"P-pardon?"
"It's self-explanatory."
"Please,"
"The gist of it is that you'll be freed depending on your merit. I'll release you in ten years, if you perform beneath expectations that's 1 tick, if you meet them that's 2 ticks and if you surpass them that's 3. If you average two ticks, you'll be freed twice as fast, three ticks and it's thrice as fast. That's what this ledger is for."
Runa sat there dumbfounded. She stared into my eyes.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would you do this?"
She couldn't quite understand. Not only had he guaranteed that she'd get freedom within the decade but she could also speed it up based on her performance. If anything, this was similar to a mercenary's contract than one for a slave. That's why it was so difficult to grasp. Why let go of your property?
I leaned back on my chair. Something had been feeling off since I got her. I didn't know if it was her or just the general situation but it didn't sit right and yet I still needed a partner to dive with. This was the best I could think of. Though I knew letting her go would hurt. I was conflicted. I grunted. That thought would have to be just a back burner for now.
Besides, even if she gets funny ideas, I had the insignia on my hand. Collateral one would argue.
"You've been a bit lazy recently," I smirked as I threw a glance at her.
She stiffened up as if shot by an arrow and lowered her gaze. She clenched her fist. She looked up again.
"I understand, I'll do my best!"
(Not exactly what I was going for but good enough.)
I put on my cloak and headed for the door.
"Where are you headed?"
I turned and stared at her for a moment.
(I could test if it's true)
"Come along, it'd be good if you're there,"
She didn't quite understand but followed me out regardless after putting on her leather armor and pants. On the way to the town barracks, we saw fortifications being built around the dungeon. The people looked especially on edge. Some looked at me and said weird things like 'we're depending on you'.
(The hell are they on?)
We arrived at the barracks. Nothing special. A dirt field filled with sweaty men swinging swords and spears around. A couple hundred of them. Which was odd considering this was a barony in the boonies. There was a medium sized building off to the corner, probably where the commander was together with the dungeon.
I made my way into the building.
"Sir NOFACE! Are you here to see Commander Thibaut?"
"Is he in?"
The two guards nodded and ushered me in, guiding me to his office.
"Ah! NOFACE! Good to see you!" he said standing up to greet me.
"Pleasure's all mine," I said and looked around, "quite the tidy person I see."
He chuckled, "It actually pertains to that individual you brought in."
He moved to his desk and grabbed one of the reports. I read through it. It described the location of a major hideout for the witch's organization. Located in Roanne. A town in the Bullion Barony. There were a couple baronies between us and the location but nothing too significant.
I passed the report to Runa. She struggled to read the first few sentences but she immediately recognized on word. Witch.
"If we manage to raid it successfully," he paused.
"-we'd find the witch,"
Runa's ears perked up.
"Exactly. Seems most of her sacrifices pass through it. Smart not to be direct. We can't underestimate her," he said his voice low with trepidation.
He turned his gaze to Runa, "I didn't know beastkin could read,"
Runa twitched. She felt an instinctual drop in her stomach. In-built at this point.
"Oh? Are they not supposed to?"
"Well these savages-"
Runa's ears twitched.
I shot a glare at him. His eyebrows shot up. He raised his arms.
"Apologies. Most peasants can't read. It's a shock that she can even read a sentence,"
Considering the time period I was in it made sense that most people couldn't read. Even I didn't expect that. I was just testing the waters. She may be far more useful than I supposed.
(Guess that's three ticks.)
"What about the other reports," I gestured to his disorganized desk.
"Trying to gather funds for the raid and supplies to quell the dungeon break,"
"Dungeon break?"
"Oh that's right, you haven't heard. I'm sure you've noted the gloomy looks on the town folk. The guild has gathered some locals to help, you should go too. You'd be a good morale boost,"
I nodded my head. I decided to head for the guild for more information. If it was that serious I needed to understand what exactly I was up against.
Before we left I turned, "Make sure we're on the raid team."
Thibaut smiled, "Of course! That's one more wageless mercenary!"
"Ha-ha. Very funny," I said rolling my eyes at his ear to ear grin.
"You don't need to do that," Runa said as we made our way out.
"What?"
"When he called my people savages," she said barely looking up at me.
"You choose the weirdest times to be meek you know that?"
Her cheeks flushed, "Well excuse me then!"
Her face pout as she stomped her way to the guild.
"NOFACE! Thank GOD you're still here! We won't go bankrupt any time soon!" an old man, the guild leader, erupted in joy.
"The man's not a coward," a voice boomed.
