By the time I'm done, Beldragor's scales are all shiny once more. A few loose scales have come off again as well, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for the young dragon. He simply collects them all. Does he dispose of them? Or does he sell them? Is dragon scale armor a thing? I have no clue. I don't really need to know either anyway.

What matters more, at least right now, is that I get a little more progress out of this. A notification delivered via a divine whisper at the back of my mind gives testament to this.

[*Ding!* Your skill Massage has leveled up to level 2!]

It may not be much, but it helps improve my strength too, which so far is an attribute I have been neglecting a little. The notification means another little bit of progress for my masked mediator class too, which is slowly creeping towards its next level up as well.

I check my gear, especially my new gear, once more, as Beldragor sees me out from his hoard chamber behind the pawn shop's counter. The locket with the mirror is safely tucked away in my purse. And, for the time being, my second hand buckler is attached to my sword belt. Everything is as I want it to be.

"Well, Beldragor, I'll be off then. See you!"

With one last wave I make my way through the labyrinth of shelves and bins once more to leave the Paws & Pawn behind. As I start to head in the direction of the city wall, but not the gate, I chance a look at the sky above too, to gauge the time. It might just be a little past noon, but it's not yet too late to check out the requests at the adventurers' guild, even if I'm not entirely sure if I'll still head out today or if I 'll spend one more night at the guild's dorm.

As I approach the wall I take a moment to check my surroundings. I don't want to cross over the wall in plain sight and with too many witnesses after all. It's a good thing that by now I know the best spots to cross over even in broad daylight. I just need to make sure to pick the right moment. My [Perception] once again serves me well, in making sure no one is actively looking my way, as I scale the wall with a running start and a powerful jump that takes me up to the first handhold I have chosen, The rest is an easy climb. Maybe even too easy, as [Perception] and [Stealth] are the only skill that improve this time around and not by much either.

Barely a moment later I'm already back down at street level on the other side, resuming my walk towards the city's central square and the guild house at a leisure pace. No one seems to have seen my little acrobatic stunt, or at least no one takes exception at it. Just as well.

The guild house is rather quiet around this time. Most adventurers are still out, taking care of requests around this time. The counters are not abandoned though. Of course they aren't, but the guild officials take this lull in other activity to take care of paperwork.

I greet the clerks at the counter with a casual wave, to not disturb them too much, before I head over to the quest board. It's severely diminished. It really shows that most of the easy or well paying jobs have been snapped up. All that is left are less well paying requests and ones that are either more time consuming or dangerous. I check them all out anyway.

Most I barely glance at. The ones that I have no hope of resolving by myself for example. I don't feel like searching for a group of like minded adventurers right now. I don't bother with most that are essentially menial labor here in the city either, even if some of those might be worth some consideration if I end up strapped for coin one of these days.

I have my eyes mostly set on the monster hunting requests. There aren't a whole lot of those left right now. None for the Water Rats for example. I come across a request for Rock Crabs though. Reading through it I can guess why no one took it. It sounds a little tricky. The quest giver, someone running a fine eatery here inside the wall, asks only for two of them, but he wants them as fresh as possible, which means alive.

That sounds like a hassle. Do I want to bother with this? I'm not quite sure. How would I even go about securing them for transport? Would it be enough to tie up their legs? Maybe to a sturdy stick so I can sling them over my shoulders? Or will I have to take further precautions? I'm willing to bet that it's the latter. Beldragor mentioned them as potential sparring partners to train my [Spell Resistance] skill after all.

My brow furrows as I think about it. In the end I don't take the request off the board just jet. Instead I head over to the general information counter. The old man who processed my application greets me with a nod.

"Welcome back. What can I do for you today?"

I nod in the direction of the quest board, as I answer.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I was wondering, does the guild have a library? Some books where I can read up some basic information on monsters and how to best handle them?"

His face brightens up a little at my question. Is he so used to young hotheaded fools that just asking for basic information is already a pleasant surprise? That thought is a little troubling, or maybe rather its implications are. Well, he probably is a man that did his reading.

"Indeed. We have a small library with all the essential literature for aspiring monster hunters as well as some other books."

As he speaks he reaches under the counter to retrieve a key.

"You have already been to our fencing room if I'm not mistaken. It's on the same floor but on the other end of the hallway. No open light or fire. No smoking. No food and drink in the reading room. No exceptions. Am I clear?"

I nod, as I reach out to accept the key.

He doesn't let go of it right away though.

