Just as they had been when hunting Gremlins, Lohan and Lisa hunting together were like typhoons sweeping through the monsters’ lairs.
Even when facing Level 12 and Level 13 monsters, the power they displayed was even greater than that of the monsters themselves.
Given such a huge difference in their Base Rarity compared to these monsters, the power they were able to wield was already showing significant discrepancies.
Unfortunately, the monsters they hunted today weren’t as valuable as the Gremlins they’d hunted the day before.
Even after hunting over 100 monsters, the value of the loot was "only" 2 Gold coins, which was already an absurd amount to split between just two players.
After deducting the 10% for guild management, Lohan’s current total had reached 4 Gold, 63 Silver, and 12 Copper. Converting this to credits at the standard 1:1 rate, that amount was equivalent to over $40k Credits, and with Lisa’s 1:3 rate, it converted to an incredible $121k Credits!
Seeing this enormous amount of money, Lohan didn’t hesitate any longer and finally asked Lisa to sell $40k Credits, which at the conversion rate was equivalent to 1 Gold Coin and 33 Silver Coins.
Lisa didn’t hesitate; even though $40k might seem like a lot to other people, for the Vance family, it was just a drop in the ocean.
Even after selling those coins to Lisa, Lohan still had plenty of money on hand, so the two decided to stroll through the Horizon Bazaar to see if they could find anything worth buying.
Since their bodies were those of monsters, specifically a Slime and a Fox, finding equipment for themselves was practically impossible, so they kept an eye out for anything useful for the other guild members or anything interesting for themselves.
As they passed through the root arches marking the Bazaar’s entrance, the sounds of commerce enveloped the pair.
It didn’t take them long to spot Edgar’s rustic yet luxurious wooden stall.
The beast-man, with his muscular build and the black wolf ears that Lohan had always found endearing, broke into a wide smile upon seeing the white fox and the blue Slime approaching.
"Halon! Lisa! What a pleasure to see my most distinguished customers again," Edgar greeted them, extending his hand for a handshake that Lohan returned with her small, molded blue hand.
Looking at that much firmer and more detailed hand, Edgar’s eyes sparkled with surprise, noting that Halon’s control over his own body had increased once more!
However, Edgar’s gaze soon fell upon Lisa, and a sigh of regret escaped his lips. He recalled the previous test, where Lisa had purchased a Mana Stone to try to absorb.
"It still pains my heart to remember that that gem didn’t react to your system, Lisa," Edgar remarked, wiping down the counter with a leather cloth. "For a merchant, seeing such high consumption potential wasted due to magical incompatibility is... well, it’s a tragedy."
Lisa had tested absorbing the Mana Stone, but despite trying various methods, none yielded results, so she simply gave up and told Edgar the bad news a few days ago.
Lisa merely tilted her head and replied somewhat disinterestedly. "It really is a shame."
The perks Edgar had offered for the test weren’t even that appealing to them, so she didn’t feel bad about not giving the man a positive response.Edgar laughed, though there was a trace of persistence in his merchant’s gaze. "Sure! But don’t think I’ve given up on you.
Look at what arrived this morning from the caravans of the Highlands."
He moved a few gems to the center of the velvet mat on the counter. Lohan used his [Monocular Telescopic Vision Lv 9] and [Microscopic Focus] to analyze the stones. Edgar pointed to an opaque green stone:
"A Level 12 Spiny Lizard Mana Stone. They say it grants a skin-hardening ability. And this one here," he pointed to a vibrant yellow gem, "is from a Level 11 Grass Wasp."
Lohan looked at those stones, but he had zero interest in them.
The Evolutions he could obtain from them might possibly stack with Evolutions he already had, but considering how minimal the benefit he would gain from them would likely be, compared to the cost of each of those Mana Stones, he gave up on the idea.
’I have a lot of money and even feel a little rich, but seeing these prices reaching almost 1 gold coin for a single Mana Stone, my heart aches...’
"Thank you, Edgar, but I’ll pass on these stones for now." Lohan replied in a calm and serene voice, showing no displeasure with the man’s products.
Edgar sighed, realizing that the Slime was growing at a pace that was rendering his basic "luxury" stock obsolete.
They said goodbye to the vendor and began to leave the Bazaar, frustrated at not finding anything that truly made their eyes sparkle.
That was when a desperate, hoarse scream cut through the civilized murmur of the square:
"I’M SELLING THE LOCATION OF A LEVEL 15 DUNGEON! I’LL SELL IT FOR ANYTHING! I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! ANYONE, PLEASE!"
The people around him merely cast looks of disdain or pity, continuing on their way as if the screaming human were merely an annoying noise in the capital’s serenity.
To the elves of Thalendor, a Level 15 dungeon was of little interest, as long as it wasn’t causing trouble for any of the smaller surrounding civilizations.
Thalendor was far too peaceful. The elves and locals lived in such harmony with nature that the idea of raiding dungeons or seeking conflict was viewed almost as a social faux pas, and the other races who had moved to the city had simply grown accustomed to this way of thinking.
But Lohan and Lisa stopped.
Through Instinctive Perception, Lohan sensed something different.
That man’s mana signature lacked the natural fluidity of Elysium’s NPCs; it was a denser energy, yet exhausted and irregular, much like that of the groups of other Players they had encountered.
They approached the man, who was kneeling near a crystal statue, his warrior’s garb covered by a tattered cloth.
When he lifted his face, his eyes beneath the hood shone with a mixture of panic and expectation.
"Wait... Lisa, that smell..." Lohan transmitted, activating the Chemosensory Aptitude. "His mana is familiar to me..."
The man lowered his head again, the hood covering his face a little more, and clung to Lisa’s leg, pleading. "You... you understand me?! Please, buy the information! My entire guild was wiped out in that cursed cave, and now I can’t find anyone else."
Lohan and Lisa looked at each other, confused.
They had just encountered a desperate Player, selling invaluable information in a city that completely ignored him.