The crew of the boat was in a total tizzy after a mysterious beast had killed most of the skarn and seawon, so they didn’t notice Thalion appearing on the railing. After it beca clear that he wouldn’t get all the skarn, he had decided to get a closer look at the crew he had just saved. He had also done another minor test—teleporting out of the water with his bloodline skill—which had worked without a problem but did consu easily double the amount of mana.
This was when he noticed another new trait of his divine class. Mana problems weren’t a thing anymore. Teleporting upwards from fifty ters under the boat had taken about seventy percent of his total mana. That was only the mont when he appeared on the railing, and good thing he hadn’t blinked, because that mana bar was racing. In re seconds, it was fully filled again.
This was also when Thalion realized what kind of stupidly high mana cost the Scarlet Maelstrom had to have to slowly drain his mana given that insane recovery.
Now to the crew. All in all, they looked decent and were roughly on the sa level as the slaves he had saved before. Not bad at all given the ti and everything, but no threat to him. He was wondering, though, what they were doing out here with a ship. Not that he thought traveling by ship was a bad idea, but many on board clearly had nothing to do with the water, judging by their bows and arrows. So why travel by ship when you don’t even want to go fishing?
The first one to notice him was the woman who had fallen into the water. That had co in very handy, since she had been the perfect test subject to see how good Camouflage of the Depths really was—and by the look of her, she had lost sight of him very quickly. Now she had already been looking in his direction, which was the only reason she was the first to see him.
Thalion decided to take the more casual and relaxed approach with this group and not spook them too much.
“Hello everyone! You can relax, my buddy has killed all the predatory fish for you,” Thalion announced while waving toward the woman, who with her wide eyes and open mouth reminded him a bit of a fish too.
Hearing his loud voice, everyone spun around, a few of the archers drawing their bows on instinct.
“Easy. Didn’t you hear what I said? My little friend saved you from the ship. Also, I’ve noticed that water is leaking inside by the sound of it, so you might wanna check on that if you don’t want to swim to shore,” Thalion explained. To be fair, he didn’t need to hear the water—he had already seen the hole from under the ship before he teleported upwards.
In that mont, he had been proud of himself and how strong his abilities were, but now he felt a bit bad since they all relied on that boat. Hopefully they had enough with them to do the repairs, otherwise they would have to go for a little swim.
It took a mont until they realized that Thalion was no threat and that they were safe. They commanded the water mages to go down, pushing the water out of the ship while the repair runes they luckily had slowly fixed the hole.
“Ehmm, thank you for saving us. Is there anything we can do to make up for your trouble? I am Lora, a rchant from the Silver Coin Consortium,” Lora introduced herself, bowing deeply toward Thalion, and the others followed with quick bows. She spoke with a rough Indian accent.
“Sure, I’m Thalion. What are you doing out here with this ship, and what is the Silver Coin Consortium?” Thalion asked. How had they managed to start sothing like a Consortium in such a short ti since the tutorial? Or was it just talk with nothing behind it? Given the ship and crew, they couldn’t be that strong.
“Of course you don’t know. I’m very sorry. We are an incursion from integrated space and are here to sell our goods,” Lora explained with another bow.
“Okay, first stop the constant bowing, and second—aren’t those water mages from the tutorial? I rember their insignia,” Thalion said, pretty sure those water mages had been forr blue robes.
“Oh yes, indeed. They are natives to this world. In exchange for powerful equipnt, they agreed to a contract and are now working for us for the next four months. We are currently mapping out the lands around us,” Lora explained.
Mapping out the lands—that was interesting. He was also a bit curious what the blue robes had gotten in exchange for four months of service. It had to be sothing really good, right?
“A map, huh? Would you mind if I take a look at it?” Thalion asked. Right now, he only had a rough idea where Eric’s base was and that elves were nearby—which honestly wasn’t good. If those rchants could give him more information, it could really make a difference.
“Of course. We are rchants at heart. Maps are highly sought after these days, and we can give you one for an item of similar value or eight months of your service. The longer you work with us, the higher the discount we give you on your purchases. Eight months of service would grant you a five percent discount on your next buy,” Lora explained proudly.
“Well, I saved all your lives, so that must have so value to your guild, right?” Thalion asked, a bit annoyed if he was honest. He had just saved their lives, and they couldn’t even show him the map? Seriously?
“Oh no, not at all. We are totally replaceable. If you don’t want to enter a contract or pay for the map, then I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do for you,” Lora answered quickly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Sohow, that reply gave Thalion the sinister impulse to try out a few new blood techniques—but he reined it in.
“This is really unfortunate. In that case, I think it’s ti for to leave. I wish you the best of luck getting through the territory of the skarn without my assistance,” Thalion said, nodding as if deep in thought.
That did the trick. The woman’s face turned pale as snow.
