When Clouds Rain Red

Walt saw his mouth move, but the words didn't come.

Even the ability to read lips didn't aid him, though it might be due to his intoxication, not that it had ever limited him like this before.

Gazing flickering towards Lilly, the woman he had put into the receptionist position two years prior, he looked at UnNamed with an amount of confusion that he shared, not that he showed it.

And, of course, he wouldn't show it. Walt was a fantastic actor; he had to be, in his opinion. If he didn't deceive everyone around him, it would defeat the surprise of his fighting style and skills. It was his second-best ability, one which he acquired a literal skill through the World Order.

While the skill didn't have a set level that increased its efficiency, something that was a bit odd in his opinion, a few other things he didn't understand were why there was no indication of when he would reach the next level, why it only took using a single spell ten times for you to unlock the next spell, and why titles and skills were so absurdly random that they could occasionally make even the overwhelming strength of magic seem minuscule.

These weren't important right now; what was important was his instructions to Lilly. She hasn't dealt with many irregularities, ones in which they needed to use the 'tight rooms.'

Tight rooms were rooms that were connected to a person through a skill. The skill of choice could differ, though the two primary skills were room-based for viewing or skill nullifying. The latter was a somewhat rare skill, often in the possession of skilled trappers, interrogation specialists, and slave traders.

A short conversation he didn't catch drew his attention, a watchful gaze lingering on UnNamed. "I can get him a room, Walt. Mind waiting here to speak after?"

Nodding, Walt turned towards the irregularity. "Don't give Miss Lilly o'er there any trouble, alright." He didn't word it as a threat; he had already allowed himself to slip up slightly due to the abundant confusion. His main task now was to gain UnNamed's trust, in a way.

Walt didn't need to be all buddy-buddy with the man, but he needed to ensure that he wasn't seen as a threat any longer. The less of a threat he appeared to be, the more chances UnNamed would slip up instead, and then Walt could kill him with proper evidence. He wasn't as impulsive anymore, unlike that Riley.

If this irregularity had wound up at his gate instead, without a doubt, he would have been killed. Riley was extremely protective of this town; someone with so many unknowns would have been cut down where he stood.

"I won't," UnNamed replied, walking behind Lilly on his way up. Though he doubted the irregularity would do anything, Walt didn't hear any fluctuation in his words. It didn't hurt to lay on the side of caution, even if UnNamed had subpar deception skills.

Lilly returned quickly, giving Walt a brief smile. "He is quite the individual. Inspect didn't show me anything, I see why you wanted him in the tight room." She let out a long sigh, her smile disappearing as she leaned against a wooden beam at the corner of the reception desk.

"I don't trust him, but I'm also not the kind to execute someone, even a serial killer otherer, without proper evidence. I will keep an eye on him, though, so we shouldn't worry."

Lilly gave him that look after dropping his drunken speech act. "I know you felt that bloodlust, too, Walt. How long do you think you can keep a leash on him until he tries to hurt someone?"

Walt let out a short, amused huff. She didn't even consider the idea that this irregularity could kill anyone in this town, even in all of Quixroth at that.

Walt thought, humming as he put a finger to his bearded chin. We might not have to. We might be able to both get rid of him and use him to our benefit. Otherers like him tend to enjoy killing anything with some level of intelligence, so we could send him after vepis."

"Haha, send him after what? The harescourge?" Lilly quipped, with a brow raised amusedly. Removing herself from the wooden beam, she made her way over to the quest board. "They are overbreeding, so it is not out of the question."

"That could work... They are pretty intelligent."

Walt seemed to be thinking it over for a moment, trying to determine the possibility that UnNamed could survive a colony of harescourge. "Yeah. Alright, the harescourge should be good. The spawn are likely less accustomed to killing, so they won't be as dangerous for a little bit. The knights and older harescourge among them will be the main threat, and I doubt any brood mothers will make any appearances."

