Deadmeat Saga

After a while, Gerhart finished his sweep and returned to the 2nd entrance after a round trip.

He absorbed ten rats, ten and a half cockroaches, and even one centipede! However, some didn't improve his body(Cause him pain), which made him wonder...

"Where is all that energy going to? Is the relic going to do something with it? Does it have other functions?" He thought.

Of course, with how the relic didn't interact with him aside from absorbing energy all the time, he didn't know if absorbing energy was the only thing the relic could do.

"I'll find out sooner or later..." Gerhart thought as he reached the 2nd entrance, where he saw the three others waiting.

"Well, you took your sweet time," Troy complained. "We thought something happened to you."

"My bad. I'll buy you drinks later." Gerhart apologized.

"Oh! We forgive you, then." Axel jovially said under his mask.

"Let's get out of this shithole first." Kaiden winced.

"Okay." Axel nodded and unlocked the sewer door.

After exiting the sewers and locking the door behind them, the group of four noticed that two priests of Taelia, goddess of cleanliness, sanitation, and public health, came over. She was a lesser goddess but vital to cities since she was the number one contributor in containing sewer infestations, and it was part of her priest's duties to heal the sewer sweepers for free. Since they were crucial for public health, they received sizeable donations and were employed as doctors. In times of plague, they also stood at the forefront to assist in containment and healing.

"Hello, noble Sewer Sweepers. We are here to provide our services as our goddess demands." One of the priests bowed, and the other followed suit.

It would sound like an insult to some, but Gerhart knew the priest was honest. To him, cleaning the sewers from monsters was a noble act to worship his goddess.

"Thank you, priests. You are life savers." Axel nodded.

"Let us clean you up first." The priest said, and the two priests began to chant.

"Oh, Great Taelia, please cleanse the world's filth. Clean." The two priests chanted.

The next moment, Axel and Kaiden shined with a bright light as the dirt on them evaporated. They took off their masks and breathed in the fresh air.

"Hiss... Hah... Finally, I can breathe something that isn't heavy perfume or shit." Kaiden exhaled.

"Us too, please." Troy walked forward, Gerhart next to him.

"Of course." The two priests bowed.

They then cast the same spell on them again, removing all the dirt and stink. Gerhart could finally take off the mask. It was indeed uncomfortable, and he sweated inside of it a lot.

"Thank you." Gerhart smiled.

"Our pleasure, sirs. Is anyone injured?" The second priest asked.

"Luckily, I don't need your healing services this time," Axel said.

"Me too," Kaiden added.

"I accidentally got bitten by a cockroach, and I could use some healing," Troy pointed at his pants. Gerhart could see two holes, but it wasn't too bad. Likely, most of the damage was blocked by the leather armor.

"Right away." The priest nodded, knelt to the wounded area, and started chanting.

"Benevolent Taelia, please heal the wounded, Lesser Healing."

His hands shined with a green light as Troy's injury slowly healed. After about a minute, the priest stood up. "There. It should be fine now."

"Thank you!" Troy smiled.

"We will now purge any nasty disease that might have infected you. Although you might not get sick, you might spread it to others." The first priest said.

"Please do," Axel replied.

The two priests then cast another religious spell to cure any disease that might have infected their bodies. Gerhart felt a tingling sensation on his body before it stopped.

"Thank you, priests." The four men respectfully bowed.

"No, thank you, brave ones. Please continue purging the agents of disease from this world." The two priests bowed back and left.

"Okay! Let's return to the barracks and submit our subjugation proofs, and then we can have a hot bath and warm meal." Kaiden smiled.

"Hah... I want to wipe myself already..." Troy said.

"Baths" could mean a tub full of hot water you can dip in... But those were reserved for the wealthy. Most people received a bucket full of boiling water and a towel. These were the guidelines of the church of Taelia to avoid the spread of disease.

Bathhouses are a primary source of spreading infectious diseases, and they used to be filthy brothels and gambling dens. Although they couldn't ban prostitution, they did ban the bathhouses... Because the water was too dirty to begin with.

Although the priests could cure diseases, they had limits! Most priests could only cast it a few times a day, and even then, there were only a dozen or fewer spell-casting priests in an entire city of over 10,000 souls! And, of course, many people get injured every day, many times work-related, but sometimes adventurers, too, and many from the countryside also sought aid. Furthermore, curing the disease doesn't make one immune to it! They can get reinfected! The priests were spread thin, a minority, so the last thing they needed was a massive epidemic on the loose.

"Well, let's go," Axel said.

The four then returned to the City Guard station and arrived at a room where they counted the subjugation proofs.

Gerhart carefully took out the proofs, avoiding showing the two boxes he found.

The scribe on duty looked through the proofs before writing some things and giving Gerhart his payment, 24 Silver Coins.

