Chapter 62
When we find Karl he points out one very important bit of information. Mana stones are an expendable resource. Non mages can use them to power magical circles and devices, though both still need an actual Mage to activate initially.
So things like the food creation and house cleaning spells can be run on mana stones all over the city, though the price might have to be checked, as we’re not sure how long the lower grade stones can power various spells for.
It does somewhat solve our issue with non magical residents needing mana to access magical services though. Even if the exchange rate isn’t great.
Word from the other dungeon teams, including Jake and Mary that had such an annoying time dealing with the teams that came after them, is that the easier two dungeons have a much worse rate at producing the stones. The monsters in the first dungeon mostly only drop one from the boss level commanders, so only a dozen or so a day. The rest of the monsters have nothing, or a simple, soft mana gland, which is largely worthless.
The dungeon full of magical beasts fared a little better, with one in 10 having a properly formed mana stone. In total they collected over 40 in a full clear yesterday. That’s a pretty decent income, but with the demand, I can’t see one team being allowed a full clear. There’s 6 zones to that place, and they’ll likely all be given to different teams moving forward. The meat from the herbivores in the grassy zones will be a big seller though, every shop in town wants it, and the food spells can’t duplicate it.
The dungeon we cleared, while unfit for non cultivators, and in fact, likely not truly fit even low rank ones, was a massive cash influx. We collected hundreds of low grade stones.
Almost 200 grade 2 stones and very few beasts inside didn’t have one. But the hundreds of small spiders for the grade 1 stones were a nightmare. If we didn’t have a fire mage that could top off her mana repeatedly we wouldn’t have made it out.
At least not all of us. Not even with enchanted ammunition.
The agreement is made that we will go in again tonight, despite having cleared the entryway, and clear as much of the area as we can. Our team will forfeit the stones and any meat we collect, to build up the base reserves, in exchange for preferential treatment at a later date.
Really, we’re already getting the VIP treatment. Half a floor to ourselves, free magical ammunition and specialty goodies. Magical maids to bring us whatever we want free of charge. It’s not a bad life.
Night is coming, we’ve had our dinner and an afternoon nap to prepare for the excursion and now it’s time to head back to the spider nightmare.