[NR] Chapter 371 - More Than Expected (Patreon)

As the last of the titan python’s health drains away, Jason is rewarded with a System prompt.

{Event Goal Achieved

1 hour until Event Space closes

Close Event Space early? [Y/N]}

A question that Jason easily answers yes to. While he could stick around in the event space to finish cleaning up the other monsters, with the way he had cleared and how rewards are calculated, it was better just to be done. After all, an assassin optimally should only kill their target. Anyone else isn’t being paid for and so providing a free service.

{Event Space Complete: Beat The Bosses [Cleared]

Congratulations! You have soloed your first Event Space through a near perfect display of assassination.

Rewards: Exquisite Trickster Coyote skin, Exquisite Titan Python skin

Bonus Reward: Effect of the Title Stealthy Assassin increased}

{Trickster Coyote Skin

Description: The skin of a Trickster coyote provided as a reward for completing an Event Space

Grade: lv20 Exquisite (ingredient)

Titan Python Skin

Description: The skin of a Titan python provided as a reward for completing an Event Space

Grade: lv20 Exquisite (ingredient)}

Jason whistles as the package in front of him. The coyote skin, of course, doesn’t take up too much space. The python skin, on the other hand, looks almost the size of a hay bail, if maybe a little smaller. Then he whistles again when he sees the grade of both skins.

Before seeing that, Jason had been tempted to just ditch the python skin or at least cut it down to size. Now, though, both of them were coming with. A mid quality exquisite grade ingredient will pull in over a hundred gold and the python skin quite a bit more because of the size. At the moment, Jason only had a little over 51 gold, down from the last time he checked because of the various services he was paying for with his pod, and these two skins alone would likely pull in 300 gold at least.

One of the few downsides? They were System generated. A natural skin might have some defects to it, but also could have special qualities beyond what would naturally be there. Either way, the skins were well worth the time spent on the event, even if it did leave Jason with quite the burden to carry.

In fact, the burden was so burdensome that after only half a day Jason became quite cross with it. Exiting the event space had left him a respectable distance from the coyote’s area so he hadn’t had to worry about that and instead headed directly to the road. A flat, smooth road was perfect for moving around with too much on your back, but it could only do so much.

It wasn’t the weight of the skin, though. Yes, the titan python’s skin was quite heavy, but the real problem was how awkward it was to carry. After all, it was basically just a roll of skin wider than he was by a good bit and over half his height. Combine that with the weight and you end up with no practical way to carry it.

In the end, all Jason could do was make a detour. Up until now, he had been focused on taking the road less traveled. Now, though, he backtracks about an hour to get on the mainline. It would mean a much safer trip, probably useful when already carrying something so awkward, and quickly bring him to the town of Havenline.

A simple name for a simple place. If its elders were to be believed, Havenline was named such because it was one of the first towns to sprout up on this trade route and so it was a haven on the line. Few people bother questioning this history, though a few of the other nearby settlements make similar claims.

As Jason approaches Havenline, though, he spots something even more exciting than the town itself. Parked along the side of the road was a sizable trade caravan. The whole thing was so big that it almost had more wagons than there were houses and most of those wagons were bigger than the smallest house in the town.

Now, Jason had been expecting there to be merchants in town. After all, it isn’t like a small stop over town is going to be able to just up and buy 300 gold worth of material. He, however, hadn’t been expecting such a big caravan. This was both good and bad.

The good news was they would definitely be able to buy his two skins. The bad news? They might even have something similar already in their inventory. A small three to five wagon caravan would drool over the skins and pay highly for it. After all, merchants gain quite the boost to experience when they are able to personally source and sell high-quality goods.

Jason shakes his head, they had already seen him and his pack. Hell, one of their scouts has probably already checked out the skins. Mind in check, Jason straightens his back and enters the town after getting a nod from the guards at the gate.

And what do you know! Just right inside is a merchant with a glint in their eye. Jason doesn’t even get a chance to say anything before they greet him. “Well, hello there! Quite the burden you’ve got.”

Jason raises an eyebrow, “We both know I’m here to sell them. Not much else I could be doing.”

The merchant laughs, “Well, yes, which is why I’m going to be straightforward with you. I’ve been authorized to buy them both for 200 gold.”

Jason snorts, “I understand starting low, but so insultingly so? A thousand gold and not a copper less.”

The merchant shakes their head, “Going in the other direction doesn’t make you any better. How about 370? While the snakeskin is big, it’s a System reward. Normally on a hide of that size, we would be able to find a few high-quality spots to really up the final product.”

Jason nods, “That is true, on the other hand there is a certain quality to quantity. Yes, the snake skin is the same throughout, but for something this big that is a benefit! You can probably squeeze a few pieces out of this and any work done to make the resulting gear work together will be so much easier. That alone should make the set worth 760.”

The merchant waggles his fingers to suggest a spell being cast, “And when someone tries to curse one person it spreads to the others? Such things can go both ways! How about an even 500?”

Jason just raises his eyebrow again and counters, “520?”

The merchant laughs, “Sure, 520 gold for the both of them.”

They both shake and the money changes hands.