Chapter 76 - Days CCXIX - CCXL

We started to move very early in the morning. Moments before the sunrise. I dealt with the last orcs, twelve to be exact, and then helped Will with getting the cart up, on the cliff. It was a very slow process. We barely made it with few close calls, but only a small amount of crystals fell down. We went to gather those and started to head back to the city for good.

We both wanted to make it before dark, so instead of talking, we focused on powerwalking back. Shifting from time to time on cart pulling duty.

Hours later we met the first goblin group, which was slaughtered in seconds. That was the only group we crossed paths with. Newcomers were very strongly hunting them. We saw few groups from afar, making their way back to the city after a long day in the woods.

They looked pretty good. Had decent equipment. Spears with iron spearheads, swords, shields, and even bows. Armored with nice and sturdy leather jackets. It brought back memories of our beginnings here when I was walking between those trees only in my undies and a hoodie. With a wooden club as a weapon. Tired, wounded, and on the verge of giving up.

But I didn't give up. I pushed thru all that pain, and now I was returning from the hunt with a cart filled to the brim. Like a winner. Those thoughts made me smile a bit.

We reached the city with other hunters. Mainly new faces. Old-guard probably focused on rats, and maybe even wolves because of points. They were chatty but kept their distance from us. Even with a cart full of big crystals, which evidently was something hard to ignore.

The city center was crowded, and there was a line to the device. We had to wait for our turn.

- Damn, that is a lot of crystals – said somebody behind us.

Will turned around and engaged himself in conversation with that person. I, on the other hand, ignored the comment. Observing new people made me too busy.

There was definitely a gap between newcomers and the rest of us. They seemed to rather prefer their own company. Or maybe it was the other way around, and the old-guard kept the distance. Who knew? Definitely not me, a person that was away for almost a month.

The line slowly moved, and eventually, it became our turn.

Will was first, taking his time while deciding where to put the points. Since we couldn't split the crystals evenly, he got one more, and also all goblin noes. He needed them more than I. Besides, because of him, I gained one class point before we started our orc hunting.

Then it was my turn. I sold the 2 521 crystals for 2 521 000 points. The unbelievable amount, but actually what was on my mind more than spending all of those, was the choice of which class should I pick next. The rogue was tempting, because I really wanted to get something allowing me to hide well, and this class was sounded promising. Magic was also interesting, but then I started to think more in a long term. Magic wouldn't give me the edge to clash with the whole orc camp. I needed to strengthen my mele fighting capabilities.

Guardian looked promising, but I wasn't really keen on guarding others. What I wanted was farming crystals, so in the end, I decided to take monk class. Maybe the old kung fu films with people flying around thru the air were stuck in my head.

Monk had few skills. 'Mind mastery', 'Body mastery', 'Breathing technique', 'Ki', 'Ki manipulation', 'Ki strengthening', and finally 'Ki release'. To unlock Ki, I needed first to buy a breathing technique, which I did. To cut it short, I bought every skill once.

Then I pumped one million points in weapon mastery. The next upgrade was 10 million, so I couldn't buy it, but instead, I upgraded every other fighter skill, for 300k total. There were still plenty of points remaining. Barrier maker skills proved to be useful, so I got them all on the second level for 60k points. Then I upgraded both Cleansing and Life energy to the third level.

All those upgrades and I still had plenty of points remaining, so I upgraded my strength 80 times. The rest I left, to use in monk skills if they proved to be useful.

All these upgrades, and on my account still was a nice number of 761 692 points. I bought a bit of food and had a snack break. Finally done with the shopping, I decided to visit Aisha, leaving Will with the cart. He was not happy about that but did not complain. Which was actually not like him.

I made it to the brothel. The building looked different even from afar. It got bigger and was beautiful. Red roof, coming down at the angle, and red brick walls. Windows, multiple, covered with curtains, so you couldn't peek inside. It stood up among the usual architecture of the city. It looked almost modern. If only above the door there was a neon sign, but there wasn't since we didn't have electricity. But there was a wide, carved board with blue letters. "Velvet Lotus" – it said.

