Chapter 58: 57. A New Ally

Ratska agreed to follow me outside; he told me to wait until he brought his backpack.

I waited for him, and Frevel came closer to me and started a conversation.

“That kid is our tribe’s only hope,” he said as he sighed, “Treat him well, please. I hope he finds success in this guild of yours.”

I nodded without replying to Frevel; the old guard went away as he waved his hand at me.

So, Ratska’s success was delayed in my past life because he was reluctant to leave his tribe and family behind…

Suddenly, I heard the sound of water splashing repeatedly, and a little Gnome appeared from afar. He was running, and he panted when he arrived at my location.

He wore a full-body chainmail armor, and he had a leather helmet that only exposed his eyes. Two daggers were attached to his waist, and he held a small shield using his left arm.

“I hope I wasn’t late,” said Ratska as he struggled to catch his breath. His posture was stiff, and his arms were crossed. He tapped his right hand’s fingers on his left arm repeatedly.

“Nice outfit, but we’re not going to war,” I spoke as I shook my head, “The place we’re going to might be ugly, but there are no threats for you to worry about.”

“I am not strong; I have to prepare,” he mumbled as he followed me, “The outside world is dangerous from what I’ve seen, and there is no such thing as being over-prepared.”

The kid had a point considering the nature of his class, but he’s being paranoid; I told him that I had a Legendary grade class…

We walked as we spoke with one another; we were getting close to the manhole I used to enter the sewers.

“The surface is not as dangerous as you might think, and I’ll protect you in case something appears out of nowhere,” I replied, “I am not sure which creature wrecked the buildings on the surface, but he’s no longer roaming the streets. Besides, I haven’t seen any regular monsters on my way here.”

“I am not sure, man. When we arrived at this island, some giant beetles with spinning horns killed at least a dozen Gnomes from our tribe,” he said as he shook his head, “Furthermore, I hear consecutive stomps, and the sound of buildings breaking apart every single night. Sometimes, the ground vibrates due to the sheer mayhem happening on the surface. Living in these dirty tunnels might be uncomfortable, but it’s safe.”

Now, that’s interesting…

We reached the manhole at this point. I jumped out and gave the little Gnome a helping hand. He thanked me, and we resumed walking.

His posture was still stiff, and his arms were crossed. He was anxious, but I wasn’t sure whether he was afraid of me, or the monster found on the surface of the city.

Or maybe both?

We took a walk around the streets, or whatever remained out of them. Every building was wrecked, and the roads were filled with debris; broken concrete, glass shard, large blocks of concrete, and monster corpses.

The surroundings are ugly and messy, but I can’t do much about it.

I planned on getting to know my little friend better before explaining his job at my guild. I kept walking randomly around the place, and the brewer followed me.

Something appeared in my mind, so I asked Ratska about it.

“You mentioned hearing sounds at night,” I said, “Do you have any details on that? Is it related to the creature that destroyed this place?”

The little Gnome sighed, then he spoke after jumping over the remains of an unidentified corpse. It was rotten and stinky.

“I am not sure about that, but I’ve heard rumors from the tribesmen,” he replied, “Some of them believe that a giant humanoid monster comes out of the sea at night, and wreaks havoc. Even so, it was Zirk who spread those rumors; I wouldn’t believe anything said by that sleazy Gnome.”

I didn’t remember Japan being ruined in my past life; I knew about the countries that were destroyed when humanity was gone, and it wasn’t one of them.

Maybe someone fixed Japan before the rest of humanity went back? Or maybe I cause a strong butterfly effect?

I nodded, then stopped in my tracks. I noticed a certain silhouette moving on top of the debris from afar, but the only thing that I discerned was that it was a quadrupedal creature.

A Monster. This is the first living one that I’ve encountered in Japan…

I raised my hand in front of Ratska who’s been following me and motioned for him to halt.

“We might face some danger,” I said, “Brace yourself.”