It was Mathias. Some other adventurers were also present. 'Adventurers' was a very loose term. Some were peasants they picked off straight from the street. Probably locals. The strong looking bunch that sat at one table were mercenaries. The Limier Group they called themselves. Must've been expensive. Me and Runa sat down as the receptionist made her way out from her desk.
For the peasants she started by explaining that a dungeon break was basically when the monsters on the first two floors broke into our world and it proceeded in pairs until the final floor was reached. This occurred every three days.
Luckily, Bagnolet's dungeon only had three floors and the dungeon break would start in the next four days. The bad news was that the monsters were going to be twice as strong as usual and even gain new skills. Furthermore, it'd take a couple of days to reach the final floor.
Some gasped. That was to be expected.
"Twice as strong..."some murmured as if in a daze.
I recalled my last dungeon dive. My fist shook. Not in terror but excitement. I would most likely level up and maybe even gain a new skill! I could feel my mouth salivate. However, it seemed some misunderstood this.
"Tch! I thought this bastard was your local hero! Already scared stiff," the commander of the Limier group hissed.
His posse erupting into uproarious laughter. Runa glared at him. She placed her hand on my thigh.
"Fancy hearing that from you," Runa started, "we don't wanna hear you stroke your egos. We all get that you couldn't find a job in the cities. Keep it to yourselves."
"Hoho? It's the truth no?" he said subtly dropping his hands to the hilt of his sword.
Runa's hand hovered over her daggers.
"Could you shut your mouth!" Mathias roared, slamming his fist onto the table, "you wankers haven't even seen what's in there!"
"Tch! What? Scared of some plants? Senile old men should be rotting-"
"Is this dive the whole dive team?" I asked completely ignoring him.
The Limier group commander didn't like that.
The guild leader nervously adjusted his collar, "Yes, our budget is a bit tight as of late. We haven't been receiving new members recently and all the ones that dive end up..erm, you know...Even worse still, the main guild isn't even sending us any funds."
His countenance grew gloomy. So did the receptionist's. I nodded my head. Most dungeon guilds relied on exporting monster materials to Smithies and Alchemy workshops. However, most adventurers contracted here either didn't bring enough to sustain this guild's operation or just died.
The main guild wants them to shut down at this point. It must be a big blow to their reputation if one of their branches underperforms this bad. I looked up. The Lionheart Guard. I'd keep that in mind.
"Why not ask the local garrison for help?" another asked.
The guild leader sighed "The Baron has refused such an action."
"Huh?! This involves the entire barony! There's no excuse not to!" one man erupted
The guild leader sighed, "He cites that if the raid fails, somebody needs to clean up the mess. Besides, it'd pose a security risk to have the local garrison gone. I hear beastkin raids are on the rise."
Some people shot a glare at Runa. She gripped my thigh tighter. I shot a glare right back. They relented.
"We'll provide the necessary supplies to everyone, it won't be much but it should help," the guild leader stated.
One man in the Limier Group raised his hand, "I'll be the porter."
"Hmph! Coward!" Mathias hissed.
The man didn't reply only smirked.
"If that's all, please line up to update and review your cypher," the receptionist beckoned another lady beside her ready to get to work. Probably one with a seer class.
Most of them lined up but I stopped Mathias. I turned to the receptionist and guild leader.
"We'll be taking our leave,"
"You won't have an accurate view of your strength if you don't update your cypher," the seer stated.
"We'll be fine," I said as we headed out.
"Alright make sure to get back here in four days time,"
A cackle erupted behind us, "The pugil's ashamed of his stats!"
Even more cackling erupted behind us but that wasn't the priority. Runa's fist clenched. She was about to turn and say something when I grabbed her. She looked at me. I shook my head. She relented and followed me outside. We made our way to my inn.
"I don't know how you can even withstand those bastards," Mathias snickered.
"It's easier if you know they just want you to react to them,"
Runa and Mathias brows shot up. Mathias simply shrugged and followed me. We made it to our inn.
"What's the plan? I assume you didn't stop me for no good reason,"
At my command, Runa revealed her cypher. I activated hers and mine.
