The look on Trihuis’s face—when Veles showed a corpse of Stage Six Wood Iguana—was priceless. It came even as a bigger surprise than possessing a storage ring, which was a pretty big deal in itself. If anything, Trihuis should now understand why all the threats he’d thrown Veles’s way were kind of pointless. A clean cut on the beast’s neck proves it had to be done by the blade. A cut avoided every wooden patch on the reptilian neck showcasing the skill of the person responsible for it.

Veles did this on purpose. Having Trihuis on edge would make him question his every decision against him. This served to let the guild master know that Veles was either skilled enough to kill the Sixth Stage beast himself or he had someone strong protecting him. Of course, both were nonsense. Veles killed the beast while the Squirrel held it down, and he struggled even with that…

Fiddling with the small pouch containing thirteen platinum coins and dozens of golden ones, Veles was satisfied with his haul. Because… he’d just learned he basically owned a small fortune.

No wonder Alchemist Branch had only two thousand golden Acelia coins on them. For example, a simple meal in the inn costs around three coppers. And coin conversion was as usual—ten coppers for one silver, ten silvers for gold, and a hundred gold for platinum. Platinum ones were commonly used in trading various magical merchandise belonging to the middle stages, whereas the others were used for common goods.

Having achieved the goal of making Trihuis wary of him. Veles, with Davis in tow, exited the mercenary guild. On their way out, he saw that the human mage was still passed out, with his teammates trying to wake him up. Alas, unfortunately for them, he would sleep for quite some time…

“Hello.” The moment he stepped outside. A familiar voice greeted him.

“Oh, Fagor. What’s up?”

There they were. The whole Nimble Fang group stood as they waited, and how it looked, they were waiting for them.

“Well, sir Veles. We are supposed to be your escort. No matter how ridiculous that sounds.” Fagor said with his hand raised in helplessness, it was his way of signaling he couldn’t do anything about this situation.

Veles shook his head with a smile. “They chose someone who supposedly knows me? And forced them to keep tabs on us? That guy is really a pain in the ass…”

And Fagor heavily nodded. “Yes, that he is! Can you imagine, he offered us a hundred golds for a day! A hundred!” Fagor voiced his dissatisfaction. Clearly, not because he wasn’t happy with the money, hell when they split it, it would still be damn great. Veles understood that. But because of the unfairness of the situation, it was going to the forest and risking your life for less money or following around a guy who might be dangerous and get much more!

Veles scanned the group, noticing everyone looking at him weirdly. Well, everyone except Fagor. “Looks like not everyone is thrilled about your new job…”

Fagor sighed. “I like to tell myself that I’m a good judge of character, and I’m sure you won’t do us any harm.” Slumping his shoulders, he added. “I don’t like to rely on rumors, but you know there are almost no good ones surrounding people having your profession…”

Veles gave him a nod of understanding. He was well aware of what Fagor was trying to say. Trusting a stranger could be foolish and possibly cost him his life, but Fagor being more mature than the rest, probably knew that Veles had absolutely no reason to harm them. If he did, he would’ve done it long ago and wouldn’t put his abilities on display in the first place.

“Then it is on me to prove those rumors wrong!” Veles then pointed his finger at Fagor and added an ordering tone. “Mr. Fagor as the person responsible for escorting me, I would like it if you could lead us to the filthiest inn you mercenaries like to spend all your coins to get wasted!”

Fagor grinned, totally liking the idea. “Are you perhaps intending to get us drunk and escape?”

“Oh, no! Can’t we all enjoy a couple of drinks before taking a well-deserved rest? I see no foul there.” Veles saying this sounded extremely innocent. None would dare say he was lying.

Raising his hands in surrender, Fagor smiled. “I cannot refuse this, can I?”

“No, you can’t.”

***

Sitting behind the table, Veles took a hefty gulp of a beer. He looked at the place where Fagor brought them, and he must say, it was a perfect choice.

The place was relatively big for a tavern, capable of housing a good number of customers. When Veles asked Fagor about it, he said this building was once a big grain warehouse that was recently turned into an inn—the same as the mercenary guild. This made sense, considering the influx of brutish mercenaries. Profits in this place were certainly over the roof.

As for the atmosphere of the place. What could’ve Veles said except that it was just what he was looking for? The whole place reeked of beer and burning tobacco, with the barmaids skillfully dodging already drunk mercenaries, managing never to spill a drop. Although, they would sometimes throw practiced slaps at the faces of those who stealthy tried to grope their assets…

There was also music in the background. It hardly mattered, though. Chatters and laughs filled the air, bringing a somehow peaceful mood.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself.” Said Fagor as he drowned the last drop of beer, emptying his mug.

And he was right. Veles did like it! The smell, cheerful atmosphere, and drinking! After thousands of years of nothingness, this was refreshing. Veles’s wish was always to live a carefree life and venture around. Power, Influence, and all that nonsense never fazed him. They were just meant for survival—something he previously never cared about.

