Deadmeat Saga

The following morning, Gerhart woke up feeling a bit stuffy.

"Hm...? Why do my clothes feel tighter?" He wondered and got down from his bed.

"Yawn*... morning..." Kaiden yawned and got up from his bed.

"Good morning..." Axel also got up.

"Ugh... My head..." Troy groggily said.

"That's a hangover, lad. You should drink in moderation next time." Kaiden smirked. "Come on, it would feel a bit better after breakfast."

"Mmm... damn..." Troy cursed and forced himself on his feet.

"Will he be okay, though?" Gerhart asked. "Going to kill monsters with a headache isn't exactly ideal."

"He'll be fine... We have a home remedy for that." Axel reassured. "It tastes like shit, though."

"Ugh... Not that again..." Troy complained.

"Next time, drink one or two less cups, you dimwit." Kaiden playfully mocked and put on his armor.

Gerhart also started putting on his leather armor... But he felt that it was a bit tight. His shoes also felt a bit tighter.

"Hey, Gerhart. Did you grow a bit taller?" Axel curiously asked.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, wider too." Kaiden rubbed his chin. "Did you have a late growth spurt or something?"

"Eh? I thought I imagined things. My clothes, armor, and shoes do feel a bit tighter." Gerhart admitted.

Inwardly, he couldn't help but start thinking. "Is it the increased level? Or is it from absorbing those cockroaches and rats?"

"Well, that's not good," Kaiden said. "After today's sweep, you should go to the armorer and get your gear readjusted, or it would hamper you. A bad-fitting armor is worse than no armor."

"Yeah. If you want, I know an armorer who can take a look at it. Maybe he can readjust it." Axel suggested.

"Thanks! That can help." Gerhart smiled.

"Well, congrats on growing taller, I guess... Fuck, my head..." Troy said while in pain.

"Hahaha..." The three others unkindly laughed.

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After breakfast and Troy drinking liquid shi— medicine, the four men came to the planning room.

"Alright, men. Today, you will start from entrance number 3. Kaiden, A3. Troy, B3. Axel, C3. Gerhart, D3. Questions?" Captain Antonis asked.

"No, Sir." The four men replied.

"Good luck, men. Dismissed." Antonis said.

The four men and the captain then left the room. Several minutes later, one of the administrative staff members quietly entered the room and looked through the sewer sweep list. After confirming something, the man left the room...

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At the 3rd sewer entrance...

The four men, wearing their perfumed face masks, entered the sewer. After locking the door behind them, they traveled up to a T-section.

"Good luck." Kaiden and Troy waved as they went on the left route.

"You too." Gerhart waved back and followed Axel.

Gerhart and Axel, after walking some distance and killing a Giant Rat, reached another T-section.

"Good luck, lad. And remember, if you encounter something too dangerous, don't be a hero and escape. You only live once." Axel warned and started heading left.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Good luck!" Gerhart waved his hand and took the right path.

Gerhart felt at ease at the moment. After absorbing those 200 Magic Stones, he doubted there was anything he couldn't handle...

After walking a bit of a distance, Gerhart opened his bag and took out the metal boxes.

"I should get rid of them now..." Gerhart thought, opening them and dumping their content into the water before throwing them away.

After getting rid of them, Gerhart continued patrolling with ease of mind.

Soon, Gerhart met a rat, and it charged at him... But Gerhart felt it was slow. Too slow.

"Is this the feeling of being strong?" Gerhart leisurely thought, not even bothering to take a defensive position.

When the rat pounced on him, Gerhart kicked it hard, sending it crashing into the wall.

"So weak..." Gerhart muttered as he saw the rat struggling to its feet.

Not wanting to waste time, he ended it with a swift stab to the throat.

"Too easy..." Gerhart muttered. After taking the subjugation proof, he absorbed the rat, causing him some discomfort before the rat turned into dust.

"I probably had that talent, and it got enhanced..." Gerhart guessed. "I wish I knew WHAT got enhanced, though... I probably have over five unknown talents by now..."

Shaking his head, Gerhart continued his sweeping duty. "After a few days, I reckon the gains will become minimal... I should probably seek another job, then. Maybe I can get something good from horned rabbits? They have strong legs and are good at running and leaping... So it should improve my ability to run away from danger."

After experiencing death twice, Gerhart knew the importance of running away. It was an invaluable ability, especially if he planned on being solo.

"Okay... Next week, I will hunt some rabbits." He promised himself. "Hopefully, I can absorb a few out of sight..."

Gerhart continued killing monsters and even a Giant Spider the size of a dog. Luckily, he didn't have arachnophobia, so he didn't scream like a little girl... It was disgusting, however. After absorbing it, he felt acute pain, so he gained something... But he didn't know WHAT.

"This is so annoying... Is it wrong for me to wish for some low-life criminal with the Self-appraisal talent to die in the sewers so I can absorb him?" Gerhart darkly thought.

