Kyle returned to Gelden and jumped onto the roof of the building beside the tower.
"Hey, lady!" Kyle shouted. "The bandits are dealt with!"
Her wolf threw Kyle an annoyed glance before laying its head down again while the Beast Tamer looked at Kyle over the railing.
"How many were there? Where were they? How strong were they?" she asked evenly.
"Like six or seven. I think six," Kyle said. "One guy was standing by the road, while the others were south a bit further away. As for their strength, not entirely sure. They kinda just exploded when I hit them."
The Beast Tamer furrowed her brows as she looked at Kyle.
"That is your battle report?" she asked.
"Eh, I guess?" Kyle answered, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not a soldier, you know. I'm just a random Fighter from a random Fighter Guild. I have no idea how to make a proper battle report. Do I have to do that? I thought I just needed to tell you that the mission is accomplished or something."
The Beast Tamer took a deep breath.
"Did you find anything in their camp?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, a bunch of stuff. Crates, food, tents," Kyle said. "Oh, and two women with a baby! Seems like they were kidnapped or something."
"Where are they?" the Beast Tamer asked.
"My partner is escorting them back. They don't wanna be carried. Give it a couple of hours."
The Beast Tamer looked at Kyle for a bit longer.
"Did you kill all of them?" she asked.
"My partner killed one, and I dealt with the remainder," Kyle answered.
The Beast Tamer looked at Kyle some more.
'Why does she just keep looking at me without saying anything? Does she think she's dramatic or something?' Kyle thought.
"How is your partner holding up?" she asked, the edge in her voice gone.
"Fine, I guess. Was her first time killing somebody, but she'll get used to it," Kyle said.
The Beast Tamer looked into the distance.
"If only it were that easy," she whispered under her breath.
"What?" Kyle shouted, barely having heard a couple of words.
"Go back to your Guild. Your mission is done," she said.
"Sure thing!" Kyle said, almost saying 'Boss'.
Kyle jumped down from the building.
"You would benefit from entering the army or a proper Mercenary Guild," the Beast Tamer said before Kyle left.
"Huh? Why?" Kyle asked.
"They have more resources, and their pay is much higher. Not many people are cut out for this kind of life, but you seem to have no issues with that," she commented.
"Not sure what you mean with that, but okay!" Kyle said. "Maybe sometime."
"Your relationship with human life is a gift and a curse," the Beast Tamer said.
Kyle blinked a couple of times.
'What's with all of these deep comments? Didn't you literally just tell me to get back, and now you keep me here by talking? Make up your mind!'
"Okay, thanks. Gotta go! Nice meeting you!" Kyle shouted as he ran out of the village.
The Beast Tamer watched as Kyle retreated and took a deep breath.
He left Gelden and reached Starkhold soon after.
'Gotta wait for the mission to be marked as complete,' Kyle thought as he entered the cafeteria.
Some of the people greeted him, and he greeted them back.
'Should I go on another mission right away? Not sure. Maybe I'll check out the shop.'
Kyle walked to the Guild Store and browsed the catalog.
'Just as Noah said, the Physical Tome and the Mental Tome are both available for just a couple of contribution points. A couple more missions, and I can buy both of them.'
'But the Core Tome and Spirit Tome will be more difficult. I obviously can't buy them here, or everyone will suspect that I have an Aristocrat's Body.'
'Guess I gotta buy these things the old-fashioned way.'
'That's gonna be hella expensive!'
Just so he could confirm the prices, Kyle removed his armor and went to one of Starkhold's biggest stores.
With his black suit, he didn't look like a Fighter or Knight, which came in handy.
Sure enough, the Core Tome and the Spirit Tome were available.
'Crazy that you can just buy this stuff off the streets,' Kyle commented, looking at the books, which were behind fortified glass.
Then, Kyle sighed.
'Fifty fucking Ether Stones per piece.'
'One Ether Gem for both.'
'I barely get an Ether Stone per mission. That's like a hundred missions or something like that.'
'How long is that going to take? Even more, when I stop being a Newbie, I don't even get access to many valuable missions.'
At that moment, Kyle remembered what the Beast Tamer had told him.
'Better pay, huh?' he thought.
A moment later, he walked out of the store and entered his room in the Stark Brotherhood.
"You're an Artificer, right?" Kyle asked.
"Master Artificer," Theodor answered with a snort.
"Artificers use their Soul and Mind, right? Can't you just teach me the Spirit Tome?"
"I could," Theodor answered.
"Buuuuut?" Kyle asked.
"Are you willing to learn how to create inscriptions for the next ten to twenty years?" Theodor asked.
"Inscriptions?" Kyle asked.
"Yes, inscriptions," Theodor answered. "The Tomes are not just information. They are easy-to-use Rituals. Just knowing the contents doesn't help. You have to create the inscriptions and then activate them."
Kyle groaned in exasperation. "For fuck's sake. Why can't shit just be easy?" he asked.
"If it were easy, people in the Second and Third Realm would be much more common," Theodor commented with some disdain.
"You can also just advance normally, but since you won't be able to kill Hieronymus in such a state, I will just directly detonate."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Thanks for reminding me that I have a gun pointed at my head every day."
Theodor had asked Kyle about this weird concept of a gun before, which was why he knew what it was.
Such an idiotic concept.
Only a dumb half-dwarf like Kyle could come up with something as ridiculous as that.
"Hey, Boss. Should we switch to a Mercenary Guild or the Royal Army?"
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