Handbook

"Twenty Goblins and one Bear Goblin, bounty: 17 Gold Coins and 4 Silver Coins."

"Investigation Quest No. 701, reward: 30 Gold Coins."

"That comes to a total of 47 Gold Coins and 4 Silver Coins."

The short-haired girl's flat voice reached Xia Nan's ears as he weighed the heavy money pouch in his hand.

An immense Sense of Accomplishment welled up within him.

He cracked open the pouch for a glimpse of the glittering gold inside, and the corners of his mouth rose without him noticing.

He did not count the Gold Coins on the spot.

For one thing, the Adventurers Association was a colossal organization spread across the entire Aifala Continent. It would not short him over such a trifling amount.

And judging by the girl's speed just now, the collection and tallying of loot clearly was not done manually, so the chances of an error were low.

For another, with people constantly coming and going through the hall, he knew better than to flaunt his wealth.

If he was still worried, he could count it carefully once he had settled down.

Just as Xia Nan was mulling it over, the girl's bored voice sounded before him again.

"Do you want to cancel your Team Badge?"

Xia Nan did not know the details, so he asked in confusion, "What effect would canceling it have on me?"

"The captain has to pay an annual team fee of 20 Gold Coins."

"Cancel it!"

It was not that Xia Nan begrudged spending 20 Gold Coins... well, all right, it was indeed a little expensive.

More importantly, the Stinky Fish Rotten Shrimp team only had him left. As a rookie adventurer with no experience taking missions outside, there was no need to force himself to maintain a team—and he would not be able to recruit anyone anyway.

What he truly needed to do now was find a team suited to his growth and, as an ordinary member, gain a deeper understanding of everything he needed to know about this world;

or simply go solo, starting with the least dangerous and simplest quests, taking things one step at a time.

So Xia Nan decisively handed over the Iron Badge in his hand.

There were still many matters to deal with. He stuffed the Gold Coins into his Backpack and was about to leave when he seemed to remember something and asked, "Do you know where I can buy Healing Potions?"

Xia Nan still remembered Maji's Healing Potion from the battle against the Bear Goblin.

Minor injuries healed in an instant, while even someone gravely wounded and on the brink of death could be kept alive with it.

Having a Healing Potion was equivalent to having another trump card and another layer of protection for his life.

If he could buy one with money, he naturally would not let the opportunity pass.

"Turn right. It's at the very end." Without even looking up, the short-haired girl replied lazily.

Xia Nan's eyes immediately lit up. He hurriedly thanked her and left.

Sure enough, in a corner of the hall stood a small shop with an "Alchemists Association" sign, nestled amid the crowd.

It continued the natural style of the association branch, much like the Misty Forest, but its shelves were packed with bottles and jars:

[Truth Serum]: 150 Gold Coins

[Deadly Poison Potion]: 200 Gold Coins

[Radiant Resistance Potion]: 300 Gold Coins

[...]

Xia Nan felt dizzy after merely glancing at the prices of those potions.

"At prices like these, the customers probably aren't low-level adventurers like me."

For a moment, even as he moved between the shelves, he became extremely cautious.

He was terrified that if he accidentally broke a bottle, he would have to pay with his entire fortune.

Then, in the most conspicuous spot in the shop, he found his target:

[Healing Potion]: 50 Gold Coins

"Thank goodness."

After that string of visual shocks, the potion was not as expensive as he had imagined.

But considering that all the Gold Coins on him added up to fewer than fifty, the price of this potion was still quite steep.

Perhaps noticing Xia Nan's hesitation, the shop owner—a bald man in an Off-white Robe—strolled over with his hands behind his back.

"Newbie?" he asked casually.

When Xia Nan nodded, the man pointed at the shelf behind him and said:

"Healing Potions aren't very cost-effective, and you don't use them often."

"Compared to that, I actually recommend this one."

Xia Nan's gaze followed his.

In the corner of a shelf not far ahead, several leather pouches bearing the classic cross symbol were casually piled together.

[Medical Tool Kit]: 5 gold

It contained ten uses' worth of bandages, ointment, and splints.

"I don't have much stock here. Nobody usually comes to my shop for this stuff; the General Stores outside are full of it."

"Thanks for the advice." Xia Nan nodded in thanks, but his gaze returned to the Healing Potions once more.

In his mind, the priority of such life-saving miracle medicine was undoubtedly the highest.

They were a little expensive, but there was no rush for now.

After all, he still had plenty of loot to deal with, and he had yet to accept his next adventure quest.

Once he had sorted out his savings later, it would not be too late to decide whether to buy them.

"Are the potions here always this expensive?"

Seeing that the bald man seemed easy to talk to, Xia Nan could not help voicing his doubts.

"You get what you pay for." He waved a hand. "They're all brewed by professional alchemists from the Association, so their quality is guaranteed."

As he spoke, the bald man glanced toward the stairs at the back of the hall.

"Actually, the stuff I have here is just the cheap kind."

"The truly top-tier stuff is all upstairs!"

"[Sharp Eye Potion], [Gaseous Form], [Hill Giant's Strength]... tsk, tsk." With his hands behind his back, he nodded as though listing treasured possessions. "But those prices... not the kind we people can afford."

"Upstairs?" Having only just arrived, Xia Nan knew nothing about the intricacies of the Association.

"The second floor of the hall is where the real adventurers with Profession Levels go to accept quests."

"After all, you can't expect those people to make the same meager earnings as you lot do, scraping around the outskirts of the forest every day, can you?"

Knowing there was no deliberate slight in the man's words, only a statement of fact, Xia Nan did not feel any unnecessary resentment.

Just as he was about to take the chance to ask a few more questions, a shout came from the entrance of the shop.

"Where are you? Boss, check out!"

"Coming." The bald man sauntered over with his hands behind his back, and before leaving, he even gave Xia Nan another piece of advice.

"They sell manuals at the stalls by the Association entrance. If you're new, you can buy one and take a look. It should help."

With his business concluded, Xia Nan had already intended to leave the Association, so he naturally followed the suggestion.

After casually asking a vendor a few questions, he found the "manual" the bald man had mentioned.

3 Silver Coins.

Not particularly cheap, but he gritted his teeth and bought it.

The cover was rather exquisite, with two lines of large, neatly printed words in an unfamiliar font:

[Adventurer's Manual]

(River Valley Town Branch Special Edition)

Below was a line of small white text as a supplement:

"21st day of Duskclaw Moon (Ches), revised edition, Arcane Calendar 1019."