Chapter 48: The Price of Knowledge

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: The Price of Knowledge

After having his chest lacerations disinfected, and firmly bandaged at the mountain outpost infirmary, Eric boarded the transport back to the Beast Tamers Association branch to offload his afternoon haul.

Standing before the reinforced appraisal counter in the Soldier-rank exchange pavilion, the numbers that flashed across the clerk’s holographic register left him stunned.

The dense forearm bone shafts of the two Gauntreavers fetched 50,000 credits each. With four complete, unbroken radius and ulna segments, that single material line totaled 200,000 credits. Adding the 30,000 credits for the refined, vacuum-sealed vitreous fluid of the Eyestalker, his earnings for barely five hours of hunting reached a staggering 230,000 credits.

Eric rubbed his chin in quiet disbelief, watching the credit balance update on his silver smartband.

Back in the Mortal-tier Tyra Grasslands, grinding out two hundred thousand credits demanded nearly an entire week of dawn-to-dusk slaughter, hauling dozens of heavy Gorgefiend carcasses back to the depot. Here, in the jagged crags of Parva, he had surpassed that figure in a single afternoon skirmish. The economic chasm separating Tier 1 from Tier 2 rifts was staggering.

*At this pace, I can assemble a formidable war chest before the academy entrance trials,* Eric thought, a sharp, satisfied grin touching the corners of his lips. *I can finally replace this shredded explorer leather with tailor-made Soldier-grade composite armor. Maybe even start assembling the collateral needed for a second contracted beast.*

Yet deep down, Eric knew better than to succumb to complacency. In the awakened economy, purchasing power was fleeting. A single high-end transaction, whether for bespoke runic arms, Tier-2 defensive warding talismans, or rare evolutionary catalysts, would swallow hundreds of thousands of credits in the blink of an eye.

Pocketing his updated receipt, Eric caught the evening municipal shuttle back to Elm Street.

Dinner at Sunshine Home passed with quiet warmth. After helping Emily put Lily and the younger children to bed, Eric climbed the wooden staircase to the sanctuary of the attic.

While Eric’s personal cultivation crawled at an agonizing pace due to the friction of his basic government-issued breathing art, Coal made rapid, visible progress. With three fresh Soldier-rank mana stones laid out atop the cedar desk, the crow absorbed the concentrated liquid energy, refining his core.

Over the subsequent two weeks, Eric’s daily life settled into a disciplined, clockwork cadence.

By day, he and Coal hunted the precipitous limestone ridges of the Parva Mountains, steadily refining their combat synchronization against solitary Soldier-tier beasts. Between Coal’s blinding Skystride angles and Eric’s precision counter-slashes with the Wavecaller, their skirmishes grew cleaner, faster, and far less dangerous.

By night, they returned to Sunshine Home to consolidate their energy, rest, and oversee the steady recovery of the household.

During his evening downtime, Eric scoured the regional Association exchange networks and private merchant bulletin boards for an upgraded cultivation manual suited for Soldier Rank.

The results were deeply frustrating.

Publicly available breathing methods were strictly capped at Low-Mortal grade, rudimentary techniques designed solely to circulate gaseous mist. The absolute highest-tier manual he managed to locate through encrypted grey-market channels was a Mid-Mortal breathing art.

The anonymous seller demanded an extortionate five million credits. Worse still, there was zero institutional guarantee regarding the manual’s textual integrity. Practicing an altered, truncated, or counterfeit cultivation manual risked causing irreversible meridian deviation, permanently crippling a tamer’s internal pathways.

With a grimace, Eric closed the terminal window.

In this world, elite cultivation arts were not traded like common merchandise on the open market. The central military, noble bloodlines, and prestigious Beast Taming Academies maintained an ironclad monopoly over high-grade techniques. Advanced cultivation manuals were closely guarded institutional secrets, reserved strictly as incentives and rewards for verified academy cadets and guild elite.

If he secured an official seat in a top-tier regional academy, he could access an authentic, verified high-grade manual through institutional merit, a technique vastly superior to any dubious grey-market scrap.

His investigation into Coal’s developmental path hit an identical roadblock.

Opening the **Myriad Beast Encyclopedia** within his spiritual sea, Eric again reviewed the requisite catalyst formula for Coal’s subsequent racial evolution:

│ EVOLUTION CATALYST

│

│ [1. Bonepecker Raven]

│ - Cultivation Baseline: Soldier Rank

│ - Primary Reagents: Captain-Rank Beast Marrow Bone x1

│ - Auxiliary Reagents: Captain-Rank Mana Stone x1

│

│ [2. Shadow Raven]

│ - Cultivation Baseline: Soldier Rank

│ - Primary Reagents: High-Purity Shadow Crystal x1

│ - Auxiliary Reagents: Captain-Rank Mana Stone x1

│ - Environment: High-concentration Shadow Domain

│

│ [3. Necro Raven]

│ - Cultivation Baseline: Soldier Rank

│ - Catalyst: 10 Living Avian Beasts (Blood Offering)

│ - Primary Reagents: Greater Undead Essence x1

│ - Environment: Ancient Mass Grave / Necrotic Zone

While Captain-rank mana stones occasionally surfaced on Riverdale’s high-tier auction blocks at exorbitant prices, high-purity elemental crystals were entirely absent from trade listings. The only elemental minerals circulating through Riverdale were low-purity, clouded ores containing heavy structural slag. Not a single stone met the strict purity threshold demanded by the encyclopedia for a flawless racial evolution.

"No verified Soldier-grade manual, and zero high-purity shadow catalysts," Eric sighed softly, leaning his back against the timber headboard.

Beside the open window, Coal perched quietly on the sill, his pitch-black eyes reflecting the cold silver moonlight as the mountain wind rustled his dark plumage.

"Riverdale is ultimately just a provincial border settlement," Eric murmured, his eyes narrowing with quiet ambition. "The real resources, the genuine legacy techniques, and the high-tier elemental mines are locked behind the major institutions in the provincial capital."

He exhaled a long, steady breath, releasing the lingering tension from his shoulders.

"One step at a time. The academy entrance trials take absolute priority over everything else. Once we secure our place inside the academy walls, the rest of the path will open up."