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Tafel placed her hands on her hips and scanned the area. The third floor wasn’t too different from the second floor. If the floors were simply sections of the tower stacked on top of each other, it made sense for them to have a similar appearance considering they were all part of the same tree.
“I wonder if we’re missing something like a guidebook,” Lindyss said as she peered at the buildings in the distance from the grassy spider she was sitting on. Instead of weapons being projected over their roofs like on the second floor, there were holographic tools displayed. “A book with detailed descriptions of each floor and what they entailed would be nice.”
“Something like that would be extremely expensive,” Melody said and shook her head. “In the tower, information is power. Guilds and clans wouldn’t share things with outsiders, but I do think it’s a bit odd the Extreme Heat Clan hasn’t explained anything to you. Are you sure you’re valued inside the clan?”
“Maybe Yeol went to compile a guidebook for us,” Tafel said and shrugged. After the group had passed the exam, they returned to the residence and had a big lunch involving grilled octopus. Then, Yeol said she had to some things to do and left.
“Well, even if she got distracted by other things, we don’t really need her to guide us around,” Lindyss said and pointed at a hooded figure in the distance. “Isn’t that our favorite information dealer right there?”
“Favorite information dealer?” Tafel asked and followed Lindyss’ finger. “That’s Kim Hajun? How can you tell?”
“If you’re fooled by a simple change in outfit and mask that doesn’t even cover his whole face, you need to work on your observational skills,” Lindyss said. The cursed elf glanced down at Tafel. “Seriously, what kind of things did Swirling Wind even teach you? They were supposed to be a top-notch adventurer group, no?”
Tafel pursed her lips. “As adventurers, we hunted monsters mostly,” the demon said. “We never took missions to track people or observe them. How are you so good at it?”
Lindyss shrugged. “I’ve lived for a long time,” she said. “As long as you’re constantly putting in effort, your skills will gradually develop. Pay attention to how people move, and you’ll notice differences in each person. Even if he cloaked himself, I can tell he’s Kim Hajun because of the way he carries himself. His posture’s always ramrod straight as if he’s afraid to show any weakness.”
“Like a frilled lizard?” Erin asked.
“Yes,” Lindyss said. “He’s like a lizard who always has his frills out.”
“Kim Hajun!” Tafel shouted and waved at the figure in the distance. The hooded figure flinched and turned towards the group before hurrying over.
“Can you please not shout my name when I’m obviously trying to hide myself?” Kim Hajun asked when he arrived in front of the group. He scowled. “How did you even know it was me?”
“Well, you’re like a frilled lizard, so it was obvious,” Tafel said.
Question marks appeared over Kim Hajun’s head. What was that even supposed to mean? Of all the descriptions he’d heard of himself whether in this life or his prophetic dream, he had never been equated to a lizard before. Rather than commenting on the inane statement, he’d rather get straight to the point. “Is there something you needed?”
“Some information,” Tafel said. “What’s the deal with the third floor?”
Kim Hajun repressed his sigh. “The third floor is the production floor; it’s also known as the workshop.” He gestured towards the buildings. “The anvil represents blacksmiths. The saw represents carpenters. The gear represents engineers. The glass bottle represents glassblowers. The herb represents apothecaries. So on and so forth.”
“Everyone on the fourth floor and above is knowledgeable in at least one of these subjects?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow.
“No,” Kim Hajun said and shook his head. “Unlike the second floor, you don’t have to prove your skills to move on to the fourth floor. As long as you spend fifty thousand geums on this floor, you can advance. The geums can be spent in any manner: paying someone to teach you a trade, spending geums on potions or repairs, purchasing armors or weapons. The first few floors of the tower are meant to teach newcomers how to survive, and this is the tower’s way of showing the importance of consumables and equipment.”
“Is there anything special about this floor?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “Hidden pieces for example.”
Kim Hajun let out a dry laugh. “In a floor like this, what could possibly be hidden?”
“Then you won’t mind us following you around, doing what you do,” Lindyss said, staring at Kim Hajun with a small smile on her face.
Underneath his mask, Kim Hajun’s eye twitched. He let out a sigh. For some reason, it seemed like this elf could see through his thoughts. “If there’s anything special about this floor, it’d be the people. Sometimes, highly skilled craftsmen retire from their guilds or clans and hang around on this floor. There’s a blacksmith here that I was acquainted with in my prophetic dream, and his skills are the real deal. I was planning on having him forge me a few pieces of gear.”
“Oh,” Lindyss said, her expression returning back to normal. “I see.”
“So, if we want to pass this floor, we’ll need a lot of money, huh?” Tafel asked and furrowed her brow. “What’s the quickest way to earn some geums?”
“If you sell some of the Fruits of Knowledge you have…,” Kim Hajun said, letting his voice trail off.
“Out of the question,” Tafel said and shook her head. She didn’t have to master earth magic to know Vur was turning in his sleep inside the grassy spider at the mention of selling his snacks. “What’s the next best way? You want to climb the tower quickly too, right? How are you going to get the money?”
“Through the tower conflict missions,” Kim Hajun said. “I don’t know why, but the tower is in a conflict with another tower at the moment. The rewards for accepting those missions are quite generous. Completing just one of them is enough to pass this floor. After getting my gear forged, I was going to accept a few missions.” He pointed behind the group at the tunnel leading to the wooden tablet they had come from. “You can accept the war missions at any tablet.”