Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Melo

Overall, Melo was satisfied with his decision to become a mercenary trainee. The debt was a pain, but the knowledge and experience gained made it worth it. Especially for someone like him who wasn’t just joining for fun or because he felt like it.

Of his teammates, only Konial was like that. He sought thrills, and occasionally made stupid decisions in the process of obtaining them.

Shae was similar, but she showed more restraint. And part of the reason she was working so hard was to help her sister. Melo could respect that. In that regard, his situation was a little similar.

He was close with his cousin, and when his uncle had run off, leaving his son responsible for the massive debt, Melo had been incredibly frustrated at being unable to help. Becoming a mercenary would give him opportunities to make more money than a safer job would.

Shae had been understandably depressed when they’d first met, though had mostly come out of it now. The thought of being ripped away from his cousin terrified him. Not to mention that she had never needed to worry about monster attacks before.

Tria was good to work with, but seemed a little lost. Melo hadn’t asked why she had chosen to become a mercenary, but it wouldn’t surprise him if she had just wandered in one day and signed up on a whim.

He felt that Zena had the best attitude out of everyone, including himself, though her lacking magical offensive power was a little disappointing. Her detection and minor healing abilities made up for that, though.

Due to that, she was more suited for more drawn-out battles. She didn’t have any magic attacks, but because she could heal herself, she could take more damage. She could even sense where an attack was coming from as long as it was at least partially mana-based.

That made Shae a good sparring partner for her, despite her lower level. The woman was mostly physical. Zena could sense where Shae was from her mana, but her attacks themselves didn’t often have much mana in them.

And Shae was catching up to everyone, too. The highest among them right now was Konial, at Level 66. Even with Konial’s level also increasing as they trained, Shae had managed to nearly halve the distance between them.

Levels weren’t everything, though. There were plenty of people in the lower hundreds who had hardly fought anything at all in their lives.

Melo’s training and classes were done for the day, so he left the Center. He spent nearly all his free time doing odd jobs to earn more money.

His cousin was being worked to death to make up for his father’s mistakes, but it was all still technically legal. It was one of many things that were all too common in the Gortrand Plains.

Unfortunately, being so far away, Melo couldn’t be sure that any money he sent wouldn’t be “misplaced”, so he kept it all in his savings for now. At least he could still send letters to his cousin while he worked to pay off both his own debt and his cousin’s.

In Marlonn, there were designated places in the city where anyone looking for temporary work could go, and then people who needed employees for only a short time would collect someone.

Didn’t Shae mention something similar? When I mentioned what I do outside of training, she said something like, “ri tale”. It was some kind of soul-sucking work she had done in the past.

Melo stopped walking.

I’ve been working myself to death. If I don’t take some time off, I’ll probably make a mistake at a crucial moment.

He decided to go to the Center’s library to read something.

I’m sorry, Broch. If I don’t take some time for myself to live, I’ll never help you do the same.

 

———

 

Tria

Melo had left the Center to work, and Konial had gone off to a tavern somewhere. The man loved to drink and get involved in stupid things.

He’s at least smart enough to not bother any of us with it, though. Most of the time, anyway.

Another reason he went to go drinking on his own was probably that no one else on the team was interested.

Tria didn’t care for drinking. It didn’t magically make her have more fun somehow. Instead, it just made her feel annoyed at how her mind and body weren’t responding how they normally should.

The others did drink a little, though Shae was avoiding it for the time being. Still, for them, it was just an occasional thing, not a way of life.

Maybe I don’t like drinking because I used to take lostleaf?

She didn’t mind that other people drank, it was just something she wanted no part in.

Lostleaf is a small leaf that, when placed on the tongue, causes a person to hyperfocus and be filled with energy for around an hour. It wasn’t very addictive, but the effect was so intense that it was impossible to do anything but one task, and usually in a rushed way.

It was called lostleaf because of the effect of getting completely lost in a task. “Lost to the world”, in a sense. Anyone who took it couldn’t be brought out of their task at all. Even if they were pulled out of it, their mind would remain in it. They just kept on trying to continue. And the crash afterward would knock someone out for several hours.

The paintings Tria had made while high on lostleaf were full of detail, but had a manic energy to them. She didn’t like them that much, and the effects were too much of a pain to deal with. She never would’ve even tried it in the past if it had had an addiction effect on top of everything else.

She wished the others on her team were more creative. She loved painting as a hobby, and she was certain it was one of the reasons she had become a light mage.

She had yet to admit to anyone that she spent far too much time admiring the way her skin and hair sparkled. She also had yet to admit that the reason she had become a mercenary was that, if she improved her light magic, she would probably improve her painting skill, too.

Not to mention all the places they might travel to and things they might see that would give her plenty of subject material to work with.

Zena and Shae were likely still in the building somewhere. They had been spending a lot of time together lately. Tria envied their friendship, but didn’t really know what to talk about with them.

The only thing she was really interested in was art. She had run into trouble more than a few times in the past since it seemed that art was all she could talk about.

Whatever, I’ll go for it. I’m in a new city, so maybe I can make some new friends?

She went in search of the two other women on her team.

 

———

 

Zena

With training over for the day, Zena and Shae returned to their rooms to grab a change of clothes and then shower. Tria probably went for a shower, too, and Melo and Konial probably hadn’t bothered, as they were both likely to be sweaty soon again anyway.

When she was done with hers, she returned to her room. Her leg had been bothering her lately, so it was time to get help. She left again to see if Shae was done with her shower.

She raised her first to knock on her door, but it was opened before she could do so.

“Oh, I was just coming out,” the tall woman said in surprise.