“I told you that the surface was dangerous!” shouted the Gnome as he shivered, “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here…”

The little Gnome kept talking to himself, but I focused on the enemy ahead of us. It was close enough to be seen clearly at this point, and it increased its pace as it moved toward us.

It had the general shape of a lion but was gray. Its skin had a rough texture just like the surface of the concrete.

It had two green wings attached to its back, and they were folded as it walked toward us. They were dry and scaly, and each of them was big enough to cover one side of the creature’s torso.

It’s a Medulin…

“Close your eyes, Ratska, and face the other direction,” I blurted as I pointed the index finger of my right arm at the monster.

The little Gnome stood there confused, and his legs trembled. I pushed him lightly, and he woke up from his trance.

The Medulin was twenty meters away from us, and it let out a shrill. It opened both of its wings, and each one of them contained many eyeballs that stared straight at me.

I closed my eyes and used [Burn that Invader!] on the enemy. I opened my eyes when I heard the sizzling sound of flesh being burned by the flames.

The Medulin was laying on the ground, and it no longer moved. We moved closer toward it, and it had a large hole extending from its head to its butt.

“Well, that monster died quickly; You’re stronger than I thought,” noted Ratska as he stared at the corpse with wide eyes, “It’s a Medulin if I remember correctly. A monster capable of petrifying the onlookers.”

“Correct, as expected of you,” I said as I clapped, “You really deserve your reputation as an accomplished brewer of potions.”

“Ugh, I am not sure what reputation you’re talking about. People know me as Ratska the Illegal Citizen, the one who sells mundane potions to shady people,” he mumbled as he looked away, “Yes, I am an Illegal Citizen. It’s better, to be frank about it, instead of hiding it to get the job.”

Oh? So, he was an Illegal Citizen too? This explains a lot…

“It doesn’t matter much; It’s not wise to judge people’s abilities based on having a Soul Identity or not,” I said, “I am willing to hire you anyway, and your salary won’t be affected by this fact.”

“Oh,” he said as he giggled, then he stared at my face, “I expected you to lose interest in me once I revealed that secret of mine; I didn’t think I’d get this far. I am not sure whether you tolerate Illegal Citizens or you’re just pretending to, but this will make our conversations easier.”

His posture relaxed visibly, and he let his arms hang on his side.

He’s no longer anxious around me; I hope he’ll open up to me soon…

“I am glad you’re being honest,” I said.

“It’s the key to building trust,” he said as he shrugged, “Now, let’s get going. You’ve been standing next to that corpse for too long; it’ll disintegrate after a day or so.”

“Check this out,” I said as I grinned.

I used [Dismantle] on the corpse, and I obtained three items. They were the same as one another; Medulin’s Eyeballs.

[Medulin’s Eyeball]	(Uncommon) You are reading story System Dilemma at novel35.com
Some creatures can burn their enemies, and some of them can destroy their brains! However, Medulin’s aren’t like the rest. Their greatest power is their capacity to petrify their enemies. Be cautious around them; You might turn into a statue of yourself before you even realized it! -Can be used to create a potion with a petrification effect. -Can be transplanted.
Warning: Incompatible hosts will get severe hallucinations if they transplant this item.

 

“This explains how you have so many essences inside your bag of holding; these eyeballs are rather interesting too,” said Ratska as he rubbed his chin, “I’m even more excited to join your guild now.”

“As I told you, I can take care of resources,” I said as I grinned, “For your salary, I was thinking of five larger mana stones per month. Moreover, you’ll get five percent of the profits from selling any potion you made yourself, and two percent for the potions that your eventual assistants made.”

I didn’t know what Stella’s Way of The Champion guild offered him in my past life, but this was a good offer from an objective point of view.

“Five larger mana stones; that’s fifty thousand lesser ones!” he blurted, “Oh god! I might be able to save my tribe from poverty if you’ll give me that much for real. I’ll accept it before you change your mind; where’s the contract?”