"I'd recommend Wielimir's illustrated guide of the frontier's wildlife. It' might be a little dated, but Wielimir was a rather thorough scholar. The information it contains is still good for the better part. And don't listen to anyone who derides it as a picture book. It is well illustrated, as any zoological or botanical guide should be. Oh, and please do not remove any books from the reading room either and lock it back up when you leave."

Only when I nod again does he finally let go of the key. He certainly is passionate about the guild's books. Considering he has the key for the reading room, they might just be his responsibility.

That, together with the information provided by the man, already seems to be good enough to improve my [Gather Information] skill another little bit. Hopefully doing some reading will pay off too. I have high hopes anyway.

I head up the stairs quietly, almost as if I already were in a library. As I reach the right floor I head in the opposite direction of the fencing hall. There are thankfully not a whole lot of doors there and only one is locked. Thus I don't even have to awkwardly try the key on any.

As I step inside I take a moment to lock the door behind me again, so I'll remain undisturbed. It's not much of a library, with only two shelves of books. I guess there is a reason why the clerk downstairs called it a reading room.

Beyond the two bookshelves along the wall there is a sturdy wooden lectern by the window and a more comfortable, padded chair along the opposite wall. Not everyone wants to read standing by the lectern after all.

Finding the right book is not quite as easy as I had hoped, as it turns out. Sure enough the books are sorted by topic. That by itself can already be tricky, if a book covers more than one topic. At least the shelves are labeled with shiny little brass plaques. Thus I can at least narrow my search down to a handful of books instead of dozens.

And of course the books, with their sturdy leather covers that smell faintly alchemical, possibly to keep bugs away, aren't labeled on their backs or even just the cover at all. They are not sorted alphabetically either as I quickly find out. Well, with only this few books it isn't strictly necessary, I guess. As a result Wielimir's illustrated guide of the frontier's wildlife is the very last book left to pick up of course.

It's the last book I pick up, simply due to the fact that it's the largest and heaviest book too. Well, it's not like I'm in a hurry, or at least not too much in a hurry anyway. I put it down on the lectern by the window. The light is better there after all.

There is no table of contents. There is no index either. It's really no surprise. The pages aren't numbered either after all. That's not too much of a problem, as the book's contents are at the very least alphabetically ordered. Thus the entry for Rock Crabs is easy enough to find. The illustrations help too. The big and very detailed, full page illustration of a Rock Crab with human for reference and scale next to it is impossible to miss.

I have another slight problem though. The book isn't written in Syld. No, it's written in Arngarm. And my command of that language is still a little lacking by comparison. It's not that I can't read it at all, but deciphering the text takes me some time. The way it's written doesn't exactly help either. Flowery language and pretty calligraphy do not make for easy reading. I manage though, working my way through the write up on these crabs bit by bit, often doubling back too, to make sure I don't misunderstand anything.

[*Ding!* Your skill Arngarm (Language & Script) has leveled up to level 3!]

Well, there is that at least. This one counts towards the progress of my scoundrel class. I start to reread the text after the notification brushes the back of my mind and it really is coming to me easier now. Not by much, but it's still noticeable.

The information provided by the book is pretty helpful too. According to the scholar Wielimir these Rock Crabs actually can use two kinds of magic. The first, some kind of innate earth elemental power, hardens their shells, providing them superior protection. The second is a water based power that allows them to shoot small water projectiles with considerable force.

The only reason why they are not in fact the unsurpassed apex predators along the smaller streams here in the frontier or elsewhere, is that they are not terrible smart. They are fearsome and aggressive eating machines though that will attack just about anything that seems edible to them. And to these crabs just about everything is edible.

Usually they should reach up to my knee or a little further. The important term there is usually, as there is a little addendum that worries me. Apparently these creatures don't stop growing as long as they can gather enough food. In rare cases individuals as large as any human have been confirmed. That really sounds bothersome.

I should be able to handle a few of the smaller ones without trouble though. Getting them to the city alive will be a little tricky though, even if it's doable. There is even another little illustration on how to tie up a disabled crab. I'm just not sure if I can disable one without killing it.

As I close the book I can feel my [Gather Information] skill improve another little bit. It's so very close to leveling up now. I decide to quit for the day though and put the book back on the shelf. My mind is racing, as leave and lock the reading room back up again, checking the door twice, just to be sure. Should I take that quest? Or should I try to hunt some of these monstrous crabs just for myself first? The latter might just be for the better, so I can figure out if I can subdue Rock Crabs without killing them.

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