novelraw Chapter 265: Easy to Spend, Hard to Earn
Chapter 265: Easy to Spend, Hard to Earn
"Borrowing this for a moment."
As the words fell, Lin Mo raised his shield and attacked the stall owner in front of him.
[Shield Bash]
"Clang—!"
Because Lin Mo deliberately slowed his speed, giving the other party ample time to react, the stall owner lifted his heavy-armored arm and blocked the strike.
Seeing the other party raise his arm, Lin Mo confirmed that his opponent was quite capable and abandoned the thought of pulling back the attack, though he still held back a significant amount of force.
However, even though Lin Mo had gone so easy, the immense power still caused the stall owner's expression to change. He had to dig his feet firmly into the ground to barely maintain his balance, his iron boots leaving deep marks on the floor.
"You're pretty strong..."
Lin Mo looked at the stall owner with some surprise.
Although he had used less than half his strength, the fact that the other could steady himself and was only pushed back this far... judging by the intensity of the opponent's Qi and Blood displayed in that moment, his strength probably wasn't far off from Dirk's.At this age, with this level of strength, his talent was already stronger than many students at the Royal National Academy.
Actually... could he really be a student from the academy?
But judging by his age, he should have already exceeded the age limit.
"That's my line."
The stall owner's eyes held deep shock, and he stared at Lin Mo in front of him with a face full of astonishment.
He clearly looked dressed like a Mage. Yet he possessed such powerful Qi and Blood, and had actually used a Knight class skill...
This truly somewhat exceeded his imagination.
However, if that was the case, then handing this skill over to him wouldn't be a cause for concern.
"My apologies, I misjudged you."
As he spoke, he handed that Knight skill scroll to Lin Mo. "1000 gold coins."
"A bit expensive, isn't it?"
Lin Mo frowned slightly.
Normally, the price of an excellent-grade physical class scroll should generally be around 600-800 gold coins.
1000 gold coins clearly exceeded that range.
"1000 gold coins, plus this..."
The stall owner took out another common-grade skill scroll.
"That's about right then."
Lin Mo nodded. Although it was still a bit on the expensive side, this price was somewhat reasonable now.
But...
"I'm a bit curious. With your strength, you shouldn't be that short on money, right?"
The other party's strength was probably around level 9 approaching 10, or just having reached level 10. He was a bit weaker than Dirk, but if he became an adventurer, he could easily earn a few thousand gold per mission.
Yet he looked like someone urgently in need of money.
"Mission money isn't enough."
The stall owner spoke very concisely, being frugal with his words.
Lin Mo didn't ask further, nodded, paid the money, and accepted the two scrolls.
He waved his hand and left the trading market directly.
He had bought what he wanted. Next, it was time to go to the alchemy shop to buy elemental reagents.
On the way to the alchemy shop, Lin Mo unrolled the two scrolls he had just purchased.
Two skills: one common-grade [Spinning Shield], and one excellent-grade [Charging Shield].
[Spinning Shield]: Infuse Qi and Blood into the shield and throw it. The shield will then spin and deal damage again to enemies it collides with.
[Charging Shield]: Gather Qi and Blood in front, hold the shield, and initiate a powerful charge.
Both skills were exactly the offensive Knight-type skills Lin Mo needed. The effects of the skills themselves were quite simple, but what Lin Mo valued wasn't the skill itself, at least not the current common and excellent-grade versions.
For the current Lin Mo, skills below Epic Level could hardly offer him any improvement anymore.
These two skills would also take quite a while to level up to Epic Level. Their main role was to help him increase his Constitution attribute points.
In comparison, the Knight class skill currently closest to Epic Level for Lin Mo was definitely Fortitude.
This skill had been improving throughout many previous battles, though the gains weren't as obvious as the direct boosts from killing magical creatures. However, accumulated over a long period, it had become quite substantial.
Currently, this skill's progress had reached Lv6 (243/300). It was only a little over fifty proficiency points away from reaching the max level, Lv7, of a blue Exceptional-Grade skill.
