Chapter 11: Ink (Patreon)

After we arrived at the Adventurers Guild, I told Jeffrey to find some place to park nearby and wait for us, since I didn’t know how long I would be. He nodded in understanding, before driving off.

Leroy and I then entered the guild. The adventurers there must have gotten used to my presence, because they didn’t make as much of a fuss when I walked in as before. They still took note of me, but that was it. Except for Corie, Lorelei’s friend. She glared at me through narrowed eyes. I ignored her.

Lorelei was busy talking with someone else, so I just gave her a wave as I made my way deeper into the guild, heading towards the Requisitions Office. She waved back, before focusing on the adventurer in front of her.

As before, there was a line of adventurers waiting to be helped in the Requisitions Office. When I entered, they gave me the usual hostile and unfriendly looks, but otherwise left me alone. I figured I wasn’t worth the effort to them. Plus I had Leroy with me. His presence acted as a deterrent.

Jesse Snyder, the requisitions officer, worked behind the counter. Unlike last time, he wasn’t alone. A young woman worked as his assistant. She was the one who went through the door leading to the back.

While I waited to be helped, I glanced at the board depicting the items available to adventurers through the Requisitions Office. When I came here the first time around, with Guildmaster Sinclair, I just gave the board a quick glance. I took a closer look now, since I had the chance.

Most of the items available seemed like standard adventuring gear, or what I’d consider standard adventuring gear. Tools, weapons, backpacks, etc. There were also various potions available, such as health potions and mana potions. Beside each one were two prices; one in coin and one in merits. It was a little cheaper to pay with merits.

To my disappointment, the ink I needed wasn’t listed. Hopefully something was available, otherwise I would have to search for it myself, and I’d rather not. I didn’t know how long it would take me.

It didn’t take long for the line to move forward. Most of the adventurers had simple requests that were easily fulfilled. Jesse Snyder and his assistant worked with quick efficiency. It helped that the adventurers didn’t make much of a fuss, even when things didn’t go their way. That made sense. They were smart enough not to piss off the guy who controlled access to all the gear.

Soon enough, it was my turn. Jesse Snyder gave me a polite and professional look, though his eyes contained the same dislike for House wizards that I noticed in everyone else. As long as he didn’t cause me trouble because of it, he could dislike me all he wanted.

“Are there other items available?” I asked, gesturing to the item board. “Or is that it? I don’t see what I need up there.”

“Those are just the most common items adventurers buy from us,” he said. “We have more items available for sale. If you tell me what you’re looking for, I’ll be able to tell you if we have it or not.”

Okay, that was a good sign.

“I’m looking for ink used for drawing magic circles,” I said. “Specifically, ink used in sealing type magic circles.”

Wizards used all sorts of methods to create magic circles, including drawing them with magic ink. Sealing type magic circles were used to contain monsters, spirits, and other wizards by keeping their mana in check. I hoped that the ink used for those kinds of magic circles could also be used to conceal my cultivation base.

At this, Jesse Snyder frowned.

“That’s an unusual request,” he said, causing my heart to sink. However, his next words raised it up again. “That said, I do think we have some ink like that. I assume you’re paying in merits, Lord Gabriel?” I nodded. “In that case, let me check to see how many merits you have.”

Jesse Snyder held out his hand. I pulled out my guild ID, which held a record of how many merits I had. The guild itself also had their own records, but it was faster to use my guild ID to pay. This would be useful when I left Icefall City and traveled to other branches of the Adventurers Guild.

Thanks to the Inferno Wolf bodies I sold to the guild, plus the one gig I did, I should have a decent amount of merits.

After checking my card, Jesse Snyder turned to his assistant, he rattled off three different types of inks and where to find them. She nodded, before disappearing through the back door. After a minute, she returned with three glass bottles and handed them to Jesse Snyder. Each of the bottles emitted mana.

“Here are your options, Lord Gabriel,” he said. He held up a bottle of blue ink that emitted a faint glow. “The cheapest ink is the standard Mana Ink. If you get this, you’ll be able to get several bottles with the amount of merits you have.”

The next bottle he held up contained a darker blue ink. When I took a closer look at it, it seemed like illusory blue flames burned within the ink.

