Stacking My Abilities

"Woah! Are those real? They look dangerous!" The dude complimented Jeff\'s bristles.

"The sanctuary also has a role for you!" The dude handed Alice a flyer as well. Leaving a bright smile, that dude walked away.

Holding the flyer in her hands, Alice stood by the market entrance with a hesitating gaze.

Jeff didn\'t know what to say. He just stood there at Alice\'s side.

While waiting, Jeff took a look at the flyer.

[ Great Pay! Great Perks! Great Benefits! ]

Then it\'s a list of roles the sanctuary was hiring for.

Janitors. Cooks. Administration. Researches. Gardeners. Scavengers. Hunters. Escorts... Escorts?!

Also Ice makers? Light-bulbs? Fertilizers?

By each role, there was a short description as well.

Oh. Escorts provided protection for scavenging teams. Of course. Naturally. Obviously. It\'s not escorts meant something else right? Right? Right.

"Erhm." Jeff cleared his throat.

\'For detailed job duties information, go to the hiring center?\'

\'Alright then?\'

...

Some moment later...

"Well. We made it." Alice chuckled. She didn\'t look exactly happy though. The girl hesitated to take her step forward.

"Hey. Maybe your friends are in there waiting for you. There is only one way to find out."

Alice took a deep breath. She looked like she had tears in her eyes. "Yep. Let\'s go."

...

"Pray! For the world is about to end!" Some dude waved around his flyers.

"I have money! I\'m buying it for 10 times the market price!" Some wealthy-looking dude waved around his dollar bills.

"Do I look stupid to you! I don\'t want your paper. Go buy from someone else." A vendor impatiently waved his hand, as if trying to swat away a fly.

Jeff observed the market as he headed further down this street.

\'Everyone wants mana stones here. But nobody knew how much a mana stone is worth?\' Jeff raised his brows.

It\'s just pure chaos and gut-feeling arbitrary prices here.

One guy offered 10 pounds of flour for a mana stone. Another dude down the street offered a ton of flour for a mana stone.

"Hiiiaaahhh!"

A shriek blared off right behind Jeff. This voice singlehandedly overpowered all the noises in this bustling street.

"Alice!"

It\'s a blond in a white T-shirt. The girl rammed right into Alice\'s arms.

\'Well... This girl seems energetic.\'

Then that girl broke into tears.

\'And emotional...\' Jeff nodded.

"Sophie... I\'m so glad you are okay." Alice genuinely smiled. Looked like she was cherishing this moment.

Sensing a gaze, Jeff looked in that direction.

It\'s a girl wearing a pair of square-framed glassed. Her hair faded from blue to purple. She wore a T-shirt about an unknown anime. Her black backpack hang onto one of her shoulders. This girl just stared Jeff with a cold face.

If this was an anime, maybe this girl could be described as a cold beauty?

But no. Face to face, Jeff could sense a dense weeboo aura from this girl.

After giving her energetic friend a hug, Alice turned to hug this nerdy girl.

Over Alice\'s shoulder, this nerdy girl continued to stare at Jeff with a suspicious gaze.

"I can sense a malicious vibe from you..." This nerdy girl squinted her eyes. "What horrific schemes are you plotting towards Alice?"

Jeff: ???

"Don\'t say that." Alice finished her hug. "If it weren\'t for Jeff, I wouldn\'t have made it here."

"Sorry. Lillian here is a chuuni." Alice apologetically smiled.

(Chuuni: also known as youth delusion syndrome. Someone who believes that they live in a fantasy world, with magic... and monsters... and...)

\'And that explains everything.\' Jeff nodded.

"Anyways. This is Lillian. The commander and founder of the KMR organization. Lillian. Jeff. Jeff. Sophie."

"Hiii~" Sophie waved.

Jeff smiled and nodded in reply.

Lillian coldly stared at Jeff.

Jeff: ... \'You know what. Understandable.\'

"How\'s everyone else?" Alice asked.

"Good... Good..." Lillian replied to Alice.

"Very well, young blood." Lillian turned to Jeff. "Since you\'ve heroically saved our second-in-command, I suppose I should gave you a chance at our trial of acceptance. Even though I don\'t like your vibe."

"Oh no no no." Jeff shook his head.

"But you said you would join." Alice looked at Jeff in shock.

"After settling my unfinished business... I\'ll think about it." Jeff repeated his reply.

But realistically speaking, Jeff was not going to join this \'Knights and Moho-Shoujo\' Organization.

Not interested in babysitting them. That would waste his time.

Not interested in bringing these guys to his monster hunts either. That would put these guys into danger.

"So I have a job to do first. And if you see dudes with-"

"Black droplet tattoos on their foreheads," Alice took over. "I will tell you. Gosh. You\'ve said this for fifteen times already."

"Yeah... That." Jeff nodded.

Seeing that Alice had found her friends, Jeff felt genuinely happy for the girl. But then again, he felt like he was about to lose something. Weird. \'Well. That\'s a mission completed...\'

"Yep..." Alice nodded.

"..."

"..."

"I guess I should try my chances at the mercenary test now." Jeff pointed back with his thumb.

"And umm. right." Jeff gestured at Alice\'s friends. "Congratulations."

"Yep. Thanks." Alice stared at the ground. Her ears flushed red.

"So see you around sometimes." Jeff took a step back.

"Wait." Alice quickly walked up to Jeff. She gave Jeff a hug as well.

Feeling a kiss on his cheek, Jeff blinked a few times.

"Come visit sometimes alright." Alice whispered by Jeff\'s ears.

"I will." Jeff smiled.

Realistically speaking, yes. Yes. Jeff would do that.

Lillian\'s loud forced cough reminded the two that there\'s still people around.

Well... the surrounding was pretty loud as well.

"My revenge won\'t take long." Leaving a wink and a wave, Jeff headed towards the hiring spot.

Walking down the bustling street, Jeff opened and balled his hands a few times.

\'I\'m still a little weak in this world... If I want safety and security, I\'ll need to stack my abilities more...\'

\'I wonder if the sanctuary has cleared out those thugs already...\'

\'If not, I don\'t mind having a go at revenge myself.\'

\'Either way, I\'ll need to confirm this information.\'