Sybil seemed a bit confused about my question, but rolled her eyes and pulled out some coins.

She help up a chip with a golden tint to it. It was shaped like life saver that had been cut in four. "This is a gold piece. It's a piece of a gold coin. Four gold pieces makes one gold coin. Got that?"

She pulled out a silver coin with a hole in the center, setting it under the gold piece. "Now, I don't have a gold coin on me, but it pretty much just looks like this, in gold. Two coins makes one piece of the next tier. In other words, eight silver makes one gold. Eight copper makes one silver."

I thought I understood, but I had to ask, "How much is a gold piece worth?"

"That old guy just offered us a bit over a gold coin to hunt down whatever this monster that's been terrorizing the town is. A single gold coin is worth 64 copper, or 256 copper pieces. On average, a single person, living on their own, will spend about one or two copper on food daily. Upkeep, toiletries, utilities, and rent combined average to 2 silver a month, provided a person is renting a place to stay, doesn't live in the country or the capital, isn't a noble, and is Tier 1 or 2. If each month is 30 days, that means that a person will spend around seven silver and two pieces in that time period."

That all made sense. "Which coin is most commonly used?"

"For magical items or services, gold is the standard. If you're getting food or clothing, you should probably use copper, and silver is used mostly for nonmagical stuff, certain kinds of potion, and bulk orders of other items. At least, if you don't want to get robbed. Vendors won't ask for a gold coin and 3 silver, they'll usually round up to the next piece of the same type. You'll usually see prices like, '2 gold, 1 piece,' or '1 silver, 3 pieces.' Sometimes, like now, it's simplified to just '10 gold pieces.' People usually don't use copper pieces, unless they're selling food. It's just more convenient to round up with those when you're dealing with clothes or rugs, wood, stuff like that. The cities do their best to lower prices on food while still making sure their farmers and cooks get paid enough, so it's pretty cheap. The same with rent. In some places, you can get a meal for a copper piece. The last king did very well at keeping people off the streets." Her face soured a bit at that last statement.

"So, this quest pays pretty well? 10 gold pieces? That's enough for-" I thought for a second, "two months and some change? That's a pretty good deal for something that should only take a couple nights if we do it right, yeah?"

She waved a hand back and forth, correcting, "Not quite. We won't be paying rent or utilities if we stay out in the middle of nowhere, we should be able to hunt for food, and most of our gold will be spent on getting supplies."

She caught my frown, and continued, "Still, you're right, it's a good deal. I just hope we can get this job done sooner, rather than later. I'm willing to bet that its difficulty will be quite deceptive."

"So, how do you think we should start? Is there any standard procedure for this sort of thing?"

She shook her head, "Monsters sneaking into towns and assassinating people isn't exactly a common occurrence. I suppose that we should start by investigating the locations the victims were taken at, and then asking the families of those taken a few questions."

"I'll ask a guard to show us to the most recent crime scene." A smile formed on my face as I remembered all the crime shows from back on Earth, but it was soon gone as I remembered how serious this situation was. These were real people dying, not just fictional characters on a TV screen. At least, I didn't think they were simulations. Everything in this new world just seemed too real for that.

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After a few offensive comments towards Sybil, a couple guards led us to the last spot someone had been taken. As we got closer to the location, which was marked by a large red stain that smelled of iron, Sybil slowed and sniffed the air, reminding me of a dog.

"Abel, I think I recognize this one," she warned me.

A guard, who seemed familiar to me for some reason, sneered at her. "Of course you do, you disgusting creature. You're the one who took my boy!" His anger towards her seemed to spike out of nowhere, and he raised his weapon. None of the other guards seemed to be willing to stop him, some out of shock, while some glared contemptuously towards us.

I forewent my Arcanoccultist's Bolt, which would likely prove immediately fatal to the man, who seemed to be the father of whoever this was, and possibly cause damage to others in the immediate area, instead glancing briefly at my new Class and Profession info. I attempted to apply my first Soul Mark to this man.

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Immediately, I felt a part of me be torn away, though I was somewhat familiar with the feeling. It was similar to what I felt whenever I used a spell that cost Health, though I somehow knew that I hadn't lost any HP, even without checking. I also instinctively knew that I couldn't use this ability again so long as it lingered upon this man.

Not willing to risk murdering this man, and, more importantly, ruining our reputation with this small town, I used my only other directly damaging ability.

