CHAPTER 135
EARNING CREDITS (1)
Vanessa had sent Hans back rescheduling his visit for the evening, and the moment had finally arrived. Nervously, he was rubbing his hands. He had said many things to Sierra and Rudolf before and had no clue how that would affect him today, but to his surprise, everything was normal, as if the previous conversation had never happened. "So, what are you doing these days, Hans?" Sierra asked him, stroking his head, making his worries disappear. "Aren't you angry with me, I said a lot?" He asked with his head down. So Sierra lifted his chin and, with her ever-filled warm eyes, replied, "So, you knew you spoke very rudely."
“Yes, sorry Grandma. A lot was going on that time —”
"No parent can stay angry with their children, my child."
"So we're good, aren't we?" Hans asked with puppy eyes, which made Sierra laugh. "Your eyes are telling me that you need something from your dear grandmother." She asked, covering her giggle. “Hihi, you can tell,” Hans responded, shamelessly smiling ear to ear. “A divine grade healing potion —”
"Have you lost your mind?" shouted Rudolf, interrupting him and Hans, instead of retorting as usual, said politely, "Just listen for a second, I need this for someone —"
“A lot of people will die if that potion resurfaces. But that's an entirely separate matter. You doing charity will make pigs fly, squeaky.”
“Yes, and Sun will rise from Sunfall, gramps. I’m not into giving things for free —”
"Yeah, only accepting them." Rudolf finished his sentence, asking, “So why are you asking for that potion? This will send your grandma on bed rest for at least a week." Hans ignored his grandpa's rambling and asked Sierra, looking expectantly at her, and finally received a reply, "Three to turn magic into the potion and three to rest, my child. That's why I don't like making that. It's better to cast the spell directly —”
“But I need to send it.”
“Your junior must be very precious to you,” Sierra asked, surprising Hans, but he too realised; She was much more experienced than him. So it was something that she could guess. Taking a long heave, he responded,“ Yes, Vanir, he can..no, he will become a Warlock and a powerful one at that.” He paused, taking a look at the expectant eyes of his grandparents and continued his sales pitch, “Since ten, he is tweaking the spells, a spell-crafting genius, Granny. I need him, and the only thing that could entice him is a divine potion to cure his father. The elves are gonna so regret giving him away —”
“So you are getting loyalty for that potion.” Sierra interpreted his words and reasoned, “But Hans, a person who can sell himself once, can sell himself twice.” However, Hans has an answer ready, “I’m not buying it, Grandma,” he responded, “I’m just looking out for him since he decided to kneel before me.”
“He already did, Haan?” She questioned, “So are you gonna buy him growth potions too?”
“No, I don’t have that kind of mone…are you giving me some?” His eyes lit like stars but the man of the house has his own opinions to insert. “Like hell, you’ll embezzle it anyway,” Rudolf said, staring at him. Hans was surprised because this was exactly what he was planning to do. “Why has Gramps suddenly started using his head?” He was deep in his thoughts then Sierra responded to him in words he wanted to hear, asking him to pick up the potion after a week. Jumping in excitement, he left their quarters, leaving Rudolf, Sierra and Vanessa to discuss things on their own.
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“So childish,” Rudolf said, “Does he think people will stick to him if he provides what they want? His father did that and died, because of his people. If someone doesn't put effort into achieving things, they won't value them. Hans must grasp this lesson before something bad happens —”
“Even if that were to happen,” Sierra said, calming him down a bit, “The potion is a little price to pay if he learns it well, and if the elf boy stays true to his words, then it's good for him too.” She turned to Vanessa, who was the first one to voice her opinion on Hans’s matter, but remained silent throughout the conversation, “Vanessa, you must have something on him since Hans is involved.”
“Yes,” she spoke nodding, “That elf boy, Vanir, acted as a proxy for many nobles in the achievement of spell crafting.” Sierra was taken aback, not because the ten-year-old was practising spellcraft for nobles, but because it seemed surprisingly easy to discover. She inquired, "How did you manage to find it so effortlessly?" Vanessa responded casually, "It's not as if they were making an effort to conceal it."
“Those arrogant bastards must have thought a commoner has no way of proving it.” Rudolf stated, and Vanessa added, “Yes he does not, have any, he is a commoner and, elves have more hierarchical values than us.” She commented, “That elf is more talented in creating spell formulas than realising them. Not a warlock, but he will become something in the mage world, that I am sure of.”
NEXT DAY AT THE TASK HALL
“Senior! It's your blunder, so why are you dragging me along?” Vanir whined, finding himself in a building where he was not allowed to. But early this morning Walter had made it so he had to follow Hans on his little redemption journey. “Don't be a wuss, Vanir.” Hans responded, “Just do as I say. Do I have to mention the potion every time to make you work?”
“No, I’m just saying, going after a Great Mamba, a class three beast is not a good idea. I haven’t even seen a second class in my life.”
“Of course, you haven’t. What kinda crazy bastard would bring a child to see a second class.”
“You,” Vanir whispered, but Hans’s sharp eyes muffled his voice pretty much, and he responded, “I do not start a losing fight, dear junior, so just follow me. They are offering 400 credits for it. And a bonus of 300 if we bring it intact.”
“Its a class three, they are scary existence —”
“Don’t be a scaredy cat, didn’t I say, I’ll increase your mana pool.”
“But growth potions are beyond our reach —”
“I also told you, we are doing the old-fashioned way.”
With this, both left the task hall as the seniors of the third and fourth years saw them agape, two juniors, one from first and the other from second were taking a task to bring a Great mamba in perfect condition. Killing tasks were easier compared to bringing the corpse intact, To do that, high precision was needed. So they were wondering how their two toddler juniors would achieve that, but Hans had no plan to explain their questioning eyes, and Vanir was busy mustering his courage to step into a three-star BeastZone.
“Haa, I really hate this thing,” Hans said, seeing the SpaceDoor and stepping in to reach the three-star island of FloatLands. “Agh,” he puked as soon as he stepped out, “It never gets easier.” Vanir caressed his back, relaxing Hans and soon both faced a scar-faced instructor, “So you are the punks with connections, take these.” He threw two badges and explained, “If you find yourselves in a shitty situation, send a signal but remember, calling for help will cost you a minimum of thousand credits.”
“We won’t be needing any, sir,” Hans responded, standing on his two once again, and dragged Vanir out of the safe zone. He was whining to his heart's content, complaining. “Everyone is a money-grubbing bastard in this place. Where were the times of helping without seeking benefits go, tsk, tsk, tsk.” He was rambling nonstop, and Vanir had no choice but to nod to his every rant. He was scared shitless, but his senior was like strolling in the park.
Soon they found their first, or one should call many beasts together, It was a herd of herbivores, violent ones, the first class Pecora, a four-legged beast with short horns and a long mane. “We should avoid them,” said Hans and Vanir nodded in haste, “Yes, they are at least twenty. It would be insane to fight them.”
“That’s not idiot, I could kill them all, but I was taught not to kill without reason. So tread carefully not to give me one, if you spooked one, they’ll all die.”
“You and your egotistical logic, Senior..mm.m”
“Shhh..” Hans covered Vanir’s mouth since his words were ready to spook their next encounter, “Shut up you idiot," he whispered, "That's a second class, Cordata. They have abilities, they can even ward off predators…” But it was too late since the beast had heard them. “Can’t it be just Scaled Rabbits," Hans whined, readying himself, "This one can dodge my attacks easily." Stretching his mana path at the glaring beast, he added, “But what the hell, here we go again... damn it, Vanir.”
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