“Mama, look! Big brother Ethan is back,” Emily said cheerfully, her voice ringing through the inn.
Innkeeper Greta looked up from her work, surprise lighting up her face as she saw Ethan approaching from the streets. “Ethan, you’re back!” she exclaimed. She hadn’t expected Ethan to return from prison so soon.
“Yes, Aunt. I’m back!” Ethan replied with a warm smile. Seeing their familiar faces brought him a wave of comfort, a reassuring reminder that he was cared for.
“Did that girl help you finally? I knew she wouldn’t leave you alone,” Aunt Greta said with a teasing smile. “Now, come inside and have dinner, Ethan. You look so skinny. Emily, sweetie, go and get something good for your brother.”
Emily beamed and dashed off, eager to fulfill her mother’s request.
As Ethan stepped into the cozy inn, the familiar scents of home-cooked meals and the warmth of the hearth enveloped him. Aunt Greta fussed over him, brushing imaginary dust from his shoulders and leading him to a seat by the fire.
“You must have been through so much,” she said, her voice softening with concern. “But you’re safe now at least.”
Ethan nodded, grateful for her kindness. “Thank you, Aunt Greta. It’s good to be back.”
Emily soon returned with a plate piled high with steaming food. She set it down in front of Ethan with a proud smile. “I got the best for you, big brother!”
Ethan ruffled her hair affectionately. “Thank you, Emily. This looks delicious. You’re the best.”
As he ate, the worries and tensions of the past days began to fade.
After having dinner and chatting with the mother and daughter duo, Ethan left the inn for the market specialized in hunters’ needs. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time. He was far behind his peers and needed to work harder than anyone else.
Ethan entered a hunter’s resource shop to find out about mana orbs. Mana was essential for increasing his strength, the only barrier to him getting stronger.
The shop was beautifully decorated with various hunter equipment—swords, spears, shields, skill books, monster body parts, and more. The weapons section looked luxurious, with many high-tier weapons displayed neatly.
The place was bustling with hunters buying and inspecting different items.
“Hello, Sir Hunter. What can I do for you?” A beautiful woman greeted him warmly.
Ethan cleared his throat and asked, “Hello, do you have mana orbs here?”
The shop assistant looked interested and replied, “Yes, sir, we do have a few mana orbs. How many do you need?”
“Can you show me the price list for mana orbs first?” Ethan asked, feeling a bit embarrassed. He didn’t have a penny with him; he was just there to gather information.
“Sure, Sir Hunter,” she replied professionally and handed him the information.
– “Grade-F Mana Orb – 30 Gold Coins. Mana capacity increase: 20.”
– “Grade-E Mana Orb – 50 Gold Coins. Mana capacity increase: 50.”
(AN: 100 bronze coins = 1 silver coin, 100 silver coins = 1 Gold coin, )
– “Grade-D Mana Orb – 100 Gold Coins. Mana capacity increase: 120.”
– “Grade-C Mana Orb – 220 Gold Coins. Mana capacity increase: 260.”
– “Grade-B Mana Orb – 500 Gold Coins. Mana capacity increase: 550.”
After carefully looking at the list, Ethan was shocked. “So expensive!”
They had the highest B-Grade Mana orbs in the shop. Grade-A and above must be even more expensive. One Grade-B Mana Orb cost 500 Gold/ 50,000 Silver Coins.
Ethan had only a little more than a few hundred silver coins, which was nothing compared to this.
Now the question was, “How should I earn so much money?”
He could do some guild missions, but it would take months to buy one B-Grade Mana orb. Dungeon loot depended on luck, so that was out of the question as well.
The shop assistant lady looked awkwardly at me, seeing him spacing out. She must have already taken him for a penniless bumpkin already.
But he ignored her completely because he had a more pressing matter at hand. “What to do? What to do?” Just as he was racking his brain, a brilliant idea came to his mind.
“Why didn’t I think of this earlier? I am so stupid!” He scolded himself.
He turned back to the shop assistant and said, “I want six silver swords. Can you get them for me, please?”
The shop assistant was dumbfounded by the sudden change. The boy who had wanted to buy mana orbs now suddenly wanted silver swords.
But her professionalism was commendable as she composed herself and nodded. “Sure, sir, I will get them for you.”
…
He bought six silver swords for 600 silver coins, afterwards, he left the shop. Then he entered an old alleyway to do something miraculous.
“Synthesis! Synthesis! Synthesis!”
He synthesized all the silver swords, transforming them into 3 titanium swords. All of them were D-grade and sentient, equipped with special skills. They would definitely fetch a good price in the market, as sentient swords were rare.
“Now time to sell you guys. Do forgive me.”
He went to a different weapon shop to sell them and got nearly 18,000 silver coins. The shop owner was enthusiastic about buying them from him, so the deal was done quickly.
With the money, he bought a few more silver swords and synthesized them again.
After a few trips at night, selling and buying swords in different shops while wearing a black cloak to avoid recognition, he made a profit of an astonishing amount: a total of nearly 500,000 silver coins.
“Oh my goodness!”
He looked at the coins piled up in front of him in shock. It was like a small mountain of silver and gold coins—a breathtaking sight.
Not even a noble family might be able to take out this amount of money from their treasury at once.
It was truly a cheat-like ability. But because his mana ran low, he had to quit for the night.
Still, it was more than enough for today.
If this continued for a few days, he would become the richest man in city quickly. Not that he had any plans for that. Without strength, staying in the limelight was not a good choice.
He had read similar phrases in the novels many times, so he understood this fact well at least.
Now that he had enough money, it was finally time to buy the mana orbs he really wanted.
