NOVEL NEXT Chapter 127: Job
The next day Valens set out for that same shop he visited that gave him an idea for a quick cash job. It aligned well with the plan in mind since Nomad and Celme's trip about Selin's Class Change came out with grave results. It was around five Caligian crowns for a Class Change, and they only had a week before the expert of the matter would leave for another city in Broken Lands.
So while venturing out and catching a few monsters sounded simple enough, Valens instead chose to rely on his stitching abilities to build them a little bank. Life in Belgrave showed him that a man couldn't be rich enough in this world, and he had the mind to buy a few tools before they ultimately set out for Celme's Trial.
I definitely need a Void-based artifact. A few for protection as well.
Securing a good amount of manastones was on the list, too, since Valens saw the importance of having external tools to tap into during chaotic scenarios.
I'll miss those Ancient Cursedshards.
Through the streets, into the Second Ring, he made his way to the shopping street where he found Seris's place with little effort. The same collection of twisted goods welcomed him inside while the shopkeeper herself was busy dusting her string of strange bones with a kerchief.
"Good day," Valens announced his presence, fingers tingling in expectation as the frequencies of the shop rushed to him. Strange tunes were aplenty here in Broken Lands, and they truly made him feel like he was in a different world.
"It's you," Seris said, giving him a side-glance. "Here to gawk at the prices again? Or have you found yourself enough capital to make this thing worth both of our time?"
Uh, she's not in a good mood.
"I was hoping you would hear my offer," Valens said, plastering a simple smile on his lips. "You've mentioned that skilled labor is scarce in supply around Ashen City. Especially the skinning of certain monstrosities was a field in terrible need of fresh blood, right? I'm hoping to fill in that gap if we can shake hands on the details."
"You?" Seris swept him with a hefty scowl. "A budding Proven Mage would help me skin dwellers?"
"Can't judge a book by its cover," Valens shrugged. "Or so I've been told. Give me a piece. Let me display what I have to offer right here, and now."
That seemed to put some thoughts into the woman's mind since her eyes crept toward the back door of the shop. By the variety of stenches oozing from there, Valens supposed Seris got a healthy depot of freshly delivered creatures in her place.
Sounds reasonable. She buys them flat from the adventurers, after all.
"I have a few Saweyes in the back," Seris said, fingers hooked on her belt. "I'll give you an hour for a pair of them. Skin them well without damaging the organs, then we'll have a deal."
"Half the price of what you're selling them, right?" Valens asked. "I believe that's what you've told me the first time I visited this place."
Seris chuckled slightly at those words. "Got a badge from the Butcher's Union?"
"What?"
"Are you in any way related to the Butcher's Union here in Broken Lands?" Seris asked once again, this time delivering the 'union' part with a kick to it. "If not, the most I can do is a flat thirty percent. And that's the best deal you're going to get around here."
"Hold on a second," Valens said, raising a hand at her. "You're telling me that there's a Union here that protects the rights of the butchers? The skinners and the organ-removing friends of the field? How is that a thing, exactly?"
"Same with the Tailors and Blacksmiths," Seris said, looking already bored out of her mind. "You get a job worth a good penny, you're going to get yourself secured in one way or another. For people like you who claim they can do certain things, though, there's a different way of doing business. If, and that is a big if, you have what it takes to skin a Saweyes, then don't go around telling our deal to people. I don't want to lose my connections in the Butcher's Union."
"Right…" Valens mumbled, gesturing at Seris to fetch him the aforementioned Saweyes.
The woman went over to deliver the goods. Valens, instead, found himself thinking on the concept of unions here in the Broken Lands.
How did that work, exactly, considering how vast and scattered this place was? City-states could very well have their own laws and ways of keeping the business deals fair and square, but Seris's words suggested the practice of unions was a rather common concept than being a city-based singularity.
I suppose that's just humans taking stock of their respectable fields and adjusting to the occasions. This gives them leverage against third parties, as well.
It didn't take long before Seris came back with a pair of creatures hanging upside down from a simple, wooden stick, their skin slick and riddled with little crimson dots. At the first sight, they reminded Valens of octopuses save for the number of eyes they carried on their elastic-looking heads. Hard, jagged teeth grew out from the eyelids, making them seem more like mouths than organs of sight.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
They don't have a mouth, so I'm thinking they really use their eyes to fill their bellies. Interesting anatomy, to say the least.
"Here," Seris stretched the stick to him, looking as though she couldn't be bothered to spend another second at what seemed like a sure case of overconfidence. Valens almost got offended by how little trust she displayed toward his abilities, but he shrugged it off and instead found a chair to make himself comfortable.
A flexible, thin layer of skin covering the arteries underneath. This is tricky work.
Identify didn't work on dead monsters, but a Lifeward showed Valens the intricacies of the octopus-like creatures right away. The number of limbs, a whopping eight with six on the front, two jutting out from the back of their heads, each supporting layered muscle growth that suggested this creature was focused solely on Dexterity.
"Making your eyes work, huh?" Seris muttered from the side. "I doubt those looks could pierce through skin. Where are your tools? You're wasting my—"
"I'd rather use a more elaborate process on a creature of this type," Valens said, scarcely bothered by the exchange.