Lilly shivered visibly. "I hate brood mothers. No matter which beast it is, the brood mothers are terrifying. Especially the harescourge. They are far too dangerous compared to the brood mothers of other vepis species."

Walt understood Lilly's fear of the creatures. For one of the weaker creatures in the world, the harescourge brood mothers could tend to be in the upper echelon among the masses of vepis. As far as he was aware, there wasn't a brood mother in the forest near the town, but things could always change.

Harper woke up slowly, an uneasy feeling having made it very difficult to fall asleep.

Gazing around the room, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He had looked out the lone window on the left side of the roof a dozen times last night, trying to find anyone who might have been watching over him, but there had never been anyone there.

He wouldn't disregard the feeling, but he would put it off for now; it wasn't here anymore.

Harper removed himself from the bed, which was far more comfortable than anticipated. Then again, considering there were other people from Earth and possibly other worlds like him, it would be understandable that there was a level of technological advancement.

The killer left the room, walking down the hall on the third floor and down two staircases. Arriving on the lower floor, the large area was booming with life. Adventurers and merchants littered the floor, conversing, eating, and drinking. It was now that he realized there was a bar inside the guild hall, one which he hadn't seen last night. There appeared to be a pullout wall or something of the sort that separated the main room from the bar area.

"Oi."

Harper looked to the side, meeting a muscled, angry-looking bald adventurer with the typical armor you would expect in a manga. The adventurer was taller than him, with dark grey eyes, a beer mug, and a large battlehammer strapped to the man's back.

"Are you new here? I don't recognize you or the weird clothes. You an otherer? Where you come from? Need any help with becoming an adventurer? If there is anything-" The man was halted as he was shoved to the side.

"Sorry about Hawk, there. He's a bit intimidating in appearance, but he is really nice." A woman with a relatively low voice said, another adventurer, no less. She had dark orange hair tied up in a large, long, single braid that fell over one of her shoulders. She had similar armor to the now-named Hawk and a battleaxe strapped to her back.

She stuck out her hand, expecting a handshake. "The name's Nemmy, what about you?"

Harper accepted the handshake, thinking about how to reply. It appeared that no one could understand him trying to say his own name; something about the system prevented people from hearing it.

"You can call me Bravo." As a kid, Harper enjoyed the old cartoon with the buff, blonde, pompadoured fool. The character's catchphrase always made him laugh when he was young, but he wouldn't be caught dead laughing at it now—not that he could anymore.

"Bravo, eh?" She asked, nudging his side. "Not an alpha?" She joked as Hawk popped back into the conversation.

"Hey, Nems. Don't give the new guy a hard time." Hawk's angry-looking demeanor and genuine kindness in his voice would take Harper a while to get accustomed to, presuming he would allow himself to in the first place.

"Move over!" Nemmy argued, pushing back against Hawk. The pair continued to shove against each other, one trying to be helpful while the other tried to be petty.

Harper slowly backed away, glimpsing around at the other adventurers. They all seem desensitized to them, far too familiar with their eccentricities.

His retreat was ineffective; however, Hawk had already noticed his recent absence. Harper cursed under his breath as a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Don' 'ry and resis 'em. I's no' wor'h de effor'." Harper looks towards the voice, coming to face a slightly older, well-armored adventurer with a bright, pleasant smile. "Dey don' unders'and de idea of personal space."

The new adventurer's armor was all plate, garnished with colorful yet simple designs. A two-handed long sword was strapped to his side in a sheath on a reinforced belt. A dagger and two dark green potions were on the opposite side of his waist. A helmet was cradled in his arm, his short blonde hair and amber, nearing red, eyes available for all to see.

Far more prepared than the erratic pair behind him now.

"Greb, don't steal our catch!" Nemmy nearly shouted, concreting that she was quite the dramatic individual.

Harper felt the woman grab his arm, dragging him back from the somewhat pompous-looking adventurer. "Hawk and I can help you out, alright. You don't have to go along with the money bags there."

Rivalries were fairly routine here, apparently.