But then he shook his head. "Nonono... Wishing for others to die like that is wrong... Unless they are scum like Emerald Flame... Especially that fucker who stabbed me... I would kill them any day..."

While he was thinking of that, he suddenly paused. It wasn't because of a monster... It was because he felt danger ahead.

Looking forward, he saw that it was an intersection, with roads leading left and right. The only problem was that whatever danger he felt was hidden there. However, the threat felt faint, not life-threatening at all.

"Should I go forward? Or do I take a detour?" Gerhart contemplated.

However, after half a minute of hesitation, a sneer sounded.

"Heh... Seems like you noticed." An arrogant male voice sounded as two men wearing leather armor, one wielding a sword and the other a mace, walked out of the shadows.

"But it is too late to run now, F-rank." Gerhart heard a gloating voice coming from behind.

"Hm?" Gerhart looked behind and saw two other silhouettes. This time, they were a man with a curved blade, and another wielded a crossbow.

"I don't mean any trouble... Let me through, and let us pretend this never happened." Gerhart tried to reason with them.

"Hehehe... Normally, I wouldn't attack a sewer sweeper, but someone paid a good coin for your head. Sucks to be you." The sword-wielding bandit sneered.

"We are proper E-rankers, while you are an F-rank rookie who is practically a regular person with some training." The curved blade-wielding bandit stated. 

"Peacefully surrender... We only need your head..." The one wielding a mace menacingly added, slowly pacing forward.

"We promise to make it quick." The bandit with a crossbow calmly said, aiming it.

"Wow... You guys talk a lot... Did Emerald Flame put you up to this?" Gerhart guessed. But most of his attention was on the one with a crossbow, the thing he felt the most danger from.

"Heh... asked the gods on the other side, they might tell you. Get him, boys!" The one with the sword ordered.

"Hahaha!" The one with a curved blade and mace charged over while laughing.

Twang* Thud*

The one with the crossbow took a shot, but Gerhart blocked it with his buckler. The steel-tipped bolt was strong enough to penetrate the wooden outer edges of the shield but luckily didn't damage Gerhart's body or arm.

Meanwhile, the three melee fighters closed the distance.

"You forced me!" Gerhart's eyes turned cold. He tossed away his lantern, pulled out his sword, and charged at the man with a curved blade.

"Haha!" The curved blade bandit fearlessly charged over, about to deliver a strike with his sword.

However, Gerhart used his buckler's bulb, effortlessly blocked it, even staggering the bandit, and made a quick slash to the man's neck.

Slash* Psh*

"Eh?" The bandit couldn't comprehend why this F-rank newbie moved so fast and was so strong, his neck spraying blood.

It should be noted that the chasm between an F-rank and an E-rank is significant. If one had significantly higher stat growth, it was possible to bridge the gap. Otherwise, it was close to impossible.

He, in particular, had D grade Strength and Agility. From the report, Gerhart was just an orphaned slum kid who barely went into the dungeon for 11 days. In other words, he was, at most, level 2, and his talent was comparable or weaker than his. Meanwhile, he was already at least level 11 or 12.

Usually, his strike should have at least staggered Gerhart, if not sent him tumbling down. But Gerhart effortlessly blocked him, made him stagger, and counterattacked. That only meant one thing...

"The intel was wrong... He isn't a regular newbie..." That was his last thought as he collapsed on the sewer walkway.

Before the other bandits could process what happened, Gerhart rushed toward the crossbow bandit, who was busy reloading his crossbow.

"S-Shit!" The bandit panicked, tossing away his crossbow, and unsheathed a short sword.

After seeing his companion getting dispatched so effortlessly, he was scared shitless.

"Who the fuck did we provoke?!" The bandit screamed in his mind but still faced the fast approaching Gerhart.

But it was fated to be a swift match.

Although he went on the defensive, Gerhart made a strong cleave toward his neck. He tried to block it with his short sword, but Gerhart's swing was strong enough to ignore it and beheaded the man, spraying blood on Gerhart.

And then, Gerhart slowly looked in their direction, his eyes ice-cold.

"..." The sword-wielder and mace-wielder looked at each other with shock and fear, their eyes conveying one message.

"RUN!!!"

The two men started running the other way, wanting to escape.

From Gerhart's display, they already knew the intel was fucked beyond measure. Gerhart moved like... Like...!

"He is C-rank! Boss! You fucked us over!" The men ran in fear.

But it was already too late.

Gerhart ran much faster than them, soon catching up.

"W-Wait! Don't kill—" The mace-wielder tried to beg, but...

Stab* Psh*

"GaHH!!!" The man screamed.

Gerhart stabbed the man in the stomach through his back, making him scream in pain. He then kicked the man, pulling out his bloodied sword and making the man grab his stomach while bleeding on the dirty floor.

"Fuck..." The sword-wielder stopped running, knowing that he couldn't run away.

"Only you are left... Tell me, how did you know my route?" Gerhart coldly asked, inching closer.

