Gold!

The minotaur was dead. I was alive, and that was enough for me to say I won. I had finished the quest. One of them at least. It hurt to breathe, and it hurt even more to move. Still, I wasn't completely out of strength. Not wanting to deal with the process of cleaning the minotaur, I sent it into my storage along with the greatsword that it was wielding, even trying to collect as much of the blood as I could from the ground.

Even just using my storage magic felt like it pushed me to my limit though. My chest was tight again, and my breath was shallow, but it wasn't from panic, it was from pain. I looked down to see my leather jacket dented in like a shiny metal door kicked by an ogre. 'I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to have ribs there…'

I unfastened the straps around my chest but it only did so much. I staggered over to the cave, minotaur blood dripping from my whole body and trailing behind me as I walked.

My body forced me to cough, but when I did I could feel one of my ribs moving around like a loos pick inside a guitar. It made me shudder and squirm as I took a knee and blood sprayed from my mouth like vomit.

"Plutia…" I muttered. The warm light filled my body and I was able to use lesser healing. I shuddered again as my rib moved back into its place and the hole in my lung filled itself. It was only lesser heal… So the bone didn't heal, it just set itself… And the hole in my lung may have closed, but it certainly wasn't fixed like new.

I kept coughing, spitting out more blood as I tried to clear my lungs, gripping the dirt with my hands as my eyes started to water. 'Sparks… I'm not going to have to use the potion, am I? No… No, I think it's starting to clear up…'

When It was over I rolled onto my back and stared up at the sky. There was only one thing I could think of. 'I hope they're all still sitting around the tavern doing nothing… I want to see their faces… When I walk in holding this thing head…'

I don't know how long I laid there like that… A minute, three, probably more like 15. I didn't want to move, I knew it would hurt, and I didn't want to risk reopening my injuries. I could have used the potion Lola gave me, but a high-grade healing potion cost a whole gold coin… So instead, I waited till some of my mana came back, and I used recovery magic to speed up my metabolism and boost my natural healing.

Of course, that meant I was starving myself, but it also meant I didn't owe Lola my life… Or at least a gold coin. Either way, I had enough problems with money without going into debt. On the other hand… I knew she told me not to sell it, but let's be real, it was worth a whole gold coin.

After a while, I managed to crawl back to my feet, taking my leather jacket off the rest of the way and sending it to my storage. Even unfastened and worn loose, the weight on my shoulders made the pain that much more real.

'At least until I start heading back, I'll wear something else.'

Not thinking about it too hard I grabbed the baggy hoody I bought and pulled it over. Even if I was alone the thought of being half out in the open wasn't one I was particularly fond of. 'Nice and easy… If I just take it slow I should be fine. Gathering the herbs from this cave shouldn't be too hard. I just need to make sure I don't make any sudden breaths or I might reopen the hole in my lung.'

The entrance to the cave was large, but at the back there was a narrow entrance to another opening where the sunlight just barely reached through, reflecting off the water inside and refracting off of several crystals.

Even though I was still in pain I couldn't help but smile at the sight of the flowering herbs budding all over the cave. Although to be honest, I saw money more than I saw pretty flowers. For some reason, saxifrage only grew in caves such as the one. Curiouser still, it grew underwater as well and made the lake in the cave emit a soft blue glow, keeping it warm even in the chilly fall weather.

With the minotaur having made the surrounding area his territory, there was no chance any monsters would show up. With that in mind, I felt comfortable taking my time gathering the herbs. Then when I got them all into storage, I took off my armor and carefully stepped into the pool, gathering the herbs from there too.

It wasn't until I got out I started to regret not stripping all the way, as the water soaked through my clothes… But the thought didn't even cross my mind till I started wondering how I should dry off.

In the end, I decided to just not worry about it and threw back on my bloody gear. 'I'll take a bath when I get back anyway…' I thought, popping the dent out of my armor with a burst of wind magic before throwing it back on, fastening it a few notches looser than before, and letting the scent of blood fill the air around me.