Lilly had been notified that the irregularity was coming down and watched for UnNamed to appear. He was down to the quest hall within the minute, and Lilly kept him in her view.

To her entertainment, two of the most energetic and quirky adventurers pulled him into their shenanigans. Thankfully, the pair, despite how their lower-end armor appeared, were considered high-level.

Last Lilly had checked, Nemmy had been at level fifty-two, and Hawk was at level Sixty. The two were experienced adventurers capable of using second-tier magic, though Hawk might have finally reached third-tier. She would have to ask the next time.

The next adventurer to make contact was Greb, another experienced adventurer. His level was in the high fifties, not far behind Hawk. His interaction with the irregularity was short-lived, interrupted by a jealous Nemmy.

Lilly had almost laughed.

She needed to get UnNamed and set him up for a quest. The faster UnKnown was killed by something outside and removed from her lovely town, the better. If they have no evidence, why not set up the danger to remove itself?

Sliding out from behind her receptionist's desk, Lilly scanned the quest board until she found the harescourge quest. With a smile, hidden darkness lingering within, she yanked it off the wall, intentionally ensuring the rank designation, which was a 3. Nodding and pocketing it neatly, Lilly glided through the flurry of excitable adventurers and conversing merchants.

Arriving at UnNamed, the man looks less than happy with Nemmy, still grabbing his arm.

Nemmy was like that, a little too physical with everyone.

Too many men have felt led on by her actions far too often, having to learn the hard truth that she wasn't interested. UnNamed seemed uncomfortable with the contact, not that the man had shown it much. She was excellent at reading people, one of the more prominent reasons behind Walt's tendency to drop his drunken act around her.

"Miss Nemmy, please release the newcomer. I have some business with him."

Nemmy looked over at her, frowning slightly as Hawk shrugged. "What kinda business you got with Bravo here?" The bald man questioned enthusiastically.

"Ahh... I want to send him out on an easy quest in return for spending the night upstairs." Lilly replied with a disarming smile. "Nothing I believe that Bravo won't be able to handle on his own. After setting Bravo up here, I can get you and Nemmy for a follow-up quest."

Hawk nodded, grinning as his teeth almost seemed to sparkle, almost appearing approachable.

Almost.

UnNamed, or 'Bravo,' as he was calling himself, wasn't given a choice. She gave a knowing smile toward the man, signifying he needed to follow.

Giving a short farewell to the pair, Bravo followed behind her toward her receptionist's desk.

"They are... Interesting."

"Yeah, but they are good people." She might have put a little too much emphasis, but Bravo didn't seem to catch it. That or he didn't seem to care if he had.

Bravo followed Lilly back to her receptionist's desk, not nearly as smoothly as the woman who ghosted through the crowd. Lilly waited for the irregularity to emerge, not needing to wait long.

"I will get straight to the point- I don't intend to allow people to get free nights in. It will set a precedent that I don't need." Lilly pulled out the quest sheet. "In return, I want you to take on a quest."

Walking back around, putting the small distance of her desk between them, she laid the quest sheet down for Bravo to view.

"I want you to go hunt some creatures named harescourge. They aren't very strong, and I will give you a small loan to grab some basic armor, clothes, and a half-decent weapon." Lilly explained, pulling a small pouch of coins that Walt had placed there last night.

"Ah, you don't know the money conversion of Quixroth, do you?" She questioned, looking down at the bag that Bravo was in the action of grabbing.

"No, getting swindled for lacking the information would be unfortunate."

Lilly nodded, pulling out a silver chip from the pouch with a purple gleam. "I don't know who named them, but it is easy to remember each. We have four main tok types." She laid the silver chip on the desk, followed by a bronze chip with a blue gleam, an odd red chip with a yellow gleam, and finally, a gold chip with a cyan gleam.

She laid them in an order: bronze, silver, red, and gold. She put her finger on the bronze first, going down the line. "This first coin is called a Tok, the next is a Fi-Tok, this third one is a Mi-Tok, and the last is a Pi-Tok."

