Gathering of the Extraordinary

Chapter 23 Gathering of the Extraordinary

In an era where information doesn't spread very quickly, club-organized gatherings are an important channel for an industry or a social class to obtain information.

Although Hobert had never served in the military and had no intention of joining the army in Rune, he still wanted to know some firsthand information about the Northern and Southern Continents.

Furthermore, judging from the information on the information wall, this gathering should also involve the trading of extraordinary materials and items. As a mercenary club with military ties, the trading will certainly involve many extraordinary items suitable for combat, which will be an important channel for Hobert to integrate into the extraordinary world.

So Hobart took this party very seriously, but why did so many people go to the basement to party instead of the third floor?

He glanced at his pocket watch; it was just 1:20, more than an hour before the party time Anas had told him about.

After a moment's thought, Hobart realized something. He put down his newspaper and went to the door of the basement, but he was stopped by the waiter.

The waiter was tall and had a tough face, making him look more like a bodyguard.

The waiter said, "I'm sorry, sir, this place is only open to a select group of members."

Hobart became even more certain of his guess: a party was also taking place in the basement, but it was a party for extraordinary individuals, while the party on the third floor was a party for ordinary mercenaries.

That's reasonable. Otherwise, if there are a lot of ordinary people at the gathering, extraordinary transactions will become like illegal transactions and have to be carried out secretly.

Hobart asked, "Through what channels do I need to get involved?"

The waiter said, "Prove yourself."

"How can you prove it?"

The waiter shrugged and did not answer.

Hobart immediately understood. He activated his spiritual vision and examined the waiter in front of him. The waiter's left shoulder was lower than his right shoulder, and the waiter's left arm was intentionally or unintentionally protecting his left armpit.

Hobart concluded, "If I attack your left armpit, it will be much easier to knock you down."

The waiter paused for a moment, then said, "That's right. I was wounded on the battlefield in my left armpit. You've proven your ability. Please."

Hobert smiled and nodded, then descended the stairs step by step.

The basement was larger than he had imagined, like a small theater, with a stage on one side and rows of seats on the other.

Considering the building's history, it's possible that this place was indeed once a small theater.

The seats were already filled with people. Unlike other gatherings of extraordinary individuals, most of the attendees at this gathering knew each other, so there was no need to wear masks or hoods to cover their faces.

The group sat together in small groups of three or five, chatting and waiting for the party to begin.

Hobart found a corner to sit down. It was his first time attending a party, and he only intended to be an observer. After all, he didn't have anything to sell, nor did he have enough money to buy anything.

At 1:30, an elderly man with gray hair, dressed in a formal suit and cloak, wearing a gold mask, emerged from the back door of the stage. Hobart noticed that the old man's shoes had very long toes, and his clothes were clearly out of touch with the times, as if he had stepped out of a classical oil painting.

However, the imposing presence he exuded made people afraid to look directly at him for long, and they would even unconsciously bow their heads in front of him.

Hobert immediately realized that this was a powerful individual on the Judgement path!

The old man's appearance immediately silenced everyone's chatter.

"Let's begin!" the old man sitting in the chair in the center of the stage commanded.

The gathering officially began, and a middle-aged man with a small mustache in the front row was the first to stand up and say: "My mercenary squad has just accepted a mission to take revenge on the Fusak Empire. The squad is now missing a teammate who is good at psychic abilities. The requirement is that the player must be at least Sequence 8 and have combat experience with either the 'Warrior' or 'Hunter' pathways."

Someone asked, "Where do you plan to get revenge on those sons of bitches?"

"I can't disclose the exact location," the middle-aged man recruiting said. "I can only tell you it's in the Southern Continent."

"Not at sea?"

The middle-aged man did not reply, but everyone understood that the Kingdom of Rune had no intention of retaliating against the Fusak Empire at sea.

Many people immediately signed up, and the middle-aged man invited all the sign-ups to meet in person on the second floor after the gathering.

Then another young man stood up and said, "About half a month ago, an extraordinary event occurred on the west bank of the Tasok River in northern Backlund: a small grove of trees disappeared and then reappeared. I believe everyone still remembers this news. Last week, I led a team to conduct a field investigation and confirmed that it was the remains of the Terensost family from the Quaternary period."

"We suspect that there are extraordinary items or properties within the ruins, as they have become active recently for unknown reasons. We now need to recruit a teammate with the 'Corpse Collector' pathway to deal with any evil spirits that may be present! We also need to recruit a teammate with the 'Lawyer' pathway to handle the side effects of the extraordinary items and to summarize the rules for their use."

Hobert was somewhat tempted. The Trensault family was an extraordinary family that possessed the "Black Emperor" pathway. Regardless of whether there were extraordinary items or extraordinary characteristics in the ruins, they were most likely items from the "Black Emperor" pathway.

That's why the other side recruits teammates through the "lawyer" route, which is the "Black Emperor" route. Having teammates through this route makes it easier to summarize the side effects and usage rules of extraordinary items.

Hobert really wanted to get involved, but he was too weak and it would be too dangerous for him to participate in such an operation, so he had to give up the opportunity.

Later, some people formed teams to investigate cults in Southwell County or to explore the southern continent.

Hobart wasn't interested in any of these things, so he didn't delve into them further.

Only after the recruitment process for team members was completed did the trading process begin.

They also stood up to speak, explaining what they wanted to sell or buy.

Just as Hobart had expected, most of the items being traded were extraordinary items that could be used in battle, but they were very expensive, and he simply couldn't afford them right now.

Some people also sell extraordinary traits, which are mainly concentrated in the "Warrior", "Corpse Collector", "Prisoner" and "Hunter" pathways. These four pathways are currently the main extraordinary opponents in the Kingdom of Rune.

The "Warrior" and "Hunter" paths mostly come from the old rival, the Fusak Empire, while the "Corpse Collector" and "Prisoner" paths mostly come from the extraordinary individuals native to the Southern Continent.

The gathering didn't end until after 3 p.m.

Although the old man sitting on the stage only said "Let's begin" and "That's all for today," everyone felt at ease about the transactions here just because he was there, and the mercenaries in the team also had basic trust in each other.

As the crowd left the basement, Hobart secretly made up his mind: he still needed to work hard to make money!

So when Hobart got home, he went back to study the three cases Barton had given him, since only being a lawyer could provide him with income.

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(End of this chapter)