Lin Mo had also been looking forward to seeing what changes would occur when this skill reached Epic Level.
Would it further enhance the skill's own effect, or add some new functionality? After all, it's an Epic-Level skill. If it were just the former, wouldn't that seem a bit too ordinary?
He could also focus on special training for this in the next few days, prioritizing increasing this skill's proficiency, just like when he was still in Roland Town looking for sparring partners. For a while before, it had been Sherfilia helping out as the sparring partner.
But now, with Lin Mo's strength continuing to increase, the effectiveness of sparring with Sherfilia wasn't as good as before.
So who should he ask for help?
Lin Mo quickly thought of one person in his mind.
If it were him, he'd probably be very willing... just not sure if he had time recently?
Returning his thoughts to the present, these two new skills naturally needed to be learned quickly.
Learning physical skills was basically no difficulty for Lin Mo. In a short while, he had mastered the Qi and Blood circulation pathways within them.
"Skill [Spinning Shield] learned. Gained +1 base attribute point to Constitution."
"Skill [Charging Shield] learned. Gained +2 base attribute points to Constitution."
His base Constitution attribute rose by another 3 points, reaching 54 points.
After Lin Mo's own strength increased, his current efficiency in grinding skill proficiency was incomparable to before.
High-level magical creatures gave a lot of proficiency. Killing a few could max out a common-grade skill.
So as long as he had the skills, catching up his Constitution attribute later would still be easy for Lin Mo.
The Constitution attribute was really important...
Lin Mo glanced sideways at Finnie, who was intimately holding his arm. In the past, she wouldn't have been so open.
Whether it was due to Sherfilia's teachings or her own progress, in any case, it was foreseeable that the burden on his shoulders would soon become heavier.
Without a good physique, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Moreover, the enhancement magnitude of the [Shared Cultivation] skill was also related to the specific attributes of the higher-level partner and the difference between both parties. The higher his Constitution attribute, the higher the Constitution attribute growth he could bring to others.
For the safety of everyone, he also needed to quickly catch up his Constitution attribute to his other attributes.
"We're here, we're here!"
Ellie beside him was still full of energy. Her flushed face made her look even more charming than usual.
Compared to when they first met, the current Ellie was much more feminine.
Lin Mo's gaze swept past Ellie's profile and looked up at the signboard above.
[Noren Trading Company]
That's right, a branch of the Noren Trading Company had already opened in Fargard City.
This expansion speed was much faster than anticipated.
Lin Mo was now increasingly certain that behind this trading company was a very powerful force. This force was so large that it could openly compete with Duke Morin for the alchemy market of the Doria Kingdom, and Duke Morin clearly didn't dare to have any objections. He was even forced to advertise by having his son win the Hunting Competition to compete with them.
This legitimate method was completely unlike Duke Morin's usual modus operandi.
What did this indicate? It indicated that he simply couldn't afford to provoke the other party, to the point where he didn't even dare to entertain any underhanded ideas.
Lin Mo didn't think anyone within the kingdom could achieve this, not even the royal family, or even the King himself.
So the force behind this Noren Trading Company most likely came from some Empire, or perhaps some continental-scale organization similar to the Adventurers' Association or the Holy Light Church.
But this had little to do with Lin Mo. He just felt pleased seeing Duke Morin suffer.
So he naturally felt some goodwill towards this trading company as well.
Stepping inside, the decorations were still as splendid as those seen in the Royal Capital. The overall decoration style was basically similar to the one in the capital, with only slight differences in structural details and layout.
Also similar to the shop in the capital was the very enthusiastic attitude and professional competence of the staff inside.
"Hello, welcome to the Noren Trading Company!"
The employee standing at the door responsible for greetings was still very pleasing to the eye, but Lin Mo didn't look much, as by his side at all times were girls who were countless times more beautiful than these employees.
"Customer, what would you like to purchase?"
