‘I have to obtain a low-grade Elixir somehow.’
In order to move from the 3rd Circle to the 4th Circle, he had to overcome one large obstacle.
And to overcome it, quite a lot of effort was required.
The best method was to receive help from the spirits, but.
‘There’s still no contact from the Spirit Realm.’
Strangely, there had been no reply from the Spirit Realm.
So he had no choice but to obtain a low-grade Elixir.
In truth, at first, he had worried about what he would do if no such thing existed.
But after looking into it through the Cheonghwa Merchant Group, he found that an item comparable to a low-grade Elixir did indeed exist in this world.
‘The flaw is that the price is insane.’
Lesser Sway Pill.
This was said not only to increase one’s inner arts, but to enlarge the size of the qi center itself by twofold.
Its effect was exactly what Il-hyang was looking for.
The problem was, as expected, the price.
In gold, it cost ten thousand gold coins.
Converted into silver coins, that was a staggering one hundred thousand silver coins, a maddening amount.
‘They even said I couldn’t buy it even if I had the money.’
A hollow laugh came on its own.
Naturally, a small town like this had no stock, and even if he went to a large city, they said they could not guarantee whether the item would be available.
‘But why is it that no one knows about the Spirit Realm? This is very strange.’
Mysteries existed, yet they did not know the Spirit Realm.
Il-hyang asked around in various places.
But it was certain that the people of this world did not even have the concept of the Spirit Realm itself.
‘It definitely exists.’
In any case, though it was regrettable.
Il-hyang carefully organized the funds he possessed.
11 gold coins.
42 silver coins.
520 copper coins.
He was certainly in a wealthy situation.
But because the items he wanted to buy were all so expensive.
He could only think of the amount he held as pocket change.
‘Still, an opportunity will come someday.’
Over the past month, he had handled as many as ten requests.
Thanks to that, along with a small reputation.
He had met the minimum requirements to be promoted at the Vagabond Association.
“Here is your Iron Plaque, Young Hero.”
“Thank you.”
The receptionist of the old Vagabond Association branch building.
The mid-grade wanderer Mak Chung.
With a somewhat peculiar expression, he handed Il-hyang the Wanderer Plaque made of iron and said,
“Originally, one can be promoted quickly up to Iron Plaque, but Young Hero Il-hyang is particularly fast.”
Of course he was.
Il-hyang had not simply received requests.
He had actively applied for all sorts of requests, deliberately increasing the amount of fees deposited in the Vagabond Association’s ledgers.
The reason Il-hyang was willingly paying fees to the Vagabond Association and trying to rise in grade was simple.
‘Because I have to rise to a higher grade in order to buy high-grade information.’
The Vagabond Association did not sell goods, but it did trade in information.
From Il-hyang’s position, as someone who needed high-grade information about where to find Elixirs and other important ones, promotion was an absolutely necessary process.
“This grade plaque applies the same even if I go to another region, right?”
“Of course.”
In any case, he had to increase his chances of accessing high-grade information more and more in this way.
Now that he had obtained the Iron Plaque he had set as his goal here, the time had come to leave.
Giyang County was too far from the central cities. And because the town was small, the quality and quantity of requests were too lacking.
In short, there was no money in it.
‘I have to go to a large city.’
In the end, it was money.
He needed money to buy information.
He needed money if he wanted to buy Elixirs.
On top of that, he needed money again if he wanted to study the magic and mysteries of this world.
This was exactly why most mages lived obsessed with money.
‘Still, since I’ve reached the 3rd Circle, I can start strengthening my foundation now.’
The 4th Circle was too far away.
Luck or shortcuts would not work as they had until now.
Without an Elixir or a spirit.
He would surely need a very long time.
He would have to strengthen his foundation and steadily accumulate specks of achievement as tiny as dust to reach the 4th Circle.
‘A golden tower of time, literally.’
At least ten years.
This was a length of time even geniuses were not exempt from.
Even this calculation was only possible because Il-hyang had already walked this path once.
“Are you thinking of leaving?”
“Yes.”
Mak Chung also seemed to have noticed that Il-hyang would leave as soon as he received his Iron Plaque, for he asked, then made an offer first.
