Chương 30: Chapter 29. New Faces

"You good?" Oscar asked Gita as they walked back to the Burrow.

"You froze up pretty heavily back there." Gita sped up and when she responded, it was short and cold.

"Don't like snakes." It was clear that she wasn't going to say anything else on the matter, so he dropped the matter. The rest of the walk back was in silence. Once they'd reached the Burrow again, they found Bruno waiting for them on the first level. He looked bored, and upon seeing them enter, he perked up.

"About time you two got back. Hope it was a lot of fun because it's about to get even more exciting for you," he said as he walked towards the stairs. The pair followed and indulged him in conversation.

"Oh, yeah? What do you have planned for us this time? Another small town suffering from a rogue maniac?" Gita asked dryly.

"No, no, nothing that fun. I think at least… I don't know what the details are. I tend to ignore Plank, but he did mention it'd be good for the two of you," Bruno admitted.

"It's some sort of job that one of his pupils has asked for help on. I think—" he had turned around and given a fake smile to them, but it got wiped away upon noticing Gita was now missing.

"Hey, where'd she go?" Oscar also hadn't noticed she'd dipped.

"She was right here…"

"Eh, well, no matter. It'll be easier if just one of you goes along anyway. And don't think about trying to vanish yourself either, you're going," Bruno said and continued walking.

"I heard your stomach rumble when you first walked in, so go get something to eat and report back to Plank's study. If you don't return in under thirty minutes… Well, let's not be late, shall we?" Oscar sighed and went in the opposite direction. He realized then that he didn't actually know where the kitchen was. When he'd woken up this morning, he'd just had an apple and an orange that he plucked out of a basket of fruit that was in the common room.

Turning back around, he wanted to ask Bruno where the kitchen was at because surprisingly this place could get confusing.

"It's only been like two seconds! How does everyone keep vanishing so quickly?"

After a bit of stumbling around, he managed to locate the kitchen. Inside there was a girl that seemed to be around his age rooting around in the pantry. So far, he had yet to see really anyone actually out and about within the Burrow. Once she noticed someone else had entered, the girl turned around and stared at him for a second before she delivered to him something that could only lightly be described as the most angelic smile he'd ever seen.

Her hair was a dark hazel that was braided on the sides and barely reached past her shoulders. Her outfit was an all black hooded cloak, with a fitted navy tunic underneath that was adorned with various little pouches. Their clothes were fairly similar, but hers looked to be of much higher quality and possessed more features. It also had to be said that she also looked way better than he did in the clothes. He felt like a cosplayer whilst this girl genuinely looked like a true [Thief] or [Rogue].

There was even a small cut on her cheek that lent her some credibility to being a hardened girl that lives that kind of life. Heat swarmed up to his head, staining his face scarlet. This girl—no, this woman—had to be the most beautiful person that he had ever seen. It wasn't often that he was around someone this pretty, and aside from a lack of self-confidence, the reason was because of how easily he got flustered.

"Hi… you got a cut on your cheek… I like that. It looks… really tough… Yeah," Oscar said as he stumbled over his words and felt the shame launch a flurry of blows to his self-esteem. The girls' smile faded, and confusion wrote itself in its place.

"Oh… thanks? I thought about using a potion, but eh, I'd rather let the bastard who did this be forced to be reminded of it next time he sees me." As soon as she spoke, he recognized the voice. This was definitely the thief that had tried to rob him. The feeling of being smitten quickly vanished, and his annoyance at their last encounter returned." You!" Oscar said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"You really hurt my back you know?" The girl broke off into laughter and only looked a little cute. Quickly though, he erased that thought and made a vow to himself that he would refuse to give in to her charms. He narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms, hoping he appeared tough.

"That was you? Forgive me, I didn't recognize you without those filthy rags you had on. You actually clean up nice, so I don't know why you'd choose to be that dirty."

"I mean, it wasn't a fashion statement… ugh, whatever. I'll leave you to it," he rolled his eyes and made to leave the kitchen.

"Sorry, it's been a long day. Don't go, you came here to eat, so eat. No one has done a grocery run in awhile, but you can have this apple that I was about to eat," she said as she held out an apple he hadn't noticed before. It would have been polite of him to turn it down. Unfortunately, he was so damn ravenous right now. Gingerly, he reached out and was about to pluck it out of her hand, but then she brought the apple up to her lips and took a huge bite out of it.

She tossed the rest of the apple at him, which he managed to catch thanks to his [Lesser Dexterity]. It was small moments like this that reminded him of how much he'd changed. God, how many times had he embarrassed himself in gym just by failing at catching things?

"Was that really necessary? We could just split the damned thing if you really wanted it."

"No, it's fine. Just figured I'd issue a tax first. The rest is all yours, friend," she said as she started to make her way out of the room.

"Hold on, what's your name? Seems like we will being seeing each other more so might as well get familiar." She stopped and tapped her chin a few times, somehow in a deep thought over a basic request.

"Hmmmm… no!" Then she was gone and he was left alone to stew in the wake of yet another annoying encounter with that frustrating girl.

