The Frugal Mage

The following hours passed quickly as the group made their preparations.

By late afternoon, each of them had finished gathering their share of supplies.

Drosk had secured the oil flasks and nets, Emma handled the chalk and smoke bombs, Hale bought extra rations and first-aid gear, while Victor double-checked the weapons and light sources.

In the meantime, Rayven found a shop selling alchemical items.

It was quite easy to find since there was a faint smell of herbs in this street. Then, there was a wooden sign outside to identify the shop…

Even from the outside, Rayven saw rows of salves, dried roots, and bandages lined the shelves. There were jars of crushed moss for burns, bundles of bloodgrass for clotting wounds, and cheaper ointments that seemed to be some sort of painkillers.

Rayven swiftly entered the shop and checked over the options.

Most of them are cheap. Products used by most adventurers were sold for around 10 silver to 40 silver coins. As for the cheapest options, they ranged from 20 copper coins.

Then, his eyes turned to a small display case near the counter.

There were vials of clear amber liquid displayed, and they seemed to be more precious. The shopkeeper, a man with a stained apron, noticed Rayven's interest.

"Those aren't for everyday scratches…" The man said... "That's minor wound restoratives. Not as good as the mage guild-issued Healing Potions, but they'll stop bleeding, mend bruising, and knit shallow cuts in a pinch. Pricey, though… Ninety silver each."

Rayven nodded. He could get cheaper options for half that price, but they wouldn't be fast-acting, and in a dungeon, minutes mattered.

"I'll take three," he said firmly.

The shopkeeper's brows rose. Then, he asked for Rayven's adventurer's card and confirmed his identity. "Alright… You're not messing around. Silver-rank discount, then. Let's call it two gold and fifty silver, neat."

Rayven then withdrew 2 gold coins from his system.

[ 2 gold coins deducted. ]

[ Current Balance: 239 Gold Coins ]

As for the rest, he still had enough pocket money for that.

Rayven counted the coins carefully, pushing them across the counter.

Just like that, the man wrapped the vials in a leather pouch designed to prevent cracks during travel.

As Rayven kept the vials in his inner pocket, he glanced once more at the rows of common salves and bandages.

There wasn't really anything that caught his attention, so after that, Rayven left the place… He passed the time with Gene and the craftsmen he had and confirmed that they were already starting to work on the project.

By the time he reached the north gate, his companions were already gathered.

***

The guards at the gate gave them a brief look and nodded. The guards saw their adventuring gear, which was hardly uncommon at this hour, so they just waved them through.

The 17th dungeon was only 4 kilometers or so away from the city, so this wouldn't really take that long.

As the group walked, they passed through a few wagons returning to the city. Most of it was filled with crates and sacks.

There were also adventuring parties returning after a day's work in the dungeon. Some of them looked quite happy with their earnings, while some looked grim and wounded…

Rayven watched as one wagon moved past, and they saw its tarp poorly hiding the covered forms of two fallen adventurers.

'Ahh… This dungeon feels a lot more dangerous now…' Rayven thought.

Nobody spoke of it, but there was a hint of tension as they saw those corpses.

Well, Drosk and the others were afraid that Rayven would back out after seeing how dangerous it was…

Nonetheless, not every returning group looked grim. Another group was also down the road laughing, one of them triumphantly holding a crude iron idol above his head while the others teased him. "Told you it wasn't cursed, you big ox!" one woman laughed as her comrade scowled and set the idol or figurine down.

Drosk chuckled at the sight.

"It's probably a treasure they found…"

That figurine may look simple, but it was definitely a magic item.

It wasn't long before they arrived in the vicinity.

The old mining road was a path toward the mountains, and not far beyond, the entrance of the 17th Dungeon came into view…

But before the entrance was a bustling little outpost.

There were tents and wooden stalls that had been set up around it… There were merchants selling everything from skewered meat sizzling over charcoal to quick-patch armor repairs.

Indeed, a small smithy was built. This portable forge reshaped dented helmets and reforged snapped blades for desperate adventurers who needed gear now, not tomorrow.

There were potion hawkers shouting prices, and Rayven also noticed some scribes copying maps.

Soon, Rayven also noticed some guild clerks manning an open wooden building that bore the seal of the Adventurer's Guild.

"This place looks a lot better than I thought…" Rayven muttered.

Drosk strode confidently toward the guild outpost…

The others followed as he showed his adventurer badge on the counter and exchanged a few words with the clerk inside.

Soon, papers were shuffled, stamps pressed, and a new map was slid across the desk.

Drosk nodded as he paid for the map. "Our last one's map was already five days old. It's better to buy a new one now…"

This caught Rayven's interest.

"Five days make that much difference?"

Emma answered this time.

"More than you think. There are a lot of traps and dead ends inside the dungeon... In some cases, passages collapse, and even some monsters dig new burrows. There are also some mystical traps reset, and even resource veins get stripped bare. A five-day-old map means at least a dozen changes we won't see coming."

Now… This bit of information had certainly refreshed Rayven's viewpoint about dungeons.

Seeing Rayven's amazement, Victor continued.

"That's why cartographers make a fortune out here. Nobody wants to walk into a dead end only to get swarmed. Unfortunately, drawing maps isn't easy…"

Hearing this, Rayven obtained another business idea!