Chapter 23 - Ambush?

Without hesitation, Zack approached the goblins' houses, but much to his surprise, he heard a weird sound coming from behind, and then some fireballs hit and exploded the monsters' houses.

Zack was ready to defend himself and use Speed Hack, so he was shocked when he saw that… in the direction the attacks came from. He didn't see anything, nor could he hear anything coming from there either.

"They teleported away?" Zack furrowed his eyebrows. 

Soon enough, they emerged from the shadows, drawn by the noise and the promise of a potential threat. The goblins approached cautiously, their weapons at the ready. But as they caught sight of Zack, a flicker of recognition crossed their faces, and they hesitated.

These goblins had encountered Zack before. They knew him, and more importantly, they knew what he was capable of. He had proven himself to be a formidable adversary. So, despite their bloodlust and their instinct to attack, the goblins hesitated. They exchanged wary glances, unsure of whether they should risk engaging with Zack once again. After all, their encounters with him had never ended well for them.

"It seems that they wanted to force me to show my skills… the guilds are truly…" Zack thought and then sighed.

In the end, Zack approached the goblins, but they ran away with all their might. He could kill them from a distance, but he decided to loot their houses and sell the stuff that they had. Not reaching level forty that day was annoying, but it couldn't be helped.

 Little by little, Zack moved the loot toward the teleportation circle and he checked the surroundings as well when he could to bring the stuff that he had in his inventory. He had heard of relics that granted that king storage ability, but he didn't want to let anyone have any idea of what he could do.

"They won't pick a fight until they know what I can do. For now, they can only assume that my skills scare the goblins," Zack thought. "Such a waste of time."

Holding back when he could finish all that work in no time was also a bore, so Zack understood firsthand the drawback of trying to hide his skills at any cost. There was one way in which he could keep using his skills without care while also maintaining his skills, a mystery, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time for that. Still, his patience was quickly running out.

"I guess I will check another guild tomorrow. If the same or similar thing happens again, then I will take that step," Zack thought.

In the end, Zack spent the day just moving stuff back to the teleportation circle. Before sunset, he returned and asked someone to check everything and pay him for it. The glasses guy receptionist called for someone using a cellphone… those are quite expensive since only a few guilds can maintain them with their radio waves.

"You didn't bring much on your first day, but you brought a lot today," The glasses guy said.

"I guess so," Zack said. 

"Do you use some special technique or knowledge to defeat that many goblins? We can buy that kind of information," The glasses guy said.

"I didn't do anything special," Zack said.

Although most of the items Zack brought back from his expedition looked like little more than scrap to the untrained eye, they held significant value for the guilds. That was because the guilds were keenly interested in analyzing and potentially reconstructing the lost technology of fifty years ago, blending it with magic to create new and powerful innovations.

Despite appearing as little more than discarded remnants of the past, these items served as valuable pieces of the puzzle in the guilds' efforts to unlock the secrets of the world's lost technology. Each piece was carefully examined and cataloged, from broken machinery to ancient artifacts, and its potential uses and implications were meticulously documented.

The guilds were willing to pay handsomely for such items, not only for their inherent value but also for the wealth of knowledge they contained. Every scrap of metal, every broken circuit, and every faded blueprint held the promise of unlocking new discoveries and pushing the boundaries of what was possible with magic and technology.

"It seems that we can pay you 150.000 credits for everything. What do you think?" The glasses guy asked. "We are essentially sharing the profit with you, but you can get 75% of the profits if you become a member."

"I will think about it," Zack said.

In truth, Zack wanted to tell all of them to fuck themselves. Still, he had to be cautious for a bit longer… soon, he would be able to do whatever he wanted, and no one would be able to stop him. His goal of eliminating all the monsters could be insane. Still, he liked the process anyway, so he was fine with doing that as long as he wasn't bothered by anyone.

Once Zack got his money, he left the guild, and no one stopped him. It looked like his luck was finally turning around, but he decided to keep his guard up anyway.