“Do you think it’s wise to take on such a burden?” K asked after ten minutes of silence.

We were making our way across the rest of the village towards the only place where I haven’t been to yet. I assumed the slave market and the member of the city council were located there. I wasn’t expecting to have a reason to head in this direction so soon, but it was necessary. You can’t save them all right now. I told myself. The thought of slavery was getting my blood boiling, but I wasn’t about to lose my cool just yet. Snap later when you kill them all. Focus on scoping out the targets for now.

“Well, all it did was speed up the process. But more hands means more work getting done, so it’s not a total waste. It’s just a matter of how we get it done,” I explained. I was also confused as to why K’s speech had suddenly gotten better. There was no way in hell he was this good at talking yesterday.

[Conditions have been met. Garem has leveled up to 3. All stats have increased by one. Conditions have been met. Freelancer has leveled up to 5. Class corrections increased by 1. Skill points increased by 1. Skill selection increased by 1. Fighter Class has been unlocked. Two Skill points for Fighter Class have been obtained.]

What? How?

I stopped and quickly looked around for a place to sit quietly and check what just happened. We moved over to a restaurant of some sort and just ordered something warm to drink as I went over the class system, while K kept an eye on our surroundings.

GAREM

lv.5

HP: 16 (+5)

MP: 16 (+5)

STM: 8 (+1)

CMP: 0

HPR: 2

MPR: 2

AP: 3

STR: 7 (+3)

END: 6

VIT: 13

FREELANCER

lv.1

INT: 5 (+1)

WIS: 13

DEX: 9

ABILITIES:

Mana Corruption I

Bran I

Mana Blade (weak)

Bran Upgrade I

Ok, what the hell? How did I just level up all of the sudden? Let’s see… Oh? K is level three? When the-? Oh, all of the slimes are level three. And there’s seven of them? When did they use Mit- oh. So when one levels up, they all level up? Interesting… Oh, the spider is level four? Heh, she’s stronger than Eliquis now. But that doesn’t explain how I… Oh? I see. [Bird of a Feather] not only increases the strength of the amus for every one in their pack, but it also gives a portion of the experience gained to the pack leader. Wait, I’m the leader of a pack? The amus leveled up to three, and if I remember correctly I had them training in pairs. So their damage only increases by two percent, which is nothing, really. But that’s two times the experience that I get just from them hunting. Damn, these birds are the best. Every one of these monsters are level three or higher, except for the dryad. Dryad, stop being useless.

Let’s see, I have three skill points now. I think now would be the best time to address the skill issue, but more importantly, only the slimes got a skill point? So slimes get one every other level? And the spider gets one every four or more levels, while the amus get one every three or more levels? I see, I see. Between the useless skills the slime had available beforehand, this new skill seems much more useful. [Vibra-Location] allows them to scan their surroundings up to twenty meters to determine the exact position of anything that has a solid or liquid shape. Looks like it costs half of their MP for one use, though. Oh well, it’s worth the risk. Now let’s take a look at what skills I have available.

Job System

Unlocks the Job System

Skill Slot I

Allows for up to a total of 2 skills from any Class to be used in this Class.

Blood Corruption I

Allows for the creation of 1 CMP for every 15 HP spent.

Living Weapon

Creates the Weapon Proficiency and Living Weapon systems.

Allows all Living Weapons to access their own skill boards, however their classes cannot be changed. Only one Living Weapon can be made per Weapon used (CMP Weapons only).

Mana Corruption II

Allows for the creation of 2 CMP for every 10 MP spent.

Replaces Mana Corruption II.

