Might as Well

“So, how did the mean demon look, deary?”

“Tall, pretty menacing, skin like a demon, and dressed in a dark robe. So, typical demon-slash-cult behavior.”

The old woman on the other side of the desk tittered a little before asking another question.

“Any identifying mark?”

Sam shook his head. “Nothing that stood out. Their apprentice was more remarkable…”

“Oh? How did they look like?” came instantly the question.

Sam just sighed and gave an accurate description of the edgelord he had just fought.

“Thank you, deary,” the old woman said with a smile, then she turned back to her work.

Sam was a little taken aback. “That’s it?”

Now it was the old lady’s turn to look surprised. “Yes, dear. Thank you for your report. Was there anything that you want?”

He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of the situation. “Aren’t you worried about this demon? And I thought you would have me followed by somebody…”

The old lady looked at him, then raised a hand elegantly in front of her mouth and began to chortle. “Oh, honey… you are not that important,” came the unexpected, yet at the same time damning, response. “And not all demons are bad. We actually are in amicable relationships with some of them. And the rest… well, dear, we do have people for that. Rest assured, this one will be investigated, but that has nothing to do with you, young man.” She spoke, still chortling a little. “Why don’t you go and play with your little friends, hm?” she reached out and somehow patted his head.

While Sam sat there bewildered as the old lady petted his head, he suddenly found himself outside of the office, alone in the corridor.

He looked around, let out a disappointed sigh, and then headed for the library to check a few things.

At least with the report, his quest progressed…

[You successfully reported the presence of demons!]

Sitting in the library of Nowhere, a book about runes sitting in front of him, in a futile effort to figure out a sequence of runes that would have allowed him to break out of the spell that the demon cast if they met next time. And thanks to his genre-savvy and trope knowledge, he knew they would be meeting again.

‘Probably the system’s way of telling me I’m overreaching…’ he mused as he listlessly paged through the book. ‘Or maybe I’m just overthinking it and it was a coincidence? Though, I did stop some demonic activity…’

Shaking his head, trying to dislodge his thoughts about the situation, Sam brought up his notification screen and checked out the ‘gains’ from his little adventure.

[Mana Manipulation is now Level 56!]

[Mana Shield is now Level 96!]

[Mana Flux is now Level 1!]

[Mana Tempered Body is now Level 70!]

[Perception Filter is now Level 16!]

[Illusionary Mana Slash is now Level 1!]

[Mana Body Enhancement is now Level 94!]

[Mana Construct is now Level 36!]

[Wind Mana Manipulation is now Level 42!]

[Greater Wind Affinity is now Level 37!]

[Battle Meditation is now Level 31!]

[Improved Discernment is now Level 1!]

[Silent Casting is now Level 17!]

[Advanced Shadow Footwork is now Level 41!]

[Silent Shadow (Sword Mastery) is now level 31!]

[Shadowpoint is now Level 1!]

[Shadow Grace II is now Level 5!]

[Shadow Burst is now Level 1!]

[Shadow Mirage is now Level 31!]

[Shadow Shield II is now Level 15!]

[Shadow Cloud is now Level 16!]

[Greater Shadow Affinity is now Level 31!]

[The Way of the Forerunner is now Level 3!]

[Immersed Flow is now Level 1!]

[Surprise Strike is now Level 24!]

[Corruption Resistance is now Level 16!]

[Shadow Resistance is now Level 21!]

[Adaptive Coordination is now Level 14!]

A good list, but nothing to write home about. The Way of the Forerunner still stumped him, as he had never heard of a skill like that. And even the library in the Nowhere base did not provide any information about it. Apparently, he was really a forerunner, whatever that really meant.

However, amidst the lukewarm news was one shining light.

[Mana Disruption is now Level 10!]

[Your understanding of the mana has granted you two paths. Choose one!]

[You understand how to build up spells and constructs with mana, thus you know how to deconstruct them! You can gain the Mana Deconstruction skill!]

[Your control over your own mana, and skills within your sight, allows you to see even the smallest imperfection in the mana being weaved. You can gain the Mana Unraveling skill!]

It was a nice surprise that the game offered him the choice, but he had heard about Mana Unraveling, after an unfortunate occasion where a mage was accused of cheating. The backlash of the mage’s action was so strong that the company decided to reveal the base skill for the skill the mage used to accomplish what many deemed impossible.

Which was Mana Unraveling.

He couldn’t help but shiver in anticipation.

[You choose Mana Unraveling!]

[Mana Unraveling: Level 0/25 (0%) (Active) You can spot even the smallest imperfection in the weave of the mana. If your control is better than the one who wove the spell, then you can attack those imperfections and unravel the spell or magic in front of you.]

Naturally, if he tried to unravel a spell that was actively cast, then the opponent’s will, or rather mana control level, would be set against his, and that would add another layer to the fight. But if he tried to unravel a stationary ward that nobody was paying attention to, then it would only depend on him if he succeeded or not.

He could already see the possibilities… and the tears. Mostly the tears.

Closing the screen, he returned his attention to his book. A little rest, then he would take another gander at solving the warehouse issue.

The area where his fight took place was still the same when he returned. People were still lively and nothing alluded to the fact that a strong demon appeared there. Sam took a moment to take a look at the building, but aside from a few spots of blood, there was no trace of the fight or bodies.

‘Criminals are apparently highly efficient…’ he mused mirthfully as he took in the scene with his eyes and Mage Sight. But there was no trace of the demonic energy. ‘Shame. Not that I expected it would work…’

Wearing a face that nobody ever saw, dressed in clothing over his armor that he would be disposing of after this, he simply walked around the area, listening to the crowds and the people on the street. During his walk, he stopped next to an alley that had no people loitering nearby and while leaning against the wall he casually flicked a piece of silver into the darkness.

