Logan’s head felt incredibly sore, much worse than any time he may have had a door slam into it or getting a slap across his cheek from someone in an intense moment. The punishment dealt by Kreya had knocked the fear back into him from living in this new world, each new person he met brought new realisations about how close he comes to death every day. Almost being cut up by Darius, knocked unconscious by the bandits at the inn, and inches away from a slit throat with Dena.

No new quests came his way through the System, only an adventuring task enforced by Kreya and by extension her team. All Logan needed was another lead, a path to take that would remove him from a place that could end his existence with a single choice, or just for daring to live at all. He had books to read, places to visit, he could possibly find something there, but life finds a way to delay.

Talking with Marcus, Logan understood that Kreya was more than likely a professionally trained adventurer, whereas the bandits he had faced thus far were brought up in actual combat. Experience gained from a master covers more holes in your ability than that of fighting in the streets. If he had the time, Logan would have jumped at the chance to learn from a school or tutor to fight better, even if a Wizard would be a weird sparring partner.

The removal of Vokka’s blessing meant he had a major source of prowess removed, even if a portion stayed with him through muscle memory. For now, he would have to increase his skill via practice and hardship, after Kreya’s mission was done the pair would improve their bodies and minds with the money they had earned, all the while investigating oracles. But that was to come, now they had to prepare for the day ahead.

The walk to the guardhouse took a good 20 minutes or so, there were several in the capital but only the one held within it bounties, to help consolidate missions and adventurers. Logan was caressed to full health, though his ego would be bruised for some time to come. The guardhouse was a tall stone building, similar to a keep or small castle. While it was also long, it seemed the beginning areas were for public use and the further back sections for prison cells.

Opening up the iron reinforced wooden doors, Logan and Marcus stepped into a wide hall, a good 50 feet wide that went on for 60 feet until a tall wall blocked their sight and passage. Tables and chairs were set up in this entrance hall, though no one was around aside from a staff member sitting at a dark-brown wooden counter. Sitting atop the counter was a pipe with faint billowing smoke coming from it.

Approaching the staff member, Logan saw him to be in his 40s, sitting at around 5’10” the man had a good amount of muscle on his upper body. Wrinkles dotted his forehead alongside patches of whiter skin, though he mostly had a milk-chocolate complexion. His hair was greying and mostly swept back to his neck and kept behind his ears. Looking up, the man took his pipe and took a long inhale, exhaling out a minty mist he addressed the pair.

“Welcome, sirs, this is the Gerro Guardhouse, your faces are new to me and I don’t often get people coming in here. Your clothing and weapons tell a story of adventuring, so are you here to inquire about our services?” he asked with a direct tone that had a bit of phlegm at the end of it. His eyes were as tired and dull as his hair had become in his mid-life.

Logan’s mind wandered as he became curious, commanding within his head as he usually did, “Identify.”

Before his skill finished, the man in front of him twitched all over as if retaliation, his eyes going wide in anger and defence against Logan. A glint of gold appeared over the man’s irises as a sharp invisible jolt was sent into Logan’s mind. Grabbing his head reflexively, Logan took a step back.

“Certainly new to the city, I offered no invitation or consent to your detection magic. Try that again and your eyes will be forfeit”, the man warned with bared teeth. He had a wave of sharp anger to him, but a hint of understanding was shown underneath.

Recoiling from the riposte, Logan stood up straight once more. “Sorry, sir, this is the first anyone has seen me use it and I had no warnings before”, Logan’s words were sincere as he realised the threat may have not been idle, his vision blurred yet again today.

“Magi are too curious for their own good, many have had the death penalty for such intrusions. Keep your magic to yourself and you’ll find no quarrel here.”

“I sincerely apologise, I have not been around larger settlements, the rules are new to me.”

The man looked Logan over for a while, his eyes tired yet wise, as if seeking to find a lie within Logan’s tone it appeared he found none. Sitting up straighter in his chair, the man opened a nearby drawer and pulled out a small booklet. Holding it loosely between a thumb and finger, he offered it to Logan.

