Go on a trip the couple did, indeed. It was just that they were definitely going with an entire party. They were not going to the borders, which was already dangerous, but straight to Level 2 where his expansions were.
This time, they wanted to overprepare. The last trip was too dangerous, and had it not been for the barrier ’suddenly appearing,’ they really would’ve died.
They were extremely thankful to Finn, who had saved their lives countless times, directly and indirectly.
By this time, Leiah and the others knew the truth already, just that they didn’t point it out. If he didn’t want people to know he was the actual owner of the Inn, they would respect that. They would even reinforce this if needed.
Anyway, during this hunt, they made sure to fill up their bags with medicine. Finn not only bought the necessary potions in the [Hearth Market], which fortunately had Beast Repellants again, but his friends also helped gather the medicine and ingredients he needed to manually improve them.
He also made a few healing and mana potions, though he admittedly wasn’t very fast. Compared to Haurus, he only made a small fraction.
[Basic Healing Medicine Produced: 15, accumulated]
[Basic Mana Medicine Produced: 12, accumulated]
To unlock the next level of healing potions, he had to make a lot more. Fortunately, Haurus was already in the 80s line, so he should unlock the next stage of potions soon.
They took everything, as well as the stock Haurus made, which was sold at a friendly price to friends.
"I still can’t believe you’re an alchemist, too," Marcus mumbled, looking at the potion on hand. For a couple of gold and cores, he managed to buy a few extra potions.
Finn shrugged. "Just in the inn," he said, not explaining anything.
Other than potions, he also made a lot of food with their help in preparing the ingredients for efficiency. They could only pack a number of lunchboxes because warm meals were perishable, but they sure brought a lot of sauces.
That said, Syl and her space were godsent, allowing them to bring a helluva lot more things!
Anyway, their group was not weak. The Toughened-Resonant stage people were him, Leiah, Nona, Durgan, and Marcus. For the Fortified-Blessed Stage, there was Syl and Gideon.
Further, they now knew what to expect, unlike before, so hopefully there’d be far less injury this time.
Before leaving, he made the [Delivery Hall], located next to the canteen. The people there in that area were people he trusted (the other adventurers, including Athie, were on the other side of the inn).
He had already shown enough before. If they were greedy for his abilities, he’d have long been betrayed.
He had an inkling they already knew about his identity anyway. This was a tacit show of trust, which they deserved.
They gaped at the building coming up, bit by bit, from a foundation that appeared out of nowhere.
"This..."
"I always knew you built things quickly..." Marcus gulped. But not this quickly!
Even Syl was amazed, those red eyes wider than usual and reflecting the magic in front. Finn found it very cute.
While she was staring at the building in fascination, Finn could not help but lean down a little and kiss her temple, which was closest to his lips. She blinked and reflexively kissed his chin, which was closest to her lips.
The others: "..."
Just pretend not to see it.
Soon, the small building appeared. It was octagonal-shaped and was just as big as a large gazebo, but with walls.
The group curiously looked inside, unsure what to expect. It had an open space about the size of two bedrooms, and there was a complicated pattern in the middle.
It was like patterns were embedded in the delicate stone flooring, and then unknown, shimmering metal was poured over it. Of course, this was an understatement. To be frank, any one of them could feel fluctuations of energy in the room, and they could not grasp the power behind it.
Finn curiously stepped over the array, not surprised by the notification he received.
[No connected end detected]
"What is this for?" Nona asked, kneeling down to see it.
"Hmn, I’m not quite sure yet," Finn said, purposely vague, just because it was hard to explain. "We’ll find out later."
...
The group arrived at the Level 2 border a little over a day later. The trip would normally take about two days, but they were quick and skipped through the awakened area, heading straight to Level 2.
Level 2 was approximately 60 kilometers from the center of Kaelmorr dungeons (also known as Eastern dungeons).
On the other hand, level 3—where fortified level monsters were as common as awakened here—was within twenty kilometers of the dungeons, so Level 2 was also quite a large area itself.
At Level 2, at least at the borders, there would still be mostly toughened-level monsters. However, there were also a lot of fortified-level monsters.
The only bright side was that they didn’t form large mobs, just small groups, so as long as they kept their formation, they should be able to traverse the borders safely.
He looked at his stats after several hours of travel, without using potions.
[Status]
Name: Finnick Altheus Solthar
Race: Human
Rank: Toughened Tier 1
VITALS
HP: 908/1000
Mana: 895/1000
Stamina: 899/1000
Wallet: 8703
Hearth Points: 9182 Points
Active Skills: [Ingredient Scan] [Dish Analysis] [Heated Arc] [Farming] [Assessment] [Feather Step] [Sticky Soil] [Tracker][Blade of Fire] [Thunder Clash] [Stone Guard]
Passive Skill: [Blade Proficiency - Growth Type (Lv 3)] [Monster Instinct]
[Strong Stomach] [Improved Palate] [Foraging] [Fire Resistance] Preserver’s Touch]
Condition: Normal]
This was not bad, and this was because of the essence food he had eaten before leaving. They also avoided most of the mobs they encountered, directly skipping those that were mostly with awakened monsters, which didn’t give any of them any benefits anymore.
Soon, just before they crossed the border, the first fortified stage monster of this excursion appeared.
He gripped his weapon well, and so did the others.
Come!