Chapter 205 Improvement and a Sudden Discovery

Xia Nan was in a good mood.

Part of it, naturally, was due to his growing little treasury over the past few days.

Over the course of a month and a half, counting the initial commission for the Temple Nightwalker Wolf, the Sea Thorn Squad had completed a total of four tasks.

Of course, the task objectives were all beasts that had inexplicably rioted in the forest recently, and they were all "F" rank, the lowest task tier on the Association Second Floor.

Between the task rewards and the spoils gathered during their adventures, once everything was divided among the four squad members...

One could only say that a Class Holder's income was significantly higher than an ordinary adventurer's.

Right now, Xia Nan's bank savings had soared from the original two hundred seventy-odd gold to 463 gold, 7 silver, and 6 copper.

An average profit of nearly 50 gold per commission.

It didn't look like much more than before.

But one had to remember that this money was the result of a four-way split.

If he had operated as a lone wolf like before, where he didn't have to split the earnings with anyone...

Assuming he maintained the same efficiency as the squad, if all went smoothly, he could pull in nearly a four-figure sum of gold coins in a single month.

It was practically absurd!

And there was a more important point to clarify.

Within that average profit of 50 gold per task, the actual "task reward" made up a relatively small portion.

After all, upon gaining access to the Association Second Floor, a new concept had been introduced—

Points!

There were many ways to acquire gold coins: beast pelts, crystals, second-hand equipment... If you wanted to make money, there were ways everywhere in Rivervale Town.

But points—at least for now—could only be earned by completing Association tasks.

And if one wanted to exchange for those precious combat techniques, rare materials, and discounted potions on the second floor that were impossible to get through normal channels, points were absolutely essential.

Therefore, when turning in the tasks, Xia Nan converted a portion of his gold coin rewards into the corresponding points.

The amount wasn't large; after all, his daily supplies and living expenses required money, and he needed to prepare for the future custom forging of enchanted equipment. A certain amount of savings was strictly necessary.

Still, it counted as a decent start.

By accumulating them over time, he would eventually save up enough to exchange for a combat technique that suited his desires.

Sometimes, Xia Nan's thoughts couldn't help but wander.

For those advanced Class Holders who had already stepped into the Transcendent Tier and possessed massive wealth sufficient for their expenses...

After completing Association tasks, the ratio of gold to points in their task rewards might reach "1:9" or even "0:10."

They took commissions purely to earn points, using them to exchange for high-level materials or whatever else they needed.

Although there was the possibility of this being a case of "the emperor's golden hoe," he guessed the reality was probably close to what he imagined.

On the other hand, what gave Xia Nan a deep sense of accomplishment was his combat technique proficiency.

Four tasks and high-intensity battles with various beasts had greatly accelerated his proficiency progression.

Among his few combat techniques that hadn't yet reached max level, [Fang Hunt] was one of his most frequently used moves. He had already revealed it during the battle with the Temple Nightwalker Wolf, so there was no need to hide it. Because of this, he had used it freely these past few days, and its proficiency had risen extremely fast.

Right now, it was close to Level 4.

In contrast, the progression speed of [Gravity Etching] was much slower.

As for the reason, it was due to its daily usage limit and its special force-field damage mechanism that ignored armor, which led Xia Nan to treat it as one of his hidden trump cards.

It hadn't been exposed yet, so naturally, he couldn't use it in front of the rest of the squad during battles.

He only practiced it secretly in some deserted corner when the others weren't paying attention.

In a month and a half, its proficiency had increased by twenty points.

It had reached "Level 1 (82/100)".

Compared to its Level 1 proficiency tier, this speed was certainly not fast, but it was on the verge of leveling up.

And that was despite sneaking around to train.

Overall, he was satisfied.

As for [Gravity Control], well...

—Level 1 (8/100).

The good news: it had gone up.

The bad news: it had only gone up by 2 points.

Having long since grown used to it, Xia Nan felt neither sorrow nor joy.

He only hoped that before spring arrived, the proficiency of this combat technique could break through the double-digit "milestone."

In summary, over this past month or so—more than forty days...

Xia Nan had earned quite a few gold coins and saved up some points, while simultaneously pushing up the proficiency of all his learned combat techniques by a chunk.

Oh, and he almost forgot—his armor was still intact.

