Early the next morning, Kyle ended his meditation just as dawn began to break.
He opened his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, waiting until the last traces of sleep had faded before bringing up his class panel.
[Level: 7] That was where he had ended up after leaving the Novice Trial Grounds yesterday.
Reaching Level 7 in a single day was much faster than Kyle had expected, but he knew better than to use yesterday’s progress as a standard.
The Novice Trial Grounds were designed specifically for newly awakened class holders.
Even though the Level 8 monsters in the deepest areas were already close to their normal strength, the entire place was still carefully controlled.
Monster species, levels, and activity ranges all followed predictable patterns.
Anything truly beyond what a beginner could handle would be removed before it became a threat.
Outside the city was different.
There were no neatly divided safe zones, and monsters certainly didn’t appear according to the level of the class holders nearby.
A creature that looked to be around Level 10 might have a much stronger member of its species lurking somewhere close by.
A route that had been safe yesterday could suddenly become dangerous because of a migration or some other unexpected change.
The academy had repeated those warnings countless times over the past three years.
Kyle wasn’t about to assume the wilderness worked like the Novice Trial Grounds just because his first day had gone smoothly.
Before leaving the city today, he had a few preparations to make.
He started by checking his summoning space.
After a full night of recovery, the skeleton warriors that had been injured yesterday were almost completely restored.
To make sure, Kyle summoned one of them.
A dark gray vortex opened inside the room.
With the faint clatter of bone, a skeleton warrior stepped through.
Kyle’s gaze immediately went to its shoulder.
The spot where the Thorn Guard had struck it yesterday showed almost no sign of damage.
The cracked bone had fused back together, and even the fractures along the surface had mostly disappeared.
Kyle reached out and tapped the bone.
Clack.
The sound was crisp and solid.
He checked it once more and found no obvious weak points before sending the skeleton warrior back into the summoning space.
The recovery effect inside the summoning space was better than he’d expected.
As long as a skeleton wasn’t completely destroyed in battle, ordinary damage would gradually repair itself over time.
That meant he wouldn’t have to replace a skeleton every time one of them got injured.
After checking his summons, Kyle looked down at himself.
Strictly speaking, he didn’t have any proper equipment.
The basic staff in his hand had been issued by the academy.
Aside from a small boost to Spirit, it had no additional effects.
As for what he was wearing, they were just ordinary clothes.
That hadn’t mattered much inside the Novice Trial Grounds.
Today, however, he was going outside the city.
Going out like this wasn’t exactly ideal.
Undead Substitute could take damage in his place, but Kyle didn’t see that as a reason to ignore defense entirely.
Reducing the damage he took was always useful.
Besides, any damage transferred through Undead Substitute still had to be taken by one of his skeleton warriors.
If he could improve his own defenses, that would indirectly reduce the burden on his summons as well.
Kyle quickly made up his mind.
He would visit the Exchange first.
He could see whether there was any equipment suitable for him and check what missions were available outside the city.
After a simple breakfast, Kyle packed what he needed and left home.
Westport was already beginning to stir.
Instead of heading toward the academy, Kyle went straight toward the southern district.
He had barely crossed two streets when a familiar voice called out from behind him.
“Kyle!” Kyle stopped.
He didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.
A few seconds later, Gavin caught up with him.
He had clearly been running and was still slightly out of breath when he reached Kyle’s side.
“I knew that was you.” Kyle glanced at him.
“What are you doing here?” “I was about to ask you the same thing.” Gavin pointed toward the academy.
“You’re not going to the Novice Trial Grounds today?” “No.” “Why not?” “Not enough experience.” Gavin opened his mouth.
Whatever he had been planning to say died before it came out.
He stared at Kyle for several seconds before letting out a sigh.
“I shouldn’t have asked.” Kyle ignored that and kept walking.
Gavin naturally followed.
“So you’re really going outside the city today?” “Exchange first.” “Buying equipment?” “Looking.” Kyle deliberately didn’t say he was definitely buying anything.
Equipment for class holders was expensive, and he didn’t have much money.
Even if he found something useful, the price would decide whether he could actually afford it.
Gavin, on the other hand, immediately became interested.
“I’m coming with you.” Kyle turned his head.
“Don’t you need to go to the academy?” “My team isn’t meeting until later this morning.
I’ve got time.” With that, Gavin continued walking beside him.
Kyle didn’t object.
The two headed south.
The closer they got to the southern gate, the fewer ordinary residents they saw.
Class holders became increasingly common instead.
Some had just returned from outside the city.
Mud still clung to their leather armor, their weapons hadn’t even been cleaned yet, and the bulging sacks on their backs were stuffed with monster materials.
Others were preparing to head out.
Small groups stood along the roadside checking potions and equipment while discussing their routes for the day.
The shops lining the streets had changed as well.
Ordinary stores became scarce, replaced by weapon shops, armor stores, potion shops, and material merchants.
Every now and then, they passed workshops specializing in repairing equipment used by class holders.
The air carried a mixture of metal, herbs, and treated leather.
Gavin was clearly exploring this part of the city properly for the first time.
His head kept turning from one side of the street to the other.
