Percy was fully occupied with the clearing for a long time. It took much longer than expected, but the youth couldn’t care less. The wealth entering Percy’s pocket increased smoothly with more time spent in the clearing.
The days passed silently in a monotonous rhythm, and the Lesser Demon was forgotten. At least, Percy forgot the Archyeas and the fear it had spread throughout the town. He didn’t even know that the creature was still alive, escaping from Grandmaster Lexter’s bloody rapier.
“This will be the last batch,” Percy explained to Olivia, who retrieved six large leather bags filled to the brim with more than a hundred magical plants of high quality.
“That is what you have been telling me for the last two weeks, yet you came back with even more shocking natural treasures every single time,” Receptionist Tom, standing next to Olivia, snorted.
“This time it’s true.”
Tom shrugged, the glint in his eyes telling that he didn’t believe him. Fortunately, Percy didn’t mind whether Tom believed him or not.
Starting tomorrow, I will return with monster carcasses!
He snickered inwardly and left the Guildhall once Olivia prepared his money. She handed him 23 silver coins and told him to be careful. The receptionist was always like that. Percy liked the way she cared and worried about strangers and acquaintances. Olivia didn’t have a reason to care for him as well as she did, but she did so nonetheless. That was her persona: A young, kind, and caring woman.
Percy smiled on his way back to his little room in the Angel’s Brew Inn. Not much changed about his little home – that was how he found himself calling his little chamber in Bertha’s Inn – but his home was probably the only thing remaining. To be precise, many things stayed the same. Percy still had the same armaments. He also kept the Gnoll’s Blade and decided against selling the iron dagger for now.
The clearing, his daily training on the training ground, the negotiations with Erdwin, his chats with butcher Kevin, baker Leonhard, and Bertha, and studying and training both mana control and his understanding of the Gnoll Card and its Augmentation were the only things on his mind.
His whole attention lingered on two particular tasks that pursued one purpose: Amassing wealth and training to grow stronger.
The clearing is empty, and I am wealthy enough…Oh well, no. I was wealthy enough to experiment a little.
A smile blossomed on his face as a series of memories resurfaced. The memories had one thing in common: they showed interfaces of some ‘things’ that happened in the last two weeks.
[Gnoll Card’s Potential -[Common ⭐⭐] has been upgraded. 30,000 Prosperity have been consumed]
[Your Tier increased by one rank]
[Mana Conductivity and Resilience reached their limits. [Guard] is overflowing with Prosperity.
[Guard] will be interwoven into the essence of the Tempered Vambrace(L)]
[Mana Conductivity and Resilience reached their limits. [Guard] is overflowing with Prosperity.
[Guard] will be interwoven into the essence of the Tempered Vambrace(R)]
[Gnoll Blade’s sharpness has been enhanced.]
[Sharpness reached its limit. [Sharpness] is overflowing with Prosperity.
[Sharpness] will be interwoven into the essence of the Gnoll’s Blade.]
[Your Tier increased by one rank]
Watching his Tier increase by two ranks to Mortal-8 in two weeks was exciting. Funnily enough, Percy could soon apply for the promotion exam in the Guildhall. He was surprised to discover that he had already completed enough missions to apply for the Silver-rank promotion exam. Percy exceeded the threshold by a large margin since he’d completed far more missions than required. He also completed the Adventurer Training, which most stopped after the Instructor went missing – nobody expected him to return alive at this point. Thus, Percy could apply to be promoted to the Silver Rank and request an advancement mission if he wanted to.
Percy would advance to a Silver-rank Adventurer as long as he passed the exam – which consisted of a spar with a Silver-rank Adventurer and a theoretical part. But he waited. Most Silver Rank Adventurers were already at the Elite Tier. Percy wasn’t that strong…yet.
His growth was rapid. Too fast to be true. Therefore, Percy chose to wait a little before applying for the Silver-rank exam. In truth, Percy didn’t feel ready for the practical part of the advancement exam. But that was not a problem. Percy wasn’t in a rush to attract attention – more than he did already – and become the main target of even more Adventurers.
It was no surprise when Olivia warned him about the greed and jealousy of other Adventurers. She seemed distressed that day, but Percy could only laugh inwardly. The receptionist meant well, but she didn’t know about the Gnoll Card and how strong a Monster Card with [Common ⭐⭐⭐] Potential was. To be fair, even Percy was surprised at how much the Gnoll changed after the Card’s potential was upgraded to three stars. The Gnoll Card’s standard combat prowess was only 80% of the average Gnoll at two stars, but upon upgrading its Potential by one star, the Gnoll’s combat prowess surpassed the average of an ordinary Gnoll.
Olivia was also unaware of his Artifacts and what Tier he’d reached in record time.
If she had known, Olivia would have warned Percy nonetheless, but she wouldn’t have been that worried for several days. Percy noticed some Adventurers following him the day after Olivia warned him, but he outwitted them. There was no need to face them head-on. Instead, Percy used the Gnoll Card and [A Hunter’s Smell] to pinpoint their location and lure them to a small pack of Hill Hogs.
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Hill Hogs were loner, but that particular group was still together because their piglet had just been born. It was only a few days old and too young to defend itself. Therefore, the mother Hill Hog was even more protective than usual. The monster attacked the Adventurers pursuing Percy when they emerged from the thicket, searching for the Gnoll wielding a Blade Artifact. Instead, they found an enraged Hill Hog mother and were forced to fight it before proceeding.
