The adventurers let out a breath of relief as the last of the monsters was felled. They knew Lusus naturae were somewhat tricky to deal with, but they hadn’t expected such a close fight. With the cumulated number of monsters facing them, the group had been on the verge of being overtaken. If Edward hadn’t come back to get their attention The long-range users would have been torn into pieces. Without them as support, Edward would have been unable to deal with so many monsters at the same time. Only Charles would have been able to survive the fight thanks to his armor. But even then, he would have run the risk of being pushed down, it would have been over if he tripped and the monsters managed to get on top of him.

“We almost died.” Aquamarine let out, shaken by the fight.

“In the end, aren’t we all alive and well, with all the monsters kill by our hands?” Brian asked rhetorically.

“The winds were telling tales of imminent demise, them or ours. It could have flow in either direction.” Norte answered him as if he was speaking of ordinary weather and not about the possibility of him dying.

“We had a good tactic, but I wasn’t expecting such numbers. This is rather unordinary for such a big pack to form.” Charles added.

For Edward, it wasn’t his first fight where the issue had been uncertain. It wasn’t particularly pleasing to think he could have died, and yet, walking on the razor-thin edge between death and victory was having its own thrill. Edward was appreciating more and more the fights where he had to push himself to his limit. This was a fast way to progress since he had to struggle at his best, often discovering new innovative ways to use his powers. And on top of the practice, there was of course the reward offered by the monsters’ blood.

“So, how should we divide the spoils?” he asked gesturing to the monsters’ corpses whose blood was quickly flowing out.

There was a moment of silence as the attention of the group focused on this question.

“It will take too much time to check who killed who. I suggest that we simply count their number and divide the bodies equally among ourselves.” Charles proposed.

Not willing to let the blood go to waste while they were discussing what to do, the group quickly agreed to Charles’ suggestion. The next half an hour was spent absorbing the monster’s blood before it could slide away and before its power could dissipate. In total, they had defeated thirty-seven monsters, which mean everybody had seven bodies to absorb power from with two mores to share. Since some bodies were in a pretty bad shape, having been cleaved in two from the water and wind attacks, it was decided that they would be given to the long-range users as compensation.

Edward used his dagger alongside his aura to be more effective. The Lusus naturea were having a decent amount of power, not as much as a Bloodmaw but a lot more than a Teleportcrow. All in all, it was a decent increase in strength. Edward could feel himself growing closer to the next level. Already after fighting the Bloodmaws, he had realized that the range of his aura and teleportation had increased compared to when he first entered the awaken level.

I’m not too clear about what are the levels after the awaken one, I should try to find more information. Since I’m residing in a town, I’m sure they must have a library or an equivalent where I can find such information.

When everyone had absorbed the monsters’ power, the group prepared to leave back toward Gobéliard. The mood was lighter compared to the morning when they were tensed by the fight to come. Now, the hard part was over, and instead, they were talking about the contract’s reward and what they would do with the money.

“It was mentioned on the contract that the reward was one gold coin. It would make twenty silvers coins per person. However, taking into account the size of the monster pack we killed, if we complain about it to the guild, I’m confident they can pressure the contract provider to increase the reward.” Brian told them.

“Agreed. This is not a contract that could have been taken by a group of fewer than five adventurers. The price should be increased accordingly.” Charles added.

At least twenty silvers coins for a day of work. Not bad. This is more than a whole guard pay for a month back in Agripin. But then again, the cost of living must be higher in a city. And this contract was rather intensive. It also depends on the contracts, most of the protection contracts pay a lot less than that from what I have seen.

I will probably separate from the group after tonight. But they seem to know each other’s well, so they may take on further contracts together. While they are with me, I should ask them for sparring matches. When they were surprised about my teleportation power, I realize that adventurers’ powers heavily reflect the powers of the local monsters. By familiarizing myself with the way they fight, it could help me a lot in dealing with the monsters living in that region.

I can still take on solo contracts after that, it doesn’t engage me in anything if I stay with them a little longer.

