Chapter 262: Gathering Cores

They also said that no one group or individual would monopolize the support, limiting the amount each person could use.

The rest, should they hope to extend their stay or buy more than what had been stipulated as subsidies, would be from their own pocket. And after experiencing the advantages of the inn, 100% people would be paying out of their own pockets.

Anyway, the guests started hunting, and Finn and the staff members took a closer look at his deliveries.

They got several bolts of cloth, different quality linen, and even a few bolts of sturdy-looking silk. He asked Milo to buy different types within the budget, and he was pretty impressed with the variety.

From here, Ranran would determine which one she could work with best, and maybe trigger some special effects on. Perhaps each type of cloth could also bring about different effects. Who knew? He wasn’t the one with the [Advanced Tailoring] skills…

He had also listed a list of ingredients he had ready access to, so he put extra value on things he did not have yet.

He also bought a lot more seeds, though due to the lack of biodiversity in the safe zone, it was mostly what he already bought when he went to town before.

Still, he appreciated the extra seeds, and he was planning on building a couple more gardens anyway.

Speaking of the seeds he had bought back when he was in town, thanks to the [Farming] skill, all of them had already sprouted. It was quite fascinating.

There was a grand total of seven varieties he managed to buy, even after scouring the markets, which was really telling of the biodiversity there. They were mostly flowers and tea shrubs, though, but he could think of various things to use them for.

That said, the lack of knowledge and choices in the market was also because many families and businesses had monopolized certain seeds and plants, which was honestly very capitalist of them.

Anyway, out of the seven seeds, four were variations (inferior ones) of what he already had, namely: veilroot, thornroot, stonebulb, and bindergrains.

He heard there were Matis plants there too, but only a few territories knew how to grow them well.

As for the three, they were fruitful, and Milo brought in a lot of them, too.

One was the seed of Via, which was a shrub whose leaves were used as a sweetener. He didn’t know how close it’d be to Earth’s stevia as the plant was too young to taste, but he was looking forward to it.

Though the appraisal skill only said it was the seed of so-and-so, he could use it to see the effects as soon as they sprouted, which they had.

Another was the seed of Mairk, a citrus fruit tree with fruits similar to lemons! Except it was pink and a bit more tart. When Durgan saw it, he could swear his mouth turned to an asterisk, too, just at the imagination of its taste.

Some wouldn’t like the sourness, but Finn was excited for it.

Ohhh, the dishes, sauces, and condiments he could make with this!

And finally, there was the Thano Pine, which was a black pine with a sharp exterior and a hollow husk. When crushed into powder, it could be made into something that’d add umami to a dish.

If he were to find an equivalent on earth, it was roughly like MSG, except a bit milder.

It wasn’t harvested from the safe zone, but was bought in the market. It was actually something harvested in the mid to deeper Level 2 areas.

It would be a dream to get something like coffee or cocoa here, but alas.

The day ended with an exhausted group of people, but they were smiling and were very accomplished.

Although there were not many toughened-level monsters around, it was fine, because an awakened essence core could buy them a meal already.

Plus, since many of them were already at toughened level, they were able to spend the entire daylight fighting with minimal breaks, so the amount of awakened-level cores they gathered was not small at all.

Finn knew all of that would land in his pockets later, so he was admittedly a bit excited.

The few awakened people in the party, like Remus and Marie, had the biggest gains in the training, of course. They could use the cores they gathered and, according to rumors, it was easier to absorb these things within the inn, so they really hoped to level up soon!

They were feeling inferior after realizing Finn, who was at their level a few weeks back, had now upgraded to Toughened. It really inspired them to start catching up!

They had always thought their progress was great, considering their background and their starting point. But seeing Finn, who had just started training a while back, was already so far ahead was rather triggering!

The couple pushed themselves so hard that even they were impressed with themselves.

Anyway, the team (as well as the teams that came after) started fighting all monsters in the vicinity, even attracting some from afar, harvesting core after core with gusto.

It was to the point that Finn could dare say that his area could be safer than many Level 0 areas.

As for the food after their training, Finn only promised his friends one meal a day during their stay, so for the next meal, they headed straight to the canteen.

The others, though, were desperate to taste his cooking. They practically offered their inventory to him.

Finn saw the money-making opportunity and rubbed his palms together. “Then…one C-Class dish for a toughened core.” A toughened core could sell for 8-10 gold in the safe zone, and 5 gold in the Hearth Market, so it wouldn’t be a loss to sell it for this amount.

“DEAL!”

He happened to have a lot of ingredients for a nettle-noodle bowl and a few other dishes pre-prepared in his cellar, so he could literally make a dozen or so in an hour~

Just like this, he found himself with a handful of the core!

He tried to push down his smile. He should be consolidating his new rank anyway. Perfect.

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