Chapter 283

283rd Episode

A Brief Respite #5

Thud-thud.

I pushed off the ground twice with great speed. It was an attempt to mimic Kalidur’s step technique, and while my execution was clumsy at best, I managed to achieve explosive acceleration. In fact, you could say I had reached around a one-star level in the Flash Step technique.

“Tch!”

Whoosh!

As my body sliced through the air and charged towards the man with the dual axes, I could clearly hear the startled murmurs from the onlookers.

“Wha-? He disappeared!?”

“What? Where did he go?”

Living beings possess something called motion vision. However, when movement surpasses a certain threshold and becomes too fast to be cognitively processed, it can seem as though the person has vanished, much like when a mosquito you’ve been chasing suddenly disappears from view.

In that fleeting moment, I had already reached directly in front of the ax-wielding Khalifa. With one swift motion, I raised my fist and struck him squarely in the sternum, landing a fierce blow to his abdomen.

“Gurrrghhh!”

His body shot a few inches into the air. I didn’t waste a second, quickly grabbing him by the sides of his head and driving my knee upward.

It’s Hassan’s merciless finishing move, “Knee Strike,” at your service!

A sharp crack and a strangely dissonant sound filled my ears, accompanied by some effect noise that sounded suspiciously like Paranoi’s eerie voice.

“sh*t, stop playing Paranoi in my head!”

Gripping my gauntleted fist tightly, I struck the man’s back with all my might. A loud “thud” resonated as he crumpled to the ground, rendered motionless.

Pliiiip.

The floor began to stain red with bl**d trickling from his nose and mouth, quickly forming a sticky crimson carpet.

As everyone stood frozen, unable to speak, I followed the trail of bl**d and approached Hippolyte, snatching the silver pendant from her hand and dangling it around my neck.

“Alright, anyone else up for a challenge?”

I surveyed the area. The various members of the guild who had been watching me seemed to exchange nods and murmur approving remarks.

“Hmm, better than expected.”

“Fights well.”

“I heard he’s been trained by Hippolyte. Guess it’s true.”

“Ah, I see. That explains why he fights like that. More surprising is that Hippolyte took on another disciple.”

“But wasn’t that speed more akin to the Elves’ step techniques? Did he disappear from sight for a second?”

Their whispers reached my ears loud and clear. Since acquiring a rudimentary grasp of aura, my senses had become far more acute. Even the smallest whispers sounded as if they were being spoken right next to me.

The sounds of swallowing, breathing, and moving lips all seemed amplified, as if I were inside their heads. My senses felt overly sensitive.

Isn’t this a bit excessive? Is something wrong with my head?

Just as I began to feel unnerved, the man who had been sprawled on the ground in front of me slowly got back to his feet.

“Phew, d*mn! That hit hard. I told you before—no need for confirmation if you’re Hippolyte’s student.”

It was the ax-wielding Khalifa. Despite having taken a direct hit from me, he shook off the pain nonchalantly, pinching one nostril and blowing bl**d out with a loud “huff.” Truly, he was tough.

With his face smeared in bl**d, he grinned.

“Samaritan, or should I say Hassan? Not bad. Young, but quite skilled. Mars Guild stocks will surely rise because of you.”

I was puzzled. Just moments ago, this man had been glaring at me with a deadly intent, but now he was talking about stocks? And how in the world was he able to get back up so quickly after a blow that I thought would keep him down for at least a couple of hours? This guy must indeed be a Silver Tier adventurer.

Hippolyte seemed to notice my confusion and provided some explanation.

“It’s Mars Guild’s initiation ritual. There needs to be enough bl**d shown to count. In that sense, you’ve successfully passed, Hassan.”

“Is that so.”

I glanced around at the crowd, who were now murmuring about how the stock price of Mars Guild would stabilize on the market.

“Will we really go public this year? That Samaritan kid is quite something—should help with the review process.”

“I heard Minerva Guild is also undergoing inspection this year, and their shares might reach up to one gold per share!”

“sh*t, someone—anyone—work hard! Bring down some famous monsters, or discover a new dungeon!”

“Forget that, the adventurer business is already saturated. Except for those baby goblins, there’s nothing left—what are we supposed to hunt? It’s too peaceful.”

“Should we go check the temperature of the Styx River?”

I was still trying to make sense of all the talk when Hippolyte added one more piece of information.

“They’re all shareholders of Mars Guild—Silver Tier adventurers and above.”

“Shareholders? You have to receive a portion of your salary in company stocks?”

“Correct. You’re now on the same boat as us. Once you declare, ‘I dedicate my life to Mars Guild,’ the promotion ceremony is concluded—”

sh*t, is that true? As Hippolyte explained, something about what I was hearing started to feel surreal.

Even someone as unknowledgeable as a child from Sodomora knows Mars Guild’s shares aren’t worth much. Forcing us to accept them as part of our wages? That’s an atrocious deal.

“Is that really true?”

“Hassan, wasn’t that clearly written in the Guild’s joining terms?”

Joining terms? Whatever are they talking about?

I reflected back to the distant memory of joining the guild, the day I first met Daphne and was falsely accused of s*xual harassment. That day, I had signed what seemed like a massive document filled with countless pages. If my memory serves, it was some kind of agreement, and Daphne had assured me that “there wasn’t anything important, so just sign.” So, I did.

“sh*t.”

“What’s wrong?”

“-I dedicate my life to Mars Guild.”

“Good. Now you’re one of us! A comrade who has shared bl**d!”

Hippolyte’s furrowed brows slightly relaxed as she addressed the gathered Silver Tier adventurers.

“Everyone here already knows this, but let me repeat: I am Hippolyte, the High Priestess of Mars Guild. The more you shed bl**d in battle, the higher the guild’s stock price will soar—”

“Wow!”

“Fight until d*ath! Besides, there will always be more warriors joining the guild!”

“Alright Priestess, let’s just go through the usual and wrap it up.”

“Alright, once I chant the invocation, you’ll respond with—”

*

After the completion of the promotion ceremony in the guild’s courtyard, as I walked through the main gate to step outside, I noticed a pink-haired girl on a bench, fidgeting with sandals as she scuffed the ground.

“Hey, Luna.”

“Oh! Hassan! How’d it go? Did everything finish alright? You’ve got a cut on your face! Let me treat it for you!”

Luna took out a peculiar ointment from her bag and carefully applied it to cuts on my nose and cheek. It stung a bit but felt rather refreshing as it absorbed into my skin.

“Who did you fight with inside? What happened?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure? What do you mean by that? Only Silver Tier adventurers or above can participate in the ceremony—I couldn’t go in there.”

“Technically, it wasn’t a ceremony but a shareholders’ meeting or something.”

“Shareholders’ meeting?”

Luna tilted her head, confused, and the more I explained, the more I realized I didn’t fully understand either. What exactly had that “chant, chant” at the end been? It was as if I’d seen something that wasn’t meant for my eyes.

Why did the shareholders’ meeting of Mars Guild feel more terrifying than my previous trip to the Abyssal Depths?

As I continued pondering, the darkness creeping into my thoughts became overwhelming, so I decided to shake it off.

“Anyway, it seems I need to head to Delphi soon. They said it’s up to me to choose the date.”

“Delphi? Oh, I remember. You’ve mentioned going there before, right? With summer winding down and the breezes turning cool, if we hire a carriage, the round trip should take around a month?”

“Probably about that.”

“Service is almost done anyway. If I’m gone for a month, it seems like my stories would fade from people’s memories. So, Luna, can you accompany me?”

Luna had many commitments, like the workshop and other things, so I checked to see if she could join me on this journey. She hummed thoughtfully for a moment.

“Well, actually, I need to visit Delphi too…to receive an oracle.”

“An oracle? For what?”

“That’s a secret.”

The fact that Luna wanted to keep something secret was strange enough that it made the situation awkward. So, I smoothly changed the topic.

“Did you come alone? Where’s Paranoi?”

“She went somewhere to catch bees with a friend. Apparently, there’s something strange about her. She calls herself the ‘Nymph of Honey Water.’ I thought Paranoi was odd enough, but this new nymph took it to the next level.”

Luna must have spoken a bit with the Honey Water Nymph Doris yesterday.

“Still, she makes decent honey. It seems to have improved the taste of the potion a bit! Try this, Hassan!”

Luna rummaged through her bag and pulled out a wooden potion bottle. As expected, the smell was odd, but—

“Hey, this doesn’t smell too bad!”

It had a bitter herbal smell, but it was tolerable compared to what I’d expected. Before, just the scent was enough to burn my eyes and leave my head buzzing.

Curious, I took a sip. Surprisingly, the taste was not terrible at all.

“Not bad, is it? Still under development! What do you think, Hassan? Since you like honey water, I added more of it this time. Do you like it?”

“It’s well-made.”

“Thank goodness!”

Luna looked genuinely happy about the progress of her potions.

As I considered whether I had ever told Luna that I liked honey water, I remembered the distant past: the day after our first task together when she had offered me honey water.

It had been a long time ago, since I was a slave recently freed, scraping through as an Iron Tier adventurer with a level around ten or so, still stuck at the bottom.

Now, the necklace around my neck isn’t from back then; it’s a new silver-white one.

It’s been a long journey. Just one more step, and it’ll finally be Gold Tier.

“Hey, Luna, have you made any totems?”

“Not yet. There aren’t many karmic opportunities.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

It’s not just about completing my quota; Luna also needs to k*ll dungeon monsters and accumulate karma. But even so, considering she’s nearly reached Level 40 and the Gold Tier, a bit of confidence was starting to grow. With the rare break from service, my mood, the weather, and my condition all felt good.

“Anyway, Hassan, what happened to your club?”

“Huh? I planted it in the ground.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Even I don’t know. It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true—my club has roots growing into the soil.”

“Hassan always says weird things.”

Since Luna didn’t believe me, I decided to take her to the inn near North Gate where I was staying.

On the way, some street thugs tried to provoke me, but once they saw the silver necklace around my neck, they spat on the ground and backed off, making the trip much more peaceful.

d*mn, this is the difference between Bronze and Silver-tier, huh?

If I wore a gold necklace, what would happen?

Woah, look at that guy wearing a gold necklace! He looks so shabby compared to it!

The top-tier beautiful women in the city—ones like Luna, Hippolyte, Elpride, and Antiope—would awkwardly shuffle around me, subtly handing over notes with addresses scribbled on them.

Here’s my address! Let’s date!

Dating? Not interested.

sh*t, what a glamorous life it would be.

“Oh, it’s really planted into the ground!”

When Luna saw the club stuck in the well, she gasped in surprise. And with that sound, a soft presence appeared behind me.

“Hey little cutie, you’re back again. Are you looking for me?”

“EEEEEEKKKKK!”

It was Elpride. Wasn’t she supposed to be at home on her day off?

“AHHHH!”

The moment Luna saw Elpride, she froze like a raccoon hearing a dog bark, trembling violently.

“NO, STOP!”

“I haven’t done anything. What are you telling me to stop? Could it be—”

Elpride rapidly approached Luna. Before Luna could react, the elf closed the distance and, with panic-stricken Luna flailing her arms, pressed her lips to Luna’s cheek, sucking fiercely.

“EEEEEEEEEK!”

[Author’s Notes] Sunday is already over…

For everyone who leaves comments, recommends, and gives coupons, I’ll cast the Friday evening’s regression spell through Voodoo!

Roarrrr!!!

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