Adventurers Guild Adventurer's Guild - Receptionist Desk

Discussion in 'Roleplaying Games' started by shad12ow, Aug 25, 2016.

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  1. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Gallant Mine|#GD1|D-Ranked|Mine 12 Mithril Ore [60G | 1 x Mithril Ingot]
    Gallant Mine|#GB1|B-Ranked|Mine 5 Refined Ice Crystal[200G | 1 x Radiant Ice Crystal]
    Desert Mine|#GD1|D-Ranked|Mine 12 Mithril Ore [60G | 1 x Mithril Ingot]
    Desert Mine|#GC1|C-Ranked|Mine 12 Orichalcum Ore [200G | 1 x Orichalcum Ingot]
    Ash Plains|#GC1|C-Ranked|Fish 5 Lava fish [180 G | 1 x Lava Fish Core]
    Rainforest Vale|#GC2|C-Ranked|Gather 5 Lamia Scale [150 G | 1 x Rainbow Lamia Scale]
    ==============================================
    *tilts head* "Eto... Hikari doesn't remember... You are?

    ... Ah, Jin-san's follower? Presia-san is it? Presia-san is delivering the quests for Jin-san? Did... Did something happen to Jin-san...?

    Hikari sees... It must be hard... Hikari hopes Jin-san gets back safely!" >.<

    "As for the report, there is no problem with it, so Presia-san can take the 850G and the listed items...

    Take care, alright?"

    ((Don't worry about the thing of deleting, the story is still the same anyway! \(^^)/

    Hmmm... Just... Some notes:

    1) Not sure if you fixed it on this version or not, but on the version I read, you sometimes mixed up the color codes of Shamal and Lavri, be careful with it, okay? It was still easy to know who was talking, so it was no problem though.

    2) Uhn... I think we kinda messed up with the thing of don't overdo on the mining and stuff...

    Like, yeah, we don't you overmining due to it being bad for the environment and all that, but we don't really want you to take the same quest 5 times just for the sake of getting the materials.

    It's more of a policy of not wanting mindless environmental damage than actually forbidding you from taking more ores than what the quest asks.

    Like, if you needed 80 ores for an armor that you requests someone to craft for you, nobody would complain if you took the 80 ores in a single quest. We would only complain if you got 80 ores for no specific reason, when we only asked for 12.

    So... Our bad, I'll try to be more clear when talking about the environmental damage thing on the future, we definitely don't want to force someone to take the same quest over and over again just because they want to craft an item. We messed up this time! >.<

    ... Unless you just got the quest multiple times because you wanted to, in this case it's good... >.>
    It's just that it's not what it looks like.))
     
    AmIaCat and JinVodka like this.
  2. AmIaCat

    AmIaCat [ Shem's Kouhai ] [ AmIaCat ]

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    Great Plain|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 20 Slimes [50 G]
    Great Plain|#GD1|D-Ranked|Gather 5 Rainbow Slime Gel [120G | 1 x Rainbow Gel]
    Great Plain|#SE4|E-Ranked|Slay 5 Boar Warriors. [70 G]
    Great Plain|#SE2|E-Ranked|Slay 10 Goblins [50 G]
    Great Plain|#SD2|D-Ranked|Slay 8 Rampaging Rhinos [90 G]
    Great Plain|#SD7|D-Ranked|Slay 5 Bandits [150 G]

    "I'm back. That was tiring... "

    *slime bouncing repeatedly*

    "I said stop it."

    <Aeternus - Inn>

    Gathering information for days, Yoru finally finished his preparations when Sanie gave him the mana potions that he asked for. He took out the Greatsword in the item box attached it to his Self-made sheathe, made out of leather and ropes, at his back.

    "Hm..... What do I need.... Oh yeah, the water." He was about to go to the kitchen when he realized that there's a river there and he could just take the water from it. Leaving the item box behind at the inn, he then head straight to the Great plains while receiving odd looks. Mostly because of the Greatsword at his back that was trembling and radiating a dark aura.

    <Great Plains - Morning>

    Arriving, he still saw the same dull sight that he saw last time he went here. Adventurers here and there, battling slimes, adventurers shouting their skills-. Erm... that's new. Anyway. He sighed and shook his head.

    'Sigh.... Well... peace is good.... Anyway, I need to exterminate only 20 these and while at it, search for Rainbow slimes. Yeah. Then eat and finish the other quests, I need to go back immediately.

    Not wasting his time, he proceeded to exterminate exactly 20 slimes this time. Since he only needed to break the cores, he just punched it's core, smashing it into pieces. It didn't took him too much time since slimes are everywhere in the field. When he was about to kill the last slime, suddenly, a slime that was changing colors was slowly crawling towards him. Curious, he walk towards it and then squatted, after killing the 20th slime.

    "Hm.... Is this it?" He asked himself while looking at it.
    "It surely is beautiful." The slime hearing him say it, wiggled it's body as if saying it was happy about the praise. Yoru, startled by it's behavior, curiously poked it's body.
    "Hey, hey, hey. What are you doing? Also, can you understand me? Do something if you understand me." Hearing his request, the slime made a tentacle and slapped Yoru's cheek.

    "Ouch! Hey! Why'd you do that?!" The slime wiggled again, as if saying that he asked for it. Yoru while scratching his cheek grab the slime, that was about the same size of his head, and put it on his palm.

    "Anyway, can you help me? I need your gel A.K.A your goop. Do you mind?" He asked the slime. The slime made 2 tentacles and made an "X" sign.

    "No? But I got mana potions. Also, I'll give you something delicious if you agree." The slime didn't made any movements for awhile. Moments later, it bounced up and down on his palm as if saying it agreed to him.

    "Good! Now let's go to find a river!" Placing the Slime on his head, they started searching for a river. It took them quite awhile to find one. Finding a water source, he put the slime down to do it's thing. The slime sucked a bit of water and then wiggled. Yoru gave the slime a mana potion, drinking it, the slime then filled the empty bottle of the mana potion with it's gel. This process repeated for 5 times so he can get 5 rainbow slime gel. Finising the gathering of the gel, Yoru was satisfied and was about to leave when the slime jump on his head and just stayed still there.

    "Oh yeah... The reward! Since I'm hungry, I'll hunt for some boars. I'll give you the remains of it. Okay?" The slime wiggled with anticipation. Yoru feeling the slime wiggled on top of his head, felt funny at it's reactions.
    "Hey! Can you copy me?" Yoru asked the slime with a slight expectation. The slime then manipulated it's body, it grew a tail, cat ears and it's body became slightly black . Yoru was quite annoyed by it because.
    "...... I’M NOT A FREAKING CAT GODDAMNIT! Shouting that, he proceeded to hunt some boar to eat.
    [​IMG]
    <Great Plains - Noon>

    "That's the last one, okay?" He threw the Boar warrior's body to the slime after cutting of it's thighs. The slime then crawled towards the dead body and started digesting it.

    "I still don't know how you do that and I'm not gonna question how. Also, because of your slow digestion process, it took me hours to hunt 5 boar warriors." He sighed and looked back at his first hunt with the slime.

    <Flashback>

    Hiding on the trees. Yoru, with the slime on his head, stalked the two boar warriors that he found after searching for awhile. The slime, that has manipulated it's body to look like Yoru (a cat), was vigorously wiggling on the top of his head, seemingly happy for some reason.

    Yoru said to the slime in a low voice. "Will you stop wiggling? It's making me feel g- I mean distracted. Yes, distracted. If you don't stop it, I won't fulfill my promise."

    The slime feeling threatened about Yoru not fulfilling his promise to it. Stop wiggling and stayed still.

    "Good. Now who-" When he was about to plan about which one to take care of first.

    Suddenly, the slime jump off from the top of his head, creating a tentacle and hitting the boar on the left. The boar feeling something had hit him, looked behind him and found a slime on the ground that is in the process of retracting it's tentacle. Realizing that it was the one that hit him, the boar became enrage and rushed towards the slime while picking up it's greatsword. Yoru seeing that the slime was about to get killed, had no choice but to jump down and intercept it.

    "Tsk. Why the hell did you do that?!" Yoru shouted while landing in front of the slime. The slime then jumped up on his head and wiggled. The boar warrior seeing that a beastman has come became cautious but immediately became enrage when he saw the slime jumping on it's head and wiggling like it was taunting it.

    "Puhii!" The boar raised a cry and swinged it's greatsword downward towards Yoru.
    Yoru countered it by swinging it upwards while sidestepping to the right. Yoru successfully countered it, he was about to follow up by swinging his greatsword horizontally. "Tsk." But the second boar threw it's hammer to where Yoru was, forcing him to jump back.

    'Ahhhh.... This is troublesome... It's all because of this slime.... Anyway, need to finish this.' Yoru then threw his head back and roared, causing fear to the boar warriors for a second. Yoru rushed towards the boar that has a greatsword, while it is still in a terrified state, and then jumped and slashed at it. The boar, not in condition to do anything, was cleanly sliced in half. But no blood spilled because Yoru's greatsword sucked the boar's body dry of it's blood.

    'Blood.... Delicious...... Give me more, master....' The sword said while still not satisfied.
    "Yeah, yeah. By the way, you're not trembling and leaking out a dark aura anymore?" Yoru curiously asked his sword while exchanging blows with the boar warrior that was holding a hammer after it recovered from the fear state.
    'I was getting used to the blood of your friend called "Riajuugul". Master.... I would like to take drink his blood again... Ka ka ka!'
    "Puhiii!!" The boar warrior, clearly dissatisfied by the way Yoru ignoring it. Raised a cry and attacked more fiercely, not caring about it's defense.
    "Okay, okay. I'll try to- Tsk, this is getting annoying.- ask him when I get. BACK!" Finishing his sentence, he got closer after parrying the hammer and gave it a headbutt, successfully stunning it, he stab the greatsword at it's chest and slowly watch the boar as it lose it's life while the sword was absorbing it's blood. Seconds later, the boar looked like a mummy after draining all of it's blood, he then pulled it out and attached his greatsword again at his back.

