I swallowed it before the taste could reach me. A large shudder ran through me. A popup appeared and I read it. It read "Congratulations! You have eaten the flesh of a merman. The flesh of the merpeople grants NPCs true immortality. For the players, it grants you a one time exp. boost of 200,000. It also comes with an exclusive perk of Water Breathing. Merpeople are the rarest of the NPCs- there are only 100 at the start of the game. You might have been the first or the last to experience this boon, but I advise you to keep this to yourself. Once they are extinct, that is it". I immediately jumped to level 16. Jessie healed Dyno and the bleeding stopped. I said "It really does alot. I do not know if I'm immortal, but I feel stronger. You all should try it". They smiled devilishly and went over to Muri. They cut into his tail. His screams were more pained and scared than his brother's. They chewed his flesh in front of him and swallowed it. They all fell on the ground. I watched the shuddering and convulsing in alarm. Meanwhile, Muri was bleeding heavily in the tank.
Thankfully, Jessie and the others were able to get up and she healed him. His tail even grew back the flesh that was missing from the cuts. "That was not supposed to happen. My magic's got stronger!" she cheered. I smiled and said "With this, we can do what ever we want. We could sell them to the highest bidder, or give their flesh to whoever we want". Harry said "I am the Guild Master. I'll have to think about it. In the meantime, keep this under wraps. We don't want this getting out". Sam said "You say that, but what about the guys who brought them here? There was eight of them". Harry glared and said "Who were they? Will they be missed?" Sam crossed his arms and said "Cole and Norman and six other Loiterers. And no, You can't kill Cole and Norman". "Fine. Bring them up. We need to keep them quiet" Harry sighed. Sam left the room to gather them. They were all still around. "We love your service to the guild. Come and take your reward boys" he said. The mermen were mutilated again and the others became immortal. They were healed again.
With that, Harry addressed us. "Listen up. This was a great victory for the guild. You should all be proud for what we found tonight. This is a secret that needs to be kept from others. Do you understand?" he said. We nodded in agreement. He smirked and added "I decided that we're going to keep them. Who knows? They might bring us some luck". He leaned against the wall and said "Sam. I'm taking one to my room. That okay with you?". Sam pretended to think about before saying "Take the red one then. He is the more aggressive brother". It made him raise an eyebrow. He them pointed at four Loiterers and told them to move Dyno. The mermen were too subdued from the repeated mutilation to resist. They nodded and lifted the tank filled with bloody water. He then looked at the others and dismissed them. They left us alone in the room. He looked at me and said "What's the deal with this harpy? He's not from here". I told them that I was traveling and I wanted to see what life on the island was like for humans. They seemed to believe that.
Now that I was level 16 and a Thief in the guild, I felt that this could be a great alternative to my other character. My harpy could be an outlaw while my centaur could be apart of the Order of Lancelot. No one would even have to know. Harry shook his head and said "I don't know what Sam told you, but there is a tradition of the guild. You have to pickpocket something from the market". I looked at Sam and he shrugged. "Don't look at me. Harry just gave you a mission. It can't be too hard after what we did today. You're even immortal now". The popup appeared and I accepted it. Sam said "You can sleep here for the night. You can also get the guild outfit in the morning. I am pretty lucky to have ran into you, huh?". I smirked and said "I guess so. I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy living in this city". I left the room and found an empty bunkbed. I climbed in and rested. It was possible to sleep in the game, but it was not recommended. You might forget that the game world was not reality if you did not set any reminder alarms. Since I had them on, I dozed off in the hideout.
