NOVEL FROG Chapter 50: Old Times
“Man, I was so stoked about going to the Academy.” Lizzy slumped down on the table with a huge sigh. However, she wasn’t going to be all stubborn about the matter now that she had heard a Second Catastrophe would soon be upon their planet.
Although the kids in her generation were born in an era of peace, they had grown up hearing about the horrors their forefathers had to face during that time.
Even now, outside the five major Cities, some regions still face the consequences of the first Catastrophe.
“I admit it is a bit unfortunate, but Mr. Ray is right. It would do you two good to proceed with caution.” Jacob warned the two children. “The world is soon going to change in ways you can’t imagine, and I believe the Academies wouldn’t be able to nurture as well as protect you.”
Ray was glad to see someone supporting his decision.
“Father, is the Catastrophe really that dangerous?” Mike asked curiously. As a native of the Sanskriti Archipelago, the children there were taught practical skills like fishing and farming for day-to-day survival, as opposed to Magic and its history.
To him, the Great Catastrophe was something akin to a myth or legend - certainly not something he would ever have to experience in his life.
Like all grandparents, Jacob was someone who loved to tell stories to those of the younger generation. It was anything like an inspirational speech or an educational lesson. To be honest, it was more selfish in nature - he didn’t want his memories to be forgotten.
He had read the history books the children in the City were taught. Maybe it was an attempt to protect young minds from the trauma society had once suffered from, but Jacob sadly couldn’t feel even the minuscule essence of the pain he and his kin had to go through while they survived in that world of destruction and lawlessness.
“It still sends shivers down my spine when I remember the first day those damned Gates opened up.” Jacob closed his eyes, as he found himself back in the rusty old room in his small orphanage.
“The world was still recovering from the effects of World War II, so nobody expected that the danger this time would come from somewhere they never expected.”
Hearing the old tale firsthand from a survivor certainly expressed the horror in a way no movie or words in a book could ever express. Ray and the others couldn’t tear their attention away from the monologue so rich in history and experience. Even the twins, Ryu and Yuna fell silent, sensing the tone their grandpa was reminiscing.
Ray was especially interested in hearing the history, so similar and yet so different at the same time, to the history he was exposed to in his previous world.
“I was only seventeen at the time, and the sounds that rang that night were so like the ones that kept us at night for the past 6 years, afraid that this night would be our last. But at the same time, these noises were different - more dangerous and primal in nature.”
“I ran out to find the source of those horrifying screams gliding through the winds and found the corpses of my fellow brothers and our teachers strewn on the field. Blood-curdling screams and tears filled the nightly air as people cried for their parents, wives and children. But instead of crying for my brothers who had died at that moment all I could do was hide. Hide from whatever monster it was lurking in the dark, waiting for the sun to show its first light and save us from the terror of the unknown.”
“But come morning, it wasn’t any more safe either. It was worse since I could now clearly see those horrible monsters pouncing on the weak and the destruction they left in their wake. I had to scavenge for food and water all alone, as I hid from the monsters, praying to God they wouldn’t find me. Soon, earthquakes split the continents and tsunamis displaced entire oceans leaving behind a world that was unlike the one before or after the war.”
“Over time I found friends - fellow orphans who had nowhere to go and no one to cry for anymore. We weren’t given the blessing of mana like the others who ran about hunting monsters and bringing the survivors to safety.”
“Me and my friends fought, stole, and sometimes even killed, just so that we could survive to live another day. As time passed, our group grew larger. We took others under our wing, taught them our tricks, and helped them survive in the world as well. Once the League had stabilised society, I decided to leave my brothers, to seek forgiveness for all the crimes we had committed. That’s how I found myself in the arms of God.”
“Father…sob…I never knew you went through something like that.” Mike wrapped his guardian in a warm hug.
“It's fine, Mike. Despite all that I had to go through, I always believed that God was on my side. After all, I was lucky enough to have survived all those misfortunes, didn’t I?”
There was a hint of nostalgia in Jacob’s voice as he stared off into the distance, visiting the memories of his old friends. Ray could sense he was fine, if anything he was more homesick than anything else.
Ray decided to switch the topic for now. He turned his attention to Mike.
“By the way, Mike, I noticed you don’t have a proper weapon for yourself. I was hoping we both could go to the market sometime later and get you one.”
“What about me?” Lizzy asked curiously.
“You already got that bow as a gift. It will suffice for now.”
He clicked on his watch to check the time. “It’s already 2 pm now. I need to go to the bank to withdraw some cash. I will be back in the evening. Mike, be ready by then.”
