Chapter 66: 65. Shadow Renegade

Am I being ambushed again? Oh no, Ratska is alone in the hotel!

I looked around, raising my arms to guard myself in case of a physical confrontation. I expected the creature that appeared next to me to be one of the three ‘heroes’, but his physical features weren’t those of a human.

Skinny, but disproportionally tall. An imposing body that was covered in pitch black scales, ending with a long tail that moved around erratically. His clothes were the only humanoid thing about him; a pink Hawaiian shirt that was covered in colorful patterns, and a pair of green shorts.

He stared at me with his gray eyes; his vertical pupils reminded me of many tough lizards that I faced in my past life.

Rauchlim? What is he doing here?

The Lizardfolk stood two meters away from me, and we maintained eye contact. His hands were behind his head, and he was grinning.

“Hello, Jason,” he spoke as he smiled, “As I told you yesterday, I am always keeping an eye on you. Are you looking for a guide in this town? I can help.”

I still didn’t trust this mysterious messenger, so I kept my fists raised in front of my face. His abrupt appearance was a testimony to his power, and his class must’ve specialized in stealth.

“What’s the purpose of this sudden visit?” I asked him, “You said that you’d pick us up when it’s time for the meeting, and it’s too early for that. Besides, the surroundings are too silent for my taste; do you know anything about that?”

I suspected that this whole ordeal was him testing my strength, to see whether he could neutralize me in case I became aggressive during the meeting with the chief.

He rolled his eyes, tilted his eye, and smirked. His tail started moving faster than before; it was a sign of agitation for Lizardfolks.

Stella and her friends are trying to kill me for a stupid reason, and Lizardfolks are aggressive creatures by default; People aren’t giving me rest at all…

Suddenly, Rauchlim’s tail stopped moving and he spoke.

“No need to act like that. Wouldn’t it be better if we got to know each other? You’re strong, and I can be useful,” he said as he turned away from me and started walking, “I can take you to the System Trading Station if you’re unsure of the way there.”

He knows about my destination, and he’s avoiding my question about the reason behind the lack of Lizardfolks in this area…

“Oh, I am sorry about that,” I was about to speak, but he interrupted me, “I was eavesdropping on you before you came out of the inn. Anyway, I’ll show you the most important parts of our city as we walk toward your destination.”

He had a smirk on his face as he turned toward me, and started walking slowly.

I sighed and pretended to be deep in thought. I examined the Lizardfolk secretly and bought extra information about him from the shop.

I was startled by the information that I obtained. He had a level of one hundred and twenty, and his class was even more amazing. Its grade was epic, and it was called [Shadow Renegade].

Detailed information on the class cost me eight thousand shop points; it was expensive, but information on a potential foe would always be useful. It was a variant of the assassin class, with strong stealth, a short-distance teleport that cost nothing, and had no countdown.

The strongest offensive skill of that class was one called [Carotid Snatch]. It allowed the user to kill his enemy in one shot, provided that he landed a direct attack on the foe’s neck while still being in stealth.

It must’ve been costly for the chief to bring such an individual during the first immigration wave…

The current Earth was still a newly integrated planet, one that didn’t go through any breakouts since its integration into the system. As a result, the Intergalactic Systematic Union prevented overtly powerful individuals from entering the planet unless they had connections or paid a pricey fee.

“You’re rather strong, aren’t you? A Shadow Renegade on Earth; it must’ve been quite expensive for you to visit our lovely planet,” I said with a grin, causing Rauchlim to stop in his tracks and squint his eyes, “Lead the way to the Station; I have some questions about the chief of the town anyway.”

Rauchlim stared at me for a couple of seconds, before he motioned for me to follow him as he walked. He put both hands behind his head and spoke.

“We thought your class was purely offensive; I am surprised that you can identify people,” he said, “I am also sorry for my colleagues’ impudence; it’s among our customs to identify visitors who enter our city. Akeniska is interested in the purpose behind your visit, and to be frank, that’s the reason why she ordered me to follow you around.”

Akeniska… She must be the chief of this town…

I decided to tell him about the superficial reason behind my visit and save the real one until I met Akeniska.