“If you happen to be thinking of going to Cheonjung City, there is a suitable request just now. It is a subcontracted request from the Jinsung Escort Agency. They are looking for wanderers of Iron Plaque or higher.”
“I will take it.”
Il-hyang answered without even thinking about it.
A subcontracted request.
This was an escort request, but.
It was somewhat different from an ordinary request.
After an Escort Agency received a cargo escort request from a client.
They separately hired wanderers as a kind of insurance.
This was a request that hired wanderers in preparation for a possible emergency.
In a crisis, they were hired to be thrown out as meat shields.
If one was lucky, one could receive a great deal of money even while loitering around doing nothing.
Conversely, if one was unlucky, one might have to fight enemies one could not possibly handle.
However, wanderers in this line of work welcomed these subcontracted requests greatly.
After all, no matter what mission they accepted, their lives were always under threat.
So if they had to do such work anyway, everyone welcomed this type of job that at least paid well.
Il-hyang obediently signed the request form Mak Chung held out.
Then he performed a respectful clasped hands greeting toward Mak Chung.
“Thank you very much for everything until now, Great Hero Mak Chung.”
“Haha, not at all. I was happy to work with a trustworthy wanderer myself.”
Mak Chung returned the clasped hands greeting and smiled calmly.
In truth, Il-hyang knew well that Mak Chung had shown him a great deal of consideration.
Since he could not see what was inside, Il-hyang would appear to him as nothing more than a brat barely around ten years old.
Judging by how he had entrusted various requests to such a brat.
Even if it had merely been Mak Chung’s whim, it had been quite a great help to Il-hyang.
“I will be sure to repay you later.”
“Haha, I will look forward to it.”
Mak Chung took it lightly.
But this was a promise spoken by none other than an Archmage.
It would surely return as a tremendous repayment later.
Like that, one more day passed.
Il-hyang stepped into the large training ground of the Jinsung Escort Agency, from which he had accepted the request.
“Oh-ho? Are you Young Hero Il-hyang, lately famous as the Flame-Fist Pugilist? Good to meet you. I am Jo Chang. I am one of the senior escort guards for this escort run.”
“I am Il-hyang.”
“Haha, to think I would meet the rumored Flame-Fist Pugilist. My expectations are high.”
Flame-Fist Pugilist.
It was an alias given to Il-hyang because whenever he carried out a request, he defeated bandits with fists wreathed in flames.
A short little brat swung tiny fists wrapped in fireballs the size of watermelons.
At that strange and threatening sight, most bandits often ran away just by seeing him.
The wanderers who had carried out requests with him thought Il-hyang was an expert from some great clan.
‘After all, none of them could distinguish between magic and martial arts.’
They were misunderstanding something.
But Il-hyang did not particularly suffer any loss from it, so he simply let it be.
“Over there are the companions who will be going on the escort run to the provincial capital with us. Let us go together.”
At a rough glance, aside from the escort guards of the Escort Agency, it seemed they had invited around ten outside experts as well.
Judging by the overall scale, this was a large escort run even bigger than he had expected.
In truth, this escort run was a major one that might happen only once every few decades even for the Jinsung Escort Agency.
And it was an escort run into which all core forces, including the Agency Head, had been deployed.
When Il-hyang moved under the guidance of Senior Escort Guard Jo Chang toward the wanderers who would join the escort run with him.
As soon as he arrived, a sharp-looking spearman who had been waiting in advance in front of a carriage voiced his complaint.
“Ha! What the hell? Even a brat like that is joining the escort run? The Jinsung Escort Agency’s standards have fallen a lot, huh?”
“Young Hero Yang Cheon-jo. Your words go too far. Young Hero Il-hyang does, in fact, hold Iron Plaque wanderer certification.”
“Puhahahat, and I’m Bronze Plaque?”
Il-hyang smirked as he watched the spearman take a Wanderer Plaque from his bosom and wave it.
This was a reaction he had expected to some extent.
‘Since we are meeting for the first time, the hierarchy does need to be sorted out.’
To be honest.
A part of him thought this was rather convenient.
Whenever one joined a new place.
There was a need to clearly show the difference in class at least once.
So Il-hyang lightly pushed aside Senior Escort Guard Jo Chang, who was frowning, and stepped forward.
Wearing a small smile.