Chapter 146: 3 days
"Thank you very much Noah! You can be sure that I will test the imp"s powers during each of these days. But after that time has pa.s.sed... I will pay to rent it," Patrick said after renewing his contract with Noah 3 days ago. Noah had renewed his contract so that Patrick could continue breaking into Fortresses and testing how powerful the imps were, how much they could improve, and of course, keep earning exp without much effort.
Noah had instructed Patrick to specifically tell the imp to try to act like one of the melee warriors or killers so that the little guy could gain some kind of more useful experience, to improve his fighting technique and not just stay hitting blindly following his own instincts.
After those 3 days invading Fortresses after renewing the contract, Patrick"s imp alone had already earned him 327 exp points. That"s because on the second day, Patrick tried to invade a peak Rank F Fortress, which he managed to do easily, while on the other two days he had invaded weaker Rank E Fortresses.
This was a win-win situation for both of them, as Noah was gaining a lot of exp a day without any effort, and in addition to Patrick had received over $2,000 in those days without having any serious injuries. That was an amount that he would need to break into Rank F Fortresses for almost a month to get, but it was something he got from working for 3 days non-stop, just managing the small imp.
For Noah, the more Fortresses Patrick invaded, the better it would be, since it would be more Exp for him.
The imps who had stayed at home with him were also being trained. Their progress had been slow these past three days, but they were showing a lot of results. Noah was supplying [Healing Flames] to that same imp every day, wanting to see how far the imp could evolve, but the little red guy looked like a bottomless pit. No matter how much energy Noah provided, there never seemed to be an end.
Fortunately the quality of healing that the imp could provide was increasing a lot too. Now these flames could heal at least small cuts, even though it still expended much more energy than a small wound like that should have taken, but Noah knew it was only a matter of time before this problem was resolved.
Another progression that made Noah"s days happy was when the doctor called him during the nights to tell him Maggy"s progress. His little sister was adapting to the treatment very well. According to the doctor, the willpower she had was greater than the willpower of an adult, and that was an incredible thing, especially when she didn"t even hesitate to accept making one of the demands for treatment, which surprised both the doctor and Noah.
The treatment for her illness was like chemotherapy, which meant that her hair would fall out over time, but thinking about being cured, Maggy didn"t even hesitate to pick up the hair clipper and shave her hair while the nurses who were going to do this were shocked by the little girl"s att.i.tude.
The doctor said that when the nurses asked her why she was like that, she said, "My brother has already given up so much for me... The least I can do for him is to do my best not to waste everything he"s doing for me." When the doctor told Noah this, his voice had become a little weak.
But the doctor"s voice was not the only thing that became weak at that moment. Noah, when he heard that, didn"t think twice and took his own car to drive to the hospital, even though visiting hours were over.
All the way, even though his nose started to itch and his eyes got wet, Noah held that feeling for a long time, until he arrived on a block near the hospital, and after locking his car, he teleported into Maggy"s room, who was looking at herself in a hand mirror with a cute smile on her face, very different from what Noah imagined.
She was startled when a brilliant explosion of flames appeared in her room, but when she saw it was Noah, the smile she had on her face a few moments ago came back again, but this time a lot bigger.
Noah still thought she was beautiful. It wasn"t simply a haircut that would change the cute image she had built in his mind all this time. But seeing how she looked so fragile from the treatment, she made Noah unable to hold back the tears. Even more after seeing how cute and proud she was of herself for doing what she did, which made Noah aim not to disappoint her and he filled the little girl with as much praise as he could think.
That visit was two days ago.
Yesterday, Noah received a call from Leon, who had contacted the priest at his church, and today they could meet.
Noah was planning to break into a Fortress alone or with the group again, but today this other commitment was much more important.
Since he had met Leon, just as Noah did with Lucifer, he researched everything about Apollo, who was the G.o.d of that church. And what Noah found was more rea.s.suring.
According to Greek mythology, Apollo was the G.o.d of countless things, and he used light as a means for almost everything he was going to do, which checked out with what Leon was doing on the ball in the match, using the light for both attack and defense, differently from healers Blessed by normal G.o.ds of light, who only used light to illuminate or heal others.
But among the things that Apollo was charged with doing, one of them was to point out and cleanse the sin of humans: this was exactly what Lucifer did in Catholic mythology.
From there, Noah was able to deduce some things, but he had nothing to prove these hypotheses, so the only thing he could do was wait for the meeting with Leon and the church priest to receive some answers.
