Chapter 37- First Exchange

*pant* *pant*

'That was exhausting!' Abel panted as he tiredly thought.

While skinning a few monsters would be fine, it was a completely different matter when the amount was in the hundreds.

It took Abel more than 2 hours to skin all the monsters in the dungeon, around twice as much time he spent killing them.

The normal Stone-toothed Rats numbered 222 while the more evolved variants were much less. Still, after he finished and looked at his handy work, he couldn't help but grin.

While he had gotten less meat then other parts, his haul was much greater than his first attempt.

He had to thank his new title along with his increasing skinning skill that broke through to Trainee half way through. It was the first of his skills to graduate from greenhorn!

Thankfully, he had started skinning with the normal monsters. Although the normal Rat Meat he got was less, it aided in his skinning for the higher leveled monsters.

Just the normal Rat Meat took up 36 stacks, while the Sergeant Rat Meat took up 5. The Lord Rat Meat took up 3 and a half stacks while he got unlucky with the Rat King, only getting 1 portion of Rat Meat from him.

He filled up the remaining space with the highest paying monster loot after packing everything up but the floor was still littered with Rat Tails and Rat Claws.

'I'll make another run, I can't leave these monster parts to disappear with the dungeons refresh. But I should leave the mine to fully restore though. Yeah, I'll sell off all the loot then head to old man Rye's and log off to get some sleep.'

He decided to make another quick run before going back to old man Rye's study and logging out. Even though earning some coin was important, his quest that got him this profession was even more important.

If the chain quest got him so many rewards and it wasn't even complete, then he couldn't imagine what the final reward would be. He just hoped he could succeed in the end.

After quickly piling up the rest of the loot in a room, he made his way out of the dungeon. He was still cautious and careful in his exit, afraid the dungeon would get discovered before he could finish milking it.

As he got on the path leading back to the city, he came across a few parties that were heading out to hunt for the day. It was currently 7:30 am in Veridia's time and around 4:30 back on Luminara.

He wanted to get done with everything and log out within an hour so he could go and check out the trap in the forest.

If it caught a boar, then he'd have to spend a good hour bringing it back home. Although it would be caught in the trap, he couldn't tie it up and carry it back like a rabbit, it was simply too heavy.

That was only the beginning as he'd have to slaughter it and skin it right away. He had to be quick and efficient to prevent the meat from spoiling. Slaughtering was simple, skinning it and chopping it up was what took a great deal of time.

When he got back to the city, he sent a whisper to Coinweaver asking for the directions to Nova Street. As he waited for a reply, he didn't waste any time and made his way to Universal Bazaar.

Tring Tring

"Good morning sir! It's good to see you again."

The old attendant he dealt with was currently manning the shop, so it seemed his older brother got off duty already.

"Good morning. I missed you last time and dealt with your brother instead."

"Yes, he did mention a rather good-looking adventurer seeking his advice about Nocturnium. I apologize, but we simply do not purchase raw ore."

"It's fine, I understand."

Abel waved his hand in understanding as he made his way to the table.

He started taking out all the monster parts he could sell such as teeth, claws and pelts. He had gotten the highest leveled loot first and left behind the lower-level monster parts in the dungeon.

"A collection as always, though… is there no Rat Meat?"

The young shop keeper couldn't help but inquire, although his potioneering skills would barely improve anymore with low-level Rat Meat, he could still earn a hefty sum from the sale of poison.

"I apologize, I have an alchemist friend in need of the Rat Meat. We had signed a pact already, so he's reserved all Rat Meat for the next week."

Although Abel could have lied, he didn't dare underestimate the intelligence of an NPC. Besides, the shopkeeper was always courteous and honest with him, he didn't want to lie either so he honestly explained the current circumstance.

"What a pity. I hope you'll remember our shop in your future sales."

"Of course, Universal Bazaar is my first stop in the city regardless if it's for selling or purchasing goods."

"Your patronage is always appreciated dear customer. The total will come to 7 silver and 95 copper coins. Would you like to make the transaction?"

"Yes"

After Abel finished the exchange, he still hadn't received a reply from Coinweaver.

Although he was a little disgruntled at the lack of quick reply, he figured he'd make the second trip to the dungeon right away.

If he still hasn't replied by the time he sold off the rest of the loot, then he'd have to wait till Abel logged back in later on.

He was even more careful on his journey back, at night he could blend in with the darkness and could see other players while they wouldn't notice him. But it was different during the day so he spent another 10 minutes looking around before he dared approach the dungeon.

Thankfully, the dungeon was quite a distance from the normal trail through the forest. Players usually wouldn't bother with an area in the forest that was still too close to the city, while newbs wouldn't dare enter the forest in the first place.