When they passed a weapon shop, he suddenly stopped.
“That sword looks good.” Kyle followed his gaze.
A silver-gray longsword sat in the display window, with its price listed beneath it.
“You can’t afford it.” The smile disappeared from Gavin’s face.
“…I was just looking.” A little farther down the street, another shop caught his attention.
“What about that armor?” Kyle checked the price.
“Can’t afford that either.” Gavin walked in silence for several steps.
“Could you stop checking the price first?” “Why?” “It ruins the mood.” Kyle thought about it.
“Oh.” Gavin stared at him.
Somehow, he had the feeling Kyle hadn’t taken that advice to heart at all.
They continued down the street until a large stone building came into view at the far end.
It was noticeably larger than everything surrounding it.
The entire structure had been built from pale gray stone, and a massive metal emblem hung above its wide entrance.
A set of scales.
Gold coins rested on one side, while a mana crystal sat on the other.
Beneath the emblem were several prominent words.
Aetherlan Imperial Exchange — Westport Branch Kyle stopped for a moment to look at it.
He had seen the place countless times in academy textbooks and recorded lessons, but this was his first time standing in front of it.
The Imperial Exchange maintained branches throughout the major cities and provinces of the empire.
Equipment, monster materials, potions, mana crystals—almost any resource that could legally be traded between class holders could be found here.
Monster materials brought back from the wilderness could also be sold directly to the Exchange.
Those who weren’t satisfied with the official purchase price could choose to list their items for consignment instead.
The Exchange also handled a large number of missions related to class holders.
For anyone who regularly ventured outside the city, it was one of the places they visited most often.
“Let’s go.” Gavin was already climbing the steps.
Kyle followed him inside.
The moment they passed through the entrance, the noise around them increased sharply.
The interior was even larger than it looked from outside.
The ceiling rose high overhead, with several large illumination crystals suspended above the hall, bathing the entire space in bright light.
A row of counters stretched across the front.
Class holders stood in line at each one.
Some were unloading bags filled with monster materials, others were turning in missions, while a few were discussing pieces of equipment with the staff.
Along another side of the hall stood rows of waist-high black stone platforms.
A transparent crystal was embedded into the top of each one.
Quite a few people were already using them.
Gavin watched for a moment.
“What are those?” “Trading terminals.” Kyle headed toward them.
“You can check prices, buy and sell items, and browse missions.” “You’ve used one before?” “No.” “Then how do you know?” “It was in the textbook.” Gavin looked at him.
Kyle added, “Volume Three, Chapter Seven.” “…” Gavin immediately looked away.
“Forget I asked.” After walking around the hall for a while, they found two terminals that had just become available.
Kyle stepped up to one and placed his palm against the center of the crystal.
The crystal gave off a faint glow.
A weak pulse of mana swept across his palm.
[Verifying identity…] Several seconds later, the information changed.
[Identity Confirmed] [Name: Kyle Gray] [Nationality: Aetherlan Empire] [Class Holder Level: 7] [Trading Authority: Tier 1] [Imperial Contribution: 0] [Welcome to the Aetherlan Imperial Exchange.] Several options appeared across the crystal.
[Purchase] [Sell] [Consignment] [Missions] [Price Check] [Personal Records] Kyle didn’t immediately start browsing equipment.
Instead, he selected [Price Check].
Yesterday’s experience in the Novice Trial Grounds had made one problem obvious.
Killing monsters wasn’t difficult.
But if he didn’t know which parts were valuable, he could kill all day and still end up throwing away materials worth actual money.
Since he was heading into the real wilderness today, it was better to learn beforehand.
Kyle filtered the list by region and monster level.
A series of materials quickly appeared.
[Grayrock Wolf — Intact Pelt] [Reference Purchase Price: 12 Silver] [Grayrock Wolf Fang] [Reference Purchase Price: 2 Silver Each] [Low-Grade Mana Crystal] [Reference Purchase Price: Based on Purity Appraisal] [Redhorn Deer — Intact Antler] [Reference Purchase Price: 18 Silver] [Venom Sac] [Price Based on Monster Species and Condition] Kyle slowly scrolled down.
Some prices were close to what he’d expected.
Others weren’t.
Size had little to do with value.
Certain small and seemingly insignificant monster parts were worth far more than an entire chunk of meat simply because they could be used in potions or equipment.
Kyle memorized several of the more common materials.
From now on, before going outside the city, it would be worth checking which parts of his target monsters were valuable.
Otherwise, his skeleton warriors would be killing monsters in front of him while he followed behind throwing money away.
That would be rather stupid.
Once he finished checking materials, Kyle backed out and opened the equipment section.
Weapons, armor, accessories, and various pieces of specialized equipment filled the screen.
He filtered the results for magic-based classes and equipment he could use at his current level.
The first item appeared.
[Whitewood Staff] [Required Level: 5] [Spirit +8] [Price: 1 Gold, 20 Silver] Kyle glanced down at the academy-issued staff in his hand.
Spirit +10.
He immediately moved on.
The next item appeared.
