The God of Jesters
Chapter 191 - 3.14.1 Money wasted.

Chapter 191: 3.14.1 Money wasted.

There was never a silent night in the city of Bothal, but constant little incidents have made it much quieter than it was ever before. With few exceptions, the city was on edge. People always worried for their safety, with the old among them recalling the old days of uncertainty before industrialization.

The time when the trust between the clans was not established and fights would break out constantly.

Such was the state of the city now.

But while for most it was a time filled with uncertainty, few among them were treating it more as an opportunity.

What of the high police presence?

The police never cared for big incidents, they were focused on dealing with another one of the assassin’s attacks, so much so that they feared dispatching when small thievery happened in a home or a fight broke out among some drunkards.

This was the perfect time for the pickpockets and the small-time criminals from the gutters to earn some money.

There was one such man, his height matching that of a dwarf, he used a bizarre grappler shot from his left hand to stick off the wall, before climbing through the window of an unattended home. "Found it," he said, before dragging stacks of notes from under the bed.

The owner of the home was a small-time merchant who owned a butcher shop. A craft that rarely pays well. Making the thief wonder where the butcher earned so much at once.

"Drugs," I said to the small dwarf who just nodded at my response before putting the money in his pocket and then disappearing into the darkness.

"Getting used to it?" I asked the dwarf and he nodded before complaining. "The problem is gas canisters."

"Don’t worry, a batch of twelve will be sent to you soon, you can enjoy them as much as you like," I said with a laugh. It was easy to see that my little friend did like the little tools I gifted him. Each with its own unique gimmicks and multitudes of usage depending on creativity.

Of course, my little friend can easily jump over buildings with his current physique and there was not much need for the grappler.

And he can move close to the speed of a bullet, so the small arm crossbow was also not that useful in a direct battle.

But as I said before, all of it depends on the user and how they utilize them in combat.

As for now, my friend was familiarizing himself with the two bracers, not using his inhuman physique, but the tools I have given him.

"Just tell me the name of the craftsman, I will visit him myself."

"That I can’t do." Although disappointed at my response, he knew that I would never tell him the craftsmen’s location.

And besides, besides the material used, these two tools were not so special in this world where the Mage armors existed.

Even in this very city, the dwarfs were used to wearing mining gear that was far more advanced than the little things in my friend’s arms. But for some reason, this friend of mine seemed to love these things a lot more than I expected.

No way he found out.

He was too ignorant of such crafts, not to mention, with his blade missing, he had to be more careful from now on.

He had to find a better blade to cut his opponents. Opponents that had been in the realm of Master for years, even the level of Arch were keeping an eye on the city.

And as you might have guessed, this friend of mine was none other than Max and as you must remember, he was far from a dwarf.

But since his bloodline reached the level of a Master, his ability of body morphism upgraded to the next level. Although his strength didn’t increase much when compared to other Knights. The amount of beings he can morph into was greater than before.

With a new ability added which helped him control each and every part of muscle and bones in his body with a single thought.

If he can handle the pain, he can turn into virtually anything. Though he will be limited by his biomass, this ability gives him a huge advantage in his current situation. His ability to assassinate also increased by a level.

Standing up to the name of the Thousand Face tree, those with Lakram’s bloodline were natural shapeshifters, able to retain some of the physical aspects of their targets, with the easiest being the faces.

There even had been records of some of the descendants being so addicted to their face changing, that they had long forgotten what they actually looked like. And as the strength of the bloodline increases, the more accurate the transformation becomes.

Sometimes even changing one’s gender entirely.

But that was during the time when Lakram still walked the earth, with his death and decline in his bloodline, only one lineage remained.

******

It’s been a few days since Fahna left, leaving him alone in the house. And as he had expected, his body had turned smaller and weaker as time went by, returning to his old self as he had expected.

After this came the weakness he was looking forward to.

The bastard bears were berserkers by nature, their bloodline optimized to fight on the battlefield for days on end like an unstoppable machine, and in return for such huge power boost and duration, they generally lose all semblance of their surroundings, turning into savage beasts that would roam the battlefield for more prey to hunt.

Varkus and his team had experienced those moments of madness in Salvarez a lot of times. And each time, all they had to ensure was Salvarez’s well-being. Supporting him from the dark while he hunts the enemies like a wild animal.

So many lost their lives at the very mouth, which slowly chowed down some boiled beef jerky that was kept in the storage by Fahna and her friends. Which now appeared toothless and without a bite, Salvarez was struggling to tear away at the meat.

Which was odd, considering that even if his bloodline was not active, he still had the strength of a powerful Master rank Knight. It was easy for him to tear a cow with his hands alone, but now even a boiled piece of jerky was harder for him to consume.

’Weakness kicked in.’ Salvarez knew what would happen after this. He was suffering from the consequences of maintaining such a giant form for days on end.

Now his body was running on fumes and although he looked stocky, it was only due to his dwarven physique. If one were to look under his clothes, there was an entirely contrasting scene to his outside appearance.

"Meat won’t do... those drugs." He got up and wobbled his way to the table where Fahna had told him about some medicines. Some of them were magical potions that directly increased his vitality.

Most of them are precious in the outside world and if Salvarez were to use them, he would know that he would be forced under Fahna’s debt. But too much has already happened and considering this was the moment that his enemies would be aiming for.

He knew that he had to use everything in his reach, as there was no Fahna to protect him anymore.

But even after chucking a few bottles of those drugs, after the initial burst of energy he felt, his body started to weaken once again.

"Not as bad as before." He expected this to happen, he knew that the meds would barely affect him at this point.

Not only because his body was drained of resources, but that his body now struggled to absorb nutrients properly due to the years of drug abuse on the battlefield.

He had to be in tip-top condition when fighting, so he chucked down hundreds of bottles to recover from his state of weakness, developing some immunity.

An immunity that made the previous bottles he chucks down, nothing more than an extra nutritional meal he can consume at once.

The drug’s nutritional value was no more than five meals for him.

"Guess, there is no other way." With those thoughts, Salveraz finally dragged out the last item in the compartment.

A small Syringe gun that was loaded with a peculiar drug that is hard to find in the public.

An enchanted potion of grade four. Something made for the use of Arch-level figures. And would actually kill someone in Salvarez’s realm.

But Salvarez was not just any "someone".

"Hope it works." Ignoring the price that Fahna had to pay for it. He finally injected it directly into his bloodstream.

There was no other way, his enemies wouldn’t give him time to recover. They would wait and strike him when he was at his weakest.

And Salveraz never wished to become an easy prey.

"Just come!" He was ready to face the bastards once again.

I forgot to mention something important, You see, all of this happened a week ago.

Now Salveraz sat in his room, confused over why no one attacked him yet. Unaware of the little incidents that had distracted his enemies long enough, that he wouldn’t have the need to use the expensive grade-four drug.

But that was not why I was here.

"This position is good enough," Sheva said, from an abandoned house that was around a hundred meters away from Salvarez’s safe house.

"How much can you cover?" Max asked, looking toward his target, before asking Sheva. "Thirty Around seventy degrees, so around the east side completely with little bits of the north area being barely visible, aiming would be hard."