The journey had reached its destination, but not without pain and suffering.
A bigger brain was tough.
So smart, too many thoughts.
…How much better will things get if I keep increasing it?
The bliss of thought was truly staggering. There was clarity and ease of thinking she never had before, and it was so relaxing. The constant ringing when she tried to think was gone, and all her various emotions were cheering in celebration. Though she would appreciate it if they kept it down a bit more.
The added clarity didn’t mean everything was perfect. Velasteros’s ability to remember anything was still shit, but she could actually remember more details now.
Before, it was like I was relearning everything when I tried to remember something… now I feel like I am actually remembering events.
Velasteros wasn’t sure if she could explain this stark difference to anyone but she was glad to be a step beyond that pain.
Her goal to further increase her intelligence hadn’t stopped. If anything, it was reinforced. To go higher and higher to never have to deal with such pain again.
So this is a city… Velasteros walked into the city with Catcher and felt a sudden mix of nervousness and awe. Those two emotions were letting themselves be known in her head with loud songs. She knew they weren’t looking at her, but it really felt like people were looking at her. Let’s focus on the good! Quite nervousness!
The scorpion walked through the city with large steps of enthusiasm. Her first time travelling through such a large human settlement was almost frightening. Her emotions raised weapons, ready for anything, and Velasteros chose to wear a mask of calm excitement. Which wasn’t really a mix of the two emotions, but more switching between the two emotions at odd intervals.
Her travel companion read Valmyst's changes as nervousness.
“I’ll show you the guilds and where you can find a place to sleep through the night.”
“Thank you.”
Phew… thanks for Catcher being here… I would have no idea where to even start. So many places I need to see and, of course, find the library! But that can happen later… Velasteros held back her excitement, who wanted to explode out. Patience was using everything in its power and was borrowing the help of apathy and happiness to keep it chained down. Saving the best for last is going to be so fun…
She was almost bouncing.
Her attitude made Catcher regret the fact that he hadn’t had a kid yet. Though remembering some other bad examples flipped his mind, and he was happy he was going to get a fun junior instead.
Catcher pointed out various buildings as they walked by, giving small descriptions as they walked by. One of the buildings they stopped by was the inn, in which Catcher knew the owner and explained the situation.
Velasteros felt much safer with this arrangement than the previous time she had received an inn room. Catcher helped book a week's stay for her. Helped by the fact that there were a few rooms empty, and this wasn’t a busy time of the year. Part of the stipulation was that Velasteros had to help with chores over this first week and also needed to find a proper source of income to pay for future stays, or she would be kicked out by the end of the week.
Their next stop was where the scorpion could hopefully make some money. Flamerider Guild was the main guild of the city, but Catcher planned to show where the other minor guilds were later. When they entered, he went straight to showing them where they could accept freelancer missions.
“What do you mean you won’t give me the payment for my catch?!” There was a man yelling over the counter to the staff member, who was not giving the man yelling any expression. He almost looked bored.
They are quite loud. I hope it isn’t like this every time I deliver a catch in the future. Otherwise, I might need to get ear protection. Actually are ears even useful? Words can be read without them? Hmmm, I wonder if their removal would be an improvement… second thoughts that might be going a little far. Ears are useful, Velasteros, ears are useful.
Catcher noticed Valmyst’s thoughtful looks but was unaware of the absurdity they were spinning around.
“You usually get someone who tries this at least once a month.” Catcher looked on with a wry smile. “It doesn't tend to go well, because one thing you can always expect, a business will always try to avoid paying someone when they can.”
“So the guild is trying to scam its customers?" Velasteros remembered reading two books with a plot like that. Though they might’ve been from the same author.
“No.” He quickly denied. “If they did that, they would lose their reputation, which is the most important aspect for a business like theirs. Still, be careful, because they will criticise every part of the job to make sure you did it correctly.”
Strange. Not completely unexpected based on my knowledge from books. Fiction tends to be taken from reality. That leads to the question: how many book authors were former adventurers? Is that a common pathway? Do I want to do that…?!
Velasteros’s mind began to overthink, so pessimism and laziness decided to turn on the tap to cool down her head.
…That sounds like a lot of effort. I also have other objects I would rather be doing.
“Have you had any incidents like that man over there?” Velasteros asked, it helped bring her mind back to reality.
“Yes…” Catcher scratched his head. He quickly had to defend himself after what he assumed was a judging glance from Valmyst. “I didn’t do anything bad. Wasn’t even trying to cheat the system, the guild just got into a fussy way since the way the monster was killed didn’t match prior records of my catchers.”
“So you killed it in an unconventional way? Trap or environmental kill?”
“Worse, I used a skill I had been keeping secret.” He let out a long sigh. “I was taught to keep at least one card hidden, when you are growing the gap between the weak and the strong is frightening after all. However, the monster was far stronger than expected, which resulted in me using my trump card. Then I learned my second lesson of the guild: they are a bunch of bastards. I ended up getting drilled into about a false catch. Not only that, they wanted me to leave the monster with them since ‘it was guild property, since it is a stolen catch’.”
“What did you do?” The scorpion paused. “Actually, by the fact you are telling me, can I assume you revealed your skill?”
“Yes, which goes to lesson three, the guild will always try to squeeze every coin from you, but sometimes it is worth it.” An evil smirk appeared. “I sure showed them my skill.”
Did some of the guild workers suddenly shudder?
Though being in the guild hall and hearing the terminology used more frequently in a live space rather than a book, it had made the question the scorpion had resurface/
I have to ask…
“Did someone name you Catcher, or was that a name given to yourself?” Curiosity had been jumping up and down, demanding answers.
“I think it would’ve been better if it were a self-given name, most people assumed that, but no. My mum did bless me with it.”
“Was it in hopes of your current profession?”
“No, but she did hope I would become a fisherman.”
“Strange.”
“Your folk named you Valmyst.” Catcher countered, “That has to be up there in the list of absurd names of parents who wanted a unique name for their kid.”
“What?” Velasteros didn’t understand a word of that.
It’s not too strange. Better than Catcher. It’s clean, elegant, and has some strong charm.
They continued to move, and Catcher said hi to a few people, but the scorpion barely recalled what had happened. She was reaching the limits of her focus. Catcher noticed this and completed the tour.
“I would recommend resting. We can go out for a hunt later this week so I can show you the ropes.”
“That sounds wise. I appreciate all the help.”
“It’s alright, helping juniors is never too hard.” Catcher went on his way, trusting that Velasteros could make it back to the inn.
That was fun… Velasteros felt very tired but still wasn’t dealing with any bad headaches. She strolled through the streets, planning to head
Along the stone-paved pathway, she had come to a sudden pause. She reached the large purple-coloured building that stood over four storeys tall and was one of the largest buildings in the city, from what she’d seen.
What’s inside…
Her instincts were screaming that destiny awaited her. Velasteros felt something take over her as she slowly walked up the stairs and saw her reflection in the door. The tired girl with shiny orange eyes, wearing only a basic coat over the borrowed clothes of the body she copied.
She pushed the door open and saw a world of wonder and imagination. Bookshelves go up multiple stories, pathed by the internal wooden balconies that loop around. Three floors of books.
Wow… am I dreaming or dead…
Velasteros’s sense of time completely broke, and she had no idea how long she’d been staring up for.
A lady began to walk up to the dazed girl. “Can I help you—?”
“—Can I work here!!!”