'No, I can't go there like this.' Mongrel recalled being laughed at for being such a country bumpkin.
He would just make a fool of himself if he were to show himself to so professional criminals. It didn't fit the ntal image he had of who one would call a 'mongrel.'
He skidded to a stop on a clean roof.
Scanning the streets, there were no trees in sight.
A decrepit house on the side grabbed his attention for reasons he couldn't discern. He found himself on its roof before he knew it.
'I need to hide my ignorance…a mask.' Mongrel plucked off one of the roof tiles that was needlessly big.
He drew his knife and took half a minute to draw out and imbue mana into its blade before carving the roof tile into a shrivelled old dog's face.
'Not so bad if I say so myself, it's my best work yet.' No one but Mongrel knew that he was a Sculptor by Profession.
'How do I attach it to my face…how do the Xengs do it without any holding pieces? Right…mana,' Mongrel sprayed the perfu on the stone mask. He didn't know why but it felt like he should've done that.
Despite his best attempts, he couldn't attach the mask to his face with mana.
Hence, he carved spikes at the side of the mask. The roof tile's curve was oddly perfect for his face and reached behind his ears. A weird roof.
'I won't die here right…' Mongrel took a deep breath while holding the mask against his face.
He took a mont to settle his mind. Sitting down on the roof, he placed his face against the mask and roof to hold the mask in place before smashing his one good arm into the side of the mask.
"ARG!" Mongrel quickly sniffled his voice out. He managed to enhance his strength enough to pierce his skull.
He wasn't even sure if the mask was aligned but he didn't wait for his head to heal before smashing the other corner into the other side of his skull. He made sure to sculpt a curved hook on the mask. Holding his consciousness together, he waited and fought the pain.
It didn't even take half a minute before he felt warm behind his ears. The Capital City started healing him.
It shocked him when foreign mana physically pulled at his stone mask.
'It can rip away the damaging component?' Mongrel smashed his palms to hold the mask onto his face but the foreign mana got stronger the more force he put into keeping his mask on.
Mongrel had his doubts about the healing capabilities of the City Barrier but that was gone now. Respect and admiration for the Royals turned into fear.
If one were to get stabbed and their attacker forced the blade stuck, the City's mana would react and force the blade out? That was ridiculous.
Did that an the Royals were watching the movents of billions of people at the sa ti?
Mongrel wouldn't believe that for a mont. It was the work of an extrely complicated spell or so kind of magic. It had to be.
Mongrel dashed away from the decrepit rooftop with his hands straining to keep the mask on. He knew where the closest dungeon do was but he had no party.
However, he couldn't think of anything else and charged towards the dungeon.
By so miracle, he was actually allowed to pass.
Because the dungeons situated in the Capital all had another town or city right after passing through the portal.
The only problem was that it wasn't free to enter. In fact, the entrance fee was so expensive he might have to work for a week without eating to afford entry.
He didn't care and dipped into the rest of his savings.
Once he was in, he quickly hid in the shadows of the streets within the dungeon.
His bleeding had long stopped and his Vitality did the rest.
He waited a good half an hour before he exited and returned to Tidal.
The guards couldn't be bothered as to why he entered and exited in such a short period of ti. He didn't exactly look rich either.
His efforts weren't in vain as the City's healing no longer treated his mask as a foreign entity and simply healed the area around the spikes. Bathing the mask in his mana might have been the best idea he had.
He checked the ti and found himself to be right on ti.
He entered the tavern and found himself a corner seat. Although it was quieter, there were still a dozen occupants drinking.
A few tables had exuded heavy overflowing Vitality and Wisdom but Mongrel wasn't bothered by them. The ones he had his eye on were the people he sensed nothing from.
Unnad and the earth mage entered and noticed him straight away.
Mongrel watched as so drunkards stood up at the sa ti. An eerie scene of unconscious drunkards walking out appeared and all the people remaining were those he couldn't sense any aura from.
"Who's this masked fellow?" A large human with a few handheld axes by his waist screened him.
Unnad was about to speak out for him but Mongrel quickly stood up and pushed the man who stood in front of him.
"Mongrel."
"Who're you calling mongrel!?" The human yelled.
"Myself, but I don't bla you for answering the call." Mongrel retorted.
