UH CH 20 (Patreon)

“Hunting a necromancer?” Zhou Mei asked, wondering if she heard correctly.

Besides me, I could feel Iron Fist stirring slightly but deciding to stay silent in the end.

I had expected questions like where and how but none came.

I was grateful for his consideration because my decision would not change.

“Indeed.” My answer was the same.

“You?”

She looked me up and down a few times then tilted her head to the side. Though I could not see her expression, it was easy to see how bewildered she was.

“Do you perhaps have a death wish?” She stopped herself, “No. Since you wish to deal with a Necromancer, are you perhaps interested in eternal servitude? If that is the case you can just sign a contract with me. I promise to treat you well.”

“Firstly, this was pretty rude and secondly, I do not have to explain myself. Do you or do you not have the weapons I need?”

I understood her reaction. Zhou Mei was definitely a powerful hunter. I could not determine her rank but I could somehow feel that she was far ahead of me.

For someone of her level, it wouldn’t be hard to get a full idea of my entire stats with just a look.

From there, determining that facing a necromancer was suicidal for me was only logical.

“I am neither suicidal nor interested in being a slave. I will kill it. No matter what.”

“Oh? Is that so?” She smiled, intrigued. “You seem serious. There is a deep conviction in your eyes and your voice.”

She hummed silently, her fingers rattling against the table as she fell into deep thought. In the end, she reached one simple decision.

“Not my problem.” She shrugged. “You were right.”

“Now let’s go back to business. The weapons that could help a low level against a high level kind of weapon’s not exactly cheap,” Zhou Mei said, her voice muffled behind a plague doctor mask.

I dropped the money bag onto the floor with a solid thud. Unzipped it.

Ziiip.

Stacks of crisp $100 bills gleamed under the low lighting—row after row of Benjamins, clean and tightly packed.

I had to thank the manager later. She really knew how to make things feel more badass.

“I’ve got another one just like it,” I said. “Is that enough?”

Zhou Mei leaned forward slightly. I couldn’t see her face behind the long-beaked mask, but I caught the subtle shift in posture. Amused. Interested.

“I like a customer who speaks in cash. Not much cash, but enough for a deal.” she said. “Wait here. It takes a little time to bring out the good stuff.”

She led Iron Fist and me through a reinforced door into a waiting room. The lighting was soft. A synthetic perfume clung to the air, but it couldn’t hide the faint stink of blood underneath.

The carpet was thick and red. I didn’t recognize the monster it came from, but it was real.

This place reeked of quiet power and old deals.

“Still no tea, old man?” Zhou asked as she set a kettle on a heating plate.

Iron Fist crossed his arms. “Tea’s sissy like my friend liked to say.”

She chuckled. “And you?” She tilted her beak in my direction.

“I’ll pass.” I liked tea to be honest. Just didn’t feel like drinking anything that was offered by a drug dealer.

“Shame. It’s good stuff.”

Steam rose from the pot as black tea brewed. I briefly worried, wondering if breathing this smoke was safe. Thankfully, the mask could purify the air.

A few minutes later, the door opened again. Ten people came in—Zhou’s subordinates. Each one carried a sealed case.

“No more delays,” she said. “Let’s get to the point.”

They set up like a well-oiled machine. Lights. Table. Cases lined up in a row. She turned to face us, arms out like a host at some dark version of a shopping network.

“We’ll start simple.”

The first case opened.

A compact shotgun.

“This is not what I asked.”

“I know but let me start lightly.” She grinned as she pointed at the gun.

I inwardly disagreed about a shotgun being described as light but let her continue.

“This things ended the careers of more than a few arrogant hunters. Light. Concealable. Shoot clean through low-tier magic barriers if you know where to aim. Its mana absorption ability is pretty average but it does the work. Also pretty good on mobs like goblins and the like.”

Goblins? I liked the sound of that. It could be very useful tomorrow.

She held it like she knew how to use it. Took it apart fast, showed the internals, then reassembled just as quick.

Iron Fist didn’t even blink.

“His main weapons aren’t guns,” he said.

Zhou Mei paused and glanced at me.

I said with a shrug. “Bows and Arrows fit me better than guns and bullets.”

Using guns was not a problem for me. In fact, with my class, I was pretty good at it.

My second class, [Ranger], was an all purpose class that had small corrections for basically all kinds of weapons. It was a low tier class that was more a Jack of all Trade and master of none.

Its main advantage was that, once the right skills were acquired, the Ranger class had many evolutions available to it when someone reached D rank.

[Forest Ranger], [Assassin], [Sniper] even [Dual swordman] or [Scout]. Since it was such a common class it could evolve into basically anything.

But bows were more my jam and one of my goals was for my Ranger class to evolve into the [Hunter] class. A very powerful class for interpersonal combat.

This was why I initially learned archery.

Also bows and arrows were easier to create with my [Maker] skills and needed far less mana to do so.

Finally, gunners classes were heavily restricted by tech limitations while archer type classes had more leeway and growth potential.

And, though I would never say this out loud in front of Iron Fist, I found bows to simply be far cooler. But I knew this wasn’t a popular sentiment.

“Got it. I sadly don’t have a good bow in your price range. But let’s see what we can do.” Zhou Mei opened another case.

Next case—grenades. We were finally approaching my demands.

“These aren’t fancy. You can just dip some holy water on those and then let them do the work.”

“Holy water is expensive.” I said, thinking about Marquez and the other cleaners who were suffering from contamination.

“So is your life. It's up to you to decide.” She shrugged. “Dip in holy water, throw one into a reanimated horde, and the Necromancer behind them won’t have much of a body left. Pretty much useless on a Lich but well, you would have to actually be clinically insane to fight one at your current level.”

I wisely decided to not comment.

Another case was open. A sword.

The moment I looked at it, I felt it. A hum. A presence. Mana coiled around it—subtle but there. Holy in nature. It reminded me of the weapons paladins used. The kind that made monsters hesitate.

“This one is special in one way and ordinary in another. It’s just a very sturdy sword. It was found in a C rank Dungeon called Fallen Kingdom. To be honest, the only advantage it has is the faint remnants of holy energy. Its circuits are broken. Not good enough to sell to my usual clients but it suits what you need and your pocket.”

“You don’t really need to repeat how poor I am, you know?”

I grumbled and examined the sword. A part of me wished to simply [Analyse] it on the spot. But she would feel my mana and it could end in a very ugly way.

“You like that one,” Zhou said.

I didn’t answer.

She moved to the final case. A long, flat one. Unlocked it slowly. A faint hiss of smoke escaped as she lifted the lid.

Inside… a rod or more like a club? It seemed a little too primitive to call it a weapon.

Brown in color. It looked more like something you’d see in a museum about men from ancient times.

Zhou didn’t touch it immediately.

Gloves were handed to her by one of the assistants. She slid them on and only then lifted the rod.

“I have not much information on that one. We got it from the same ruin as that sword. It’s just a club or a bulging staff depending on how you look at it. The material is what matters.”

She handed it to me, a mischievous smile on her face.

I hesitated.

Bare hands. No gloves. This felt like a trap.

“Go on. I promise nothing bad will happen as long as you don’t circulate mana through it.”

I grabbed it, ready to use [Pause] the moment anything seemed amiss.

And then—

[Unhand me, Filthy Maidenless!]