"Is there anyone in this world that was normal?" Oscar accidentally said aloud as he took a sad bite out of the half-eaten apple.

After he'd finished his disappointing apple, Oscar walked himself into Plank's study. The elder was, like always, behind his desk, nose buried in reports. How many reports could one man study? The man operated like a poorly coded NPC who only had one loop of animations.

"Ah! Finally, we can get on with this already," Plank said without looking up.

"Bruno, if you'd be so kind as to explain what's going on. The quicker we get this done, the sooner I can get back to my research."

"I haven't seen you this happy in years, Plank. Maybe I should donate Oscar and Gita to stay permanently so you're never lonely," Bruno said sarcastically.

"Moving on... Oscar, one of Planks newest pupils needs help with a small job. Now, I know you're probably thinking that one of the other [Thieves] should tag along, but Plank and I both agreed that an outsider might be more… delicate for this matter." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Oscar couldn't stop his anxiety from swelling at that.

"And why do you think that? I feel like if anything, my situation has proven to be quite… volatile. Feels like everywhere I go, issues pop up."

"That's true… That is true…" Bruno mulled over his thoughts for a moment.

"Even still, the matter is delicate and for whatever reason, Plank has stated he wants someone strong and capable to assist her. And I think you're actually somewhat both of those things. Not even remotely close to my level, but you're getting there. Sometimes."

"Oh? Really? Wow… Thank you, that means a lot. You know, I've really been working hard these last few—""Learn some humility, Oscar. This ego shit? It doesn't look good on you," Bruno said, interrupting him.

"Now, would our guest please take over the rest?"

"Plank, who is this guy?" A girl's voice said, stepping into the study. Oscar turned around and saw it was the girl from the kitchen. Plank groaned and rubbed at his temple.

"Bruno. Don't worry about him, and if possible, ignore him."

"Right… I'm Ari," she said and gave an awkward wave.

"I need help getting some information on this guy that I ran into the other night. The issue is that he's dangerous. From my limited experience with the man, I saw him use a silent combative skill, decimating a man in an instant. I'm not expecting things to involve in fighting, but apparently you're not too bad in a scuffle." Oscar looked around the room in a wild frenzy.

"And you think that I'm the man for the job? Yeah, look, I'm flattered, but I think perhaps you should look elsewhere. I'm still pretty new to this whole fighting stuff should it come to that."

"Nonsense, you're perfect for the job," Bruno said as he approached Oscar. He bent down and whispered into Oscar's ear." My contact isn't responding. I spent the whole morning going through all of our protocols, but not a single response. It could be nothing, but my instincts tell me that there's something fishy going on in the city. Go with her and observe and see if you can't detect any corruption." The thought of telling Bruno about the Desire pills he'd found in the church crossed his mind.

Ultimately he decided that it was best to keep that in his pocket for now.

No doubt the other Lamenters had told Oz about the pills already. Should Bruno decide to investigate the church and the pills on his own, there was a possibility that he'd run into Oz.

"Fine, when do we leave?" Oscar asked Ari.

"Right before it gets dark. So, in about… two hours," Ari said.

"I don't think that half-eaten apple you gave me is going to be enough to sate me during the course of… how ever long this takes. Since I have the time, I think I'll hit up this noodle shop that's in the marketplace," Oscar said with a heavy sigh. Ari nodded but didn't say anything else. She left the room, and before Bruno or Plank could say anything themselves, Oscar followed suit.

The marketplace was busy as usual. Oscar had to fight through the crowd to reach the spot where he'd seen the woman selling those noodles. A few times he got shoulder checked or aggressively shoved. He knew that there were likely some [Thiefs] around so he kept one hand in the pocket where his money was at. There wasn't going to be anything preventing him from getting these damn noodles. Well, actually that wasn't true as he now noticed that the spot where the noodle shop had been prior was now completely empty.

How amazing. The man selling spider legs was still there, though. His stand looked the same as it had before. Which was to say it was completely devoid of any customers.

"Welcome s'hika, welcome! Shamic the [Nyxil Slayer] has plenty to offer!" Shamic said, gesturing to his wares.

"What brings you in today?" Despite being hungry and on a timer, Oscar looked at what the man had available for sale. The legs had sharp chitin protruding from various spots, the lower bits had sparse amounts of rigid hairs, and the feet were paw shaped with hooked claws buried in a patch of even denser hairs.

"Sorry for my ignorance, but what are you selling? And what exactly even is a Nyxil?" Oscar asked." M'lago! You don't know what a Nyxil is? S'hika, from what lands do you hail to have not experienced a Nyxil invasion?" Shamic said. His eyes were squinted and locked onto him, likely trying to discern where he could have come from.

"I'm sorry… I've been in a coma for the past few weeks. It seems I've lost some of my memories once I woke up," Oscar said. He had no clue if the medical knowledge here was advanced enough to diagnose what a coma was, but it was the best lie he could think of right now.