He might be making a fool of himself since he probably couldn't beat anyone in the tavern but he knew that it was all about attitude and how he presented himself. Chris was no more, and now seed to be a great ti to erase what was left of him. Erging as Mongrel.
"Brat!"
Mongrel ducked and got on twos the mont the thin, sharp axe was thrown at him.
There was little suspense as he was manhandled to the ground but he made sure to bite a piece of flesh out of his attacker's arm.
Diving into his unbridled rage was the facade he put on. He wanted to be publicly known as a berserker who couldn't control his actions. It might backfire and give himself a bad impression but if they allowed him to join, they shouldn't give him any important missions.
However, it didn't backfire.
The people in the tavern laughed and praised his energy. They liked the show.
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"New guy? I can sll the poverty on you. Good!"
"Mongrel huh, fitting."
"Barkeep, what's his score?"
Mongrel didn't know any of their nas but it probably wasn't necessary.
"Mid rung Master. Two point four."
"Average for his level? That's surprising, he felt weaker than that. Like a two-pointer." The axe tosser comnted.
"His berserk enhancent is better than what I've seen. It has potential. His mish-mash, unrefined skills can be dealt with with ease." The bald bartender's eyes were sharper than before.
Mongrel had to reevaluate the importance of the old bartender as his interviewer. He didn't know what kind of point system they were talking about but he morised the numbers they associated with him.
They managed to sense his confusion despite the mask on his face. Their perception was intimidating. Mongrel made it a point to learn to control his body language.
"Barkeep, give him the rundown. We have business to discuss."
They left him with the bald bartender and he listened and morised the information he was given.
"so…I'm part of the gang?"
"Psh, what gang? You don't even know what we go by do you?"
"...no."
"We're the Jade Parasites. Right, you're not authorised to spread that na. Yes, you're already part of us."
The bartender explained the hierarchy in the Jade Parasites.
The organisation's top priority is wealth. In fact, they only worked for wealth.
Their rankings were called Rungs and went from low to mid to high. So people were referred to as peak rung but those people could be counted on the fingers on two hands. Sothing he didn't have.
The point system was quite easy to follow. 0 to 1 referred to anyone in the organisation who was seen to have a Journeyman's capabilities. Every incrent of 0.1 points equated to a 10-level difference.
If a Journeyman was rated to be 1.5 they would be considered a high rung Journeyman.
The low and mid rung Journeyn in the organisation do not have the option of choosing their jobs but those high rung Journeyn did.
Similarly, a point of 2.4 was appropriate for his level of 240 but that was supposedly the bartender's call. The bartender seed to hold a very good Identification skill as he grasped that Mongrel hid his strength.
The axe wielder was probably quite accurate and his power was probably equal to a random level 200 warrior in the Capital.
Everyone in the room other than Mongrel and the bartender were Mid-rung Grandmasters whose point ratings were above 3.5.
That seed low in his opinion, maybe not for everyone in the room but Unnad held impressive power. Then again, the bartender didn't give the exact number and their point would have to be above 5.5 to be considered a high rung Grandmaster. The range was quite wide and Unnad supposedly hasn't reached level 500 so it might not be as surprising as he initially assud.
'He's hiding his strength too…probably everyone here is hiding their true power.' Mongrel was glad he had enough presence of mind to hide his own.
The leaders of the Jaded Parasites hid their levels and wasn't public knowledge even for their mbers.
"How do I know who's one of us or let others know I'm part of them?"
"Runic stamps, barkeeps like hold a stamp. After stamping your body sowhere, you'll be able to feel if another person is stamped just like you. And yes, it's ranked so you'll know their rung. If there's a team mission, the highest rank and rung can take command and you are most likely obligated to follow their command."
"Will we know each other's points?"
"No, just the rung. It's already hard enough to make such a mark as a runic stamp. When at least 3 other mbers deem you to reach their rung, co to to update your stamp."
"I see. Is the mark permanent?"
"You'll need to get restamped at least once every half a year. We won't get any new mbers if we tell them we marked them permanently. We used to but it didn't turn out well for the organisation. You know, everyone here has things to hide."
'Every seven months…if I want to leave the Jaded Parasites I have to hide for seven months.' Mongrel knew that he shouldn't trust everything the bartender said but it was a point of reference that he could use when he got more information in future.