    "Whew! That was fun! Anyway, don't do that again, okay?! You almost got killed little buddy." Yoru flicked the slime while reprimanding it. The slime

    'This.... Might take quite awhile.... I'll just eat while waiting for it to finish then.' Yoru thought while skinning the thigh.

    Hours later.

    Yoru was annoyed about the time it took the slime to digest the body. Grumbling a bit, the slime jumped on his head then he resumed hunting for the rest.

    <End of Flashback>

    "Anyway that's the 5th one so I better start the other quest. Goodbye now." Saying his goodbye, he stands up and was about to leave when the slime jumped on his head again, like it was asking to not leave it alone by itself.

    "I fulfilled my promise buddy. So get down from my h- Ouch! Hey! Why's you do that for?!..... Wait.... Did this happened earlier?" The slime created a tentacle and slap his cheek again, this time, more stronger.

    "Sigh...... Okay, you can come along. But don't disturb me when hunting, okay?" The slime hearing his response, bounced up and down on his head, happily expressing it's feelings to Yoru.

    "Okay little bud. Let's go hunt some Rhinoes!" Yoru said to the slime and then proceed to search for some Rhinoes.

    Later.

    "Um..... Usually, based on the quest name, you can always find them thrashing around. So I better follow the-"

    BANG!
    THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
    BANG!

    "THAT." Yoru immediately rushed towards where the sound was coming from. When he arrived, he saw countless adventurers running all over the place while being chased by Rhinoes, breaking trees and rocks in the process.

    'Since they're all human, I better fit in. I guess?' He morphed into his human form and rushed towards the adventurers to help.

    .........

    "Run! Dodge i- TSK!" 'I didn't know that this will be hard! I shouldn't have took this request! Me and my team members are in danger because of my decision!' (Stella)

    Stella, an adventurer with long blonde wavy hair, green eyes and have a beauiful face and figure thought to herself while commanding the other running adventurers.

    "Run faster! Sooner or later, they'll be tired too! So just hang on! Don't give up hope!" (Stella)
    "Y-yes ma'am! Just keep running guys! We can do this!" (Ken)
    "Yes! Leader Stella!" (Heinz)
    "Huff, huff. Y-yes leade- kyaa!" (Trisha)
    "!!! Trisha!" (Stella)

    The adventurer leader or Stella. Was satisfied by the reponse of her team members. They've been team members for months now. Stella, the leader, Heinz, the warrior, Ken, the archer and Trisha, the mage. They quickly raised their rank to D because of their hardwork and because they have decent skills. After getting into D, being too full of themselves and because they trust their skills, they tried to hunt a rampaging rhino. After finding one in the plains they immediately rushed towards it and fought with it. It was barely doable, until the Rhino roared and came 2 additional Rhinoes rushing towards they're direction. The immediate action of them, was of course, run away and hope for the best. But eventually, Trisha being magician, was out of stamina after running for awhile and accidentally tripped herself because of exhaustion.

    "Tsk!" Heinz, having the most stamina of the group ran back to help Trisha up and carry her."Hold on!"
    "T-t-t-thank you!" Trisha said while blushing and tightly holding on to Heinz.
    "Good! Provide cover fire for a bit Ken!" Stella said to Ken while casting a lower rank fireball and hurling it to the Rhinoes.
    "[Charge Shot]!" Ken aimed at it's head, hoping to hit the eyes but hit it's forehead, deflecting it. "God! That armor is too thick!"
    "Hurry up Heinz! They're catching up!" Stella said while casting another spell.

    Just as Stella was about to hurl the spell at the Rhinoes, a strange thing happened. The Rhino that was leading suddenly fall down, making the other two hit the body, immediately killing it. The two rhino staggered because they receive quite a hard impact.

    "Woah now! That was dangerous. I thought I was gonna get dragged by the body!" After the dust clears up, Stella saw a strangely dressed youth while holding a Great sword with one of his hand and a slime on top of his head.

    The group was dumbfounded at this sight and all of them said at the same time.

    "EHHHH?!" (All))
    "Eh? What? Did I do something?" The youth said while looking back at them while the slime was jumping up and down on top of his head. "I said don't do that!"

    'Huh? Why does he have a slime on his head? More importantly, when did he got there?!' Stella thought while still having a dumbfounded expression.

    "Hoof, hoof...." The rhinoes started charging again but this time, their target was the youth.
    'Master...... Look....'
    "Hm? Oh yeah. Hey guys! Mind helping me?" The youth said while facing the Rhinos and taking a battle stance.
    "U-u-uhn! *nod* Guys! Let's help him!" Stella said while rushing towards him.
    "Ken! Go help them! I'll stay here and protect Trisha!" Heinz said while putting Trisha down.
    "R-right!" Ken starts shooting with his bow while activating skills.
    "T-thanks Heinz! But I think I got it from here....." Trisha said in a meek voice and started casting a healing spell to her sprained foot.

    [Yoru's PoV]

    'Why do I want to punch that guy in the face right now? Anyway, need to deal with this first.' Getting the useless thought out of his head. He started evading the charge of the Rhinoes by jumping to the side.

    "Does anyone have magics that can blind them?!"
    "I-I do!" Said by a girl with green hair.
    "Good! If I said to cast it, everybody close your eyes!"
    "We got it!" Said the group.

    "Good!" Waiting for the Rhinoes to get closer again, he stabbed the sword on the ground. Seconds later, when the Rhinoes were in range Yoru picked up the Greatsword and said to the girl. "Now!"
    The girl while casting it closed her eyes too just like the others to not get affected by it. "[Blinding Light]!"

    Seeing the Rhinoes going blind for a moment, Yoru took this chance to charge at the rhino on the right. Swinging it downwards at the neck, immediately decapitating it and killing it. Yoru then threw the great sword at the other one that was blindly running, piercing it on the body and then seconds later, drops down on the ground lifelessly without any blood spilling out of it.

    The group after opening their eyes, became dumbfounded once again at the sight that was behold at them. They repeatedly blink and rubbed their eyes, some even pinched theirselves to check if they were dreaming or not.

    Yoru walk towards the Great sword and picked it up then slashed at the horn to break it so he can get the proof of subugation. While the slime jumped off from his head and greedily started absorbing and digesting it, little by little. Yoru sighed while attaching his Great sword on his back and slowly walks towards the group. He find it funny that the beautiful girl near him have a mouth that was like a fish because it was so wide open, he first walked towards the girl and put his hand on her chin and move it up to close her mouth.

    "You might catch a fly if you continue to open your mouth like that. Haha~"
    The girl snapped out of her dazed state and immediately blushed, bowed down and said while shouting and extending her hand with her eyes closed.

    "M-m-m-my name is S-S-Stella! I'm single! 18 yrs. Old! and I am a virgin! I don't have any past relationship at all! But I am ready for marriage now! And-"
    'Ka ka ka! Now that was unexpected! Or should I say, as expected of master? Ka ka ka!'
    "Shut up, you dumb sword."
    'Ka ka ka!'

    Yoru was dumbfounded at the unexpected reaction of her and mostly, because of the contents of what she's saying. He placed his hands on both of her shoulder and shook her hard.

    "Hey! Snap out of it!"
    "I'll strive to be the perfect wife for y-" She was startled at Yoru's shaking. "You...? Umm... Umm..... Umm......." Realizing what she just said, her face became red because of embarassment and was getting teary-eyed.
    Yoru sighed then said while smiling. "Hmm? I forgot what you said your name is. Is it... Stella?"
    Stella, hearing him, said thank you then straightened herself and said while smiling. "Yes. My name is S-Stella. Nice to meet you, mister-?"
    "Yoru. You can call me Yoru. Again. Nice to meet you, Stella." Yoru said while extending his hand for a handshake.
    "You too. Yoru-san." Replied Stella while smiling and then grab his hand to shook hands with him.
    "You can drop the -san tho."
    "It's a..... Sign of respect, Yoru-san."
    "Alright, do what you want. Mind introducing me to them?"
    "No! I mean, I don't mind. Sure."

    She brought me towards her friends, not minding that she was actually holding my hand. After a while, I have learned that the one that used a spell earlier was called Trisha, the archer guy, Ken and the guy that's holding a sword was Heinz. They were a lively group if do say so myself. After introducing myself to them, I suggested to them that we should group up temporarily. Well, no one objected to my suggestion which saves me the trouble. Resting for a while, we resumed hunting for 5 rampaging Rhinos which was the only . Our roles were, Ken and Heinz for the scout, Trisha and Stella for support and me as the damage dealer. Watching them train their coordination somewhat intrigue me so it was almost evening when we finished hunting for 5 rampaging rhinos.

    "Thanks for being with us mister Yoru! We greatly appreciate your help!"
    "Yeah. Goodbye Stella. You guys as well, goodbye and take care of yourselves."

    After Saying their goodbyes to each other, Yoru and the party of Stella went on their own ways.
    Now that he finished the rhino quest, he now searched for the goblins. While still in his human form, he walked around the forest which goblins are more likely to ambush, what's more, the sun has set which increases his chances of being targeted.
    Walking for awhile, he saw a very obvious trap which was a rope that will hang you upside down if you triggered it. He smelled the surroundings, smelling a foul odor, he immediately hides using the trees. He talked with the slime for a bit, the slime then took his form and jumped down the branch where they were at, it then walked towards the trap and willingly triggered it. Immediately after, shrieks can be heard fast approaching the slime's position. It was goblins, coincidently, it was 8 goblins holding blunt clubs and rusty swords. The goblins looked at the person that their trap caught with bloodthirsty smiles. Yoru activated his skill which allows him to turn invisible and one by one, goblins drop down from the spots where they were standing. The corpses looks like a mummy because the greatsword absorbs the goblins blood once Yoru stabbed their bodies.

