I picked up the cap and placed it back on the blind man’s disfigured face. Suddenly he moved, whispering:
“I’m Bask.”
“Is that your name, man?”
“That’s my name, man.”
“I’m Elb.”
“Not a bad name...”
“Will you join our group? Me, Yorka, and you. Bask.”
“Sure.”
Then he once again fell silent under his baseball cap. I looked his stomach, although there wasn’t much to see. His abdomen was entirely covered in medical glue, with perforated bandages stuck on here and there — for ventilation, most likely. I had the same mess on my legs, the medical glue and long bandages.
I didn’t have anything to do or anywhere to be, so I checked the time.
Current time: 07:32.
I doubted Yorka would be back anytime soon. How long would it take the system to remove what was left of her old arm and sew a new one on?
I had no idea. I wished I could lay down and get some sleep, but I couldn’t, since the marauders were still around. I decided to study my interface instead. Some of the system messages had already disappeared, but they weren’t hard to remember.
Compensation for eliminating one lesser gray plunar xarl: 15 sol.
Compensation for eliminating one lesser gray plunar xarl: 15 sol.
Compensation for eliminating one lesser yellow plunar xarl: 40 sol.
So how was I supposed to know what a plunar xarl was?
I mean, I could tell the nickname ‘plux’ was a combination of the two words. But, elves take me, what did ‘plunar xarl’ mean?
The colors made sense too, although they seemed a little off. The gray pluxes were more greenish, and the yellow one was a bright carrot orange.
May those orange pluxes — I mean yellow plunar xarls — rot in hell. The system decided they were worth more than twice what the ordinary gray ones were. Coughed up forty whole sol for them. Even though those carrots didn’t bite anyone and were the slowest of the pluxes, I was in complete agreement with the system’s decision. They had to be worth a lot, because they had to be eliminated mercilessly.
The damned carrot-colored things were commanders. They gave orders to the gray pluxes, staying behind them and coordinating their actions. I had seen it myself. Now I understood why the pluxes displayed such incredible patience — their will was harshly suppressed by their leader. Suppressed with help from that strange pulsating bulge that my glass knife had pierced. As soon as the orange plux died, the gray soldiers immediately recoiled, entering an almost paralyzed state. This let us finish them off quickly.
Plunar xarls... This insane name would be on my mind for a long time. I would deal with the carcasses later. The system still had some surprises left.
Balance: 58 sol.
Got it. The long math equation was gone, but I still remembered it. It looked like:
Balance: 26 + 40 + 15 + 15 + 4 = 100 sol.
I already had 26 sol, then got 70 total for the pluxes, and the system gave me 4 back as a repayment of my limb lease. Leaving me with 100 total. I took 40 of that and gave it to Yorka. The ATM fee set me back 2 sol, so she got 38. Combined with the sol she already had, she would have enough for a new arm plus any medicine she would need. She could even get a massage to help her relax.
The most important thing I learned was that the system wouldn’t charge you for your limbs if you killed pluxes. They wouldn’t charge you for medical care, vitamins, immunosuppressants, or other medicines, either. But only once. Tomorrow I would have to pay again if I wasn’t lucky enough to finish off at least one more plux. Or did I need to kill two? Damn... The system was so stingy with information! I really could have used an explanation.
I moved further down the blinking list. I had almost reached the end.
Receive group combat missions (extra)?
Yes / No.
That short phrase again.
It sounded dangerous. But the addition of ‘extra’ intrigued me, and I chose ‘Yes’, adding to the difficulties I was facing.
Menu section added: Bestiary.
Menu section activated: Bestiary.
Blinking in surprise, I opened the interface.
Status.
Physical Condition.
Finances.
Jobs.
Bestiary.
Select.
Gray plunar xarl.
Yellow plunar xarl.
That was it? We’d already run into both of those! It didn’t seem very fair. Or maybe there just weren’t any other monsters around here.
When I selected the first line, a wall of text appeared, plus a green picture.
