Alfir waited patiently in his room.
It was a modest place, with a single bed, a study table, and a candle lamp. There was little light, but just enough so that he could read. In front of him were his files.
[Minion #12193
Name: Unknown.
Note: Had claimed to have suffered from Amnesia.]
“That was convenient… If there were any discrepancies from how I usually acted, then the excuse of having short-term memory loss would not be as filmy an excuse as I had thought… though it would be too convenient. For now, none had raised doubts about my identity.”
Alfir proceeded on reading his files, and there was nothing noteworthy to it… guard duty, monster subjugation, treasure hunting, courier jobs, and all sorts of mundane jobs.
The most noteworthy among his history was his participation in the fight against Flamecore, but he was fairly certain, he was just cannon fodder at that time, and it was not really anything great.
“Hmmm… What is this?” Alfir read something quite interesting. “Such a crazy guy… Volunteer for experimentation, huh?”
It was too much that Alfir could not help laughing. It seemed that 12193 was more suicidal than he thought. Alfir finished reading the files and went to sleep. He has a lot to do from tomorrow.
He killed the candlelight and slept peacefully.
When he woke up, the sunlight streamed on his skin through the glass pane, warming him up. Alfir stood up and headed to the Skill Pavilion.
For now, Alfir wanted to have the bare minimum to defend himself… and something more in the future. He wanted to spare his credits and prevent overspending since he had other uses for his credits a great deal.
There was a reason why Alfir was so carefree despite picking an S-rank mission. It was because the mission itself was not life-threatening.
Alfir knew the ‘Swarming the Immortal King’ mission from a flashback of the story where the Immortal King fought one-on-one with his disciple. It was one of those few times that Zentury over-rewarded people because they felt like it.
It was complicated, but there was a lot of politicking involved.
When Alfir arrived at the Skill Pavilion, he was met with an old man wearing a modest and almost baggy robe. The old man sat in a lotus position by the stairs of the pavilion. It was morning, and there were too few people in the vicinity.
The Skill Pavilion was owned by one man— the Skill Master, Mars of War.
He was an enigmatic old man said to possess a peculiar disposition about combat. He was a telepath with an obsession with martial arts.
“My mind is broken, sir, can you fix it?” Alfir asked straight to the point. He might as well be straightforward about it. He preferred his memories not being read, or else his secret of coming from another world to be discovered.
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But it was more dangerous if Alfir left his mind the way it was… His survival instinct perhaps, or maybe it was just his guts, but his ‘mind’ had to be addressed now.
Even if Alfr’s mind was read, he was confident he could leverage his memories of another world and the future as a manifestation of an ability. It was a dangerous gambit, but Alfir had to make sure that he was not a danger to himself and to others.
“Get inside,” Mars stood up as he beckoned Alfir inside the pavilion.
The old man’s long white hair swayed as he entered the pavilion. His back was straight, and his physique was built with strength. “I would do it for free since you looked like an interesting young man.” Mars turned around and faced Alfir. “Your name?”
“I am Minion #12193,” Alfir replied.
“Try again,” Mars demanded as he declared. “I know you know my name so I would not need to tell you. So, your name.”
“Alfir… I think…” Alfir replied.
“You think? Interesting, very interesting…” Mars twirled his beard in contemplation of what to say next. The inside of the pavilion was like a dojo as the floor was made of wood, and all sorts of oriental painting was spread on the walls.
Alfir was strangely calm at the development. “So, can you fix my mind?”
“It was not broken, to begin with, but it was infected with something…” Mars replied unexpectedly dismal. “I can read your mind, but only vaguely, there is something strange in you…”
“Foreboding,” Alfir thought hard of his next words. There was another reason why Alfir had chosen to come here to the Skill Pavilion. “Please, make me your inheritor…”
Every protagonist needed a cheat, and Alfir would not shy on asking it right in the face of someone like the enigmatic Mars.
Alfir daringly declares. “The services of the Skill Pavilion range from teaching all kinds of skills from swordsmanship, different kinds of techniques, and more… knowledge that you, the Skill Master possess… I want all of them.”
“Hah~! Hahahaha!” Mars raucously laughed. “Do you know what it meant to become my disciple?”
“Yes, I know. You would teach me the crystallization of your skills, the Martial Art: War, and help me awaken my mutation…” Alfir may be too forthright in his words, but Mars preferred this kind of people… and Alfir knew this, so he just took full advantage of it.
“This is great! You are a funny one, kid.” Mars grinned madly. “You do know ‘Mutation’ was a taboo word, and here in Zentury, we call them ‘Curses’ don’t you? Be careful of what you say, kid.”
Cold killing intent encased Alfir, but he shrugged them off, faking composure. “You will not kill me, because you just cannot. You are bound by a promise not to kill anymore… unless you wish to break that promise…”
“Kid, you know things that someone of your station should not know...” Mars subdued his killing intent, an application of his own mutation. “I feel bad since I cannot fix your mind, and it seemed you do not want to ask what I meant that your mind was ‘infected’ with something… How about this? I will give you a 20% discount on the skills I was selling…”
Alfir calmed down in truth this time, he did feel tempted to ask more about the state of his ‘mind’, but he could not bring himself to. “20% huh? At least I learned something from this trip… plus the discount…”
In front of Alfir was a neural projection of skills he could buy from the Skill Master. Alfir did not have any mind to buy any swordsmanship art in the meantime as they were too expensive, and his funds might not be enough for what he wanted to buy in the future.
So he only bought what he deemed necessary.
Instant Learning of Parkour. -80,000 ZC (Discounted)
Memorized Map of the 6 continents. -490,000 ZC (Discounted)
Basic Camping Knowledge -8,000 ZC (Discounted)
Basic Scouting Knowledge -16,000 ZC (Discounted)
Compared to learning skills from actual books or direct instruction, the skills that Mars could impart were instantly learned. This was another reason why the Skill Pavilion could be so empty. The ‘prices’ of instantly learned skills were especially pricey more so for combat arts. The cheapest swordsmanship Mars was selling was worth 7,000,000 ZC!
With the old man’s palm on Alfir’s forehead, a telepathic conduit was made so that Mars could inject the knowledge into Alfir within minutes.
“Fuuu~!” Mars exhaled turbid air from his lungs. “That wasn’t so hard, but you could do with proper swordsmanship, kid!”
“Next time when I return, not now…” Alfir turned around and went on his own way.
Mars of War was Alfir’s best shot at getting stronger so he could only settle now with the second-best option.
However, that would still need to wait as Alfir needed to prepare for his S-rank mission, he needed to prepare for something more specific… something that would inflate his credits more.