I spent my time at work going over the notes and was really happy to find I could download the book into a file out here.

At midnight I was free from work so I went home and took another bath and jumped in bed and fell asleep. I know that a proper real world sleep is important but I set the alarm for 6 am since it will be the start of a new day in the game.

So I collapsed letting my fatigue take over and shut my eyes.

That night I had a strange dream I vaguely remember. There was a swarm of bugs spinning around me and I was smiling as I waved a strange staff with a long blade at the other end commanding them.

I was smiling while waving the staff around and finally aimed and waved the staff at something only to have the bugs swarm attack it then attack me. Just as it reached me my alarm went off making me up.

…

“Damn, what the fuck kind of dream was that?” I mutter as I hold my forehead that was aching a bit.

After a few breaths I sat up and looked into the dark room.

“Lights…”

On my command the room's lights went on. Let me say that I hate the dark. I can sleep in it since I don't actually see darkness in my dreams but once I wake up. I have a morbid fear of darkness due to childhood problems, my elder brother stuffed me in a closet and locked me in. Yes I'm claustrophobic as well but it has to be really tight spaces with no windows. Cars and such aren’t a problem unless they have tinted windows that are too hard to see through.

With the lights on I could properly see in my room clearly now.

I get up and go downstairs and make breakfast for myself. Living in such a big house really sucks. The emptiness is suffocating but any other place would be too small to hold my collection.

Eating my breakfast, which was nothing more than coffee, a sandwich with mayo, a handmade meat patty made from minced bull meat with garlic and some bacon, I head upstairs and take a morning bath and get in some clean clothes.

I then put on the VR glasses and opened the menu.

I looked through the settings and then I found the alarm. I set it up to ring at 11:30 and at 17:00. With that set I lay down and log right in.

Moments later I appeared where I was standing before, in front of Thomas’s desk. He looks up at me surprised to see me suddenly appear.

I looked around and outside seeing the sun still rising meaning it was around 6 am.

“Morning Thomas.” I said turning to him.

“Good morning, good to see you back.” He says.

“Are the books on the herbs still around?” I asked.

“Yes but I stored them away because there is something I need from you.” Thomas said.

I squinted my eyes since he was bribing me to work for the books I needed. “What?”

“I’m sure you know that the bug problem has been a constant problem recently. What I will ask is a way to buy time really.” He said in a neutral tone.

I nod and calm down a bit though still annoyed.

“So, what exactly do I need to do?”

“There are several ways the bugs grow within the city. About ⅓ of them are born in water but the rest of them plant the eggs inside dead caracasses. In simple terms, the job is to enter the slum area and clear out some of the dead bodies there. Most are rat corpses but there may be stray dogs and cats as well. There are a few bugs that are poisonous and rats eat bugs and end up dying from these and other bugs take advantage to increase the population.” Thomas said.

SubQuest:

Corpse Cleaning

The city of Yggdras is currently infested with bugs. ⅔ of these bugs breed by placing their eggs in the corpses of animals letting the larva eat and grow from them. To buy more time for you to research a way to kill off the bugs you must clear out a number of bodies.

This work will also help improve sanitation in the city while you do this. (This quest can be done repeatedly)

Difficulty:

F

Reward:

150 exp, Right to continue researching

Failure:

None

Success:

Gather and Dispose of 0/100 bodies of any kind

“So if I don't help clean the city I can't keep researching.” I said.

“Precisely.” The old man said smugly.

“Dirty old man! You’re trying to take advantage of me to work for you.” I said pissed off.

“Of course I am, but if you want to keep researching the work you do in the place of the day you lack while away will be made up with this.” He said.

“So I still get my daily pay if I do this mission?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“This work is much harder than arranging books, not to mention I could catch the bugs disease as well as that which is stuck on the decaying corpses.” I said.

“You are correct so in that case I will double the pay for this day for you to actively do this job.”

“If you provide a cart for me to transport the corpses then you have a deal.” I said.

The elder nodded and we shook hands.

You have succeeded in haggling and will gain extra rewards for this quest.

