Chapter 78: A Bountiful Year for Mages
Chapter 78: A Bountiful Year for Mages
There was no sense of elation from having successfully explored the dungeon. I tried to return to our normal routine as quickly as possible, as if nothing had happened. In response to my efforts, I wanted the kids to focus on training harder rather than basking in their excitement.
Normally, news of a successful expedition would have spread throughout the city, drawing the curiosity of many other Users. That part worried me as well, but ironically, the Temple wasn't allowing expedition reports for the time being, so it became a secret known only to us.
For the moment, this was beneficial because it kept trivial matters from consuming our time. I did not intend to leave the achievement buried forever, however. Discovering Ancient Alchemist Vivian’s Dungeon could earn major recognition. It would be highly valued when I founded a Clan later, so abandoning that credit would be far too wasteful.
The kids followed the same routine every day. In the morning they practiced Sensing, after which I gave each of them individual instruction. In the afternoon we left the city to practice coordinated combat techniques and formations against monsters, then returned to the inn before dinner for individual maintenance and rest.
After dinner, the kids used their personal time to rest or train some more, but for me, that was when I had to work even harder. There was a mountain of things to do. Organizing and selling the day's loot and searching through records to find the Ruined Laboratory were daily tasks.
I also had to sort through the items from the dungeon and consider new equipment for the kids. I also frequently had meetings with them when they requested counseling. It was up to me to coordinate which formations they could use effectively and what roles suited them best.
Of course, since these matters concerned them, I often had to call them over, but not once did any of them show a hint of annoyance. The kids knew just how busy I was. They could secure plenty of time to rest and sleep if they wanted, but I couldn't.
After finishing all my work, I didn't go straight to bed; I used the early morning hours for my personal training. It was just swordsmanship, meditation, and physical conditioning, but this training was not to improve my skills, but simply to maintain them.
After training, I slept for an hour or two and then rose to begin the next day’s routine. Sometimes I could not sleep even one full hour. The kids were astonished and worried by my schedule, but I brushed them off: “The sooner you grow strong enough to help me, the better it will be for me.” Honestly, it was not especially difficult. When I had been trapped in the Elven Forest or Hell, I had pushed myself to the limit every day. By comparison, this life was heaven.
The intensity of the kids' training increased. It was much tougher than when they first arrived in Mule, but I never heard a single complaint. In fact, it reached a point where Ahn Hyun tried to follow me to my dawn training, and I had to gently coax him into going back. My body had already reached its limits, so it didn't affect me much, but for the growing kids, sufficient rest and sleep were also part of their training.
Their attitudes had certainly changed. Our expedition to the Black Forest had been an adventure little different from a gamble. A trump card named Kim Soohyun had joined that gamble, but they had still faced many dangerous situations and must have learned a great deal. Before, they had seemed to follow only because they were being forced; now the sight of them straining to learn even one more thing was deeply satisfying.
I was better suited to teach Ahn Hyun and Yoojung, whereas Vivian was the more appropriate instructor for Ahn Sol. Sol seemed a little dissatisfied, but since she and Vivian were both mana-oriented Users, she accepted my decision. I also hoped training together would help them grow closer.
I was holding onto the items we had obtained from the dungeon. For now, I decided to store the jewels, the potion pouch, and the books in a regular warehouse. I was tempted to sell the jewels, but it wasn't easy to find gems of this quality all at once, so I decided to stockpile them. They might be useful later.
I sold everything else, including the items taken from the Vagabonds and the gems obtained from the goblins. Liquidating it all yielded nearly 150 Gold. Monster byproducts earned us anywhere from 50 Silver to 1 Gold per day as well. We had reached the point where inn fees were no longer a concern. That fact alone proved we had decisively moved beyond the beginner stage.
But as money comes in, so it goes out.
The first priority was upgrading the kids’ equipment. Their weapons did not need replacement, but they did need improvement. I had slightly less than 700 Gold remaining, and I boldly decided to invest at least 100 Gold in each person: Ahn Hyun, Ahn Sol, Yoojung, and Vivian.
Vivian’s ability had already been proven to a degree, so she did not require an enormous investment. She chose only a Mage’s Robe (27 Gold) that retained body heat and assisted mana activation, along with a staff (63 Gold) that improved mana circulation.
Sol didn’t need much equipment either. As a precaution, I bought her a thin suit of scale mail (38 Gold) to wear underneath her clothes and a priestly robe (46 Gold) that increased the effectiveness of divine spells. I tried to replace her staff as well, but she hugged it tightly as though she would rather die than surrender it.
“N-Nooo… I don’t want to… I want to use this one. I like this one…”
“Why? I’ll get you a better one. That one isn’t bad, but…”
“Nooo… I don’t want to… It’s the first thing Orabeoni ever bought for me… sniffle.”