Since the Laxon family incident, all of the family’s assets were frozen. Rufus had given him special permission to withdraw some money, but he still needed to fill up a few forms at the bank for the sake of protocol.
Since he didn’t know how long this “formality” would take, Ray decided to head there early.
Of course, he had a hidden account under an alias where he kept his profits from the Potions he periodically sold on the Pandora’s Box, the special organisation that operated as an online black market, keeping its user’s identity completely anonymous.
Unfortunately, the funds he had on the anonymous account were still nowhere near enough to the money he received from his mother, Liliana, for selling her the Laxon Guild shares.
‘I bet she feels so angry right now that all her shares are now useless. Thank god I sold them when they were still worth something.’
‘Well, if the Aurum Guild gets a competent President who can manage well, they might become worth something again.’
Now that he had possessed the body of Ray Laxon, he couldn’t help but occasionally lament about the tragic fate of the Aurum Guild. The novel never described the Guild again in the novel, after its downfall, so Ray had no idea what would happen to it in the future.
‘Well. there’s no use thinking about them anymore. I did enough by not letting the League execute the entire Laxon Family as traitors.’
At 6 pm, as the moon began to rise in the purple sky, Ray finally came back to his mansion after a tiring trip.
The bank managers were ruthless. He had to fill up like thirty different clearance forms and write down a letter regarding the use of withdrawn funds before he could receive the money.
‘Seriously, an essay? Where am I, in high school?’ - was what he wanted to tell that four-eyed manager who kept looking at him with distrustful eyes as if he was about to rob the bank and not withdraw money from his own account.
Well, on a bright note, Lizzy had Awoken during his absence. Ray had Appraised her the moment he walked through the doors
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Name: Isabella Laxon Rank : E Potential Rank: A+ Suitable Class: Archer Mana Compatibility:
tats:
Skills:
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“You Awakened the Gazebo Skill? That’s amazing!” Ray congratulated her as Lizzy told him about her powers.
Despite earlier saying that she wished she didn’t get our parents’ Skills, Lizzy still seemed happy about getting Liliana’s Gazebo Skill. From what he could gather from Ray’s memories, it seemed that this Skill was responsible for Liliana rising in the ranks of the Aurum Guild and becoming the second highest shareholder of the Guild.
Madame de Pompadour’s Gazebo - in terms of offense, it was practically useless. But when taking part in a battle of wits and strategy, few could compare to it.
But rather than the Gazebo Skill, Ray was more interested in the Cyber Savant Skill. It was a Skill he recognised from the novel - the signature Skill of the best information broker in the novel.
‘Though even with such a Skill, one would first need to have the underlying technical knowledge to use the Skill at its full potential. Unfortunately, I am useless on that front.
“Jacob, didn’t you say you used to be a hacker? Lizzy’s new Skill seems more befitting with your technical abilities. Can you please mentor her, if possible?” Ray asked him for a favour remembering Jacob saying how he was good with laptops and such.
“I won’t mind taking in a disciple.” Jacob wasn’t one to hesitate to pay back one’s debts, and so he immediately accepted Ray’s request.
‘Now that Lizzy has Awakened, I can finally get started.’
Ray turned to Mike who was feeding chocolate cookies to Deus, Ryu, and Yuna.
“Mike! Let’s go. We need to leave for the market. Deus, you too.” Ray called out to the two.
“Okay!” Mike fed the final cookie to Yuna and followed Ray to the garage. Deus slithered up his Master’s arm so as to be left behind.
“By the way, you said we are going to get weapons, but you never mentioned where we are going.” Deus asked once we hit the roads.
“The black market, obviously. It's the best place to get weapons…by human standards at least.”
“B-black market?!” Mike was shocked at the mention of such an ominous place.
“Are you sure that’s a wise decision? Your family was just arrested a few days ago.” Even Deus had his qualms against this, despite experiencing first-hand all the chaotic things along with Master including fighting that strange Demon at the Academy and bargaining with the #1 Hero with the Curse-Breaking Potion.
“Relax. Even high-ranking Heroes go there from time to time. It's just called the black market because the government doesn’t manage it directly and the customers are a bit of the criminal sort, but most of them are mercenaries.”
“I am sure you know best, Sir Ray.” The little boy refused to believe that the person who saved his town would ever do anything deplorable.
Likewise, Ray wasn’t bothered at all.
The government called it a black market but it was only because they wanted to make it a bit harder for normal people to gain access to the powerful and mystical objects and Artifacts. It was akin to the dark web - not inherently evil, just a tool to maintain privacy and anonymity.
