"You're a wizard, Edward," I chuckled as I looked at my hand and examined the dance of the blue glow, slowly dispersing as my attempts to manipulate it failed.
[-1 Mana]
Even with everything going on, this new world had its ways of pleasantly surprising me.
Pity, no matter how much I wanted to play with my newest stat and experience the feeling of being an actual wizard, that was not possible. Not because I was afraid of losing the little mana I had — as I soon expected an oversupply of mana stones for this region and a measly two-point supply didn't matter — but because I needed to go and visit the new hunting outpost.
No one was following me at this moment, but I was not born yesterday. There would be at least a dozen spies in the outpost to report my movements, and if I delayed my arrival for too long, someone would notice the discrepancy between my disappearance and appearance.
The less they paid attention to my movements, the better.
I rushed forward, covering most of the distance using my top speed, and only slowing down once I had got close enough to be noticed by the scouts.
"Stop, you can't walk here—" one of the scouts started, but one of the others stopped him and whispered something, probably revealing my identity. I didn't miss the calculative gaze he threw toward my way, probably trying to decide which gossip to believe.
I would have preferred anonymity, but that ship had long sailed away due to a combination of the circumstances and my own mistakes. I would have to settle for a double cover, an aura of unpredictability for commoners, and dismissal from nobles for my unglamorous role as a mere merchant.
Not the best, but still leagues better than revealing my true identity.
Soon, I arrived at the small fort, one that was under construction. Jertann and Silas were once again holding the critical points, one with an ax and the other with a hammer, at the opposite sides of the fort, moving as needed to handle whenever the scouts had come across a large beast while the others handled the smaller ones.
Meanwhile, Terma was moving back and forth to support them or distract the beasts as needed.
These three had been overworking, showing that once again, most people who had been helped by them to get the second promotion had abandoned the guild and joined Night Blades — and the minority that stayed with the guild was back in the inner city, helping Zolast.
Still, three of them were working better than I expected, not just in tactics but also in ability, outstripping the others who had been promoted. Admittedly, that wasn't too surprising. I was there when Zolast had been offering a special ability to Jertann during his promotion … and while I wasn't there for the other two, I wouldn't be surprised if he offered a similar opportunity to the other two.
And, the advantages were showing.
I moved toward their side, unhurried, my halberd dancing in a showy manner as I cut down the beasts, turning my approach a little show that nonetheless didn't reveal any new abilities or showed more of my true stats.
Of course, as I walked forward, I didn't waste a second before spreading my web of Charisma across the whole fort, making sure my Experience reserves continued to grow in preparation for my upcoming Promotion. Back in the town, there were the nobles — and many possible spies — to make such an action risky, but the hunting post was a great advantage.
I already had an impressive amount of Experience compared to what I collected, but with the growth trajectory that leveling had displayed, I had a feeling it wouldn't last for long.
[Experience: 21,850,190]
I continued to examine the three as I got closer, and I could see that Jertann was the one that was being improved the most. His attacks landed with a surprising might, taking beasts down easily. Too easily, even, but I was more interested in the surprisingly high-collared shirt he was wearing, with sleeves to completely cover his arms.
The sudden change of fashion was interesting, but nothing that couldn't be written off as a part of his new fancy role in the guild, vice-guild master, and the one responsible for leading the battle team that was responsible for raiding the dungeon. The high-collared shirt was certainly fancy enough to be that.
What caught my attention was the nervous way he tugged his shirt, like a young gang member making sure his tattoos were hidden while he was going through the enemy territory. He was using his shirt to conceal something about his body.
I was tempted to ask about that, but he was clearly careful about that, so I would need to find a different way.
"Working hard," I called as I arrived next to him.
"Hey, Euon? What are you doing here?" Jertann asked as he took down another large beast, killing it completely rather than helping the others level up. I had noticed he had been alternating between killing it for himself and leaving it to others.
A smart idea, considering the speed he had been losing his new recruit. The stronger he got, the higher the chances of earning the loyalty of the others.
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"I just wanted to drop by and make sure the construction is going okay," I said as I looked at the construction of the small outpost, one that had been going much slower than I expected despite hundreds that were working on it.
"It's going well," Jertann answered. "It cost us most of the silver we had, but we managed to buy everything we needed to defend the outpost once it went up, even two ballistas to defend against the monsters."
"Oh, really," I said, frowning as I listened. I had been just dealing with the construction efforts in the town, which gave me a very recent understanding of the current prices for goods and services. Also, I knew exactly how much silver they had — I was the one that supplied them with it in the first place. "How much you paid for a ballista?"
"Two derums and a half for a ballista."
"Really?" I said.
"I know, it's a bit on the pricier side. Before the disaster, I remember the village buying a ballista just a bit more than a derum of silver, but the prices are going up due to the sudden rush of construction," Jertann explained rapidly, like he was afraid that I would blame him for the size of the purchase.