“……”
When I tried to take it by force, her eyes welled up with tears, and I surrendered. I managed to calm her down and strike a deal to upgrade her staff by embedding a jewel in it. The jewel cost 61 gold and had the effect of greatly enhancing mana activation. Perhaps because she was a girl at heart, Ahn Sol finally hesitated and handed over her staff only after I dangled the sparkling gem in front of her.
Because Ahn Hyun and Yoojung fought in close quarters, however, I had to pay much greater attention to their armor. The additional expense was inevitable.
Ahn Hyun in particular served as both a frontline damage dealer and a tank, making his armor more important than anyone else’s. I would have preferred to equip him with heavy armor immediately, but a complete usable set would cost at least 900 Gold. I therefore decided to build the set piece by piece rather than purchase everything at once.
Ahn Hyun first purchased chain mail enchanted with weight-reduction magic (124 Gold), a breastplate (48 Gold), and leg guards (39 Gold). The cost was higher than expected, so I redirected the money reserved for my own equipment to him. His calling me “Dad” during the process and getting smacked for it provided a small moment of amusement.
Yoojung was a damage dealer. Since she specialized in chaotic close-quarters battles, I needed equipment that would not restrict her movement. I purchased a thin, lightweight suit of ring mail (92 Gold) for underneath her clothes and armor made from processed monster leather (71 Gold). Ordinary leather armor cost around 50 Gold, but I paid more than 20 Gold extra to have it treated with a potion that softened the leather without reducing its defense.
Yoojung waved her hands, insisting it was too expensive and that she did not need it. But when I had the potion applied anyway, her cheeks flushed. Despite her outward protests, she seemed to have secretly wanted it.
In total, I had spent about 520 gold. Over 500 gold coins were gone in an instant, leaving me with just over 100. But I didn't regret it. Seeing how happy all the kids were with their new gear, I felt it was money well spent. It was a deeply fulfilling feeling.
Once everyone was equipped, they finally stopped looking like fledgling chicks. They did not resemble veterans, but with proper equipment and armor, they at least looked like Users. As I watched them proudly, Yoojung sidled up beside me.
“Oppa. Aren't you going to cry?”
“Why would I cry?”
“Why not? Parents cry when their children wear a school uniform for the first time. ‘Aww, our kids have grown so much. Sniffle. How moving.’”
“You're getting cheeky.”
Thwack!
“Ack! Oww… Jeez.”
I sighed as Yoojung pouted and rubbed her forehead. Honestly, I did feel a little of what she described. It seemed like only yesterday that they had fumbled their way through the Rite of Passage; even I had not expected us to remain together until now.
When they first entered Mule, wearing the clothes issued by the User Academy and looking around nervously, they had been the very image of fledgling rookies. Now they at least looked like proper Users on the surface. Excited by her new equipment, Yoojung swung her dagger in front of me with little cries of “Hyap! Hyap!” I watched with a fond, parental smile. Is this how a parent feels while raising a child…?
I could see a few other Users glancing at our laughing, chattering group with envious eyes. Judging by their equipment, they seemed to be at a similar level to us. They didn't have any decent armor, let alone proper weapons. Their clothes were so worn out it looked like they were still wearing the outfits issued by the User Academy.
For those people, getting new equipment was a distant dream. They were likely Users who were too busy earning enough to eat day-to-day. This was the reality for Users who couldn't join a clan. Not that I could blame them. For a group without a clan to purchase this much equipment in less than a month was nothing short of a miracle.
In any case, I decided to upgrade their armor one more time before we left Mule, and with that, I considered the equipment issue settled. I felt a sense of relief, as if a huge problem had been solved.
Although I couldn't say the quality was good (by my standards), after equipping themselves with decent gear, the kids' training progress and hunting speed showed dramatic improvement. It seemed to have given them some kind of mental motivation as well.
That motivation went a little too far, and the kids started getting antsy, wanting to go on another expedition. However, I flatly rejected their request. High-level Users might be different, but for most, heading out on another expedition right after returning from one was something even skilled Users avoided. One had to review their performance from the previous expedition, patch up their weaknesses, and add whatever was necessary.
Personnel, equipment, experience, skill. Objectively speaking, our party was lacking in all these areas. Especially given the kids' current level of experience and skill, it was absolutely unacceptable to just move on after an expedition. Like reviewing a game of Go, they had to face their problems and fix them. The more one person resolves their issues, the higher the level of the entire party becomes. I put my foot down, declaring that we would not go on another expedition until we had fixed the problems that had surfaced this time.
And so, after returning from the dungeon, we spent our days repeating the same routine, like a squirrel on a wheel. And the kids, as if to show off that they were in their prime growth period, were growing stronger by the day.