    "Whew.... Better get you down there buddy."

    Yoru cutted the rope and catched the falling slime. The slime reverted back to the form it took earlier and jumped on his head.

    "You really like it there, no?"
    'Anyway, bandits are the only once left. Now where can I find bandits?'

    <Great Plains - Evening>

    "Huh?"
    'A cabin in the plains? Seriously?'

    Yoru silently approached the cabin. Peeking through the gaps, he saw people drinking, laughing and most importantly, the seemingly familiar dead body on the floor.

    'Ain't that Heinz? Tsk. The others are here too.'
    Yoru heightened his senses to listen in their conversation.

    "Ptui! This brat gave us a hard time."
    A guy holding a sword said after spiting on the dead body.
    "Hahahaha! Yeah! But he's dead now."
    Said a guy that was sitting on the chair while fiddling with a knife.
    "*gulp gulp gulp* Fuah... Heck. We could have just selled him but. Tsk. What a waste of potential money."
    A fat guy said after chugging down the bottle of alchol.
    "But atleast we could enjoy the goods before selling them, right boss?"
    A bald guy said while smiling lustfully.
    "No. The fresher the goods the higher the price."
    A guy said with tatoos all over his body. He then grab a bottle of beer and chugged it down.
    "Tsk. Your no fun boss."
    Replied the bald guy while getting out the cabin.
    "You two. Make sure no one enters nor leaves the room with the captives. Got that?"
    "Yeah boss, you can count on us."
    Replied the fat guy while the guy holding the knife nodded.

    'Now who to kill first~? That one first. Haha~'
    Yoru realizing that the people in the cabin are bandits he smiled in satisfaction and pondered who to send to hell first. Until, the bald guy went outside to take care of his 'business'. Yoru followed him, silently, observing him from the top of the branches of the trees.

    "*Unzips* yeah....... This is the right s-."
    Seeing that the bandit has let his guard down, Yoru took this chance to get close and stab his arm blades at the throat.
    "Gah! Gufuha! Huuu... Haa.......... Kahak!"
    After stabbing the bandit, Yoru step back and watched the bandit die while bleeding from his throat. Yoru smiled. He smiled like a child that got his long wished toy. Unconciously, he reverted back into a beastman, then threw back his head and roared while empowering it.

    "ROARRR!!!!!!"

    The roar echoed throughout the forest, which disturbed the living beings there. The most affected one was of course, the slime, which turned into a puddle because of the fear that Yoru emits when roaring. He looked back at the direction of the cabin and activated his skill.

    "TONIGHT! WE HUNT!"

    <Great Plains - Cabin - Bandit hideout>

    "ROARRR!!!!"

    The bandits that was in the cabin was startled at the roar. They felt dread and fear eating away their own existence. Stella and Trisha immediately fainted after hearing the roar, Ken who manage to stay awake, was trembling in fear.

    "W-w-w-w-what the hell was that?!"
    Ken shouted while asking the bandits that was at the other room.
    "S-shut up! Keep quiet!"
    The fat bandit that was drinking alcohol earlier fall to the floor in terror.
    "Keep watch! Stay alert and hope that it wasn't near us!"
    The bandit that was called 'boss' by the others, commanded while shouting.
    "I'll take a look outside!"
    The bandit that was holding a sword went outside while keeping his guard up.
    "*gulp* I-I'll go to the r-roof."
    The knife holding bandit, concealed his presence and went to the roof to scout.

    The bandit boss and the fat bandit continued to converse about the roar that they heard earlier.
    "What the hell was that?!"
    "I don't know! But we better put our guards up. I felt fear for a second..."
    "I hope it wasn't near h-"

    "TONIGHT! WE HUNT!"

    "!!!!" ( all bandits )

    After the bandits heard that, an eerie atmosphere can be felt immediately. The surrounding was silent. Silent to the fact that, only the swaying of the leaves and the grass can be heard because of the wind. The bandit boss looked up at the sky. He noticed that it was a full moon tonight. Slightly shifting his sights to a nearby tree, he saw a tiny golden colored glow, he frowned then blinked to check if he's not seeing things but then, the glow was gone. Turning around, a deathly scream then revebrated throughout the forest.

    "AHHHHH!!!!!!"

    "Hm?! The roof!"

    The bandit that was holding a sword, looked up at the roof only to see a headless corpse. He was enrage because he can't see the enemy. He was proud of his own strength and immediately thought that, since the enemy didn't show itself then it might be weak and only used surprise attacks to kill.

    "Coward! Show y-!"

    Before he even got to finish his sentence, he was suddenly split in half by the waist. The fat bandit inside the cabin, frantically went towards the room where the captives are while the boss stared dumbfoundedly at the beast that killed his men. The beast was taller than him, it had a fur that has the same color of the night, it was carrying a large sword at his back and most importantly, the beast was holding the upper body of his men by the head. The beast then looked towards him while smiling, he trembled in fear, but he gripped the handle of his twin swords tightly and then thought to himself over and over again that this was just a nightmare and he was gonna wake up sooner or later. He unsheathed his swords, he was ready to fight, but suddenly, the beast disappeared from his sights again. The bandit boss felt a chill creeping up on his back, he slashed behind him by instinct and a loud clang resounded out.

    "!!!"

    The bandit was surprised that he hit something, he then hurriedly jumped away from his original position. A chill inducing voice was then heard from his original location and slowly, something is slowly revealing.

    "Hoh? You noticed me?"
    "Who are you?!"
    "Me? Hm... Ask the guy that you'll saw in hell."
    "!!!"

    Finishing their talk, the beast pounced towards him but he dodge by moving to the side while slashing at its body. The beast was hit but no injuries can be seen. The beast look at him with surprise, when the bandit saw the surprised expression on the beast face, he grew confident that he might actually defeat it. He calmed down and fixed his stance, seconds later, the bandit was covered with a white aura.

    "Let's see if you can kill me or not!"


    The bandit rushed towards the beast but to his surprise, it was smiling and then said. "Wanna bet?" to him. He was enrage by the fact that he was being belittled, he then unleashed his strongest attack but.

    "Dance of the P-!"

    RIPPPP!

    His head, along with his spine, got ripped out from his body.

    "Ah.... I hate culitivators the most."

    <Yoru PoV>

    'lol. I met a cultivator. Wonder if it can help my sword grow?'
    "Hey. Absorb it."

    I stabbed the sword into his body after throwing away the head and seconds later, the cultivator bandit's body was turned into a mummified state. The sword didn't even reacted after absorbing the blood which means, it was weak.

    'But seriously tho. How the hell did a cultivator got here? Anyway, since I'm back in my normal state. I better save the others.'

    I morphed back into a human and went to the room where Stella and others are. Going inside, I immediately saw their figures with the fatty bandit standing at the corner of the room, trembling.

    "S-sir Yoru? Is that you?!"
    "Oh! Hello Ken. Fancy meeting you here."

    I acted like nothing happened but it looks like, it failed.

    "W-why are you covered in blood?!"
    "Oh this? No worries. This is perfectly normal."
    "Like hell it is!"

    Before Yoru was about to reply to Ken, the fatty at the corner, called out to him and asked him.

    "H-hey! Y-yoru, right?!"
    "Hm? What?"
    "How'd you get in here?!"
    "The door? lol."
    "I'm not asking about that! I was asking how you got here while a beast was just outside the cabin!"
    "What beast? I only saw dead bodies here."
    "S-so. There really is nothing?"
    "Nope."
    "Whew..... Thank god, I survive."

    The fat bandit let out a breathe of relief. Yoru seeing this smirked for a second, he then helped Ken up and untied the girls.

    "Anyway, carry Trisha out. I'll take care of Stella."
    "Yes!"

    I waited for Ken to get out of the cabin before I walked towards the bandit.

    "By the way, I need something from you."
    "Hm? What is it?"

    When I got close, I hold his head with my hands, put strength to it, and forcefully twist it around, immediately killing him.

    "Your life. Anyway."

    Getting the pouch of gold coins from its body, I carried Stella outside and then gave the money to Ken. He said that I should take it but I denied him and said that he should use it for their recuperation fees. He then eventually accepted it and then we hurriedly went to the clinic in Aeternus to heal their wounds, specially Ken cause his face looks like a mess. On our way back, a slime hopped towards me excitedly.

    "Hey! I thought you leave already."

    I picked him up and place it on my palm after asking it. The slime then created tentacles and used that to slap me for no reason at all.

    "Why'd you do that?! I-"

    It then retracted it's tentacles and jumped on my head.

    "...... Suit yourself."

    After saying that, the slime hopped repeatedly on my head followed by an announcement that can only be seen by me.

    [System: Entity, Yoru has tamed a Rainbow slime! Please name him ]

    "...... I should have guess. Well anyway, let's just call you Rengy for now."

    [System: Entity, Yoru has successfully named the Rainbow slime, Rengy! Congratulations!]

    Following that event, we resumed heading back while Ken was looking at me weirdly.

    <Aeternus - Almost midnight>

    Dropping them by the Clinic, I went to the guild after saying goodbye to them when Stella and Trisha woke up. I leave it to Ken to tell what happened to Heinz...

    @shad12ow
     
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  3. shad12ow

    shad12ow 『Semi-Offline』

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    @AmIaCat
    Great Plain|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 20 Slimes [50 G]
    Great Plain|#GD1|D-Ranked|Gather 5 Rainbow Slime Gel [120G | 1 x Rainbow Gel]
    Great Plain|#SE4|E-Ranked|Slay 5 Boar Warriors. [70 G]
    Great Plain|#SE2|E-Ranked|Slay 10 Goblins [50 G]
    Great Plain|#SD2|D-Ranked|Slay 8 Rampaging Rhinos [90 G]
    Great Plain|#SD7|D-Ranked|Slay 5 Bandits [150 G]
    ========================================================
    As the sound of continuous tapping came from the counter, the man dressed in black outfit kept reading the report that has just been given to him. After a while, he put down the report and pulled out a small satchel and a small bottle. He put those two item on the counter as he looked at the adventurer in front of him.
    "Good job, Yoru. I see you are getting stronger each time. Marvelous. Marvelous indeed, my friend. Everything has been done rather nicely too. And you even gained a small companion. Hahaha~!"
    He then pushed the two items toward the adventurer.
    "Here you go. Your reward, 530 G and a bottle of rainbow gel. Well, take care, my friend."
     