“Please, do not leave. What about a special discount for our future partnership? What do you say to two months of service, until the end of the mission?”
Thalion definitely had better things to do than babysit so rchant group for two months just to get a look at a single map.
“Woman, do you think I’m stupid? I’m not paying for a map when I don’t even know what’s on it. And second, thanks to , you can all continue your work for the Silver Coin Consortium, which is definitely worth more than a two-month contract,” Thalion hissed.
So this was what you got for being nice? He had thought about checking in with a few sailors, having a casual talk, maybe getting so valuable information—or maybe not—and then leaving again. Instead, this woman wanted not only to scam him but also bind him with a contract for a map that might be completely useless, all after he had saved everyone on the ship from a terrible death. He was this close to using them for experints.
“Okay, okay, please—there’s no need to get angry. Here, take a look at the map we are currently working on,” the woman said with a sigh, motioning for one of her comrades, who quickly disappeared below deck to retrieve it.
When Thalion finally took a look, he had to admit it was definitely worth it. They must have already made contact with Eric, who was marked on the map. It wasn’t just humans—there was also a settlent of elves. The elves and Eric were very close to each other, especially considering that no other faction was even remotely nearby. There were a few incursions, but otherwise, the area was mostly empty.
Only after traveling for what had to be weeks or even months, depending on speed, did another human settlent appear on the map. It covered a wide area and even included mountain ranges and a black forest where vampires were supposedly located, though that was marked with a question mark since no one had dared to enter or establish contact with the undead.
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There were also two danger zones marked far away from everyone else. Thalion guessed that extrely powerful beasts—or sothing worse—resided there.
The map was quite large, and it took him a while to get a proper overview. From what he could tell, Eric was surrounded by elves and one unconfird vampire base. The distances were significant, so Eric had plenty of space to maneuver.
Looking at the map, Thalion began to wonder whether a war would even break out anyti soon. Fighting each other would be a difficult endeavor, and if soone started losing, they could simply run.
“Say, what does your rchant clan think of the current situation on this planet? Do you think it will co to a war?” Thalion asked, still studying the map.
“Yes, of course. This will be a very lucrative ti for our clan, and we are very thankful that we landed on this planet. But it will take ti. At the mont, the powerful beasts in the area are the bigger threat, and the chosen need to reach D-grade. The territories also need to expand further, and teleportation circles must be integrated.”
“But then war will rage until a single winner is decided. Have you thought about buying an anti-vampire weapon? Vampires are our biggest threat, which is why we’re offering a ten percent discount.”
Given the distances, this sounded like a reasonable outco, which was good because it ant Thalion had more ti. Even if he didn’t need to fear old age right now, that didn’t an he could take things slowly. It was actually the opposite.
The part about buying anti-vampire weapons from them, Thalion completely ignored. Every word coming out of the woman’s mouth made him dislike her and that rchant clan more and more. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be necessary to interact with them too much in the future.
It was a good thing he had been wearing the mask from the treasure hunt, because keeping a poker face wasn’t sothing he would have managed otherwise. A class for anger managent would also be a wise investnt.
Thankfully, his thoughts were interrupted by a more pleasant notification.
Greetings, newcors,
In two months, it is ti for the second system event
The entrance fee will be five hundred years
To enter, you only need the ring, just like in the first trial
You will be inford again in one month and in the days leading up to it so you can make the best decision
Thalion had anticipated that it would take much longer for Lyrian to launch his system event, based on what he had said. He had also ntioned that the date could often be postponed or even accelerated. From what Thalion had gathered from the gods’ discussions, Ratgul’s event had been especially long, while Lyrian’s wouldn’t last more than a week.
All in all, these were good developnts, and since Thalion didn’t need to worry about losing ti with his divine class, he would gladly join. He would also definitely search for clues in the first room, just to be safe—assuming there even was one.
For the rchants, this was also very exciting.
“Oh, the new system event. This is earlier than expected. Quick, turn the ship around—we need to head back, and fast! Hey, what are you doing? You can’t leave! What if the fish attack us again?”
Thalion had already stepped back onto the railing. For him, it was quite clear what to do next. He would travel to the mountains, where he could hopefully get used to the wyvern. In the nearby dark forest, he would hunt the vampires with the Eclipsari. After that, it was ti to pay his friends a visit and hamr it into their heads that if they joined the next system event, they had to search the first room for any clues—and that under no circumstances were they allowed to enter the third system event.
When R-87 had said it wasn’t made for groups or friends, Thalion had taken that seriously. He would, of course, enter—but he wouldn’t risk the lives of his companions.
“Well, I think that’s your problem.”
And with those words, he jumped overboard, diving beneath the ship. There, he shifted into his serpent form and shot off into the distance.
There simply was no ti to waste.
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