Tycoon May: Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Chapter 24

“Okay!  Everybody known as fresh meat, pair off!  We don’t have all day.”  The man shouting was one of the other two merchants Grant hadn’t spoken with yet.  All of the older warriors had already lined up against the edge of the courtyard near the stables.  Grant noticed the Wrecking sisters and both Evander and Adria were already standing with Sam near his row of wagons.  The younger, unproven people—and Grant—were all lined up in the center.  After they had made two neat lines facing one another, the merchant stepped between them and started shouting again.

As he listed off a bunch of rules, Grant decided to ignore him and check out his opponent.  The man was about his age, but had a thick mustache that made him look a little like a walrus.  He was wearing fine clothing, and a thin rapier hung from his hip.  A Tier Three badge was proudly displayed on his belt next to an overstuffed coin purse almost overflowing with Time.  He was clearly a Vassal, and probably the son or nephew of somebody important.

<Pay attention, Grant.  You’re about to start.>

“Let me guess, the rules basically come down to ‘no killing’ and ‘winner is the last man standing’?”  Grant stretched his back muscles and gave the young noble a quick tilt of his head, hinting at a bow.

<That’s pretty much it.  Just don’t kill the guy, and you should be fine.  The wagon trains actually need a little more than half of everyone who showed up, so this will be the only round.>

The merchant backed away to give each pair more room.  “Get ready!”  The noble pulled his rapier with a flourish and saluted Grant with it, and Grant spread his stance and grabbed the hilt of his Ugchigatana.  “Fight!”

A slashing blade of energy erupted from the tip of the rapier as the young noble swiped his sword in a diagonal line from shoulder to hip.  Grant used Iaijutsu to cut through it like it was nothing more than cobwebs, and followed up with an Oleander Thrust that put the tip of his sword against the throat of his suddenly wide-eyed opponent.

“I yield.”  The man dropped his sword, and Grant heard a quiet ding from the system that he ignored for the moment.  “That was quite impressive.  I wasn’t expecting such a display of skill from someone so… common.”

“Maybe I’m not as common as you think.”  Grant was tempted to change his name to show his titles, but knew it wouldn’t be worth the hassle.  “Anyway, good match.”

Grant turned and walked away, heading over to where Sam was waiting.  The other pairs were done fighting shortly after, and Adria walked over to try and convince the better fighters to join her squad.  It was clear she had some kind of reputation, because people either happily listened to what she was saying, or did their best to get away from her without making it obvious.

“That was quite a good show.  I’m glad you’ll be joining us.”  Sam gave Grant a genuine smile as he came and stood next to him.  “We’ll be leaving in a few hours, so now’s the time to get everything you might need for the trip.”  When Grant didn’t immediately head for the exit to get some shopping done, he reached for his coin pouch.  “If you need some funds, I can give you an advance on your pay.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”  Grant gave his storage pouch a pat.  “I have everything I need already.  Is there something I can do to help us get going faster?”  Even though it was still early, he could feel the day slipping away from him.

Sam shook his head.  “No, we’re only waiting for the outer gates to open.  There’s no hurrying that process along.”  He motioned to the wagons.  “If you want, pick out the wagon that looks most comfortable to you and stake out your spot before Adria brings the rest over here.”

Grant did exactly that, picking out a wagon that was nearly overflowing with grain as a place to lay out.  The elevated position would make it easier to serve as a lookout, and he could avoid speaking with the others if he wanted.  Once he got comfortable, Grant checked to see what the tone he had heard after defeating the Vassal meant.

Name: Grant Monday (Options: Grant Monday, Earl Spring, Lord April)

Rank: Earl Spring (Lord of The Month for January, February, March, and April)

Class: Foundation Cultivator

Cultivation Achievement Level: 36

Cultivation Stage: Late Autumn

Inherent Abilities: Swirling Seasons Cultivation

Health: 1049/1049

Mana: 43/43

The changes weren’t drastic, but any progress was still progress.  Leveling up to thirty six and reaching Late Autumn meant even with his armor synergy holding him back, Grant could still do over one hundred and sixty base damage.  Adding on critical, magical, and skill percentage increases meant he could easily reach three hundred points of damage.  It would have to be enough to keep him alive.