“Next up is Ghostfire Ink, which is best used for containing spirits. With your merits, you can get up to four bottles.”

He held up the last bottle.

“Last of all, we have Spiritblood Ink. It’s the most powerful kind of ink we have available. You can afford one of them.”

Despite its name, the bottle contained dark purple ink that also emitted a faint glow. However, it contained a lot more mana than the first two inks Jesse Snyder showed me.

My first thought was to get the Spiritblood Ink, since it was much more powerful than the Mana Ink and the Ghostfire Ink, but in the end I refrained. I didn’t know if these inks would work the way I wanted them to, which meant I needed to conduct some experiments. One bottle wasn’t going to cut it.

Since that was the case, I figured I might as well get some of the Mana Ink as well. There were other potential uses for it.

“I’ll take three each of both the Mana Ink and the Ghostfire Ink,” I said. “Also give me as many low-grade health potions as I can get with what’s left.”

Jesse Snyder nodded, and his assistant grabbed what I needed. In a short amount of time, I had three bottles of the Ghostfire Ink, three bottles of the Mana Ink, and two low-grade health potions. Getting all of that left me with almost no merits.

I sighed.

If I wanted to get my hands on enough Spiritblood Ink to conduct experiments with, then I needed to earn a lot more merits. That meant doing more gigs, and hunting more magic beasts. Leroy was just going to love that.

I made my way out of the Requisitions Office with my ink and my mana potions, and headed towards the front hall. It was much the same as earlier, though there were a few new faces and some of the old ones were gone. I also noticed that Loudmouth and Fatty were studying the mission board closest to the stairwell leading to the second floor. Since I wanted nothing to do with them, I focused on the other mission board.

“Hi there, Lord Gabriel!” Lorelei said in a cheerful voice. She seemed free at the moment.

“Hello, Lorelei,” I said, giving her a smile, before focusing on the mission board again.

“Is there any particular kind of job you need?” she asked. “I might be able to help you find it.”

I shook my head.

“I’m fine with anything, as long as I can earn the most amount of merits in the least amount of time possible.”

Lorelei frowned at that.

“That’s going to be difficult with your rank, Lord Gabriel. Copper-ranked jobs don’t pay all that much.”

“So I see.”

An adventurer came up to her and asked for help, interrupting whatever she was about to say next. I continued looking through the gigs.

Adventurers Guild jobs were ranked the same way the adventurers themselves were: Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. A gig’s rank determined how difficult and dangerous it was. Copper-ranked gigs were relatively safe and easy, while Platinum-ranked gigs would include things like a war among the Great Houses or hunting down some legendary beast.

Adventurers could only take gigs that matched their rank. Jumping ahead wasn’t allowed. There were also sub-rank requirements, though these were considered guidelines more than anything.

I looked all this up a few days ago, just before I formed my dantian, since I didn’t want to rely on others too much for information about the Adventurers Guild.

Most of the jobs on the mission board were Copper-ranked, with the rest being Bronze-ranked. There were no jobs Silver-ranked or above.

Each of the job notices also listed the offered reward for completing them. As Lorelei said, the Copper-ranked jobs didn’t pay all that much. The Bronze-ranked jobs paid more, but I couldn’t do any of them for now. That meant I would have to go for quantity over quality if I wanted to make a lot of merits.

However, that would leave less time for cultivation. Perhaps it would be better to just stick with the Ghostfire Ink. After all, until I conducted some experiments, I didn’t know how effective it would be. I hoped it worked. While I could get away with being something of a recluse for now, that would change when I returned to Sturm Manor.

Because of my status, I couldn’t hide away from the world and focus on my cultivation, as appealing as that sounded. Once it became known that I had restored my Circles, I would have to take up my duties as the First Son of House Sturm once again. That meant socializing, making connections with my peers, and forming alliances, in addition to helping my father run House Sturm.

Ugh, just thinking about it gave me a headache.

All this meant that the sooner I found a more effective way to hide my cultivation base, the better. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about it later on. I supposed I could just buy the damned Spiritblood Ink. My allowance was generous enough that I could afford a few bottles of the stuff, as long as I didn’t mind being broke for the rest of the quarter.