I wonder how they’ll react…

“Oh, you should’ve said so from the beginning,” I said as I laughed, “Let’s say a foreign race visits a planet, then they start stealing a resource without a permit. What would be the reaction of the native residents of the said planet?”

“As we expected…,” he muttered as he lowered his hand and put them inside his pocket, then he turned toward me, “I am sorry, Jason, but I’ll have to cut our conversation short. I have orders to relay such information as soon as I discover it, but you don’t need to worry about this. We can solve the inconvenience amicably.”

“Sure,” I spoke with a grin, “I am anticipating the meeting with your chief; send her my regards.”

He nodded, then disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

It’s that teleporting skill again…

I was wondering whether they’d try to kill me during the meeting, or try to bribe me. Nonetheless, I didn’t care much about the Mythril itself or the potential bribe that they’d offer to buy my silence, as it wasn’t the real reason behind my visit.

I hope the negotiations go smoothly… For now, I’ll buy the items needed from the System Trading Station.

I walked for a while according to Quaya’s instructions, and I soon found the cubic building that I’d been seeking.

I entered the building, and it looked as clean and glossy as it usually did. Chloe and I had a friendly conversation, then I spoke with the other clerk that looked similar to Chloe.

She said that her name was Brittney, and spoke similarly to her colleague. She offered me two million tutorial points for my thermal suit, but I declined her offer politely. She insisted on buying my Legendary grade suit, so I took my leave and said goodbye to her. Then, I went back to Chloe’s counter and bought the items that Ratska needed.

The whole transaction cost me eight hundred thousand tutorial points, which was a lot considering the consumable nature of these items. I knew that this transaction wouldn’t be the last of its kind and that I’d have to repeatedly buy the same items until the Gnome’s success rate became one hundred percent.

Not to mention that I’ll have to repeat the investment for every potion recipe; Sigh…

Nevertheless, I was sure of the Gnome’s success regardless of the initial cost of the project.

I left the System Trading Station after bidding farewell to the two clerks, then I went back to the inn that I’d been staying at. It was around seven in the morning at that point, and many Lizardfolks roamed the streets.

Most of them looked at me for less than a second before ignoring me. However, some of them kept staring at me as I passed through, and they didn’t break eye contact whenever I looked at one of them.

Weird…

I shrugged and kept walking, and I reached the inn after a short while.

I pushed the door open and saw Quaya and Ratska sitting around a table. The owner of the inn seemed amused as she listened to the Gnome, and he ate a loaf of bread as he spoke to the lady.

They noticed me as soon as I entered the building, and they greeted me and invited me to join their table. I sat on the empty seat next to Ratska, and he offered me a small portion of bread.

“You should try this bread!” said Ratska, “It’s one of the best ones that I’ve ever eaten. I didn’t expect Lizardfolks to have such bread, as I expected their delicacies to be meat-based.”

Quaya jabbed his left shoulder lightly with her right fist, and the piece of bread fell from his hand.

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“That’s cheeky,” she said, “We’re not the savages that you imagine us to be. Certainly, we hate dealing with people of the other races, and that’s mainly due to their prejudices.”

Then, she turned toward me.

“Ratska told me about the fight you had before you visited our town,” she spoke, “Actually, I’ve been interested in hearing more about your adventures during the tutorial.”

“Sure, I’ll tell you everything when I have time,” I said with a smile, “For now, there is something we need to do. I’ll borrow Ratska for a while; you too can resume your conversation in the evening or tomorrow.

“Of course,” she replied, “I hope our facility meets your expectations; I’d appreciate some advertising later on if you’re happy with our services. I can offer you mana stones, or even some exotic treasures if you’d like.”

“We can discuss this later today, if you have the time,” I waved at her, then dragged Ratska along with me as we ascended the stairs.

He stared at me for a moment, then back at Quaya. He raised an eyebrow, then spoke.

“Why the hurry, man? It’s so early in the morning, and I was having a good time.”

“I have already bought the items that you requested; you can start brewing potions once we’re inside my room. I’ll watch over you for the rest of today.”

“Why are you so hasty? Did I do something that pissed you off?” the Gnome asked, “Don’t worry about the story that I told Quaya about; I omitted the part where your legs got amputated. You can calm down.”

How the hell did he come to that conclusion?