As Bravo nodded, paying close attention, Lilly continued. "Three toks can usually buy you a mug at your local pub. I've had my fair share of otherer's; in their terms, it's about a pint's worth per mug."

Bravo gave a slow nod. Lilly continued.

"A fi-tok is worth roughly ninety toks. Two can buy you a full barrel at a pub, and three can buy you an effective short sword. Mi-toks are worth fifty fi-toks, and even one of those can buy you a complete set of armor fit for someone at level thirty."

As Lilly named them off, she watched the irregularity. She didn't want him to steal any of the more valuable toks. Of course, she watched the nearby merchants, too, the greedy fucks. They were often better thieves than the adventurers.

"Pi-toks are worth thirty mi-toks, and one can buy you a two-story building." Taking the tok, mi-tok, and pi-tok, she put them back under the desk, replacing the fi-tok in the pouch. "This pouch has fifteen fi-toks."

Sending a stern look to Bravo, Lilly continued. "By the fortnight's end, I want seventeen fi-toks... That's about a thirteen percent interest rate."

Bravo looked at her carefully, trying to judge her for the huge interest rate. Then again, it wasn't that demanding, considering he was given a loan in a new world and asked only to get two more fi-toks in return. The pay for the harescourge quest was two fi-toks per harescourge anyway. Even if the irregularity managed to kill nine of these, he could pay back the loan in its entirety, presuming he spent all fifteen.

"That works for me. How many of these harescourge quests can I take at a time?" Bravo inquired, raising a brow at her.

Lilly felt a smile pull at her lips.

"It's a quest that is based on the number of harescourge you hunt. They aren't hard to kill; they are one the more fragile vepis. The problem is the speed at which they reproduce and their power. As you otherers call them, the harescourge are glass cannons."

Bravo paused a moment, and then it appeared in his eyes. That excited bloodlust, so prepared to hunt and kill for his amusement. Worst of all, his eyes didn't show any derangement. He wasn't mentally disturbed like many others she had met before, killing because they weren't alright in the head. He was just a twisted bastard, worse than most vepis you can find.

It made Lilly sick.

Harper had bought a cobaltine one-handed long sword. The sword had cost an astonishing eight fi-toks, which he had haggled down from ten, promising to become a regular. A promise he intended to upkeep. The blacksmith, Frag, had crafted his new blade remarkably well.

The metal, cobaltine, made the sword sharp, durable, flexible, and light. From what Harper was told, it wouldn't break unless he fought any vepis above rank eleven or level forty.

The killer didn't know what ranks were, as he was not told the rank of the harescourge he was going to kill. Somewhat annoyed, Frag had explained there were twenty-five ranks of vepis. The higher the rank, the faster a vepis could rise in rank, thus making them more formidable.

While higher-rank creatures were generally more dangerous, lower-rank creatures could often be stronger if they had lived long enough or had been born with a higher capacity of level faster. Harper was promised that his cobaltine sword would be efficient against harescourge; the spawn and drones were rank three, while the slightly armored knights would stand at rank four.

For armor, he didn't intend to buy any. If he could return from death, what was the point of armor? Still, the blacksmith had convinced him to purchase some heavy armor from ferrumite. Ferrumite was a dense metal. Heavy and quite durable, though not as durable as his sword. Still, he could guess it was almost as durable as steel.

The armor he had bought from the blacksmith was a light-plated chest plate, covering a large area over two formed sheets of metal on either side, though it was thinner than Frag typically made it. He also obtained light pauldrons, gauntlets, and grieves. This had cost Harper another six fi-toks, leaving him at one.

Harper considered Frag a good acquaintance. He wished to visit again, especially because he promised low repair rates.

Harper's last fi-tok went into some new cheap clothes and a pair of shoes that would protect his feet from the most basic of shit. They were not at all made for going on battle-involved quests, but they would suffice.

Now, Harper was heading towards a forest he had been in not even twelve hours earlier.

He should have known.