“Hmm?”
“If you don't wish to take them to the city, that's fine, but they still need to be buried or incinerated to prevent them from rising as zombies and attacking others. We can bury them for you, but in return, I ask you to allow me to take their weapons and armor as those can still be sold. Of course, you will be fairly compensated. How does 50 gold sound?”
The guards were shocked at the offer. Not at the burying of the bodies but at the gold he offered. Fifty for a few used weapons and armor? That amount could get someone 2 rare-ranked items. Could it be as thanks for saving their lives? Out of professionalism, none of the guards spoke up.
Sol, on the other hand, thought a bit negatively of the merchant for exploiting the dead. But not wanting to leave the bodies out to rot or even worse, rise back as undead, he decided to accept his offer. Little did Sol know that Hughbert gave these terms on purpose to ease the burden of his first kill.
“Great! Here is 50 gold.”
Sol accepted the money silently and watched as the guards stripped the bandits of their gear one by one and took them to one side of the road. It was done quickly and efficiently like they had done this many times before.
As he watched the guards move the bodies, a thought crept up from the back of his mind.
‘I should [Siphon] the bodies.’
He was stuck in a predicament. While he knew he needed to use [Siphon] to grow stronger, more specifically use it on humans who had more skills and variety, he couldn't bring himself to profit off their deaths. He went back and forth between siphoning and not until he realized something.
‘I have already done it once before and I need to do it more to become stronger. If I hold myself back, I will never achieve anything.’
With shaky resolve, Sol went and siphoned the skills off all the bodies. Since it had no visual effects when using [Siphon], it just looked like he was walking and seeing everybody one by one as if inspecting the people he killed. Seeing this, Hughbert shook his head and sighed, thinking Sol was feeling regretful for killing a bandit.
Eventually, they arrived at the body of Isaac and noticed he was still alive, breathing irregularly with burn marks covering half of his body.
“This one is still alive, Sir Hughbert. Should I finish him?”
Giving a glance at Sol, Hughbert looked back at the guard and nodded.
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Sol winced as the guard's sword stabbed into Isaac's chest quickly ending his life.
“Young man, this may be hard to watch, but we cannot show mercy to these people. If we let them go, they will go on to attack others.”
Sol nodded his head as he understood exactly what Hughbert was saying. After all, he just experienced it first hand what would happen if he let them go. Sol then looked at the guard’s lifeless body being placed in the carriage and hardened his resolve.
‘Never again. I will not let this happen ever again.’
Once all the bodies were buried, Hughbert started preparing to move. He then saw Sol looking at the dirt mounds and decided to help him out.
“Young man, would you like to join us heading back to the city?”
Snapping Sol back to reality, he responded to the merchant.
“Yes, thank you.”
Sitting inside the carriage on the way back to the city, the children kept pestering Sol.
“It was so cool! The way you ran so fast between them, ending in a single hit!” The boy then mimicked sword slashes with whooshing sounds.
Sol denied it, “It wasn't that impressive.”
“Yes, it was! And then when one was getting away, you made that big ball of fire! It flew so fast and took him out!”
Sol throughout the ride back was being constantly praised by the children who saw him fight, and at some point during the trip back, he started playing with them and laughing. Upon seeing this, Hughbert smiled and gave himself a pat on the back.
‘The boy’s dark thoughts seem to have been pushed away for now.’
On reaching the city, they decided to part ways. The children said their thanks again, and Hughbert had a quick chat with Sol.
“It's been nice meeting you Sol. Remember to come visit my shop; I'll be sure to give you a great discount.”
“Haha sure, thank you, Hughbert. I'll be sure to stop by if I need anything.”
The store Hughbert managed was an exotic herbs shop under the flag of the Stellar Trading Company. He profited off importing herbs that didn't grow in the kingdom from the neighboring territories. Because it involved crossing borders, it was way more lucrative than simply moving goods within the kingdom. The downside was it was much more dangerous. Many apothecaries and alchemists frequented his store as his merchandise was one of the most varied in the city.
Parting ways with the group, Sol was feeling much better and headed straight for the guild. Like usual, he went straight to Trevor’s counter and turned in the quest items.
“32 E-Rank quests complete for a total of 1 gold and 6 silver. Congrats Sol! With that, you have officially ranked up to D-Rank!”
“Phew, I was worried for a second as I didn't get to finish them all today.”
Trevor shook his head.
“You were just shy of ranking up, so even 10 more would have done it. Hand over your adventurers card and I'll change it to your new rank.”
Handing over the card, Trevor went away to process his new rank. While Sol was mentally exhausted after today's events he couldn't help but feel a little excited to finally reach his first milestone. It didn't take long for Trevor to come back and present to him his new card.
Looking much better than his previous bronze card, this one was made of iron instead. The status information on the card did not change except for the rank stating D instead of E.
‘With this I can now take on better quests; I should go check on the D-Rank board tomorrow and see if any quests stand out.’
Thanking Trevor for his help, Sol made his way back to The Rusty Bed to sleep and recover.