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Apocalypse Healer - B1 Chapter 37
🕑 Added 2024-11-08 11:00:10 +0000 UTCThey split up. Melach said he had something to do and left, but David noticed something odd. The elf had been acting oddly since they returned to Arc. His face turned, and he muttered something in the elven tongue. David couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. However, he noticed Melach’s hand reaching for the pouch with the Fragments as he walked away.
Torb must have seen that as well. David’s gaze drifted to the dwarf, who shook his head. “That guy is as crazy as you are.”
“I don’t understand,” David tilted his head.
“You don’t have to. Just know that he’s better at hiding his weirdness,” Torb snorted and retrieved the crimson Fragment of Blood. It twinkled beautifully in the early afternoon sun and entered David’s hands.
“I have a few merchants to deal with,” Torb’s expression shifted subtly, and the corner of his lips curled upward.
He likes money. Who wouldn’t?
David chuckled, “Go then. But don’t forget to use the Skill Slate.”
Torb waved and disappeared in the stream of fellow Warrior and other Protectors.
It was blissful to be alone again. He liked Torb and Melach, but they were different. Their race was of little concern. However, David wondered what would happen if the Pantheon decided to move against the natives.
He had no reason to believe that would happen, but David never thought the Earthen Union would change like this. It appeared to be a valid point to keep in his mind.
David organized his thoughts and searched for a food stall. He found something suitable by following the smell of juicy meat lingering in the air. A dwarven woman managed the stall. She sold gray bread, which looked like large stones, and meat skewers made from unknown meat. The skewers looked just as exotic as the gray bread, but David trusted his Skill Runes to try new, exotic foods.
The dwarven woman wasn’t talkative, but David caught her ogling his well-trained physique. His chest was still bare, and that wouldn’t change anytime soon. There was no need to put on any clothes if they would be ripped to shreds in a few hours either way.
He devoured the first meat skewer and was pleasantly surprised when there was no notification related to food poisoning, so he continued. It didn’t taste too bad. The meat was as juicy as expected, but it was also tender and melted on his tongue. He tried the bread, too, which made him smile as it turned out much fluffier than expected. Instead of biting on something hard, which its appearance suggested, David felt like he was biting in a cloud.
That’s worth the money. Three Iron is nothing for such a feast!
David could have left the stall once he was done, but he didn’t move. He had been eavesdropping on the men and women around him and wouldn’t stop anytime soon. Their gossip was interesting.
“Is everyone too afraid to kill the Mini-Boss of the Demon Rift?” A young man, a human, cursed. “We should have killed the Mini-Boss. Why would we keep it alive until the Horde is coming for us?”
Is he drunk?
David wondered. His gaze drifted to a group of men, only one of them was human, seated around one of the tables placed near the stall.
“We told you about this often enough, Sven. There was no way for us to defeat the Mini-Boss without getting contaminated by the Rift. What do you think would have happened if we fought the Demon right next to the Rift, which is constantly releasing demonic Aether? You would have been the first to succumb. Don’t look at me like that, Sven! You’re a human and a Mage. Your natural resistance is worthless.” One of the dwarves explained with a distorted expression.
David could tell that Sven didn’t like that. He jumped up, his hands slamming on one of the wooden tables, and left.
What a drama queen.
“What are we doing about him?” Another dwarf asked.
“What is there to do?” The first responded with a shrug, “Sven is a lost cause. A horde is forming and he’s whining like a child. Defeating the Mini-Boss would have been great, but it’s not worth the risk.”
“If the others didn’t retreat, we would have killed him,” A third dwarf complained, but the first silenced him.
“It doesn’t matter. We are alive, and we can kill demons in the hundreds later.”
The atmosphere plummeted after that. David felt like everyone was beyond normal gloominess. It was almost like death’s grasp around their necks had already tightened. He, on the other hand, smiled through the gloominess.
Encountering demons and fighting them head-on sounded nice. A Horde sounded exciting. However, the combination was what transformed it into the best he could imagine. A bloody feast of endless slaughter against demonic creatures.
There was no way he would feel gloomy about something like that. He was exhilarated, clearly forgetting all about his earlier near-death experiences.