People gathered at the entrance, but before entering had to pass thru the bouncer. Hailwic in leather armor, with an ax by her side, was checking everybody before allowing them to enter. Not everybody could. I guessed they had a white list of some sort. I made it there and patiently waited for my turn to be bounced, maybe back.

- Hi – was my greeting.

- Hey… aren't you Peter? Wow, where have you been? It's been a while…

- Hunting.

- Oh, right. I heard you like to stay in the woods. You want to get inside? - she asked.

Then something slightly unusual happened. He started to scan me with her eyes. A slight smirk appeared on her face, and her whole expression changed. I saw a bit of anxiety, mixed with excitement. That girl wanted to try herself with me. Check the skills.

- Yeah. I wanted to talk with Aisha. You know, check-in.

- Ah. Ok, go on ahead. Just don't make any trouble – the last words summoned a wide grin on her face.

- Sure…

And I got inside. The first thing that hit me was the music coming from behind a heavy, purple curtain leading further. The small room at the entrance remained but got slightly bigger. Walls were just plain red bricks but mostly covered by decorations. Two shields, and a bear head between them on the left. Two girls, one with pink, and the other with blue hair were playing dice under decoration on a simple wooden bench. The roots were blonde though. They were armored and had weapons at the ready. Curved swords. Shiny bubbles were lying there in few piles, probably used as chips. There was also a girl sitting behind the counter on the right. She had just as wide shoulders as Hailwic outside. Their height had to be similar. Behind her were few racks, with weapons and armor hanging.

She had black hair, tied into a bun, with two stripes remaining free on both sides of her face. There was also a scar on her left cheek.

- You can leave your armor and weapons here – said the counter lady. - You are a new face. Did we get more newcomers?

- No – I answered while taking the leather off, and added the knife which was in my pocket.

- That's strange. I've been here for almost a month and never seen you.

- I was hunting outside. That's probably why.

She nodded slightly and gave me a piece of wood, with a number on it.

Thru the whole conversation, both dicers ignored me, focusing only on their game. I guess it was important.

- Thank you – I said to her, and went deeper, into the next room.

Pushing my way thru the curtain, further. What I found there was a hall filled with couches, tables, chairs, and many people. It could easily fit around hundred people. On the left was a bar with a familiar face tending to customers. Vesa, in a white shirt and black vest, looked like a true barman. Or maybe I should write barmaid? Barwoman? Anyway…

The counter was big, surrounding her from three sides. Behind her was a wall covered by a wooden storage rack, filled to the brim by bottles. There were also a few kegs sitting on the floor. Vesa was moving fast, serving many customers, who just sat around her like flies, and drank trying to talk to her. She definitely was a popular girl.

Hosts and hostesses were busy tending to customer needs on the right side. With the middle occupied mostly by tables, and people playing games. Cards and dices. It wasn't that interesting, so I gave more attention to the right side.

There were almost no chairs there. The couches filled with cushions were at every table. People drinking, chatting, and flirting there. With girls, and boys. The distinction was obvious. The clientele was rougher, while workers all had nice clothes. Elegant by our standards. Women rocked some dresses, while men had shirts in many colors and black pants.

Deeper, in front of me was a small stage, with band jamming, and a beautiful woman in a black, skin-tight dress long almost to the floor. She was singing in Spanish.

Up above, on a mezzanine, it was not that busy. I saw only a few couples heading to the rooms to have more intimate fun. As I was looking there I saw Aisha with a drink. Dressed in some jeans and a hoodie. She waved to me with a little smile, so I started to make my way up.

The stairs remained on the right side but had a more distinguished look with slight carvings on the handrail, and small rugs on each step.

- Is good to see you back – she said to me when I finally made it.

- You too. I love what you did to the place.

- Thank you. It was a shared effort. We had few parties, and many donated to our cause.

- Good to hear that. I never expected this place to change so much so fast. You had to work incredibly fast.

