I Hate Systems

Chapter 670: In My Past (part 35)

“Where are you going?” A Demon Tamer asked, accompanied by a group of Goblins that helped him on his farm. They were his Tamed Beasts. Goblins were the most basic among humanoid Tamed Beasts, typically used by the common populace for a variety of cheap labour.

After all, Goblins were damn cheap, almost at no cost. They were omnivorous, capable of eating anything from grass to insects. Adding onto their quick maturity and fertility, Goblins were almost treated as a crop.

Endless labour, a source of cheap meat, and easily tameable by even Tamer kids. They were the most commonly used creatures as a result. Moreover, even if a Goblin were to die, it didn’t mean much, for they could easily create another Goblin in a matter of months.

The farmer was a Novice Tamer, able to control five Goblins in total who now carried his farming tools. He had stopped upon spotting a colleague travelling with his family, sporting a money pouch along his hip.

“Ah, you’re here.” The other party smiled wryly upon pointing at his excited children, “We’re going to buy some picture books. Ever since their friends showed one, they’ve been pestering me for the same, even at the price of refusing a Goblin slave.”

“Haha, I see. I’ve already bought for my kids.” The Novice Tamer smiled before saying, “Don’t buy The Adventures of the Hippo Goblin. I already have that. I can lend it to you later. Buy something else.”

“Thank you, man.” Saying so, the Demon walked away with his family, arriving at a fair of sorts where tents had been set up throughout the place as peddlers hawked their goods.

This fair was set up by the Felasi Clan, solely selling goods prepared by Hyunna. The first on the list consisted of picture books meant for children, the genre primarily being comedy and adventure. There were more than ten such stories, among which The Adventures of Hippo Goblin was an instant hit.

There were then cards made out of the most popular characters that kids rushed to collect. Third was napkins sporting a variety of Tamed Beasts.

Fourth were novels. There were only three novels at the moment, but they were rather popular among the adults, especially The Disastrous Life of Farma.

The final among them were landscape paintings, of cities, nature, Elemental Spirits in their natural habitats, etc.

There were around twenty such paintings in total, with their copies selling like hotcakes. There indeed existed paintings before this, but weren’t common.

Typically, only the rich could afford it, for it took time to create every single painting. But, Hyunna was able to mass produce thanks to the Thousand-Eyed Beast whose skin could be ripped off to make a papyrus while its hair was the brush.

It was able to create perfect replicas of existing copies, and the only requirement for that was mana and the result would be almost instantaneous. Thanks to that, Hyunna was able to create multiple copies of the same, allowing the Felasi Clan to host a fair to sell these goods.

This sparked the consumer habits of the common populace, for they got a chance to experience a life similar to the rich and indulge in such items that were typically enjoyed by the rich.

As the products were affordable, the demand was high.

And, this was where Faura’s cunning came into effect as she hired a group of Alchemists under the control of Hyunna’s Clan, using them to upgrade the quality of the books he created.

Gold, silver, and other precious materials were imbued into the papyrus, almost weaved into it in the form of magical threads to rapidly raise its inherent quality. Thanks to that, the same novel was sold at a premium thousands of times more expensive.

And the rich consumed it happily, maintaining their status in having the same content as the commoners but made using precious materials.

“Haah!” Hyunna gasped in exhaustion as the dark circles under his eyes were pronounced. He had been churning out products without rest, on the verge of a collapse now.

He had consumed so many mana recovery potions that he felt revolved at the smell of one.

“Dear, are you holding up well?” Faura entered the room, gently propping him up to ask.

“I might…die at this rate,” Hyunna said, not having the strength to even get up. Suddenly, bloody mana seeped into his body, revitalising him as strength returned to his being while his dark circles vanished.

That wasn’t all, his body too felt a tad stronger than before, causing him to ask in surprise, “What’s that?”

“Blood Vitalisation.” Faura smiled in response, “It’s one of my abilities. The greater your exhaustion, the stronger the potency of its effect. With this, I can strengthen your body over time.”

“Faura, you…” Hyunna stared in surprise, sensing her aura as he asked, “You’ve become a Master Elementalist?”

“Yep!” Faura grinned smugly, “Thanks to your control, my bloodthirst is pretty tame, allowing me to focus on strengthening myself better. With that, it was only a matter of time before I became a Master.”

“You’ve entered the world of the Elites with this.” Hyunna smiled, “I’m proud of you.”

No matter the profession, a Master was respected as a valued asset. After all, there was a large barrier between an Expert and a Master. So, not many were able to take that step, with the majority of the talented population stuck in the Expert Realm forever.

“Of course, with a husband almost like a protagonist of those stories, I’m bound to improve.” Faura ruffled his hair, “Well, you’re more handsome and talented than those protagonists.”

“Protagonist…” Hyunna smiled, “Well, I think I can be called one.”

…

“Is that…The Disastrous Life of Farma?” Gilthru stared at a book on the table before him, expressing anger as he rushed out of the house, soon finding a child who was seated on a tree branch, eating a fruit growing there while reading a book with interest.

Upon seeing the boy, he shouted, “Arnark! How many times did I tell you to not read these novels?”

“Ugh, Master…” The boy, Arnark groaned in response before thinking of something as he jumped down from the tree branch, causing the ground to turn into metal before a revolving door formed in it, placed horizontally, on the doors of which he landed and went through, heading underground to escape Gilthru’s nagging.

“This damn brat!” Gilthru expressed his anger as he stomped, turning the entire hill into metal as he created a tunnel, flying through it as he arrived at the dead end, staring at the chained figure of Arnark, dragging him back to the surface.