Before he realized it, the brilliant evening glow had visited the lower world once more, dyeing the sky a blood-red color.
As always, the adventurers who had entered the Dungeon early were now streaming out of Babel in a steady trickle, travel-worn but visibly relaxed, heading off down the eight main avenues that stretched out toward the city in every direction.
"Here's your money. Please take it."
Inside Babel, at the Exchange counter, Leo took the coin pouch the Guild employee handed him, weighed it in his palm as he stepped away from the crowd.
"Fifty-seven thousand valis..."
Gripping the pouch, which was noticeably heavier than usual, Leo quietly read off today's haul.
Fifty-seven thousand valis. There was no question this was a far better take than any of his previous runs.
Over the past ten days, Leo's daily earnings had hovered around twenty to thirty thousand valis. Sometimes a little less, not even hitting twenty thousand; sometimes a little more, breaking thirty and reaching above forty thousand. On average, though, it came out to twenty or thirty thousand. No more, no less.
He'd been pushing deeper into the Dungeon the whole time, but with his old Status, the deeper he went, the harder it got to deal with the stronger monsters, which meant the number of monsters he could take down in a day kept dropping. So even though the loot got more valuable from Floor 7 onward, with fewer kills, the money he made from selling it came out about the same.
Under those conditions, if Leo's luck was good and he picked up more drop items, he'd earn a bit more that day; if not, a bit less. In the end, it averaged out to twenty or thirty thousand valis a day.
Today, though, he'd brought home far more than on any previous day. Almost exactly double, in fact.
Which made it plain enough: after his Status had been updated and he'd started venturing as deep as Floor 10, both his kill speed and his earning efficiency had risen by quite a lot.
It was just a shame...
"I should've been able to earn even more than this."
Leo tucked the pouch away, muttering, not particularly happy.
Fifty-seven thousand valis. The thing was, that wasn't all from one trip just now.
In fact, Leo had already made three runs to the Exchange today.
His loot bag had been full before noon, which meant he'd had to head back up from Floor 10 to the surface, cash out the magic stones, empty the bag, then go back down to Floor 10 to keep at it. Around three in the afternoon, the bag had filled up again, forcing him to make a second round trip and empty it once more. It wasn't until evening, when it was time to head home, that he'd made his third trip back with a bag that still hadn't filled all the way.
In other words, today alone he'd shuttled between the surface and Floor 10 three full times.
"Three round trips. That ate up a lot of time."
If he could save that time and put it toward more exploration, Leo's haul today would definitely have been bigger.
Even if a hundred thousand valis was a stretch, seventy or eighty thousand should have been well within reach.
"If every day from now on is going to go like this, I'm losing way too much."
Leo's brows knit tight, and he sighed again.
"Looks like I really do need to hire a Supporter."
That was the top priority. He needed to get it sorted as soon as possible.
Every day he put it off, Leo was losing twenty or thirty thousand valis. Drag that out long enough and the losses would sting even for an upper-class adventurer.
Money played a big role in this city, especially for adventurers. There was never a time when money wasn't needed.
Without money, how were you supposed to buy potions?
Without money, how were you supposed to buy weapons and armor?
Equipment and supplies were an adventurer's lifeline. Even first-class adventurers couldn't cut through monsters on the deep floors without strong enough weapons, and when they were up against those kinds of monsters, taking just one hit could cost half their life. Going in without an Elixir on you was basically suicide.
And the retail price of one Elixir was as high as five hundred thousand valis. When first-class adventurers bought Elixirs, they bought several at a time, easily dropping millions of valis without a second thought. Weapons and armor were even worse.
For reference, the absolute lowest grade of weapon a first-class adventurer used was Second Class equipment, and not just any Second Class either, it had to be the finest of the Second Class. Weapons like that ran into the tens of millions of valis. First Class equipment was almost always priced above 100 million valis a piece, and even first-class adventurers had to grind away for a long stretch before they could save up enough.
And that was just the purchase price. After that there was maintenance, repair, and protective treatment, all of which cost money too. The higher-grade the superior equipment, the harder it was to repair, so naturally the cost went up.
Take Ais. Every time she had her beloved sword serviced, the price started in the millions. If the damage was severe, costs in the several millions or even tens of millions came up all the time.
So even a first-class adventurer like Ais had to figure out ways to keep earning. Otherwise, her Dungeon exploration would take a hit, and in the end it would slow her own growth.
This was a big part of why Leo urgently needed to hire a Supporter.
Even setting aside the earnings question, he needed to cut down on the back-and-forth travel time. If that time was spent farming monsters and training his Status instead, day after day, it would add up to a serious gain.
Burning time meant for self-improvement on commuting was something Leo simply couldn't accept.
So whether the goal was making money or getting stronger, he had to find a professional Supporter to assist him, or he'd take a real hit.
"Come to think of it, I've actually saved up a decent amount by now, haven't I?"
Stepping out of Babel, Leo suddenly thought about his current finances.
Thanks to his Familia comrades' upfront support, he didn't need to spend money on weapons or armor, didn't need to spend on supplies either. Apart from minor daily expenses and the two times he'd had his sword and shield repaired, everything he earned had gone straight into savings.
Going by his daily average of twenty or thirty thousand valis, he'd already saved up two or three hundred thousand. Add today's haul and his total net worth had to be over three hundred thousand valis.
"Three hundred thousand valis... that's just barely enough to buy one piece of Third Class superior equipment, isn't it?"
Leo headed in the direction of Twilight Manor, turning it all over in his head.
"Though, only the lighter, cheaper stuff: short swords, daggers, knives. For a longsword, a spear, or a great axe or warhammer, it probably wouldn't cover it."
A larger weapon was always going to cost more. Even if the forging materials were identical, the quantity used wasn't.
