Gestation by John Gold (love books to read .txt) 📗

other hand, they all think I deleted my character and made a new one. It’s been a year and a half, after all. Conjecture isn’t enough; I want total advantage in a counterattack if there’s a problem.

This whole time, I’ve been sitting near the boy and thinking my own thoughts. I have another question.

“How do I find out if someone has forbidden skills?”

“I’m not a guard, and I don’t know everything. I guess, you can catch them red-handed or find witnesses.”

“Can you make anyone show you their attribute window?”

“No-o,” the boy replied with a wave of his hand. “Although, if you accuse someone falsely, they may show it to prove their innocence.”

“That’s so simple. What about the forbidden arts? I mean, necromancy and blood and all of that.”

“For that, you have to get the item yourself or have the owner show off its attributes.”

“So, there could be a necromancer with a staff walking around the city pretending he’s an ordinary mage?”

“Of course. You just can’t use skills like that on people.”

“What’s the punishment if you do?”

“Your reputation drops, and you’re kicked out of the city. There aren’t many of those, though. After a couple mistakes, their instructors always keep moving.”

The boy turned out to be nice enough and behaved the way an ordinary twelve-year-old would. Just like other orphans, he found a family in Project Chrysalis and softened considerably. The anger at the world and its injustice that he used to have disappeared. I get it, really, and I’m even jealous…

“Thanks. Good luck.”

There isn’t anything else he can tell me.

Sural is split up into five big regions: the port in the eastern side, the upper city in the north, the slums in the north-east, the market district in the center, and the crafting quarter in the west. My next job is to sign up for the monster-hunting guild which is near the western gate, the one leading into the jungle.

The guild turns out to be an interesting place. To get in, you have to pick up any order and complete it for free, after which you get access to all the quests in the region. There’s a ranking system that goes from one to ten. After getting in, I’ll be at that tenth rank, which means I’ll only be able to move up to the ninth after I’ve completed five contracts. The higher your rank, the better your reward and the more difficult the quests.

The walls in the guild building are plastered with posters about quests. It turns out that the caliphs have plenty of problems with monsters.

A girl is sitting at the administrator’s desk, and her green robe embroidered with leaves and flowers tell me she’s probably a life mage. That’s pretty typical. Even her staff has leaves sprouting from it.

“Hello there. I’d like to join the guild.”

“The rules are standard: pick any quest and complete it. Bring us proof that you did, and you’re in,” the girl replies without paying me the least bit of attention.

“I’m aware of that. How will I know what kind of opponent I’ll be facing?”

“Around here, we have monsters between Level 100 and Level 250. For tenth-rank hunters, there are monsters between Level 150 and Level 165. The pay depends on how difficult the quest is within the context of that rank.” It’s only then that she looks up at me. “Although, you really don’t have any business being here.”

“I’m not breaking any rules, am I?” I ask with a triumphant smile as I go pick out my first contract.

Ten kilometers outside the city, there’s a giant snake which patrols have seen twice by the road. That’s what I have to kill, and I need to bring back its tail or scales as proof that it’s dead.

The girl from the guild forgot to tell me that it’s a local boss like all the other monsters.

I notice the snake before it notices me, again, thanks to my boosted perception. As soon as I stop, it charges.

Monster, Heartbreaker Snake, Level 160

Just a second into the battle, I’ve picked up all kinds of information. For example, the beast is immune to stunning and has a very tough skin. One blow from its tail sends me flying into the bushes, and it’s from there that I send a fatal shot at it. The boulder I send smashing into it takes off all its health and leaves it flopping in the weeds. No matter how good its resistance is, it didn’t have a chance of surviving 25000 damage. Although, it turns out to be a shapeshifter—after death, it turns into a human. Where am I supposed to get the tail? Do I just stick the body in my bag and take the whole thing?

Another of the reptiles, a copy of the one I just killed, comes flying out of the bushes. Hell taught me a lot, including how never to relax. Thanks to that, I’m not taken unawares. My imp eye already told me where the enemy was, and my experience working in pitch darkness in the mine told which way it was going. I hit it with fire. The whole body burns, along with the scales, though this one isn’t a shapeshifter. The tail is in with the loot. There’s a bow, along with gauntlets, two rings, and forty-five gold, and all the items are rare. Hunting could turn out very well for me.

When I bring the meter-long tail back to the guild, I find out that monsters often come with a retinue.

“Am I in, miss?”

Reputation with the Manay Caliphate: +1

Current reputation: Neutral (999 until respect)

Reputation in Sural: +10

Current reputation: Neutral (999 until respect)

You joined the monster-hunting guild.

You’re a tenth-rank monster hunter.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Hela. You can call me Miss Hela, and yes, you’re in. Give me your name, and I’ll add it to the registry.”

“Sagie.”

“You are hereby a monster hunter. This is very unusual. Children never join the guild!”

“You never know, Miss Hela. You’re a mage, yes?”

“Yep. You want to be a mage, too?” She’s young