Fortunately, they had salt in this world, otherwise, Lorian would probably have a hard time.

The wheat bread was a bit hard and dull to his taste, but excellently cooked soft bunny meat easily made up for this defect.

When the duo was eating, the inn door suddenly creaked open.

Lorian felt someone's elbow. It was Loki, trying to get his attention.

- Look, there's a show to watch.

He whispered to him. Other guys also had amused faces.

- Pedro, roll out here!

The newcomer was a fat, middle-aged woman.

Young man sitting near the edge flinched.

Middle-aged woman swept her hawk-like gaze over everyone.

- Found you! How many times did I tell you to distance yourself from these vulgar men?

At that moment, everyone roared in laughter.

- Pfffttt~

Loki also spilled ale over his shirt.

- What's so funny?

Lorian asked innocently while watching how a woman dragged a young man out by ears while cursing at the roaring and laughing crowd.

- Of course it's funny! The little guy is a good for nothing like us, our buddy, but his mother insists he's talented and curses us for pulling his leg.

- ... And how is that funny?

Do people lack entertainment so much, they laugh at such things? Lorian thought

- Man, you're a weird one.

Loki grumbled but soon forgot about it.

- To our friendship, cheers!

- Cheers!

* Gulp, gulp, puaah...

- A cough, cough, so bitter...

Lorian complained and rolled out his tongue.

- Haha, you'll get used to it. See how your taste buds get excited for this bitter ale a year later, it's addictive.

I would never get addicted to this shit! Lorian grumbled in his heart.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

- Loki, can you do me a favor?

Lorian hesitated but still asked.

- What's up, kiddo?

- Let's spar.

Lorian beamed, determined.

- For experience? Alright, meet me at barracks in two hours.

Lorian nodded, excited. After finishing their meals, Lorian left a couple of copper coins on the table. It was his treat this time.

In this world, which nurtured countless monsters and beasts, there was never a lack of meat. The common beast meat was relatively cheap, while high-quality meat brought countless benefits and was worth a fortune.

Though wild bunnies were of lowest quality, Genos, Elena's dad was an excellent cook, winning over everyone's hearts and stomachs.

When the duo exited the inn, the dusk had already arrived.

- Sigh, it's already this late. Let's spar tomorrow.

Lorian sighed as he gazed at the sky. The sun was setting.

Loki looked at him with disdain.

- What do you know? The night's the best time for training.

- How so?

Lorian looked at him doubtfully.

- You'll find out.

Saying this, Loki walked off with a mysterious vibe.

- Damn. I didn't expect this bro had a cool side.

Lorian muttered, shrugged and walked back in the inn.

He was walking a bit unsteadily.

- Yawn...

Entering his room, Lorian lay down on his bed. The commotion of drunk adventurers and soldiers quieted down a lot too but didn't disappear.

Though he was sleepy, Lorian couldn't sleep yet.

- Appraisal.

He muttered and looked at his status gloomily.

Lorian Ellins Warrior (Level 0) (44/10,000) General Exp: 7 Battle Exp: 0 Titles: - Skills: Basic sword mastery (Level 1) (2,115/10,000)

- Sigh, I practiced in the barracks for whole 4 hours and got just 7 general Exp, miserable amount. At this rate, I'll need 4-5 years to become a 1-star warrior. My talent appears...extremely mediocre. If I train diligently, at most I'll become 3 or 4-star warrior in a lifetime...I need to find another way.

It's been a week since he started relentless training. He had to also be cautious to not overexert, else he would harm himself. For example, 300 sword hacks on a training dummy were his limit. His physique was average, after all.

Lorian's eyes fell upon battle Exp, which never increased even until now.

- If my guess is correct, then battle Exp is obtained another way. The question is how, how risky it is and how efficient, also, can it be allocated freely?

General Exp could be allocated in both skills and warrior progress bar. However, using it on skill was inefficient and wasteful.

If his guess was correct, actual battles might award him with general Exp too. This is why he requested for a spar.

- But wouldn't it be weird if I request for spars every day?

Then his eyes lit up.

- What if I buy an experienced slave and make him my training instructor?

Soon, light in his eyes dwindled. Such high-quality slave would be worth more than he could afford.

Slavery was a common thing here. Though Lorian felt a bit uncomfortable about it at first, he quickly accepted it. It couldn't be helped. For him to survive in this world, he had to adapt to many new things.

Lorian sighed, thinking he was overthinking things.

- I could also request a training instructor, but I also can't afford that.

Lorian clicked his tongue. In the end, money was the biggest problem. He would need 10 years of salary to buy a simple house. It was ridiculous. To support his training expenses he would need almost all of his monthly salary too.

He had to train hard every day. Without some herbal baths, hidden injuries would accumulate on him and obstruct his progress.

- I need to become a 1-star warrior at first then. In this case, my salary will increase by a whopping 5 times. Strength...in the end, it's all that matters. Without strength, I'm not useful for the kingdom and thus won't even be able to feed myself.

- I could also apply for missions from barracks to earn extra money. Alright, I can't afford to slack. I'm already 19 years old. If I don't use this opportunity to achieve something while my vitality is bustling, then I truly don't have any hope.

Lorian decided. His small term goal would be to build a stable foundation for himself in this world.