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  4. SirPinha

    SirPinha #Vaporwave

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    Delta Town | #SE1 | E-Ranked | Slay 100 Rats [100 G]
    Delta Town | #GE1 | E-Ranked | Gather 10 Chickens [20 G | 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town | #GD1 | D-Ranked | Gather 10 Lumber [100 G | 3 x Wooden Plank]

    * Pant Pant*
    Fuuu... That was tiring... Those chikens Sure runs a lot...

    After getting my quest with the recipcionist, I take my leave and am reading to the direction showed on the map to the Delta Town.
    I didn't find much problem on my and I decide to avoid most of the monsters on my way and focus on my quest.
    Getting the lumber as very easy since my Martial Skill with Axe, and my little Axe were very strong that was not a problem.
    But things got a little harder to get the chikens on my way, they were faster than I thought... And I swear by the gods that one them laughed at me when I hurt myself hiting a tree, trying to catch them. After some time I got all of them, after hiting them with a part that don't have spikes of my pole...
    Thank the Gods i could get at Delta Town before noon.
    Killing the rats was not a problem, real thing was to catch them since they're realy fast...
    "Fuuu... Got more than half... Those little shits Sure give some trouble... Add it to the fact that they like to fight in a croud... It Sure gives some trouble... 5 mins to catch the breath."
    Runing to catch the rats made got me tired a little... Since bearman were not known for Its speed, but for Its strenght.
    After resting a little I got up and started killing the rats again. I got some wounds here and there but it was not a problem for my Healing skills... I finished my last quest at the beginning of the night and decided to stop a little to eat something... Until I remembered that I didn't have money... So I did the only thing I could and began roasting some rats to eat and i've got some water from a nearby well...
    After eating some rosted rats and resting some more I got up and decide to read back to the adventurer city.

    @brasca123
     
  5. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Delta Town | #SE1 | E-Ranked | Slay 100 Rats [100 G]
    Delta Town | #GE1 | E-Ranked | Gather 10 Chickens [20 G | 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town | #GD1 | D-Ranked | Gather 10 Lumber [100 G | 3 x Wooden Plank]
    =====================
    "Welcome back... Eto... Ere... Eri... Eredin-san! Hikari is happy to see Eredin-san came back well!

    Let Hikari see... Uhum! Everything is fine! Good job Eredin-san!

    The reward will be of 220G, 5x Eggs and 3x Wooden Plank.

    Take care now! Hikari hopes things keep going well for Eredin-san!" ^^)/
     
  6. The Protector

    The Protector Member

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    @shad12ow , I have finished my quests, do you know of a place where I can put the items I have collected? I know the Item Box could have helped with this, but I need to condition my body for the battles ahead, so I am training myself with carrying stuff normally.

    North Mountain|#SD1|D-Ranked|Slay 30 Cliff Goat [150 G]
    Crooked Mountain|#SD1|D-Ranked|Put 5 undead to Rest [130 G]
    Delta Town|#GD1|D-Ranked|Gather 10 Lumber [100 G | 3 x Wooden Plank]
    Delta Town|#GE1|E-Ranked|Gather 10 Chickens [20 G| 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town|#GE2|E-Ranked|Clean Barnacles from hull [40 G]
    Delta Town|#GE3|E-Ranked|Fish 5Speedy Tunas [80G | 1 x Speedy TunaFillet]

