Melee Mage

Chapter 12: Striving for Excellence

At night, Adrian's mother had already fallen asleep. Looking at her serene face, Adrian's heart swelled with pride. His mother had taken care of him for so many years, and now... he could finally take care of her in return.

Clutching his fists in the darkness, since he had made up his mind, he knew he had to work harder. Daily necessities were no longer a problem; even if they ate meat every day, it wouldn't be an issue. As long as he set up his stall every Sunday, everything would be taken care of. However, housing and other expenses were substantial.

In Adrian's hometown, a one-story house cost ten gold coins. But that was just a small city of about ten thousand people. The housing prices here in Holy Light, where they currently lived, couldn't be compared to a remote small city.

Although he didn't know the specific prices, Adrian still had some idea. Houses in similar locations cost at least 100 gold coins per unit. To buy a house of the same size as their previous one, it would cost a minimum of ten thousand gold coins.

Silently twiddling his fingers, Adrian worked hard to calculate. If he could earn 200 gold coins per week, that would amount to 9,600 gold coins in a year, assuming he didn't spend a single coin. If he factored in furniture, decorations, and daily expenses, it would take at least two years for this ideal to become a reality.

"No, it won't work!" Looking at the cramped, pitch-black room, the dilapidated wooden bed, and the broken daily items, Adrian quickly dismissed this plan. He could endure for two years, but his mother's health wouldn't improve living in this dark, damp, cold, and drafty house for two years.

For the current situation, the only option was to train his moisturizing skills diligently. He had to strive to moisturize more customers every Sunday, to accelerate the rate of earning money. Increasing the fees was considered, but in Adrian's opinion, one gold coin was already a lot. He was merely waving his hands. Asking for too much would weigh heavily on his conscience.

Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that he didn't dare ask for too much. This was already the only source of income for their family, and it was absolutely not allowed to have any accidents. Adrian would rather earn less than risk cutting off this source of income.

Adrian thought it through meticulously. As long as he trained hard and could moisturize 500 customers every Sunday, the profits would be considerable. He would earn enough money to buy a large house in just six months. Now, what he needed to do was to improve his abilities as quickly as possible.

After making his decision, Adrian pulled the covers up satisfied and slowly drifted into dreams. After a good night's rest, he would begin his intense training. They say practice makes perfect, and although the idea of moisturizing 500 times a day sounded exaggerated, there were people who could achieve it.

However, to perform the moisturizing technique, one must have a target. Without a target, the technique cannot be activated. Previously, his mother and customers were his targets. But since he needed to practice anytime, he required a creature by his side that he could use for practice.

Fortunately, this wasn't a difficult issue to solve. Many people in this world loved to raise magical pets, also known as magical beasts that had been tamed. They would hatch them from eggs and raise them until they grew up to become loyal magical pets.

Of course, not all magical beasts could become magical pets. Some magical beasts, no matter how you treated them, would never be loyal to you. However, most magical beasts could become magical pets.

Before, Adrian had never thought of raising a magical pet. Although there were many types of magical pets, none of them were cheap. Even the ordinary ones cost 100 gold coins, which was truly extravagant for the previous Adrian.

But now things were different. His mother didn't take Adrian's money away. Not only that, after taking on the burden of the family, his mother shared the family's financial situation with Adrian.

Currently, they had over 1,300 gold coins at home. Some of the money came from selling the house, and the rest was left by his father. His mother planned to use this money to cover the household expenses. As for the money Adrian earned, his mother allowed him to handle it himself. Although Adrian was still young, in his mother's words, he was already a man and should learn to manage finances. It was essential to cultivate such skills from a young age.

After a detailed analysis, in order to earn more money, Adrian rushed to the pet shop right after school and decided to choose a magical pet as his practice subject.

The pet shop was vast, with shelves filled with various pet eggs. Each pet egg had a white wooden sign underneath indicating the price.

Ignoring the pet eggs, Adrian went straight to the counter and said to the beautiful girl behind it, "Big sister, I want to buy a magical pet. Can you help me choose?"

"Hmm?" Seeing Adrian, who was not even as tall as the counter, the girl bent down, her eyes narrowing with a smile. She kindly asked, "Little brother, what kind of magical pet do you want? Tell big sister, and she'll help you pick the cutest one."

"Um..." Adrian pondered for a moment and smiled, "I want the smallest, easiest to raise, cheapest, and most obedient magical pet. Could you help me choose, sister?"

As Adrian uttered a series of "most" words, a surprised expression appeared on the girl's face. Generally, the children who come here also use the word "most," but it usually refers to the biggest, most beautiful, most handsome, coolest, most expensive, and most powerful. After working here for so many years, it was the first time she had seen a child make such demands.

The girl smiled and said, "Little brother, are you saying that you don't mind the type, power, appearance... all these important conditions of a magical pet?"

"Yeah," Adrian nodded decisively. "That's right. As long as it's a magical pet, it's good enough. It doesn't matter how powerful or beautiful it is, or what type it belongs to."

With a slight smile, the girl pointed to a huge display stand placed at the entrance and said, "If that's the case, you can try your luck at the Mystery Eggs over there. For just 100 gold coins, you can randomly obtain a pet egg. It could be anything from the lowest-level slime to the mighty Flame Dragon!"

"Wow!" Adrian exclaimed in excitement upon hearing the girl's words. Initially, he only wanted to buy the cheapest magical pet, but now he had the opportunity for something even better. It couldn't get any better than this.

However, there were still some things Adrian didn't quite understand. He looked at the girl with confusion and asked, "Since even the cheapest pet egg costs 100 gold coins, why would you include expensive ones in there?"

The girl looked at Adrian with a smile and patiently explained, "Well, you see, pet eggs have a limited hatching period. The eggs displayed there are the ones nearing their hatching deadline. If we don't sell them quickly, our losses would be significant once they hatch."

Furthermore, this kind of activity promotes the sale of magical pet eggs and increases profits. Even those who initially didn't plan to buy one might do so just to try their luck.

Of course, there was something the girl couldn't explain. In reality, the number of high-level magical pet eggs placed in the display counter was quite limited. On average, this activity doesn't result in a loss but actually earns a lot. It not only avoids losses but also boosts sales. Such activities are held everywhere and don't incur losses. In fact, it's similar to a lottery.

Although high-level pet eggs have a high value, the ones displayed there are 99% low-level pet eggs. While they are sold for 100 gold coins, the store doesn't even pay ten gold coins for them. The profit margin is enormous and unimaginable to outsiders. The store's profit only increases and the money comes in at an astonishing rate.

After listening to the girl's explanation, Adrian didn't fully understand, but since there was such a good opportunity and he didn't care about the type of magical pet, there was no reason not to participate.

After paying 100 gold coins, Adrian approached the gigantic display stand. He looked at the tens of thousands of magical pet eggs stacked together on the display area spanning hundreds of square meters. Adrian's heart started racing. What kind of magical pet egg would he draw?