Chapter 241: Chapter 241 - Appraisal
Lumi smiled. "We had a successful hunt."
"A successful..." Merath descended from the second floor, floating down on his staff. His eyes never left Lumi’s face. "You brought a demon corpse to my library."
"Not just any demon," Lumi replied cheerfully. "Currway. I believe you might recognize him."
Merath’s eyes sharpened. He gestured with his staff, and the library’s massive doors swung open, giving him a clear view of the corpse outside.
The old mage was silent for a long moment before he finally spoke. "Currway," he finally said. "One of the demons sealed over a century ago in the great sealing project."
"That’s the one!" Lumi confirmed.
Merath turned back to him. "And you just... killed him. With these adventurers of yours."
Lumi nodded. "We did."
Merath closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could sense the strength of those outside. Weak... they were all weak.
Even an army of them shouldn’t have been able to kill Currway. That was, unless they completely disregarded their lives while fighting Currway.
Which...
Given that they could come back to life through mysterious circumstances which the vast majority of people were subconsciously forced to ignore was strange...
Merath furrowed his brows. He still couldn’t quite figure out the specifics of how it was possible.
Regardless of that fact, killing the demon was a big achievement. Merath knew that coming back to life wasn’t an instant process. Even for this unique type of people, it would take hours, they’d appear in a town, and they be weaker than before.
Which meant that effectively, everyone had one life for whatever Lumi had done. So the fact that Lumi had organized it, coordinated it, and succeeded was remarkable.
Merath’s gaze shifted to Eden and the phoenix on his shoulder. He looked over Sol. The Phoenix was bigger, with more radiant features with feathers burning bright. "Eden," Merath said slowly. "Your companion has grown."
Sol chirped proudly, flames flickering around his larger form.
"And you," Merath continued, his magical senses reading the boy. "You’re much stronger than when I last saw you."
Eden nodded. "Yes, sir. Sol absorbed the evil from the demon after we defeated it."
Merath’s attention snapped to Lumi. "It was dangerous to bring Eden."
It was simply a fact.
Lumi met his gaze evenly. "I minimized the risk. Eden and Sol were protected the entire time. They never entered direct combat."
"Minimized." Merath’s voice was cold. "A Third Rank demon, nearly Fourth Rank in power, and you minimized the risk."
Lumi nodded. "Yes."
Merath tested the logic. "And if something had gone wrong?"
Lumi replied simply. "It didn’t."
Merath’s staff tapped against the floor. "That’s not an answer."
Lumi’s expression grew serious. "There isn’t much time."
Those words hung in the air between them. Merath studied Lumi’s face, reading the layers of meaning.
There isn’t much time. The same phrase Lumi had used before when speaking of matters he couldn’t explain.
Merath took a deep breath. "Do you believe things to be so urgent?"
"Absolutely." Lumi confirmed.
"Perhaps..." Merath went over what he knew. The situation has indeed been getting more perilous as time went on. And yet, what could he do? If he stepped out of Elenora for too long, he’d practically destroy it.
"I see." Merath finally said.
Eden stepped forward hesitantly. "Master Lumi, Great Merath." He looked between them. "I keep hearing about this danger. About time running out. What exactly is this danger?"
It was a fair question. Eden had been thrust into situations without full explanation. He’d been told to trust, to train, to grow stronger.
He already knew that he would be targeted over Sol. There would be those who sought to steal the phoenix for their own purposes. There would be those who wanted him dead over what his bloodline and Sol represented. He even understood that he was a theoretical threat to the Dark One that the Wings of Darkness served.
But what was so urgent?
"What... exactly is it that might happen?"
Lumi and Merath exchanged glances.
"Eden," Lumi started, then paused. He gestured toward the library entrance where hundreds of players waited outside. "I will answer you. But we can’t take the time to answer that right now. Not with so many waiting."
Eden’s face fell slightly. "But..." He looked back at the crowd of people. Lumi wasn’t wrong. Basic respect meant he couldn’t make hundreds of people wait while he was slowly told a story.
Lumi refocused on Merath. "I need your help with something."
