“What exactly are you planning?”

“Simple. Since we will work together, isn’t it in our best interest to know the strength and weaknesses of our teammates? I am naturally talking about the spells we took. We need to balance our formation.”

I internally sighed but did not voice my thoughts. ‘You are thinking too far ahead. Right now, the spells can barely even be used in battle. I am also curious about the elements of my teammates but for this task, only the weapon they use will be relevant.’

“You are not wrong, but you should also lead by example,” Anjali answered with caution.

Jake briefly glanced at her and nodded. “Sure. I chose two elements: Space and Metal. I use a sword and a shield. I can easily deal with the goblins and kobolds, but it is slightly challenging to fight against trolls.” He smiled and then focused his attention on Anjali, fully expecting her to reveal her elements.

The woman bit her lips but eventually spoke up. “I only chose one element: Earth. I have my whip and a dagger. Like this guy, I can deal with any monster aside from the trolls.”

One by one, my teammates revealed their elements. Unsurprisingly, the majority of them learned two spells. It was the same in my past life; humans were very confident in their own abilities but sooner or later, they would realise just how difficult it is to nurture two different skill trees. In the past, I considered myself to be lucky to have only chosen one.

I was second to last to speak due to my seating position, with Old Wu being the last. When it was my turn, I said plainly. “I picked the Healing element.”

“The healing element?” The expression of my teammates brightened. It was reassuring to have someone who could treat injuries. I quickly noticed that some of them started getting agitated.

Anjali smacked her lips and asked. “Then, can you heal my injuries?” She raised her arms, showing her bruises.

Out of the eight humans here, I was the only one who looked uninjured; everyone had at least one or two fresh scars from their adventure in the forest.

I stared at the woman blankly as memories from my past life crossed my mind. The Healing element was an unpopular one but one of the most useful. It was considered impolite to ask a healer for treatment without giving anything. After all, healers themselves did not go onto the battlefield and were unable to hunt for mana stones. Usually, the people requesting treatment needed to pay a price.

However, in this scenario, it was clear that it was inappropriate to ask the woman for mana stones. I would instantly turn the whole group against me. Furthermore, I doubted that she had the means to pay. Therefore, I simply agreed to her request. “Sure.”

I grabbed her arm and used my spell. Under the watchful eyes of my teammates, Anjali’s bruises slowly disappeared. The pain in her arms was gone. Naturally, the whole process took more than five minutes, but no one stopped the treatment.

When I was done, Anjali pulled back her arms and sent me a grateful look. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” I glanced at my teammates and noticed their expectant look. ‘As I expected. Everyone probably wants me to heal their injuries, but I am not a charity.’

“Excuse me. Can you heal my injuries too?” Marie asked enthusiastically. She stepped forward, putting herself between Anjali and me.

I sized her up silently before shaking my head. “You do not seem to be critically injured.”

“What do you mean?” Marie narrowed her eyes. “My arms and legs hurt constantly. My back is in pain and I was cut several times by these monsters!” She raised her arms, showing the bloodied scars on her arms.

“These are just shallow cuts; they won’t affect your fighting skills. As for the pain in your limbs, I can’t do anything about them. Who told you to carry use a heavy shield and that mace? Of course, your muscles are going to ache after carrying and swinging these weapons for two entire days. The Heal spell treats injuries; it does not deal with pain. I won’t waste my mana on something like that.”

“You!” Marie’s expression darkened. “Then, why did you heal that woman? This is blatant discrimination!”

I rolled my eyes and ignored her. She had no idea what she is talking about. As soon as she would step on the first floor of the tower, she would understand the true meaning of discrimination.

I used Marie as an example and fortunately, the rest of my teammates got the message. They were all injured but aside from some discomfort and pain, their injuries did not amount to much. I was delighted to have a competent team.

“Alright, alright. Then, let’s move on to you Old Wu, which elements did you choose?” Acting like a righteous leader, Jake quickly noticed the mood swing and brought the topic of the conversation back to planning for the night.

They discussed for a few minutes while I remained silent. I was not interested in this exchange; I was confident we would survive the night.

When the meeting was over, we walked up to Stannis’ group to lend a hand. Everyone was looking forward to the promised warm meal.