"Of course," I said, barely holding back myself from sighing, trying to decide the best way to tell him that he had been scammed horribly. I hadn't even seen the ballistas yet, but I didn't need to see them to know that.
Working with the two old woodworkers gave me a solid idea about the latest state of the market for bigger pieces, and even the worst siege weapon went for more than three Derums as people tried to desperately purchase them.
So, either someone decided to give our struggling guild an anonymous gift, which was next to impossible…
Or Jertann had been scammed badly. The only question was whether the man from our side that arranged the deal had been tricked as well, or he had been a party to it. Either way, he needed to be punished, but the consequences would be very different depending on the case.
"Do you want to see them?" Jertann said as he looked around proudly.
"Why not? And come with me so you can take a breather as well," I said, looking at the few promoted, who looked dissatisfied to lose Jertann's help. I ignored them.
It would be tiring and costly in terms of Health, but nothing they couldn't handle. The sooner they learned to lift their own weight, the better.
Ignoring them, I walked forward, forcing Jertann to follow me. And soon, we were in a tent among the growing walls, looking at the two piles of wood that could work as garbage. They looked fancy, but despite the fancy veneer, they were shoddily built with parts slightly unaligned.
I doubted they would survive a couple test shots.
"Have you tested them?" I asked.
"Yes, and they have performed greatly," Jertann said. "Ten shots, all accurate, and strong enough to take a large beast down in less than three shots."
I wasn't an expert on siege weapons, but I would bet everything that those hadn't been used even once, but I didn't doubt Jertann's explanation either. There were many ways of switching between the test products and what they received.
… especially if they had someone cooperating from inside.
"Why don't you call who had arranged the purchase of these, well, masterpieces. I would like to have a talk with him."
Jertann did so, looking puzzled by my reaction. "Still, they are beautiful, right? They will be very useful once the walls are complete."
"Maybe," I said, letting the silence stretch as I examined them. After watching my new team of crafters for a long while, I learned quite a bit about how they worked. Not enough replicate it, as the way they manipulated Vitality through the skill, creating complicated patterns that might as well be impossible — or at least, very hard without months of dedicated practice.
Months that I certainly didn't have. But that didn't mean watching them was useless. I had already learned quite a bit about assessing the quality of a product, my Perception making it much easier to progress.
I raised my magical dagger, slicing the side of it slightly, only to find what I had been searching for. The wood needed to be completely treated by Vitality to handle the great stress of the mechanism, and required a stable pattern to handle the constant movement.
Yet, only the surface of the wood was treated, the rest untouched.
Making the weapon complete garbage.
Do you need me here?" Jertann asked, but as he did so, he was already preparing to walk away, clearly thinking it was just a casual request.
"Wait for a while, it's important," I said, my tone sharp enough to make him tense. He waited for me to say anything more, but I waited.
Soon, the tent flapped open, and a face that I barely recognized entered. One of the newest recruits. His face was already alarmed. "Sir Jertann. We shouldn't be hasty installing the ballistas —" he started, the deep panic in his tone giving me all I needed about his complicity.
He knew that the outpost was being scammed, yet he allowed it. A greedy man.
And a fool.
There was no doubt the was a fool, and the scam was a move of opportunity. If he had even the slightest foresight, he would have either disappeared after the purchase, or he would have made sure the first delivery was actually without a fault to build trust, only to sell a much bigger second batch.
Either way, he managed to commit two cardinal sins at the same time, and did so for the purchase of a weapon that many lives would have depended.
I didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence before I swung my halberd, breaking his knee. "What's going—" he cried in shock, his Health already healing the wound but the bone stayed misshapen, but before he could finish his words, I broke his other knee.
"What's going on, Euon!" Jertann said, his tone sharp, threatening. He clearly didn't appreciate what I had been doing … but knowing his personality, the fact that he hadn't even tried to reach his hammer showed the extent of his trust.
"Simple," I said as I grabbed the scammer's hair, dragged him to the ballista, and smashed his head against the ballista. Against a properly strengthened weapon, his head should have shattered… Yet, it was the ballista that suffered the aforementioned fate.
And, while impulsive and trusting, Jertann wasn't stupid enough to miss the implication of what I had just shown. "Are you sure he knew?" he asked.
"Yes," I answered.
"Punishment?" Jertann said.
"Whatever you wish, this place is still yours to command. I'm just giving you a gentle reminder about what to pay attention to," I answered. He nodded, and he grabbed the wounded scammer with one hand, and the broken ballista with the other, dragging both out easily.
I stayed in the tent and started examining the surviving ballista, turning my mind toward whether the three old men could put together a working version of it successfully once their work with my casino was complete, and whether I should put some rules about who could spend money without approval…
As for the ultimate fate of the scammer, it was inconsequential as long as Jertann could impress the others that trying to cheat the guild was not a smart thing, especially when it came to vital war machines.
Soon, a familiar cry of pain reached my ear, one with a sense of finality.
"Good," I said to myself.
Jertann was learning.
Maybe too fast…