Yet, I didn’t want to do that. One of the reasons why I joined the Adventurers Guild was so I didn’t need to rely on my family for stuff like this. I wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible. Using my allowance felt like cheating to me.

I mean, I would if it became necessary, but it was a measure of last resort.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a familiar pair of voices coming from the stairwell. I cast my divine sense out and sensed the presence of Guildmaster Sinclair, as well as Lord Icefall. Out of curiosity, I listened in. If I focused, I could just barely make out what they were saying thanks to my enhanced senses.

Three cheers for spiritual cultivation!

“-…sure you’ll have everything ready in time, Charity?” Lord Icefall asked.

Wait, Guildmaster Sinclair’s given name was Charity? What the hell? That was the sort of name I would associate with either a conservative Christian girl or a stripper, not a badass warrior woman.

“Don’t worry, Theobald” Guildmaster Sinclair assured him. “Everything will be ready when it’s time to go. I’ll assign my best people to this.”

Interesting. I hadn’t realized that Lord Icefall and Guildmaster Sinclair were on a first name basis.

Maybe it was a bit shitty of me to eavesdrop, but if they didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation, they shouldn’t have had it in a public space.

“Good,” Lord Icefall said. “You know how important it is for the package to reach Rosewood City. It could potentially change everything. If the Black Wolf Gang intercepts it…”

Lord Icefall trailed off.

“I already told you that I would put my best people on this. Since Lorelei is the one delivering the package, do you think I would do anything less?. Have a little faith, Theobald.”

“I know. Thank you again, Charity. You’ve been a great help during these trying times.”

“Hey, what’s family for if not to help each other out?”

Oh. Now that was really interesting. How exactly were these two related?

Footsteps sounded as Guildmaster Sinclair and Lord Icefall came down the stairwell. I pretended to focus on the mission board in front of me, as if I hadn’t been eavesdropping.

A part of me noticed that Loudmouth and Fatty finally picked a gig from the other mission board and left the guild.

As soon as he saw me, Lord Icefall froze. I felt a chill in the air, and turned to look at him. He glared at me with cold eyes. Leroy moved to stand closer to me, in case something happened.

Guildmaster Sinclair gave us both exasperated looks.

“Lord Icefall.”

“Lord Gabriel.”

For several long seconds, we both just stared at each other, neither one saying a word. Before it grew too awkward, Lord Icefall turned and left the Adventurers Guild. As soon as he was gone, I let out a sigh of relief. That could have gone worse.

As Lord-Mayor of this city, there were a number of ways he could make my stay here uncomfortable. I was a little surprised he hadn’t tried anything yet, given my behavior towards him.

My relief was premature, however.

“Lord Gabriel,” Guildmaster Sinclair called out, a fake smile on her face. “Just the man I wanted to see. Please join me in my office.”

Despite her polite words, that didn’t sound like a request. A part of me bristled at this, and wanted to tell her to piss off, but I stomped that impulse down.

While Lord Icefall could make my stay in Icefall City uncomfortable, Guildmaster Sinclair could get me kicked out of the Adventurers Guild and prevent me from joining in the future. That was far more detrimental to my plans. There wasn’t any point in needlessly pissing her off.

With Leroy in tow, I followed Guildmaster Sinclair up the stairs and into her office. It looked much the same as the last time I was there.

“Are you trying to cause me trouble on purpose?” Guildmaster Sinclair asked the moment the door to her office closed behind us.

She marched over to the chair behind her desk and threw herself into it. The chair let out ominous creaks, but didn’t break. She leaned back and covered her eyes with her hand. Well, her eye and eye patch.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk. That was a lie, but why make things easier on her?

Leroy leaned against the wall next to me, taking up the same position he had last time.

“Hmph,” Guildmaster Sinclair snorted. “Don’t play dumb with me. I know about your little spat with Lord Icefall. Why did you have to pick a fight with him?”

“In my defense, he started it,” I said.

She gave me a withering look.

“Are you a child? What kind of reasoning is that?”

I snorted.

“Considering that Lord Icefall is about twice my age, you should ask him that question.”