“No…Just, No,” I said as I dragged him; we were five meters away from my room, “There is a strong Lizardfolk in this town, and he might be able to kill you if I left you alone for longer than necessary.”

“I don’t think he would risk killing me, considering the possible consequences,” he mumbled, “Anyway, it’s better to finish the potions early, then I’ll be able to spend some time with Quaya later on.”

“Good,” I said, then I put my hand on my room’s door.

The door opened wide, and I entered while motioning for the Gnome to follow me.

I laid the new items that I bought on the bedroom floor, and I handled the flasks with care to avoid breaking them accidentally. I organized everything into different piles, then I put fifty Troll’s essences of each kind on the bed.

The Gnome opened his eyes and mouth and walked around the room holding the items and staring at them. He looked at each item for a while, but the items that he was infatuated the most with were the essences.

“This should be everything; you can organize the room however you like,” I noted, “You have nine hours to make as many permanent potions as you could. I’ll stay in the room’s corner and practice a certain skill of mine.”

“All right, I’ll start immediately,” he answered absent-mindedly, “Just to warn you, I might scream excitedly if the potions succeed despite the low success rate, so don’t worry about that.”

“It’s okay. If you need more essences, just ask me and I’ll give them to you. Don’t worry about anything dangerous happening to you, as I’ll be able to detect all intruders,” I spoke, “See you after a couple of hours.”

I waved my hand, sat on the ground next to the corner closest to the door, and closed my eyes. I decided to spend these hours doing something productive, and my priority was to increase my capacity to control ambient mana without needing the system’s assistance.

I focused on the thick fog of mana around me and tried to control a droplet of mana. However, I couldn’t even influence its course as it moved around.

I tried the same method for a while, but I made no progress. Suddenly, a system screen appeared in front of me. I could read it with my eyes closed, but such a thing was normal for the system.

[System Admin]:

Don’t focus on a small part; try controlling the whole instead. Think of it as a cloudy sky. You won’t be able to change the weather unless you controlled a substantial number of clouds.

 

I’ll try it that way…

I silently thanked Loki for his advice, then focused back on the surroundings. I tried controlling strands of mana, but it didn’t work. Every time, I increased the volume of mana that I tried to control.

When I tried to control all the mana inside a room, I felt a ripple going through the thick fog. It wasn’t something that I induced intentionally, but it was the first time that I influenced mana in any meaningful way.

Suddenly, I felt something touching my right arm.

I opened my eyes, and it was Ratska looking at me. He had bags under his brown eyes, and his face seemed skinnier than before. His dark brown hair was disheveled, and he breathed heavily. However, he had a wide smile on his face.

“Do you want more Troll’s essences?” I asked.

“I am done, and I’ve done better than I expected,” he spoke, “I have about twelve permanent Vitality potions and ten Magic ones. The success rate of each potion type is about fifty-five percent right now. I can brew more if you’d like, but I think this is enough for what you have in mind.”

Then, he spoke about the technicalities, and how his current brewing set was holding him back. However, I didn’t understand such details, so I didn’t pay him much attention and nodded absent-mindedly.

I still can’t believe it; there was no way that nine hours passed so quickly… Either I had been hyper-focused on the task, or time went by faster when the person practiced mana control.

I checked the time, and it was four o’clock in the afternoon; Rauchlim should be arriving soon.

I stood up and stretched my arms. I thanked Ratska for his efforts, told him that I’d pay him once we finished our negotiations with this place’s chief, and gave him two potions of each type as a gift.

I put all the remaining flasks and consumable items inside my storage ring. There were no remaining essences on the bed, but I still stored their vials in case I needed them in the future.

“You did good, Ratska. I’ll take care of the rest,” I said as I pulled my cape and crown out of the storage ring, and put them on. I went out of the room and descended the stairs.

“Why are you equipping the cape and crown now of all times?” asked Ratska as he followed me.

“We’re going to meet this city’s chief, and she’ll try to pamper us with bribes and gifts to leave her alone,” I said, “However, you have to assert your dominance in such a situation. I like wearing my crown and cape, and I don’t care whether Akeniska found my outfit disrespectful or not.”

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Special shoutout to:

chris

GenericKane

Water Dragon

Bladesunder

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