Chapter 31: The First Believer

Chapter 31: The First Believer

"Hah! I never thought handing out flyers could be this exhausting," Gregor said, rubbing the back of his waist and letting out a heavy sigh.

He adjusted the two sacks slung over his back and continued down the road. "This is entirely my fault; I should have taken my time."

Faint beads of sweat trickled down his cheeks. He had been so excited about the deal Sage offered him that he hadn’t given it much thought when he left the Guild, diving straight into distributing the flyers.

Now, however, he regretted that decision. He was weighed down by two heavy sacks, several smaller pouches tied to his waist, two swords strapped at his side, and armor that, though damaged, still added considerable weight.

With all this burdening him, he trudged through the city spreading flyers,now feeling as tired as a dog.

"Let’s take a break here," he said, wiping sweat from his brow. "I’ll finish up tomorrow; all that’s left is to sell these off and turn them into cash."

The thought of the substantial amount of money he would make selling magical beast parts eased some of his fatigue. Excitement bubbled within him.

Quickening his pace, he navigated through the streets until a faint smell of ash and iron filled his nostrils along with rhythmic banging sounds ahead.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he approached a smithy. The building wasn’t large,it had two floors,and the smells and sounds intensified as he drew closer.

Taking a deep breath, Gregor stepped inside.

"Hey old man Heph! Are you in there?" Gregor called out upon entering. The lobby was lined with shelves displaying various weapons and pieces of armor gleaming softly in the light.

A loud groan echoed from the far end as a door swung open. A wave of heat rushed toward Gregor followed by an enormous man nearly seven feet tall with bulging muscles resembling bronze and thick veins snaking across his physique like serpents.

He was bald but sported a long beard; tiny yet spirited eyes peered out from beneath bushy brows. He wore long pants while his upper body remained bare except for a leather apron draped over him.

"Oh! It’s you, Gregor," Heph said in a voice that rumbled like distant thunder as he approached.

"What brings you here? Looking to buy another set of swords?" Heph asked slowly.

Standing next to Heph made Gregor feel like an ant beside a giant.

Clearing his throat, Gregor replied, "That’s just one reason I’m here. The main reason is to sell you some high-quality materials."

"Oh!" Heph exclaimed calmly but with curiosity in his eyes. He likely assumed it was just some scraps from a dungeon after Gregor had handed over most of his loot, nothing particularly valuable at all.

Seeing Heph’s expression, Gregor couldn’t help but smile. He removed the two heavy sacks from his back and placed them on the massive counter with a loud thud. Without missing a beat, he opened both sacks.

Out tumbled a huge wolf head from one sack, while the other revealed dozens of gleaming dark cores, each about the size of a fist, along with skins, fangs, claws, and bones.

At first, Heph maintained his composure. But when that enormous wolf head rolled out and his eyes landed on those beast cores and bones, his tiny eyes widened in shock as his mouth fell open.

In disbelief, he dazedly looked at Gregor and stammered slightly, "Is that really the head of a 3rd Order Phantom Wind Wolf? And aren’t those beast cores from 1st and 2nd Order beasts? And what about the skin, bones, fangs...?"

"Calm down there, old Heph," Gregor chuckled as he tried to soothe him. "Yes, all of these are parts of Phantom Wind Wolves that I took down. I’m here to sell them."

Taking a deep breath to regain his composure but unable to hide his excitement, Heph looked at Gregor incredulously.

"How did you manage all this? Please tell me you didn’t hide it from those greedy nobles! You could be in serious trouble if they find out."

Gregor kept smiling as he waved off Heph’s concerns. "I didn’t even explore any dungeons today; I got all this from completing a simple mission."

Heph scratched his bald head in confusion. "A simple mission? What kind of mission could possibly yield such incredible rewards?"

With a bright smile lighting up his face, Gregor recounted everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours. Heph listened intently with an expression of pure shock.

"So you’re saying you became an adventurer and accepted a mission to take out some wolves bothering a village? And you received more than two hundred gold coins for it, plus you get to keep your loot?" Heph stared at Gregor in disbelief.

"Yeah, that’s pretty much it," Gregor nodded proudly.

"This is hard to believe," Heph sighed softly. "But don’t you think this might be some sort of scam or scheme by those nobles?"

Gregor shook his head firmly. "I doubt it very much. The Guildmaster doesn’t seem like someone who works for those nobles in the city. Besides, have you ever seen any noble do something beneficial for warriors like us? Look at how the Guild operates!"

Heph fell silent for a moment before shaking his head in agreement. "Aye, you’ve got a point there. No noble’s scheme would ever leave a Warrior better off. It’d defeat the purpose."

"Exactly," Gregor said confidently.

"I think it won’t be long before this city,and maybe even the entire kingdom,turns upside down because of this Adventurer Guild thing," Heph mused while stroking his needle-like beard.

"You make a good point," Gregor said, nodding in agreement. "But let’s set that aside for now. I want to sell all of this,how much can I get?"

Excitement sparkled in his eyes at the thought of the money that was about to come his way.

Heph nodded and began inspecting the goods, first focusing on the beast cores. "Let’s see... you have eleven 1st Order beast cores. Each one is worth 10 Gold Coins, which totals 110 Gold Coins. Then there are nine 2nd Order beast cores, all low-level. Each of those is worth 40 Gold Coins, adding up to 360 Gold Coins. So altogether, that’s 470 Gold Coins from the beast cores."

"Hisss!"

Gregor inhaled sharply, his heart racing with disbelief as his face flushed red. He gripped the edge of the counter to steady himself.

"Well kid, I didn’t expect you to get this rich from just one mission," Heph chuckled lightly while patting his bald head. "Looks like there are plenty of perks to being an Adventurer."

"Wai... wait... I’m not done yet," Gregor quickly regained his composure and pulled out a shining core from one of the pouches tied around his waist,a core nearly twice the size of the others. "What about this one?"

Heph snatched the beast core from Gregor’s hands and examined it closely, his voice trembling slightly as he spoke. "Is this a 3rd Order Common Beast core?"

"Yes," Gregor confirmed with a nod. "It’s from the Alpha Phantom Wind Wolf that I killed. How much can I get for it?"

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Heph replied, "This Alpha Phantom Wind Wolf was already mid-level and close to reaching high level. I’ll give you 650 Gold Coins for it,what do you say?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I accept!" Gregor exclaimed eagerly, his green eyes sparkling with excitement.

Without hesitation, he pushed all remaining contents from his sack toward Heph and asked, "How much can I get for these? They include the skin, bones, claws, and fangs of both the Phantom Wind Wolves and the Alpha."

Heph took the sacks and poured their contents onto the counter before calculating once more. After a moment’s pause, he looked at Gregor with a grin that revealed his white teeth. "The total comes to 575 Gold Coins."

Silence enveloped them as disbelief washed over Gregor; he could hardly believe he’d earned so much in just one day. Adding up everything,the 237 Gold Coins from completing his mission plus 1,120 from the beast cores and another 575,he realized he had amassed exactly 1,695 Gold Coins.