Huh? What? YES, PLEASE. Double the CMP per cast? And I can cast twice in one sitting now? Plus… Living weapon? That looks extremely useful- especially for my next course of action. Now it's just a matter of Blood Corruption or saving the skill point. Also… The other issue is whether or not I change my class. If I go to the fighter class, it looks like I only get combat oriented skills. If I do that, then the Skill Slot would be the better option. But, seeing how I just got to the upgraded version of Mana Corruption, maybe I should bide my time and focus on getting the upgraded version of the Bran skills first, since we’re going to be maxing out on numbers shortly? Yeah, if I add the two amus, Luna, Josh, Alex, Fayne, Bellamort and Gavin we’ll be at seventeen, which only leaves room for eleven, since two slimes used [Mitosis]. If I want to expand my operations, and leave room for those two spider eggs that will be here in just under two months, I’ll need to focus on upgrading my Bran skills. Besides, I can switch over to the fighter class at any time. Actually, it looks like I can switch between the two classes freely, so my best bet is just to keep the fighter class on standby, but using two of the skills from that class. In that case, switching classes real quick wouldn’t hurt. So, I’ll grab the [Skill Slot I] real quick and then investigate which skills would be more beneficial to me to have in the long run.

Well, at least the test with the monsters is going well. I’ll have to send more amus to the leveling party next time. Oh, wait. We don’t have enough clothes for those two slimes. Oh well, they can stay as slimes for now. They won’t be able to move fast or anything, but they’ll be fine for guarding our little base. Now then, to the main mission.

“Hey, K. How do you feel about going to war with Jumail?” I asked sipping on what I had originally assumed to be tea.

“I don’t care. I’ll follow you even if it kills me,” K replied.

Always so monotone. But I’m assuming his speech gets better as he levels up, so that’s something, right? Well, let’s continue our preparations. I waved over the waitress and paid for our drinks. And slowly we made our way to the last part of this village.

Unlike the rest of the village that seemed to have buildings placed haphazardly, this area was extremely organized, even though it lacked many buildings and seemed to be outside of the village proper itself. I had to do a double take as we approached the area. There was a good four hundred meters from the first building in this area to the village itself. The road was paved well enough, but there were only twelve buildings in the area. I could see some sort of small fortress-looking building off in the distance and had assumed that’s where we would find the council guy that Luna was talking about. Four of the buildings seemed to be mansions and had walls and gates around their gaudy property. I ignored those five buildings and brought my attention to the others.

I slowed our pace while I carefully analyzed which building would be the best to start at. Unlike the rest of the village, the only people around seemed to be extremely wealthy individuals and their guards. Oh, and I guess those guys over there would be knights or something. There also seemed to be some sort of construction going on further behind the mansions, but I assumed that was how they were going to connect this place to the actual city eventually, so I decided to ignore it.

Interesting idea to start a village pretty far off and expand the city to that village. I like the idea itself, but it’s not practical the way they are doing it. There’s no walls or anything to protect the villagers as construction goes on. Even if they have a good sized army, it would be pretty easy to wipe this place out. Alright, now which building should I pick. I assume I would only get two chances before raising suspicion so...

After a quick deliberation, I went to the building in the worst state with K following me at a three meter distance. Upon going inside, I smelled a raunchy scent that brought back a flash of memories, and it took me a few minutes to place the scent.

“Oh, the smell of death,” I muttered as I looked around the room I had entered into.

It was a simple storefront but it was empty. The walls were bare, there was no sort of merchandise placed out to attract people, and nobody at the reception counter. I tilted my head in confusion as I walked forward, towards the counter and heard someone coming down the hallway from the other side of the counter, so I waited patiently. The man that eventually came to the counter was a rough looking type that reminded me of the thugs I had just killed yesterday. He was slightly older than the thugs and had a scar on his right cheek. He eyed me carefully, then smiled. However, the smile wasn’t inviting at all. He was clearly annoyed that he had a customer. Or was he annoyed that his customer was a child? Could care less either way.

“Sorry, just looking for a place where I can hire a few extra hands,” I said as coldly as I could muster. I didn’t want to come off as threatening, but I also didn’t want to come off as friendly. Plus, K glaring back at the guy did enough for me.

“I see. Do you have a preference?” The man asked, scratching his chin.

“Alive,” I answered with a grin on my face, letting him know that I knew he was killing and torturing people somewhere in this building.

The man laughed for a few seconds and then came out from behind the counter. “Follow me real quick.”

