Spirit Soul

Fortunately, Gaby was able to calm down after hearing Kyle.

His words allowed her to think rationally about the situation she was facing.

There were many things she had to do.

Yet,  the most important of all was to be able to figure out the truth.

Her ultimate goal was to take revenge on Dirk while being able to stay in Vila town.

Even though her family was dead, Laila was still inside the town.

Not just Laila, but the precious memories that she held close to her heart also belonged to Vila town.

No matter where you go and how long you travel, you always feel a light pull towards the place you call home.

Gaby was no exception.

Though she had lost her family here, this was the same place she had grown up and found her husband.

She was about to give it a thought when Kyle's voice rang in her ears.

"The detailed version of the beast encyclopedia with the information of almost every beast inhabiting the Sadorla forest costs 500 Pryr crystals, right? Is there a version of the beast encyclopedia with all beasts of the Shalivra valley?"

Some might argue that strength and combat prowess was a survivor's toolkit to stay alive in the wilderness.

But Kyle knew how important it was to possess the right knowledge of the surroundings.

He wouldn't shy away from spending his fortune if he received information that would save his life.

The incident with the Blood owl had left a bad taste in his mouth.

He didn't even want to imagine what would have happened had Gaby not been with them at that time.

As such, Kyle wanted to get his hands on the information of all beasts that inhabited the Shalivra valley.

"The...entire Shalivra valley? I'm afraid to tell you that you're not eligible, let alone wealthy enough to purchase the encyclopedia you are looking for…

If you know where you want to head to after becoming stronger, you can purchase something else. The encyclopedia of one of the three kingdoms that lay around the Sadorla forest should be perfect for you!"

This caused Kyle to prick up his ears.

He had already heard that there were three kingdoms adjacent to the Sadorla forest.

Kyle also knew that each kingdom belonged to the three races he and Selene had already encountered.

'I should visit the library soon!' Kyle told himself as he remarked,

"The Thunderclaw kingdom is ruled by an old Aldra with many descendants. I believe he has the highest chances of conquering the Sadorla forest.

Looking at the current situation, this is only obvious. We haven't seen many Nasga or Lohar that were able to overwhelm Vila town, let alone one of the other towns around here."

While saying this, Gaby threw a short glance at Selene, as if to say 'no offense' before she continued.

"The Lahin kingdom that is ruled by the Lohars is the weakest amongst the three forces. It is only because of their queen's extraordinary strength that they are yet to be conquered and enslaved.

Then there is the Razgra kingdom which is similar to a federation of small states. But, they don't call it that. The Nasga have their own tribes and small territories as well.

They're the most likely to start a fight. But even then, their numbers are still the largest amongst all three kingdoms."

Kyle was glad to have Gaby on his team once again.

Her knowledge and wisdom were as important for him to learn as were her archery skills to hunt beasts.

She gave them a condensed version of the knowledge that she had accumulated over years.

This would make it much easier for him to find a good starting point to initiate his research.

"The beast encyclopedias cannot be found in the town library, right? How much would one pay for one of the kingdoms' beast encyclopedias?"

Before purchasing anything, he wanted to figure out whether it was an essential expenditure.

Gaby looked like a walking encyclopedia herself. Hence, he asked the most important questions without any hesitation.

"It's illegal to copy the encyclopedias made by the Guild. If you find one, you'll have to report it, or there will be a severe punishment for you too!

As for the price of the kingdoms' beast encyclopedias around the Sadorla forest, they're 3,000 Pryr crystals each...and this is already a good price if I'm honest.

The kingdoms are vast and the beasts much stronger than those inside the Sadorla forest."

Nodding his head, he simply stated his decision.

"Then, I'll just take the Sadorla forest's beast encyclopedia for now."

Gaby found this reasonable and took out the encyclopedia for him.

Kyle had another thought so he hastily added,

"I also want to purchase four used spatial pouches that have no malfunctions. Their storage space should be around 50 cubic meters each.

Other than that, I want to purchase the basic cultivation manuals for the Maest and Pryr path.

Oh, and I also need the neutral energy martial art techniques called Swift steps, and Deadly assault!"

Kyle had chosen the most common cultivation techniques.

But the martial art techniques were slightly special.

Yet they were considered to be basic and commonly found.

His chosen cultivation techniques were purchased by most citizens that had a small fortune of 3,000 Pryr crystals in order to cultivate properly.

The special feature about the martial art techniques was the writer's special touch.

He had left a faint imprint of his comprehension while writing the technique.

This allowed the reader to get a subtle push towards the right direction.

In most cases, the imprint was left by someone who had fully mastered the martial art technique.

This was yet another reason for Kyle to choose the Swift steps movement technique and the martial art technique Deadly assault.

They had been labeled as 'written by a master practitioner' after all!

Meanwhile, the word 'neutral' in a technique indicated that it could be exerted by every cultivation path.

