“Bang!”
A dull sound rang out, and a flash of light burst from the metal tube, hitting a Harpy perched on a distant tree with pinpoint accuracy.
The Harpy let out a mournful cry as it fell from the tree, collapsing beside a broken blue stone at the base.
“Yeah, got it! It really works!”
“Isn’t this way faster than casting magic?”
Krexia jumped out from the bushes, excitedly running toward where the Harpy had fallen.
Not long after, she spotted the corpse lying beneath the tree.
The Magic Bullet had struck the Harpy’s chest, leaving a fist-sized hole from which faintly red blood seeped out.
The unique Magic Power of the beast rapidly dissipated, and the corpse began to fade, the blood’s color growing paler.
“Not bad. The strength of that hit is roughly on par with a typical second-tier attack magic, and it didn’t even need chanting.”
“To be honest, you really are a prodigy.”
Coutia rarely spoke so openly in praise.
Krexia slung the strangely shaped Gunblade on her back, pulled out a small knife, and sliced open the Harpy’s skull.
She rummaged through it for a while but left disappointed.
Magic Crystals don’t appear on monsters 100% of the time; it’s mostly a matter of luck.
“Unlucky this time, but it’s fine. There’s no shortage of monsters around here anyway.”
As Krexia turned to leave, the Harpy’s body had completely vanished, leaving behind only a few feathers and a claw.
Seeing this, Krexia gathered the feathers and claw.
Not too bad after all.
The [ Feather of the Harpy ] and the [ Claw of the Harpy ] are both common Magical Items and can also be used as components in certain Alchemical Transmutation Arrays.
Their prices were decent—about 20 silver coins and 18 silver coins respectively—so it wasn’t a bad haul.
However…
Krexia removed the gunstock, revealing a second-tier Magic Crystal inside, though its color looked somewhat dull.
Yes, the energy source for this Gunblade was a Magic Crystal.
Although the gun had Magic Runes inscribed inside to condense Magic Power, the amount generated by those alone was limited.
To rapidly fire consecutive shots, the Magic Crystal was needed to condense Magic Bullets and sustain the gun’s Magic Circuit.
Due to material limitations during inscription, the Gunblade’s maximum output only reached the level of second-tier attack magic, so a second-tier Magic Crystal was sufficient as its energy source.
One second-tier Magic Crystal could support about ten shots.
“So basically, every shot costs ten silver coins. That’s expensive…”
Krexia sighed bitterly and resumed her hunt, searching for a new lucky target.
Fortunately, the Gunblade’s damage was high, accuracy sharp, and its range far-reaching.
It also required little reloading, making monster hunting very efficient.
By the end of the afternoon, Krexia had hunted over a hundred various monsters, collecting a large amount of Magical Items and materials.
Magic Crystals were fewer though, as she had used many as ammunition.
Counting her loot, she ended up with 30 first-tier Magic Crystals, 10 second-tier Magic Crystals, and 2 third-tier Magic Crystals.
It wasn’t due to bad personal luck.
Her main goal on this trip was to test the Gunblade’s effectiveness.
She’d been skirting around tougher monsters.
The Gunblade couldn’t kill third-tier monsters; at best, it could only wound them.
Third-tier monsters were rare in the outer regions anyway, and when encountered, she took them down with a single third-tier magic spell if possible.
If she had a choice, she really preferred not to engage them.
Magic Power was seriously in short supply.
After just a few shots, she had to consume a Magic Crystal to replenish it.
Not worth it.
According to Coutia, her maximum Magic Power reserve was extremely high—almost at the level of an eighth-tier monster.
However, most of her Magic Power was used to suppress the witch’s influence inside her.
She also had to share some with Coutia’s spirit within her body, constantly consuming energy.
She needed to consume at least one third-tier Magic Crystal or seven second-tier Magic Crystals per day to maintain adequate Magic Power.
Calculating living expenses, seven gold coins a day, converted roughly equated to seventy thousand yuan in her previous life.
Damn, even Ryoko didn’t eat that much!
“No wonder you keep pushing me to go out and work. So you’re actually sucking up the little Magic Power I have left?”
Krexia glanced at her haul.
Though she was happy, she also felt a bit of pain.
A third-tier Magic Crystal sold for 5 gold coins each; a second-tier Magic Crystal for 1 gold coin.
At this rate, eating third-tier Magic Crystals was actually more cost-effective and saved a lot.
Second-tier Magic Crystals were kept as ammo.
First-tier Magic Crystals were junk—sold for 25 silver coins each—not expensive, but large quantities made it worthwhile.
“Hey hey hey, what are you saying? I’m your Creator, your God. Isn’t it right to worship me?”
“Others want to worship but can’t even get the chance!”
“Oh, my great God, if you were any use, I wouldn’t be complaining!”
Walking home, Krexia glanced at the setting Sun and quickened her pace.
Vanor City, as a border city, locked its gates at night.
Once the gates were closed, no one could enter or leave.
Those locked outside had to find somewhere to spend the night on their own.
However, night was when monsters were most active.
Without light in the wild, movement was restricted and danger greatly increased.
After showing her Adventurer’s Identification, Krexia reentered the city smoothly.
By now, the sky was completely dark.
Adventurers who had been out on quests during the day had already returned.
The streets on both sides were noticeably filled with Mercenaries and Adventurers stained with blood.
After finishing their day’s work and collecting rewards at the Adventurer Association, they eagerly crowded into taverns and inns.
Grabbing drinks from the bartenders, they drank until they were drunk.
At night, Vanor City was much livelier compared to the daytime.
Taverns and restaurants, deserted by day, were now packed.
Krexia casually looked into one tavern, filled with burly men raising foam-topped wooden tankards and loudly shouting toasts, chugging down their drinks.
Others noisily boasted to companions about what they did during the day—how many monsters they’d killed and how much money they’d earned.
These people weren’t especially strong.
Most relied on their physical fitness and common iron equipment to fight monsters, gathering Magical Items to sell to the Mage Guild or Adventurer Association.
This way of making money was far faster than dock work.
But for them, this was a life of constant risk—any day they might encounter a powerful monster.
That would likely be the end of the line.
Therefore, most Mercenaries and Adventurers didn’t have the habit of saving money.
As soon as money was earned, they spent most of it on food, drink, or entertainment, leaving only a small portion for emergencies, like not getting quests the next day.
This was the kind of life they lived freely.
(1/2)