Chapter 27: Selling the Harvest

After leaving the medical hall, Ain soon arrived at the missions hall.

Although it was his first time visiting this particular branch, the layout was very similar to the one in the headquarters. However, compared to the headquarters, the crowd here was larger, making it more boisterous.

The spirit tamers were all dressed in various attires. Armor and other protective gear were prevalent among them. Ain even saw someone carrying a coffin on his back.

The atmosphere here would be no different from a tavern if there were alcohol and snacks being served.

In fact, there were taverns mixed in between the nearby shops. No matter how advanced a civilization became, these kinds of establishments would never disappear.

Because this branch was near the Forest Gate, all of the service windows were extremely busy. Ain could only use the nearby self-service devices to check-in and wait for his number to be called.

To pass the time, Ain checked some local news on his hololink.

While glancing through the headlines, three of them caught his attention.

[Eight spirit tamers' bodies have been discovered in the Duskfield Forest this past week.]

[Inside Information! The awakening crystal was intercepted after leaving Duskfield City! Read for more details!]

[Marhelm Family’s secret expedition to the Ruins of Ataxia comes to a halt due to heavy casualties. What secrets did they uncover?]

Ain had personally experienced events related to the first headline. Although he wasn’t worried about his own kills being discovered, it was still unsettling to see so many similar cases.

The second headline related to his awakening ceremony. After reading through the article, he found out more details regarding the incident.

Awakening crystals were highly regulated, and only certain authorized cities could possess one. A relatively smaller city like Duskfield City lacked the strength to protect them. Therefore, every year, the awakening crystals would be escorted to these cities for the Spirit Awakening Ceremony.

The awakening crystal used by Duskfield City was also brought in from another city. After the Spirit Awakening Ceremony two weeks ago, the team escorting the awakening crystal immediately departed Duskfield City.

However, halfway through, the team was ambushed by an unknown entity. Although the crystal was successfully defended due to outside interference, the escort team was almost wiped out.

This event didn’t directly affect Ain, but he took note of it.

The third piece of news caught his attention due to personal interest.

The Ruins of Ataxia was one of the few sites near Duskfield City where the ghost attribute was prevalent. Although it was said to be near Duskfield City, it was only relative. It wasn’t somewhere Ain could venture with his current speed and abilities. He had planned to visit the ruins in the future.

The Marhelm family was one of the three most powerful families in Duskfield City. If even they suffered heavy casualties, Ain definitely had to reconsider.

He didn’t linger too long on these. They couldn’t affect him at the moment.

The wait wasn’t too long, and it was Ain’s turn soon. The submission process was very efficient, and he was finished in about five minutes.

He had completed a total of three missions. He submitted 165 Threadleaf Grass for 4,950 star coins, 44 Misty Herbs for 4,400 star coins, and 6 Horned Wind Rabbits for 36,000 star coins.

His total earnings from the missions were a little over 45,000 star coins.

Ain didn’t react much after seeing this number, but the clerk across from him would never know of his inner joy.

“I see that you still have other harvests. I recommend you head over to the exchange center if you’d like to sell them to the Spirit Tamer Association,” the clerk’s voice sounded after the transaction was complete.

“Hmm, I’ll consider it,” Ain’s response sounded soon after.

Hearing these words, the clerk knew Ain’s meaning and didn’t continue.

After completing his task, Ain made his way out of the Spirit Tamer Association while pushing the trolley.

A few days earlier, Ain had already made all the preparations for this trip, including places to sell his harvest. The Spirit Tamer Association’s prices were reasonable, but it was possible to get a higher price at other places.

Soon, Ain arrived at a different building. It was only a few stories tall, but it covered a very large area. There was a large sign at its entrance, illustrating its identity.

Liberty Firm, a trading firm originating from Duskfield City. Although its scale wasn't as great as the Atlas Corporation, it was a business entity that emerged from Duskfield City and went on to do business across the entire federation.

