CHAPTER 46: PREPARING FOR A LONG EXPEDITION

While the youngest among this group directly serving under the orders of the cold beauty is still reeling in shock having met such a prominent figure, the topic of their conversation is currently walking away from the store he just dropped his loot on wearing an all smile face, not really expecting that he would gain this much today, just by him being able to bring back much more loot with the help of the spatial ring he ’received’ from one of the assassins aiming for his life.

"Hey boss, don’t forget about the things on that list, hopefully you can get all that as soon as possible!" looking at the middle-aged store owner standing right on the door of the establishment he sold his harvest, the young man then reminded earning a yelling agreement from the store owner, who is clearly happy as well having commissioned another fairly large business.

"Hahaha, kid, don’t worry about those things, the two of us are conducting business for a long time now, at least put some trust in my store’s capabilities" the middle-aged store owner said as he flexed his muscles out in the open, their exchange would definitely make the passerby think that the two of them had known each other for years, instead of them only conducting business between each other for just a bit more than a week now.

’Still, what sort of place is this kid about to go to needing this much of supplies?’ the store owner wonders to himself as he saw the young man’s disappearing figure being covered by the still lively and plentiful crowd, and that is despite the fact that it is already deep into the night right now.

’Well, whatever, not my problem, I just hope he would bring back some more good stuff after that long expedition he’s planning’ the store owner thought to himself as he shrugs the thoughts away from his mind, barking orders the moment he entered his establishment as he plans to gather the items on the young man’s list for the best price and quality, as fast as possible.

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"I’m back~" despite knowing that there’s no one else but him residing in this nearly dilapidated apartment that he calls his residence, Azrael still greeted with joy in his voice as he felt extremely satisfied with his harvest today, the fact that he acquires more than a couple of thousand gold coins already making him feel like he is filthy rich right now.

"I don’t think I would need any weapon now, Evil Fang Sword is already more than enough for me, so what more thing should I prepare?" despite already leaving the searching for things that he will need for his long expedition in the hands of that middle-aged store owner, he is still thinking about things that might need improvement to prepare him more for the boss of the second floor, one among the things he thought would be necessary is his armor being upgraded.

"Well, leather is really good and comfortable to move in, so I don’t think there’s no need to change this but..." as he recalls all those monsters he killed during his time hunting outside, the young man couldn’t help but think of an idea that never occurred to him previously.

’Maybe I can use monster leather to create a good armor... the only problem is where I can find a person good with leather works...’ Azrael starts to think about it more, after just a few moments finally deciding to just ask the middle-aged store owner as he seems to be extremely well informed about the people involved in ascender-related businesses.

’Now that it is out of the way, the second thing is this...’ as he pushes the problem regarding who might be capable of making a leather armor for him to the back of his mind, Azrael’s focus was then directed towards the bracer in his forearm, feeling like it had been far more useful to him than what he initially expected, preventing wounds and injuries that previously was enough to sever his hands or even part of his arm.

’I heard there’s a good smithy somewhere around the city, maybe I can check that out for tomorrow before I go hunting again, my list might take some few more days after all’ the young man decided as he starts moving to prepare his food for the night, said food some meat cut from one of the beasts he hunted, specifically another boar-like monster that he had taken down on the way home, this monster being well known for its extremely flavorful and yet light in the stomach meat, making it a customer classic in almost all restaurant in the city.

Placing the meat on the cooking area, he then starts to season it with a generous amount of salt and pepper, letting it rest for a while as he starts heating the skillet that he is going to use for this dish.

After melting the butter he just thrown on the cast iron skillet, Azrael then let it sizzle before placing the meat in the skillet, allowing it to cook for a couple of minutes before turning it to the other side, repeating this process for a few more times before he starts basting the meat with the melted butter for another minute or so, retrieving the meat from the pan after doing so and letting it rest for a while before he starts cutting them into thin strips.

Finally finishing with his cooking, he then grabs the remote right on top of the low table that he just put his food onto, turning on the wall mounted television to watch the news as he wonders whether there is progress regarding the tenth floor of the tower, his mind already expecting some development as it has already been a week since he last watched some news.

Unfortunately for him though, his expectations are not met as the news for the night is nothing more than ones tackling events from other floors, people who reached the higher floors and all that stuff, making him bored and prompting him to turn the television off as he stood up to wash the dishes.