"Twenty goblins and one Bear Goblin, the bounty is 17 Gold Coins and 4 silver coins."
"Task number 701, reward 30 Gold Coins."
"Adding it up, a total of 47 Gold Coins and 4 silver coins."
The short-haired girl's monotonous voice reached his ears as Xia Nan weighed the heavy pouch in his hand.
He felt an overwhelming sense of achievement rising from his heart.
He slightly opened the pouch, glanced at the shiny gold inside, and couldn't help but grin.
He didn't count the Gold Coins on the spot.
On one hand, the adventurer association spanned the entire Aifala Continent, undoubtedly a giant entity, unlikely to shortchange him by a few grams.
Judging by the girl's swift operation just now, the collection and tallying of loot were evidently not done manually, and there was little chance of error.
On the other hand, there were people coming and going in this hall, and he knew the importance of discretion.
If he felt uneasy, he could count them carefully later in a more stable setting.
As Xia Nan was pondering, the girl's bored voice came once more from in front of him:
"Do you want to unregister the team badge?"
Xia Nan wasn't sure of the implications and asked somewhat puzzled:
"Excuse me, will unregistering affect me in any way?"
"The team leader needs to pay an annual team fee of 20 Gold Coins."
"Unregister!"
It wasn't that Xia Nan was unwilling to spend those 20 Gold Coins... Well, it was a bit pricey indeed.
Mainly, the Stinky Fish and Shrimp Group now only had himself left, and as a new adventurer with no experience in tasks, there was no point in maintaining the team, and he couldn't recruit anyone either.
What he really should do now is find a team suitable for his development, and as an ordinary member, gain a deeper understanding of everything he needed to know about this world;
Or simply operate alone, starting with the lowest risk and simplest tasks, taking it step by step.
Therefore, Xia Nan decisively handed over the black iron badge to the other party.
With many matters needing attention, he put the Gold Coins into his backpack and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and asked:
"Do you know where I can buy Healing Potions?"
From the previous battle with the Bear Goblin, Xia Nan was deeply impressed by Magi's Healing Potion, almost like a divine elixir.
Slight injuries healed instantly, and even near-fatal wounds could be stabilized.
Having a bottle of Healing Potion would be like having an additional ace, an extra layer of life insurance.
If he could buy it with money, he certainly wouldn't miss the chance.
"Turn right to the far inside," the short-haired girl replied lazily without looking up.
Hearing this, Xia Nan's eyes brightened, and he quickly thanked her and left.
Sure enough, in the corner of the hall, there was a small shop with an "Alchemist Association" sign nestled among the crowd.
It continued the branch's style reminiscent of the "Mist Forest," but the shelves were filled with bottles and jars:
[Truth Potion]: 150 Gold Coins
[Highly poisonous potion]: 200 Gold Coins
[Light Resistance Potion]: 300 Gold Coins
[...]
Just a glance at the prices gave Xia Nan a dizzy spell.
"These kinds of prices, the target customers must not be low level adventurers like me,"
At that moment, he moved cautiously through the aisles, afraid of accidentally breaking a bottle and losing all his wealth.
Soon, at the most conspicuous spot in the shop, he found his target:
[Healing Potion]: 50 Gold Coins
"Phew, thank goodness."
After the earlier series of visual shocks, the potion's price wasn't as high as he'd expected.
But considering his total assets added up to less than 50 Gold Coins.
The price of this potion was quite substantial.
Seeming to sense Xia Nan's hesitation, the shop owner—a bald man in an off-white robe—ambled over with his hands behind his back.
"Newbie?" he asked casually.
Seeing Xia Nan nod, the man pointed to the shelf behind him and said:
"The cost-effectiveness of Healing Potions isn't high, and they're not often used by you guys."
"Comparatively, I actually recommend this more."
Xia Nan looked in the direction the man indicated.
He saw, in a corner of the shelf not far ahead, several leather pouches with classic herbal emblems casually stacked.
[Medical Tool Set]: 5 Gold Coins
Containing ten uses of bandages, ointments, and splints.
"I don't stock much of this, no one usually buys it from my shop, the general stores outside have plenty."
"Thanks for the tip." Xia Nan nodded in thanks, though his gaze returned again to the Healing Potion.
In his mind, the priority of this lifesaving elixir was undoubtedly the highest.
Though a bit expensive, there was no immediate rush.
After all, he still had many pieces of loot yet to process and hadn't taken on his next adventure task.
Once he sorted out his savings, he could consider buying it later.
"Are all the potion prices here this high?"
Seeing the bald man looking approachable, Xia Nan couldn't help but voice his question.
"You get what you pay for." He gestured with his hand, "They're all crafted by professional alchemists in the association, quality assurance."
Saying this, the bald man glanced toward the stairs at the back of the hall:
"What I have here is just some cheaper items."
"The real top-quality stuff, it's all upstairs!"
"[Sharp Eye Potion], [Vaporized Form], [Hill Giant Power], tsk tsk." He nodded with hands behind his back, "But their prices... aren't for folks like us to afford."
"Upstairs?" Being new, Xia Nan was clueless about the workings of the association.
"The second floor of the hall is where those real adventurers with Professional Levels take on tasks."
"After all, you can't expect those guys to earn a few trifles at the forest's edge every day like you do, right?"
Understanding that the man's words held no intentional derision, just stating facts, Xia Nan didn't feel any unnecessary emotions.
He was just about to take the chance to ask a few more questions when a voice called from the shop entrance:
"Hey, where's the person? Boss, check me out!"
"Coming." The bald man leisurely strolled over with his hands behind him, giving Xia Nan another tip before leaving.
"There's a stall selling manuals at the association entrance. If you're new, buying one to read might be helpful."
Having completed his tasks and planning to leave the association anyway, Xia Nan naturally complied.
After just a couple of inquiries, he found the "manual" the bald man had mentioned.
3 silver coins.
Not too expensive, so he gritted his teeth and bought it.
The cover was quite ornate, with two lines of big letters printed in an unknown font:
[Adventurer's Manual]
(River Valley Town Special Edition)
Below was a line of white fine print as a supplement:
"21st/Claw Moon (Chesi)/Arcane Calendar 1019 Revision"