Although the surface had some dings and dents, it hadn't suffered any severe damage requiring major repairs or a full replacement.

For the first time in a while, he had sent it to the blacksmith shop for maintenance twice, and even Barn of Rockhammer had clicked his tongue in wonder, asking if he'd been slacking off recently.

This was also part of the reason he had been able to save so much money.

"The usual, one Set Meal No. 3. Yeah, and add a mug of dark beer."

Seeing the two people waving at him from afar in the corner of the tavern hall, Xia Nan raised his chin slightly in greeting.

At the same time, he smiled and ordered his meal from Chapton, the owner of the White Chickadee.

Carrying two longswords on his back, he ignored the scattering of glances from other tables.

He walked straight over, pulled out a chair, and sat down at the table.

"Why are you so late today? Big Sis has been waiting here for you for a long time."

Veris held her wine glass and took a light sip, leaving a trace of moisture on her plump lips as she leaned closer.

Whether she had sprayed some special perfume before leaving or not, the air around her was filled with a cloying, sweet scent.

"I took a trip to the Association," Xia Nan replied.

The tavern rumors and stereotypes about Drow elves made Xia Nan suspect that there might be some kind of charm effect or hidden toxin within the fragrance.

He glanced at her, his expression perfectly neutral.

His breathing rate, however, imperceptibly slowed down considerably.

"I wandered around the second floor for a bit, so I was delayed."

"You're still so young, why are you working so hard?" Sitting across the table, Cash picked up the conversation. "Enjoy life when you should. There's nothing wrong with indulging a little."

"I remember when I first gained my Class Level. To exaggerate a little, I walked with my nose in the air."

"It was only after taking a few tasks and running into trouble that I finally grounded myself."

"With your current income, even if you only earned gold coins for three or four months out of the year and spent the rest of the time vacationing in Nym, you could still live very comfortably."

"If I had become a Class Holder at your age, I would be dying to..."

Automatically filtering out Cash's bragging, Xia Nan leaned back in his chair and pondered.

Over the past month and a half, he could clearly feel that their attitudes toward him had undergone a subtle shift.

On the surface, they were still as enthusiastic as before; they even seemed closer to him due to his performance in their tasks, acting as if they truly treated him as a reliable teammate.

But in certain details, they revealed a sense of distance and wariness.

For example, they never assigned him to keep watch alone at night. Every night, the one accompanying him was always either Cash or Veris.

During their daily travel, even though the formation placed him at the very back, the two of them never stood directly in front of him to expose their backs without reservation. Mint was always in the middle acting as a buffer, or they would simply wander along the flanks of the squad.

And the starting point for all these changes seemed to be the night he had stabbed the Temple Nightwalker Wolf leader to death right in front of them.

Xia Nan had a rough idea of the reason.

Perhaps they were secretly afraid of him?

Speaking of which, although he had previously teamed up with the half-elf guard Wood, the time had been brief. Under the influence of countless bottom-tier adventurers in the tavern, he had held a somewhat idealized view of so-called "Class Holders."

But after spending so many days with the Sea Thorn Squad, he realized that under normal circumstances, "Class Holders" didn't seem as strong as he had imagined.

Even while restricting himself to just the two combat techniques [Spinning Slash] and [Fang Hunt], hiding more than half his true strength, and relying purely on his physical attributes to fight...

...his strength already seemed quite good among low-level Class Holders.

He couldn't help but sigh in realization: the Feats and attribute points on his panel truly hadn't been saved up for nothing.

At the same time, he realized once again that even among Class Holders with the exact same Class Level, the differences in combat technique quality, equipment, and physical attributes created a massive gap in actual combat power.

And this gap would only widen further as their Class Levels gradually increased.

From Level 1 to Level 10, there were a total of only ten Mastery-tier combat techniques available; he definitely had to choose carefully.

"You're young and haven't traveled far very often, so you might not know this," Cash said.

"Every region's Adventurers' Association branch doesn't just differ in the types of combat techniques they collect; their specific interior decorations and layouts are also vastly different."

At the table, it seemed they had touched upon a topic Cash excelled in.

He grasped his mug, his enthusiasm for chatting running high.

"For example, the Association branch in Rivervale Town uses oak from the deep parts of the Misty Forest for its building materials. Although it's decorated with shrubs and other greenery, the overall dark tones aren't too conspicuous, giving it a deep, misty atmosphere like it's covered by a forest canopy."