“A quarter-man would do well to know the laws of those he speaks to, lest he finds himself quartered.”

Taking the booklet, Logan saw it to be a small rule and law book, not exactly dedicated to Gauntlet but covering a wide area of the land. “I shall do my best to read this and avoid any more illegal activities”, Logan replied respectfully.

“Good, now, do you have an answer to my beginning question? What is your purpose within Gerro?”

“We recently signed up with the G-Hall, our previous one was attacked by goblins, and on the road here we took down a bounty we’d like to turn in, please, sir?” Logan laid out, questioning the man’s name.

“That spell is rather difficult to pull off without any words, so you must be adept. Find the bounty on the board and bring it to me. I am Jirango by the way”, the man replied, pointing to a wooden board on the western wall that was lined with parchment bounties.

“Thanks, Jirango. I’m Logan and this is Marcus”, Logan replied, waving to his ally behind him.

“Nice to meet you, Jirango. I hope we can provide you with plenty of assistance.”

“And you, Marcus. It’d be a great sight indeed. Locking up or taking down these people will make the world a safer place to stroll indeed.”

“We have plans for tomorrow, but if we happen by any more bounties I am sure we’ll take care of them”, Marcus continued as Logan went to inspect the board.

“Our list of hunters is rather low, you signing up will put it back over twenty.”

“Is that due to retirement or migrating elsewhere?”

“Retirement of two sorts. Hunting isn’t for everyone, as having to fight another classed means a tougher fight, especially if they are a counter for your skills. Many give it a few days before quitting to do normal adventurer work. Those’d be the lucky ones though, quite a few get taken down by their marks. Skills and spells turn the tide oh so easily.”

“That they do, our fights with other people have been closer than our fights with monsters I’d say”, Marcus replied, reminiscing the most recent encounters.

“Might be easier for casters, if you know sleeping or incapacitation magics you can deal with foes without slaughter.”

“A fair point, Logan does have the Sleep spell.”

As Marcus and Jirango spoke to one another, Logan had made his way to the bounty board and had spent some time inspecting it. Clenched fists and teeth showed his anger directly, followed by an exclaimed, “What the fuck.”

Turning to his friend, Marcus jogged a bit to get closer. Looking over the large wooden board revealed it to contain countless pieces of parchment pinned to it. Bounties ranging from a few silver to several gold, single targets to whole gangs, arrests to assassinations. Logan’s mind saw something else, however, with Identification neatly laying out the bounties and removing any repeated or completed quests that had yet to be cleaned up.

57 Bounties were currently active on the board, almost all for the subjugation of murderers. A few missions were given to apprehend some thieves and the like, but there were so many known killers that it made Logan’s stomach sick with rage. “In a world where people have over 10 levels above another, why are so many just left to do as they please?” he ruminated in his head.

Shockingly, a lot of the bounties featured people of levels as low as 2 to the low 10s, higher than that was impossible to identify, though some did note adventurer rank for those that had gone rogue. After seeing the rosters of level 20 and above adventurers at the G-Hall, it wouldn’t take more than a week to clear off this board, so why didn’t they? Was it because a lot of the murders featured classless? Or the robberies aimed at merchants and the like?

“First it was discrimination against mages, now it’s just a whole divide between those with power and those without. It isn’t their fault their mouths weren’t filled with gold at birth”, Logan’s mind was ablaze with even more hatred. His eyes darted amongst the parchment and the windows popping up from identifying them, his quest log was getting full of markers for the criminals.

“Fine. If they won’t lift a finger, I’ll lift a whole hand!” he thought to himself as he grabbed at and tore the wanted poster for Dena Mor from the board.

“Logan?” Marcus asked as his ally stormed past him, fury in his eyes.

