A/N: Ahem ahem, it's my birthday tomorrow (Dec 29) ahem ahem ahem. *wink wink* ahem ahem hahahhaha

…

___

Looking at the carved stone and materials with interest, Finn used his [Assessment] skill to check their statuses, in case the descriptions missed anything.

The small barrier rune, on the surface, seemed to function much like his. The difference was that when it was activated, nothing could go through, even allies or even rain, for that matter.

The energy consumption seemed a bit bigger, though, requiring a toughened core per activation, and each time would only last an hour or less, if it was consistently attacked while active.

The defense rune and agility runes were stat enhancers. They could increase these stats with a set value for a time. According to his friends, the typical rune of this kind was very useful for toughened and below, with diminishing effects above it, unless it was a high-level rune.

Marcus and the group also talked about some of the runes available before, though there were none now. For example, there was a rune that would emit certain scents. One just had to place a scent for it to copy, and it would duplicate it for a long amount of time.

Some rich people only used it for cosmetic purposes, like making their palaces smell better. However, it got famous because someone used it to mimic poison, instead, and it was quite the scandal.

Another was a healing rune, which mimicked the abilities of Healers. While they were less powerful and had shorter spans, they were proper lifesaving devices in the end, especially if a team did not have a Cleric, or if the Cleric was unable to perform due to some circumstance.

Anyway, back to the current offering that he could buy. Next were the space stones. Both items were called small space runes, though their sizes seemed to be different. There was an indication of sizes in its description.

One of the space runes could give the size of a carry-on luggage in the airport. It would be sufficient if one only needed a large backpack. The other small space rune was a bit bigger, just a little bigger than those larger luggage pieces one would bring on long-term trips (the type that could comfortably hide corpses).

According to Leez and the others, the usual price was around a hundred gold. The latter was several times more expensive. The starting price was 300 gold, and the usual price could reach around 500.

He couldn't help but recall Syl's space, which was as big as a room. He was once again reminded of the vast differences between their resources.

Finn wasn't planning on buying the space runes though, especially since they were so small and wouldn't fit everything he'd take back. Besides, he already had his space and a token from the hall. Considering the carts full of stuff he bought, buying another small space would not make any difference.

However, since he foraged a lot, he could really make use of as much space as possible. Plants with roots could even be placed in, though not for long.

Still, 500 gold was too much, even if he did have money and even if he could recoup the costs. He recalled how runes and elves were connected. He'd rather buy one from Syl; maybe hers would be of better quality.

For the skills, Class C skills and one Class B skill were available here too. There were mage skills like thunderstorm, meteor shower, and so on.

Next were the potions, and they couldn't compare to those offered in shops below, let alone shops outside.

For example, one of the potions here was called a limb regenerating potion!

"This…how much could this actually regenerate?"

"It could refresh a missing appendage…it's just that it will grow as if it were new."

"Is that a bad thing?"

It was Leiah who explained this to him. "That means if you lose an arm and use this, you'd get a baby's arm."

"..."

"It would grow almost in real time, but not fast enough," he said, and Finn imagined it would take several years to catch up. "The best time to use this potion would be when you're relatively young or if you're old… hehe."

Imagining a grown man with a baby arm was very creepy.

Well, he'd just make sure he didn't lose an arm. He was fine losing a leg, but he'd probably die without his hands. Cooking is life, after all!

Another very interesting potion was called a mid-level upgrade potion, which claimed to increase people's tiers. For awakened, it could even increase an entire rank, and a tier for toughened.

It was very expensive, but he understood the popularity. After he got himself tested, he realized that he upgraded faster than others. He remembered Pang's wonderings and knew that increasing ranks would usually take years, or at least several months, even with assistance.

These were all really interesting. Would potions like these be available in the [Hearth Market] when he upgraded?

Anyway, finally seeing new things, he appreciated his market even more!

…

The group left without buying much, though Finn reassured them it wasn't because he was feeling stingy (a few offered to help him out a bit if he needed anything).

Finn only bought one thing, warming runes, which were runes that could emit consistent and controllable heat. He was thinking of incubation, but he also had to study a lot if he didn't want to accidentally cook his sister, which would help him out a lot.

His friends went with him to the Inn, only leaving when he went inside. His eyes warmed as he looked at them.

Back when he was young, he would see groups of school friends stuck together while jumping from shop to shop, walking together all the way to their homes.

There were even girls who couldn't go to the bathroom without dragging a few friends, and there were a lot of dudes who'd beg their friends to accompany them to buy comics or toys.

When he was young, Finn had always scoffed at this kind of behavior.

He thought at the time: They're so big, why can't they handle themselves?

When Grandma Han died, he learned to adjust his attitude and didn't show much disdain anymore, but in his heart, he didn't really understand it.

Now, he did, and it made him smile.

He realized that there was a certain charm in doing the most banal things with people you're fond of.

They were his friends, after all.

…

The next morning, the large group congregated at the main plaza nearest the Adventurers Guild. They looked at him with friendly expressions, but thankfully nothing maniacal.

As per his request, there was a large-scale gag order in the Lotus Town Adventurer's Guild regarding his level. Fortunately, there weren't many privy to his results, so it wasn't that much work.

Hopefully, he would be left alone for long enough so he could grow strong on his own.

Anyway, a whopping 120+ people were here in this caravan. It was mostly awakened level adventurers, but there were dozens of toughened ranks and a handful of fortified levels coming with them.

It seemed like a large-scale mission was opened. Fortunately, it wasn't to escort him. He'd be embarrassed to death if it were.

Apparently, Victor and Marcus' groups reported what had happened with the fortified monsters that attacked them.

So now, there was a large mission called in to make sure there were no surprises in level 1. They did have the freedom to go to level 2 after that, if they wanted, but the main goal was to lessen the threats going around in level 1.

Among the group was Micc, and next to him was a teenager who looked like him. Both of them looked horrible.

They were injured and bruised. Finn narrowed his eyes and looked at Micc's head, realizing that there was a missing…cluster of hair.

"What happened?"

"Don't worry, we won," Micc said, shrugging, looking a bit badass even when he had a large cane in his hand.

Micc looked at his new boss and, while the rest of the party was arranging their luggage and organizing, he took this chance to tell him some details.

"When I went back, I went straight to the smithy. You know what I saw?!" he grabbed the younger boy's shoulder. "He was being beaten up!"

He gritted his teeth, feeling angry every time he remembered. He used all his mana to torture the bastard.

Sadly, he forgot to close the door, so the bastard smithy was rescued before he died.

They were both taken by the guards for questioning, and he had to pay a bit of gold, but who cared? He was glad the other man was much worse.

Finn chuckled. "Well, you'll fit right in among us," he said, patting his shoulders. He also did the same to his brother, who seemed depressed by what happened to his older brother.

"Welcome to the team."

Micc blinked, surprised, while the younger man gaped at them both. They had been wondering how to arrange the younger man in the inn, and Micc's eyes heated up when he realized they had always been within the boss' consideration.

They would definitely do their best and not disappoint him!

It was around this time that Victor, the leader of this party, clapped his hands, catching everyone's attention. "It's time for departure now, everyone!" he yelled, and soon everyone lunged forward with their carts and bags, prepared for a long mission ahead of them.

Finn smirked. While he enjoyed his time in the town, home was still very different. He was looking forward to getting back there.

Wanderer's Refuge, here we come!

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.