After receiving their payment, the four men went to a washing area, where four buckets of hot water and towels were prepared.

Without any shame, the four men stripped off their armor and began to wash themselves.

"So, how was your first run?" Troy asked.

"It was alright," Gerhart replied, not mentioning his spoils. "Say, how is your leg?" He asked, looking at Troy's healed leg. There were faint scars where he got bitten.

Healing magic was not omnipotent, and one could gain scars after healing. Some people use certain scar-removal medications, but others take pride in it.

"It's okay. The injury wasn't too deep, thanks to my leather armor. It didn't even hurt too badly." Troy shrugged, not minding it too much.

"After doing this job enough times, you get used to it," Axel said.

"And the perks that come with it," Kaiden added with a knowing smirk.

The three men then shared a look only men would know.

"What perks?" Gerhart curiously asked.

"Hehe... Remember that we get a free Cure Disease spell?" Troy smirked. "If we have this... Doesn't that mean we can act more recklessly?"

"Recklessly?" Gerhart raised an eyebrow.

"So innocent... It will be fun corrupting you." Kaiden also smiled.

"They are referring to prostitutes, kid." Axel grinned. "If you don't need to worry about diseases and you are single, then you have nothing to worry about when being with whores."

"... Well, I didn't think about that." Gerhart honestly replied.

A big worry when sleeping with prostitutes was the possibility of being infected with something. Of course, many lower-class men lived for the moment, but many thought about the future. They do have protection... But it was insufficient and not fool-proof. So, if they can get cured of any STDs, they indeed don't need to worry about going to any brothel.

Gerhart was a virgin, and he never had a romantic relationship in either of his lives. He was plain-looking, about 1.7m tall due to lacking nutrition, which was already above the average for many lower-class men, and used to be a meathead. Coupled with his status as an orphan/slave, he was a poor marriage candidate. Furthermore, he was initially only single-mindedly interested in becoming a Dungeon Explorer and saw prostitutes as a waste of money, time, and health in exchange for momentary pleasure.

But now... One of these concerns was gone. And prostitutes didn't cost too much. Hiring a common prostitute of average looks in a lower-quality tavern with proper hygiene only costs 1 Silver Coin.

With how stressful their work is, wasting a twentieth of your salary on whores didn't seem so bad... Of course, this didn't include the booze and merrymaking, but that didn't matter.

"Maybe I should try it sometime..." Gerhart thought.

"So, want to join us after dinner? We know a good place~" Troy suggested.

"Nah... You guys can go ahead without me. I'll join you another time." Gerhart replied.

"Ah, shame." Kaiden shrugged. "More for us, I guess." He then grinned again.

"Your loss, lad," Axel said and continued bathing.

After the four finished bathing, they had an early dinner before going to their room, which was a room with two bunk beds.

"You take the upper bed," Axel said, pointing at the bed above him. "We will return in a few hours, so feel at ease."

"Don't worry, Gerhart! We will keep the women warm for you!" Troy gave a thumbs up.

"Hahaha! Let's go!" Kaiden laughed and raised his fist.

"Have fun," Gerhart smirked as he saw the three men go out.

Once he was sure they were away, Gerhart locked the door and closed the window veil. Only then did he open his backpack and take out the two boxes.

"Let's see what these guys hid inside..." Gerhart eagerly rubbed his hands and opened the first box...

"Hah...?" Gerhart uttered, widening his eyes in disbelief.

What he found inside were...

"Mana stones?!" Gerhart exclaimed in his mind as he looked at the neatly stacked mana stones that likely originated from the dungeon.

They were all high-quality. Gerhart estimated they were at least from the 30th floor!

The price of magic stones from the 30th floor was eight Silver Coins a piece. And from the looks of it, there were a hundred stacked inside.

With his increased intelligence, Gerhart did the math and reached a number.

"Doesn't that mean this box is worth 800 Silver Coins?! It is more than double the net worth of all my gear!" Gerhart felt cold sweat under his clothes.

He then eyed the other box, and after hesitating, he opened it as well... Only to see more magic stones of the same quality.

"Uncontrolled Magic Stone selling is illegal... On the black market, selling these would fetch twice their worth at the guild. I am looking at over 3,000 Silver Coins worth of illegal goods..." Gerhart shook.

3,000 Silver Coins. That was the amount a well-off farmer could save up after several years, given that he didn't have any bad years. It was a mouthwatering sum of money. Of course, they needed to find a buyer first. And those buyers were usually those banned from the guilds due to crimes.

Legally speaking, Gerhart was obligated to give these illegal goods to the guild, and he would get compensated for it. The compensation would run about 20% of the worth(Real Worth, not black market worth) of the Magic Stones, meaning about 300 Silver Coins. Of course, they would get a good reputation with the guild and could be grounds for a promotion from an F-rank like him to an E-rank. Perhaps they would even exempt him from paying guild dues for a year.

