Chapter 192 Gold Coin Earnings and Iris Patterned Steel

Through his thin shirt, the hard, cold touch of the scabbard pressed against his back.

Walking alone down the street, Xia Nan's gaze was slightly unfocused as he pondered.

His trip to the Association Second Floor had given him a general understanding of the deepening relationship between an adventurer and the Association after acquiring a Class Level, clarifying how some of it operated.

To sum it up, it boiled down to one thing:

—Take quests, earn Points, exchange them for resources, increase your strength, take quests with even richer rewards...

It was simple and efficient. Both the Association and the adventurers profited from this process, creating a win-win situation.

Xia Nan had no negative thoughts or particular objections about this.

He thought it was fine.

With his Attribute Panel and a fairly solid foundation, he only needed a relatively clear, stable environment for progression. Even if it took a little longer, he would eventually climb his way up step by step.

The Association's loose management of its Class Holders also suited his tastes, sparing him from getting tangled in pointless conflicts.

Most importantly, this trip had finally taught him how to raise his Class Level and what the so-called "job change" later on would entail.

According to what Cash, the middle-aged adventurer with the spear, had just told him:

To raise one's Class Level, they had to elevate the proficiency of a combat technique within that class category to Mastery, which was lv5.

For reference, looking at his current skills—excluding [Spinning Slash], which he had trained to max level shortly after transmigrating—his remaining combat techniques were:

[Fang Hunt] at lv3, while [Gravity Control] and [Gravity Etching] were both still lv1.

If he could train all three of these combat techniques to Mastery, his Class Level would reach lv4.

Of course, as things stood, that was a very distant prospect.

Among them, [Gravity Control] progressed at an agonizingly slow pace due to its ridiculously high ceiling.

Even now, its proficiency was only at (5/100), not even in the double digits. Upgrading it—let alone hitting lv5—was out of the question for now.

The one closest to max level was his second combat technique, [Fang Hunt]. Acquired from the Transcendent Tier Barbarian, Forgan, it was incredibly useful.

Now that he knew the conditions for leveling up, this combat technique would become his primary training focus until he maxed it out.

After that, if he wanted to keep climbing, he would need to find new combat techniques.

But...

"Thud."

His thick leather boots stepped firmly onto the ground, the soles grinding against the stone bricks with a muffled sound.

Xia Nan frowned slightly, finding the prospect troublesome.

According to Cash, combat techniques capable of raising a Class Level had to fall under one's specific class category.

Otherwise, they would only drag down progress and waste time and energy.

This wasn't an issue for common Basic Classes like the ranger or Rogue.

The Association's Combat Technique Catalog spanned hundreds of pages. One could simply pick a few from there, and if nothing caught their eye, they could even search at Association branches in other regions.

But for his own class, Meteor Blade Hunter...

Considering that [Gravity Control] was a prerequisite for the class, Xia Nan doubted he had any peers in this entire world.

And if there really were no predecessors, where was he supposed to get his future combat techniques?

Xia Nan couldn't help but feel lost.

Perhaps once he finished his business over the next couple of days, he could go back to the Association, ask Molly for the Combat Technique Catalog again, and carefully comb through the "Miscellaneous" section.

He could look for any combat techniques related to gravity or attraction and see if he got lucky.

Thinking about it more simply, out of the three combat techniques that formed the Meteor Blade Hunter, [Gravity Control] aside, [Fang Hunt] and [Spinning Slash] were tied to the Barbarian and Warrior classes, respectively.

Did that mean he could choose from those two classes when selecting combat techniques in the future?

But the combat techniques he learned in this stage, before reaching the Transcendent Tier, would determine his Advanced Class when he underwent a job change later on.

Should he be planning this out?

He had no connections or resources, though. Even Meteor Blade Hunter had been cobbled together by the system, so how was he supposed to plan?

Xia Nan couldn't entrust his entire future to the Attribute Panel, hoping it would provide viable class options just like it had during his advancement.

All he could do right now was grind the proficiency of the combat techniques he already had, and then see if he could find a channel to obtain a decent Advanced Class transition plan.

Even if he hit a bottleneck in the future and had to learn new combat techniques to increase his strength...

Considering he could only have ten combat techniques from lv1 to lv10, each slot was incredibly precious and required careful consideration.

