"Hmm, How much?" Lucio asked as he used [Inspect] on the two sitting in front of him.
[
Name: Adolf Jyasat
Age: 19
Title: Talented Young Master
Job: Knight in training
Stats
Strength: 1.9
Agility: 1
Stamina: 1.6
Vitality: 1.8
Senses: 1.2
Skills:
Swordsman: You have exceptional talent in wielding swords
Sin of Greed: Brain works faster when you see potential profit. (Excessive usage leads to the user losing his sense of empathy)
]
[
Name: Aarah Jyasat
Age: 15
Title: Innocent Young Miss
Job: None
Stats
Strength: 0.6
Agility: 0.9
Stamina: 0.8
Vitality: 1.1
Senses: 1.6
Skills:
Acute Perception: When focused, time passes slower in your eyes.
]
"I'll pay you five hundred silvers if you can do both." Adolf said and called his butler inside.
"Bring me various plants, herbs, fruits, vegetables and roots that we have currently."
The butler nodded and left while Adolf turned towards the other mercenaries "Do you guys have any specialities or talents that could be useful to me?"
The three of them were random unknown mercenaries who were just trying to make a living with their mediocre knowledge and abilities. They were hardworking and their stats showed that, but their status screen had zero skills.
Not everyone had skills. Only a very minute percentage were born with a skill and most took effort and an immense amount of training to obtain one, the second method being hard but obtainable and first being impossible to obtain through normal means.
One of them claimed to have amazing cooking and archery skills and the other two claimed to be great fighters and horse riders, which Adolf had asked the butler to set a test for all of them just like Lucio.
Adolf looked at the four guys in front of him thoughtfully before saying, "Why don't you all prove your fighting skills against my dear little sister over here? I'll decide to either hire you or not, based on the way you fight."
Upon hearing the words of her brother, Aarah stood up quietly and said "I don't have a sword."
"Oh, you can use mine for now." Adolf said before asking the others with a smile "You guys don't mind right?"
One of them gulped but still nodded with the others while Lucio simply shrugged like he didn't care. Real fights and duels were fought with cold weapons and not wooden ones so Lucio preferred the danger as it helped him fight seriously.
One of the men who claimed to be a great fighter walked towards Aarah as he unsheathed his large but dull sword. His stats were concentrated towards power, stamina and vitality with an average speed stat of 0.8.
He let the small girl to attack him first but she simply stood in her place as she looked at him, waiting for him to move.
The man waited for a few seconds and then swung his longsword at the girl that stood in front of him.
Aarah dodged the sword by hairs breath and moved towards the giant man in front of her and slashed at his leg. The sword was about to land on his leg but the man simply kicked her palm, making the sword fall on the ground with a crisp metallic clang.
"Impressive, You look like you are experienced…. But since you don't have any other skills that I need, I'll pay you fifty silvers in total, ten silvers per day."
The man simply nodded and walked towards a corner and watched the show that was happening in front of him in silence.
The archer was next and was immediately hired as he had shot five arrows at the little girl who was moving swiftly and all of then had to be deflected by Aarah, indicating the archer's skill in marking moving targets.
The archer was offered ten extra silver coins for five days, totalling to sixty for the whole escorting mission.
The third man stood in front of Aarah whose hands were hurting due to the kick in the first fight but slashed towards the man in front of her, bravely. The man's stats were concentrated on stamina while his other stats were all average.
Aarah soon had her sword at the man's neck. He had fought pathetically and didn't even last two minutes. Lucio shook his head as he walked past the defeated man who was told to leave the place.
He unsheathed his two straight daggers and played with the girl in front of him for a while as he dodged most slashes and deflected the rest. It was quite easy for a while but as time passed, Aarah started finding gaps in his defence and focused on those gaps, making it hard for Lucio to fight her in midrange.
He regretted trying to help her focus but the skill was so overpowered that, if he didn't, he would never be able to see its real effectiveness. Lucio took huge steps backwards and announced "I give up."
Aarah's concentration faltered and she stopped before walking back to her seat.
Adolf was smiling in his seat as he looked at Lucio and asked "What is your name?"
Lucio paused for a while before answering "Samael."
"Hmm…. Samael, you seemed to be holding back at the start of the match but struggled as the fight progressed…. Can you tell me why you were holding back? You guys too, can you tell me why you held back?" Adolf asked, acting amused.
"Well, Young miss right there is also our hirer, so we don't really want to harm her. We were asked to show our skills and not to hurt her." Lucio replied calmy as he looked at the other two mercenaries.
"Hmm, alright …. That's an acceptable answer." Adolf said and turned to the archer, who said "You both are nobles and I don't want any trouble"
To which Adolf nodded as he smiled before turning to the strong fighter. "Yes, hurting a noble is trouble and that kick was instinctual."
Adolf nodded as his smile grew wider before turning to his sister "All of them here are stronger than you but you never got hurt. If it was a fight for death, you would either be dismembered, skewered or beaten to a pulp.
All of your teachers and masters dote on you only because you are a noble. Keep this thing in mind, Aarah. You are weak."
Lucio raised his eyes at Adolf's behaviour but didn't say anything. He knew what was going on but didn't want to get into trouble.
Aarah simply handed him back the sword before saying "You should not forget that you are also a noble. Maybe all your wins were because you're a noble too."
Adolf gritted his teeth and took back his sword before turning to the three mercenaries in front of him. "You two are hired." He said as he looked at the two people beside Lucio before telling "Samael, you should wait for the herbs and other plants before we finalise your pay. Even if you can't identify those plants, we will hire you for fifty silvers."
To which Lucio simply nodded and waited for the butler 'This butler guy is too slow.'
A few minutes later Adolf said as he looked at the three "We will start our journey on the first day of next week. You both can leave now but Samael, please stay."
The two bowed before leaving the room while Lucio seemed bored.
The butler soon walked in with a few people behind him who carried a few bags filled with different things.
Lucio sighed when he saw those bags and shook his head.
Adolf got them to place all kinds of different plants on the floor right in front of Lucio and asked him to describe the different plants in front of him.
Lucio smiled as he used [Inspect] on the plants and easily named and described them all, except for a few times where he either acted confused or said the wrong description which was totally made up.
Although Lucio made a few mistakes here and there, Adolf was impressed.
Even Aarah stared at Lucio with her mouth half open as he rapidly named and described the plants. 'Even my teacher isn't as good as this commoner….' She thought as she continued watching him.
"Alright that should be enough" Adolf said as he stood up from his chair and Aarah followed.
"Uh… can I get an advanced payment please? I planned on leaving for greenwoods but since I have to stay here for a week, I don't really have any silver on me for inns and food." Lucio lied through his teeth.
"Sure, but do come here on time next week." Adolf said as he looked at the butler who walked out to get the silver. "Take it from that old man." He said and left the room with Aarah right behind him.
The butler soon walked back into the room and gave Lucio a pouch full of silver and said "The pouch has two hundred silvers. You will receive the rest when you arrive at the he holy city of Axyte."
"Okay. Thanks a lot." Lucio said as he happily left the mansion with a pouch full of silver.