Four years before the New Calendar.
Mid-Wind Moon, May 30th.
Blending into the crowd, Adam walked along the main thoroughfare. The stone-paved road, worn from countless footsteps, had slight depressions in places.
Yet the ground remained remarkably clean, with only faint traces of moss visible in the crevices along the street's edges.
The surrounding buildings, neatly arranged, featured light-colored walls and dark-toned, European-style rooftops.
As Adam strolled through the streets, he observed his surroundings while heading toward E-Rantel's Adventurers' Guild.
He needed to find a place to rest and regroup.
He had left the royal capital on May 17th, and now, thirteen days later, he had spent nearly two weeks on the road.
Leveling up was a priority he needed to address soon.
The Great Forest of Tob and the Katze Plains, both near E-Rantel, were key locations for gaining experience in his mind.
Adam planned to head to the Great Forest of Tob first.
Not only was it teeming with wild beasts and monsters, but the undead of the Katze Plains were beyond his current ability to effectively damage.
So, he needed to prepare supplies, a task made easier thanks to the wilderness survival skills he'd learned from the Rock Team.
His destination wasn't the Adventurers' Guild just yet, but a nearby inn. These inns, reportedly, were businesses that had sprung up to serve the Guild's needs.
Some high-ranking adventurer teams even stayed at these inns for free.
After traveling for over ten days straight, Adam reflected that, in his previous world, his legs would have been ruined, or close to it.
But now, despite some fatigue, he felt no discomfort. Not even a single blister had formed on his feet.
This led him to suspect that leveling up didn't just increase his strength, it also significantly enhanced his physical constitution.
Adam took a sip from the water skin at his waist. After passing through a few city blocks, he found a small inn just a street away from the Adventurers' Guild.
These inns offered two types of rooms.
One was a shared room, housing four to six people, costing one copper coin per person per day.
The other was a double room, costing five copper coins per person per day.
These inns were clearly designed for adventurer teams, which made sense. Aside from adventurers and visiting merchant caravans, local commoners had little need for such accommodations.
Adam had no interest in a shared room, so he booked a double room for himself. Estimating the time needed to gather supplies, he reserved it for two days, costing him 20 copper coins.
That amounted to one silver coin and seven copper coins.
CREAK!
Pushing open the brown wooden door, the aged hinges let out a faint, grating sound.
Adam stepped inside, closing the door behind him, and scanned the room.
It was small, about eleven or twelve square meters. Two wooden beds sat in the center, separated by a simple bedside table.
There was no other furniture, giving the room a spartan feel. The one saving grace, to Adam's relief, was the private bathroom.
This world, overall, resembled a medieval setting, but the presence of magic meant it couldn't be judged solely by that standard.
For instance, both the royal capital and E-Rantel's main streets had something akin to streetlights.
Not true streetlights, of course, but magical lamps powered by the "Continual Light" Spell.
The journey had been grueling, but it wasn't the hardship that bothered Adam. The one thing he found nearly intolerable was the issue of sanitation.
Paper existed in this world!
However, papermaking techniques were rudimentary, with low yields, and no one bothered to improve them.
This was because the New World had something absent from the YGGDRASIL game: zero-tier magic.
Also known as lifestyle magic, these spells allowed users to create large quantities of paper with minimal mana, rendering improvements to papermaking unnecessary.
Thankfully, the Rock Team, as a relatively high-income group, enjoyed a better standard of living.
Otherwise...
Ahem.
Adam cleared his throat, shaking off the thought.
He had learned about zero-tier magic from the Rock Team. According to Captain Dosari, these spells, used solely for convenience, were rarely studied by magic casters unless they had a specific need. Most simply purchased the relevant magic scrolls.
This information sparked an idea for Adam. His method of acquiring skills involved observing others use them and then spending skill points to learn them.
Could he also learn magic from scrolls by spending skill points?
Another pressing matter was money.
Like it or not, his upcoming purchases would require funds.
For his trip to the Great Forest of Tob, he needed at least some armor. And as for weapons, the short sword he carried would likely dull after just a few beast kills.
Magic weapons were out of his price range, but he could afford to stock up on a few ordinary blades.
The base cost of goods in this world was low, but anything tied to magic was exorbitantly priced.
A cup with a mere cooling effect could cost around 150 gold coins.
Magic weapons, regardless of their strength, were valued at over 1,000 gold coins!
Such items were beyond the reach of ordinary people.
With the money he currently had, he could only afford a few decent mundane weapons.
Even on the road to E-Rantel, Adam had been thinking about ways to earn money. His discussions with Nfirea about crafting recovery potions were partly motivated by this.
However, after learning more, Adam realized he couldn't afford to spend time gathering herbs or studying their properties.
So, he turned his attention to zero-tier magic, lifestyle magic.
"Fortunately, the money from Captain Dosari has eased my immediate concerns."
Adam pulled out the pouch of gold coins.
He had checked earlier, it contained 20 gold coins. Combined with his remaining funds, he now had 22 gold coins, 4 silver coins, and 4 copper coins.
Adam stored the pouch in his Item Box and rubbed his temples. There was much to think about, but for now…
Thud!
He walked to one of the beds and collapsed onto it.
Having slept in the wild with his nerves constantly on edge, the chance to rest on a proper bed was a luxury.
What he needed most was to recharge and rest.
Lying on the bed, Adam glanced out the window. The sun was high, likely just past noon.
The inn was close to the Adventurers' Guild, and it was daytime, so he figured he could rest undisturbed.
With that thought, Adam closed his eyes.
***
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