See… There were four things everyone should know about minotaur blood. Alchemists could use it to make various potions, enchanters could use it to help them practice higher-level enchantments beyond their means. It had an incredibly strong scent… And… No matter what you did… it would permanently change to color of anything it touched…

And I slid through a whole puddle of it on my knees, not to mention basically took a bath in it when I turned the thing into a fountainhead. 'I probably look like a tomato…' Even my pants were already stained dark red, despite me jumping in the water before it finished drying. Even my hair on my arms turned red. It was probably the most potent dye in the world. I almost laughed. 'Well… It's not black or grey…'

Thankfully the minitour's blood had a strong smell to it, and anything that picked it up knew that if the scent was that thick, something dangerous enough to kill a minitour was near… Nothing wanted to come close to something like that. It was kinda cool. It made me feel like a boss; Which I guess I kind of was since I just killed one.

The whole time I was walking back I couldn't think about anything other than shoving the fact I killed it by myself in everyone's face… The more I dwelled on it though the angrier I became, and the longer I had to trudge through the forest the worse the pain in my side started to ache.

To make sure I wasn't taking any chances I kept the head out of storage and carried it by the horns to increase the scent even more. When I walked in through the gate it took me a minute to collect myself and figure out what to do next. 'Even if Alden is shady I need to turn in the quest to him so that we can start making antidotes as soon as possible… Even if he cuts me short it should be fine… It won't matter with how much I'm about to make, not to mention I'm about to get another two promotions.

 I walked in, trailing blood on the ground as I limped up to the fortress and placed it on Alden's desk. "One black minitour I believe."

I unloaded my entire storage of herbs onto the scale. "And enough saxifrage for you guys to make some antidotes…" I was trying to come off as smug, but it was hard to make my voice come out loud enough for it to even sound normal.

After a few moments, he wiped the dumbfounded look off his face and turned over to the scale to read it. I went ahead and did the same.

"Yes, right, that's 0.79 Kilograms–"

"0.81 Kilograms…" I grumbled

He chuckled nervously. "Ah… Yes, of course. And one black minitour head for the black diamond quest."

"Tripple black diamond, emergency issue quest." I corrected him again.

 The price was easy to calculate, but for some reason, he was taking his time. 

I pulled out my dagger and jammed it into the table, causing the guards to both get put on edge. "Look. I'm in a really bad mood right now. I smell like vomit, and I just walked over a mile in wet clothes… If you're going to make me haggle again I'm turning this in at Rothet's counter, and they're going to have to ask why."

He chuckled nervously again, "There's no need for that is there? Although I'm afraid I'll only be able to pay you for one of these quests at the moment as… The rewards are quite heavy…"

'Is he still up to something? Forget it…' "Just mark it down that I completed both so no one claims my kill, I'll turn in the saxifrage, you guys need it to make antidotes right?"

He smiled again, but it was the sneaky smile I didn't like. "Yes, of course, that's"

"81,000 Tallons. Give me 8 gold and 1 silver."

He carefully counted each one, and when he handed them over I carefully counted them as well, placing them in my pocket and turning to leave, taking the minitours head with me.

I was in so much pain, and so angry… It was so sudden and happened so fast, I couldn't even appreciate that it was the first time I had ever touched gold.

'What idiot at the guild priced the saxifrage this highly… I gave them enough to treat 810 people… That supply will probably last the rest of the infestation.'

There were probably less than 150 that needed it, taking into consideration everyone would want to stock up meant they could turn a profit selling the first 500 potions or so. That was a generous estimation though, as most people would wait to stock up until the price fell back down. 

Most of the people who needed them pulled through already, only idiots hunted without them. 'Whatever… I guess someone is about to learn the dangers of listing quests that say as many as possible instead of putting a maximum.'

No matter what the guild was taking a HUGE loss, and I was walking away with an unreal amount of money. As in it didn't feel real to me. I felt the weight in my wallet as I put it back in my storage and… My brain autocorrected the coins to coppers.