That made her pause, which was just enough for Valens to start the skinning process. He quested for a pair of Fleshthreads through his mana pool, willing them out of his fingers while keeping the Lifeward active on the creature. There were, to his immediate attention, about a dozen ink-sacs bound to the thin skin of these creatures and applying more pressure than necessary could have him change colors with little effort. So, to keep those sacs safe and untouched, he had to be diligent with his Fleshthreads.
Good thing I registered that Fleshthread skill. I'm barely using any mana.
Relying on skills was mesmerizing for a Life Magus like him who depended on multiple tools back in the Empire. Skipping the preparation phase gave him the ability to instantly cast his repertoire of spells which made him a versatile Mage unlike his peers.
The Fleshthreads separated the skin from delicate tissue like carving the outside layer of a butter-cake with a burning knife. So smooth was the process that at one point even Seris stopped whatever she was doing and instead decided to watch closely the process. When the first Saweyes was done, Valens spent no time taking the other one in hand and skinning it with barely breaking a sweat.
"What do I do now?" he asked after he laid the two perfectly removed skins to the side. "I can take those ink-sacs as well if there's a demand for them. The meat and the rest of it—"
"There's no need," Seris said, scowling out into the removed skins, one hand rubbing furiously at her chin. Behind her eyes, Valens could almost see the gears turning and shifting in a manic rhythm. "These are good."
"You think?" Valens said.
"I think?" Seris turned to him. "No, I know it. Even the Journeyman Skinners have trouble dealing with a Saweyes. They're not particularly strong monsters, and they don't even have a Riftshard in their bodies, but their skin makes for a fine bowstrap if you know how to work it. This will sell right away."
"It just so happens that I need my cut delivered soon." Valens smiled, but not for the reasons Seris might think. His smile widened because he found it hard to believe how easy it was to make money in this world.
I'd like a mansion. A fine collection of tools, carpets, and chandeliers. A pair of horses for sunset riding. I never even tried the train line there in Haven's Reach. Wonder if they have the same service quality in the first class as we had in the Empire? If so, a little tour around the famous cities would serve me well.
"You'll get it," Seris said, voice rasping. Her eyes skirted to the back of the shop, and then she snapped her head back at Valens. "That trick… You used mana for that, right?"
"Right," Valens said.
"Do you have more?"
"More of what?"
"Mana," Seris said. "I'm talking about your mana pool. How many more can you handle?"
"Me?" Valens was taken aback, but under Seris's insistent eyes, he decided to give her a round number. "About a thousand more of those creatures, give or take."
"T-Thousand?" Seris's eyes widened round at him, fingers of her right hand shaking visibly. "A thousand?!"
"Two thousand if I were to push myself a little more," Valens muttered. He had barely used any mana during the skinning process since there was nothing for him to mend here. He just worked the Fleshthreads like a pair of painfully sharp needles, that was all.
"I have to go," Seris said just then, pointing a finger at him. "You just wait here. I'll go get as many as I can."
"Do your thing," Valens nodded. "I'll be waiting."
"Good," Seris muttered, and as she stormed out of the shop, Valens didn't even have the time to ask who would be attending to the shop when she was gone.
……..
When Valens joined the Golden Ward in Belgrave, his monthly pay was around a hundred Caligian crowns and some pocket change. The job included fighting the evil in all forms, securing a city of thousands, facing off against the various cults and their attempts at turning the scene into a twisted nightmare.
Not to mention the whole plot with that Evercrest woman. Granted, Valens played a part in that since it involved his Trial, but still, when Dreads and Terrors rushed out of that Gate, it had been the Templars who braved them to the best of their abilities.
Meanwhile here, skinning some dweller's corpse netted him a hefty profit depending on the demand for that particular creature's skin. In Saweyes' case, he would be getting forty crowns for every purchase, which came around nearly a thousand Caligian crowns for the day since Seris could only find a few more of those creatures.
There were others, of course, promised to him in the coming days, but earning a thousand crowns in a single day?
Valens was rich, and he was just starting.
On the way back he hummed like a giddy kid strolling across the streets, freer than ever, pockets full of Caligian notes, a wide smile refusing to leave his face. There would be a cheering and a change of inns, surely. A grand feast worthy of the occasion. Then, when he fed the members of his group and gave them some money to spend, he would be visiting the true jewels of the Ashen City.
The shops where they sold Cursed Artifacts aplenty.
I should have some tea when I get back, and I'd like to buy a bunch of clothes, too. Perhaps I'll take Selin with me tomorrow. She's been through a lot, and there's scarcely a better remedy for a troubled mind than going for a shopping spree. Yes. That decides it.
As the cobbled streets of the Second Ring gave way to narrower paths and lantern-lit alleys, Valens caught the first hints of music drifting through the air, some street performer strumming a lyrelute and singing about an old war that no one cared to remember.
He turned a corner, the warmth of the sun dipping into evening hues above the chimneys, casting elongated shadows across the buildings. When he reached the inn, Celme was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, watching two children toss a wooden ring between them across the street. She looked up as Valens approached, then blinked slowly.
"You've been gone for too long," she said, squinting as if trying to figure out what had changed.
"I've been productive," Valens replied, flashing her a grin. "Tell the others to get ready. We're eating well tonight."
..........