Monster cores? Gemstones? (3)

"Master is something the matter?" asked Tesse from where she was standing guard.

"No it's okay, just keep looking out," replied Gray as he approached the corpse and tried activating his skill on it.

[Invalid target. The target has been dead for more than a week and therefore all abilities previously owned by them have been lost.] replied the voice in Gray's head.

'Then why didn't you tell me about this earlier? The description never said anything about not being able to steal the powers of those that have been dead for more than a week.' complained Gray, angry that he had lost such a powerful ability.

[The restriction is not on the ability but a rule presented by the higher beings. The ability 'He who pleasures death' does not have a time limit on its casting, rather the higher beings have removed the ability from the corpse, hence there is nothing to steal,] replied the voice.

"Fuck!" exclaimed Gray angrily, kicking the sand in a show of dissatisfaction.

"Master?" asked Tesse, worried that something had perhaps gone wrong.

"Let's get out of here," ordered Gray, clearly in a foul mood as he made his way to the library.

***

'I finally got it,' thought Syndren happily as he put the copy of the elixir production method into a yellow file and began walking out of the government communication's office.

He had spent the last few hours following Ria around, waiting for the moment she would stop paying attention to the production method.

The second she looked the other way he swooped in and stole the document. Ofcourse she would suspect someone took it, but there was nothing to link him to the theft, and anyways he could always change his face if this identity was found out.

'This town has really gone to shit hasn't it,' thought Syndren as he walked past the gloomy streets.

Shady figures stood in alleyways, hungry kids ran around the streets, but what really made things gloomy was the dead look that everyone had in their eyes.

Many of them had lost loved ones to either monsters or crazed humans drunk on their new powers. And the ones that hadn't still felt lost, they were usually the ones who weren't so lucky in the ability shuffle, and had no way to gain Arcanian points.

'Anyways that will all change when Master takes control of this area, just you wait,' thought Syndren, quickening his pace.

***(A few minutes later)

'Ahh headquarters, it's busier than I remember it,' thought Syndren as he saw the line that extended till outside.

Word had gotten out that the information guild could provide information on easier dungeons, allowing people to gain Arcanian points without putting a high risk on their lives.

Once people heard this, they stormed the library with requests to procure information on F-difficulty dungeons. Even newly formed guilds were a part of the rush, looking for the more difficult dungeons in order to gain large amounts of Arcanian points, quality rewards, and fame.

The more fame a guild had the more members would want to join them, and the more people they had, the easier it would be to take control of the town.

"Kukk, a line? Fuck this, we're going in," complained a boy with black hair, who was clearly in a foul mood, a girl with white hair followed close behind him.

As Syndren was walking up the stairs the boy with black hair bumped into him, pushing him back.

"You little shit watch where you're g-" Syndren was about to pull Gray back however the girl with white hair pulled a gun on him, pointing it directly at his head.

"What's going on?" murmured some of the people who were standing in the line, however, a good number of them kept quiet and acted like nothing was going on. They had learned not to involve themselves in other people's squabbles, after all these were dangerous times.

"What's going on here?" asked a man wearing brown robes as he came out to check what the commotion was about.

It was the same man who had instructed Gray to meet the Master the first time he came to the library.

"Ahh, Gray. The master was just about to send for you," said the man once he saw Gray.

"Amos, it's me, Syndren," said Syndren just as Amos was about to turn around.

"Syndren? I didn't recognize you in tha-, anyways the master has been waiting for your arrival as well. Come along," said Amos, gesturing for him to join them.

"When did this brat join the guild?" whispered Syndren as he and Amos walked in front of Tesse and Gray towards the main hall.

"The Master hired him as a mercenary a few days ago," replied Amos.

"Him? Why?" asked Syndren confused, as he looked back and gave Gray an up and down, wondering what he could possibly have that the Master would hire him as a mercenary.

"He's much more dangerous than he seems," warned Amos as he opened the door to the hall.

The group entered the dimly lit hall, as always the Master sat atop his throne, two subordinates behind him, and several others hidden in the darkness of the hall.

"Ahh Arya, Syndren, welcome."

"Thank you Master," replied Syndren, bowing together with Amos, leaving only Gray and Tesse standing.

'Kukk, this brat,' thought Syndren as he noticed Gray's lack of respect.

"Since you came here without me calling, I'm guessing you have something to ask?" asked the Master, his chin laying in his hand in a gesture of boredom.

"Yes, I've come to ask what you guys know about these," replied Gray, pulling out a blue gemstone as he said this.

"Hmm, we are aware of their existence, though we have no idea what their us-" the Master stopped talking midway once he saw the look on Syndren's face.

"It seems you are aware of something I'm not Syndren. Please feel free to speak," said the Master, gesturing for Syndren to stop bowing.

"That's actually what I called about earlier Master. Though are you sure it's okay for me to talk about this while he's still here?" asked Syndren, looking back at Gray in spite as he said this.