The registration process didn't take long. Apart from basic data such as his name and place of residence, the rest was handled by a special device capable of detecting a person's current rank.
They didn't ask for anything more personal, elemental affinity, for instance, just the bare minimum needed to register someone, which Evan considered a good thing.
After about ten minutes, he had his Awakened Association ID card.
It was about the size of a normal ID card from his world, with the exception that, besides some basic information, the rest displayed his Adventurer Rank, his Awakened Rank, and a few other small things like balance and so on.
Most of the information was hidden and could only be viewed either by the association or by him when he infused mana into the card. This was done to prevent someone from stealing it and using it for their own purposes.
With that done, he finally set the matter aside and could sell his mana cores.
He had decided to get rid of the mana cores from Unawakened beasts and the early and mid-stage F-Rank ones. He wanted to keep the others for himself for the time being.
The receptionist counted them and eventually nodded.
"Hmm, in total you have 10 F-Rank mana cores. As I mentioned, for F-Rank cores below Advanced Stage, they all carry the same value, the amount of mana inside isn't large enough to result in a meaningful profit margin. For all of them together, I can offer you 50 silver. Does that work for you?"
Evan nodded, then paused for a moment. He had 23 F-Rank cores with him, 13 of which were Advanced Stage, but setting those aside, the bulk of his cores consisted of Unawakened beast cores, amounting to around 83 in total.
He didn't want to pull everything out at once. He had wanted to check the selling prices first, and now that he had a clearer picture, he reached for another small leather pouch, turned it over, and at the same time opened his inventory, unloading all 83 mana cores onto the counter at once.
Soon, the table, which was wide enough to hold many things, was filled with small spherical objects. The sight caught the receptionist and even some nearby colleagues off guard.
'This guy... did you massacre every weak beast in the forest or something?' she thought, but she didn't let it show, keeping her composure as she processed the additional cores.
"With these 83 cores, your total comes to 133 silver," she said, visibly surprised.
It wasn't the first time she had handled a transaction of this size, but it didn't happen very often either.
Just from this single transaction, her commission would come to 15 silver, by no means a small amount, considering her monthly wage.
Evan didn't fail to notice that the receptionist now seemed to treat him with more respect than before, which confused him, but he decided to ignore it for the moment.
Now that he had finished his business here, it was time to leave.
He still hadn't sold the beast corpses, because he wanted to avoid causing unnecessary trouble.
Having a small spatial artifact was one thing, but one capable of containing so many corpses would draw unwanted attention from everyone.
'Alright, with this settled, I guess it's time to grind some ESS.'
While he made his way toward the forest to start his hunting routine again, Luna, who had been struggling to walk through the city's narrow alleys, finally arrived in front of a small building with a wooden sign that read:
Beatrix's Clinic
With one last effort she pushed the door open, and the moment she did, a concentrated mix of different scents flooded her nostrils, the aromas of medicinal herbs and other things. None of it was unfamiliar to her, and she ignored it as her eyes swept the small room, her gaze eventually settling on a woman in her thirties with long black hair tied back, who was thoroughly asleep at the counter.
Seeing her, Luna wanted to sigh, but even that felt like more energy than she had. So with one last labored step she moved closer and rang the small bell sitting on the table next to the sleeping Beatrix.
"Rise and shine, Beatrix, the land of the living needs you."
The woman, startled by the sound right next to her ear, shot upright, still half-confused, staring at Luna as if she were her worst enemy.
She kept that expression for a few seconds before finally recognizing her.
"Luna, is it really so hard to just let me sleep in peace?" She looked ready to keep complaining, but immediately noticed the woman's deteriorated state and set her irritation aside, moving over to help her and guide her to the bed in the next room.
By that point Luna was already too exhausted, and she lost consciousness.
Only after who knew how long did she finally wake up again. She looked around the room before noticing the older woman sitting on a nearby chair, examining a few documents.
Noticing she was awake, Beatrix set them aside and approached her.
"About time. You took a whileto wake up," she said as she checked her pulse and examined all the bandaged areas.
Luna watched her in silence, her mind now clearer, no longer clouded by pain.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Beatrix." She paused, as if something had crossed her mind, then asked: "How long was I out?" A trace of anxiety crept onto her face.
Beatrix, as if reading her thoughts, shook her head.
"Only a few hours. And don't worry, I already told Emily you were fine and that you'd be back soon."
Hearing those words, a weight lifted from Luna's chest. She relaxed both body and mind, allowing herself a rare moment to clear her thoughts.
It wasn't often she had that luxury. When she wasn't home worrying about her sister, she was out hunting, trying not to get herself killed on missions so she could earn enough to keep them going a little longer. The prolonged stress and constant work had been draining her for a while now, so even in her battered state, this small pocket of peace felt like paradise.
But like all good things, it had to end.
"You know I hate ruining your mood, but I'm afraid you've gotten yourself into a bit of a mess this time," Beatrix said, her expression troubled.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about the team you went on that mission with. I heard that after four of them made it back, that guy Nicolas was furious about the mission failing. And while nothing's been confirmed, it seems the three who were with him… disappeared."
"They're just rumors," she added, "but that guy's got a few screws loose. Even over the smallest things, he'd take it out on others. If he really dealt with those three and finds out you survived… I'm afraid you'll be next."
Hearing that, Luna looked confused and couldn't help but ask,
"Why would he do something like that? Isn't he afraid of the authorities catching him? From the way you're talking, it doesn't even sound like he's trying to hide it. There's no way they'd just let him walk around freely, right?"
Even if Lirath was a barony on the edges of the kingdom, it was still a border fortress, which meant surveillance inside it was no small matter. Even minor disturbances could land you in jail, or worse. Doing something like this so openly was practically an invitation to get picked up by the city guards.
No matter how crazy Nicolas was, it couldn't be that he was that reckless… right?
Hearing those words, Beatrix looked at her with a hint of pity in her eyes.
"Haa, you're still too naive, my dear Luna. The authorities won't do anything to him. And do you know why?"
Luna said nothing and waited for her to continue.
"Because his father is the authority."