Fair Exchange

Hal stretched as he disembarked from the donkey-pulled cart.

There was still some time before nightfall, so he decided to exchange his loot first.

Looking around the wide, well-made stone street, he felt overwhelmed, as it was his first time being in such a lively shopping district.

The ones in the towns near Poporo Village couldn't compete in the slightest.

Skyscrapers, even grander than the ones he had seen on his first day in the city, seemed to reach desperately for the heavens.

People, mana-powered vehicles, donkey carts, and delivery wagons passed to and fro, filling the entire district with vibrance, while the smell of food from nearby restaurants wafted through the air, carried by a breeze that was neither too warm nor too cold.

How dreamy would it be to live in such a city without worrying about money…

Hal could vividly imagine himself and his dearest mother entering one of the restaurants with smiles on their faces.

'Sigh… but for that to happen…'

Yes, everything started with selling his loot and drawing more spell cards!

And so, Hal walked forth slowly, checking the academy's accredited shops.

He entered each shop to compare prices and integrity.

As he expected, due to his visibly tender age, most tried to cheat him, hoping to buy the F-ranked arcane cores for merely ten copper coins each.

Fortunately, one of the more prominent shops was honest, allowing him to discover the true prices of his goods.

Hal praised himself for his decision not to rush into selling and to ask around first.

Otherwise, he would've regretted selling them for half their actual value.

Being an inexperienced young man from a border village brought its fair share of difficulties.

Had it been Ennya, she most probably would've been swindled.

That said, Hal sold ten F-ranked arcane cores for two silver coins, the two solidified mana orbs for one more, the sprite leader's transitioning core for another, and five of his slightly damaged Mischievous Housesprite wings for fifty copper coins, gaining a whopping four and a half silver coins despite not selling everything.

He planned to exchange the rest for academy credits, as he also needed them to secure better mana-meditation rooms and a few other things, like exchangeable artifacts that could boost his overall mana—perhaps even his spell cards' effectiveness.

Nonetheless, Hal was satisfied with his business transaction at Wanzin's Arcane Emporium.

He appreciated their honesty and would surely do business with them again in the future.

Four and a half silver coins richer, Hal left the shop and returned to the academy, heading straight to the Mission Hall to claim his rewards.

Naturally, the stern manager and the young female employee remembered him.

He was, after all, the only freshman one-star student they had encountered who dared to take on an extermination mission less than two weeks after enrolling in the Grand Magic Academy.

They were dumbfounded as they truly had not expected him to succeed.

However, the records stated that the client, Greyfen Town's Mayor, Erold Sandroval, confirmed that the Mischievous Housesprites had been exterminated.

Yes.

Not merely driven out, but exterminated.

The Mission Hall was more affiliated with the Imperial Wizard Guild than the Grand Magic Academy, though, so they weren't obligated to report such a strange phenomenon to the headmaster.

After receiving three silver coins and ten academy contribution points for his efforts, Hal left the building with a satisfied smile.

He then headed to the Academy Exchange Pavilion to trade his five remaining F-ranked arcane cores and four sets of slightly damaged sprite wings for academy credits.

Upon arriving, Hal couldn't help but marvel at the pavilion's magnificent and refreshing open-air design.

A single long desk with many counters stretched across the front, attached to a back office where the staff stored the exchanged items.

Hal was slowly getting used to the city and the academy's grandeur, however, so the time it took for him to snap out of his awe-induced stupors was getting shorter and shorter.

Once he had recollected himself, Hal proceeded to one of the available counters.

"Hello, how may I help you?" asked the receptionist.

"I'm here to exchange some arcane cores and some monster parts…"

"For academy credits or contribution points, sir?"

Hal was taken aback.

He had thought he could only exchange items for academy credits, not expecting that he could also rack up contribution points this way.

However, he was set on exchanging his items for academy credits this time, as he needed to rent better mana meditation rooms.

Otherwise, he would be ruthlessly left behind in terms of physical prowess.

They were wizards, sure, but a wizard also had to be agile and physically resilient, which could be achieved by increasing one's overall mana, as mana both nourished and strengthened the body.

While the physical improvement would be minimal and wouldn't match the unrealistic strength, speed, and endurance of heroes in storybooks, he couldn't afford to neglect it.

This was probably the aspect where he would struggle the most to match the others' improvement rates.

Still, Hal was confident that the Arcane's gift to him gave him a fairly huge edge.

For one, no one could match him in unpredictability, and he would only grow stronger the more Chaos Points he earned.

Who knows? 

Perhaps his wide arsenal of spells in the future would even cover the physical aspect of dodging and tanking damage.

"For academy credits, please."

"Sure, sir, your academy identification card, please."

Hal complied and quickly handed over his ID.

This time, it was the receptionist who was taken aback, finding it difficult to believe that a one-star freshman student like Hal could get his hands on arcane cores and monster parts this early.

But it wasn't the receptionist's job to investigate how he got them, so she simply proceeded with the transaction and loaded Hal's Academy Credit Card with fourteen academy credits.

It wasn't much, but it would give him much more room to secure some training resources for himself.

Hal, once again, left the Academy Exchange Pavilion with a smile.

Even just from the seven and a half silver coins, ten contribution points, and fourteen academy credits, his efforts had already been well worth it.

Yet Hal considered none of those as his greatest gain.

The true reward for him was the one he was about to enjoy now: 318 Chaos Points.

It was time to draw some much-needed and much-desired spell cards…