Chapter 53 | Selling Corpses, Small Spatial Ring
Fwoosh!
Alicar appeared at his apartment once more, the familiar creak of the floorboards greeting him.
Though since he had only left for around half an hour this time, the scent and sight didn’t surprise him like the last time after his two-week absence.
’The Trading Centre works 24/7 so it should still be open even now, no matter how late it is,’ he thought, glancing at the clock on his wall.
Alicar left his home, stepping out into the cool night air, it was dark outside, the streets illuminated by the dim glow of streetlights, but he could still see relatively fine due to the lights scattered throughout the city.
After hailing a taxi and paying the fare, he arrived at the Trading Centre, which as he thought, was still packed with awakeners going about their business at all hours.
It seemed like some awakeners preferred to go during the day, while others preferred to stay at night, the building never truly empty.
Regardless, Alicar climbed to the Second Floor since that is where he could sell items from the First Layer.
"I want to sell two monster corpses, a Small Goblin and a Goblin Warrior," he said simply, placing the bodies on the counter.
Hearing that, the expression of the salesman he spoke seemed to twitch if not just for a split second, a subtle reaction that Alicar caught.
The salesman name was Morgan based on what his class panel told him, a middle-aged man with thinning hair and a practiced smile.
And more than anything, Alicar could see a ripple in his soul, a faint distortion that appeared when Morgan heard the word "goblin."
’Just like with Rick, when someone speaks or reacts a certain way, their soul seemed to distort,’ Alicar noted, filing the observation away for later.
Perhaps Alicar would have to learn to read what each soul distortion meant, as that way, he’d be able to know what some people were thinking without them saying a word.
Either way, he was asked to follow the man toward an empty room with grey walls and a powerful forcefield around it, the energy humming faintly.
"Strange, I didn’t have the need to do that for Initial Stage corpses," Alicar remarked, his brow furrowing with suspicion.
"Its just a precaution, sir," the salesman spoke with a smile, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "First Layer corpses are much more valuable and thus we need to assess them properly."
"Alright," Alicar replied, though he remained on guard.
As soon as the salesman closed the door to what he called the "Corpse Inspection" room, Alicar dropped the two bodies to the ground, their forms heavy and lifeless.
"These goblins have been the Awakener Association’s main problem for the past few months," the salesman continued as he crouched down to inspect them, his hands moving with practiced efficiency. "They cause a lot of trouble, and only seem to grow stronger by the day."
"They attacked the base I appeared in," Alicar said, his voice neutral.
"Bad luck," Morgan shook his head, a hint of sympathy in his voice. "But these are great, both because of their decent level, but also since they can be used by necromancers and for the awakeners to research them."
In addition to that, as Morgan finished assessing the corpses, he listed everything, which surprised Alicar with its thoroughness:
"A Lv.15 and Lv.17 common-rank corpses, F-Rank Rusty Machete, E-Rank Rusty Sword, D-Rank Goblin Shield, an F-Rank core and an E-Rank core."
Alicar had only expected for the cores and corpse to be called out, but he was completely wrong, and rightfully so: the equipment that the goblins used to fight could also be sold for a decent profit!
"For all of this, we will give you $34,000," Morgan announced, typing the figure into his terminal.
’All that money from only two corpses? Holy hell,’ Alicar thought, his eyes widening slightly.
Of course, that was also because these goblins’ level was pretty decent, as well as the equipment they carried, which added significant value to the sale.
Alicar as well as many others didn’t know it, but the margin the Awakener Association was making on each purchase was substantial, a hidden fee built into every transaction.
And that would only grow larger as he proceeded forward through the tiers, the prices and profits escalating with each layer.
After all, the Awakener Association was only limited to selling to humans for the First Layer, but at the Second Layer, other races appear, meaning that they can sell to even more awakeners from across the Eternal Realm!
Basically, there was never any lack of money for them, and also that there was never any true amount of money that could be enough for awakeners like Alicar, their expenses growing alongside their power.
Each time he moved forward, he’d have to spend even more to buy equipment and supplies, a never-ending cycle of earning and spending.
Once everything was processed, Alicar was allowed out of the inspection room, and he didn’t waste any time either.
He quickly started to look around the First Layer floors for a sign of a better storage ring, his eyes scanning the displays with keen interest.
There were all kinds of them, but they were either far too expensive, reaching near 1 million in price for the top-tier ones, or they were decently priced but the way they worked didn’t make him eager to invest.
After around an hour of searching through the various stalls and displays though, Alicar found one that fit both requirements on the fourth floor, its design sleek and elegant.
[Small Spatial Ring]
[Tier: 1]
[Rank: B]
[Description: A storage ring with a dimensional pocket measuring 7x7x7 meters in dimensions, meaning you can store as many things as fit into the dimensional pocket. The pocket is stable and secure, protecting its contents from damage and decay.]
[Price: $240,000]
Of course, Alicar was far from being able to buy it with his current funds.
[Current Balance: $39,507]
"...Well, only $200,000 more I guess," he smiled bitterly, shaking his head. "Just... gotta kill more monsters."
Other than that, he also needed to find a better butchering knife for the monster corpses to be able to consume their cores properly without damaging them.
But to be honest, as long as he could keep acquire that storage ring, he’d start making money much easier, able to carry more corpses and equipment back to sell, so he was satisfied with his progress.
Alicar left the Trading Centre afterward, aiming to return to the First Layer using one of the gates to continue his grind.
But right as he was about to exit the building, stepping through the automatic doors, he heard a voice, and this time, it was a friendly one.
"Alicar!"
Alicar turned around, expecting some kind of problem once more, his body tensing for conflict.
But luckily it wasn’t, as before him stood Leon, who looked much stronger than before, his stance more confident and his equipment visibly upgraded.
"So I guess you also entered the First Layer, huh," Alicar grinned, "Good."
...
A/N: Support this novel by giving some powerstones and/or golden tickets if you want to, its really motivating :D!