Merath sighed deeply. "Of course you do."
Lumi gestured to the people outside, still waiting around Currway’s body. "I need to pay my people their fair due. To that end, I need you to appraise Currway’s body. Give me an accurate value in Ems."
"An appraisal." Merath’s nodded. It was a reasonable request. "Is that all?"
Lumi nodded. "For now."
Merath floated past them toward the entrance. "Time and time again, Lumi. You keep using me for things."
Lumi gave a small smile. "I appreciate it."
"Crafting, protection, knowledge, appraisals," Merath continued as if Lumi hadn’t spoken. "What’s next? Will you ask me to babysit your army?"
Lumi grinned. "Would you?"
"No."
At this point, Merath had simply accepted it. This strange boy who knew too much, who couldn’t explain how he knew it, who kept accomplishing impossible things, had decided Merath was his go-to resource for everything.
And somehow, Merath kept agreeing.
The old mage flew outside, in full view of all the players. He began to examine Currway’s corpse. At just a quick glance, he already had an estimate.
An estimate was an estimate, however. He began examining the quality and status of various materials closer.
The analysis took several minutes. Merath’s expression grew more interested as he continued.
"Fascinating," he murmured. "I wonder, what exactly did you do to this beast? Every inch of scale has signs of every type of damage."
"You burnt him."
"You electrocuted him."
"You poisoned him."
As Merath listed more and more things, the players listening couldn’t help but break into a smile. Yes, they had done all of that and more! If only Merath had seen, they would love to see the look on his face!
Merath continued, beginning to be in disbelief.
"No, you didn’t just burn him with magic. You ignited him with something."
"And in his wounds... spices were thrown?"
"Piercing, slashing, bludgeon damage..."
"There are... over a hundred different poisons, actually..."
The more Merath examined the body, the more he was in disbelief. Many different types of injuries were normal, yes. But some of these injuries were truly absurd. After a moment, he looked up, and found Lumi, matching his gaze. "Why is there molten metal in his throat and stomach?"
Lena raised her hand, waving it. "Ooh! Ooh! That was me!"
That got plenty of players to look over to Lena. Especially those who didn’t witness her madness first hand.
Merath slowly turned to the woman. "But... why? And how?" He knew every single priest and magician basics spell he had taught her. Not a single one could accomplish that.
"You see," Lena put a finger up as she explained sage-like. "Demon mouth open, spell go in, damage once. If molten metal go in, damage continuously, stuck inside."
Merath’s eyes twitched. "Speak normally."
"But like, the point though." Lena insisted. "I’m right!"
Merath took a deep breath. "If you can accomplish it, which I can see you did, then yes."
Lena grinned wildly at that. "Hehe~" After a slight chuckle, she finished it off with a comment. "I’m such a good person."
Merath ignored that entirely and turned back to Lumi. "Twenty-two million Ems."
The number sent a ripple through the crowd.
"Twenty-two million!?"
"That’s insane!"
"We’re rich!"
Lumi nodded, unsurprised. It was high, but not unreasonably so. Currway’s nature as a scaled demon warrior made his body particularly valuable as crafting material. Scales could be worked into armor. Bones into weapons. Even the blood had alchemical applications.
Of course, twenty-two million only sounded like a lot until you realized there were an entire 1241 total participants. Not everyone contributed evenly. Some managed to get a powerful blow in. Others provided crucial support. Some died without accomplishing anything at all.
Theoretically, that meant nearly eighteen thousand for each player. That was only a theoretical, however. He’d need to weigh the contributions properly.
So from the group that would receive money, on average, he’d pay out five thousand Ems to each player.
It wasn’t much compared to the experience they’d gained. Five thousand Ems was equal to about two hundred fifty Tier One potions. Useful, but nothing crazy.
But how much it was wasn’t the point.
The point was showing them he valued their effort. That fighting under his leadership meant proper compensation. Perception mattered more than the actual value.
"Everyone!" Lumi’s voice carried across the crowd again. "The appraisal is complete. Distribution begins now. Get in a line, and I will trade you one by one."