As for me, I was more interested in the merchant laying down a defensive formation. I did not have the opportunity to learn about these runes in the past but maybe this life was an opportunity to do so.

…

A couple of hours later, we found ourselves sitting around a boiling pot of soup. I felt my stomach grumbling by the enticing aroma. I was hungry. After eating nothing but raw plants for two days, I was salivating at the idea of eating a bowl of simple vegetable soup with bread.

I wolfed down my portion in silence while some of my teammates tried to engage in a conversation with Stannis and the other merchants. They were evidently trying to extract some information from him but unfortunately, doing so was pointless. Stannis was just an illusion and would not know anything about the upper floors of the tower.

I licked my fingers clean and sighed with satisfaction.

“I hope that you enjoyed your meal. My group and I are counting on you for the night. We are carrying important items to the capital; we won’t be able to pay the penalty if this convoy is lost.”

“Don’t worry. We assure you that nothing will happen to you and your merchandise during the night.” Jake said confidently.

At that moment, I lightly coughed to attract Stannis’ attention. “Excuse me, Merchant Stannis. I was just wondering about something… Since you are a merchant, will it be possible to purchase one or two things from you?”

My teammates fell silent, taken by surprise by my sudden question.

As for Stannis, he was delighted by my initiative to bring him some business. “Of course. I am also carrying a large variety of items with me. May I ask what you need exactly?”

“Any pieces of equipment would do. Ideally, a chest plate or leather armour.”

“Right, just give me a moment.” Stannis quickly rushed to his cart and started rummaging through his items.

My teammates stared at me, lost for words. I kept a calm and composed attitude, waiting for Stannis to bring me the items.

As I expected, the merchant soon returned with not two but four different equipment. Two chest plates, one chainmail, and one leather armour.

“How much?”

“The chest plates cost 20 mana stones, the chainmail only 12 just like the leather armour.”

’12 mana stones for a leather armour… It should cost about 10 at the cities. He is trying to take advantage of the situation, but I am the one who can use our situation as leverage.’

“I am interested in the leather armour… It is best for dealing with the bites of the wolves. However, isn’t it a little bit overpriced? You are not trying to take advantage of me, right?”

“Of course, not. Since you will be protecting our camp tonight, I do not mind giving you a small discount. How does 11 mana stones sound?” Stannis smiled innocently.

“8 mana stones. That’s how much I am willing to pay. Did you not say you will provide us with some assistance? Selling at the cost price won’t harm you much, would it?”

“…”

“How about 9 mana stones?” Stannis probed nervously.

I firmly shook my head. I had exactly nine mana stones in my pocket that I obtained just before entering the clearing. However, I knew that the price I quoted was fair.

Eventually, Stannis gave in and I handed him eight mana stones for the brown leather armour. My teammates stared at us with envy. I ignored their gaze as I had no intention of sharing anything.

Jake, who remained pensive during the transaction, opened his mouth. “Excuse me. I would also like to purchase a few things, but I do not have any mana stones on me. However, I do have the corpses of the monsters I killed.” And as he spoke, he raised his hand and the cold corpse of a goblin appeared on the ground.

I remained unfazed by the green corpse. ‘Right. He said he picked the Space element. Its first spell is [Store]. A spell that allows the user to have a small storing space. A very useful spell but unfortunately, very few humans have an affinity with space.’

“Sure, I do accept the corpses. They still contain a mana stone and are themselves valuable but in general, there is a fee associated with dismantling. It is our policy to keep the tenth corpse for ourselves. Will that be alright?” Stannis answered after examining the corpse.

“No problem. Then, can you please make a count of these corpses and give me an estimate of their value.”

I silently watched Stannis and Jake bargain for the items. He made himself a small fortune for just choosing the space element. And very soon, he put on an iron chest plate and a pair of brown pants.

Sadly, none of my other teammates had the foresight of collecting the mana stones from the monster corpses.

Time went by and soon, it was time to start our watch. The eight humans would divide into two groups of four, each looking after the camp for half of the night. It has been agreed that I would be taking the second watch. The reason being that I chose the Healing element. When it would be my turn to guard the camp, I would then have to heal those who had been injured during the first half of the night. My mana would then recover naturally, and I would be able to heal my teammates as they get injured.

I agreed to the arrangement and wordlessly headed to a small tent that has been assembled for us.