially a special form of ice element. This bloodline granted them properties somewhat like a spellsword, making them much stronger than ordinary warriors. Drinking an ice elemental reagent not only boosted Ellie's strength, it might also awaken diluted, dormant aspects of her bloodline—scientifically speaking, activating hidden gene expression.

They were in no rush, so they wandered Fargard City's streets like tourists, stopping at interesting stalls and sampling snacks. Most street food was tasty, though they sometimes hit bad picks. Whenever Finnie got something she didn't like she passed it to Ellie, who always accepted anything.

Sherfilia, who had always opposed Finnie being picky, said nothing. Instead she nodded in approval—her mistress had learned to vie for attention and suppress rivals, asserting her "authority" and status. Good progress! The recent special training and extra lessons had worked; her pupil listened. It was time to step things up with more exciting material.

She didn't know that whenever Finnie heard Sherfilia talk about odd things, she would get embarrassed and go blank. She seemed to listen, but it all went in one ear and out the other—her head filled with strange fantasies and nothing truly stuck.

Unaware of how lively everyone's inner monologues were, Lin Mo enjoyed the relaxed day off. While leveling through monster slaying was fun, life wasn't only battles and training. Sometimes a few quiet days to reset were necessary—people weren't machines; constant tension would break someone sooner or later.

They passed a clothing store and Lin Mo took them in to buy some outfits. Everyone already had many clothes, so they didn't splurge—just picked a few items that looked especially good or fit well. Those were cheap; Lin Mo paid from his own pocket, not the team fund.

After wandering for a while, it was time to get down to business. Lin Mo led the group straight to Fargard City's trade market. He had been here before and had found treasures, but he still felt odd about that old man who had sold him an Exceptional-Grade skill scroll at a suspiciously low price. Reflecting on the sudden appearance of that so-called guide and the old man's reactions during the sale, something felt off. The seller should have known the scroll's value, yet he sold it to Lin Mo for an unbelievably low 2,000 gold...

Lin Mo didn't believe in free gifts from the sky. Either the seller knew about Lin Mo's deeds and talent and wanted to make a good impression for future recruitment, or it was related to the academy or Finnie's family. Either way, he'd meet that old man again someday—then he could thank him.

Thinking about that, Lin Mo entered the market. He went to the old man's stall, but as expected the little shop was gone. A middle-aged man with a Mediterranean haircut now occupied the space, looking shifty and picking his nose.

Lin Mo glanced around the stall—nothing of value—and turned to leave.

Although the market had many fakes and swindlers, Lin Mo didn't need a rare Exceptional-Grade skill scroll. He only needed an ordinary knight skill scroll. Physical or qi-and-blood skill scrolls were generally more common than mage scrolls, and the knight was a popular physical class, second only to the warrior. So knight scrolls still weren't easy to find, but possible.

He spotted a stall owner who looked steady, about seventy or eighty years old, with neat short hair and plain but clean clothes—someone who seemed like a capable adventurer selling skills he hadn't fully mastered.

"How much for that scroll?" Lin Mo picked up the scroll and asked.

The seller eyed him warily and said slowly, "This scroll isn't suitable for you."

Lin Mo was startled. The tone was a bit curt but not hostile—more like a warning. Understandable; from appearances Lin Mo looked like a mage. None of his companions outwardly resembled a knight either.

"That may not be true." Lin Mo crouched down slowly. "Brother, I know this is a knight scroll. It's exactly what I need. Name your price..."

The stall owner frowned. That scroll had special meaning to him. He wouldn't have sold it unless he truly needed money. Even then, he had refused many merchants who only wanted to flip it. The young man before him didn't look like a profiteer—but clearly looked like a mage.

"Do you have a knight in your team?" the owner asked.

Lin Mo shook his head. Under the seller's puzzled look, he picked up a plain-looking shield from the nearby stall.

"Borrow this for a moment."