He asked separately for sparring matches with Charles, Norte, and Aquamarine. Since Aquamarine and Brian had the same power, he didn’t ask for a sparring match with the latter. Anyway, with his personality, he would gladly avoid spending time with him if he could. Since Edward was the one asking for sparring matches, he offer to pay them and to take charge of the reservation cost for the arena. He still had enough money, not to be struggling with such expanses.

Aquamarine and Norte went with the flow and accepted his offer, but although Charles gladly approved of a sparring match, he refused to get paid for it. “Sparring matches work both ways. I will be sparring with you as much as you are sparring with me. And it will be a first for me to face someone with a teleportation power, whereas you can find a lot of different individuals with accelerating powers around here. I wouldn’t feel right accepting your money when I’m gaining more than you in the exchange.” He told Edward.

Brian glared at him since he was the only one whom Edward hadn’t asked for a sparring match. “I bet he is just afraid to lose against me.” He muttered low enough to be ignored, but not enough not to be heard by the members of the group.

Since everybody accepted the sparring matches, they agreed to meet back together in the evening of the next day. Edward would tell them which period of time he had managed to book for the arena. In the end, it was decided that Brian would come as well, he could spar with other members of the group while Edward was recuperating between two fights. Since he didn’t have to deal with him personally, and since it would create a rift with the others if he continued to push the matter, Edward accepted this proposal.

Once they reached the adventurer guild, Brian stepped out to declare that the contract had been fulfilled, but that they were asking to increase the reward due to the unexpected number of monsters. The guild receptionist handled the situation with effective professionalism. She first told them that an employee would be sent to check on the situation and that lying could result in harsh penalties, going as far as banning individuals from taking contracts. After this statement, and since the group didn’t change their declaration, she directly gave them the reward including an increase of fifty silver coins. She explained, that as the guild could pressurize and put sanctions on adventurers, it could do exactly the same on clients.

If a client deliberately lied about a contract, underestimating the dangers and not willing to increase the rewards, he could also be banned from posting contracts in the guild. Sure, it was less penalizing than for adventurers at the first glance since a monster-related accident didn’t happen every day. However, one had to think about the long term, at one point such an incident was bound to happen. And if the one having the problem wasn’t able to display his case at the guild, he could easily lose everything he had.

Thanks to the reward increase, they got thirty silver coins per person. They celebrated by ordering some low-alcohol drinks at the counter. The guild had seen the business opportunity and was also providing the same services as an ordinary inn. After all, they already had the customer base, and in the case of successful hunts, adventurers were prone to celebrate, thus giving back part of what they earned directly to the guild.

Later in the evening, Edward left to go back to his own inn, they had all agreed to meet back the next day to learn the date for the arena reservation.

On the next day, Edward woke up early, took his breakfast directly at the inn, and left for the arena. The closest free spot to reserve the arena was in three days only. Gobéliard was a sizeable town, and even without special events the arena was still popular for sparring matches or to resolve a dispute. Edward didn’t have much choice in the matter, but he wasn’t particularly pressed by time so that didn’t bother him. He reserved the spot and left after asking for the library’s direction.

The library looked like any other building, except it was larger. Edward entered and stopped in front of the secretary. He was an old man, with graying hair with spectacles on his nose to help him see more clearly. From his aura, Edward could tell that he was an ordinary citizen. Behind him, books were ordered in neat rows. At the end of the room, he could see stairs leading to the next floor, the library extending on different levels. Edward approached the man.

“Good morning, I’m new around here. How does the library work? Do I have to register somewhere?” he asked.

The man looked at him “Good morning. Yes naturally, it would be too easy if knowledge was offered for free.” He told him, as Edward was wondering if the man was complaining about having to pay to access knowledge or if he was complaining about Edward not wanting to pay to access the library.

“The fee is about one silver if you want to stay for one hour. Or five silvers if you want to register for the month, if you are not of passage, I suggest you pay for the month it will be easier for you.”

Edward registered for the month since he wanted to do some research and since he was having enough savings. “Could you tell me what is the organization system? It would help me in my search.” He asked.

“Of course, the tomes are organized by content first, and then by authors. The themes are inscribed on top of the bookshelves. I’m sure you will find what you are searching for, we have quite the collection.” He told him proudly.