Besides the welcoming personnel, a dedicated guide for each customer was naturally also indispensable.
This saved a lot of trouble and eliminated the need to wander around the shop.
Lin Mo said straightforwardly, "We need to buy some elemental reagents... intermediate-grade ones."
"Intermediate-grade elemental reagents?"
The sales assistant showed brief surprise, then smiled and nodded. "Alright, please follow me."
With that, she led everyone to the third floor of the shop.
Most of the goods on this floor were quite valuable. At a glance, there wasn't a single item priced below one thousand gold coins.
"Customer, which specific attribute of elemental reagents do you require?"
"Two ice-element reagents, one lightning-element reagent, and one light-element reagent."
Regarding the goal of this trip, Lin Mo had already made clear plans beforehand.
"Alright, please come this way..."
The sales assistant walked forward a few steps, turned a corner, and led them to a large glass counter.
Inside that counter, many potions containing powerful elemental energy were placed on individual small stands, decorated very exquisitely.
"These here are the ice-element reagents you need. The counter ahead is for lightning-element reagents. Light-element reagents are a bit more special; they're in the counter at the far end."
Let's take them one by one.
Lin Mo first looked at the ice-element reagent counter in front of him.
Of course, the sales assistant's job didn't end here. She continued to introduce information about these ice-element reagents to Lin Mo.
"Our shop offers many different qualities of intermediate-grade ice-element reagents..."
"These two here are the work of an alchemy master, capable of increasing ice-element affinity by 28%. Price: 8000 gold coins."
"This one is a reagent from a senior alchemist, capable of increasing ice-element affinity by around 25%. Price: 6500 gold coins."
"These three reagents here are special. Although also the work of an alchemy master, the materials used in their refinement are relatively inferior, so they can only increase ice-element affinity by 24%. Price: 6300 gold coins."
This type of product's positioning was actually the most awkward. Because they were the work of an alchemy master, there would inevitably be some premium, but their intrinsic value was indeed not as good as the 25% ice-affinity one above. So the pricing was also quite delicate.
There was one last type: elemental reagents refined by a senior alchemist using less-than-ideal materials. These were the cheapest, priced only at 5000-5300 gold coins, but their effects were also the worst, only at the 20%~22% level.
The difference from those premium elemental reagents was quite significant, and Lin Mo wasn't planning to buy them.
In the end, he still chose the best two, totaling 16,000 gold coins. Although a bit pricey, you get what you pay for. A 28% increase in ice-element affinity was a considerable improvement for both him and Ellie.
The subsequent lightning-element and light-element reagents were largely the same, aiming for the best quality categories.
However, for lightning-element reagents, there weren't any exceptionally high-quality ones available at the moment. There was only one with 26%, and the price wasn't cheaper than the two above. After all, compared to ice-element, the scarcity of lightning-element magical creatures and materials was higher.
Light-element went without saying; the price was even more expensive than lightning-element reagents. Lin Mo chose the best one, with a 27% effect, priced at a staggering 11,000 gold coins.
At this price, you could buy two of the less-good, common elemental reagents.
Finnie also felt the reagent she was buying was overly expensive and wanted to pay out of her own pocket. Lin Mo naturally couldn't agree.
Although he knew Finnie was very wealthy and had brought a lot of funds when leaving Silverstream City, that was one thing. Finnie was also a member of the team and had contributed significantly. These necessary expenses should naturally come from the team's funds.
He had already benefited a lot from Finnie before, eating quite a few "Finnie blood buns"; he couldn't push his luck further.
Thus, the total price of the several elemental reagents reached a shocking 35,000 gold coins, giving Lin Mo a deep experience of what "easy to spend, hard to earn" meant.
When he got the money, he thought 40,000 gold coins was a lot. Now it seemed it wasn't that much...
However, when going to checkout later, what the counter staff said did provide Lin Mo with some comfort.