"Malefic Bond." The words tore from my lips as pain erupted within my chest.

For me, who had been using blood magic for a while now, it was manageable. Weak, even. For the guard, though? Not so much.

He dropped his sloppily aimed spear and fell to his knees. He wasn't knocked out, and he wasn't crying, but he was clearly having trouble breathing. As I gazed down at him, I saw a familiar purple energy flowing from his body, gathering around my hands as a fog, before slowly fading. I felt the same energy, a mix between Mana and Health, burning away within my heart, but my Regen stats were enough to keep up, for now. Even if it weren't, I felt as though the Lifesteal and Manadrain from my new Feature, Mageblood Drinker, gathered, it would be able to keep me on my feet for just a bit longer.

A few more guards raised their weapons, though their fear of my abilities was clearly enough to keep them at bay.

I dismissed my spell, nudging the fallen man's weapon away from him with me foot. He fell to the floor after a moment. I looked up towards the unnecessarily hostile and suspicious guards.

"Now, you're all going to stop being so rude to my friend here, or you're going to be dealing with me instead. You don't want that." I looked about at the crowd of almost exclusively Medium Tier 2 humans. No matter how anyone looked at it, I was in control of the situation, on top of it. In many ways, I could even be considered superior to them. Was that arrogant? Perhaps. But that was simply the nature of strength. Power.

Back in the cave, I had wondered how powerful people could have gotten if they weren't trapped in a situation such as mine. How amazing would life be with stats and levels, with limitless potential for growth and self-improvement? It seemed that even in a world where getting stronger or smarter, or even learning magic, was as easy as going out and killing some monsters, people would still get lazy and settle for slightly above average. They'd live their lives with their heads held high, patting each other on the back and living like they were kings.

They were proud. For some reason, proud enough to challenge someone who objectively outclassed them. That was their mistake.

I looked over to Sybil. She was looking at me oddly, but her face cleared after a moment. I gesture towards the bloodstain with an open palm, and she nodded, stepping on the fallen guard's chest on her way over.

I winced momentarily out of pity, as she was still fully geared, and I thought I'd heard a rib crack as she stepped on him. While he was scum, it sounded like he was the dad of this stain, and I could understand his rage at the situation, even if it was misdirected.

Oh well. At least he got to live.

I moved forward to stand next to Sybil, who greeted me with a grim expression. She'd been kneeling by the blood, where it had pooled on the floor.

She shook her head, before giving me the bad news. "The smell is off, somehow, but, well-" She hesitated for a moment, "it's Jake. At least, he's in there. Some of this blood is definitely his, though I'm not sure how much."

I shook my head. "What about him?" Had he been nearby? If so, maybe we could question him?

Sybil cut my thoughts off with another shake. "It's his blood. He's dead, Jake. From the smell, only a while after we were taken off to see Killion. There's a few other smells, one could be his mother, and then something else, I can't tell. It's almost like some of this blood is-" She shook her head, "nevermind, forget I said anything."

Oh. The kid was dead. A small pang went through my heart, and I looked back at the man, who looked right back at me with eyes filled with hate.

I hadn't really even known the kid, but I had still interacted with him. He was only a child. That was far too young of an age to die. That must've been why his father was so angry, as well. Jake had been seen with a vampire, and soon after, he'd been reduced to a bloodstain. His wife was gone, too.

A frown crossed my face. I'd be angry too. Not that I had a wife, or son, to rage over the loss of. I didn't even have a cat. Well, with how Sybil woke me up... A grin appeared on my face. Some of the men glared at me again, but oh well. When Sybil and I solved these murders, they'd be singing our praises all through the day and into night.

Sybil stood again, finished with her inspection.

"Can we speak to anyone who the deceased may have interacted with shortly before they passed?" She was all business.

Everyone, myself included, looked at the foolish guard who had tried to attack her. Then I glanced back at Sybil. Other than him, she and I had been the latest ones to interact with him, at least, as far as I knew. It was unlikely that we'd be able to get much out of the father, though, considering I'd just floored him, and he'd tried to attack Sybil.

I guess that meant we were back to square one, then.

"We're unlikely to get anything else out of his dad. Well, he might attack you again," I looked over at the guards, "Any chance you guys can lead us to another spot like this? I don't think we'll be getting anything else from this one."

They led us away from the copious amounts of blood and the mourning father, too grief-stricken to follow after us.