Unfortunately, his curse used to prevent him from having any meaningful interactions similar to this one…

So…At this moment, Veles was truly relaxed. No complex thoughts were running through his head, or unnecessary wariness to distract him. Though he still held a bit of caution, who knows what might happen in this stuffed place.

“It’s been a long time since I enjoyed moments like these…” Replied Veles, a tinge of emotion in his voice.

“Been through some tough times?”

“More like had a tough life…” Veles blurted before raising his hand with two fingers straight, signaling for two more beers for Fagor and him.

The catman in front of him nodded. “You won’t find anyone who can say they had an easy life.”

“True…”

Fabor smiled. “Ah, I remember back in the da-”

“Fagor, ssssweetie.” Hearing this new voice, Fagor’s hand shook, his face turned pale, and all his previous drowsiness vanished.

Two hands gently pushed his head backward until it sunk between two pillowy mountains. At the same time, the pair of reptilian eyes looked at him from above. “How’ssss my favorite cat doing? Did you missss me?” Asked the seductive snake woman with her slender tongue flicking in an iconic manner.

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No man was crazy enough not to enjoy this sensation. But the look on Fagor’s face and a few pitying gazes going his way said otherwise. The revealing outfit, combined with the snake woman’s seductive movements, would send warnings of danger to any experienced warrior. However, those with less experience… should clearly avoid becoming her prey.

Even sitting across the table, Veles could smell the mixture of various herbs coming from this woman. It wasn’t an unpleasant scent, nor was it flowery and nice, something in between. And her undulations showed she was at the end of the Fifth Stage, as far as he could tell.

The problem was that she tickled almost every single danger sense Veles had. Making her an even bigger threat than Trihuis—who was on the stage higher than her.

Still hugging Fagor’s face tightly, she looked at Veles. “Hi, newcomer. Nice to meet you. My name issss Ditta!”

“Likewise. I’m Veles.” He replied politely, which seemed to make the curvy snake woman nod in satisfaction.

“I’d like to borrow this little cat here. Do you mind?” She asked while Fagor seemed to be suffocating, his eyes drifting left and right, and by reading his lips, a cry for help was impossible to miss.

And like a good guy Veles was, he immediately replied. “I don’t mind at all! Enjoy yourself.”

Looking at this betrayal, Fagor can only turn to the person closest to him. Who, in this case, was Zunna. Unfortunately for him, her hands were preoccupied with cleaning her glasses, and apparently, not only did she saw nothing without them, but she also couldn’t hear a thing…

With a Fagor being dragged away by a snake woman who looked to be his old acquaintance. The only ones left at the table were Veles and Zunna. For some reason, Davis and Ulhe—the archer who didn’t say a word until he started drinking—became like best buddies. They were on the side, busily chatting with each other…

As for Valyo… Well, the moment he stepped into the inn, he dashed toward a group of half-naked buffed men. Now, he was among his own kind, drowning himself with insane amounts of alcohol.

This left only Veles and Zunna alone at the small round table. She seemed extremely uncomfortable, not only due to Veles, but she generally looked like she disliked these kinds of places.

“Want to see something fun?” Asked Veles, gaining her attention.

Zunna watched curiously as Veles broke the handle of the wooden mug. He poured silverish mana into it, changing its shape in a very bizarre way. But soon after, the result appeared to be a beautiful figure of a wooden butterfly, every detail carved to perfection, and that wasn’t the end.

He poured an enormous amount of mana into this palm-sized figure. Zunna’s eyes suddenly went wide. She just witnessed as this little wooden butterfly came to life, its wings fluttering gently, making a few circles around Veles’s hand. It then flew in front of her face, she was about to touch it, but the butterfly recoiled.

It flew lower, almost hitting the floor. It then masterfully moved toward the center of the room, avoiding every leg that came across its way.

“Watch now.” Said Veles, beckoning Zunna to carefully observe as the wooden butterfly reached the ceiling of the inn.

Wooden butterfly suddenly burst into blue flame. This gained everyone’s attention, but strangely enough, nobody seemed to be alerted by it—there was no sense of danger coming from the thing.

Now the effect of this blue flame further left everyone in awe. The flame burst apart, revealing numerous fist-sized cyan motes of light spreading across the room. Like snowflakes, they would gently fall down, and when they came in touch with something. They would yet again burst apart, revealing dozens of cyan butterflies shining brightly, making a beautiful spectacle.

As for Veles, he didn’t care for his little play. Numerous mages had already displayed their little party spells. His main focus was on a black-clad man leaning against the wall with his hands crossed, a few butterflies shining on his face. Veles tapped once on the table, and all the butterflies vanished. Leaving the only silence as everyone is still savoring the event that just occurred.

But the man Veles had observed wasn’t visible anymore, yet Veles could tell he was in the same place as before.

It took them a few seconds to calm down. But then the whole inn burst into loud cheers and exclamations, wondering what was that and who did it. Zunna, knowing the culprit, stared at Veles with a sparkle in her eye, driven by sheer curiosity as to how he did it.