    I exited the Guild Hall and make my way South to the Teleport Gates. On my way there I took notice of Luminous' work in everything, from the people in the street to the small garden by the Guild Hall with interesting trees. I enjoyed my walk, taking in the sights, the sounds, and greeting people along the way. My helmet tends to make people cautious when I greet them, so I took it off and put it in my Inventory. After a little while, I found myself at the Teleport Gate to Frontier Village. The worker there activated the Gate, and I stepped through.The first thing I noticed was the very miniscule change in temperature, it was slightly unnerving to say the least, but I probably need to get used to it if I am going to use the Gates more often. I walked around town meeting the villagers, and then donned my helmet and made my way East through the Gallant Pass. When I saw the Pass start to bend North, I forged my own path to the South East towards the edge of the Rainforest Vale. The mountainous terrain was difficult to navigate, especially with my armor on, but I couldn't risk a sneak attack from the orcs or some aggressive wildlife. After a few hours of trekking my own path, I saw a small crevice about 15 feet long and 4 feet high. When I went under to take shelter from the night, it opened up a bit more, and I decided that this was going to be where I slept. I cleared a little area of rocks, wrote today's log, and went to sleep.
    I woke up in the morning and made my way to the edge of the Rainforest Vale by noon without any interesting encounters.
    I made my way South towards the western-most river of the Rainforest Vale and reached it at about 3 in the afternoon. I needed to come here first before I did any other quest as I needed supplies that need wood to make, and sadly there just aren't enough trees in the Great Plains or the East Barrier Mountains to make them. First, I tore a bit of bark off a tree and grabbed a lot fiber. Then I grabbed a stick from a tree made of hardwood, and a branch from a softwood tree. You can tell the difference between the two because when you press your nail against softwood and scratch it, it will leave a mark. These woods are best used for floating and flying objects. I then peeled the bark off the stick and the branch and started drilling the hardwood into the softwood. After about 5 minutes, a slightly burning ember is formed, and I knocked it onto a leaf.I then dropped the ember gently onto the fibers I gathered earlier. I blew onto the pile to get a fire going, and it started. I gathered some small sticks and put them on top. After the fire started going well, I searched around for a good, level, hardwood branch that I could use as a handle for an axe. It was also around this time I started getting exhausted because I haven't eaten. I found the branch I needed and searched high and low for anything that could give me sustenance. I found a fallen tree that undoubtedly had bugs under it, so I turned it over. I thanked Luminous for what I found underneath: Pill Bugs! Pill Bugs are actually small Crustaceans like Lobster and Shrimp, and are thus aptly called Wood Shrimp by people brave enough to eat them. I gathered all the big juicy ones and left the small ones to reproduce. I put them in my bag and walked over to the fire. I left my bag next to the fire and walked along the river looking for a flat rock. Once I found a suitable rock I went back to find that some Pill Bugs escaped, but not enough that I wouldn't have a decent meal. I placed the rock near the fire so that it would heat up, and then I placed the Pill Bugs on it. I then found small sticks that would fence them in so they couldn't escape. After about 10 minutes I had cooked them and started popping them like candy. It was about 5 in the afternoon when I was done. I grabbed my branch from earlier and grabbed a hot coal from the fire using a leaf. I then placed the coal on the and blew on it until it burned through. This took two and a half hours, after that happened, I built myself a lean-to, wrote my logs, put out the fire, and went to sleep.
    I woke up to the buzzing of gnats in my ear. I made another fire, found a rock the size of my head, a somewhat circular rock, and another rock the size of my hand. I got the rock the size of my hand and the circular rock and performed flintknapping. Flintknapping is when you smash two rocks together, one called a hammer (the circular one), and the other rock will turn into a sharp-edged rock, which you can use to cut stuff with. I would use my blade, but I respect my sword too much as using it for small tasks will damage it. After about 10 minutes of flintknapping, I made a knife. I then used the knife on the hole in the branch to widen it to about 3 and a half inches tall and 1 and a half inch wide. I then grabbed the rock the size of my head and the flat rock and take them over to the river. I took off my armor, as water wold have rusted it, and sat in the water at about ankle high water. I grabbed a really big rock and leaned the flat rock on it so that it leaned away from me. I tool the rock the size of my head and started grinding it against the flat rock until an edge formed. This took about 30 minutes. I then grabbed small gravel from the riverbed and tossed it against the flat rock. The angle of the flat rock made sure the gravel didn't fall off, and I started grinding some more, making sure the opposite end of the blade was smaller than the opening in the handle. After about 45 more minutes, I had my axe head. I took the axe head to the branch and put the small side of the head into the hole. I then used the axe on a small tree to pound the axe head into place, making sure it would not fall out, but for good measure, I got some pitch from the tree and used it like a glue to stick the head to the handle, and then I lashed cordage aroundthe axe in an 'X' shape to hold it in place even more. After a little nap, I went to find more Pill Bugs for the adventure ahead. Before I found any though, I noticed a buck in the forest eating a bush that hadn't noticed me. I walked away slowly back to my camp and made an Atlatl (Spear Thrower) out of branches by carving out pieces of wood with my knife. I then carved 3 spears and fire hardened the tips, thus took about 30 minutes. I went back to where the buck was, and to my dismay it had left, but I noticed that it left tracks. I tracked its footprints to the North, and when I couldn't find footprints, I looked for snapped branches and droppings. After about 45 minutes, I caught up with the buck, and readied up my Atlatl. I took a shot and it pierced the deer in the chest, unfortunately I missed the heart so it suffered a bit, and then I fired another spear, this time killing it. I grabbed the carcass and took it back to my camp. Here, I gutted the deer, took out it's bones, took out the meat, and placed it's hide in the ruver for about 10 minutes,. I grabbed some mud from the riverbank and constructed a chimney-like structure around the fire and a bowl made out of mud. I left an opening at the bottom of the chimney in case I needed to supply the fire with more wood. I then got sticks, stuck them through the muddy wall of the chimney, then through the deer meat, then through the wall again. I did this with every piece of meat, whuch stacked the chimney up about 6 and a half feet. I then felled a tree, got the deer leg bone, carved a needle out if another bone, and placed the deer hide meaty side up on the log. I got the leg bone and scraped the meat off using the leg bone. I then stretched the hide out using a frame made out of 3 branches, and some extra cordage from earlier looped through the hide and around the frame using the needle. I waited until the hide was dry while making another fire and a pestle out of a deer antler. When the hide was dry, I got the deer's brain and mixed it with water until there were no chunks, and then I heated it in the bowl near the fire. I took the hide off the frame and worked the brain into the hide. I then used the rest of the brain on the hide and placed the hide to hang only from the top of the frame to dry. While I waited for it to dry I got the big rock I leaned the flat rock on earlier today and started working it down with my hammer rock to start making an indention. I got about halfway through until the hide was done drying. I cleaned the hide of brain and made another frame. This frame stood up on 4 poles and hung the hide sideways. I then placed the frame over my second fire to smoke the hide. At about this time the sun was getting low so I worked on the rock again, and by the end of the day, I had a mortar and pestle.
    This morning I checked the deer meat and it had been smoked properly. I made a container, 3 containers for my food out of wood, and then filled them with Smoked Deer Meat. The bones were another problem so I made a trunk big enough to fit the bones and then made a cart that could carry all the things I plan to acquire on this quest. I spent the rest of my day resting up for the road ahead, stocking up, and listing my items. I had a chest of bones, Smoked Deer Meat, a Deer Hide, Sticks, Cordage, Fiber, a Bow Drill, a Fire Board, a Mortar, a Pestle, a Knife, and an Axe.
    I woke up well-rested this morning, so I donned my armor and took off North towards the Crooked Mountain. I found myself at the foot of the mountain by 3 in the afternoon, so I took my cordage, some sticks, my fiber, my fire board, and bow drill, then I left my cart, scaled the mountain, and went in search for the Undead. I found myself confronted by 2 of them within a few hours. I tied them up with cordage, performed a prayer so that they could be with Luminous, and cut their brain stems at the base of the neck so that the kill was merciful. I dug 2 separate graves and lowered their bodies in. I made an ember using my fire board and bow drill, and put it on my fiber, starting a small fire. I fed the fire until it got big enough for me to make a torch. As it got darker, more Undead started appearing, and before long I had completed my quest. Now all I needed to do was bury them and get down to my cart. I dug 3 more graves for the 3 other Undead and lowered their bodies too. It was about midnight when I made my descent, and when I got down, it was almost dawn. I made a lean-to a bit of a ways South so no Undead could get to me while I slept.
    I slept.
    I took my cart and trekked back through Gallant Pass and up to the North towards the North Mountain. I was a bit over halfway through the Great Plains when I made camp.
    I made my way to the North Mountain by 10 AM and brought my cart up the mountain until I found a small cave. I set up camp in the cave with a tanning frame and 6 fire pits, 3 for smoking meat, and 3 for heating up brains and smoking the hide. I go around and find a herd of Cliff Goats to kill, so I route them to a cliff and slowly kill 30 Cliff Goats, and then I let the others run off.
    I spent the next 5 days brain tanning the goat hides, cooking goat meat,making padding and insulation out of the goat skins for the inside of my armor, making 5 sacks out of the hides, and making one leatherworking kit that consists of bone needles and cordage.
    After loading up my cart with my sacks, my leatherworking kit, and 13 Goat Skins and a whole lot of goat meat and bones, I headed South towards Delta Village, I walked through the night into the early morning.
    I reached the village at dawn, and decided to stay up through the day, as I didn't trust anyone with my cart. I walked towards the dock to try fishing, as that is the least laborious task of my remaining quests. As I neared the ocean, I realized that I needed a fishing pole. I took off my helmet and went around talking to the fishermen in the area until I came across a man named Clifford Hayley who helped me with my predicament. He told me that he would trade his old fishing pole that still functioned for 5 goat skins, and I gladly accepted the offer. I asked him where I might be able to get some bait, and he brought me to the shore, where he taught me how to use a net from the shore, and in no time, I had gotten enough bait to catch fish. I sat at the edge of the dock with the fishing pole in my hand and within an hour I had caught my first Speedy Tuna. I put a needle and cord through its gills and tied it around its mouth and tied the other end around the leg of the dock. I soon ended up needing to take a nap so I put the butt of the pole in my waist and my hands around the shaft. I was jolted awake by a fish on the line, so I reeled it in with quite a fight, but to my dismay, it wasn't a Speedy Tuna, so I tossed the fish back, baited the hook, cast the line, and fell asleep again.
    I woke up in the morning and reeled my pole in. It seemed that in the night, a fish stole my bait without my knowing so I baited the hook and cast the line again. By the end of the day I had caught all 5 of my Speedy Tunas. I left the Tunas tied around the leg of the dock until it was time for me to leave the village. I grabbed my cart and headed North towards the outskirts of town and walked around until I found a group of Joshua Trees, which I promptly cut down with my ax until I had enough lumber for the quest. I headed down towards the farming area, gathered 10 chickens, tied cordage around their legs so they wouldn't run, and stuffed them in the sacks. I went around looking for a restaurant that had a sign that said "Cold Drinks" and eventually I found one. This sign shows that either a mage keeps their drinks cool, or they have Ice, which can be harvested in the winter from rivers up to the North and then bought from the people who harvested the ice. I went inside and asked the bartender how he keeps his drinks cool, and he explained that every week, a mage comes by and freezes some beverages, which are then sold to happy customers. I asked when the next day the mage came, and conveniently, it was later today. I bartered with the owner for a drink, and gave up about half of the bones I had in my chest so that he could make some Bone Stew for his family. I waited around for the mage, and he showed up within a couple hours. After he froze the restaurant's drinks, I greeted him and made small talk with him. He told me his name was Douglas Coupe, and he asked me if I needed anything he would be happy to help, so I told him that I needed his help with my Speedy Tuna. He followed me to the dock where I pulled up my lines, where he promptly froze my fish with magic, and then we parted ways, after I made him a blanket out of the remaining Goat Skins I had so he could brave the climate during the night when he traveled. I had almost left the city when I realized that I had one more quest left to do, so I went over to the dock and found Clifford Hayley, the man who traded me for the fishing pole. I told him that I needed to clean barnacles off of the hull of a ship and he told me that I could clean his, so I did. By the end of the day, I had cleaned off the barnacles, put them in one of my sacks, bid my goodbyes, and left the city through the Teleport Gate.
    -Made an Axe
    -Made 5 feet of Cordage
    -Made Drill and Fireboard
    -Made Cart
    -Harvested Smoked Goat Meat
    -Gathered 10 Chickens
    -Gathered 5 Speedy Tuna
    -Gathered 10 Lumber
    -Made 3 Sacks
    -Made Chest
    -Gathered a bit of Goat Bones
    -Gathered about 20 pounds of Barnacles
    -Made an Atlatl
    -Made 10 Wooden Spears
    -Made Padding and Insulation for my Armor
    -Made Mortar & Pestle
    -Made Clean Deer Hide
    -Made a Leatherworking Kit
    -Gathered a Bundle of Fiber
    -Made a Knife
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2017
  7. shad12ow

    shad12ow 『Semi-Offline』

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    @The Protector
    North Mountain|#SD1|D-Ranked|Slay 30 Cliff Goat [150 G]
    Crooked Mountain|#SD1|D-Ranked|Put 5 undead to Rest [130 G]
    Delta Town|#GD1|D-Ranked|Gather 10 Lumber [100 G | 3 x Wooden Plank]
    Delta Town|#GE1|E-Ranked|Gather 10 Chickens [20 G| 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town|#GE2|E-Ranked|Clean Barnacles from hull [40 G]
    Delta Town|#GE3|E-Ranked|Fish 5Speedy Tunas [80G | 1 x Speedy TunaFillet]
    =======================================================================
    "Well, well. This is....quite a surprising report, i must say," said the black outfitted man with a slight smile on his face.
    He looked at the man in front of him with a pure curiosity. Especially so since the man know of his background through his....'network'. But he stayed quiet about it. After all, the Guild accepts everyone, as long as they don't become a threat to them. he then produce a small satchel that he put on the counter. It made a slight clinking sound thanks to that.
    "Here is your reward, 520 G. And here," said the man as he put a small crate onto the counter," the rest of the item. Take care now."
    OOC: Okay~ Now this is Shad12ow speaking. A few note for ya, my friend.
    1. Paragraph. Do use them. It's a useful feature. Both for me and everyone else. Oh, and please do so even if you're typing on a phone or something, okay~?
    2. You made so much stuff in so little time? Well, not that it is impossible. And not that I know of. I never made any of those. If it is possible, it's fine. I can't say much. I just think I need to touch that a bit.
    3. As for the place to store your item, you can just put your item box in your room in the inn (which is free, by the way) and left it there. Some of our member do it like that. I hope that answered your question.
    4. Have I seen you before? I mean, your story format is strangely familiar. And, no, you don't have to answer if you don't want to or want to keep your identity a secret. After all, the Guild accept everyone and anyone~!
    5. Good story~! Hahaha~!
     
  8. The Protector

    The Protector Member

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    @shad12ow , here are my quests.

