He couldn’t help but think of the hoovensore, a toughened-level monster, which was apparently a rank higher than awakened level.
Tsk. He wasn’t even awakened yet, but he was encountering monsters above that.
Also, didn’t this mean that he was only around 40 kilometers from the so-called Level 2? How long would it take to trek from the Inn to there? 1 day? 2 days?
Ideally, it’d be forever, but who was he to wish for safety?
One had to note that although the term was portal or dungeons, it was actually an entire area that could ’ripple’ and let monsters pass through!
"Ohh..." the Panda nodded, looking interested in this history lesson.
He looked at Pang. "Why do you not know something so important?"
Didn’t they get, like, a summary document or something?
"Well, to be fair, the other Innkeepers live in the same world they built in."
Ah, he remembered that he was the only transmigrator.
He was the only noob whose strength was akin to a local kid. Yes, that was only him.
Syl looked at them. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she could tell Finn was worried. She wondered why the inn was built here in the first place, but she didn’t ask.
"It is not entirely a danger and disadvantage in this area," she told him, and knew she was comforting him. "In terms of business, your location is actually quite good."
"The plants nearer the dungeons have denser essence, and there is a greater variety here," she told him. "There are adventurers specializing in material gathering.
"The monsters here also range from awakened to toughened, which is manageable to most adventurer or mercenary parties," Syl continued to explain.
"There are plenty of teams going here without heading to the dungeons at all. As long as they hunt monsters, or gather enough materials, then it is usually a lucrative endeavor to go around this area."
"Furthermore, the bodies of the monsters are very good resources. Their skin is strong to create great defense equipment, and their bones could be used as weapons as well. Some alchemists also use them in their potions."
Every beast at awakened level and above had some use, though of course not everything could be taken back due to the difficulty in logistics. It was simply too tiring to carry so many things back to the safe zone, which was at least a few days away.
"Most of their meat is healthy and filling, some even allowing the consumer to temporarily gain stats." She couldn’t help but look at her empty plates.
The monster meats were known for their subpar taste and texture, but Finn managed to create essence food that tasted good with a few ingredients. It was very impressive.
Finn nodded in understanding. This was why the chances of essence food using the beast meat were so high. Their bodies were just filled with essence.
Partnered with essence-dense plants in the area, then he...was actually in the best place to make essence food?
"Ask her about essence cores," Pang instructed at the side. Finn was too distracted with food to think about other stuff.
That said, Pang was also busy with food when he saw this and he was already asking Finn for another plate. Finn had to take some of his stockpile (the F-Class food) to his plate instead, before shifting attention back to Syl.
"Ah, what about cores?"
"The most lucrative and universally needed item. However, I am unaware of their exact market value, I have seen many humans kill their companions for a few pieces."
"..."
He mentally patted the cores in his space.
"I see..." he said.
"Not all monsters would have these. Perhaps only one out of ten or less would, and you’d need a number of these to increase your strength.
Pang also nodded. "Hmn, I see, I see..."
"Is it different from the other two innkeepers?" Seriously, how could he be this clueless?
"Of course la! The first one could gain strength just by killing and then absorbing the monsters’ auras. They also have spirit mountains and spirit stones.
"The second Innkeeper’s development was a lot like your old planet’s—they focused on the head so their power-ups had a lot to do with chemicals and experimentation."
"Hmn, interesting... the universe is really such a big place."
Syl, for the first time, wanted to know what other people were talking about. In her ears, Pang was making cute squeaky ’rah’ sounds, but Finn didn’t seem to have any problems communicating.
While looking at Pang eating his food, he started to wonder. "You mentioned that plants here are more essence-infused than those in the safe zones?"
Syl nodded. "A large portion of the world’s essence was needed to block the dungeons, and also to maintain the barriers around them," she said. "Even if it’s weakening now, it is still very powerful."
In Finn’s visualization, since the portals were like the dimensional liquidation of patches of landmass, then the ’control’ of their opening was simply keeping it solid—ensuring the barriers weren’t penetrated.
Similarly, the control ’loosening’ meant there was the occasional instability of this dimensional solidification.
"The plants here are therefore more valuable than others. Not each plant has the same value, however, and plants from Level 2 and beyond seem to be poisonous to most people. My people are fond of plants from there, however, so I am not entirely certain if those rumors are true."
Anyway, these cores, monster loot, and the plants were naturally very attractive to people, and all these things gave rise to the age of adventurers and mercenaries.
"There are also occasional caravans traveling in the area," she said. "As long as the force value is okay, Level 1 is also a shortcut."
So not only would there be mercenaries and adventurers, but he could have a lot of merchants too.
It’s not so bad.
This meant... customers, right?
The law of supply and demand would probably apply everywhere.
His Inn could be the midpoint that could serve various entities.
Further, because his location was in a place where one wouldn’t expect to receive a roof over their heads, or a warm meal, a laundry service, a shower, and so on...this meant he could charge quite a bit for these services!
His essence food...for now, they give buffs in percentages . Even Syl, who was obviously much more powerful than he was, could feel that there were still some effects. He was fairly sure it was the same case for others.
If so, how much could he sell them for?
With the barrier, he could also gather cores relatively safely and sell them off in the future. They could also use it as a tool to gather their own cores.
Hey. Maybe he could live comfortably, after all.
As long as he could attract more customers.
Of course, this was easier said than done. The area was huge , after all.
Even if there were people a kilometer away, what were the chances that they would actually find his inn without any signs?
He needed to find a way to create paths, add signs, et cetera, towards the inn. But that’d mean he’d have to go out, so he pushed the idea aside for now.
Unless...he could get his future customers to do it in his stead, of course.