"Your information has been recorded in our shop's directory. Including this purchase, you have become a Level 2 VIP guest of our shop and can enjoy a 10% discount. After the discount, your total consumption this time amounts to 31,500 gold coins."
Although still a lot, at least he saved 3500 gold coins, which was pretty good.
"Additionally, you have also earned 31,500 points equivalent to your actual consumption. You currently have a total of 39,860 points in our shop. Would you like to use points to offset gold coins?"
"Forget it."
Lin Mo shook his head. Although the Noren Trading Company did allow using points to offset gold coins spent—every 30 points could offset one gold coin—his nearly 40,000 points could offset over 1000 gold coins, but that wasn't cost-effective.
Lin Mo hadn't forgotten that the Noren Trading Company had limited-time point exchange days.
On the 8th and 18th of each month, points could be used to exchange for some goods. Using the points on hand to exchange for items then would be much more cost-effective than directly offsetting gold coins.
After paying the discounted 31,500 gold coins, everyone left the trading company.
Then they went to the nearby Adventurer Street to purchase some supplies. This trip had consumed quite a bit of their previously stockpiled items. They needed to replenish slightly.
However, regarding medicines, the alchemical reagents brought from Silverstream City hadn't been used much, so no purchase was needed.
Now, with Finnie and Lin Mo, two Priests, in the team, if injured, there was no need to use Life Potions at all. Directly using healing magic was more effective and convenient than Life Potions.
Regarding mana, now that Finnie's level was higher, she wasn't as mana-starved anymore. Lin Mo was even less so; the previous battles were far from exhausting his mana, so mana potions weren't needed either.
In this regard, they were indeed more frugal than the average adventuring team.
Thus, all the necessary post-mission tasks were completed. The time ahead was very free.
Lin Mo originally wanted to go find a sparring partner for the next few days, but it was already quite late now. Going over at this time might mean arriving after dark. Better to do it tomorrow.
So he found a place to eat and ordered some decent dishes.
Although they had just spent a large sum of gold coins, the team's funds still had quite a bit left. Given their current conditions and income, they could afford some mid-grade magical beast meat.
And eating these things couldn't be considered extravagant waste. After all, for Professionals, especially physical class Professionals, the benefits magical beast meat and special crops could bring were substantial.
Even though Lin Mo had his method of rapidly grinding skill proficiency to get stronger, and others could also enjoy certain benefits through Shared Cultivation, who would complain about having too many ways to become stronger?
Eating quite a bit of magical beast meat during this period had yielded tangible gains.
Especially for Ellie. Because her level was relatively low, the Qi and Blood from the magical beast meat brought particularly noticeable improvements to her. According to her, she should have gained about 2 points in Strength.
After finishing the meal, Lin Mo checked his status panel as usual and was pleasantly surprised to find that he had also gained one base Constitution attribute point.
Magical beast meat could nourish and strengthen a Professional's Qi and Blood. Its manifestation naturally wasn't limited to Strength; it also included Agility and Constitution. However, in most cases, the increases were mainly in the Professional's primary attribute corresponding to their class, but there were exceptions.
Not only did he gain a point, but it was added to his currently most scarce Constitution attribute. This was a small pleasant surprise.
After finishing the meal and returning to the inn, it was already dark. Yesterday was the little wolf-girl's turn. So according to routine, tonight should be Sherfilia's turn.
Lin Mo originally planned to wait for the little maid to arrive before taking a bath. But on second thought, playing the same way every time seemed a bit monotonous. He might as well take a shower first himself, then lie on the bed and wait a while.
Not too long after, Lin Mo had flipped less than 10 pages of the book in his hand when a prompt sounded in the room, indicating someone had pressed the doorbell outside.
Lin Mo got up from the bed and went to open the door.
"You're here quite early today. Were you thinking of..."
Lin Mo's voice suddenly froze, then he showed a somewhat awkward expression.
"It's you, Finnie..."
"Mhm... mhm."
Finnie was holding a pillow in her arms, wearing pink pajamas, looking extremely adorable.