Chương 194: New Ally?

I turned around. Marcus was staring at a woman I recognized. She was the powerful one that was hanging around Adrian's group but didn't seem to be part of them. Andrea, if I'm not mistaken.

"Andrea, right? Give me just a minute to speak with Marcus here, then I'll be with you. Grab a drink in the meantime, my treat."

"Will do, but don't make me wait too long..." she said in a sultry tone, then strode away with a sway in her hips. Marcus and I exchanged a look.

"She's trouble for sure," he muttered, still clearly looking at her butt.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" He wasn't one for small talk, so it meant it was something important. He chewed on his gums for a few seconds, then spoke, and what he said surprised me.

"I nearly died today." Not a good start to a conversation.

"How?"

"Kaleari, a kind of ambush predator. It caught me totally by surprise and hooked into me with some vine-like tentacles, dragged me underground, and took a chunk of my back." He stopped.

"It was venomous too." I stared.

"Level 77, something that I should be able to face. Well, I managed, but if it wasn't for Mary, I wouldn't have made it to the shop to get an antidote in time."

"You don't look like a man out to get some pity or compassion, Marcus, so I won't dole it out to you. Speak plainly." I told him this not for a lack of empathy, but because I understood the man. He didn't care for an "I'm sorry you nearly died" or some other useless words.

"I want power, much more power. I know you have a way. Both Alya and Quinn feel like..."

"Stop. Not here, Marcus, and it's something that Tom would have talked to you about in an hour or so, but it doesn't hurt to tell you. Come with me." I went up the stairs and entered Rhea's and my room, then deployed a barrier to block any words from leaving it.

"You know I can remove curses, right?" He nodded.

"Well, stat-enhancing items with curses are aplenty in the shop, and they cost a tenth of the normal ones, so that's how we did it. It's not exactly a secret, but I don't want anybody to come to me and demand that I start removing curses for them. It takes time and energy, and I plan to first empower ourselves, then maybe I can offer my abilities in exchange for points and the like." He looked thoughtful.

"I have nearly twenty thousand points saved up. Would they be enough?"

"Probably, but it depends on many factors. Talk to Tom, he will tell you more. Then tonight I will remove the curses. Are you past level 25?" He nodded.

"Level 41, but it's getting harder to level now."

"Did you get the Defier of Tiers?" A grunt. Good, at least he didn't miss out.

"There are many achievements related to raising one stat over a certain threshold before advancing too much, but I think you could still gain many. Let's bump you up in stats, then you'll have to face something dangerous, like over level 100 probably, to get a couple of the better achievements. That would help." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. He thought about it.

"You think it's doable?"

"Potentially yes, especially with a good matchup and preparation. We'll find something."

"Thanks..." He seemed at a loss for words, maybe expecting something different. Definitely expecting to have to give something in return...

"Marcus, I know you are a reserved man, but you are my teammate, and despite knowing you for only a little while, I think of you as a friend. Next time don't wait until you nearly die to talk to me." Another grunt.

"Aye... I just thought... never mind. But thanks."

"Anytime. Now, if there is nothing else, I think I've let that one wait long enough." He smirked.

"Never let a pretty lady wait, lad. It's not going to end well."

"Then I'm lucky that she's not my lady. See you later."

"Mmm, later." And with that, I took down the barrier and exited the room, leaving Marcus in there alone for a moment. Coming back down, I saw Andrea sitting in a corner, three glasses already empty in front of her. She was playing with a die that looked remarkably mundane, but I could feel it was indeed magical.

"I hope you won't mind that I started already. Didn't your father teach you that you shouldn't let a girl wait?"

"Actually not, but a friend just reminded me." I sat down in front of her. Even that simple act caused me discomfort. I was nearing the end of my patience for interactions today. Let's wrap this up quickly.

"So, what do you want?"

"Wow! So direct! You're not going to sweet-talk me now that I'm tipsy and slowly get to the point?"

"You're not tipsy, and you approached me, not the other way around."

"Ah right, usually it is the other way around. Actually, why wasn't it the other way around? I was expecting an invitation or something by now..." She was actually pouting. What was her game?

"I'm not a fan of heavy recruiting. If you want to join the Guild, talk with Chloe. She's in charge of that." I was ready to get up and leave, but she took my arm and stopped me.

"Don't put me in the same league as the bunch that approached you already. I don't care about joining to become another face in the crowd. I want to join your team." That was interesting, but why? And should I?

"That is not out of the question, but first tell me why."

"Not asking me what I can bring to the table? I'm flattered."

"Don't be. I can tell you're still at level 25 and could mop the floor with most of my team."

"Me? I could be a support class for all you know," she said in an innocent tone. I scoffed.

"Yeah, and how did you manage to gain so many stats otherwise? By supporting others? You don't seem the type." No, she was clearly a combatant. I analyzed her, how she was dressed, the feel of her mana, her exposed aura... I reached a simple conclusion. She was an archer, a magical archer. Actually, it wasn't difficult at all to realize. Her armor alone was a giveaway.

She was clad in tight brown leather, her chest covered by an extra layer, probably to contain her generous cleavage better and keep it from getting in the way of the bowstring. Her left forearm had extra protection on the inside for a similar reason, so that the bowstring wouldn't scrape her. Then I could feel that her magic was extremely focused on her eyes and right arm, especially in the pointer, middle, and ring fingers. She had no bow out. I had only noticed a couple of knives at her hips before.

That meant she had purchased a spatial storage of some kind. It also meant she was quite wealthy. That increased my suspicions. Why was she intent on joining? If it was for the increase in experience, that wasn't what I would expect from somebody like her. No, she needed something. I was sure.

"You're some type of archer. You have an eye skill of some kind, and with magic in play I believe you can be considered a sniper in terms of range. How am I doing so far?" Her expression became even more intrigued.

"You are not bad at this game, but Adrian is better. He managed to tell me the name of my class." Yeah, thank you. Very fair comparison.

"That's beside the point. I asked you why you don't join Adrian's party instead of mine. Without that answer, and mind you, I want an honest one, I won't let you join my inner circle, even temporarily." I was serious about this. I wouldn't let a potential spy infiltrate the group. And she could be. Her association with Adrian, even if only on the side, and her strength were suspicious.

But my eyes were getting good at spotting the microexpressions she made, and a lifetime of working with all kinds of people had made me decent at recognizing liars. She looked surreptitiously around, then one of her dice shone for a moment and the air around us changed in pressure. I could feel it in my ears. She had isolated the sound around us.

"It's because that bastard killed my husband. I want him to pay." Okay, I wasn't expecting that. And the venom dripping from her voice mixed with the grief clear in her expression was something hard to fake. I actually believed her. I really did. But with the many skills available in the store, I didn't doubt that even an amateur could become a talented actor. Still, I had a solution.

"My condolences, but you must be aware that killing him would just reset the tutorial, so what do you want?"

"I want revenge. I want to ruin him. I can't go back in time and fix what he did, but I can destroy his future, and that's why I want to join you, because I know you plan to do the same." Well, despite not knowing how she knew, she wasn't wrong in a way... Maybe we could work together.

"I think we can work together, but first I require something from you..."