Forging a longsword versus a short sword, the former obviously took more material, and the price would naturally reflect that.
Armor worked the same way. Even within Third Class superior equipment, a leather vest versus a full-body suit of armor, which one cost more didn't need spelling out.
"And that's just a warrior's gear. For a Mage..."
Mages had their own equipment, too. Gear that could amplify the power of their Magic, ease the Mind cost, and so on.
And as everyone knew, a mage's staff and robes were luxury goods. Compared to the swords, spears, and clubs warriors used, the prices weren't even in the same league.
The weapons used by Ais, Finn, Gareth, Tiona, and Tione were all First Class superior equipment, each one priced at over 100 million valis a piece, though even at the high end, none of them ran above 200 million.
What about Riveria?
As Orario's strongest Mage, the staff she used, Magna Alfs, had been commissioned from the Magic Kingdom of Altena as a top-grade staff. Forged from mithril and holydite, the shaft was so durable it could even be used as a polearm. Nine of the highest-grade magic treasure stones were set into its head. Even in Labyrinth City Orario, even across the entire lower world, it was a staff in a class of its own, capable of pushing the power of Magic to its absolute limit. It was hailed as one of the Five Greatest Staves.
The story went that, thanks to Loki haggling like a maniac and sparing no tactic, the staff had been bought for an unprecedented rock-bottom price. And that so-called unprecedented rock-bottom price was 340 million valis, and that was without counting the nine top-grade magic treasure stones.
What about the original price?
Probably even 500 million valis wouldn't have been enough!
The Fairy King's Holy Robe Riveria wore was also First Class superior equipment, woven from the fibers of the sacred royal tree that stood within the Royal Capital, possessing extremely high resistance to Magic. Its predecessor had been the royal dress Riveria wore when she left home. The price had to be well over 100 million valis, and it wouldn't be strange if it ran past 200 million either.
That was a Mage's equipment. Genuine luxury and top-tier goods, costing at minimum double what a warrior's gear ran.
"...I probably can't even afford the lowest-grade staff right now, can I?"
Leo suddenly felt very poor again.
There wasn't a single piece of ordinary equipment in a Mage's loadout. The absolute lowest was Third Class superior equipment.
Regular swords, spears, clubs, and the like, even an ordinary blacksmith who hadn't received Falna and hadn't developed the Blacksmith Development Ability could forge them. But every piece of a Mage's gear had to be made by someone with the Mystery profession. Nothing was ordinary; every piece was superior equipment with some special effect.
Leo was on the path of a Magic Swordsman. Both the melee weapon and the staff, ideally, he had to equip both.
That was when it hit Leo like a flash of clarity.
"So the path I picked is actually one that's destined to burn through money?"
For a moment there, Leo almost changed his mind and decided not to be a Magic Swordsman after all.
It took some real effort before he steeled his resolve again, gritting his teeth.
"Money can always be earned. Strength comes first."
He'd only been an adventurer for eleven days and he'd already saved up over three hundred thousand valis. A few more months of this and he should be able to put away several million.
By then, sword or staff, he'd be able to equip both.
For now, he was still just Lv.1. His gear didn't need to be top of the line. Functional was enough.
Lv.1 newbie adventurers generally only ranged through Floors 1-12. Those twelve floors were collectively known as the Upper Floors, and no monsters with abilities exceeding Lv.1 appeared there. Even without a staff, Leo's Magic could easily put down any of the monsters on those twelve floors.
As for a melee weapon... same as before, the short sword in his hand was enough.
If it could cut into an Orc, what monster in the Upper Floors couldn't it cut through?
"Once I hit Lv.2, then I'll think about whether to swap out my gear."
Thinking along those lines, Leo quickly realized something: he was already close to being able to rank up to Lv.2...
At his current rate of growth, in a month at most, he should be able to push all of his basic abilities to the upper limit of his current Level.
By then, there'd be no reason to stay where he was.
"A month, huh..."
Leo's face fell.
"By then, the most I'll have saved up is around a million valis, right?"
A million valis. To buy Third Class superior equipment, that might not even cover one longsword, let alone a staff.
"No, I really do need to find a Supporter."
That settled it. Leo's mind was made up, and he strode off toward the Familia headquarters.
By the time he got home, night had just fallen. The magic-stone lamps in the courtyard had already been lit, illuminating the area around him.
And then, with no surprise at all, there was someone waiting for him here.
"...Welcome back."
The girl with golden hair and golden eyes was sitting on the long bench, legs drawn up, arms around her knees. She watched Leo walk in, her voice carried on the evening breeze, brushing against his ear.
"Yeah, I'm back."
Leo pushed down the tangled thoughts in his head and smiled in greeting at this girl who was a little too beautiful, a little too dazzling.
"Hm?"
After the greeting, Leo suddenly felt something off.
Why did it feel like someone else was watching him?
Leo lifted his head, glancing around, but there wasn't another soul in sight.
"Just my imagination?"
Leo had his doubts.
But by then Ais had already stood up and come over to him.
"I heard," Ais said, looking him in the eye. "You updated your Status yesterday?"
"Yeah." Leo pulled his gaze back, turning his attention to the girl in front of him, and smiled. "You're well informed."
"...At dinner, I overheard Raul and the others mention it." Ais said softly, "Your footsteps, they've gotten steadier."
What she meant was that Ais had also picked up on the changes in Leo, to one degree or another.
"Congratulations on getting stronger."
Ais said it from the heart.
To her, being able to grow stronger was without a doubt something to be happy about.
At least, that was how it was for her.
Even if her own reason for becoming stronger had never been anything good.
"Thanks."
Leo replied with that one word and said nothing more.
He'd just realized something else, that his situation right now might not be all that suitable to let the girl in front of him in on...
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