Like this, another week passed and Leonidas was already approaching the end of his first month here.
Rather than waiting for the deadline to arrive, Leonidas chose to take a trip to the stone well on his own. But, his goal was about more than just paying for his second month. Instead, he had a secondary goal as well, and that was to take a look at Yves’ Exchange.
After becoming a Clergyman, one would gain access to a market of sorts. Of course, this ‘market’ was greatly limited. Compared to what Yves would exchange with her Knights, Paladins, and especially her Apostles, it was practically nothing but crumbs.
However, Leonidas felt that it was finally time he took a look. At this moment, he had about 84 silvers if what he owed for this coming month was subtracted.
Of course, Leonidas couldn’t bank on receiving Lady Eve’s 20 silvers every month as her mare was already soon to be fully healed. But, Leonidas also understood that remaining idle would only make him stagnate.
During his first week here, he had read a book called ‘Risk and Reward’. It was actually a book about gambling and how to do it safely and responsibly. Fundamentally, the book was a lesson on probability and expected return. It was probably there for the sake of those Clergymen who sought to manage the financial property of the Church. But, Leonidas took it a very different way.
In the middle chapters of the book, there was a chapter on inflation. Money didn’t gain value over time, it lost it. The only way to make your wealth grow wasn’t by hoarding it, but by using it to make yourself more.
As things stood now, Leonidas was only hoarding. But, if all he did was horde, eventually his great wealth would only be devalued.
The saddest thing about it was that he wouldn’t even have a chance to reach that point. In just nine more months, he wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in this place any longer.
He had to find a way out for himself, a path to ‘make more money’.
He had patiently bided his time. Just using money and hoping for the best would get him nowhere. What he needed was smart, conscious investment.
So, he had spent this entire month reading everything he could get his hands on, expanding his knowledge so that he could make the best choice for himself.
Leonidas took a deep breath, his palms slightly sweaty as he stared at the stone well. This might very well be the decision that decided whether or not he could take another step on his journey, or if his corpse would rot beneath the high sun.
Setting his jaw, Leonidas tossed ten silver coins into the well.
The stone well radiated a gentle light. Leonidas didn’t need to worry that his silvers would be wasted. If there was one thing a God was always serious about, it was their Exchange. If a God wasn’t trustworthy in this regard, who would ever have dealings with them?
“I would like to see Her Holiness’ Exchange.”
When the words left Leonidas’ mouth, he felt his vision go blurry.
It was an odd feeling. He could clearly tell that his body was still standing in the same place, having not moved an inch. Yet, he was no longer seeing the stone well before him. Rather, he was seeing a world of dull grey fog and there was a panel of some sort hovering in front of his eyes.
At the very top of the panel there were the words:
‘1 Blessing >> 1000 silver’
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This singular line almost gave Leonidas a heart attack. Even his dead left heart almost revived just to die off once again.
1000 silver was an astronomical sum Leonidas couldn’t even fathom. Even the less than 100 silver he had on him was so precious that he tossed and turned last night about spending it at all.
‘1000 silvers… 10 gold…’
Leonidas took deep breaths, calming himself.
Once he did so, he realized that this wasn’t a price, it was an exchange rate. If one so chose, it would be possible to trade in 1 Blessing unit for 1000 silvers.
This sounded like a great deal, but Leonidas immediately noticed that there was no exchange for vice versa. This told him that it was likely only a fool would take on this exchange. Clearly, Blessings were far more valuable than money was.
As for how one was meant to earn Blessings? Leonidas had no idea. He could only conclude that this was something only those ranked above Clergymen could accomplish.
Sorting his thoughts, Leonidas focused his mind once again.
What he immediately noticed was that of the things he could exchange for, not a single one required Blessings. This only affirmed to him that the most valuable items were definitely not on this list.
However, what Leonidas was somewhat surprised to see was that the list of prices was greyed out and marked down by ten percent.
‘Is this because I’m a Half-Beast? Then why didn’t I receive a discount for becoming a Clergyman?’
Leonidas shook his head, he wasn’t sure, and since he didn’t have enough information, there was no use in lingering. Maybe Yves was just in a good mood or maybe this was a special reward for a first-time purchase.
Leonidas’ eyes widened.
There was armor, weapons, and even what this Exchange called ‘potions’.
When he clicked on these potions, they all had astounding effects like percentage increases to one’s physical capabilities. There were speed, strength, and even sensory potions.
Aside from these short-lasting potions, there were even some with permanent effects. However, it was no surprise that these were several times more expensive.
But, somehow… Leonidas felt that they should still be far more expensive. Why were they so cheap?
The short-lasting potions were only a single silver at most, some of them were only 80 to 90 copper coins.
As for the permanent ones, the cheapest was around 20 silvers with the most expensive being around 30 at most.
‘This must be because of who the potions work for and how many times they can be stacked…’
Leonidas made a few deductions after reading the descriptions.
Of the permanent potions, most could only be taken once with the second having no effect. As for the short-term ones, they could only be taken at a frequency of once a week without harming a person. In addition, they could not be stacked.
If one tried to take a Speed and Strength Potion at the same time, they would likely die on the spot. And those that could survive this, well… This was likely the second reason these potions were so cheap.
These potions likely only worked on those beneath a certain level of physical fitness, Leonidas was even willing to guess that they had minimal effects, if any at all, even on Knights. It was likely that if one was powerful enough to withstand a combination of potions, you were also strong enough that it had no use to you.
Though this was purely Leonidas’ own guesses, he believed that he was likely correct. And, in fact, he was.
The potions being sold here were all just casual concoctions by the experts behind them. In a single batch, they could make hundreds of these potions. The truth was that in comparison to the budget used to make them, these prices were obscene.
When Leonidas came to understand this, he would also come to understand the illusion of scarcity, the importance of expertise, and the concept of supply and demand.
Slowly, and diligently, Leonidas went through each and every item on the Exchange, even though he had no intention of trading for some of them.
Once he had gone through them all, he believed he made a decision.
Leonidas felt that his body was heavy enough. He didn’t have the strength for a heavy weapon nor did he have the sense and feel for a long-ranged weapon. As such, he picked out a pair of crafted gloves for his fists and palms.
The second thing Leonidas picked out was a potion. Its effects lasted for an entire month, making it quite expensive. It was called the ‘Boiling Blood’ Potion.
There were exactly 60 drops in every portion and Leonidas was meant to take a single drop in the morning and another in the evening, mixing it with his water.
This potion could pull out the potential of his body, allowing him to get the benefit of three months of training in just one.
Finally, the last thing Leonidas traded for was surprisingly completely free. Once again, Leonidas benefitted from his Half-Beast lineage.
The final choice was a booklet of exercises. It was a close combat training breakdown designed for Half-Beasts and went by the title of ‘Five-Pronged Assault.’
All in all, Leonidas spent 76 silvers, 59 on the Boiling Blood Potion and 17 on the Close Combat Gloves.
Now, he had just eight silvers to his name, not even enough for another month as a Clergyman. But… his dead eyes still gave way to a rare bit of emotion.
‘Thank you, mom.’