[
Runa Bertrada:
Class: Thief {Common}
Class Level 2: 127/500
Level 1: 798/7000
Strength: 127
Endurance: 73
Dexterity: 198
Mana: 20
Flux: 4
Skills: Stealth (Lvl.1), Dash (Lvl.1), Backstab (Lvl.1), Stab (Lvl.1), Quick Draw(Lvl.1)
Mp: 20/20
]
[
Greg Quagmire:
Class: Pugil {Common}
Class Level 3: 12/1000
Level 1: 6877/7000
Strength: 251
Endurance: 272
Dexterity: 277
Mana: 45
Flux: 18
Skills: Powershot (Lvl.1), Dash (Lvl.3), Masochist (Lvl.1), Bullet Jab (Lvl.2), Tireless Endurance (Lvl.1 -> Lvl.2), Steadfast Heart (Lvl.1 -> Lvl.2), Rapid Recovery (Lvl.1 -> Lvl.2), Hardened Fists (Lvl.1)
Mp: 45/45
]
It seemed my recovery stats went up a level when I leveled my class up. Now they provided a 40% benefit. I was sure the class level up had nothing to do with them. They weren't class related but just general skills. I was saddened that I didn't get anything this level up but it is what it is. I turned to Mathias.
"Show me your cypher,"
He was taken aback a bit but followed suit. His cypher was on his back. I tapped it. It vibrated, glowed an ominous red and the numbers materialized before him.
[
Mathias Bullion:
Class: Barbarian{Common}
Class Level 9: 8798/9000
Level 4: 11244/17500
Strength: 578 {- 1256 Current Level Age Degradation, - 4546 Total Level Age Degradation}
Endurance: 438 {- 902 Current Level Age Degradation, - 4546 Total Level Age Degradation}
Dexterity: 327 {- 502 Current Level Age Degradation, - 4546 Total Level Age Degradation}
Mana: 108 {-373 Age Degradation}
Flux: 46 {- 97 Age Degradation}
Skills: Berserk (Lvl.max), Bloodlust (Lvl.max), Axe smash (Lvl.max), Primal roar (Lvl.max), Charge (Lvl.max)
Mp: 45/45
]
[
Berserk (Lvl.Max): Fly into a rage doubling strength and dexterity for worsened mana flux and endurance. Lasting for as long as the individual is filled with rage. 65 Mp.
Bloodlust (Lvl.Max): Successful attacks increase strength and dexterity by 0.1 X and increase the duration of rage skills. {Passive}
Axe Smash (Lvl.Max): Smash your axe into the ground, damaging and lowering the dexterity of all surrounding foes. 45 Mp.
Primal Roar (Lvl.Max): Stand motionless and roar like an animal. Slowing enemies and reducing their strength. 30 Mp.
Charge (Lvl.Max): Double dexterity and body slam into an opponent stunning them. Any follow up attack will deal double damage and a guaranteed critical hit. 50 Mp.
]
Runa and I stared at his stats baffled. He averaged 1000 stats on each level in his prime! I was already on the cusp of level two and my stats weren't even half of what he was!
"What an impressive bastard," I said scanning him.
The scars criss-crossing and snaking all over his body seemed to pop now. I clenched my fists. I wasn't working hard enough. Runa was still staring at Mathias' stats.
"Yeah but I didn't manage to evolve any of my skills," he said his voice laced with disappointment.
"You can do that?"
"Yeah but you need to meet specific difficult conditions," he sighed, "one of them being you must be pushed to the limit and use the skill to save yourself. Maybe even come to an enlightenment. The other conditions only God knows."
"Besides, your tested once your vitalis maxes out, I failed a couple of times...." he said clenching his fist with a subtle click of the tongue.
I noted the tonal shift and nodded. I had more questions but I didn't want to arouse unwanted memories in him. I know I wouldn't want that.
"Well," he said raising his voice, "good that we didn't reveal ourselves. I take it you don't trust them."
"Yes, we'll need to prepare ourselves, buy your own supplies if you can,"
He nodded. He glanced at Runa. She glanced at him once and looked away as if she'd rather gouge her eyes out than look at him. Not uttering a single word to him. He sighed.
"Mean slave you've got there,"
"Don't mind her, just go prepare yourself,"
"Alright but getting antidote potions will be difficult, supplies already run out in this town," he said as he left.
I sat on the bed, contemplating. I hadn't considered Moffat's stock of potions already running dry. Most likely the guild had some but that wasn't a good thing. The porter would have control over that. Though I preferred me and Runa not being bogged down by luggage this was a turn of events I hadn't fully expected. No matter. I had the alchemy book and thankfully I could craft low grade herbal anti dotes. If I bought the necessary tools on top of buying supplies like food rations.
Abruptly, the image of Mathias' stats snapped into my vision. I got up.
"Runa,"
"Yes," she had already grabbed her daggers.
I nodded. She had already read me like a book. Perhaps she was jealous like I was. Or maybe I was being fueled by those bastards words. Having seen Mathias' stats, there may have been some truth to their words. The next four days were going to be one long grueling training session. I grinned.
(Wouldn't have it any other way!)