“Why are they frozen?” Elayne asked, poking one with the toe of her boot. “And… dry…”
“Spatial Storages are… tricky.” Grimoire said, looking more annoyed than disgusted. The body was mostly a skeleton with several goopy bits only it’s pouch untouched. “Deacon, did you miss the pouches on purpose, or is that a happy accident?”
“Accident. I don’t have control without my guitar. Or a flute.” He said, grumbling. “There’s a few I could try, but I don’t see a point in practicing it when this should be fixed after a few more treatments.” He said holding his arm with the missing hand forward. He stared down at it, “This has been an incredibly frustrating month without being able to play.”
I started to divest my storage of the bodies in various states of decay and the pieces I could find from Elayne’s kills. A couple had packs or satchels in good enough condition to hold some small items from the others I’d picked up. There was even a nice bow made of white material I couldn’t prove was bone, but the Scan I’d done of it calling it the ‘Grave Bow’ didn’t prove me wrong. The ones me and Zaion had killed were last, and while they were better than the rotten or torn apart bodies, the guy with the club had eyes that were frozen mid expansion.
“Is it weird that I don’t feel… disturbed by any of this?” I said, starting to dig through the pockets of the last two while Elayne and Grimoire worked on the packs.
“You’re just weird, kid.” Deacon said, looking over the few weapons I’d grabbed. “They were at least well equipped. The fire mage’s book is still functional despite fraying at the edges. Considering I tore my throat with the chant I’m a little annoyed.”
“I found something.” I said, holding up a sheet of paper that had the words BURN AFTER READING on it. “Don’t we have enchantments? Why doesn’t it burn on it’s own after being read?”
Grimoire shook his head, “Shameful. What does it say?”
I read the note:
“W,
There’s a group that should be coming through from FR Blanchard’s farm. Intercept them and kill them all except the Rosecrest girl. I’ll deliver you with a collar to her father if she dies, before praying he doesn’t torch us all. Stash her at the bookshop.
X”
“They were sent for us.” I said. “Apparently, I was supposed to be kidnapped so my father doesn’t kill them all.” I looked at Grimoire, “Is he really that scary?”
Elayne went white and gulped, “When he wants to be. Someone accused your mother of whoring out to nobility for better gear. He challenged to a duel. Your father then castrated him in front of a crowd of people before destroying every piece of his gear.”
I blinked in surprise, “That’s… kind of psychotic.”
Grimoire sighed, “What Elayne failed to mention was the man had been harassing her for months and been showing up to ‘help’ with every job she was a part of. They almost got killed because of him one time, which was when your father acted.”
Elayne grimaced with disgust, “I’ve never heard that part. It was before I was hired to be your bodyguard.”
“I can understand doing that.” I said, respecting his actions more. “Still psychotic.”
“Fair point.” Grimoire responded as he took the letter from my hands and offering it to Porter. “Porter, will you be able to figure something out with that?”
He accepts the letter and reads it before responding, “Probably. Cal probably can, at least. There aren’t too many bookshops in the city, and they’d all be registered in the public records.”
I shrugged, “I can pay them a visit. We also need to get to the adventurer’s guild too.”
“Right. In the morning.” Elayne said, pulling items out of one of the packs. “Mostly standard adventuring gear. Tents, food, and waterskins.”
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I grabbed the bow and stood up, “Well, I’ll keep the bow. Couldn’t hurt to learn another weapon.” I said with a shrug. “What are we going to do with the guild cards we’ve found?”
“Turn them in, tell the guild what happened. Our word versus theirs, but we probably out rank them.” Deacon replied. “Plus, we can provide the note as evidence if you don’t mind letting us use it after you copy it down.”
Porter nodded, “Shouldn’t be a problem. We don’t need the original.”
I turned around to leave them to sorting the loot. The bow went into my spatial closet as soon as I turned the corner. I headed towards my room, rubbing at the bridge of my nose to try and rub the sleepiness away. Why am I so tired? I thought Endurance was supposed to stop that.
As I debated the usefulness of the stats, I shed my armor inside my room and crawled into bed. I didn’t even remember getting to the pillow.
I took a long shower scrubbing bits of chitin and blood out of my hair. I apologized to the first maid I saw, after getting dressed, about the mess in the shower. I did try and gather it all into a corner of the shower, I just didn’t know where to put it or I’d have taken care of it myself. Though I could have put it into my Spatial Closet…
I shuddered as I considered it. Bad enough the decayed bodies had gone in there.
It turned out, they needed to go back in, and I grumbled as I shoved them in. The bodies Deacon’s magic had gotten worse and was a lost cause. Grimoire said he would take care of it, and I headed downstairs to try and eat breakfast. After I wash my hands.
The plan, as I knew it, was to visit the adventurer’s guild and then maybe visit the guards to make a report, according to Calmar. His plan was to visit the public records office and gather information in his own way. Paige stayed at the manor until we could figure out a way to guarantee her safety.
And with Deacon, Elayne, and a Zaion, we headed to the guild.
The building was smaller than I expected. It was still big, just more like a large business than a major hub of powerful people. Inside there were boards posted haphazardly with fliers and a long counter with a long line and four open stall with people manning them. As we got in line, I looked around the rest of the interior.
There were several doors that had shiny plaques. There were a set of stairs with a sign that had a sign pointing up that read ‘Guild Shop’. I was pretty eager to look into it. When I asked Deacon and Elayne about it, they said those not in the guild need to pay a higher price. I wasn’t discouraged though. An adventurer’s guild probably has some interesting stuff.
None of us were feeling particularly talkative, so I spent the time in line listening. There was a lot of talk about the insect swarm and the extermination quest issued by the Duke. Apparently, everyone who heard about it got a system message about the quest, offering 100 EXP per killed Prius Cicada. I actually checked my quest log and saw it as well.
Summer Screaming Storm
Mission Type: Extermination
The Prius Cicada have entered their active season several years early and must be dealt with.
Objective: Kill Prius Cicada
Reward: 100 EXP per Prius Cicada killed. Bonus Rewards every 100 kills.
Current Kill Count: 335
Claim Current Rewards?
I blinked and looked at my EXP. I had over 1,700 EXP. Some quick math and I realized I’d be over the cap. I bought level 6 and saw the required EXP go up to 1,300. That’ll put me over the cap, but not by a lot.
It should be fine. I considered after a while.
I accepted the experience and immediately bought the next level. I still had enough to by level 8 too, so I did that, getting up to a level Outdoorsman. The changes to my stats were uncomfortable, but I managed to do it. What I was more interested in were the bonus awards that were deposited into my Spatial Closet.
Acquired [Title Token] for reaching 100 kills. Token is for the title
Title: Insecticide
You are the destroyer of insects. Introductory title for reaching 100 kills in the Summer Screaming Swarm.
- Increased damage to Insect Creatures.
- 5% Poison Resistance
- 10% Disease Resistance
- +1 Agility per 5 levels since title earned
Acquired [Weapon Box] for reaching 200 kills.
Acquired [Accessory Box] for reaching 300 kills.
I reached into my Spatial Closet and pulled out the Title Token. I wondered how to use it and it popped up with a menu.
Acquire [Title] Insecticide?
I selected
Even as I thought that, the man in one of the booths shouted, “Next!” and I saw we were the next ones up.
If you had this kind of system, would you try as many things as possible to get the free stats points, or work on a few skills to perfection, since the higher skill levels give more stats points? Or something between?