He, of course, decided to entertain this nerdy girl. He started explaining the process in a way everyone could do it, totally different than he actually did, but convincing enough…

***

Dozens of beers and three hours later, Veles and Davis were in the room they rented. Both were a little tipsy, Veles must admit he couldn’t handle alcohol very well, and his physical condition was very poor. He had to circulate mana nonstop not to get wasted after a couple of beers.

Davis unexpectedly had great capacity. The brat drank triple Veles’s amount, yet he was still somehow fine. Except that he’d gotten slightly aggressive, which resulted in a few brawls where he got his ass kicked. Which earned Veles a few extra coins on gambling…

“Had a good time?” Asked Veles. His eyes observed the night sky from the window.

“Yes, that was nice for a change.” Davis touched his cracked, bloodied lips, his brows furrowed. “But I don’t like this place very much. It feels weird…”

“Yeah, and I’ve found out what’s going on,” replied Veles confidently.

“So, I was right? We were being followed?” Davis asked. He took off his boots and dove into the bed.

Not surprised by his deduction, Veles confirmed. “Yes. But not us specifically, it would be better to say that something or someone is overlooking all the activities inside this town. And from what I’ve gathered, all the mercenaries here are just pawns with the big shots carefully moving in the background.”

“Isn’t that a little bit of over-speculation on your part? I mean it can be that we gained attention from someone because of this Sorcerer play you are pushing.” Having his hands behind his head, Davis said.

“You only noticed one person following us because they were just a couple of steps away,” Veles pointed out, “However, there were multiple individuals scouring almost the whole town. It’s creepy in a sense…”

This small town of Koria gave really strange vibes the moment Veles had stepped foot beyond the gate. Not only were they immediately spied on by individuals who had exceptional camouflage, but the whole atmosphere of the place was strange.

Firstly, the invisibility person used was so good that Veles wouldn’t even notice them if they hadn’t focused especially on him. Being psychic, he could vaguely sense when someone looked in his direction, even more so if they displayed some interest in him.

Davis, for example, managed to take notice due to small vibrations in the ground, a skill Veles barely managed to teach him—a core sense ability for those with earth affinity.

This meant the person who observed them was just three to four steps away. Yet without their quirks, they would’ve never noticed them.

Secondly, the veteran mercenaries acted strange. They clearly knew something was amiss. Veles had noticed some of them checking on him during their relaxing time in the inn. And not just him personally, but every person who could be considered an outsider in this city.

And the final part was what he’d gained from the alchemist guild. The emptiness of their building was strange. Only later did Veles understand what was going on.

Apparently, someone was running an active monopoly on herbs and didn’t want a guild to take the piece of the pie. Several merchants had their private requests for specific magical herbs. And they would go as far as paying more than the alchemist guild, even if the deal was in bulk. Then they would suddenly leave the city, not leaving anything behind.

Also, Veles was not sure, but the town most likely lacked a stable supply of medicine due to this.

“You are right. It does look creepy…” commented Davis after a slight pause. “We leaving soon, then?”

“Not until we get enough information. Like I told Trihuis, two or three days and we are out. You’ve already noticed, but we know nothing about how this place works,” said Veles. “I hope you didn’t blabber something that would give away our ignorance?”

Davis shook his head. “No, I was careful. This isn’t the first time I had to visit unknown places.”

“Good to know,” Veles replied. “It would be best to keep a low profile as much as possible. Don’t show your skills. The less they know about you, the better.”

“Even in the dangerous situation?”

“You can go with your body enchantments, but use the earthen skills if really necessary,” advised Veles. “If we cannot gather enough in this town. Then we can switch roles in the next one. Where you will take the lead, and I will act as your helper on the side.”

Davis looked at Veles in wonder. “You think I can pass as an anomaly like you did?”

“Most likely, yes,” affirmed Veles. “Though, you will need to prove yourself somehow. Which shouldn’t be that hard.”

“Sounds good to me.” Davis then leaned back on the pillow. “Anything else?”

“Nope,” Veles replied. He tossed the tiny piece of meat out of the window. Just as it started falling, a small figure appeared from the shadows, grabbed it, and disappeared into the night sky.

“What the hell was that?” Davis exclaimed. That thing was fast!

“Little Vera. My familiar.” Replied Veles. He then went to his bed and dove into the soft mattress. After nights of camping, this sure would be pleasant sleep. Unfortunately, the dreams were still haunting him—the only saving grace was that he was getting used to them.

“The less I know the better…” Davis mumbled and then covered himself with a blanket. Not wanting to know the details, he already knew Veles liked to act strange and mysterious.

“By the way,” said Veles. “Who’s going to keep the first watch?”

Davis raised his head and looked at Veles. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not going to get my throat slit during my sleep,” Veles looked at Davis and smirked. “How about you?”

Groaning, Davis replied, “I get it! I will take the first watch!”