"Heh... There are corrupt officials in any shithole. Why ask something so obvious?" The man replied while taking one step back at a time.

"Gaha... It hurts... I don't want to die..." The mace-wielder cried in the background, making the man's nerves even tauter.

"Who sent you?" Gerhart asked again.

"Would you let me go if I told you?" The man rhetorically asked. "After I discovered you are a hidden C-rank?"

"Of course not..." Gerhart shook his head. "I already know it was Emerald Flame. I never provoked anyone else in my entire life."

"Then why are you asking?" The man narrowed his eyes.

"To know if you have a leader I can kill or not," Gerhart replied, swinging his sword to the side, letting the blood covering it splatter on the pavement. "Don't you want to drag the one who ordered you to your death down with you?" Gerhart tempted.

"... Let me ask you one final question... Are you a late-bloomer?" The bandit asked.

Late-bloomer. It was a term for those who awakened their talent later in life. Before being awakened, the talent remained hidden, and the stat growth was usually low, not surpassing D-rank. But after awakening, the late-bloomer would experience a massive growth boost.

The weakest could elevate from a regular person's talent to an A-rank template like Abiah. As for the strongest... Some are so ridiculous they can rip dragons apart with their bare hands... Like one of Deadmeat's previous masters.

However, late-bloomers were extremely rare. They were so rare that only a handful were within the entire Youvamor Kingdom, partially because most died before they could harness their potential, sometimes remaining dormant until they died of old age.

"Yes," Gerhart replied, not denying it.

The relic was indeed a late-bloomer talent that only awakened after death... Although initially weak, Gerhart had little doubt he could become a legendary figure like his previous masters, given enough time and luck.

"Heh... Hehe... So we weren't abandoned..." The bandit mirthfully laughed and stopped backing away. "Then I'll have the honor of fighting you before I die!" He shouted and charged.

"As you wish..." Gerhart muttered, disinterested.

The man swung his sword like a madman, and Gerhart avoided his swings before delivering a bash using his buckler straight to the cheek.

"Argh..." The man staggered back, clutching his broken cheek, blood pouring from his nose and mouth.

"Who is your boss?" Gerhart asked.

"Ptui*." The bandit lowered his mask and spat blood mixed with teeth before attacking again, not caring about the smell. "Raah!"

"Fine... Die." Gerhart coldly said before stabbing the charging man in the throat, not wanting to waste more time.

Stab* Rattle* Plop*

The man slumped to the floor, dying.

"Gugh..." The man frothed blood while clutching his throat before losing consciousness for the last time.

"I don't want to die..." Gerhart heard the voice of the mace-wielding bandit, who started pathetically crawling on the floor. 

"Not dead yet, hah?" Gerhart thought and walked over.

"Who is your boss?" Gerhart asked while walking closer.

"Cough* Cough*..." The bandit coughed blackened blood, looking at Gerhart with dread. "P-Please... Don't kill me." He begged.

"I won't ask a third time. Who is your boss?" Gerhart coldly asked.

"I-It's Fraser Cough* Cough*, Fraser the Crazy Eyes... Just don't kill me... Please..." The man begged.

"Thanks for the info... I'll make it quick." Gerhart raised his sword.

"W-Wait...!" Before he could continue his pleading, his head was lopped off.

The sewers returned to silence, and only the sound of the sewage water and habub from above was heard.

"I... slayed four people... even if they are hired killers after my life..." Gerhart muttered, looking at his bloodied sword. "And yet... I didn't hesitate... I felt no remorse... I feel... Nothing."

Gerhart knew that this situation was abnormal.

"I would never be so cold-blooded before... I am changing... Did I absorb some weird talent? Or was it the relic?" Gerhart muttered.

Of course, he couldn't get an answer.

"What a pain in the neck... I'll absorb them, take their valuables, and get out of here..." He muttered and started absorbing them.

After experiencing four painful absorptions, Gerhart collected their coin purses and anything else that could be easily carried, including the leader's sword. They also brought with them guild cards. Undoubtedly, they were also adventurers.

"I should speak with Abiah... Even if it means exposing my strength to him, I am in too much deep shit to care about subtleties." Gerhart thought.

Killing those hired killers would inevitably alarm Emerald Flame and Fraser the Crazy Eyes. The next time, they wouldn't send such riff-raff... And there was also an insider in the City Guard. They might even start throwing bullshit allegations against him, send him to prison, and kill him there while he is vulnerable... And they might do something nasty like targeting his orphanage.

If they did something to the nuns and children... He didn't know if he could forgive himself.

On the other hand, Guild Master Abiah and Guild Master Skyler were trustworthy enough. He wouldn't tell them about the relic but could lie that he is a half-awakened late-bloomer... Which was also possible.

"Hah... What a cesspool I am in... Check Status..." Gerhart said.

And...

Nothing happened.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Gerhart muttered.

He then continued his sewer sweeping. At least he wasn't in any immediate danger, so he should at least complete the request.