"I am working hard, okay…" Ron muttered absentmindedly as he opened up his stats.
Wealth Points: 161
He'd already passed the 100-point mark.
Actually, he'd reached 121 just yesterday—plenty enough to redeem a few things.
For example, he could unlock 1 square meter of growing space and then get another Nether Orchid seed, which would double his production rate.
Or, he could redeem the spell 'Seed Accelerating Spell'. After all, he'd been a Tier 1 mage for two or three days now and still hadn't cast a single spell. He was itching to try something.
But with his current wealth points, he could only afford one option.
If he chose the first, well, his current growing rate for Nether Orchids was already decent. He was nearing 100 in stock, so increasing production wasn't urgently needed right now.
If he picked the second, sure, using magic sounded cool. But something like Seed Accelerating Spell? Just by the name, it felt kind of… meh. Not exactly flashy or impressive. Definitely didn't scream powerful magic.
Plus, the farm space already had a Time Acceleration function, so why would he even need a spell to speed up seeds?
And more importantly, he had a title badge that doubled the effect of the first wood-element spell he learned permanently. Wouldn't using it on something as basic as Seed Accelerating Spell be a total waste?
So in the end, Ron decided not to spend any of his wealth points just yet. He'd hold onto them until he really needed them.
After all, the main quest was still a ways from completion. It's not like he'd instantly sell 100 Nether Orchids overnight.
And the next unlockable plant—Crimson-Gold Chrysanthemum—along with its growing method, wouldn't become available until the main quest was finished anyway.
So there was no rush to expand the farm space just yet.
All in all, Ron was living the good life.
Every day: meditate, grow orchids, run the shop, eat grilled meat, read a book, play cards with Lyle...
Life was very comfy.
Once he finished the main quest and sold 100 orchids, he'd be rolling in 2000 Wealth Points—then he could splurge to his heart's content!
No need to rush anything now.
With that in mind, Ron returned to his study and continued reading into the evening.
The Next Morning.
As usual, Ron completed his morning workout and planted another dozen or so Nether Orchids.
At noon, he casually handled lunch himself.
He tossed the leftovers into the alley bin, and the sight reminded him of that little stray kid he'd seen a few times, nibbling on his leftovers. He paused, thoughtful.
That afternoon, the flower shop opened as usual.
Aside from a few curious townsfolk who came in, scoffed at the prices, and left muttering angrily, Ron also welcomed more mage customers.
Most of them arrived in groups—pairs or trios. As soon as they walked in, they declared they wanted to buy Nether Orchids and paid up without hesitation. It was like 20 gold coins meant nothing to them.
Ron's quest progress sped up significantly—he soon reached:
Progress: 22 / 100
Wealth Points: 441
But he was still puzzled.
Where were all these people coming from?
"Is this the place?"
"Ruby District, Aikley Avenue, should be right."
"There's only one flower shop nearby—must be it."
Just as Ron was wondering about it, three young men wearing mage robes walked through the door.
"This is definitely it," the first young man said, glancing around the store. "Only one kind of flower, it's purple, and the elemental energy here is dense—it's gotta be the one."
"You bring enough money? These are 20 gold each," said another.
"Hehe, I'm getting two. One for my villa in the east district, one for the west—saves me from dragging one around all the time," said the third.
Rich kids, Ron guessed.
He scanned them briefly and found that their mana signatures were weak. Most likely not even Tier 1 mages yet—just apprentices who had recently started meditating.
"Welcome! Can I help you with anything?" Ron greeted them with a professional smile. Business was business—gotta keep that customer service up.
"Ha! What else could we want here? You only sell one thing!" one of them joked. "We're from the Magic Academy. Heard you sell flowers that boost elemental density and help with meditation, so we came to check it out."
Ron nodded in understanding.
Looks like the news about Mason's breakthrough to Tier 4 is starting to spread...
He led them to the display shelf and pointed to the row of purple flowers.
"These are the Nether Orchids. 20 gold coins each."
"I'll take one."
"Me too."
"I'll take two."
The three barely hesitated, inspecting the flowers for only a few seconds before deciding.
Judging by their clothes and mannerisms, they were definitely from wealthy families—20, 40, even 80 gold was chump change to them.
Ron accepted the 80 gold coins, watched them leave, and glanced at his Wealth Points again:
Wealth: 521
Heh… kind of a romantic number.
But the next second, Ron opened the System Shop and redeemed Seed Accelerating Spell.
New Wealth: 421
As for the farm expansion—that could wait until after finishing the main quest.
Last night, after mulling it over, Ron decided satisfying his curiosity came first.
Even though his previous life was filled with games and flashy online fantasy settings, real-life superpowers never existed.
So even now, fully adjusted to life in this new world, the concept of magic still stirred a deep excitement in him.
And yet, even after becoming a Tier 1 mage… he hadn't used any spells.
That just felt embarrassing.
So the moment he redeemed the Seed Accelerating Spell, he opened his inventory and clicked the spell icon to learn it.
And immediately, he was stunned.
[Seed Accelerating Spell: A composite spell combining prerequisite Tier 1 spells Dewdrop and Soil Tilling. Enables fast seed sprouting.]
(Cannot be cast until prerequisite spells are learned.)
"Wait… what the heck does that mean?" Ron's brain screeched to a halt. "I need to learn other spells first before I can use this?!"
"System? Care to explain?!"
[Shop]
[Dewdrop Spell — 500 Wealth]
[Soil Tilling Spell — 500 Wealth]
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
Ron cursed out loud. "You money-grubbing scam system—you trying to bankrupt me?!"
At this point, he was seriously starting to wonder if the system designer had been some shady pay-to-win MMO dev in his past life.
Seriously, how many traps can you put into one upgrade path?!
And to top it off, the prerequisites are more expensive than the actual spell?!