It could be used by all cultivators, whether they used spiritual force, mana, primordial energy, and hopefully also soul force!

Unfortunately, this increased their price to 10,000 Pryr crystals per technique.

Despite being highly expensive, Kyle was sure that they were worth every single Pryr crystal.

However, if he were to think about the most expensive investment, it was not for the martial art techniques.

According to him, the spatial pouches with the storage space of a medium-sized room took the cake.

The total price was a massive amount of 24,000 Pryr crystals even after deducting the discount for used goods.

But that was acceptable for Kyle.

As long as they were in a good working condition, he didn't bother about the price of the spatial pouches.

They might seem extremely expensive, but Kyle was happy that he was not forced to use the leasing function anymore.

In the end, including the cost of the Sadorla forest's beast encyclopedia, Kyle was still left with a fortune of 22,190 Pryr crystals!

Adding his own small fortune to the previous amount made his grand total stand at 22,500 lowest quality Pryr crystals.

Because of the small pile of crystals he had now, Kyle decided to convert them into higher quality Pryr crystals.

Additionally, he exchanged a few Pryr crystals with Maest crystals.

He wanted to test the amount of energy within the respective quality crystals.

In addition to that, he also wanted to experiment with how well he could absorb primordial energy and mana.

While doing so, he simultaneously asked the horned azure fox to convert the energy he absorbed.

Owing to this thought, Kyle left the Guildhall with a heavy pocket.

He now owned a total of 1000 lowest quality Pryr and Maest crystals each, 200 Pryr and 40 Maest crystals at the low quality, and three Pryr and two Maest crystals at the medium quality!

​ The fortune he had amassed was more than enough to purchase additional goods, but that was not what he wanted.

Unfortunately, Kyle couldn't focus on his wants as he had to first fulfill his needs.

He had to purchase ranked leather armors to protect himself and Selene from beasts at the Fortification stage.

His stock of first aid was also running low so he had to purchase certain pastes and potions for emergencies.

Other than that, Kyle had developed a newfound interest in archery.

After observing Gaby, his earlier thoughts of learning to attack beasts from further away were reaffirmed.

By looking at Gaby, who was a talented archer, he was eager to start practicing it himself.

A high proficiency in archery could make a fortune while saving his life in dangerous situations.

As such, he had to look for artisans proficient in processing leather and creating bows respectively.

'I hope they have a proper leatherworker and bowyer…If I find the artisans that made Gaby's equipment, this shouldn't be a problem!'

The former guard captain's equipment was extremely well-made.

He had observed the equipment and marveled at their build quality and proficiency.

Thus, Kyle was confident that the ranked equipment made by the same artisans would not only be extremely good, but also expensive!

Despite that, Kyle did not worry about the burden of his out-of-pocket expenditure.

'As long as I have enough cultivation resources of all qualities to experiment with, it's not important how expensive the remaining equipment is!'

With that mindset, he went into the small artisan district where every single citizen knew each other.

As such, the moment he and Selene entered their territory, they were subjected to stares.

They were instantly recognized as the subjects of the most interesting gossip in town so far!

Selene was still trying to ignore the gazes lingering on her and Kyle, and she had already improved quite a lot.

Owing to that, she could look around without many problems.

By entering one shop after another, Kyle made himself familiar with the prices and goods for everything.

It took him a total of three hours before he had swept through all the shops.

He had gathered a lot of data and made detailed evaluations of the goods he wanted to purchase.

Learning about the prices was important before he made a decision.

It might even be possible for him to figure out certain ways to make a higher profit than usual.

By selling certain body parts of beasts directly to the various types of shops instead of the Guild, Kyle could rake in more profits.

There might only be a difference of 10% or 20% in the offered price.

But, that was more than enough to make a huge difference in the final result!

As such, he could finally decide how much of his remaining fortune he would require.

"With 100 low quality pry crystals I should be able to purchase everything I need!"

That being said, he bought two ranked reinforced leather armors at a good quality for a total of 30 low quality Pryr crystals.

Additionally, he purchased two high quality, ranked bows that were priced at 20 Pryr crystals each.

Furthermore, he bought a set of 100 arrows with a few extra arrows that had unique inscriptions.

These engravings were supposed to strengthen the bows.

They could also be enhanced to add an armor-piercing effect as long as enough energy was supplied.

Their total price was only 2 low quality Pryr crystals.

Feeling satisfied with his weapon purchases, he then directed his attention to buying first aid.

With that thought, Kyle went inside the pharmacy to purchase all kinds of pastes and potions for 10 low Pryr crystals.

After that, he left the pharmacy in order to enter the next shop and purchased several sets of clothes.

Something caught his attention as he saw a glimpse of something familiar from the corner of his eye.

At that moment, Kyle froze in place causing Selene, who was just a step behind to bump into him.

She raised her head as she saw something that caused her eyes to widen in shock.

"Am I seeing things??"

However, Kyle could only smile brightly as he replied,

"I hope you are not!"