- It was tough, I'm not gonna lie, but we made it.

- I'm proud of you... or something.

She laughed.

- You are terrible at small talk, Peter. Come with me – she grabbed my hand, and pulled me further the mezzanine, to the last room.

It was a cozy office of some sort. Few shelves covered with papers, a couch on the right just big enough to get some sleep, and a desk with two chairs on both sides. There was also a window at the back with heavy curtains on both sides, ready to block the view.

- Sit. Want something to drink?

- No. I'm good. I just ate -I sat on the chair.

Meanwhile, she got to the other side, and also sat, with crossed legs, glass still in hand.

- Ok, nevermind then. I was gonna offer you dinner but fuck that. Let's just talk then.

- Sure.

- As you can see, the place is blooming.

- Yeah. It looks really great.

- Again, thank you. It's a shelter for those who don't want to hunt, and a great spot to gather information – she gave me a wink.

- So you became a spy now? Or something?

- Businesswoman, and a hunter. I will slowly make my way to the top.

- So that's the plan now? Making it to the top?

- You need to be at the top, to have an influence. I need the influence to maintain the piece, at least for this place. I didn't mean it in a way of becoming ruler or something. I just want to have a voice that is respected.

- Ok. I understand.

- I know you do. That guy, Hatta, also gets it. And is helping me a lot. We actually made a fair exchange. He makes sure we can progress steadily. Gather crystals, upgrade ourselves and I provide him with information. It's quite easy to find out secrets when people are drunk or in bed.

- So you two have an alliance?

- Yeah, of some sort. By the way, Hatta got almost killed two days ago. Blue made his move. He got him with a poisoned needle, but Hatta got to the device fast enough and had enough points to get rid of the poison. A close call, nonetheless. There are a few groups out there, in the city, searching for that bastard. We will find him sooner or later. He can't hide forever. We should have focused on him sooner, but there was so much other work to be done.

- Damn. That's bad. Can I help somehow?

- Not now. We need to find him first, but after that, you sure would be helpful in capturing him. Although he is almost cut off the device, he is still very strong. Him, and what's left of blood brothers, are a thorn in our side. There were few incidents, but nothing compared to the assassination attempt.

- That guy is dangerous. He is clever and resourceful.

- We know, and we are not dumb ourselves. We will get him sooner or later.

- Ok. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

- I will keep that in mind.

- What else happened? Is everything going well in Wuxia? Except that poisoning of course…

- Yeah, but many left them. Hatta is now in charge, obviously, but he has a hard time. He was counting on newcomers, but they actually formed their own groups. They think we are barbaric – she chuckled. - Can you believe? They know shit. Well, not all of them are like that. They have no idea how hard it was here at the beginning, and now, they came after most of the work was already done, and are giving us this crap? Assholes.

I couldn't hold my smile. Her anger was adorable.

- What about you, what you have been up to? I heard you went with Will this time.

- Yeah. We went to the canyon and hunted orcs.

- Impressive.

- Yeah. It's... incredible spot.

- You don't need to convince me. How about next time I and my girls join you? - she leaned a bit forward, ending almost on the desk.

She had a greedy smile on her face.

- Sure. But... Are you ready for that?

- Hm... Probably not. Maybe a different spot then?

- Rats? I think nobody checked what's in their nest.

- Hm... it sounds nice, but that spot is occupied. Outside I mean.

- We will go only inside then.

-Ok. Tomorrow then?

- Will is gonna hate me, but sure, why not.

She laughed.

- He will get over it. We are gonna wait for you in the city center.

- Ok.

- Oh, and after we are done, how about both of us grab a drink?

- That's... I would love that.

She bit her lip while smiling.

- We are set up then.

- Yes. See you tomorrow. I need some sleep.

- Have a good night then, Peter.

- Good night Aisha.

And I left. Taking my time downstairs. The music was just too damn good. I really wished I had an mp3 player or even a walkman. Anything would be good. Even a freaking gramophone.

The day ended with 761 682 points remaining on my account.