Placing the contract on the counter, Logan followed up by placing his bag on it too, picking out the weapons and books that belonged to Dena. Jirango seemed like he was going to begin speaking about the contract as if he didn’t believe that Logan had taken her down, but was silenced when he saw the blades and books placed before him.

“Haunt's End, Assassin Dagger, a few ledgers, and 13 books. That should be everything she had that you wanted”, Logan listed out directly.

Glancing over the items, Jirango now stood above them as he picked out a book at a time. “Those are her weapons alright, the first was stolen from a blacksmith not too long ago so it’s easily identifiable. Books all looked to be locked too, good thing, the trader who lost them will be happy at their profits not dipping as much”, Jirango spoke as he continued to inspect the wares.

Slinging his bag back over his shoulders, Logan nodded at Jirango’s words. “She had some friends too, but I dealt with those.”

“Amazing work, that’s a quickcaster master for you. Sadly we can’t pay for her group, the bounty was just for her, but I’ll see if we can get some lodging for you tonight”, Jirango replied with a shocked tone. Moving all the items from the right to the left, as if he were a worker at a till, he finished inspecting the wares.

Waving his arm to the side, Jirango motioned Logan to step onto a small circle next to the counter. The circle had several etchings and lines carved into the flooring though it was entirely dark.

“We just need to do a truth test to make sure no foul play is at hand, normal procedure.”

“Ok”, Logan accepted as he stepped onto the circle.

As he did so, Jirango started to chant as he moved a dial embedded in the desk. The circle beneath Logan’s feet lit up a dazzling yellow as lines of magic shot upwards and coated him in golden chains. He wasn’t constricted in any way and seemed entirely cosmetic.

“Can you say that without a doubt that Dena Mor is dead and cannot be revived?” Jirango asked.

Logan’s head was buzzing a bit but he felt fine otherwise, until he began to speak. Instead of his normal words, others came out, “Yes, I have killed Dena Mor and made sure her body cannot be revived.”

Jirango made a quick motion with the dial and the lights immediately faded from Logan and the circle. Sweat started to bead down his forehead as Logan moved away from the circle and to the centre of the counter’s customer side.

“Alright, that’s everything in order. Here’s you pay, 2 gold coins, if you hand me your signet I can update it for you.”

Logan was still reeling from the truth magic, but took the coins and handed his signet over. “That was intense, couldn’t stop the words coming out as soon as I opened my mouth. I’ll have to be wary of those circles”, he thought to himself.

“Thank you for your work, head to the Meek Moat Inn, you should get free bed and board tonight if all goes well. Give a read to that rules book I gave you and make sure all other hunter contracts are completed to the letter. If all goes well, we should see a lot of each other”, Jirango explained to the pair almost as if he was going to be busy with file work.

Jirango placed another booklet into Logan’s hand, another rules book aimed at teaching new hunters about how to conduct themselves. Shaking each other’s hands, they all went their separate ways. For all the time spent in the Gerro Guardhouse, no other people were seen going in or out, which was the same sight as the pair left the building.

“Marcus, I need to talk to you. Mind if we head somewhere?” Logan requested as he turned to his ally.

“Oh, sure. I saw a sign for a nearby park we could sit at.”

“That’ll work.”

Following the signs, Logan and Marcus found their way to a nearby park. Bountiful grass, tall trees, and flowing streams painted a lovely picture for afternoon breaks or walks. People went about walking their pets or playing with their children. Sitting at a bench, Logan turned to his friend.

“I know our main aim in coming here was to find oracles. But a lot has come up on the journey here. Monsters that adventurers aren’t especially concerned with, ill-equipped adventuring parties, mage discrimination, speciesism to non-humans, and the literally ‘class’ divide between classed and classless. At the very end we even have the lack of hunters keeping the general populace safe from other members”, Logan began explaining.

“The list has certainly grown since we started, the capital has exacerbated these issues due to the increased population I’d say”, Marcus agreed.