"Meanwhile, inside the Association at Barracuda Bay, there's a massive amount of fish specimens and coral decorations. The entire first basement floor is submerged in seawater, with an entire wall made of glass where you can watch the passing schools of fish and the Coral Reef."

"I've also been to a few Association branches near the Underdark. Artificial spider webs, mushrooms, skeletal specimens... Heh, they're all quite interesting."

"If you're interested, you could treat it as going out to see the sights. The experience shouldn't be bad."

Hearing him say this, Xia Nan couldn't help but feel a bit tempted.

Ever since his transmigration, he seemed to have been rushing about constantly, taking on task after task.

In reality, however, he had only ever wandered between two places: Rivervale Town and Nym.

Although he didn't particularly like traveling, he was, after all, living a second life. If the opportunity arose, taking advantage of the gaps between tasks—or simply taking a commission that required traveling far—to go out, explore, and experience the local customs of various regions wouldn't be a bad choice.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The sound of slightly hurried footsteps came from nearby, interrupting Xia Nan's thoughts.

Glancing over, he saw Mint jogging toward them.

In the depths of winter, she still wore that thin, plain-colored robe, yet she didn't show any signs of being cold.

At any rate, she was a bona fide Class Holder; her physical attributes were still a bit stronger than an ordinary person's.

If you pulled a burly, thick-waisted brute at random from the tavern, his strength might actually not match up to this seemingly frail and delicate young girl's.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Mint apologized repeatedly.

"I ended up staying a bit longer at the herb shop at the last minute."

She was panting, and the bottom edge of her robe still had a few traces of mud on it.

Xia Nan didn't say anything; he just shifted his chair to let her sit in the empty seat on the other side of the table.

His gaze swept over her quite naturally.

These past few days, Mint had continued to act completely normal, showing nothing special whatsoever.

During battles, she cast thorn spells from the back row, supporting her teammates and controlling the enemies;

After the battles ended, she helped heal the squad's wounds.

Control and healing—from beginning to end, it was just those two tricks.

She was definitely hiding something.

But everyone in the squad was doing the same, so there was nothing much to say about it.

As for her origins—that forest located northwest of Rivervale Town, and her so-called "druid" mentor—they were far too distant to verify.

There wasn't a single detail worth doubting.

But it was precisely because of this—the more normal she acted, combined with the subtle feedback from his Perception, the more it caught his attention.

However... it didn't matter anymore.

Xia Nan shook his head slightly.

So much time had passed. No matter what intentions the other members of the squad harbored, or what purposes they had...

...once this task ended and he got his hands on the "Bone-Eroded Patterned Steel" reward, everything else would have nothing to do with him.

While they waited, the steaming mushroom soup was brought over by the tavern's server.

"Is everyone's gear ready? We head out tomorrow morning."

"We'll probably be out a bit longer this trip, so try to pack a few more supplies."

Cash's instructions echoed in his ears.

"The goal of this task is to investigate the traces of Lycanthropes in the eastern part of the forest. We already discussed the detailed plan."

"Today, right before we set off, there are a few points I want to remind you about..."

Sitting at the table, Xia Nan focused his attention, listening to the other man lay out the key points of the task.

He unconsciously stirred his soup with his spoon.

The slightly thick broth, dotted with green parsley leaves, churned and rolled as the metal spoon stirred it.

Stirring a bit too hard, he sent a small slice of brown mushroom flying out of the bowl and onto the table.

Xia Nan snapped back to reality. His dark eyes reflected the mushroom slice coated in thick broth on the wooden table, and his brow furrowed slightly.

As if sensing a gaze, he abruptly looked up.

He saw Mint sitting nearby, seemingly staring right at him.

Seeing him look over, her pale and delicate face blanked for a second before she quickly lowered her head to fit her persona, timidly averting her gaze to avoid making eye contact with him.

Her previously flawless acting seemed to have suddenly revealed a momentary flaw.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

Carefully recalling the momentary shift in her expression just now, he took the initiative to ask.

"N-no, nothing..."

Mint mumbled her reply, her head bowed and her lips trembling slightly.

Her dark brown hair, reflecting a faint green luster under the lights, swayed gently, revealing her teardrop-shaped light green earring.