“Believe me, I have.” Guildmaster Sinclair looked exasperated. “He’s bitched about it enough that I’m sick of hearing about it. It’s ‘Lord Gabriel this’ and ‘Lord Gabriel that’.” She uncovered her eye and looked at me. “You really pissed him off. He doesn’t stay angry at someone for this long. Usually he does something about it by now. However, because of your House, he can’t. That means he vents it out with me.”

I raised an eyebrow at this.

“I hadn’t realized you and Lord Icefall were this close to each other.”

Her eye narrowed.

“What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything, I’m just making an observation.”

Of course, I already knew that she and Lord Icefall were family somehow, but I wasn’t about to bring that up since I learned it by eavesdropping.

“In that case, let me set things straight. Lord Icefall and I are kin. Our mothers were cousins. We grew up together, and he makes a decent drinking buddy.” She pointed a finger at me. “However, ever since you went to see him and his family, he’s done nothing but bitch and moan about you whenever we go out drinking together. It’s ruining one of the few ways I get to relax.”

That surprised me. Yeah, I said something shitty, but he should’ve gotten over it by now. My face must have revealed my thoughts, because Guildmaster Sinclair continued speaking.

“Despite the cold mask he wears, Lord Icef-…Theobald takes his duties as lord very seriously. I don’t know about the other Houses, but he cares about the people under his rule. When the Black Wolf Gang attacked one of his caravans, they left no survivors. They butchered everyone, and left the bodies to rot. It hit him pretty hard, and your comment the other night rubbed salt in the wound.”

Well, shit. Now I felt like a complete asshole. I knew the Black Wolf Gang had attacked one of House Icefall’s caravans, but I hadn’t realized they killed everyone. I should have. Bandits weren’t known for their mercy.

No wonder Lord Icefall was still pissed off at me. In his shoes, I would be too.

Fuck. I owed him an apology. Yeah, he started it, but there was a difference between what happened to me and what happened to him. What happened to me sucked. I mean, I almost died, my Circles shattered, and all my peers ostracized me, but it was still better than having my people die.

“I’ll apologize to Lord Icefall the next time we meet,” I said. “That way you can enjoy drinking with your cousin again. You can stop with your obvious guilt trip.”

Guildmaster Sinclair blinked at me in surprise, before grinning.

“Well, damn,” she said. “That actually worked. I thought I would have to bring Lorelei in to get you to say sorry. She’s better at it than I am.” Her grin widened. “You may be a decent person after all.”

I scowled at her.

“Despite whatever you might think about the Houses, we’re not monsters. We’re people too, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving her hand. “I’m just busting your chops.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Now then,” I said, standing up. “Is there anything else, or did you just want to play peacemaker between me and your cousin?”

“Actually, yes, there,” she said. “I have a job for you.”

I looked at her for a moment, before sitting back down.

“I’m listening,” I said.

“Theobald is sending a caravan down to Rosewood City,” she said. “After what happened to the last one, he hired some of my best adventurers to escort it.”

Was this related to the package Lord Icefall mentioned earlier? I suspected it was.

“Why?” I asked. “Doesn’t he have his own people?”

Guildmaster Sinclair nodded.

“He does, and they will be there too. However, House Icefall doesn’t have that many wizards for retainers; and the number of Second Circle wizards they have can be counted on one hand. That’s where my people come in. They’re there to make up the numbers.”

I nodded. That made sense. After what happened to his last caravan, Lord Icefall decided to hire a little extra assurance.

“Are the bandits in this area really that dangerous?” I asked.

“They didn’t used to be,” Guildmaster Sinclair said, shaking her head. “Most of the time they were regular mortals, with the occasional First Circle or Second Circle wizard acting as leader. However, things changed when the Black Wolf Gang arrived. As far as I know, they’re all wizards, and many of them have Inferno Wolves as familiars, thus the name.”

My idea that the Black Wolf Gang, and the increased bandit activity in the area, were the doings of another House started to look more and more likely.

“That’s unusual,” I said. “A bandit gang made up of wizards? That just doesn’t happen.”

Guildmaster Sinclair gave me a grim smile. The look in her eye told me that she thought the situation stank as well.

“I know,” she said. “And so does Theobald.”