    Desert Village|#GE2|E-Ranked|Harvest 5 Baskets of Desert Cereal [50 G | 1 x Bundle of Barley, Millet, and Wheat]
    Desert Village|#GE3|E-Ranked|Gather 5 Baskets of Desert Figs [60 G | 1 x Basket of Desert Figs]
    Desert Village|#GD1|D-Ranked|Harvest 1 Basket of Magic Flower [75 G | 1 x Bundle of Magic Flower]
    Desert Village|#GD2|D-Ranked|Gather 5 Baskets of Large Dates [100 G | 1 x basket of Large Dates]
    Desert Village|#EE1|E Ranked|Look For Hunting Spot [100 G]
    Desert Village|#ED1|D Ranked|Guard Supply Route [150 G]
    After putting the rewards of my previous quests onto my cart outside, and my tools into my Item Box, I set forth towards the South of the Floating City to the Teleport Gates. When I reached the Gate and notified the Worker, I stepped through the Gate into the City called the Desert Village. The temperature change is confusing to say the least. I walked towards the inner part of the city after acclimating myself to the area, with cart and treasures behind. I reached the inner part of the city, took off my helmet, and started asking around for a basket-weaver in the city, and was directed towards the East, which is also coincidentally where the grain farms are located. As I neared the basket-weaver's house, I could smell the grains from the fields, it smelled quite appetizing. I knocked on the basket-weaver's door and was greeted by a kind, elderly woman, who introduced herself as Hyacinth Sempers. I greeted her and told her of my quest, after which she told me how her fingers aren't like they used to be, and needed some help, so I gladly offered. She showed me how to weave different kinds of baskets, and by noon, I had 5 Baskets. She looked like she needed help, so I stuck around for a bit longer and made her lunch out of the Speedy Tuna Fillet.
    After she was done, I said my goodbyes and left for the fields. The first one I came across was the Finger Millets, so I filled up 3 baskets with some Millet and walked West towards the mill. As I was there, a farmer there who went by the name of Timothy Padmore told me that Millets were a very delicate oat, and that to make sure I didn't damage the seed but got rid of the husk, I was to soak the Millet in water for 30 minutes before milling. I walked North towards the river, tied cordage around the Finger Millets, tied the other end around a rock so they didn't float downriver, and soaked them right off the bank. I walked back towards the Barley fields and filled 3 of my baskets with Barley, after which I went back to the mill, de-hulled the Barley, and was about to fill up my five baskets when Timothy Padmore told me that if I was going to have good quality Barley, I needed to steam it after milling, to remove the remaining bran. I told him how I wasn't able to do that as I don't have the proper equipment, after which he brought me to his farmhouse, where he had a fireplace with pots and pans all around, filled with steaming water rising into a sifter filled with Barley.
    After his Barley finished he told me to pour my Barley in and left it to sit. He told me to come back withing the hour, so I went back to my Millet, brought it over to the mill, and started milling the Millet. When I was done, I filled every basket up about a third of the way, and made my way over to the farmhouse. The sun was setting as I opened the door, and found Farmer Padmore outside feeding some chickens. When I took out my Barley, I exited out the door to collect more Wheat but Farmer Padmore stopped me and told me a story about his father who went milling out in the dark when he was a child, and couldn't see the millstone, and accidentally crushed his right ring finger to a pulp. I decided it was probably best to sleep, so I asked him where can I find a place to sleep and he responded with the farmhouse we were standing outside of. I thanked him for his hospitality, sat down near the hay, and slowly fell asleep.​
    I woke up to the clucking of hungry chickens, so I stepped outside, found Farmer Padmore feeding his chickens, talked for a bit, and headed out for the wheat fields. I gathered the rest of the wheat that was needed and headed over to the mill, after I milled the wheat, I stuck the bran of the wheat into a sack, because Farmer Padmore told me that the fiber in it can help with digestive sicknesses, such as dysentery or diarrhea. I filled the baskets with the wheat and headed towards the city. I found some small, wild plants that had good fiber for making baskets, so I made 1 normal size basket, and 1 small basket. I then stopped by Hyacinth's house and left the 5 eggs I had received on my previous quest in the small basket on her doorstep.
    I walked towards the Eastern side of the city along the shore of the Oasis, and strained my eyes for the elusive Magic Flowers. It took a few hours of walking around, but I eventually found enough of them to fill my basket. By noon, I was thirsty, as the desert heat was unforgiving, so I walked back to the city and looked for another restaurant with a "Cold Drinks" sign outside their store. When I entered I was greeted with a familiar face, inside the store I found Douglas Coupe, the travelling mage that freezes restaurant's drinks so they can serve them cold. When he was done with his order, he came over to me and told the owner to get me a drink. We talked about the coincidence of meeting again, as we were talking I learned that Douglas doesn't use Teleport Gates because the temperature change makes him feel weird, so he walks to his client's stores through the desert.
    After we had our talk and our drinks, we parted ways as he went on to another restaurant in the city. I walked South-West towards the tree farms, where I could find the Fig Trees and Date Palms. As I neared the trees, I noticed an Oryx to the South run to the West. I kept that in mind, as I needed to find a hunting spot, and that may have just helped me out. I walked around the trees for a bit, until I found a worker there named Tryphosa Harmon, we talked for a bit and asked if there were any recently felled trees nearby, she said yes, there were and pointed me North West. I walked in the direction she pointed me, and soon encountered a felled date palm. I took apart the fibers and lashed them together and within a few hours I had 10 baskets. I walked around for another few hours, gathering the needed Dates and Figs to fill the baskets.
    I walked to the North to find the Supply Route that I need to guard, so as I was walking out of town, I found Douglas Coupe about to leave too, so I thought perhaps we could work together to our advantage. I told him of my quest to guard the supply route, and he came up with the idea of hiding my armor with his magic, so we could take any bandits by surprise. He masked my armor with magic, and we walked along the supply route, with my cart behind me. Within a few hours, we were attacked by young amateur bandits, they approached us like traveling merchants, then brandished blades threatening us to give them our stuff. Douglas froze their shoes so that it was giving them frozen feet. This caught them off guard so Douglas unmasked my armor, and I brandished my shield. I knocked them to the ground, and together, we tied them up, and then planned to scare them. Douglas and I both knew that these boys would probably face capital punishment, so we decided to take them to the river.
    When we reached the bank of the river, we left them there and hid away from sight. Douglas conjured up an illusion of a crocodile coming up out of the water to attack the boys, and then made the boys cry as they feared for their lives. As the "crocodile" was about to chomp down on the oldest one's neck, Douglas got rid of the illusion and we approached the young boys, who had tears streaming down their face. We warned them that if we ever saw them doing this again, it won't be an illusion, and we let them go free. We walked back to town with the thieves' cart and gave it back to the mayor of the city so he could find the owners. Douglas and I parted ways as he headed North, and I headed to the nearest Inn.
    I found an Inn nearby and took a room for 10 gold, wrote my log, and went to sleep.
    I woke up and headed to the South-West to where the Oryx ran. I eventually found its tracks and followed it for the next six hours to the South. On my way there I chewed the bones that were in the chest on my cart from the previous quest until they were ground finely. Eventually I found a herd of Oryx in a somewhat vegetated area, so I marked it with a circle of stones, went around burying the bones so that it could be used as fertilizer in the area, and headed back to the city. I bid goodbye to the city and left through the Teleport Gate.
    You can keep the baskets if you want them.
     
  9. shad12ow

    shad12ow 『Semi-Offline』

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    @The Protector
    Desert Village|#GE2|E-Ranked|Harvest 5 Baskets of Desert Cereal [50 G | 1 x Bundle of Barley, Millet, and Wheat]
    Desert Village|#GE3|E-Ranked|Gather 5 Baskets of Desert Figs [60 G | 1 x Basket of Desert Figs]
    Desert Village|#GD1|D-Ranked|Harvest 1 Basket of Magic Flower [75 G | 1 x Bundle of Magic Flower]
    Desert Village|#GD2|D-Ranked|Gather 5 Baskets of Large Dates [100 G | 1 x basket of Large Dates]
    Desert Village|#EE1|E Ranked|Look For Hunting Spot [100 G]
    Desert Village|#ED1|D Ranked|Guard Supply Route [150 G]

    ====================================================================================
    "The desert village, eh?" said Shadow as he read the report. "It has been a while since I've gone there."
    He then produced the usual satchel filled with coins and threw it onto the counter.
    "Here you go, 535 G. As for the rest of the item, you can ask the staff for that. Good work and take care."
     
  10. Nashani

    Nashani Well-Known Member

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    Delta Town|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 100 Rats [100 G]
    Delta Town|#GE1|E-Ranked|Gather 10 Chickens [20 G| 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town|#GE2|E-Ranked|Clean Barnacles from hull [40 G]

    Delta Town|#GE3|E-Ranked|Fish 5 Speedy Tunas [80G | 1 x Speedy Tuna Fillet]
    Great Plain|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 20 Slimes [50 G]
    Great Plain|#SE2|E-Ranked|Slay 10 Goblins [50 G]

    "Excuse me? Hello? I've cleared the quests? Hello?"
    I once again tried to get their attention

    I gathered the chickens, cleaned the hull and caught the tuna's easily. I've been doing all of that my whole life after all. 100 rats? I've killed way more than those in my life but wait. The only thing that I could be proud about is the amount of rats that I've killed? Nononono, I'm sorry Father and Mother! Your son is just known for killing rats! I don't deserve this Naginata that you passed on to me. No don't be sad me. Okay, we must find a way to make me surpass my rat killing spree! What quest, what quest? Oh, here we go, Slimes and Goblins. I've never met them before, I hope they're nice. Wait, I'm supposed to kill them right? Why do I want them to be nice?

    Alright, here we go. I see them over there. Okay, just slowly move towards them. Alright, I've killed 20 slimes! Now next are the Goblins. Oh, over there. Okay, slowly and there! Alright, first goblin! Now next one then next then next and then another one! That's five, five more to go. Alright, slowly move towards them. Oh no! It turned around and saw me! What do I do now? Eh? It's not attacking? Attack! I killed it but why didn't it see me? Wait a minute. Alright, I won't sneak up this time. Just walk, walk straight at them. Alright, they're looking at me. Why aren't they reacting? Come on, I'm right in front of you. See me! I killed 4 more after that. None of them saw me.

