Lily woke up one morning, feeling a bit heavy. She squirmed her little body and looked up to see she was hugged by two adults, her brother Finn and pretty sister Syl.
She smiled, feeling like she was part of a family.
Family.
She hugged pretty Syl first. Much softer and fragrant. Like a mother in her memories.
She never hugged her parents. When she gained consciousness, she was already here, inside the shell, being fed with various knowledge and things she should probably know to survive.
At least for a while...
She did not care about those things, though. She just liked to stay like this.
...
Later that morning, training for the children resumed.
While they occupied a portion of the easement, the rest of the easements, especially the adventurers’ and the mercenaries’ training ’ear’, were already filled with activity.
Basically, as long as the sun was up, this place was bustling, and there were always people training in every section of the invisible walls. At night, there were less fighters, but there were still plenty, especially in the ’ears’
The hustle and bustle of the inn was now palpable, with activity everywhere except the gardens and farms, which either had staff-only access or had ’do not step on’ signs.
Natural markets formed on open spaces. By this time, the inn had become a hub of sorts. Everyone heading to the danger zones would pass through here.
Further, everyone who wished to maximize their stay would also stay here, so now there were also plenty of merchants who saw the opportunity and needs for various products, so caravans passed by here on purpose too.
He got the staff to make sure things were orderly, and he imposed a 10% tax on all transactions not related to the inn. Fortunately, with the Inn’s upgrade, he could easily do this, and it would automatically deduct from the money the merchants received and would automatically end up in his wallet.
As for the [Inn Shop], since the basic stuff was already sold by various merchants, he could focus on the specialties like sauces, dried fruits, and roasted nuts—all of which were must-buys and very popular souvenirs.
They might not be essence food, but they were great sustenance for distances and great ways to improve the dishes’ taste, no matter what they were.
After tasting the inn’s food once, one would always long for it. Through Finn’s brainwashing, er, convincing speeches, he convinced them that this was all for spirit and longevity. What are we earning money for, if not for a better life, right!?
This way, no one would feel guilty spending so much in the inn anymore!
From what he heard, most well-to-do households and households of adventurers and mercenaries would all have bags of Inn snacks or bottles of the sauces in their kitchens, showing off to guests.
Finn was amused and happily went around, greeting guests and helping out with the staff, feeling rather accomplished. Sure, he still had a number of unfinished missions, but he wasn’t too hard on himself.
He saw a lot of familiar faces as he was walking around. He reckoned some of these people lived there more than in their own homes, though due to the limitations he placed, a lot of those days were in camp, due to the long queue for the rooms.
For example, the elfblood twins Ravin and Arthur were there again, along with their guards, whom Finn had already befriended Ignus and Thea.
This time, they—amusingly, through Leez—had offered to sell some seeds to the Inn and teach some methods of cultivation. Their herbs were also perennially discounted.
In exchange, they were guaranteed a room to stay. A room was all he could give, but it was enough. The brothers could use the room and share the effects.
Having a room with increased regeneration was simply too advantageous, not just in healing from wounds, but also when one was absorbing cores.
Speaking of the brothers, at some point during the past month, it seemed like Leiah and Ravin had also taken the next step, which was something he was happy to see.
It certainly reinforced the inn’s stellar reputation, he-he.
The workshops were also in full swing at this time. The dwarves were making weapon after weapon, with them taking on a lot of repairing jobs as well. They divided their work well. Samon, the older dwarf, was particularly meticulous.
He handled repair work better, which was arguably more difficult than creating a new weapon from scratch.
The other one focused on creating daggers and swords, as well as others, depending on the demand. Each day, these things would be swept out.
Further, Samon, after a while, gained extra repair inheritances. It got to the point that it would be another reason for people to venture all the way to the danger zones.
At the same time, he couldn’t accommodate everyone, so many of them had to camp outside the barrier, and some semi-permanent camps (including the one in the karst mountains where he met Marcus and his team) had been formed.
Like this, the number of fighters in the area increased at a steady pace, and the monsters in the region could be said to have dwindled.
Fortunately, their sheer number attracted more and more monsters. Otherwise, they’d have trouble attracting more hunts!
...
Meanwhile, Syl was with the children again. She was exercising her own abilities by creating obstacle courses for them using her elements. After giving them pointed guidance, they were allowed to explore their powers on their own, and Syl would observe the process.
At some point, Lily touched the barrier. She had always felt it was very familiar with her. Before, she couldn’t really touch it, but after a long time of training with sister Syl, she had started to find the right ’wavelength’ to tune in.
Her rounded eyes looked at the monster in front of her, ramming its head against the barrier to get to her.
Under her little arms, the once-untouchable barrier felt a bit more malleable. The flat barrier started to form something sharp on its surface, like a pencil trying to go through a balloon, except instead of breaking the barrier, it reinforced it.
Using this sharpened barrier, the baby stabbed the monster with ease.
Syl flinched, and her eyes widened. She turned around and looked for Finn, pulling him to the nearest forest before speaking to him. "I know why Lily’s energy feels familiar."
Finn’s eyebrows rose. He was curious at first, but when he saw how her eyebrows furrowed, he suddenly felt a deep sense of foreboding.
"It’s the same energy as the portals, Finn."
Finn’s jaw clenched. What did that mean exactly?
He didn’t know for sure, but he had a vague feeling it had something to do with his self-sacrificing parents again.