“Could I get your help with something?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“We need to go to my room first.”

Shae followed her back, and Zena began pulling down her pants.

“Uh…”

Zena blushed. “That’s not what I meant!” She pulled her pants past her thigh, and her prosthetic leg became visible.

“This!” Zena exclaimed, pointing at her leg. “I need to adjust it and that’s easier to do with another set of hands.”

“Oh, okay. Wait, you have a prosthetic!?”

Zena narrowed her eyes at her, “Yes. Is that a problem?”

“Oh, not at all. I’m just surprised, since no prosthetic limb I’ve seen before can move so fluidly. Earth’s weren’t quite there yet, I don’t think. And I can say for certain that none of them could handle combat like what you’re capable of. I couldn’t tell at all.”

She relaxed. “Sorry. Some people judge me and make assumptions about my capabilities because of my leg. It’s why I wear pants all the time.”

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“Yeah, I can imagine. How does it move?”

“I channel my mana through the enchantments in it, and that allows me to move it just like my flesh leg. They also allow me to actually feel it to an extent, so I know if it’s been struck, or if it’s hot or cold in some places, things like that.”

“That’s really cool. So what did you need my help with?”

“The muscle mass I’ve gained recently has changed how my leg fits in the socket. Now it sits differently and is under higher pressure in some spots.
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“What I need you to do is hold it steady while I stand up. I’m going to loosen the socket and then slowly tighten it again. I’ll have to walk around and test it out a few times to get it right.”

“Alright.”

Shae kneeled to hold Zena’s leg steady, and watched in fascination as Zena tinkered with a few parts of it to adjust it.

I’m in my panties, but she’s only looking at my leg, and not in a disgusting way, either. And I know she prefers women.

Zena chuckled.

“What is it?” Shae asked, looking up at her.

“You’re amusing is all.”

“Okay?” she replied with her head tilted.

Wow…

“Would it be weird for you if I said you’re cute?”

She shrugged. “Not really. I even agree with you.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I genuinely think I look really good. I don’t hate this body. It just didn’t feel like it was my body before. Now, it’s… I guess I would say I just sort of exist, and it doesn’t occur to me anymore that this isn’t the body I was born with?”

“As long as you’re fine. I went through something a little similar with my leg. I don’t mind it now, but I used to look at it with disdain. I was angry and depressed about having to use a prosthetic, and it didn’t feel like it was really my leg.
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“Like I said, though, it’s not an issue anymore.”

After walking around and refitting a few times, they were finally done. Zena would probably still have to make some small additional adjustments here and there, but the bulk of the work had been finished already.

Zena asked, “Were you going to study again?”

Shae shrugged and replied, “I was planning on it, but I think I’ve studied enough for a break from it if you want to do something instead.”

“How about we go somewhere to eat, then? My treat.”

She smiled. “Sounds good.”

As they were leaving the Center Tria found them. She called out, “Hey! Can I spend time with you two?”

Zena and Shae both looked at each other and shrugged. “Sure, why not? Did you have something in mind?”

“Uh, no. I just want to try being actual friends with my teammates.”

“We were just about to go eat. Does that sound good? You would have to pay for your own food, though.”

Shae looked at Zena with a look of mild surprise.

She chuckled and explained, “I already offered to pay for yours and I’m not going to take it back. I’m not made of money, though, so I would only pay for you.”

Tria said, “That’s fine. Wait, do I have enough to go out to eat…?”

Shae asked, “Why wouldn’t you have enough?”

“I bought a special paint I wanted to try out. Its base is the bones of a lizard subspecies that live near volcanoes and other hot places. The pigment is normal, but it’s the thickness of the paint that I want to see. It’s thick, and supposedly slightly chunky.”

“Oh, you paint?”

“Yeah! It’s why I became a mercenary!”

“What?”

Zena added, “I’m confused.”

Tria clarified, “I-It’s because I’ll get to travel and see a lot of stuff. A-And… And high-level light mages can see colors other people can’t.”

Shae replied, “Oh, I see. I’m not judging you, I just didn’t know how that related. That’s really cool.”

Tria gaped at her.

“What?”

“All I can talk about is art! I’ve been keeping it a secret because I always push people away because it’s all I care about! I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me!”

“No no, I won’t hate you, I promise. You remind me of my sister, actually. Drawing is her special interest.”

“I want to meet her!”

Shae chuckled awkwardly. “One day…”

“O-Oh, right… Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Do you still want to get something to eat?”

“Yes! And tell me about what art on Earth is like! I’ve been dying to know.”

“Yeah, sure. Come to think of it, I wonder if there’s anything like a tablet here…”

A voice interrupted from beside them. “Can I come with?”

Zena said, “Oh, Melo. I don’t mind, but weren’t you going to work?”

“Decided to take today off. I was heading for the library and passed by right at the mention of food.”

“Alright. Is Konial around here somewhere, too? Might as well try to get everyone.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m sure he’s already brawling in some random tavern.”

Shae noted, “We have no idea what places he likes to go to, other than that there are many. Might not even be a tavern.”

Zena reminded, “I might be able to find him with my Skill. I know he’s a Level 66 lightning mage, so I just have to search for that. I say we walk around a bit and see if we can find him. If not, then oh well.”

“Sounds good.”

The nearly-complete team had to walk through several streets before finally finding the man. He was wrestling with someone on the floor while people cheered. He lost and had to pay for the man’s next drink.

When they invited him to go out with them, he just shrugged and said, “Alright. I was losing too much anyway.”

He had only been a little tipsy when they found him, so they didn’t have to drag around a wasted idiot.

After returning to the Center so the two men could take quick showers, they finally went to grab some food.