It had a significant influence on the local economy and was known for offering great prices to spirit tamers.

Ain made his way in and was brought to one of the numerous counters for selling items by an employee.

“Welcome to Liberty Firm. What would you like to sell today?” The cheerful assistant’s voice sounded as soon as Ain approached.

“I have a few things. Take a look,” Ain said as he proceeded to pile up the smaller items on the large counter.

From the spacious counter and surroundings, it was apparent that Liberty Firm often handled large items and spirit beast bodies.

Ain placed the three Rank-0 Creeping Snakes, the harvested parts from the Rank-1 Creeping Snake, and all the miscellaneous resources from the three spirit tamers he killed.

After he was done, he pointed at the Razor Panther in the trolley. “And this.”

The assistant didn’t bat an eye at Ain’s loot and simply proceeded to appraise them.

“All your other items will get you 13,000 star coins. As for the Razor Panther, it’s at Advanced Rank-1, and other than its head, the rest of its body is preserved very well. I can offer you a price of 160,000 star coins for it. What do you think?”

The assistant finished his valuation and looked at Ain.

Ain gave it some thought and finally nodded. “It’s a deal.”

He found that the price was indeed on the higher end. He would’ve lost out by selling to the Spirit Tamer Association. Of course, there could be various reasons to sell to the association, but those didn’t apply to Ain.

Receiving Ain’s response, the assistant smiled and reported the total. “Great, with the previous items, your total will be 173,000 star coins.”

After the previous experience, Ain wasn’t as excited. He already had a rough estimate of his harvest. He was just happy about his first large sum of money.

The transaction was quickly completed, and Ain’s balance increased significantly.

After selling his loot, Ain didn’t leave Liberty Firm but instead headed towards the second floor.

The store used the first floor solely to buy items from spirit tamers. The rest of the floors were used to sell various items and services.

Ain wanted to restock some of his supplies, as well as buy the necessary resources required for their training.

The Liberty Firm’s inventory was extensive. It was even possible to place orders for items that weren’t on hand in the store.

After glancing through the extensive catalog of resources that reached as high as Rank-4, Ain focused on his own needs.

His first selections were some resources for Nox. He bought a Ghost Stone and a Grim Bark, both of which were ghost resources recommended by Teacher Turner. Ain’s research also agreed with his teacher. But the ones he selected were the Rank-1 variants and not the Rank-0 ones recommended by Teacher Turner.

There were some medicines and potions available for spirit pets as well, but Ain overlooked them for now.

Next, he moved on to medicines for himself.

Ain had already looted a bottle of Spirit Recovery Pills and Spirit Condensing Pills previously. Each bottle contained four pills.

Although he hadn’t tried them yet, he was aware of their effects. He bought ten more of each.

He also bought fourteen Blood Refinement Pills, which were Rank-1 pills effective in body tempering. Ain relied heavily on his body for combat, so it was one of his priorities.

Before leaving, Ain bought enough Rank-1 meat to last a couple of weeks, as well as some premium food and a Rank-0 Ice Crystal for the cat. Those could be considered souvenirs.

The transaction came out to a total of 53,000 star coins.

When it was time for the payment, Ain decided to use the cash cards he had looted. Since they were anonymous, they were impossible to track. Of course, he didn’t care about their anonymity, he just wanted to use the balance.

After the transaction, the receipt showed the total balance on the card. One of the cash cards still had 15,000 star coins in it.

‘So it was a total of 68,000 in cash cards,’ Ain thought to himself when he saw the receipt. Only now did he know their value in star coins. He looked at his account balance and found that it was at an unprecedented 200,000 star coins.

A sense of accomplishment surged up inside Ain, but he quickly suppressed it and thought, ‘This is just the beginning. This amount won’t mean much to me in the future.’

This was not just Ain’s unfounded expectation. He had seen the prices for some of the high-rank resources on Cyberspace as well as in Liberty Firm.

If he continued on his path, his current net worth would indeed mean nothing to him.

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