SubQuest:

Corpse Cleaning

The city of Yggdras is currently infested with bugs. ⅔ of these bugs breed by placing their eggs in the corpses of animals letting the larva eat and grow from them. To buy more time for you to research a way to kill off the bugs you must clear out a number of bodies.

This work will also help improve sanitation in the city while you do this. (This quest will be repeated every 4 days)

Difficulty:

F

Reward:

150 exp, Right to continue researching, 40 c

Failure:

None

Success:

Gather and Dispose of 0/100 bodies of any kind

You have gained new skill

Haggling

Basic Level 1

Haggling is the main weapon for a Merchant. Their battles are done by feverous negotiations between both parties that are trying to get the best deal from each other.

0.5% improved chance to get a monumental deal in your favor.

You can get up to 7% more on your goods when haggling to sell and can reduce prices by the same margin.

You will have less chance of annoying the other party when haggling.

You can improve the reward of quests as long as you are on equal terms with the quest giver and give proper reasons. Reward increase is random and can be from 1% - 15% increase.

“Wow, what a useful skill. Thinking about it, I have had to negotiate on several occasions to gain more funds for my research so knowing even a bit to get a merchant specific skill isn’t unheard of.” I thought, “Okay, then where can I get a cart for this?” I asked.

“Come, follow me.” Thomas says, getting up while grabbing his staff we walked out of the library.

We walked away from the keep in the center of the town and headed towards the south gate for a few blocks before stopping in front of a large building that took up nearly half of the block and most of the land next to the main road.

“This is the merchant’s guild, as you can see they have plenty of uses for carts, come.” Thomas says.

The building was 3 stories high but inside I felt like I was in a department store. The three floors were open with several large pillars holding the building up while huge shelves held all the merchandise. To transport all the heavy stuff there were many carts and to lift it all the workers used magic to lift it up. If it was too heavy it was normally kept near the bottom but even then there was stuff that needed two or three mages to lift it together or it wouldn’t budge.

Thomas led me near the back and knocked on the door with a ‘Branch Manager’.

After a while it opened up and a chubby but fit man appeared. He had a large gut but the man’s arms were almost as thick as my thighs which made me swallow hard wondering how much force would be behind a punch from those meaty boulders he calls fists.

Walking in behind Thomas, we sat on the chairs in front of the large desk filled with papers.

“So Thomas, what pleasure do I owe for you to show your wrinkled old mug around here?” The man asked.

“Can it, Max, I would like to purchase a hand cart for this young man for him to do a job for me.” he replied.

He looked me over and his left brow lifted up a bit.

“Can he even pull a lightweight cart with that scrawny figure of his? What is going to be the job specifically?” he asked.

“I need to go around the slums to pick up animal corpses to keep the number of bugs from growing so quickly. Also who is he?” I asked Thomas.

“He is the Branch manager of this Merchant guild, Maximillion Grandov.” Thomas says introducing the man. “This is Droso, Max.” Thomas says introducing me to the bulky man.

“Ho~! So someone finally took the initiative to solve this blasted problem. Good to meet yah kid but I think you will have trouble with this. You are weak for sure. Not to mention pulling the cart, I think you will be able to barely pull 20 rats.” he says.

“They are rats, they can’t be that big right?” I asked.

“Each rat is about 40 cm long and weighs about 3 kilos each.” Thomas said nonchalantly.

I looked at him a moment blinking at the blunt response he gave me.

“WAH!! Are you serious!? They are almost monster sized!” I said almost shouting.

“They aren’t even close to monster sized, those are normal rats, try going into the sewers once and you will see what true monster rats are like.” Max said.

“A true monster rat is from a meter to a meter and half long and weighs about from 70 to 100 kilos. Further down in the deeper levels of the sewers there are even larger ones.” Thomas says.

“And why the hell don’t you clean it out?” I asked.

“We do but the number is too large. It’s been regarded as a low level dungeon and we even use it to train our guard recruits since the monsters there are above level 15.” Max says.

I paled while hearing the level.