To their misfortune, they lost Percy’s tracks.
He was already in the clearing, where he’d encountered only a few monsters.
Oddly enough, no strong monster could be found in the mana-dense area, and he found out why only two days before the clearing had been emptied. Percy reached the end of the clearing, where he discovered a small, well-hidden cavern entrance. Percy found the remains of countless monsters and humans inside the cave. His first reaction was shock and fear. He was certain to have found the Lesser Demon’s lair.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. The lair belonged to the Orcs – or had belonged to them when they were still alive. Percy recalled the Archyeas tearing several Orcs apart. That was a while ago, but the monsters around still considered clearing the Orcs’ territory. Only in the last days of Percy’s constant herb hunting did monsters gather enough courage to enter the Orcs’ territory again. That was surprising, but Percy was the last to complain. He had managed to take advantage of the Orcs’ disappearance and the fear they’d imprinted into the hearts of the forest’s monsters.
As a matter of fact, Merchant Erdwin was also overjoyed about this. Percy procured some of the magical plants he had been looking for. The Inviar Eclipse Mercurialis, for example, was one of the plants he’d never expected to find so soon. He told Percy about his plan and how he had scheduled to stay in Raewood for two years if that was how much time he needed to find some low-quality Inviar Eclipse Mercurialis.
Yet, Percy procured the best of the best in record time instead of low-quality magical plants. The merchant was overjoyed, and so was Percy since he received a big tip for his excellent service.
The Guildhall, on the other hand, wasn’t so happy with everything Percy procured from the clearing. They were overjoyed about the shower of magical plants and devastated about the Silver Guild Emblems he’d retrieved from the human remains in the Orc cave. Olivia and others asked where he procured the Guild Emblems. He told them about the Orc cave and the remains he found in the cave but didn’t budge an inch when they asked the young Adventurer to bring him to the cave. Percy initially denied their request to retrieve the skeletons and only gave in a little after hearing some of the dead Adventurers’ stories. He promised to tell the staff about the Orc cave’s whereabouts once he emptied the clearing.
Contrary to Percy’s expectations, the Guildhall didn’t hire anyone to trail him when he went out the following day. The only Adventurers who pursued him were the same who’d followed him for a few days already. It was a good thing that tricking them wasn’t very difficult.
At last, Percy reached his room. He removed his armor and changed into a cozy set of clothes before diving straight onto his bed. Percy was tired, but he summoned a few interfaces nonetheless.
I should have enough now…right?
『Percy 』
[Ego – Coin of Prosperity]
[Tier] – [Mortal-8]
—
[Gnoll(Common –⭐⭐⭐) –[A Hunter’s Smell⭐]]
『Coin of Prosperity』
Prosperity: 29.550
➛Consume
[2x Gold Coin – Ordinary – 22,000 Prosperity]
[52x Silver Coins – Ordinary – 5,460 Prosperity]
[649x Copper Coins – Ordinary – 649 Prosperity]
He could instinctively tell how much his accumulated Prosperity could change. The impact tens of thousands of Prosperity had on his belongings was shockingly high. Still, surprisingly enough, neither [Blade Mastery⭐⭐] nor [Minor Strength Boost⭐] could be unsealed with 29,500 Prosperity. Percy didn’t understand why it had been so easy to unlock [A Hunter’s Smell] or why both [Blade Mastery] and [Minor Strength Boost] were so expensive, yet he felt how close he was to unseal [Minor Strength Boost].
Percy predicted he would need 30,000 Prosperity to unseal it, but he was more curious about [Blade Mastery]. It was a two-star Augmentation, and his instincts told him that he had already accumulated more than half of the Prosperity required to unseal it.
Thus, Percy did the only right thing.
[2x Gold Coins have been consumed. 22,000 Prosperity has been added.]
He didn’t hold back and was mentally prepared to sacrifice everything needed to unseal the Gnoll Card’s second Augmentation.
Percy’s heart thumped wildly as the two gold coins transformed into Prosperity. First, Percy felt a surge of power coursing through his Ego as his rank progressed closer to its peak. Second, he stared blankly at the Gnoll Card’s interface, where he saw the [Blade Mastery⭐⭐] tag glowing vividly.
He had enough Prosperity to unseal it.
All Percy had to do was invest it all.
That was what he did without hesitation.
[Gnoll Card’s Augmentation [Blade Mastery ⭐⭐ ] has been unsealed. 50,000 Prosperity have been consumed.]
[Tier increased by one rank.]
The surge of mana came first. It was large but not unexpected. Percy had been prepared for it and accepted it without hesitation. However, something else was entering him…something he could have expected but didn’t.
Information entered his mind. It flooded his entire being and changed something. Percy’s old understanding of weaponry and combat was overwritten. Some knowledge, which turned out to be faulty, was discarded, replaced with knowledge of the blade and how to wield it.
The Gnoll Card absorbed the surge of information as well and responded quickly. The Monster Card urged Percy to summon the Gnoll, which was what he did subconsciously. He didn’t pay much attention as his mana was drained to summon the Gnoll or when the monster grasped the Gnoll’s Blade to enter a combat stance.
Interestingly enough, Percy also didn’t notice how he moved to the iron dagger. His fingers curled around the iron dagger, and he also entered a somewhat familiar combat stance. It was the Gnoll’s stance.
Percy had never been in that stance before – neither had the Gnoll – but it felt oddly familiar and correct. It was almost like a superior power urged his entire being to move that way.
Then he got started – so did the Gnoll.