Leaving the Koria’s library. Veles barely suppressed his irritation. He couldn’t wrap his head around how someone unpleasant like the librarian guy even existed.

“Impossible,” Davis muttered, his eyes twitching. “How can someone be so annoying, ugh? I want to punch that old man in the face so bad!”

Not commenting on Davis’s valid rant. Veles kept crossing the road. His destination was a small open restaurant where the Fagor and the rest were currently dining—everyone except Zunna was there, but she would be joining them soon enough.

“Well, you two look even worse than us,” commented Fagor sleepily. The hangover from the last night hadn’t left his system yet. “Who made you like that?”

Veles said nothing. He just sat down and ordered a portion for himself.

But Davis didn’t waste a moment. He fumingly explained, “Can you imagine it? The moment we stepped inside the library, the guy behind the reception called us bipedal mongrels! Then he pointed us at the library’s children’s section while saying that our puny human brains cannot comprehend anything above that level.”

“Then!” Davis continued. “When we asked for some general information, he called the guard to kick us out, all while blurting every possible insult he could muster.”

Fagor grimaced upon hearing this. “Natives of Koria are like that. They’ve never seen other beastman or humans before. And considering previous wars…people in a place like this really hold grudges because they suffered the most.”

“It’s not just that,” Veles added. Everyone’s attention was on him. “The guy was just projecting his dissatisfaction. The poor soul finds solace by exerting a little power he has. He is just pathetic.”

He pointed at the entrance of the library. Where Zunna just exited from, and seeing her blank look, everyone knew she’d experienced something very unpleasant.

Valyo, with his large frame, immediately stood up. Pushing the whole table to the side. Seeing how mana danced around his bulging muscle, he was ready to go.

“Sit down, big guy,” said Veles with a slightly threatening voice. “If you act rashly, you will only make problems not for yourself but for her too.”

His words worked like a charm. Vaylo—ever since their encounter with the ‘goons’— was genuinely intimidated by him. This earned him a nod of appreciation from Veles. Despite his nature, the Berserker guy knew how to control himself.

“Fagor, do you have an empty flask or a glass bottle?” Veles suddenly asked.

He first received a confused look. But Fagor didn’t ask for any details. He just went through his backpack—which was attached to his giant shield. And quickly found a finger-sized vial with a wooden cork on it.

“Will this work?” Fagor asked as he handed it to him.

“Perfect,” Veles then snatched a leather water pouch Davis carried. He poured a tiny bit inside the vial and then focused his blackish mana inside the water. It would take a minute for the liquid to change its property, and Veles had no idea what the result would be.

Meanwhile, Zunna reached their table and was forced to explain what had happened. This time, it was hard for Veles to calm everyone down. Apparently, the librarian guy inappropriately harassed her. And when she retaliated, he yelled at her and kicked her out.

“Like I said, a pathetic worm,” said Veles. A vial that once contained crystal-clear water now held a pitch-black substance that provided no smell or tickled any other sense. Truthfully, even he himself had no idea what the effect it would produce. But for sure, it wasn’t anything positive or weak, considering he used half of his mana to create it. “A person like that isn’t worth your sacrifice. They tend to wheedle their way out of any situation. Just ignore him. He will pay the price for his behavior one of these days.”

Everyone took his words seriously. And Fagor decided to focus on the reason why they were meeting like this. “Sir Veles. You wanted to talk to me about something?”

“I did,” confirmed Veles. “I would like to suggest that you leave this town as soon as possible.”

Fagor didn’t look surprised by this. “Ditta told me the same thing. In fact, many mercenaries are leaving. The lack of support from the kingdom discouraged many. They usually don’t act like this. Even if it’s normal dungeon diving, officials would offer extra rewards or provide extra benefits. However, ever since the forest became open, they went silent.”

Dungeon diving? That was an interesting concept he heard for the first time. He had to learn about it later.

“Looks like that charming snake woman knows what’s going on,” Veles added. “You should listen to her. This place doesn’t feel safe.”