“Yeah, our original goal may need to be revised. I doubt we’ll be able to change the world as easily as we thought. The range of ranks also puts a damper on my powers, we can’t help everyone right now. With the adventurers focused on creatures, I am thinking we’d be better suited to dealing with all the current hunter contracts. I wanted to make sure you’d be fine with that.”

“Another Vokka declaration?”

“No, just a personal gripe I have with people not seeing justice for their actions. Their gear is a better reward than what we get from quests too.”

“Well, I am fine going after criminals. As long as I can provide some help in the matter.”

“Unless Vokka interrupts us again, you should be able to aid in most of them. Others I may need to do it solo to better take advantage of my skills. On those occasions, you could read tomes or train? I am sure there are a few schools to improve your marksmanship or use of that staff.”

“A fine idea, I was planning on spending some of my share on honing my skills.”

“We’ll have to see where everything leads us. I’ll have to look over the bounties after our forced quest tomorrow. For today, it’d probably be better if we read what tomes we can to prepare for whatever mission awaits us.”

“I wish Kreya gave us a better indication as to what we would be doing, though she did seem out-of-sorts after the duel”, Marcus pondered aloud.

“Can’t change it now. Let’s head to that inn Jirango mentioned, maybe spend the rest of the day in the room.”

The pair continued their conversation for a few moments after Logan suggested hitting the inn for the rest of the day. A few plans were made to what they would do before the mission, alongside any additional purchases. Logan’s mind continued to be wracked with too many thoughts, one of them a prevalent image that flashed in and out, the repeated fading of a red brake light of a ruined car.

The Meek Moat Inn wasn’t too dissimilar to the others, a large sign out front did note that all races were allowed including a phrase “Vampires, you are permitted entry” with a red symbol that looked like a combination of a “Y” and “K”. Logan could only guess that it was special to allow vampires entrance without any hassle. While the establishment did have large glass windows, the interior featured thick black curtains that one could only assume blocked the sunlight in the case of the aforementioned guests.

Moving inside revealed little in the way of customers, a few humans enjoying a midday meal and a saeber reading a book by the roaring fireplace. Logan couldn’t help but look at the saeber longer than the humans, seeing the sabertooth-like animal laying down like a big cat yet reading a book like a civilized person.

Reaching the counter, they were greeted by a female gashriek, her violet eyes lit up her darker ridged skin beautifully. Moving her long blond hair behind her ear she began to speak, “Welcome, Logan and Marcus I presume?” she said as she looked at the signet dangling from Logan’s neck.

“Yes, I take it Jirango had sent word already?”

“That he has. I was expecting you later tonight, but a private room has been set up for both of you. We’re always happy to aid hunters”, the woman spoke with a joyful tone alongside a smile.

Moving under the counter, the woman pulled out two sets of keys with a small paper note attached to each with the number three written on them. After handing over the keys, the woman opened up a large ledger next to her to write down, what the pair assumed, were notes about the people staying at the inn.

“If you need anything feel free to call on me, my name is Yetveka. We do have other staff members like cleaners and cooks, but most requests go through me.”

“Are you the owner of this inn?” Logan inquired.

“Oh no, this inn is owned by Sir Raiyn, I am just the manager”, Yetveka replied with a chuckle.

“Oh, alright then. We may call for some food to be sent to the room, we’ll probably retire for the day and take some leisure time.”

“We can do so, our cooks are on hand most hours of the day so feel free to do so.”

Finishing their quick conversation, Logan and Marcus left to the staircase behind the counter and to the right. Getting to the 1st floor, the pair were easily able to find their room marked with the number three on it. Aside from their room, they could spot several bathrooms to use, storage closets, alongside several other rooms and more stairs.

Unlocking and entering into their room, the duo were happy to see it better furnished as well as roomier than Ada’s Respite. Setting down their bags, taking off their sheathed weapons, they were both able to rest after a lot of walking after their assessments. With many hours left to the day, the rest would be spent in calming reading sessions. But what books would be best to prioritise?

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