We followed him outside and before we got ten meters away from his building he stopped and pointed at a store, which I had thought was a mansion earlier. “If you’re looking for some hands that aren’t close to death, he’s your best bet. We only have demi humans and when we get them, and the guys who capture them tend to rough them up badly. But check in frequently, I might be able to put aside a few good ones for you in the future.”

“I’ll keep you in mind,” I said as I walked towards my main objective. K on the other hand ignored him entirely, which made me grin. He was acting perfectly for his role.

It didn’t take long for my grin to vanish from my face. I was met with the guard of the slave shop pointing his blade at me. K already had his hand on the hilt of the longsword I gave him. I glared at the guard and waited for him to make a move, but he never did. He just motioned for his buddies to come over. You know, I’m well aware that I don’t have the best intentions, but I was going to let you guys live a little longer.

“Is this how you treat all of your customers?” I asked, as I shifted my body by moving my left leg backwards.

“Customers? Please, there’s no way a child like you has enough money to be here.”

I pretended like I was reaching in my pocket, but had a few of the coins being held in my CMP jacket drop into my hand, then waved two small gold coins in front of the guard and his friends.

“Pretty sure I got more than you,” I said with a grin. Then I put the coins back and prepared to fight the guards. “But, I’m not against taking money from the pockets of a corpse.”

“Well said, boy. Your coins are mine!” One of the guard's friends charged at me from behind him.

I quickly buckled my knees and leaned back as he slashed. I thrusted a closed fist towards his chest, quickly calling out a Mana blade. The guard I killed wasn’t expecting it, and the guards behind him had their view obstructed by his body, so I used the chance to recall the blade as his corpse fell on top of me. I used the momentum of the fall, curling my body and kicking the corpse off of me, as I rolled backwards onto my feet. The other two guards looked surprised at the whole thing. To them, it looked like I got lucky because their friend tripped and fell on top of me.

“C’mon Jake, get up and kill the brat.”

“So, which one of you is dying next?” I spoke the words slowly and carefully. Then I smiled as their shiteating grins fell from their faces. Being able to draw weapons that nobody knows I have has huge advantages. I’ll have to be sure to make some more CMP later on, though. Felt like the amount that was originally carrying those coins vanished when I grabbed them.

“Well?” K asked. “Will you be letting us do some shopping or should we get serious?”

The guards stiffened at K’s question, but made way for us to go through the open gate. The point was made. They underestimated random travelers because one was a child. They didn’t even assume that a child could be trained enough to handle one of them. Using K as an invisible threat is working perfectly. I doubt that he would be able to take one of these guards on his own as a human, though. I need to change that soon.

It took us a full fifteen minutes to walk the entire road from the gate to the front of the ‘store’. Pretty sure this isn’t a store at all. It’s clearly a mansion that has slaves, but whatever. Once we walked through the doors, we were greeted by a butler and two maids that showed us to a room that showed off the owner's wealth. The room itself wasn’t all that gaudy compared to what we saw of the mansion, but it still was miles ahead of what I had. The couch was made of super comfortable leather and could fit four people on it easily. The small table in front of me, that ran the length of the couch and was about forty centimeters wide, was made out of some sort of expensive and shiny looking wood. Across from the table was a single chair that made me think it belonged to a king, but I moved my eyes across the room to look at all of the expensive-looking paintings and documents in picture frames. This room is clearly to show off this guy’s wealth.

Thinking back on it, when I took the money from that traveling slave trader, he had quite a few gold coins on him. I guess the slave trading business is a good one. Good to know. I sent a telepathic message to K to scan the area of the mansion and it confirmed my suspicions. The slaves were being kept below this room. Unfortunately, K didn’t have the MP or skill to map out the entire mansion, but in due time. We were at least able to map out this room, the next room over, below us and above us. Plus I got to see that the [Vibra-Location] skill could detect things that are above and below us. I guess if I could sneak ten to fifteen slimes into this building they could map the entire place out in minutes. Damn, everything I have is more useful than the dryad. C’mon dryad, you’re being left behind pretty quickly here.

My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening.