155 Hiding (1/2)

I bit my lip, turning on my intercom, ”Are you serious? Does everybody know my identity?”

Torix shrugged, ”I didn't think you would be hidden forever anyways. Considering our overall fighting potential as a group, we don't have much to worry about.”

I took a mental note of this. The next several hundred levels I gained would be invested into perception. Having everyone see through me wasn't what I wanted here.

With that in mind, I turned off my intercom and sighed, ”So you know who I am...Why could I read your status then? You obviously can hide it from me.”

Caprika scoffed, ”I let you read it. It's my way of being polite. It also sends a message.”

Caprika leaned forward, her claws crossed, ”You're not the only one who's hiding out in the middle of nowhere. In my case, I'm trying to crawl my way back into the Empire's upper echelons. Unfortunately, there are very few ways of making that happen when I'm stuck here.”

She pointed a claw at me, ”That's where a brute like you comes in.”

Torix tapped the right shoulder pad of his gray armor. His helmet slid off,

”And you want this lug to fight for you right? We've already heard about it from your assistant.”

I pressed my own right shoulder pad, sliding my helmet off my face, ”Suddenly I'm a savage now?”

Caprika leaned against the left side of her throne. With her right arm, she clicked a transparent screen. Moments later, a giant video appeared. It was me fighting the yana cluster. Caprika laughed,

”You're more than just a barbarian from some backwater world. You're terrifying in combat.”

Caprika shook her head, her mane of hair rustling, ”I couldn't fathom it. Defeating a yana cluster...with your bare hands?You're not just a freak. You're a monster. It's perfect for the tournament.”

I molded my actual black armor from my face, frowning at her,

”You're doing a great job getting me to help you, especially that freak comment.”

Caprika leaned forward, ”Is that your true species?”

Torix chuckled, ”No wonder you believed he was a freak. You thought his metal skin was normal.”

Caprika leaned back in her chair, ”To my knowledge, you're the first human to ever leave earth. If it weren't for that video circulating on the net, I wouldn't have known what your species was.”

I shrugged, ”I'm not a normal human, I can tell you that much.”

Caprika tapped her red mask, ”Yet you're surprisingly easy on the eyes. I imagined you'd be a hideous, deformed abomination.”

I rolled my eyes, ”Good to know. So uh, I have shit to do. Let's cut to the chase. What do I get for doing this tournament?”

Caprika clapped her hands, closing the video floating in the center of the room. She stood from her throne, a full seven feet tall,

”Access to the capital, information on enhancing several skills, and you'll be fought over by several high tier factions. I will also give over the reward for the tournament itself. I don't need or want for it. I'm after the recognition.”

Torix crossed his arms, ”And what might that be exactly?”

Caprika walked down a few steps, getting surface level with us, ”It's a mythical compendium.”

Torix whistled. I looked back and forth between them, ”What's that?”

Torix shook his head, ”It's a manual that describes how to create a mythical skill from start to finish.”

I spread out my arms, ”So why's that so good?”

Torix raised his eyebrows, ”Are you serious? Have you noticed that there are very limited guides on discovering skill trees?”

I nodded. Torix continued, ”The reason is that the information is valuable. Very few people will give away that information for free. If they do, teaching the creation of skills can be an arduous task.”

Torix raised one hand, ”For someone of your stature, fighting with your fists comes naturally. If you tried teaching me your techniques, it would take an eternity. I simply wouldn't learn it in the same way that you would.”

Torix raised a finger, ”If you gained a skill for fist-fighting, I might gain a skill for pugilism instead. That throws a wrench in the entire teaching process.”

Torix waved his hands, ”This process can repeat many times. It makes teaching other people your skills nearly impossible.”

I frowned. That explained why no one ever asked how I made my legendary skill. Mimicking 45 of someone else's abilities was a tall task. If someone learned one wrong craft, the legendary skill wouldn't form. I never gave it any thought, but it made some sense.

I tapped my chin, ”So if I tried learning Sword Fighting from someone, I might gain Blade Working instead. That's basically the hurdle behind teaching skills?”

Torix nodded, ”Yes, precisely. Imagine if you taught Althea your own variation of fighting. Knowing how she battles, her skill would develop into Mauling or Beating.”

I grinned, ”That sounds like her.”

Caprika sighed, ”The point is that unless someone else's talents are just like yours, they end up with a different skill. A compendium attunes to someone's obelisk, generating the correct description to learn the skill.”

I raised my eyebrows, ”Are they made by Schema? It sounds like it.”

Torix nodded, ”It's a useful object for progressing your skills and trees. It deletes itself as you read it, so you can't use it more than once.”

Caprika waved her hand, ”I don't care for it. You fight for me, and I'll give you 100% of the tournament's reward. I won't demand a slice of the reward.”

I frowned, ”So why shouldn't I join without you?”

Caprika laughed, ”You need to represent the branch of a guild in a town. Considering your attempts at hiding your identity, I doubt you want to represent the Harbinger's Legion.”

Torix turned up at me, ”She has a valid point. This is a good way of maintaining anonymity yet getting noticed at the same time.”

I tapped my chin, ”I'll do it then, but I need a few days to level some. My perception is too damn low to go into a tournament with high-level sentients.”

Caprika walked up next to me, ”The tournament is in two weeks. Does that sound like enough time?”

I nodded, ”It's plenty.”

I turned around, walking away, ”Cya here two weeks from now.”

Torix grinned at her, ”My associates and I will be monitoring this location in case you decide to betray us. Considering you've already spied on us, that shouldn't be a problem.”

Caprika raised her palms towards us, ”I'm no fool. You are the Killers of the World Eater. I know when to pick my battles.”

Torix jogged up, catching up to me. We slid back on our helmets, walking out of the room. I cut on my intercom, ”Want some lunch after I speak with the chancellor guy?”

Torix shrugged, ”Why not.”

We reached the receptionist's desk. I opened my status, turning it towards the espen up front. It showed my contract, along with the reward of 250,000 credits. I grinned at her,

”Aric promised to double my reward for finishing this.”

The receptionist's eyes went wide. She coughed into her hand, ”Well, uh, we can arrange that. I'll have Aric send that money from his own private savings. He made the promise after all.”

Torix laughed a bit, ”As the old adage goes, you reap what you sow.”

After she showed us verification of the contract passing, we walked outside. I glanced at the bazaar beside the guilds,

”What can you eat?”

Torix shook his head, ”My immortality came at a cost. For me, it was the pleasures of the flesh.”

We walked past a few restaurants, choosing a stand with noodles and fried creatures,

”You make it sound gross.”

Torix sighed, ”If you analyze life, it is rather repulsive. All living things are essentially sacks of meat sustaining themselves with instincts.”

I shrugged, taking three squid looking things that were lodged on a stick,

”Well, I'd rather be the meat sack that lives than the meat sack that dies.”

I turned towards the outpost of the Soldiers of Fortune, ”I'm picking up another quest real quick. We'll meet outside of town.”

Torix nodded, ”Hopefully you won't break someone else's nose this time.”

I walked off with the fried creatures in hand, ”Let's pray.”

When I walked into the outpost of the SoF, I noticed a change in atmosphere from before. No one stared, though I caught a few sideways glances. No one bothered me until I walked up, looking at the quest log. I tapped my chin, looking at several of the rewards.

The highest one gave eight red dungeon hearts. I took the quest. I was going down the line of the most significant rewards. When I turned around, the head of this guild branch was standing behind me. I put my hands on my hips,

”So how'd the blackmailing workout?”

The lithe espen facepalmed, ”Can you keep quiet about that?”

I rubbed my fingers together, ”Only if you pay the price?”

He paled for a second. I laughed, ”I'm just joking, alright. At least you know what it feels like now, eh?”

He frowned, ”You're not here to make friends are you?”

I shrugged, ”Only if they're friends worth having...What do you want?”

Iasis scratched his forehead, ”I'm acting in my position at the moment. The Soldiers of Fortune have a one in one out policy. You can't take on multiple quests if you bit off more than you can chew.”

He waved his hands, ”I understand you might want to change contracts since that deal you took takes a lot of hard work. You're not a member of the guild, however. You can't cancel taken contracts.”

He smiled, ”Sorry about that.”

I put a hand on his shoulder, and with my other hand, I gestured to all of him, ”You know, you're like a petty villain that reports to his boss that he failed his mission. After that, the boss flips a switch and you fall into a pit of sharks. It kind of suits you since your face is so forgettable.”