If it were before, he wouldn't hesitate to give the stones back since they were like hot potatoes in his hands, and he didn't dare or want to sell them on the black market. It was better to receive the favor of the Adventurer's Guild and Dungeon Explorer's Guild.

But now...

"Holy shit... Can I absorb these?" Gerhart greedily eyed the stones.

Yes, he wanted to absorb them. By absorbing them, his strength would improve, and not by a small amount. But there was one problem...

"I won't die from absorbing these... Right?" Gerhart worriedly thought.

Using a magic stone of a much higher quality was considered suicidal to someone with a low 'Level Cap.' This was because the absorbed energy would then try to forcefully break the cap, severely damaging the body and possibly killing the user. Even if you don't die, you might become disabled.

"But I have the relic... It should be fine... Right?" Gerhart thought and picked up one of the stones.

 

Energy Detected. Absorb?

 

"... Just one... I'll try just one..." Gerhart thought.

Gritting his teeth, he prepared for the pain and commanded. "Absorb!"

The next moment, thick black energy seeped out of the magic stone, entering his body.

Crack* Snap* Creak*

"GHHKKKK!!!!" Gerhart held back a scream of unbearable pain. Veins bulged all over his body as if about to burst.

He felt his body was breaking down and being rebuilt like steel hammered on the anvil. The pain was intense, but it was different from when he absorbed living creatures.

When he absorbed living creatures, he felt that the very essence of his body changed. If he was initially a wooden bucket, he was now a steel bucket. Such a change was fundamentally impossible, but it happened.

Meanwhile, absorbing magic stones was like pouring water into a bucket. However, the bucket was small, yet he kept pouring more into it. This inevitably causes damage to the bucket, filling it with holes to let the water escape.

However, some force inside him kept repairing the bucket and slowly expanded it, making it bigger. Hence, the quality of the bucket didn't change, but it was thicker and more spacious, able to store more water. And the water that entered him this time was much heavier, forcing the bucket to break and heal more frequently.

Finally, after enough time had passed, the pain slowly subsided. The stone in his hand turned into dust, and he collapsed on the floor, relieved that the pain was over.

"Hah... Hah..." He panted like someone who ran a marathon. "That... fucking hurt." He concluded.

However, the pain paid off.

Bringing his hand up, he clenched and unclenched it, feeling a noticeable increase in strength. That feeling was enough to offset the pain endured.

"At least a tenth stronger... No... probably more. Did I level up three or four times?" Gerhart wondered.

He didn't have any way to confirm it, but that was fine.

"After absorbing the stone, I am still fine... So I should be able to absorb more, right?" Gerhart thought and eyed the other magic stones.

"Just one more shouldn't hurt... Right?"

After hesitating for a moment, Gerhart absorbed another stone.

"GHKK!!!!" Gerhart shook as he felt his body breaking down and reforged again.

The pain was noticeably less than previously, but it was still painful.

Several minutes later, the pain ended. And Gerhart eyed the stones again.

"Just one more..."

And so, Gerhart continued absorbing stone after stone.

1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100...

With each stone absorbed, he felt less pain, and the time shortened until finally...

"One more... Oh. Shit." Gerhart noticed that all the stones were now dust.

He absorbed 200 High-Quality magic stones just like that.

"... Whoops..." Gerhart muttered, feeling embarrassed.

Clenching his hands, he felt unprecedented power within. He felt about four times as strong as he was before.

"I probably reached level 30..." Gerhart muttered in shock.

Level 30... That was the level of a C-rank Dungeon Explorer. He never thought he could reach this level so smoothly... Although it hurt like hell.

He then eyed the pile of dust on the floor. "I better clean that up before the others return..."

He gathered the dust into the two metal boxes using a broom inside the room. As for the bits that were left, he swiped under the bed...

"They wouldn't mind... Probably..." Gerhart guiltily thought.

Rattle* Rattle* Knock* Knock* Knock*

After he put the two boxes inside the bag, he heard someone trying to enter the room, but the door was locked, so there was a knocking sound.

"Gerhart... Hic* Open de door... Hic*" The drunk voice of Troy sounded from the other side.

"Coming!" Gerhart opened the door, revealing one drunkard and two amused middle-aged men.

"Hi... Gerhart... Hic*... You missed the fun... Hic*" Troy swayed from left to right.

"Hehehe... The lad can't handle his drink." Axel laughed, amused.

"What about you, Gerhart? Did you stay here all this time?" Kaiden asked.

"Yeah... I decided to meditate." Gerhart replied.

"Hah... Well... Suit yourself. I got a good one this time..." Kaiden grinned. "Next time, come with us, yeah?"

"Sure." Gerhart smiled, feeling that today was especially fruitful.

The four men then brushed their teeth and went to sleep...