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Chapter 28

“That comes out to… 36 Denars.” Iris split the pile of coins equally in two and handed Exill his share first, before planting the remainder in Grundle’s open palm. She gave a warning look to the seasoned Merc, communicating fully that the 50:50 split was fair.

“Kid did alright.” Grundle said, flashing a smile that oddly suited his face, as if to say he intended to fairly split it in the first place.

In answer to this, Iris returned her warmest smile and wished the two an enjoyable day as they stepped away from the counter. Exill quickly pocketed his share before Grundle could change his mind, and turned to leave the Guild.

“Hey kid…” Grundle’s voice was like a low rumble that couldn’t be ignored. “Labyrinth tomorrow at noon” he finished, posing the question as a statement.

Exill blinked, surprised that the seasoned Merc would want to partner with him again, but the hesitation was brief as he quickly nodded in response. Grundle laid a heavy palm on his shoulder as he exited the Guild first, and was swiftly swept away by the afternoon foot traffic.

***

Back at the inn, he clambered straight upstairs to the shared room. In his hands, he held up a length of wood, avidly inspecting the grain structure. It was the bough of a young Ironwood Treant, costing eight denars for just over a meter long (four feet) length. It was incredibly hard wood, flexible too. He had been able to purchase this for a good deal because the war was over, and prices had collapsed for mass manufactured weapons and their raw components.

The plan was to craft a short bow, maybe fletch around four arrow shafts from the offcuts. He would have liked to forge his own arrowheads but didn’t have access to a smithy. They would have to be fire-hardened instead. A few feathers from the harpies he killed earlier would be plenty enough for four arrows.

A four meter (thirteen feet) length of flax bowstring had also been purchased from the bargain bin for three Denars. It should be enough for the bow and one to two replacement strings in case it breaks.

‘Those damn harpies were a menace, it would have been safer to shoot at them from the safety of the passageway, rather than exposing ourselves in the hopes of luring them.’

Exill shook his head, he had been neglecting [Hunter] for too long. It provided a 10% boost to accuracy that scaled with the level and could be upgraded to [Ranger] at lvl 20. He had experienced firsthand that ranged weaponry had its place in the Labyrinth. It was not all narrow tunnels and close combat.

A few drops of water were applied to the surface of the clay tablet to record the changes of his Card.

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Job Level Planeswalker 3+1 Hunter 3+1 Herbalist 4+1 Crafter 6+1 Peddler 24 Vendor 6+1 Warrior 10+1

Exill was fairly certain now that the order in job placement had no bearing on experience gained. The only anomaly was that [Warrior] appeared to be levelling up disproportionately fast.

‘Is it rising faster because I’m meleeing the enemies? In any case, I can put it to the test once I start ranging my opponents. It would confirm my hypothesis if [Hunter] begins to overtake [Planeswalker] in levels.’

Satisfied with this new discovery, he inspected the seven assigned jobs again. [Blacksmith] and [Expert Blacksmith] had been unassigned the day before. There were also no plans to raise [Farmer], [Cook], [Scavenger], and [Forager] any time soon.

His current priority was to increase combat capability. Next was [Crafter] lvl 20 and [Herbalist] lvl 20. The former would unlock the [Tailor] and [Carpenter] jobs, which would also need to be raised to lvl 5 to unlock [Witchdoctor].

Exill had a sneaking suspicion that [Witchdoctor] would be very good. He had discreetly asked around in the refugee camp, as well as their resident healer for information about it, but no one had heard of a Tier 2 [Herbalist] profession. Considering the cross disciplinary requirements, he wouldn’t be surprised to be the first person to unlock the job!

‘Anyway, I need to unlock [Witchdoctor] as soon as possible. Healing is lucrative and I need a way to reliably make money while I’m recovering from an injury.’ He nodded to himself. This would be prioritised in the near term, and he would seek to raise [Peddler] and [Vendor]’s level in the longer term, hoping it would unlock more information during [Appraisal].

Satisfied with his progress, Exill carved his short bow deep into the night, sharpening the knife occasionally as it dulled against the hard wood. As night deepened, he stopped briefly to nod in greeting to his roommate Merc. The hairy dishevelled man acknowledged the greeting and looked down with interest at Exill’s nearly finished bow. Picking up a completed arrow, he tutted a bit at the fire hardened tip, before returning it to its place. He then proceeded to strip completely naked, exposing his well carpeted rear, and slipped into the greasy sweat-soaked sheets.

He could only shake his head in disbelief while the Merc began to snore gently, ‘how could anyone live like that!?’ he wondered silently. They hadn’t exchanged a single word since their bloody first encounter and it suited him just fine. At least, the man appeared to be drinking less, and as a result his snoring had become more bearable.

Exill applied the finishing touches to his bow, hoping it would stand up to the test tomorrow.