Of course, Pandora’s Box was the best way to go if one wanted high quality and anonymity, considering it traded goods from all the other planets, including with the Demons, Elves and the other Races. And since it was all processed by an unknown organisation, confidentiality was all but guaranteed.
However, the registration charges were quite high, along with the yearly fees, to be a member. So, although they were of top quality, the number of contractors was somewhat limited on Pandora's Box.
This is why Ray decided to go to the black market this time instead of shopping for weapons online.
At the very edge of the Market District, Ray parked his car outside a building that looked like it had been transported to the Stone Age and back.
Weird moss covered the outer walls of the two-storey building that had already been weathered from decades of facing the elements. A broken neon sign hung over the glass doors reading “OWL HOSE” instead of “BOWL HOUSE”.
“Weren’t we supposed to go to the black market?” Mike looked around in confusion as he got out of the car.
“We are in the right place…I think. Let’s go in.” Ray motioned Mike and Deus inside.
It was a very boring night for DeeDee today.
Wiping the tables, fixing the bowling machines that would occasionally get stuck, and serving food to the rude customers, her monotonous schedule seemed to get grayer by the second.
The crowd was a bit thin this evening, so she decided to take a short break and headed to the bathroom. In the mirror, her soft brown eyes were tired and dark due to the lack of sleep.
Her black hair which used to be soft and silky had turned somewhat frizzy because of a lack of self-care.
‘I just don’t have the time.’
Tying her hair back in a ponytail, she headed back to the snack bar to scroll through social media.
That’s when she saw a man enter the lifeless bowling arcade.
He was tall, and attractive enough that once you took a look at him, you wouldn’t want to look away. His hair was dark blue like the sky at dusk and his eyes had a lighter shade of blue than his hair, but were charismatic enough to make you hold your gaze. He was wearing a teal sweatshirt and casual jeans, looking like he was here to enjoy a date.
Following behind him was a teenage boy, who might be a brother or a cousin, but the genetics were clearly different. He had dark hair and eyes, and his physique was pretty muscular. But unlike the perfectly sculpted muscles of gym rats, his’ seemed like those of hard work done by a construction worker, possibly a fisherman, considering the beach tan that he had.
DeeDee lightly tucked her stray hair strands behind her ears and approached the two guests with her most perfect smile. “Hello Sir, could you tell me how many there are in your group?”
“Just us two.” The older, blue-haired guy replied.
Even his voice sounded elegant. Maybe he is some well-known celebrity. DeeDee’s thoughts once again strayed away from her job.
Now that she thought about it, the blue-haired guy felt kind of familiar to her. Was he some side actor in a web series or movie? She couldn’t place a finger on where she had seen him before.
Well, who cares? In her monotonous life, seeing the occasional eye candy was the best she could hope for.
“Our costs are 500 R per hour. You can order food at the snack bar and I will bring it to you.” She explained the services in her best customer service, somewhat flirty, tone.
< Note: 500R is equivalent to 6 USD >
DeeDee could feel the angry stares from the other female servers burning a hole in her head, but she ignored them.
So what if she was the only one talking to these two heartbreakers. She deserved it.
“Oh, and we would also like to rent Locker No. 55 to keep our valuables.” The man added in the end, handing her the cash.
DeeDee’s heart sank as her plans of relaxing at the snack bar and enjoying the wonderful view were shattered.
This bowling house had a special that the owner had informed his staff members after a rigorous hiring interview.
“Give the special key to the customers asking for Locker No. 55.”
Of course, DeeDee knew what it meant. These people weren’t here to simply enjoy bowling with friends and family. They came here to enter the black market.
The owner had warned her to be careful of such customers since many of them were mercenaries and quite ruthless towards normal humans.
“That will be 5000 R, please.” DeeDee answered with a heavy heart.
Of course hot hunks like these will be mercenaries. Just my luck, dammit!
Accepting the payment, she showed the two to the thin corridor on the left where all the lockers were placed.
The lockers were basically old-fashioned steel boxes about the length of a human, screwed into the wall. Most were rusted and unused, at first glance. But if you looked closely, there was a single locker cleaner than the other ones, with not a hint of rust on its door.
Locker No. 55.
DeeDee took out a plastic keychain with a single key on it. She opened the locker door to reveal an endless, pitch-black space inside.
“That looks ominous.” The younger guy stared worriedly at the locker.
“Don’t worry. It’s safe. You just need to step right in.” DeeDee reassured him, a bit taken aback at his naive side. ‘Guess not all mercenaries are ruthless.’
“Now just enter and make sure you enjoy your visit.” DeeDee gave her final instructions, hurrying the two inside.
Once she locked the door behind them, a thought struck her. “Wasn’t that guy on the news?”