“Charming woman…” Fagor mumbled dismissively. “She also told me quite sternly that I should stay away from you. By her words, you are one of the most dangerous individuals she has ever met.”

“And yet, you obviously didn’t listen to her advice,” replied Veles. “Maybe you should. Who knows, she can be right.”

After slightly bending forward and scanning his surroundings, Fagor said, “She doesn’t look like it, but she is over three hundred years old. And being an old witch, she likes to act all mysterious and spread around all her ridiculous speculations. She isn’t very trustworthy.”

“You don’t say,” Davis chimed in. His hands crossed like he knew very well what Fagor was talking about.

Veles, on the other hand, ignored Davis’s little remark on his account. What he was focused on was the age of a snake woman he’d met in the inn.

Advancing Stages did increase one’s lifespan. However, it was insignificant until one reached the Seventh Stage and above—where they would experience true evolution and could gain years and years of extra life.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

But there was no doubt in Veles’s mind that specific races had ridiculous life spans. Like ordinary beasts, for example, some of them could reach hundreds of years even while being just the Forth Stage or less.

As for the snake lady in question, she was three hundred years old and looked like she was twenty-five, all the way while still in the Fifth Stage. Her case was very unusual…

“If you don’t mind me asking,” said Veles. “What’s your relationship with her?”

“She was a wandering Witch that used to visit the village I’m from and offered cheap medicine,” Fagor sighed. “She also used to teach me about magic occasionally. Not that I ever had any passion for becoming Mage like she thought I would.”

“Hmm, she looks like an interesting individual, but let’s go back to our previous topic,” Veles made his usual motion when he took something out of his storage ring. The small bag appeared in his palm, that he tossed toward Fagor. “Take this as my gift. I know how much trouble I’ve caused you with the mercenary guild. Take this as compensation for all the damage I’ve caused.”

Confused, Fagor reached for the bag. When he noticed eight platinum coins inside, his eyes widened. “Sir Veles, I can’t take this! It’s too much…”

“Look, I know you will face some repercussions once you leave the city while you were supposed to ‘escort’ me around. And I have no idea how the mercenary license works or what punishment you will face. So, just take these coins and get as far as possible. Staying here won’t bring you any good.”

“I…” Fagor had no words. The amount Veles gave them was just too much.

“Money means nothing to me,” assured Veles. “I can make more whenever I want. Just take it, turn around, and don’t look back.”

After a couple of minutes of complete silence. Fagor grabbed the bag…

***

“They left, huh?” Commented Davis as he and Veles enjoyed themselves on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in Koria. Food and a couple of drinks while sitting on clay roof tiles, coupled with the buzzing evening atmosphere of the town, they couldn’t ask for anything better.

Funny enough, nobody seemed to mind them occupying this place. In fact, just across them, on the other roof was a rather joyous group of mercenaries, mimicking their behavior. It appeared that as long as you didn’t cause any trouble, nobody would mind them, especially if one belonged to a mercenary guild or had a combat class, which many assumed Veles and Davis did.

“They were already planning to sneak out after they got the first hundred gold coins the guild master had promised them.” After taking a bite of a rather sweet honey bun, Veles replied.

Before they climbed this place, they had finished their shopping spree. Or it was better to say that they finished satisfying Veles’s gluttony. Davis had a rather expectant look when he learned about Veles’s intention to buy stuff, he was truly hoping they would spend their time buying weapons and armor, something that would increase their survivability in this strange new place.

However, what they did for hours was visit every single bakery and food stall and practically empty their inventories.

Of course, they weren’t focused just on food but also on raw ingredients and other miscellaneous items ranging all the way from common seeds to various crude metals. Something that truly baffled Davis, considering that Veles had no intention of explaining why he would need all that stuff.

They even visited that dwarf guy where Veles embezzled a lot of coins by selling a few of his ‘normal’ looking weapons. This gave them extra funds to purchase everything they needed and beyond.