To some extent, it would also determine the absolute ceiling he could reach in the future.

Therefore, he needed to hoard as many Points as possible. Unless one was a perfect fit, he wouldn't even consider combat techniques priced around 100 Points.

He absolutely couldn't settle. He had to find ones that suited him and offered higher growth potential.

He mulled this over for the entire walk.

Xia Nan didn't snap out of it until he arrived at his destination.

Before him was a small storefront, its decor simple yet stylish.

Given the time of day, it didn't seem to have any customers, looking rather deserted.

A wooden sign stood out front, bearing the shop's name:

Fey Wind General Store.

Standing at the entrance, a flicker of hesitation crossed Xia Nan's eyes. He felt a bit apprehensive.

He had to admit, his previous encounter with the [Sheep-Deer Figurine] inside this shop, along with his experience in that mirror-world Secret Realm, had left a small shadow in his heart.

He was somewhat reluctant to set foot in this store again.

Fortunately, the bustling noise of the crowds on the street around him and the silhouette visible through the shop's glass gave him a bit of courage.

He took a deep breath.

And pushed the door open.

"Ding-a-ling~"

The metal bell hanging above the door chimed lightly.

Xia Nan's first reaction upon entering wasn't to greet Farlio, the shopkeeper sitting behind the counter and looking his way.

Instead, he abruptly turned and locked his eyes on the shelves.

The spot where the [Sheep-Deer Figurine] had originally been sitting was now completely empty.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

The shopkeeper, Farlio, spoke up, his voice tinged with regret.

"Looking for that statue?" Seemingly recalling Xia Nan's previous visit, he explained, "It's a shame. Right after you left that day, someone else bought it."

Of course, the regret in Farlio's voice wasn't because Xia Nan had missed out, but because...

He had sold it at a loss.

"You really should have bought it that day." Farlio shook his head slightly, the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose catching the light. "The price for statues of that style went absolutely crazy later on."

"Forget a dozen gold coins; even if I raised the price to three digits, people would still be willing to pay. Word is they're incredibly popular over in Nym."

"I was thinking about ordering a bunch more from the merchant caravans a few days ago, but then I heard something went wrong with those statues. Nym's officials banned their circulation and are doing an emergency recall."

"Sigh. I guess I'll never make that kind of easy money in this lifetime."

Watching Farlio sigh and complain, Xia Nan muttered to himself mentally.

Ordinary merchants in town like him had their own intelligence channels and were fairly well-informed.

But they weren't the Association. They didn't have special information networks. With Rivervale Town and Nym City separated by such a great distance, news always arrived with a delay.

Back when Farlio learned that the [Sheep-Deer Figurine] was circulating in Nym, the statue had actually already become a massive fad among the city's upper echelons, its price skyrocketing to astronomical heights.

And by the time the caravans brought news of the figurine's exorbitant market value to Rivervale Town—leaving Farlio beating himself up over selling it cheap and eager to stock up—news of the "evil entity" had already hit the papers in Nym.

As for now... almost half a month had passed. The city's recall was probably nearly finished, and Farlio was just now hearing that there was a problem with the wooden carvings.

It was a good thing there hadn't been many of those statues in the first place, making a bulk order impossible.

Otherwise, if Xia Nan had walked in to find the shelves stocked full of [Sheep-Deer Figurines], he would have turned tail and fled all the way to Kalanfor, or even further, to lay low.

He didn't reply to Farlio's complaints.

His gaze swept carefully over the shelves once more, confirming there was nothing abnormal.

Xia Nan pulled a small cloth bag from his waist pouch, the contents clinking crisply as it swayed, and handed it over.

Inside were a few crystals of decent color.

This was part of the reward the Gray Badger Gang had voluntarily offered him for helping them repel the rat swarm back then.

Speaking of which, the Gray Badger Gang had now been wiped out. Several of its core members had died by the claws of the Lycanthrope, Buck.

He wondered if some other faction would show up later to take over the streets they used to control, and what line of work Ironhead—the small-time thug who had lucked out and survived by running into him—would end up doing.

"Five obsidians, quality is pretty average. I'll take them at market price; let's call it 40 gold coins in total."

Statue misjudgments aside, Farlio was still quite the professional when it came to shiny little stones.

