Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 482: The Price of Survival

The city was well built, and Thalion now noticed that several structures were made from coral. Smart move by the crabfolk—having others bring the materials and then charging them for staying.The streets were quite empty, with most of the crabfolk staying indoors. The first time he saw other humans was when he entered the plaza. Massive buildings surrounded the area, and multiple quest boards were mounted high on their walls. Many of them were placed so far up that you had to fly to reach them.

There were hundreds upon hundreds of quests hanging there.

Thalion focused on the two boards with the most postings torn off. He wanted to see what others were choosing. It appeared that gathering quests were very popular. Catching seven crustlobsters above level one hundred and ten would grant two coins. Thalion had no idea how much two coins were worth, but it didn’t sound like much.

Hunting missions were also frequently taken, offering at least seven coins. Still, he wasn’t sure—what was the real difference between catching fish and hunting lobsters? Weren’t both just beasts that needed to be defeated?

What was almost never picked were sailor jobs on ships. They paid up to twenty coins, yet only a few had been taken.

“Hey, why is no one taking those?” Thalion asked a human who had just grabbed a hunting quest and was about to return to the sea.

“Because you become a slave to those crabs,” the man replied. “They make you do everything, and you’re not allowed to refuse or they cut your pay. Sometimes they even give you jobs you can’t complete—like attacking something far above your level. Being forced into the water when you know there are stronger predators below isn’t exactly appealing. Better to hunt a bit, gain some levels, and if you’re lucky, find a place to sleep for the night.”

With that, he hurried off.

Yeah, that sounded pretty bad. So far, it seemed that integrated spaces were quite stingy when it came to rewards.

With that sorted out, Thalion turned toward the headquarters. The gate was five meters tall and stood wide open. In front of him, a woman carried what looked like a dead underwater snail.

“Oh, a gastari of high rarity. I’ll give you four coins for it,” the Chel'Kari behind the counter said as she slammed it onto a metal board.

This Chel'Kari had purple chitin armor and wore something on his head that resembled a goldfish bowl. It took Thalion a moment to realize that, for them, it functioned much like glasses on old Earth. Runes were etched into the glass, likely providing additional features. Every Chel'Kari behind a counter wore one.

“Four coins. FOUR COINS. Do you have any idea how deep I had to dive to get this? I risked my life, spent over five hours retrieving it, and you only give me four coins?” the woman shouted.

The Chel'Kari remained completely calm. He probably dealt with situations like this every day.

“Miss, there are no quests for gastari. You’re lucky I’m offering you four coins at all, especially since none of our craftsmen can make use of it. Better stick to the quests next time,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“What craftsmen? Do you think I’m stupid? I know you’re going to eat it later with that skill that gives extra stats,” she snapped.

“Please, there’s no need to get angry. You’re free to leave and take it with you. No one is forcing you to sell it. What would you say if people brought all kinds of things to your doorstep and got angry when you didn’t take them?”

Thalion had to admit, these Chel'Kari were crafty bastards. They knew the woman had no real use for the snail. If she took it back, she’d lose five hours and still need to earn enough points for the day. She didn’t really have a choice.

With a frustrated huff, she accepted the four coins and stomped out.

“Sooo, what can I do for you, since you don’t seem to have anything to sell?” the Chel'Kari asked, his eyes rising slightly as he spoke.

“I just wanted to know how many coins it costs to stay inside the city at night,” Thalion asked innocently.

“A newcomer—how sweet. We offer several options. One ticket grants you a lovely standing spot on solid concrete in Sector A. That will cost you eighteen coins. Of course, you can also rent an apartment. Here, take a look—only forty-three coins, and you get your own four walls with over three meters of space.”

“A man of your size can even lie down.” The Chel'Kari spoke as if he were offering some kind of luxury suite with stars on the ceiling. Forty-three coins also sounded like a lot of money. And what the hell was a “standing area” ticket? Were they expected to stand the whole night?

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Great, but this doesn’t really meet my needs. I have better things to do than stand all night. Don’t you have any mansions to rent?” Thalion asked, glad his mask didn’t give anything away.

“Oh, so that’s where the wind is blowing from. Of course, of course. Renting a mansion for a day will cost you three hundred and sixty coins at the lowest. Do you have that many coins as a newcomer? And how exactly do you plan to get them?” the Chel'Kari replied, clearly not believing Thalion could ever earn that much.

“There must be some very dangerous sea monsters that are a blight to you but too strong to turn into regular hunting missions. Could you give me one of those?” Thalion asked, remaining completely calm. Only the Chel'Kari seemed to lose its composure at that request.

“You think you can take down late E-grade beasts? Please, just take one of our normal quests and stop blocking the line.”