"May Myrixia's blessings grant you a speedy recovery!" Shamic said, "As to what a Nyxil is… that's a complicated matter, s'hika." He felt fairly confident at piecing together what these foreign words meant, or at the very least he thought he was close. It was interesting to know that there were foreign languages that he didn't understand.

His working theory up until now was whatever system was at play to grant people these skills and classes, also made it so everyone could communicate with no barriers, but clearly there was some unique languages aside from what was the common standard.

"Imagine a spider," Shamic said.

"Um, sure."

"Now imagine that spider to be the size of…" Shamic stopped and pointed at a nearby caravan.

"…that but groto— sorry, larger."" M'lago … that's incredibly terrifying. Are they all that… groto?" Oscar said, trying to incorporate some of the man's language. He always had a desire to learn other languages, but was far too lazy to ever actually commit enough to be fluent in any. Still, it had always been amusing to see foreigners get excited upon hearing others know a thing or two in their language. Shamic laughed and clapped his hands.

"Oh ho ho! Finally a f'ilio that isn't afraid to learn! Not many people like you out there that are willing to accept people like myself."

"Why's that?" Oscar asked.

"Superstition is my guess. People from Relvika usually get treated as catimyst—no, what's that word again…"

"Catalyst?"

"Yes! Tila s'hika, we get treated as catalysts for all sorts of wrongs in the world." Shamic waved his hand dismissively.

"I try not to fault them as I can understand their fear. My people are in tune with mysticisms that the rest of the world looks down on. From the outside, I understand how seeing a [Fleshweaver] practice their craft might look evil." Upon hearing mention of the [Fleshweaver], Oscar remembered that Amari, Josiah, and Chloe were heading towards Relvika to see one. He briefly wondered how they were doing.

"Ah, it seems I've lead us off the path. What were we saying again…" Shamic said, "ah right, Nyxils. No, not all of them reach that size. Just the females will while the males are about half that size."

"So it's the females that are generally the leaders of a brood?"

"Up until a [Nyxil King] is born, yes. When he is born, the newborn king will consume all of the females. His goal is to grow triple their combined size, and with any luck, he will also inherit some of their skills to further enhance his class." Oscar couldn't stop himself for choking on his saliva. A monster being able to learn a class and skills? A shiver racked his frame as he thought of seeing a horde of those things rampaging.

"I didn't know that monsters could learn skills or gain classes…" Oscar said.

"Very few can, s'hika, and even among those few, there is no guarantee that the skills they learn will even be that strong. But even a bad skill on a monster as adaptable as a Nyxil is devastating."

"You said you're a [Nyxil Slayer] right? Does that mean you've killed so many that you're no longer afraid of them?" The laugh from Shamic boomed out of him, a laugh that felt far louder than he should have been able to produce.

"Myrixia's tits, no! Those bastards scare me to my very soul!" Shamic said, "I just know how to hide my fear well and do what must be done. I've managed to make a good career out of it though! Killing a brood before it can mature pays much more than my struggling vendor business. I don't even know how to sell these legs!. It's hard to market a severed leg of a reviled creature that doesn't do anything."

"The legs don't even do anything? Then what's the—""Point?" Shamic said, cutting Oscar off.

"Eh… truth be told, a friend I know owns this stall. I'm just using it to look for someone, and this is all I had to use for inventory."

"You're not a [Merchant], or something like that then?" Shamic shook his head and offered an apologetic smile.

"No, s'hika, I'm many things but that's not one of them. Honestly… I feel ashamed of myself for falling into old antics such as this. You see, I have an important task I must accomplish in a limited amount of time. The other day, I even spotted the person that I've been tasked with finding… and yet, here I am wasting time all because I used to know this person."

"I… don't know what to say," Oscar said. Shamic bowed his head and let out a lengthy sigh.

"Ah, apologies, I let myself burden you with my problems."

"Uh, no, it's fine,""Well, anyway, I suppose I should pack this farce up and return to my real work. Thank you… ah, I forgot to ask your name."

"Oscar Reed, and it was a pleasure to meet you, Shamic. I should really get going myself. I need to grab a quick bite to eat before I work in an hour." Shamic gave him a warm smile in return.

"And you as well, s'hika. I hope we meet again soon!"

Shamic watched in anger as Oscar walked away. He wasn't angry at Oscar, but himself. How much time had he wasted at this stall already? Finally one of those two kids had returned to the market and conveniently wandered over for them to meet… and what had he done? Rather than inquire into his relationship with Bruno, he'd meandered in pointless conversation about things that didn't matter whatsoever. Sweeping his hands over the nyxil legs, Shamic returned them back into his dimensional storage.

There was no sense in wasting anymore time at this marketplace. He might've messed up with this interaction, but he'd at least made a good impression. Next time he'd learn more about the boy. Bruno had never mentioned having a kid before, but neither did he seem like the type to do so. Especially given his current situation. Even still, before he went further with this job, he needed to know what Oscar's relationship with Bruno is. And the girl as well." M'lago, forgive me, Tess, Nadia…

This will all be over soon, I promise."