Fortunately, that meeting was today. Noah had canceled the invasion of the Fortress the day before, claiming he had some personal matters to deal with, which the group"s people did not blame him for in any way.
"Maybe I can rent an imp to them? With another peak Blessed Rank E, or Rank D and an imp, most likely they can invade low-level Rank D Fortresses without my help... I will contact Jasper. They welcomed and have helped me a lot when I needed it; I will not be ungrateful and just go out doing nothing for them. Not to mention that I will receive a part of the invasion money in addition to much of the Exp that a Rank D Fortress can provide me," Noah said to himself shortly after breaking up with the group the day before.
Getting in the car with Lilith wrapped around his wrist and Terrence already inside the portal for monsters he was contracted with, Noah drove his flashy, sporty red car around town, attracting the attention of many people, but this was something he, as always, ignored, instead thinking about how cool it would be to bring Maggy for a walk with him.
The place marked by Leon was in a small cafeteria, close to the commercial center of the city. Looking from a distance, the cafeteria was quite cute when looking from the outside.
After parking the car in a parking s.p.a.ce in front of the cafeteria, Noah got out of his car, and after going inside, looked around the interior, his eyes pa.s.sing by some attendants who looked at him anxiously, having seen a handsome and apparently very rich young man, given the car and the elegant mannerisms he exuded when walking in. The coolest thing Noah thought about the cafeteria was that it was themed after Valorwatch maps. Each table and chair looked like one of the ranking lobbies. Finding that amusing, Noah went to one of the few Rank D tables and it was just like the more modern-style tavern he had used once: more modern than the Rank E tavern, but less modern than the rustic Rank C restaurant.
"Hi sir, I see you sat in a Rank D seat. Do you happen to play valorwatch?" An attendant asked. She looked very cute, standing six feet tall, with a slim waist and a charismatic smile.
Even Noah, who understood body language, could not help feeling influenced by her and smiling a little back as well while making a mental note to himself. "I must commend the manager of this place for knowing how to hire such good employees."
"Yes, and I am also Rank D. I wanted to test the seat, and incredibly, it is exactly the same feeling I had when sitting in the tavern chairs in my lobby," Noah commented casually as he touched the chair.
But for the attendant, this revelation made the level of importance she attached to Noah even higher. For a city that less than 30% of the blessed was Rank E, and only 6% was Rank D, someone like Noah who had already entered among the most powerful 6% in the city was someone who should be treated with the best care that they could provide. Even more when noticing how young Noah was, probably the same age as herself, yet already being part of this select circle of powerful people, the chance of him becoming Rank C in the future was very high.
"My congratulations, sir. To congratulate you on this achievement, the higher a player"s rank on Valorwatch, the greater the discount from our store. For Rank D players, 40% of the consumption you have will be paid on the house," she said in a slightly more nervous voice than before, but still showing a high level of professionalism.
"Ohh, thank you so much. But why the discount? Isn"t that bad for business?" Noah asked curiously.
With a sympathetic look, the girl pointed to a group of young people sitting in Rank F chairs who occasionally looked at Noah with astonished eyes and whispered things that he didn"t even bother trying to hear. "Customers who do not play have no discounts, whereas Rank Fs have a 5% discount on their consumption. Many come because of the discount, others come for the chance to find a Rank D player, just like you. So to pay for "advertising" that Rank D players do for us, we give them this discount. The only thing we need is a confirmation of their Ranking and then the 40% discounts will be effective."
Noah found the business proposal brilliant. Without thinking twice, he took out his cell phone and showed the Ranking of his account, but without showing the player name he used, since he thought that it might be very uncomfortable if the people around him discovered who he was.
While he was enjoying an Ace Cappuccino, Noah saw two people pa.s.sing by the door. They were exactly the two people he was waiting for.
Leon had black skin and shiny golden eyes that attracted everyone"s attention, and beside Leon, there was a man who looked totally different from what Noah imagined for the "priest" he was expecting.
Wearing a purple overcoat with zebra stripes printed on the collar, as well as a fedora hat with a white feather pointing up, a large, muscular man of apparently 40 years accompanied Leon and smiled the moment his eyes met with Noah"s...
"d.a.m.n ... have I been cheated?" Noah rea.s.sessed his situation once again.
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Please read the author"s notes down here! hehe :3 ↓↓↓
Author Note: I got my hair cut this week and chose to shave it bald, it was my first time getting like this, in my life, before I had bangs and everything. I tell all men, try this at least once in your life, your perception of hair will definitely change.
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