“Let us return to the topic please.” Thomas says. “Now, I don’t care if he gathers them in tens, he will build strength just like anyone else given time so don’t worry about it.” Thomas explains.

“If it’s like that then it’s fine. I can sell him a small hand cart for 10 s. For this job and even some normal trading it can be useful.” Max explains.

“I will pay but the extra payment I promised before will be deducted until the sum is made up, which takes 500 times you do that job, or you pay the difference.” Thomas said.

I worked the numbers quickly in my head. 10 silver coins is 1,000 copper, divided by 20 copper that would be deducted then it would take 50 times I do this job. If I kept the 20 extra I would get 160 c per week and would in total get 760 c per month which would take a bit over a month to gather enough to buy the cart completely and own it as my own. If I let him take the 160 during the month I am stuck here it would lower what I need to pay to 840, then minus 600 I get per month leaving 240. Since I need money for myself I would probably have to work longer.

“As long as there are no taxes that raise the price above the 10s you pay then I agree.” I say.

“The boy is smart, that was some scary fast calculation you did boy.” Max said.

“Thanks, I live off exact numbers so I can’t really be bad with them.” I say.

He nods and looks at Thomas who nods. The elder takes out ten silver coins and hands them over to the manager and the bulky man hands Thomas a paper.

You have been given temporary ownership of a small handcart. Until you pay off the debt of 10 silver coins, 1,000 copper coins, it will remain in the ownership of Thomas Magi.

“I guess that is done, please lead us to the cart you spoke of.” Thomas said.

“Right this way.” Max says as he gets up and walks around the table leading us out the door. We walked towards the front and started looking around until we stopped at a newish wooden cart that was small compared to all the others. “This one is yours now, the cloth cover comes with the cart, it's best you cover what you have so it comes with it.”

“Thank you.” I said and gave a slight nod to him.

"I guess that is all, I shall return to the library where you can find me." Thomas says.

"Wait! What do I do with the bodies?" I asked.

"On the west side of town, the walls extend further because it was recently covered by the walls. It is protected farmland so you can simply find a safe spot to unload and burn the bodies. Don't bury them or it will contaminate the land and may even let the rats return as undead." Thomas says and pulls out a small book that gives off a very soft glow. "This spell book holds the spell for ember. It's only barely considered a spell and is the lowest level fire spell existent. Learn it and then you can start up a fire using that." Thomas said.

I take the book and thank both men for their help.

They both leave and I lean up against the cart I gained.

"Okay, if I remember right, to learn spells and skills I say... "Learn spell"". As soon as I say that the book in my hand burst into white particles that entered my body.

Ember

Basic Level 1

Ember is the lowest ranked spell in the entire fire magic system. Once the spell is cast, the user makes a small flame the size of a candle light. It has low luminance and can only be used to light flames or fireplaces.

Cost 2 mp, 2 mp/m to maintain

"So it really is nothing more than a match light huh. Still useful, once I can get the cooking skill I will definitely be able to make use of this and I can also create the other spells from the fire system after understanding how this simple spell works." I mutter to myself.

I point a finger and say ‘Ember’. I feel the pull on my mana which felt foreign as if something new was in my body.

It travelled to my fingertip and moments later a small fire appeared in front of my finger.

"Hm, small but useful, also that feeling of mana moving was interesting." I said and let the flame die and tried to replicate that feeling.

It was hard but I eventually nudged the mana and made it move a bit towards my finger but I couldn't focus enough to succeed in a noisy place like this.

I let out a sigh as I stood up completely and walked in front of the cart. After removing the small triangle shaped wheel blocks and tossing them inside the cart I drag it away with the slums as my destination.

I can understand now why Max said I would have a hard time even if it has wheels it is still heavy and hard to pull. Looking at the people that pulled it effortlessly with large cargos on it I couldn't help feel some admiration for them.

It took me ten minutes to reach the main road in the slums which are the outer blocks near the walls.

There were far less carts around here but not like it was void of them. It's just that the rats are said to be in alleyways but each one I look into had some kind of thug or thief. Though I didn't have gear, I had coins even though it's very little.

