21 | New Team?
The System notification stays projected before his right shoulder.
[ Mission: Learn
[ Reward: 1,000EXP ]
[ Reward: Non-combat skill
[ Reward: 1,000 Gold Coins ]
[Reward: Item: Alchemic Insignia ]
[ Accept? YES | NO ]
"Is transmutation hard to learn?" Keen puts a thumb under his chin.
Rutherford nods. "I've been a Traveling Adventurer for two months but my mastery of transmutation is just in the beginner level. Non-combat skills are actually harder to learn."
"Does that mean we're not going to get the merchant permit yet?" Vi waits for her mentor's response.
Shina intervenes. "I suggest that you don't take the merchant permit yet. The traveler lodgings permit would be the easiest and the noble's certification next. You can train in transmutation during this time. Then you can take the merchant's permit. The last should be the military permit, since there are chances that the Warforce commander himself will test the Transfers."
Jerud shrugs. "But since uncle here has already fought toe to toe with Sir Albert yesterday, that only leaves the merchant permit as the hardest to acquire."
The other Transfers who heard him start whispering.
"Aaaah. What a lucky guy you really are," Rutherford taps Keen's shoulder while he chuckles, "You actually fought 'that' one? I challenged him myself when I applied for my Traveling Adventurer status but he only pointed me to the Gemstone level-measurement."
Keen shakes his head to avoid attracting more attention from the bystanders. "I think he was just pissed off or something."
"Anyway, what's your decision? Will you accept that woman as a member of your guild?" Elise frowns at him while pointing a finger to Shina's direction.
However, the magus grandis is nowhere in that location anymore. She is suddenly beside Keen, leaning closely to his ear.
"You know where to find me." She then disappears.
"I see that she's clearly trying to impress uncle," Jerud's face clearly shows signs of jealousy towards what appears to him as Keen's personal harem.
Keen walks away silently.
Vi follows him quickly. "Where are we going?"
◎◎◎
Just as Shina explained, getting the permit from the townsfolk chief was just easy. They just had to run a short errand of getting an endorsement from the inn they were staying at, which is old man Daryl's place.
After meeting that easy requirement, they were reminded that only 10 gold coins per person should be paid in any inn they choose to stay in during their travels. However, they can also rent manors and villas if their guild is big, which of course comes at a hefty price.
Keen remembered the spatial magic being used by Warforce as training ground and how hard it must be to maintain such a convenient space-saver for a large army. However, he dismissed it as being too exhausting for mana or magic equipment usage.
The certification from the duke of Topsy Town was also considerably easy. Since the noble was informed of the duo being acknowledged by Sir Albert, a distinguished noble himself, they were given no task nor other requirement at all. They were just nonchalantly offered a feast for lunch and given the certification immediately after.
◎◎◎
As the assassin duo head back to their lodging, they see Shina sitting alone and sipping a cup of tea at the table where her former guild used to gather.
Noticing their presence, she waves a hand like they have long been friends.
"Your eyes…" Keen mentions as he takes a seat across her.
She brushes two fingers over the fabric covering her eyes. "Ah, this. It was my login requirement here in Esprit. I don't mind though. I've witnessed so much in real life that I wish I didn't. If only I blinded myself earlier…"
Keen nods once, deep in thoughts. He has an idea in mind, but being there for just a very short time might make his analysis flawed.
Vi notices three teenagers panicking as they inquire old man Daryl in the reception desk regarding their lodgings. She hears one of them saying that they were just having a sleepover last night in her apartment and were brought in Esprit against their will. She has a pale and freckled face and wears pajamas over her skinny body. Beside her is another girl on similar pajamas whose eyes are staring blankly forward.
"Kyla even forgot how to speak! What the hell is this memory-toying game, anyway? The Adjudicator guy didn't even make sense," the hotheaded guy with a wolf tattoo at the back of his palm punches the reception desk.
"Back to the discussion," Shina clears her throat with a smile obviously intended for Vi, then clasps her chin with two palms while facing Keen. "Have you decided on the design of our guild emblem, Master?"
Keen taps once on the table with his forefinger. "Before that, let's see you handling monster raids. Let's make sure you can synchronize with our assassin-type tactics."
"You're recruiting her in the guild?" Vi clenches her fist.
"Easy as picking flowers in a garden," Shina giggles.
'Having her directly involved as part of our guild is better.' Keen reasons to himself.
The blind girl has been stalking him since the incident in the portal dungeon. She probably has heightened sensitivity to the strength of others given her condition and as amplified by her ability class. Closely monitoring her is the best course of action he can think of at the moment.
During the early afternoon, the three of them head to the northeast plains outside Topsy Town to face green, spiky blob monsters with elongated tentacles and biped hunter lizards. The former is capable of instantly digesting low-level equipment and even humans upon being completely immersed in its body while the latter are territorial monsters with dangerous saliva that can make the affected part rot instantly.
"Those are really dangerous creatures," Vi prepares her favored bone lance.
Keen nods although he doesn't consider the monsters to be equal if not more than the threat of the Beast of the Lake. The tricky part is synchronizing their movements.
"I know protection spells and buffs," Shina holds the chin of the two knight familiars she summoned a few minutes earlier.
Keen wonders if he can trust the woman to give Vi support spells. Back in the Minotaur's Lair, the monk did all the support and Shina only focused on attacking and defending using her summoned knight familiars.
After making her spill out the support skills she can use, they discuss a preliminary strategy they will implement. Of course, the first thing to do is scout the area and consider the number and locations of the enemies. Timing and agility are of utmost importance.
"Do you have other means of concealing aside from the enchantment in your scout robe?" Keen glances at the mage.
She explains that her skill
"Is that the skill you use every time you leave your former guildmates to their demise?" Vi gives her an expressionless glance.
The mage doesn't respond.
When they arrive at the northeast plains, they see their targets in large distances away from each other, especially the biped hunter lizards who are highly territorial even with their own kin.
In a rough estimate, there are about fifty blob monsters and thirty hunter lizards.
"The area is large," Vi looks for tall grass locations throughout the field.
Shina puts out a book from beneath her robe and suspends it midair. The pages turn while glowing in dark purple hue. A color that is similar to that of monster cores.
"According to Guild Hall information, blob monsters sometimes combine themselves to increase their survivability when facing a strong enemy. If even one core survives among all of its constituents, all the blobs can be revived and have fifty percent more strength individually than before," she explains.
That in itself would be troublesome. If weapons dissolve before even reaching the blob monster's core, it is a useless attack. It would be best to deal efficiently with them first before they can band together.
The hunter lizards are less threatening as they don't tend to form groups.
"Let's deal with the blob monsters first," Keen instructs.
The two women nod.
Vi prepares several handfuls of bone lance in a makeshift quiver from the skin of snake-spider hybrid that Keen prepared for her yesterday. She didn't even bother to thank him then.
"Why can he conjure his weapons so casually while everyone else has to get theirs from the Item Bag?" She stops whispering to herself when she remembers Sir Albert displaying the same item-conjuring skill with his sword when they fought him.
Keen's Inventory allows him to store up to two hundred unique items which he can simply conjure with his will. He can also remotely put items and loots there if located within a radius of five meters from him.
Keen signals for their attention as they crouch behind a tall grass. Five blob monsters close ahead are leaping playfully on random locations.
Vi's eyes widen as she recognizes a human arm dissolving inside one of the blobs' two meter high stature. It has a wolf tattoo at the back of the palm.