Chapter 44 Skills

"I see." Merno replied with a nod.

"You don't seem surprised." Tommy noted.

"Why would I be?" Merno asked. "Although unusual, people with skills are not exactly rare, I myself have one that is related to cooking which is partially why my food tastes so good. Little Rizi has one that helps her determine if a person means harm towards her."

Tommy's eyes widened slightly before he said, "That must be why Jue mentioned that Rizi is a good judge of character."

"Indeed." Merno agreed. "Skill's come with all sorts of abilities, from the powerful and extremely useful, to the useless."

"Again this is common knowledge, it's strange that you don't know." Merno finished while looking at Tommy quizzically.

"Can a person have more than one skill?" Tommy asked.

Merno continued to stare at him as if trying to figure him out while she said, "It's not unheard of, however it's extremely rare for someone to have more than one skill when not everyone gets a skill."

"Though it is unusual for a someones identification skill to be usable on both people and objects, that makes it sound like you can use your skill to identify anything, normally someone's skill is focused on a specific thing they can identify, such as plants and what usefulness they have or a weapons durability and if it's damaged."

"It's good that your identification skill can identify the poison this poor girl is suffering from," Merno said as she looked at Fayeth Elvaris sadly. "Still an antidote for the monster black widow poison is not easy to come by here, they are native to another continent."

"Do you happen to know if the antivenom for the normal black widow spider will work on the monster black widow?" Tommy asked.

Merno considered for a moment before saying, "While I can't guarantee that it will, I believe it should. We have a species of snakes on our continent called vipers that are also quite poisonous, the antivenom for vipers works just as well on the monster viper after it evolves, you just have to increase the dosage."

"I see then I believe I may have the antivenom we need," Tommy said as he got up before leaving the bar.

He retrieved a bottle of black widow antivenom and a hypodermic needle from his item box before returning to the boar.

Before he died on earth one of his more recent missions had taken him to South America to assassinate a drug lord, he had packed the antivenom before leaving on that mission.

Tommy knew from experience that he was just as likely to be killed out in the wild as he waited for his target to appear as he was from the target's bodyguards, if not more so.

Because of this he always tried to consider every possible outcome before he left on a mission and often purchased antidotes or anti-venom's which he stored in his kitbag if he was going to a country where he could easily be poisoned.

Merno stared at the hypodermic needle with interest before saying, "What a small syringe, I have never seen one so small, how did they manage to make the injection point so thin?" 

"I'm surprised you know what a syringe is, I met a noble earlier who had no idea." Tommy commented with mild surprise.

Merno rolled her eyes before saying, "A noble would only know what a syringe is if they fell ill and needed an injection, if it's not entertaining or doesn't make them money they generally don't care."

Tommy nodded in understanding before asking, "How much more antivenom do we need to administer?" 

"If we're going by the assumption of how much we need to administer for the monster viper compared to the normal viper then, five times the normal dosage should suffice." Merno replied before adding slightly hesitantly. "However this is based on a human, I have no idea how much an elf would need or even if the same antivenom will work."

"Is there anyone in the city who is knowledgeable about elves and could advise us?" Tommy asked.

Merno lapsed into thought for a moment as she tried to think of anyone who might be able to advise them before saying, "There is one person who lives nearby and might know, however we are best waiting until tomorrow to ask them because they are getting on in age." 

Tommy thought for a moment before asking, "If I leave the elf and the antivenom here with you, are you confident in being able to administer the antivenom yourself?"

"I am," Merno nodded. "Though this syringe is much smaller and thinner than I have used before, I have used them in the past when I needed to save…. when I was still adventuring."

"I see." Tommy replied not commenting on how she changed her sentence halfway through.

"If it's fine with you I will get a few hours rest here before I set out again?" Tommy asked.

"Of course, you're always more than welcome to stay anytime you wish for Tommy." Merno replied with a smile before adding. "Also I'm sure the girls would love to know you safe since they have been worried about you since we parted ways. Merno paused for a moment before adding in a slightly lower voice. "We all have."

Tommy raised an eyebrow in slight surprise when he heard that but didn't comment.

((Kekeke.))

"Very well and thank you Mrs Merno." Tommy said as he stood up.

"Ms, I'm no longer married." Merno said in a slightly angry voice before adding. "Also just call me Merno, it's the least you deserve after what you did for my family."

"I will tell you what I told Tue," Tommy began as he turned to leave heading for his room. "I did it because your cooking is great and I didn't want the hassle of finding another inn."

After Tommy left the bar and Merno heard him climbing the stairs she mumbled more to herself, "Then I will continue to make you delicious food in the future so that you never want to leave and will stay to protect my girls…. as well as…"

***

The sun had just risen over Oakforest City when a loud shout was heard coming from the top floor of the tallest building in the western district, Whitflare's medicinal goods.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE DEAD!" A man asked as he sat behind the large desk in his office.

The man standing in front of the desk cowered slightly before responding, "I don't know boss, I just heard the news myself from one of the passing city guards and thought it best to come tell you straight away."

"Do we know how they died?" The boss asked.

"Not yet boss, I sent someone to investigate and I am waiting for his return." 

The boss tapped his fingers rhythmically on the desk for a short while as if deep in thought before a smirk appeared on his face and he said, "This is an opportunity for us to expand our organization into the east and west districts and take over the organizations there. The deaths of Kir-kin Suthuld and Tai Paom will create a power vacuum as different people fight to claim leadership."

"However without the stable income they were receiving from Club Tai and its shady deals with the nobles, or from that slave market the organizations have a high chance of collapsing even if a new leader does rise."

"However with the huge profits I make from my drugs business I can easily keep them both afloat long enough for me to get nobles interested in that club again and acquire new slaves."

"What about Yua Huang's position as a noble and how she worked as an intermediary between the nobles and the organization's boss?" The man asked.

"That's a little more complicated and time consuming but it won't be much of a problem." The boss began. "Once I run three fifths of Oakforest City from the shadows that bastard king will have to listen to me, then I can become a noble and I will take over Yua's old position, except I will only be intermediary for Bim Bokoz and the northern district as I will be in control of all the crime everywhere else in the city."

"Go inform the senior members of the organization that they are to gather here in three hours so that we can start planning."

"Yes boss." The man standing in front of the desk responded before turning and hurrying away.

After he was gone the boss pulled open a drawer and withdrew a packet of leaves, he took a pinch before crushing them into the end of a pipe. After lighting the pipe he took a long drag and inhaled the burnt leaf fumes.

"Once I control three fifths of the city I will pay Bim Bokoz a visit and offer him the choice of working beneath me or ending up beneath the ground, HAHAHAHA."