I swallow hard as I look into the next alley and resign myself to enter since there wasn't a way around the thugs.

Turning into it I walked seven steps before a group of thugs appeared.

"Oi oi, look wat we got ere. A newbie wit a cart. Tem things hard ta get." One thug said.

Then a man with a hood walked forward with his dagger out.

"Hand all your stuff over and we may let you go alive, that includes the cart." The thief said

"That ain't how you do it's like this." One man said and pushed the thief. "Leave your shite or die newbie."

"Let me just say this, you should ‘F.O.C.U.S.!’” I said nonchalantly.

They all froze hearing me trying to understand but suddenly the thief that was pushed started chuckling.

"What's funny?!" The big one that pushed him said.

"I-it’s what he said. "F.O.C.U.S." Means, ‘F’uck ‘O’f ‘C’ause ‘U’'re ‘S’tupid!"

As soon as the thief explained it everyone started laughing at the joke. Everyone but the man in front of me.

He looked at me with murderous intent in his eyes.

"Give me one VERY good reason not to kill you!" He said spitting in rage.

"I was given a job to pick up the bodies of animals to try and decrease the number of bugs being born." I said pointing to the rats that littered the alleyways.

They all froze though some moved to swat away some annoying flies that got to close.

"Sir, I think it’s a good idea to let him leave. If he cleans up the rats, we get it cleaned without paying some hobo and he does his job." The thief says.

The ‘boss’ was the man that pushed the thief. The thief in question seemed to be a player since he spoke and thought more rationally.

The thief boss pulled out a small coin and tossed it to me. Looking at it, I saw it was more of a badge than a coin.

"Wear that and no one will get in your way in the slums while you work. As long as you're cleaning this shit hole and have that badge you won't get attacked by us or other gangs as long as you tell them what you're doing." The ‘boss’ explained in a normal way of speaking which meant everything before was an act.

I nod understanding while I look at the badge. It was simple, a shield shaped badge with a coin purse in the middle and two daggers behind it in a cross.

On the back was a thin needle which was for me to use to attach it.

I put it on and all the bandits left with a nod.

I pulled the cart into the alleyway more and stopped as the putrid smell of rotting corpses grew stronger.

All around were rats, dead rats. All over them were maggots and larvae crawling on them trying to eat as fast as possible to beat the competition in the fight for survival.

Though a normal person would have probably vomited, I didn't because I was way too used to this scene to care. Thinking back only the first twenty times I saw a corpse in this state did I puke but after that I got used to it since raising healthy bugs for my collection needs the larvae, I had to search for them at the source.

Since many were half eaten already it was simple to gather the bodies.

I wasn't gathering the maggots either so with a simple well aimed kick sent the bodies flying right into my cart.

Considering each rat half eaten weighs maybe 1 kilo I gather twenty rats and test the weight. The cart was heavy already but not impossible so I added five more before leaving after covering the bodies.

I walked slowly through the streets with people clearing the way since the smell of rotting flesh was heavy around me.

I didn't go all the way to the west area. I asked people if there was any space near here besides outside the wall that had at least 10 meters of open space.

I found it near one of the watchtowers. It was mostly empty and not many people walked around. The same with guards though the walls had many of them.

I uncover the cart and dump all the bodies.

It didn't take more than a minute for the guards to come and ask what I was doing. I explained in detail out of fear of going to jail but on the contrary...

"Oh great someone to deal with this problem… oh it seems even a thieves group passed you a badge to safely travel in the alleys. Anyway, we will provide a blanket to cover the bodies, gather how as many you can and gather them here and we will set them ablaze in a confined barrier. We will set up a temporary barrier here and in a few spots near the guard towers as drop zones. Even if the king insists no one wants to take the job of gathering the dead and dead people are buried by gravekeeper's but they don't do animals." The guards said.

I was actually amazed at how open people were to helping for this problem. Maybe it was a bigger problem than I thought.