“So, what do you want me to do?” I asked. “You want me to be a part of the escort?”

“Fuck no,” Guildmaster Sinclair scoffed. “Theobald would never agree to it. Even if he did, guild regulations forbid me from offering the job to you. It’s a Bronze-ranked gig.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Then why are you telling me all of this?”

“My daughter is supposed to deliver a package for Theobald,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “She’ll travel with the caravan heading towards Rosewood City, but as her mother, I’m worried about her safety. I want you to escort her, just to be on the safe side.” She hesitated for a moment, as if thinking over her next words. “There’s more to it than that, but I can’t tell you more until you agree to do the job.”

Ah, so she was using a technicality to get around guild regulations and her cousin’s dislike of me. Still, I wondered why she would go through all this effort instead of hiring someone else.

“Guildmaster Sinclair,” I said, adding a touch of fake sincerity to my voice. “I’m touched that you have such faith in me and my abilities, to the point that you’re willing to entrust your daughter’s safety to me.”

She gave me a flat look.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” she said. “The only reason why I’m even considering this, to the point of going behind my cousin’s back, is because of Allen, my husband. When Theobald first came to us asking for help, I had Allen do a divination. According to him, you and your retainer will play a key role in keeping my daughter alive.”

Ah, things were starting to make sense. I don’t know how powerful Allen Sinclair’s gift for divination was, but he predicted my arrival and the trouble I would cause before I arrived. It was clear he had some ability to predict the future. That would explain why Guildmaster Sinclair offered the job to me, instead of one of her own people.

“If it helps,” Guildmaster Sinclair continued. “While this will be a Copper-ranked job, I’ll pay you as if it were a Bronze-ranked one. It will also go a long way towards increasing your rank. What do you say?”

I had to admit, I was tempted by her offer. It would satisfy my guild obligations, and I was in need of the merits so I could buy Spiritblood Ink. Hmm.

Eh, why not? I liked Lorelei, and escorting her to Rosewood City didn’t seem too onerous. Plus, if something did happen, it would give me a chance to test myself in an actual battle. I wanted to see what it felt like to have a Circle of magic, a spiritual cultivation base, and a refined body all at the same time.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “But you don’t have to worry about paying me in coin or merits. I just want three bottles of Spiritblood Ink.”

Since the ink was why I needed the merits in the first, I might as well go ahead and get paid in that instead.

Guildmaster Sinclair’s brow furrowed.

“Three bottles of Spiritblood Ink?” she asked. “Do you know how expensive that stuff is?”

I tilted my head to the side.

“Well, we are talking about your daughter’s safety after all,” I said. “Three bottles of Spiritblood Ink is a small price to pay compared to that.” I gestured to Leroy. “Besides, you’re paying for both of us. If I go, he will as well. Not only that, but I’m a House scion and he’s a House retainer. We’re more powerful than your run of the mill adventurer. If anything, you’re getting the better end of the deal.”

Guildmaster Sinclair scowled at me.

“Greedy little-…” she trailed off, muttering to herself. “All right, fine. You can have your damned ink. However, you’ll get it after the job is complete.”

I shrugged.

“Fine by me.”

Since I had the Ghostfire Ink, chances were that I wouldn’t need the Spiritblood Ink until later. If the Ghostfire Ink didn’t end up working the way I needed it to, I would give the Mana Ink a try.

“Good,” Guildmaster Sinclair said. “Now then, here’s the most important thing you need to know about the job…”

I listened with growing interest as she told me the full details of the job. In particular, she told me about the package, who it was from, and who it was for. I had to admit, Lord Icefall cooked up a devious little plan.

Later on, when we were on our way back to Sturm Hill Hall, Leroy voiced some concerns.

“Are you sure this is wise, young master?” he asked. “Getting involved in something like this will put you in unnecessary danger. This isn’t just a simple escort mission.”

I grinned at him.

“That’s what will make it fun, Leroy,” I said. “Besides, doing this gig will help put me back in Lord Icefall’s good graces.”

Despite my words, or maybe because of them, Leroy still looked concerned. I didn’t blame him. As he said, this wasn’t a simple escort mission. It was something much more exciting.