The range of the runic stamps was quite big, he would be able to sense another mber from about half an Uncommon callstone's distance. He didn't carry a callstone since it was useless for him. He did write letters to Mark's address once in a while.
It was a weird encounter. That man might be the only person that Mongrel contacts from ti to ti.
Mark had been very helpful. He had gotten discounts for potions thanks to Mark. Mongrel hoped there was a branch over in Tidal but he might be hoping for too much. The Capital was so far away from Mark's ho and he wasn't sure if they were a big company.
He didn't even receive replies but he continued to write a letter asking for mana manipulation tips every few months. Despite the man saying he had no talent, Mongrel couldn't forget the laxed man in front of a giant sky-blotting fish that fired water blades that sundered the earth.
The concept of a "domain" was nothing short of a legend to a country bumpkin like Mongrel. He remained so unfamiliar with the term that even to this day, its aning eluded him completely.
"Boy, that old man's out of town. Get stronger by yourself, I'll find you when he's back. At least get strong enough for him to care. Let's see, try reaching level 300 by the end of the year." Unnad gave him a random goal to strive for.
'What?! 60 levels under a year?' Mongrel finally made good use of his mask as he hid his shock. He barely made that number when he was a Journeyman, the difficulty spike for that from 240 to 300 was much higher.
"At the very least, reach high rung Master. Alright, I got places to go." Unnad slipped away after putting him in so weirdly high-class organisation.
He followed the man here to get stronger so he didn't care who taught him but to get stronger by himself? That was where he hit the wall from the start.
"Mongrel, your equipnt is horrendous. Pick up a few missions for two or three months before you go into the dungeons." The bartender called himself Jim and helped him get started.
"What kind of missions are there?" Jim brought him to their mission board in the back.
It seed like all Jaded Parasite-run taverns were like tiny Quest Halls of their own. Just like the Quest Hall, missions could be put up by their own mbers or clients.
The real money cos from clients but the easy jobs co from other mbers. Most of these easy jobs were higher ranking mbers who needed a helping hand for their own mission or personal request.
'It's not any different from the Quest Hall. Minus the missions about kidnapping and assassinating people.' He didn't have to worry about that since one couldn't pick up those missions without reaching the required point.
The stamp on them couldn't show their points to each other but the bartenders had their record.
Mongrel glanced through the missions that a two-pointer could accept. There wasn't a lot and the requests appeared…trivial.
'Is this a place for odd jobs?' Mongrel was gobsmacked by a request. It was asking for soone with at least 1500 Strength stat and a massage skill to massage their horse. For two Blues.
'Blues?!' The country bumpkin cald himself when he thought how ridiculous the requirent of 1500 Strength and a related skill was.
As Unnad ntioned, the place didn't look so shady anymore.
"What's that board?" Mongrel finished glancing through all the missions he saw himself being able to complete when he saw a different board beside the missions.
"Trade and sale notices, you can post sothing as well. It doesn't cost anything and is updated in real-ti throughout all our establishnts."
Mongrel hopped over with his trusty leg and the first notice already startled him. Every subsequent post shook him just as profoundly, if not even more so.
"They're selling their skills?!"
"Why are you so surprised, everyone's here for money and one's skills are one's asset. Hurry and make so ores, these skill courses are extrely expensive but most of our guys' training thods are…hasty. So you'll be able to pick it up fast if you follow their instructions."
It was obvious from Jim's reaction that the training thods were probably unconventional to be able to pick a skill up fast.
He could knock on an Academy's door but even the fastest course might take years.
The exorbitant prices didn't dissuade him.
"I'll tackle this." Mongrel got Jim to write him down as a participant for the highest-paying job at the mont.
"Huh? A team mission, colour surprised I thought you'd be a lone wolf." The visible surprise on Jim's face was not lost on him.
"I'll be seeing you often Jim,"
Mongrel didn't even ask for further instructions.
The mission he had chosen was a request from a noble, who had asked for twenty mid-rung Masters. Now, he was one of them.
It was a harassnt mission.
The contents were to destroy another noble's property at irregular timings. According to the post, the mission was already ongoing and they even put a schedule up.
Destroying a rich man's financials did not cross Mongrel's line.
As for harming the innocent, he'd hope his line did not shift during his transformation.
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