<You are falling behind on your skill levels.  Once you get the Dao Seed of the Uchigatana things should even back out, but until then you need even more focused training.  After all, the more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in combat.>

“I don’t mind the training.  I’m just running out of time to get through the District.”  Grant looked up at the sun, where it had almost reached the halfway point in the sky.  “Getting stuck in that cave for so long means I can’t take whole big chunks of time to train when I should be focusing on a plan to defeat Tycoon May.  Did you see that guy’s armor?  And the size of his shield?”  Grant shook his head.  “I have no idea how I’m supposed to beat something like that.”

<What do you think I’ve been training you to do?>  Sarge sent a large orange boulder at Grant that forced him to roll off the wagon.  <Play pattycake?  I’m teaching you how to defeat all kinds of enemies!>

“But Sarge, there’s a big difference between a monster that’s got armor impossible to get through, and a person with decades of experience using their heavy armor to their advantage in a fight.”  Grant got back to his feet, carefully looking around to make sure Sarge wasn’t going to surprise him again.  “People are much sneakier than monsters.”

<You know what?  You’re right.  It sounds like I need to increase the intelligence of your opponents.>  Sarge laughed in Grant’s head.  <Just remember that you asked for it.>

Grant’s eyes widened.  “What?  Wait, hold on—”

“I think I saw him over here!”  Their conversation was interrupted by a shout.  “It looks like he fell off the wagon!”

The sound of several people rushing over made Grant take a step back in caution.  He bent his knees and grabbed his Uchigatana in case they were looking for a fight.  A group of heavily armed warriors came rushing around the edge of the wagon, and he got ready to leap into action.

“There you are, kid!  Come on, let’s go get some lunch.”  The hulking form of Evander was in the lead, with Adria and the Wrecking sisters close behind.  Grant relaxed as he realized there wasn’t a threat.  “Be sure to get the good stuff, cause Sam is paying!”

“Ignore him, Grant.  Sam will provide meals, but they certainly won’t be fancy.”  Adria gave the big guy a sharp elbow to the gut.  “He told us to meet him at one of the better food stalls in the market.”

“Sure, sounds good.”  Grant fell in behind them as they led the way toward the market he had been through yesterday.  It was crowded, but with Evander clearing a path they made good time getting to the stall where Sam was waiting with several more people.  Grant recognized them as some of the people who had been in the single-elimination round with him.

“Good!  I’m glad you all made it.”  Sam waved to the group standing around him and motioned to Adria.  “Everyone, this will be the person in charge of security.  Adria is an experienced leader, who will do a good job of keeping a fair shift schedule.  Any issues go through her first.”  After looking around and getting nods of agreement from everyone, he clapped his hands and motioned toward the stall.  “Great.  Let’s eat!”

The vendor was ready for them, and quickly spooned out a bowl of noodles for everyone waiting.  Once again, it was vegetarian and only offered a variety of vegetables and mushrooms.  Grant surreptitiously dropped in a few pieces of dried meat to help give it more protein.

“See?  I told you.”  Geneva nudged Evander, who was staring at Grant wide-eyed.  “The proof is right there in front of you.”

Grant ignored them and sipped the broth while he waited for the meat to rehydrate.  He had already told anyone who would listen that they were being lied to, and repeating himself was getting old.  He made his way over Adria and waited for her to finish talking to a group that must have been the wagon drivers.

“What do you need?”  She looked a little frazzled, but the tone in her voice said she was having fun.  “Is anything wrong?”

“No, nothing like that.”  Grant leaned in so he could be heard over the crowd.  “While we’re traveling, will there be chances to look for extra ore or other resources?”

“Looking to make some extra money on the side, huh?”  Adria flicked Grant’s badge and flashed a smile.  “Don’t worry.  As long as you aren’t on shift, you can roam around as much as you want.  That’s pretty standard for most groups.  Just, try not to go too far out on your own.  We won’t go looking for you if you get separated, and missing a guard shift means you don’t get paid.”

Grant quickly agreed, and finished his meal before it got cold.  After their meal, the group made its way over to the wagons and broke apart.  The designated time for them to leave was quickly approaching, and both Sam and Adria were busy running around getting everything ready to move.

Things were chaotic, so Grant got out of the way by climbing back up on his perch.  He caught a brief glance of two hunched figures sneaking past the stables, but he shrugged it off as unimportant.  They were heading out soon, and whatever was going on surely wouldn’t follow them.