“You’re not going to negotiate?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not! You’re giving me the chance to work with exotic items, and I’m getting paid very well to do my hobby!” he said as he clasped his hands, “What more can a man dream of?”

I am sure other guilds would offer him better deals down the line if they knew of his abilities…

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

“I haven’t prepared a contract yet; we’ll figure that out once the guild is being constructed,” I said, “Do you know where the closest System Trading Station is? I need to buy some items.”

“Oh, I can help you with that. I’ll lead the way from now on; it’s not that far away,” he added.

I nodded, then followed him. He took a left turn, then kept walking in that direction. I wasn’t sure how he knew the way to the Trading Station; he must’ve passed it by when he was still on the surface.

He walked with quick steps, but I was able to keep up with his pace easily.

Suddenly, he took out a small item from his backpack, and he showed it to me.

“I’ve found this item on my way to the secret hideout,” he said, “Do you know what this is? My intuition is telling me that it’s useful, but I can’t get it working.”

I received the item and held it in my hand. It had the shape of a slate, and both of its faces reflected the light. One of its sides had two buttons, and the other had one.

It was a smartphone; a modern one at that.

“We call this a smartphone, and it’s a useful item to have around,” I explained, “Almost every human had one of these before the system appeared, and many of them considered it indispensable. It improves the quality of life; you could use it to automate tasks, talk with people far away from you, search for obscure information, and even for leisure. Its benefits are endless, but humans wasted its potential on something we called ‘social media’.”

Suddenly, he interrupted me.

“Oh! Oh!” he shouted as he jumped in his place, “Turn it on! I’d like to take a look at it.”

I nodded, then pressed the power button constantly for many seconds. Nothing showed up on the screen, so I tried once more.

However, it refused to turn on.

“The battery’s dead; this means that this item is no longer charged, and it needs to be for it to work,” I said, “It’s in good shape, and we’ll get it working once we find a working power outlet and a suitable charger. Don’t worry about it; Technology will be revived when the majority of humans are back.”

I felt bad for the previous owner of this phone; I had to find a new phone for Ratska and return this one when I got a chance.

In my past life, technology was useful for the first couple of years after the system integration. People used it to share their findings about the system, and many new forums appeared.

I used to lurk around the forums to find a creative way of using my previous class, but I ended up amassing a lot of trivia instead.

I gave the little guy back the phone, and he treated it more delicately than before. He hid it in a separate pocket of his backpack.

Ratska’s shoulders slumped and he looked at the ground, but he nodded nonetheless. He must’ve been disappointed when he couldn’t take a look at the phone, but there was nothing that I could do in such a situation.

He kept walking, but his pace was slower than before. I knew that the journey would take too long.

He should just give me directions, and I’ll get us there in no time…

“Why don’t you tell me about its general location?” I proposed, “I’ll give you a piggyback, and we’ll get there quickly.”

“Hell no!” he shouted, “I don’t care much when others treat me like a child, but I can walk on my own!”

I chuckled at his reaction. I insisted, explaining that we would save time and effort if he relented.

It took some arguments, but he gave up after a while. He told me to keep going in the same direction that we’ve been headed.

He rode on my back, and I went ahead. We didn’t encounter any monsters on our way, and the whole area was filled with the buildings’ wreckage.

“There is something that I’ve been dying to ask you about,” said Ratska, “You’re wearing a crown and a cape; Are you from a royal family? Or do those items have incredible effects?”

“The second choice,” I replied with a smirk, “Their effects aren’t groundbreaking, but having them on doesn’t inconvenience me at all. Besides, I find them stylish.”

He nodded, then went silent for a while. I was curious about the reason behind this guy’s expertise in potions; It was one of humanity’s most talked about secrets in my past life.

I could’ve bought information about him secretly as he was within my line of sight, but I asked him directly instead.

If he refuses to answer, then I’ll use the system shop anyway…

“Can you tell me more about your class? I am curious about the reason behind your proficiency with potions.” I said.

#

Special shoutout to:

chris

GenericKane

Water Dragon

Bladesunder

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