Chapter 501: I Will Pay You 10 Silver!

"What will you PAY him with?! WITH YOUR LIFE?!" the assistant professor cried out in annoyance upon seeing one of the top students from his academy ask Leo for help.

But since he wasn’t supposed to interfere until any of the students found themselves in mortal danger, he could only swallow his grievance and remain silent.

Even a small favour from a 4-star being could command a very high price. He himself would charge around 500 to 1000 gold coins for this life-saving grace, and there was no way this High 2-star bum could pay Leo for his help. They hadn’t even acquired any natural treasures to compensate in case they lacked the gold.

It would have been one thing if the student had been pleading for help, but the way he asked already suggested that he saw Leo as some ordinary mercenary who could simply be paid for his hard work.

On the other hand, Leo was slightly amused by the commanding tone.

"What are you standing there for?! I will pay you 10 silver coins!" the leader shouted again after seeing that Leo hadn’t moved a single inch.

"LEADERRRR!!!"

The man whose legs had gone numb had crawled up to the leader’s position and latched onto his legs.

"LEADER! Please give me that potion! I will be your slave for life!!" the man cried desperately, only to receive a kick to the face that sent him rolling a few feet away across the dirt.

"Fuck you! Do you think healing potions grow on trees?! I had to pay 20,000 DC for 1!"

DC, or Drakensoul Credits, was slightly less valuable than Aurelius Credits.

1 AC = 4 DC.

In other words, the healing potion that the man had consumed was worth 5000 AC, or 2 gold coins.

If translated into physical currency, 1 DC was equal to 1 bronze coin.

And this exchange rate was uniform across the other top 7 academies, excluding the top 3 academies. Beyond the top 7, the value of digital currency dropped even further from the 8th-ranked academy onward.

The lowest-ranked academies even had 1 unit of digital currency equal to 1 copper coin. In other words, it was digital only for the sake of the name and ease of transaction.

The man with numb legs was so desperate because, although the assistant professor would prevent him from dying, that didn’t mean his legs would be saved from amputation. A single regeneration procedure for them would cost 4 million DC, something the man could never hope to earn in his lifetime.

No wonder he was willing to become a slave.

By now, the new Kobolts had surrounded the group, and the Kobolt Shaman seemed to have begun preparing a volley of fireballs.

"Leader! They have a Shaman! Let’s retreat!" one of the men shouted after killing a Kobolt.

"NO! We can defeat them! Just follow my orders! Whatever losses we incur can be covered by their beast cores and scales!" He swiftly turned toward Leo once more.

"50 silver coins! Now come and help!"

Seeing Leo still unmoving, the leader gritted his teeth.

"1 gold coin! You might have never seen that much money in your life!" the man shouted. It seemed that 1 gold coins were his limit.

Shit! I just hope that the Shaman’s and the other Kobolts’ beast cores will be enough to cover the cost! the man thought.

The Shaman’s leader-like command suggested it was at least a Low 2-star, meaning its beast core would fetch around 4000 DC, plus another 1500 DC for its fire attribute. The other 45 or so Low to Peak 1-star Kobolts would average around 100 DC each, for a total of 4500 DC. The mana crystals would be worth roughly 5000 DC, and the bodies would bring in around 10,000 DC.

A total net worth of about 25,000 AC, or around 2 gold coins and 35 silver.

A profit!

He didn’t bother to use the strength gauging, crude self-intuition most people developed as they grew up—the same instinct Leo had learned to use to gauge others’ strength.

The reason was simple.

The wolf Leo was riding was merely 2.5 meters tall.

And since it was a wolf, a height of 2.5 meters suggested it was a Low 2-star beast, or at most a Mid 2-star if it possessed the lowest category of ordinary bloodline.

Not worth mentioning compared to his boar, which possessed the highest-category ordinary bloodline and stood 1.5 meters tall despite only being High 2-star. Far superior to Leo’s supposed mutt.

Since boars and wolves were different species, the standards used to judge them also differed. A 1.5-meter-tall boar at high 2-star was superior to a 2.5-meter-tall wolf, which was generally considered a Low 2-star or Mid 2-star beast at that height.

"Hmph! You should be grateful for your good fortune in finding me when I was facing a minor inconvenience. Remember my grace. Nobody will pay you 1 gold coin just for letting your wolf take a few bites out of some weak-ass Kobolts."

The leader spoke while watching Nyxa slowly approach.

Thinking that Nyxa was moving cautiously because it was slightly afraid of the Kobolts, the leader’s confidence soared, and he immediately began imposing more restrictions to squeeze out every bit of profit.

"Oh yes! Make sure you don’t let your wolf eat the beast cores or the mana crystals. And you absolutely cannot allow it to eat the soul crystals, or else I’ll make you spit them out with your blood. At that time, I don’t care if you need to sell your wife, but you’ll pay me back. Better yet, sell your wife to me. Heheh."

Hearing that, Leo stopped Nyxa from advancing any further.

In the background, the assistant professor facepalmed and looked toward the sky.

"God... this bum deserves to be taught a lesson."

But since Leo was already within range, the Kobolts took notice of him. The Shaman quickly turned around and instructed one of the underlings to call for more reinforcements as the other stepped back to reassess the situation since a new formidable-looking beast had joined.

It was then Leo realised that other than him and the leader, no one else was a beast master.

By now, the battle had reached a stalemate as both sides prepared themselves.

Someone from the group even gave a low-level healing potion to the injured man so he could rejoin the fight... or at least serve as a meat shield, because he still looked to be in considerable pain from the burns.

Well, the numbness was gone at least, and he could walk.

The leader, convinced that his intimidation tactic had worked, finally relaxed and took his position. Confidence practically radiated from him.

"Heheh, I will become a superstar when the tale of me hiring an Aurelius Academy student spreads!"

"Attack! Don’t let them call more reinforcements!" the leader shouted, and the fight began.