[Azure-Pattern Staff] [Required Level: 7] [Spirit +15] [Slightly increases Spirit recovery speed.] [Price: 4 Gold, 80 Silver] This time, Kyle stopped.
Spirit recovery.
That was useful.
Summoning skeleton warriors consumed Spirit, and so did Soul Flame.
As his level increased, his summoning space would continue to expand.
Eventually, the size of that space might no longer be what limited the number of skeleton warriors he could maintain.
His Spirit recovery rate could become the real bottleneck.
Kyle carefully read through the staff’s attributes again.
It really did suit him.
Then he looked at the price.
Four gold and eighty silver.
Kyle fell silent for a moment.
He checked his current balance.
Then moved on to the next item.
Gavin noticed.
“Well?” “Expensive.” “How much?” Kyle told him.
Gavin fell silent too.
A few seconds later, he looked down at the academy equipment he was wearing.
“Suddenly, I feel like the academy treats us pretty well.” “Yeah.” For once, Kyle agreed without hesitation.
If he couldn’t afford it, there wasn’t much point staring at it.
At least not yet.
Kyle closed the equipment section and opened the mission board instead.
[Please Select Mission Region.] He chose: [Southern Wilderness — Westport] The page refreshed, and missions began appearing one after another.
[Cull Grayrock Wolves] [Recommended Level: 8–10] [Requirement: Kill 20 Grayrock Wolves and submit intact fangs as proof.] [Reward: 2 Gold] [Gather Redleaf Herbs] [Recommended Level: None] [Requirement: Gather 15 mature Redleaf Herbs.] [Reward: 80 Silver] [Investigate Monster Activity Along the Southern Old Road] [Recommended Level: 10+.
Party Recommended.] [Requirement: Record the species and number of monsters appearing near the Old Road.] [Reward: Based on completion rating.] Kyle continued reading.
The rewards were far better than anything offered inside the Novice Trial Grounds.
Naturally, the danger was on a completely different level as well.
Some missions even explicitly recommended forming a party.
Kyle wasn’t going to pick something far above his current level just because he had a group of skeleton warriors.
This was his first time actually leaving the city.
He hadn’t even seen the real wilderness for himself yet.
There was no reason to take unnecessary risks on his first trip.
Eventually, his attention settled on the Grayrock Wolf mission.
Recommended Level 8 to 10.
That was above his current level, but not by much.
More importantly, he had already fought wolf-type monsters in the Trial Grounds yesterday, so he had at least some understanding of their attack patterns.
Wild Grayrock Wolves would certainly be more dangerous than the ordinary wolves inside the trial grounds, but they weren’t completely unfamiliar enemies.
There was another advantage.
Their materials were worth money.
Two gold from the mission.
Pelts and fangs could be sold separately.
No matter how he calculated it, this was more profitable than simply wandering outside the city and killing whatever monsters he happened to find.
Kyle raised his hand to accept the mission.
Before his finger touched the confirmation button, a notification suddenly appeared.
[Current class holder level is below the recommended mission level.] [First-time wilderness combat missions require Basic Risk Confirmation.] Kyle paused.
The page changed automatically.
[Proceed with Wilderness Qualification Verification?] [Yes] [No] Gavin leaned over from beside him.
“What’s that?” “Confirmation for your first wilderness mission.” “Is it complicated?” Kyle looked at him.
“No idea.” It was his first time too.
Kyle selected [Yes].
The crystal flashed.
Another notification appeared.
[Please proceed to Counter 3 to complete your first-time wilderness registration.] Kyle followed the direction and looked across the hall.
Counter 3 wasn’t far away.
Apparently, there were still a few formalities to complete before he could truly leave the city for the first time.
He exited the terminal.
Gavin stood up as well.
“Let’s go?” “Yeah.” They had only taken a few steps when Gavin suddenly stopped.
“Wait.” Kyle looked back.
“What?” Gavin pointed at himself.
“Once you’re done registering, you’re not seriously going straight outside the city, are you?” “I am.” “…” Gavin stared at him for two seconds.
“What about me?” Kyle looked confused.
“You go to the academy.” “That’s not what I mean.” Gavin hurried after him.
“Didn’t you say yesterday that we could level together if we got the chance?” “Yeah.” “Then isn’t today a chance?” Kyle stopped and looked him over.
“Level 4.” Gavin’s expression immediately soured.
Kyle glanced back toward the terminal.
Grayrock Wolf mission.
Recommended Level 8 to 10.
Then he looked at Gavin again.
“Not today.” “…” Gavin stood there, momentarily speechless.
Kyle had already turned and continued toward Counter 3.
A few seconds later, Gavin’s irritated voice rang out behind him.
“Kyle!” “When you said ‘if we get the chance’ yesterday, I didn’t know you could interpret it like that!” Kyle didn’t turn around.
He merely raised one hand and waved.
His first visit to the Imperial Exchange had taught him at least two things.
What he needed.
And what he couldn’t afford.
If he couldn’t afford better equipment yet, there was no point standing around staring at it.
He just needed to earn more money first.
As for how— Kyle looked toward Counter 3 without slowing down.
For him, the simplest answer was still the same.
Kill monsters.