Michael was unsure of how much time had passed while in the cave. But during that time, he noticed the starlight moss was shining even brighter than earlier. He focused on it and got new information.
Starlight Moss. A rare moss that is difficult to cultivate as it requires a high mana environment. If adequately processed with other ingredients, it can create mid-level elixirs. Slightly sweet flavor. Restores a moderate amount of mana on consumption. Will become more energetic at nightfall. Depending on the moon cycle, brightness will increase. Brightest on a full moon, dullest with a new moon.
At one point in the night, Michael tried focusing on himself in his mind but got nothing. He tried focusing on various limbs as well.
Hand. Wing. Foot. Arm. Leg. Torso.
Michael guessed he needed to be able to see nearly all of himself to get an info screen on himself.
During the time in the cave, he was actively working on trying to pick the lock on the trunk. At one point he felt like he remembered something regarding picking locks, but he couldn’t remember from where. Not knowing how long it would take, Michael switched to the journal.
The name on the first page was Yan Filburn. It also had a message that if it was found, to turn it in at any mercenary guild branch to have them send it to his family. Michael skimmed over some information but took note of several tidbits.
I passed the entrance exam! Looks like all my hard work has paid off! Take a look, you bastards! You all said, ‘Little Yan could never be a merc.’ Well, look at me now!
Ahhhhhh… These rank 1 missions are all so boring! I wish the system was a bit easier to progress upward, but the branch head keeps telling me, ‘In all due time.’ Rank one mission only pays a few Tress each one. I am stuck in the dormitory next to Fay who stinks of onions all the damn time!
Michael learned from an info screen that a Tress was the primary form of currency in the world. He found one strapped in the back cover of the journal. It was a lightweight piece of round metal with the number five on both sides and unique markings around the number. Further investigation, using the info screens, Michael found out that the number on the coins could be 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 10T, 15T, 20T, and 50T. The ‘T’ acted as a multiplier of 100, so 10T was 1000 Tress.
He continued reading through the journal.
Finally! I made rank 2! Now I won’t have to do eight or nine jobs to be able to have basic necessities each week. I finished a couple of missions and made enough for the week, but I got minor cuts and bruises. Maybe I should get a cheap poultice right now and knock out a few more missions? Either way, I need to save up to get the hell away from Fay! I am going to turn into an onion at this damn rate!
Got me some new equipment at the Outfitter. Gotta save up more if I want to get some custom gear. I splurged a bit and got some boxers from Other World Propriety. Damn these things are comfy! Anyway, I joined a couple of other mercs for an extermination mission. Some gobs have been spotted near a town west of the city. It should be an easy job as the two brothers kept saying they had dealt with them before when they were young.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Michael checked out Outfitter and Other World Propriety.
The Outfitter was a general store for mercenaries. They provided preserved food supplies, survival gear, and basic necessities for mercs in the field. The store also carried ready-made armor and weapons.
Other World Propriety surprised Michael. It was a shop started by past heroes of the Five Divine. They introduced a good number of modern conveniences to Owtrelus. Running water, sewer systems, water treatment, electricity, laundry machines, vehicles, airships, toiletries, and many other things like clothing. The pricing of their goods was typically very high compared to other shops, making them more exclusive to nobles, merchants, or people who saved up their income.
One thing in the entry did catch his attention. Heroes.
Heroes were people summoned from another world by the gods in preparation for the rebirth of a Demon-Lord. Other than having higher than standard stat ranks, they also had special blessed skills and were not bound by skill and stat caps.
Looking into it more, Michael found a very useful tidbit of information. Humans of the world and demi-humans had a cap of 30, demons, fae-folk, and monsters had a cap of 40. The only exception was the Demon-Lord, who had a cap of 50.
Michael tried to better understand how the ranks worked but could not learn the differences between them other than their number and that they were better when the rank was higher.
Another thing he learned about heroes was that a part of their blessing included a skill called ‘Heroes Call.’ It was an ability specific to fighting the Demon-Lord. Using the ability would reduce the power of a Demon-Lord by 10%. The Heroes Call was also a stackable ability, so if all five heroes used it at the same time, they could reduce a Demon-Lord’s power by 50%. So, if a Demon-Lord was maxed out the heroes could reduce them to a rank of 25 and quickly dispatch them.
Michael continued in the journal.
He’s dead… I thought… I thought they knew how to deal with goblins. We dealt with the guards at the cave entrance quickly enough, but… we got ambushed. Danny went down hard. They stabbed him repeatedly. His brother, Nikka, took quite a few hits. We… We barely made it out of the cave after killing the goblins that attacked. We used every poultice, bandage, and even our potion to save Danny, but his wounds were too severe, and he gave out. I… I should have asked a senior. If I had asked, we could have gotten some pointers, and he would still be alive.
Nikka is taking his brother’s death hard. The branch head helped me work through Danny’s death the last couple of weeks, but Nikka shut himself in. I saw him today, and it looks like he has been hardly eating since then. I convinced him to talk to the branch head. Hopefully, the old woman can help him.
Did a couple of hunting jobs this week. Feeling a lot better. Still have nightmares of Danny dying, but I think I will be okay. Saw Nikka today. He told me he was quitting being a mercenary and returning home with his brother’s ashes. I treated him to a good meal and helped cover some of his expenses for his trip. I hope I’ll be able to see him again.
Hit rank 3. A lot of them are extermination missions. I am going to keep doing rank 2 missions and save up for better equipment. I am not ready to take on gobs again… yet. I’ve been talking with some seniors and learning some good tricks of the trade and better preparations. I won’t let another party member die like that.
Teamed up with a few new rank 3 mercs. One of them is a bit too cocky for my liking. Some sixth son of a baron. Son of a bitch is running a gunner class. I’ve only heard of gunners before, never seen one until now since magic guns would cost me half a year of pay with plenty of maintenance fees for the rest of the time. The other two are a healer and pyro-mage. I would have liked to have a lancer, but I heard these three taking a gob mission lightly and decided to join them. I got a new shield, so I want to bloody it with some gob skulls. Need to get a short sword for this one.
Finished the gob mission with few injuries. The healer, Charlie, is good. Yuna, the psycho, almost set me on fire a few times, but I think she will do well if she learns to work with others. Gotta say, though, guns are pretty nuts. Saw Winston remove a shaman’s head before the damn thing could finish casting. Maybe I should look into getting a pistol or… I think Winston called it a bumberbust? Bloomberbust? Ah, I’ll ask him tomorrow. Oh yeah, I saw Fay on the way into the city, that fucker got married! He looked all clean and proper now. Guess a woman really changes a man.
Michael closed the journal since he was feeling a bit tired. He planned to look up the new terms he read in the journal in the morning. Slipping into the sleeping bag, he tried to sleep, only to be plagued by nightmares of his own.
Like Yan’s traumatic experience, Michael was having to deal with having everything, friends, family, his future, his world, torn from him repeatedly by an avatar of Sylfaerune.
Michael swore he would never forgive that goddess for what she did to him. He would get back at her one way or another.
Haaaaaaaaaate…