    I cried a bit before I handed in the form.
    Note(extra stuff):
    - I just got slime Green gel and Goblin clothes(what passes for them)
    @brasca123
     
  11. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Delta Town|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 100 Rats [100 G]
    Delta Town|#GE1|E-Ranked|Gather 10 Chickens [20 G| 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town|#GE2|E-Ranked|Clean Barnacles from hull [40 G]
    Delta Town|#GE3|E-Ranked|Fish 5 Speedy Tunas [80G | 1 x Speedy Tuna Fillet]
    Great Plain|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 20 Slimes [50 G]
    Great Plain|#SE2|E-Ranked|Slay 10 Goblins [50 G]
    ===========================================
    "Eto..." *looks at his card again* "Nashani-san... Right...?

    Uhn... Hikari doesn't want to doubt Nashani-san, but... How did Nashani-san kill the rats, clean the barnacles, fish the tunas and kill the slimes...? Nashani's report didn't say anything about it, so Hikari doesn't have anything to get as proof of the completion... Hikari can understand being able to kill the goblins if they don't react, but Hikari couldn't see anything about the others on Nashani-san's report, so... Hikari will have to fail all those other quests...

    Nashani-san's reward will be of only 50G... Please provide a proper proof next time, alright?"

    ((Alright, now for the proper OOC reason... Uhn... I don't expect anyone to simply go and make a huge and epic story about how they cleaned the barnacles from a ship's hull, but... At least try writing it?

    Even if it's not that remarkable, try depicting a bit on how you cleared each quest, the thing of killing the goblins because they ignored you for example, that one was good enough, but the others...? Simply saying that "I did it" is kinda bland to say the least.

    It doesn't need much to clear a quest, we just expect you to write something about how you cleared... You can think of the quest reports as short stories of sorts if it makes it easier, just imagine reading a short story about an adventurer that says that all quests were done in a single paragraph... It would be... A letdown, right? It's the same here.

    Please work harder next time! >.<))
     
  12. JinVodka

    JinVodka 「Back to Work Back to Suffering _(-ω-`_)⌒)_」

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    "Sup! I'm finally done with the quest~ seems like it been long! Hehehe" Jin grin as he handed his report. His appearance was strange since he have Ice Wings and 4 stag-like ice horns on his head

    Desert Mine|#GD5|D-Ranked|Mine 50 Stone [60G | 20x Stone Slab]
    Desert Mine|#GC1|C-Ranked|Mine 12 Orichalcum Ore [200G | 1 x Orichalcum Ingot]
    Gallant Mine|#GD6|D-Ranked|Mine 50 Stone [60G | 20 x Stone Slab]
    Gallant Mine|#SC1|C-Ranked|Slay 3 Ice Golems [150 G]
    Crooked Mountain|#GB1|B-Ranked|Mine 5 Living stone from crooked mountain [270 G | 1 x Living Golem Core ]
    North Mountain|#SB2|B-Ranked|Slay 1 Fire Bird [300 G]

    -----Day 1: Early Morning

    Jin finally realizes how dangerous his current state is.
    Since after the event of Raz and Raijuukitty quelling the devils that are trying to possess him.
    He has turned into a child for strange reasons, the age seems to be around 10 years old.

    In actually, the reason was that of the new being that joined his team which was Iris, the child in the Rainforest quest. Shamal has let Jin's battered body be devoured by Iris to regress his body and return to healthy state. Sadly, the process was unstable making Jin regress to a child instead.

    Weirdly enough it seems like he could feel his mana circle perfectly fine and no longer crippled. Not only that his wounds from the previous battle and even all the injuries he has accumulated from all his life has disappeared.

    Jin stretches his arm as he conjures a small wind tornado in his right hand and adding fire element to it. Looking at it, made him widely grin but he quickly looks grim as he remembers an important issue.

    'No I should not be excited about this like a child since there is a more important matter.'
    Jin look at the quest he has taken recklessly. He closed his eyes as he remembers the devils who will keep trying to possess his body.

    He thought it was just a devil that he could ignore but no... he was totally wrong. The devils who are after him are more powerful than he had imagined, too powerful.

    Jin notices his mind slipping away and his mind being in a daze for short interval. He tried to laugh and smile but he could feel the fear creeping inside of him. It's a matter of time before he will be completely consume by them.

    He grits his teeth as he has no choice anymore. 'If I can't escape this fate then I'll make it mine.' With a look of determination and the research he prepared in the Tavern. He carefully planned his next move.

    "Master Vodka what are you thinking?"
    Presia looks at me worriedly.

    "Nothing just thinking how to finish my quest." Jin forced himself to smile.

    "WAIT!! isn't it dangerous with your current young body!!"
    Presia tails and ears raise up as her eyes look shocked. She quickly grabs the paper with the lists of the quest as her face look grimmer. "I'm fine with this mining quest but what about this slaying one!? not only that but a B rank!?"

    "It's fine Pre-"


    "No! it's not fine at all, that's dangerous! especially this B rank one."
    Presia looks at Jin with teary eyes almost on verge of crying.

    "Presia please calm down... I’m quite strong with magic and I was even able to kill a mutant wolf that was possessed by a devil. I can handle this."


    "Then I would like to come with you and assist."


    "No..."
    Jin shakes his head as he holds her hand. "I can do this alone, understood?"

    "That's... I..."
    Presia finally noticing something decided to accept, "Ok then, but please do take care of yourself you're like a family to me."

    "Of course! trust the big brother of the family! I'm quite a resilient person."
    Jin pump up his chest showing his confidence.

    "Pfft, hahaha saying that in a child form is not dependable."
    Presia giggle.

    " *cough cough* I know anyway I'll check to others first. Where are they?"


    "Bernard and Lavria are still injured, so Sanie is taking care of them together with Flyx."


    Jin nodded as he walks towards Bernard's home. ‘I kinda notice that Lavri has no family and is staying at Bernard's home. From what I observe Lavri was a mysterious Kobold since from all his abilities he showed in the Raid and during the quest. He doesn't seem like an ordinary child Kobold so I better ask him later. After I deal with my own problems.’

    He arrives at the place and slowly open the door. Jin notices Bernard and Lavri laying on a separate bed. Bernard's chest was bandaged since he has broken ribs from the Lamia's grip. While Lavri sprains his knee and some broken legs from the impact.

    "How are you guys feeling?"
    Jin said as he approaches and sits next to them.

    "I'm sorry, I was too weak master Vodka..."
    Bernard looks gloomy as he clenches his fist. He was full of anxiety as each passing time when Jin was gone. He keeps on blaming his weakness that he couldn't help the one who changed their life.

    "....."
    Lavri just stays silently as he seems to be sleeping.

    "Don't worry about it, you're still young, you guys should focus on recovering. Then when you guys are healed we can enter Ara’s dungeon and train."
    Jin patted their heads with a gentle smile. “So where is Sanie?”

    “She’s with Grandma Alcea in Aeternus Floating City learning Alchemy.”


    “Sanie wanted to become a stronger support. So she immerses herself to alchemy.”
    Lavri commented as he still closes his eyes.

    “Hmm… okay then, I should be going now. I’ll be back later and bring souvenirs.”
    Jin smiled as he stands up and proceeds to walk to the exit.

    “Bye master Vodka take care.”
    Bernard weakly smiled as the confidence he had once disappeared while Lavri falls asleep not saying anything.


    ‘Sign, I really need to learn high-level healing spells.’
    Jin look down gloomily looking at his body. ‘I have so much high holy affinity but it seems like, I don’t know where to used them.’


    “Please call Flyx, I’m bringing him with me.”


    “Hmm? Then shouldn’t I come too?”


    “No...”
    Jin shakes his head and look up to her. “Presia you are the only one who I can trust to take care of them while I’m gone.” Jin looks up to Presia.

    “Yes... I can reassure, I’ll nurse them back to health.”
    Presia bows as she smiled gently, “I’ll call Flyx now.”

    Jin watch as Presia swiftly runs as she looks for Flyx and he close his eyes while waiting for Flyx. ‘If I have to give up something to protect what’s important then I’m more willing to.’
    ----Day 1: Late Morning
    <Aeternus Guild Tavern>

    Jin and Flyx entered the portal in the Frontier Town towards the Aeternus Floating City. They pass the Adventurer Guild Tavern and hang out there for awhile to gather information.

    Once they are ready they went to the portal towards the Desert Village. Luckily they found Merchant Adnan to hitch a ride towards the Desert Mine

    Funny enough Adnan mistaken Jin as the little brother even he tried to refute. But due to Adnan endless rambling about his admiration to Jin’s exploits. Jin wasn’t able to clear the misunderstanding at all, but he was glad it was a little brother and not as a son.


    <Desert Mine: Stone and Orichalcum Ore>

    Jin arrives safely towards Desert Mine without problems and formulates a plan.

    ‘Since they are at a Rank D, they might be special right?’
    Jin ponders about why gathering stone is Rank D quest. ‘Well… doesn’t matter, I’ll just take the quest for the stone slab which I can use to make Magic Runes for a wide area magic array~’


    ----Orichalcum Ingot

    “Well… I've plenty experience with mining Orichalcum ore, so we should mine it first~”
    Jin nodded as he looks towards to Flyx. “Flyx please support me with your spell song.”

    “Understood master Vodka.”
    Flyx bowed as he picks up his conducting baton.

    Jin closes his eye as he concentrates in using Mana Sense to map the location of the mine. With a single breath, he sent a wave of mana detection which passes around the mine as the data is collected to his mind. He slowly opens his eyes as he found the places for Orichalcum veins.

    “Excellent! having magic is really different… This is literally a cheat I guess.”
    Jin also notices that the stones are just outside Desert Mine.

    “Let’s go Flyx.”
    Jin smiled excitedly finally recovering his magic. Now, he could research magic again and experiment. As he keeps forgetting about his armor and weapon design.


    When they found the veins, Jin suddenly notices with his feeble strength he would have a hard time mining.