Looking to the side. Davis couldn’t fathom how Veles didn’t get sick or how this much food could even fit inside one person. But there was something else that had been bothering him. “Why did you even give coins to Fagor? I know you didn’t help them just out of the goodness of your heart. Just a simple warning that something is going to happen would suffice. What’s the catch?”

Taking a second to swallow the bite. Veles asked an interesting question. “You heard about Karma, right?”

“Do good deeds and good will come back? Something like that?” Davis snorted. “Sure, you proved to be a really nice guy. I bet one day you will really strike a fortune.” The level of sarcasm in this statement couldn’t be higher.

Veles rolled his eyes. “Karma is not that simple. I do not care if some higher power sees me as good or evil. Those two concepts do not apply to me anyway.” Then Veles pointed in the direction where Fagor and his group went. “For them, I would always be someone who gave them a helping hand and possibly brightened their future. You can say I have strong Karmic ties with them, and in the future, when I need assistance, one of them could be there and be inwardly obliged to help me…”

Veles shook his head at Davis’s skeptical look. Waving the half-eaten bun, he continued, “You should keep in mind that I experienced things you can’t even dream of. I know when I see a person with good values who has a bright future in front of them. And their whole group falls under this assumption. It might sound like I’m an idiot who put all his money on a ridiculous deal. But the Fate works in a mysterious way…the way I’m already familiar with.”

Davis took a moment to ponder on Veles’s words. He started treating this enigmatic old guy like every other person even back when they were inside the forest. Most likely because Veles’s way of behaving and how he conducts himself just didn’t fit an image of someone old and wise. Still, there were moments like this when that enigmatic aura would burst out, followed by the words and ideas he never thought of, reminding him that Veles wasn’t that simple.

“Is that also the reason why you did that?” Asked Davis while gesturing toward the poorest part of the town.

“Yes. Unlike Fagor and his group. That one will for sure pay off.”

“I don’t get you sometimes…” Davis mumbled, “Tough, now that you mention it, I do wonder. How does fate work? Was the time when we stumbled upon you like a predestined event? You know, how the stories describe the works of fate.”

“That’s impossible,” Veles immediately denied his words. “It was a pure coincidence. And trust me, the less you know about some things, the better your life is. Don’t ponder on something current you can’t afford to know.”

Veles sounded overly serious about this and Davis took it to heart. Despite being overly curious about everything, he knew when to hold back.

“Okay… So, how long do we have to wait?”

“It will start soon.” Just as Veles had said it, a bird’s silhouette appeared in the sky and dove toward them.

It initially startled Davis, but he was more shocked when it slowed down and gently landed near Veles. It was just a normal-looking black owl. Normal if one disregards a mystical cyan glow inside its beady eyes and the level of intelligence its gaze carried.

This bird was clearly a Third Stage beast. However, Davis couldn’t gauge anything else. The beast barely provided any presence like it wasn’t even there.

“Meet Vera, my little familiar,” Veles introduced her proudly. “This little girl used to be my main messenger during my imprisonment. Just a heads up, she can be a little judgmental at first. I suggest you tread carefully around her.”

Davis understood where Veles was going on with this. For some reason, it was obvious this bird was looking at him with disdain, which he found oddly annoying…

“What species is she?” asked Davis. “Never saw anything like her before.”

But before Veles could answer. What was supposed to be the usual cherry evening suddenly stopped. The people below who were slowly minding their business, grew frantic and restless, followed by the loud yells of soldiers that guarded every corner.

All because the bell at the center of the town rang thrice… signaling that the beast horde was on its way.

“And that is our signal.” Gesturing with his finger, Veles did a final check with Davis. “You remember the plan? You cannot mess this up…”

Davis grinned, his left hand outstretched, displaying the storage ring. “This will be fun!”

“Oh, I’m sure it will. Just make sure you don’t engage in a risky fight, understood?”

Davis gave him the thumb up and both nodded to each other, then they slid down the roof and dashed in different directions. They had their respective missions to fulfill.