But he was alone with his excitement. David guessed everyone else was having a hard time accepting that their lives would be constantly in danger once the Horde emerged: that they would be on the verge of death without any certainty that anyone would survive. Nothing was certain, not even Arc’s survival.
He left the stall when he realized that the gossipy time was over. David walked past the Panthea, which was overflowing. It didn’t look like that a few hours ago, but a few Rifts, a Horde of demons, and imminent death appeared to be great motivators to start praying to the Pantheon.
Depending on someone else for your survival seems….like a foolish way to live.
As long as the Pantheon benefited from Arc, they might intervene, but if that had been the case, they would have acted already. David wasn’t sure what the gods had planned or if there was something like a plan in the first place, yet he could say one thing for sure: He trusted them as far as he could throw them.
He reached the Familia in no time and noticed that the building was also unusually crowded. That was to David’s liking. Everyone in the Familia had picked a Class and was capable of inflicting some damage to the Horde. They were his allies and would probably die before his eyes. Most of them, at least.
“How may I help you?” a young elven woman inquired as he reached the reception. “Do you need Serums or potions, or do you want to take out a loan?”
A loan?
He must have looked stupid because the young woman chuckled lightly. It was the first time David saw someone in such a light mood in such dire times. He liked her.
“You can take out a loan and pay it back by slaying demons and other creatures from the Rifts. The other Rifts may also stir trouble when the Horde descends, which is why they’re included. However, if you die without killing enough Rift creatures, the Lords of the Familia will take back what they loaned by force. With interest, of course.”
No matter how David looked at this, it sounded scummy.
He wanted to find out what the interest would look like, but he could already imagine it. What else was there to take from a penniless, dead man but his soul?
“It is possible to include the kills from previous fights?” David inquired.
“Your ID slate counts every creature you’ve killed since you acquired it. However, only the monsters of the four Rifts will be added to the repayment plan.”
David was about to say something when a stout, middle-aged human spoke up, “Does that mean the bastard who took down the Common Rift can claim a loan and doesn’t even have to pay it back?”
Even though David considered asking the same question, he remained silent. He glanced at the middle-aged man and wondered if he knew that one of the people who’d cleared the Common Rift was right beside him.
“That bastard took down everything!” The man shouted, “He killed the Mini-Bosses as if they were made of paper and didn’t leave us a single ordinary monster to kill either. We could not even kill the Rift Boss even though it lay there before us. That lanky-ass bastard crippled the Rift Boss and left us behind…”
The man wasn’t talking about him. He was talking about someone else!
“We fought alongside him. That means we contributed to the fight! It should be enough to apply for one of the better loans, right?!” David heard a tinge of desperation in the man’s voice, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.
Neither did the receptionist, “Where is that guy?”
That was a good question. The Protectors’ morale would skyrocket if someone capable of clearing a Common Rift alone stood by their side.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? He took care of the Bosses and said something about someone or something missing. I don’t remember,” The man waved dismissively, “Can I get a loan now?!”
Useless idiot.
The unknown powerhouse sounded like a formidable ally: A worthy fighter. David imagined fighting by his side against the Horde and then fighting him.
He wondered what it felt like to fight other humans. Was it as exhilarating as fighting monsters was?
“How can I help you?” The elven woman opposite him repeated.
With a smile, David retrieved his ID slate, “I’d like to take out a loan, but without that repayment nonsense. I ain’t selling my soul or anything like that.”
The receptionist accepted the ID slate with a professional smile and started working. However, to David, it looked like she had yet to register his words. Or she didn’t take him seriously. Maybe it was a mixture of both. David didn’t mind either. He studied the receptionist as her complexion changed slowly.
“T-This…” She looked at David, who stared back with a mischievous smile and blushed, “Congratulations on clearing the Fang Den.”
The receptionist pointed a bow and added, “I will proceed with the loan right away.”
“No repayment,” David added sternly.
“Of course, Sir. your act of service is payment enough!”
David felt like the elven woman exaggerated a little, but he was the last to complain about additional money. Every slate of Bronze would help prepare for the inevitable battle against the Horde of demons!”
Comments
small_brain_boy
I absolutely want to know the reaction of the Old Complaining Man to what just happened. It's a PERFECT setup for a funny.
