Chapter 182: Balthazar’s Lair of Evil
After weeks of traveling and training, the Champion-class adventurer had finally reached the quaint little town of Ardville. Hardly comparable to the busy metropolises he was used to in his previous life, the town had little to offer to the now much higher level human.
The local smith only sold iron and low-quality steel weapons, which the adventurer was able to easily outclass with his own smithing skills. The eyes of the old blacksmith almost popped out of his skull after seeing Ren turn a lump of rusty metal full of impurities into a flawless dagger with nothing but a couple of strikes from a dull hammer. A blade so perfect it could cut through stone like butter and turn butter into delicious ice cream on contact.
After trading the blade to the man for the entirety of his life savings, the adventurer tried the local apothecary, but all the concoctions the lady who owned it had to offer were ridiculously basic. Disappointed, Ren had no option but to brew his own potion refills using some of her very limited stock of ingredients along with his own supply.
The woman nearly fainted when she saw him crush a handful of roots together with toenail clippings from a swamp serpent. The produced result was a golden liquid with the combined properties of a health, stamina, and mana potion, along with the bonus effect of curing twenty different common ailments. And it also provided minty fresh breath for up to twelve hours.
After restocking his own supply, the adventurer sold the leftover bottles to the woman until she ran out of money on hand. At which point she simply started trading away her entire stock of ingredients, her books, and even the very tools of her trade for as many bottles as the young man had.
Leaving behind the practically empty apothecary, Ren still paid the local leatherworker a visit to try to sell a few more of the rabbit pelts he had been carrying since his first few levels. Unfortunately, the poor man was left completely penniless after the champion sold just three pelts to him. With hundreds of the animal skins still left, the champion would just have to keep finding others to offload them to. A less wise adventurer would have considered simply dumping them somewhere, but not Ren. He knew that would be a waste. Every potential gain needed to be maxed out. Efficiency was essential for success.
As the champion continued exploring Ardville, it didn’t take long until he heard the name Balthazar pop up around town. Gossip about how rich he was. Rumors about how powerful he must be to take down a dragon on his own. Tales about the epic deeds that happened down in his domain.
His home. A bazaar at the edge of town, under the nearby Semla Mountain.
Ren knew he was close. He had finally found the lair of the villain who brought him into this strange world and stripped him of his memories. Who took away who he was. And for what vile reason? The young man did not know, but he intended to find out soon, once he confronted the merchant.