I thanked him for the help and unload the remaining bodies into the pile. A few more guards appeared after the first entered the tower and they held a large cover. They throw it over the pile to cover the stench.

I return to the same alley as before and gather more bodies. Though I only need 100 bodies, seeing the ally I could clearly see 100 was a bare minimum of the true scale of the problem.

I worked for three hours and cleaned the alleyway of bodies, there were several dog and cat bodies mixed in as well. In the end I ended up gathering 879 from a single alley.

The pile turned into a hill by the time I finished gathering the final load and it made me sweat cold seeing how large the problem is. If this entire town was filled with so many corpses no wonder the bugs were spreading so fast. It's not a joke to say that the laziness to clear the streets would cause the downfall of this city.

As I had gathered several guards had spread a flammable liquid through the pile every time I unloaded. The pile was saturated with this liquid which would burn intensely.

Finally twelve mages set up a barrier around the hill of rotting corpses and one sent a fireball at the pile.

In an instant the ball hit and rapidly began spreading. Smoke began rising and passed through the barrier but the contamination and germs remained because of the barrier.

The flame grew rapidly to an amazing heat as it rapidly ate into everything in the pile. While I watched it burn I heard a strange comment from behind me.

"Hope no maggots survive these burnings, might give it resistance to flames and may even birth a new variant or even monster." Someone said.

I turn around and see two men talking. They were two adventurer NPC I think and when they noticed me turning around they focused on me.

“Need something?” The one on the left asked.

“You said something about a variant or something being born or becoming a monster?” I asked.

“Aye, variant is a term we use for any animal or monster that is born after suffering a trauma and gaining something unique. Take a Red wasp for example, if a larva from that demonic bug survived this fire it would either turn into a Flame Sting Wasp or a Hell Killer Wasp. The latter is a monster that grows as big as a rat while the former would be about 6 cm. It also depends on how much it eats before going through its growth phase. This is for every monster but this is an example for bugs.” the man said.

“Aye, I've lost count of how many times some idiot burnt a bug hive impromptuly and not completely burning the place. If even one survived with the unique trait it could change the entire hive over time.” The man on the right said.

I was quiet for a while and thanked them for the information. It was really impressive actually, I felt it would be important later on.

I looked at the giant flames before my eyes moved to the base of the flames.

“If there was any place they would survive then it’s near the bottom.” I mutter too quietly to be heard.

After a while I turn and grab my hand cart and leave and head towards the library.

Reaching the door Thomas was already waiting.

“Good job, seems you finally noticed the true problem on what we are facing, if you had only gathered 100 bodies I would have kicked you out of the library indefinitely until the entire city was clean.” He said.

I frowned when he said that. Then he pulled out a single coin and tossed it my way.

I caught it as it fell my way and when I looked I saw a single silver coin.

“That is your pay for doing the job properly, every four days you will clear a single alleyway completely, fine with you.”

“Yeah… but let me ask, are there books about monster bugs here as well?”

“No, we have books on monsters depending on the region, this area has books on bugs of this region because we are near a tropical forest so it’s abundant in them and needed categorizing but besides specific areas you won’t find many.”

I nod understanding. The dream from last night flashes for a moment and I think about asking.

“Hey, I wanted to know, can bugs be controlled?” I asked.

“Yes, like any other animal and monster, you need the taming skill. From there you just tame it as you please and do as you like with it.” Thomas said. “Now, there is a stable on the side, leave your cart there then come back here so I can lead you to a bath because you smell utterly horrible.”

I chuckle at his comment at the obvious. I take the cart and leave it at the stable while breathing a sigh of relief.

I then remember that there were several notifications I pushed aside since I was busy. I bring them up with a thought.

You have gained Str +1

You have gained Str +1

You have gained Str +1

So physical work gives me extra stat points. It may be bad to overexert myself so when the number of points I get starts lowering I will start running and try to get some agility with the effort.

Seeing how I didn’t have much else to do except plan my future, I head back to Thomas who leads me to a bath which I enjoy wholeheartedly.

Afterward, I was given my herb books again until it was time for me to work at night.