There was no landing sound.

“What do ya’ want?” came the squeaky voice. There was no ethereal sound to it, so Sam suspected he actually found one of the real orphans and not the fey masquerading as one.

“Halisin. Who does he hire?” he asked casually. Not loud and not whispering. After all, whispering was suspicious. Talking to himself was simply crazy.

There was a small sound of two coins rubbing together. Sam scowled and flicked a gold coin inside.

This time, he heard a small jump as the child got the coin.

“Ugly Mike.”

He took out another coin and, with a lazy movement, flicked toward the voice. “Where is he?”

“The Giggling Tuna.”

Sam stopped leaning against the wall, flicked one more coin inside, and left with a few parting words. “Spread the word: Halisin is wanted. Dead.”

He took a cursory look around to see if anybody paid attention to him, but it seemed everybody was interested in their own lives around the area.

Thankfully, he knew where the Giggling Tuna was.

Sam walked into the bar, ignoring the bustling crowd, women selling their affections and pickpockets plying their trade, and headed directly to the deeper part of the building, where he could see Ugly Mike sitting.

It was pretty easy to get a description from one of the pickpockets who tried to empty his purse. And Sam could say with one hundred percent certainty that the guy was not ugly. He wouldn’t be winning any beauty competitions, but he looked normal, if a little grumpy.

As he strode over eyes firmly locked on the man, one of the heavies standing guard, stood to stop him but a simple wave from Ugly Mike as he returned Sam’s look stopped him.

Sam walked over, took a chair, and set down across from the man.

“What do you want?” the man grunted, while his tablemates eyed him with murder in their eyes for his brashness. “I don’t shoot messengers, but don’t test my patience.”

“Halisin. You hire for him.”

“So what?”

“You sent out people.”

This time the criminal sat up, interested. “And they went missing, the bastards!”

“They aren’t missing,” Sam stated, and it took only a second for Ugly Mike to understand the implication.

“So they paid the blood price.”

Sam simply said nothing. The man spent a few seconds contemplating the issue, then returned his attention to Sam.

“What’s the message?”

Sam smiled grimly. “Halisin is wanted.”

“Dead?”

“Very.”

“Anything else?” the man grunted, and Sam could already see how he was planning to distance himself from Halisin. Not mentioning a bounty meant that it was personal, which meant highly skilled assassins. No two-bit criminal wanted to mess with that.

So, with a few words dropped, the problem would self-correct. Much easier than finding Halisin and convincing him to stop his attempts at hindering their company.

He shook his head and stood up. “Good luck!”

Turning around, he then left the establishment, leaving behind a pensive criminal.

“How is the guild?” Sam asked as he took a seat in the meeting room. After that unpleasantness in the capital, he had to return to Ironwood as they agreed that at least in the beginning they would hold the meetings in person.

Adam had several stacks of documents in front of him, and so did Lucy. Lara only had a few, but she looked exhausted. Tim looked as prim and proper as ever, sitting up straight and playing with his bowtie.

It was Adam who began. “People are streaming in, but Tim pegged almost half of that as surfers, the rest are mostly spies, noobs, and saboteurs.”

“It will need time before we can select the diamonds from the scum,” Lucy added with a grim look. Probably not looking forward to that task. Tim was the exact opposite.

“I have been leaking information about the guild vault to select people,” he began proudly. “But I also left out a lot of requirements. We can see who is complaining the most…” he finished with a rather sinister smile.

“That’s good for the surfers, but what about the spies?” Sam asked curiously. “Those usually have at least a modicum of patience…”

Tim nodded. “The plan is simple. We’ll organize the surfers in groups and send them after ‘priority targets’.”

“Which we’ll then leak…”

“Yes. Depending on who reacts, we can see who the spies work for.”

This time Lara spoke up. “That could hit our reputation hard if we lose a lot of fights.” She pointed out.

Tim’s smile was rather ferocious. “Just because we leak the info doesn’t mean we need to lose the confrontation…”

“Ahh… that could work.” She replied with a thoughtful look on her face.

“It could be a good chance to evaluate those who are deemed ‘diamonds’,” Sam advised.

Adam nodded. “Could work, but for now we’re still just organizing the people into squads and holding tryouts to get rid of the true chaff.”

Sam nodded again and hummed thoughtfully. “Any news of your ex-business partner?”

It was Adam’s turn to smile like a shark. “Thankfully, none whatsoever. The evidence you gave me was enough to turn the contract against him.”

“He is going to try to get revenge.” Lucy pointed out, not even looking up from her work.

Adam just scoffed. “Let him try. With Lara’s ideas, Tim’s spookery, and Lucy’s support, there is little he can do.” Then he turned to Sam with a bewildered look on his face. “How the hell did you get so much gold? RMT?”

Sam smiled mysteriously. “Pure talent.” He ignored Lucy’s scoff. “Got lucky a few times and invested it wisely.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t ‘luck’?” the giant man asked, putting quotation marks around the word with his fingers.

“You mean cheating?”

“Yeah… I don’t really want to mix up with something like that….”

“Heh, don’t worry. Everything was acquired legitimately, maybe a few idiots were harmed, but no puppy was kicked…”

Adam eyed Sam for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, I’ll accept that for now…”

Lucy took this small silence to speak up. “We still need to decide the first few targets for the guild. I recommend these locations…” As she talked, she spread a rather detailed map of the kingdom, or at least detailed around Ironwood.

The others leaned forward, and the discussion began in earnest.