They'd hunt in the clearing around the city walls just like how Abel hunted at the start. They'd spend even longer than he had as most people nowadays didn't have any hunting skills or combat experience.

Finally, when Abel was packing up the last of the Rat Tails, he heard the long awaited notification sound of a whisper.

*Ding*

You have a whisper!

He opened it up and took a look. Nova Street actually wasn't far off from the old guardians' district, just a block away at the next square. It was decent neighborhood for a capital city, with many middle-tier merchants living in the area.

It went by the name of Blossom district denoting the blossoming trade taking place while also mentioning the special flowers that decorated the area and blossomed all year-long.

It was called the Everlasting Petal and would actually wither 4 times a year, but it would quickly bloom once more after a short period.

It was a useless plant without any practicality, other than looking good. It didn't even smell like anything but it was often used for decorations during festivals and holidays. The commoners also like to use it for wedding ceremonies while the nobles could afford something better.

"Alright, I'll be there in 30 to 40 minutes. Don't leave me waiting, I have to log off."

After replying, Abel quickly looked over the area, making sure he hadn't missed anything. Although he only had a single inventory space left, he'd carry the loot by hand if it was just a few pieces of Rat Claws and Rat teeth.

Once he vigilantly made his way back out of the dungeon, he hurried on the path back to the city. He actually crossed a majority of it through the woods as he didn't want to bump into other players that might have seen him leave the city just half an hour ago.

Although some might think he was being excessive in his caution, Abel didn't think so and he further didn't mind being extra careful. This dungeon was his current lifeline to making some real easy money and he'd protect it at all costs.

After a couple of quick battles with some small monsters, he found himself before the city walls. This time, he circled around from the outside to enter through the eastern gates instead, still wary of any possible players lazing about that might notice him.

Once he offloaded all of his loot at Universal Bazaar and gained another 4 silver and 85 copper coins, he started making his way to the Blossom district.

He was quite glad at making back more than half of what he spent on the pact and this was before they even sold off the rat poison.

A few minutes later, he was standing before an average looking villa. It wasn't splendidly decorated like the other merchants' villas on the streets and just judging from outside, the place could easily go unnoticed and blend into the background.

He walked up and rung the literal bell, he figured it was the equivalent to the modern electronic door bell. Just a second later, the door opened up as though the person was standing near-by waiting.

'At least he took my words seriously and didn't leave me hanging. Just like I thought, a dependable and decent guy'

Abel nodded, both in greeting to Coinweaver and in thought about him being right about the merchants' character.

"You have the goods?" Coinweaver asked as soon as he closed the front door.

Abel didn't answer right away but looked around first, the place seemed very average though all he could see was the visitors' hall at the entrance. But the villa lacked the decorations and flair he'd expect from someone like Chronelix.

Coinweaver was about to ask again when Abel finally spoke

"Where's Chronelix?"

"He's still not online, he will be soon though so don't worry. It would take him a few hours at most to refine everything, even if you had hundreds of Rat Meat. I'll sell it off quickly too so I should have your cut by the time you bring the next shipment of goods"

Abel lifted his brow, he could guess Coinweaver figured out the truth behind the source of his loot but the fact that he didn't ask added some plus points to his already good impression of him.

He started taking out all the Rat Meat as he spoke,

"There's 180 Stone-toothed Rat Meat, 25 Sergeant Rat Meat, 18 Rat Lord Meat and 1 Ferocious Rat King Meat. I'm not sure if you know the market price of this loot already but just in case I'll tell you now… 12 coppers, 15 coppers, 30 coppers and 45 coppers respectively."

"What! The Rat Lord and Rat King sell for so much?"

"Yes, you can ask around but I doubt another player would have come across these monsters. You can check at a shop called Universal Bazaar, their NPC's wont cheat you."

"I know, I've had some dealings with that pair of brothers. I believe you, I just didn't expect it to be so much."

Abel was somewhat surprised Coinweaver already knew and dealt with Universal Bazaar but it made sense when he thought about it.

The young man before him seemed like a great merchant with a wide network of contacts and acquaintances. It only made sense for him to have dealings with the NPC merchants too.

 "I'm not sure how potioneering or alchemy works but if my guess is right then the higher-grade Rat Meat can either make higher grade poison or more bottles of a lower grade poison."

"I'm not sure either but I guess it mostly depends on the skill of the refiner. I'll tell Chronelix to start off with the lower grade Rat Meat."

"Alright, I have to get going. I'll message you with the next batch when I have it."

"Mm.. I'll do the same after I'm done selling off all the poison."

Abel nodded in farewell and quickly took his leave, making his way back to old man Rye's study.