He picked them up one by one, inspecting them meticulously under a magnifying glass.

"Two blue quartzes, 30 gold."

"Oh, and a small piece of carnelian. The quality isn't bad. I can give you 52 gold for this."

"That's 122 gold in total. How does that sound?"

The earnings from this small pouch of loot had already exceeded his expectations, and he had never been good at haggling anyway.

He had intended to just accept the deal.

But suddenly, as if recalling something, a smile surfaced on Xia Nan's face. He forced down the agreement that had already reached his throat.

Instead, he countered the offer:

"I consider myself a regular customer here. One price: 135 gold."

...

"Ding-a-ling."

The general store's door was pushed open slowly from the inside.

A chill wind drilled down his collar and into his shirt, the unique biting cold of the winter air seeping into his body through his pores.

For a Class Holder with a robust physique, this bit of frost wouldn't cause a cold, but it didn't make the freezing temperature feel any less biting.

Xia Nan walked out of the Fey Wind store and stood in front of the door, tightening his cuffs.

His face was expressionless.

The reason he had acted out of character and initiated a haggle with Farlio just now...

...was actually to further test the effects of his 1-point Charisma attribute bonus.

As for the result...

Inside his waist pouch, the Crystal Card worth 100 gold coins, along with twenty-five shiny gold coins...

...were proof enough.

He could only say that Farlio was exactly as the Adventure Manual described.

His professional skills were outstanding, but his offers were often quite stingy.

Compared to the initial offer of 122 gold, haggling had only wrung out an extra 3 gold coins.

'Perhaps my Charisma bonus doesn't manifest in this way?'

'Or maybe those extra 3 gold coins were already the result of the Charisma bonus, and its effects just seem weak because that's simply how he is?'

Xia Nan mused to himself.

Regardless, making a bit of extra money was definitely a good thing.

Three gold coins were enough for him to live it up at the White Chickadee for a week.

Putting the matter out of his mind, he got his bearings and set off, disappearing into the crowd.

...

Although it hadn't seemed like a lot of loot...

Once everything was tallied up, Xia Nan's earnings from this quest were actually quite decent.

A few shiny little stones—125 gold.

The cash reward the Gray Badger Gang had given him alongside the crystals—53 gold and 2 silver.

The money earned from selling the equipment and horses of the bandits he had fended off on the road to Nym—36 gold, 1 silver, and 6 copper.

In total, that was 214 gold, 3 silver, and 6 copper.

And that was without factoring in the potential reward increase for the Advancement Quest after Molly submitted the report.

It was a massive blood transfusion for his little treasury, which had recently bled five hundred gold coins for custom equipment.

His net worth had climbed back to 526 gold, 7 silver, and 3 copper.

While far from its peak, when it had neared four digits...

It still gave Xia Nan a bit more confidence as he stood at the door to the Rockhammer smithy.

He could afford a few pieces of ordinary gear, at the very least.

"Boss, not many customers today, huh."

Xia Nan walked into the smithy, waving from a distance to greet Barn, the owner of Rockhammer.

This middle-aged man—who claimed to have dwarven blood but was actually built as bulkily as a Bugbear—was currently standing behind the counter, pinching a piece of cheesecloth and wiping down a dagger.

Hearing the voice and seeing it was Xia Nan, a smile broke out on his face.

He put down what he was holding and opened his mouth, looking as though he wanted to crack a joke with this old acquaintance who hadn't visited his shop in nearly two months.

Then he suddenly noticed the thin shirt Xia Nan was wearing on his upper half.

As if realizing something, his expression turned complicated.

"What happened to the two sets of armor you bought before? Both scrapped?"

"Heh." Xia Nan scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "Hit a bit of a snag on this quest."

"No issues with the equipment's quality, right?"

"No, it was great."

Barn didn't ask why he hadn't brought the scrapped armor back to be recycled.

He had gradually gotten used to Xia Nan's absurd equipment scrap rate—one that essentially eliminated the need for routine maintenance.

He turned around, waved Xia Nan over, and headed toward the back room.

"The shop just got a new batch of Iris Patterned Steel in. I made a few pieces of armor; you can try them on in a bit."

"That enchanted defensive gear you ordered before was finished last week."

"It's right inside. Follow me."