“I wouldn’t ask if I couldn’t handle it. What harm is there in giving me such a quest? It’s not like you’re losing someone valuable, right?” Thalion shrugged, not caring in the slightest that more than seven people were already waiting behind him.

“Fine. I wish you the best of luck,” the Chel'Kari hissed. One of its claws produced three quests from beneath the table. “There’s no reward listed, but if you manage to bring one back, you’ll earn one night in one of our majestic mansions.”

Thalion took the quests with a smile and stored them in one of the inner pockets of his robe.

“Thank you very much, but I think I’ll start with one of the easier missions.”

The inside of the Chel'Kari’s glass helmet fogged up from obvious anger, but otherwise nothing happened as Thalion walked out. He picked up a gathering quest that required five jellyfish for one coin, mostly so he could talk to some of the weaker people outside the walls.

There was another reason as well—he didn’t want to shapeshift in front of others. At least not yet.

The three sea beasts he had to hunt were a massive shark, some kind of seagull, and a giant octopus. No wonder crabs were the favorite prey of octopuses.

A few ships were being prepared, while others simply jumped into the ocean from long piers to join the rest. With his blood vision, Thalion spotted several humans a few hundred meters out. They surfaced frequently, filling floating baskets. That seemed like something he could assist with while searching for the jellyfish.

Like back on old Earth, Thalion swam like any normal human—only accelerating himself slightly with blood manipulation. To everyone else, especially the Chel'Kari, he likely looked like a useless idiot.

After a few minutes, he reached the first group. They were diving repeatedly toward what looked like a hundred-meter-wide ball of kelp drifting through the ocean. At the surface, several wooden tubs floated nearby, similar to the kind used for bathing in medieval times.

Thalion observed the process, hovering roughly ten meters below the surface. As an E-grade, he could hold his breath for hours, so staying underwater wasn’t an issue.

Soon, the woman who had earlier tried to sell the snail swam toward him.

“Hey, what are you doing here? Either help us or leave. Having someone just watch us is annoying,” she huffed, several strands of kelp draped over her back.

Thalion couldn’t really speak underwater in his human form, so he simply pointed upward.

“You can’t talk underwater? Seriously?” she said in disbelief.

Thalion followed her to the surface, using telekinetic dash to speed up slightly. He made sure to restrain his bloodline, fueling the skill with minimal energy. He didn’t want to give them any reason to suspect he was far more powerful than he appeared.

“I thought you might need some help, and I wanted to know what happens to those who don’t manage to get a place on the island,” Thalion said, hovering beside her.

She began filling one of the tubs while pulling materials from another. That was when Thalion realized they were doing far more than just gathering.

“I don’t think you can help much, judging by the way you swim. While we gather materials, we’re also building a hideout inside the kelp ball for the night. You can join us, but you’d need to hold your breath through the night and into the early morning—about eight to ten hours. We can’t risk someone swimming out. That would endanger everyone.”

Her words made sense, and she even seemed a bit concerned for him. That alone placed her among the kind of people Thalion wouldn’t mind helping.

How many beasts would rise during the night if he patrolled below them as Myrelith, the Serpent Crowned by Tides?

Thalion had already spent many nights in the oceans of New Earth, but nothing particularly dangerous had happened so far. Occasionally, a few stronger beasts appeared, but none that truly challenged him. If they were this cautious, things might get more interesting here. Maybe he’d even gain a few levels overnight. And whatever he killed could earn coins—something he could give to these people to help them survive a few safer nights until they grew strong enough to leave.

Spending more time under the Chel'Kari certainly wasn’t in their best interest.

“It’s fine, I was mostly curious. But isn’t it dangerous to hide in something like that? What if a shark catches your scent?”

The kelp wouldn’t stop a determined predator from breaking through, even if the mass was large.

“So far, it hasn’t happened, but yes, it’s definitely a risk. Still, it’s better than staying out in the open. And since those crabs won’t even let us stay on the small patches outside their walls, we have to create a safe place for those who can’t earn enough points.”

That explanation made sense. The reason they weren’t heading to another island was likely because they couldn’t reach one in time. From what Thalion had seen from above, the next island was at least seven hours away for his wyvern form, which was extremely fast. For a human to swim that distance before nightfall was probably impossible.

“I have to go now. You can start pulling off the small crabs—they’re eating our hideout. Put the bodies in the larger basket to the right. Oh, and I’m Rina.”

With that, she dove back underwater, seemingly forgetting that Thalion couldn’t speak there.

He followed and began removing the crabs clinging to the kelp. At the same time, he used them to practice his blood control. The Primordial Bloodseed allowed him to almost directly manipulate the blood of others, and the crabs had little defense against it.

While helping the humans, Thalion completely forgot about the jellyfish.

Luckily, it wouldn’t matter.

Because this night, things would turn out a little differently.