    “Ah!? I forgot the fact that I am a child.”
    Jin covered his face in despair.

    “Master Vodka? I will help you mining.”
    Flyx pound his chest then he remembers that he also has weak strength like a child. He also drops to his knees in despair. “I’m very sorry.”

    “Wait… hmm, don’t I know a bit of earth magic?”
    Jin tilts his head as he stared at the Orichalcum vein. “Magic is kinda a cheat... so maybe if I use earth magic.”

    Jin concentrates in feeling the earth in his magic. As he uses his mana sense, he could feel the Orichalcum reacting to his mana. With earth and wind magic, he quickly controls the earth to move and take the Orichalcum ores.


    Moments passed, Jin finally completed mining 12 Orichalcum ore using magic.

    “Ok, we’re done here! Let’s go get some stones!”
    Jin happily points his hand toward the mine exit.

    Flyx could only smile to Jin’s childishness and nod. ‘I wonder why? it seems like Jin's mentality is regressing to a child. But it is not really bad because it seems like he's showing his true self’


    -----Stone

    “Don’t good stones usually found in a quarry? Oh well, there would be plenty of stones just outside the Desert Mine? I think I sense some of it earlier.”
    Jin went outside and see an open-pit mine and some Miners mining stones.

    The weather was pretty hot and a sand passing by, make him sneeze. The sound attracted some of the miners as they look towards the source.

    “Oh a child! are you lost?”
    “It is dangerous here since there are large stones that could crush you.”
    The miners look worried seeing a small child walking towards him. Not only that, his clothes look like those of a young master. Well, all except for the adorable wolf hoodie he was wearing that seems off to his attire.

    “You don’t have to worry~ My name is Jin Vodka an Adventurer.”
    Jin bowed towards them.

    “I’m Flyx, a Catsith Bard and his follower.”
    Flyx also took his hat off as he bowed.

    “You’re an adventurer!? Aren’t you too young?”
    “Geez, you know the Adventurer Guild is composed of different individuals.”
    “They even have Lolis but it is rare to find Shotas *cough cough*.”
    “Anyway young adventurer? What do you need?”

    JIn lightly smiled and too tired to explain that he is already adult just shrunk back to his childhood. He tilts his head and said this with a calm voice “I need 50 stones for my quest.”

    ‘Ugh.. my heart such an adorable child.’
    ‘He reminds me of my grandchildren!!’
    ‘He might become quite strong and good-looking in the future just by hearing his voice. Maybe I can engage my daughter to him?’


    As the uncles all have complicated faces, the sense to help the child started to grow in them. They started to gather around and whisper to each other.

    “Hey.. are we just gonna let a kid mine those stones?”
    “The stones might be too heavy for him.”
    “Do you think we could ask him to took his wolf hoodie off?”

    Jin was confused over the fuss forgetting that he was just like an adorable child.
    Flyx could only smile as he sees the Miners like parents worrying about their children.

    One of the miners walk towards Jin and smiled. “Why don’t we veteran miners help you gather some stones!”
    “Yes leave it to us adults.”

    “Umm.. but I’m a mage, plus this is my quest so...”
    Jin tried to refute but the Miners excitedly start gathering stones.

    One of the miners even gave a chair for Jin. Every time he stands up to try and help them they would quickly deny him.

    “Sigh… why do I feel bad for this.”
    Jin was feeling gloomy as he feels like he's not doing any work at all.

    “I guess… it is fine since they seem to be having fun.”
    Flyx smiled at the scene of adults trying to spoil a child. He grabs his flute and plays a relaxing song.

    The uncles happily gave Jin the 50 stones for his quest.

    Jin only smiled wryly as accept and put it in his Item box. But this just looks adorable to the eyes of miners. The miners started to make Jin stay with them giving him snacks and boast about their stories.
    ----Day 1: Afternoon

    Jin's face was blushing as he arrives at the Gallant Mine.
    To escape the grasp of the overly excited Uncles trying boast from each other. He created a magic teleportation circle towards Gallant Mine.

    Since he already went to Gallant Mine it was easy to create the circle. Sadly it still his first time and it takes a lot of time. Since he needs to use mana sense in mapping the location and creating the connecting teleportation circle towards Gallant from Desert Mine.

    But the most embarrassing was how amazed the look of the Miners towards Jin. They keep watching him and some even cheered him.


    -----

    “Sigh~ being a kid is really annoying. No one is going to take me seriously with this body.”
    Jin lamented on his predicament as he touches his cheeks.

    “Well, think positively master Vodka at least you got the stones easily and you even have snacks.”
    Flyx tried to cheer up Jin.

    “Yeah~ you're right! The pudding was delicious and the biscuit too.”
    Jin wipe the drool in his mouth remembering the snack he just ate. “Well let’s go! and get 50 stones in the outside-mine in the Gallant.”

    ----

    Jin looks around and found a large deposit of stones. He was very relieved since they are no miners around.

    Flyx started to play a [Spellsong] while Jin absorbs the mana to his surrounding to fully control the stones making him float. Through his magic, the stones started to fall apart and float. Jin's eyes glow as he concentrates in picking the best stone for the quest.

    For several hours, he finishes mining 50 stones and put it to his item back as he slowly lands.

    “Well, we’re done! Well, I also better take some 8 stones to make as elemental runes for the barrier.”
    Jin also takes additional 8 stones for the summoning circle. “But before that, we shall eat! I’m starving since it is already late afternoon.”
    ---Day 1: Night

    After finishing as short break and meal.
    Jin looks for a safe place he can do the summoning circle. Since the Gallant Mine was a cold place, it is the perfect place for communicating with Stolz. He just need to make sure he is isolated from all the surrounding and he won’t bring any trouble to other people.

    “Hmm…. I heard there is a very dangerous Sentinel S rank Golem sealed around here. Best I do my summoning magic far away or else I might wake him up.”


    “I guess that's an excellent Idea master.”


    “Well, I might visit him later~ since I heard he has a cute face~”
    Jin skip happily just thinking of seeing an S rank Sentinel Golem.

    “What..!? that's dangerous!!”
    Flyx tried to persuade Jin but it seems pointless.

    ----

    After moments of searching deeper in the Gallant Mine, Jin found a very large rock. He could hear wind passing through it. He then moves the rock with his wind magic and earth magic. Opening a secret cave entrance.

    As he enters he could feel the cold air and see the walls covered with Ice.

    “Hmm…. I hope this isn't Ice crystals cause I don’t want to damage them.”
    Jin closed his eyes to concentrate his mana sense feeling the ice energy of the surrounding. Weirdly enough he could feel no Ice crystals around.

    “Strange this should be a good place for mining Ice crystals but…”
    Jin suddenly notices some mining marks “Oh I see this is an abandoned Ice crystals mine. Seems like all the Ice crystals are already mined in this place so it was left abandoned."

    “It seems we found the best place master Vodka”
    Flyx observe the cave that is covered with a wall of an ice making it a closed room.

    “Your right prepare the 8 marble we found. I need to make it into 8 magic runes representing all elements attribute, place them in end of the 6 star I will form. The larger two will be in the center”


    “I understood”


    Jin quickly uses his [Magic Draw] and create a Summoning Magic Circle on the floor. As the circle completed, Flyx placed the 8 stones to its specific allocation.

    [​IMG]

    Jin quickly draw the 6 elemental runes in the air namely [Fire], [Earth], [Air], [Water], [Ice] and [Lightning]. Every element has different color representing them. He then makes them flew towards the stones as they embedded on its surface glowing. Next was the larger stones for the [Holy] and [Dark] element. It was made sure the [Holy] rune is larger than the [Dark] one. To make sure the devil's power is limited.

    Flyx started to play a [Spell Song] to act as a support for the barrier formation and summoning circle.

    Jin then places his hand on the floor as he keeps draining the mana in his surrounding. From the 4 small circles in the outermost circle, a wall of Ice raises up with a written marking.

    Jin closed his eyes as he started writing a magic formula in the Ice pillars making them into a rune. The words in the pillar glow as it connects to each other completing an [Isolation Barrier]. Which will disconnect the area within from the outside world.

    He then creates another 4 pillars made of stone with holy attribute words. The magic formula starts to be written making it glow yellow forming a [Holy Barrier].

    The [Isolation Barrier] is used to avoid the devil presence and power from interfering to the world. The devil he was trying to communicate was Stolz one of the sins. He heard from a veteran Adventurer about the power level of the sins. And remembering them make his body shiver.

    The [Holy Barrier] was to weaken the devil and lessen its power. Jin has high compatibility with the Holy element. But because he loses faith to the religion he once believed. So in the end, he no longer uses Holy magic frequently.

    He then uses a wind slicer to slice his arm to let the blood flow. He grits his teeth from the pain and tries not to get faint. Since he turned to a child his defenses are lower, including his pain tolerance.

    The blood flows through the summoning magic circle. Jin quickly uses a weak heal to close his wounds.

    Jin grabs his pseudo-grimoire as he let it float next to him. His eyes started to glow as he floats next to the [Ice] rune. He started chanting a summoning spell as the magic circle glows.

    The atmosphere started to get colder as the temperature drop.

    A cold mist started to form in the center of the magic circle forming an image. The form was a tall man wearing a glasses and a fur coat. It has a clean hairstyle and 4 horns similar to a stag.

    「Strange to be summoned here in this way.」
    The voice seem as calm as ever and cold as he looks down towards Jin.

    Jin could feel fear rising as he falls to ground kneeling. He could feel the pressure just by seeing devil’s holographic image.

    「Oh aren’t you that child interesting… to call upon this great Stolz. What do you need from me?」
    Stolz tilts his head as his image grin. 「Interesting that the image you create of me is not like what some of the people thought of us.」

    ‘So I was right, the sins real appearance is hidden. When summoned, their appearance depends on how the summoners saw them.’
    Jin calm himself as he gathers his resolve and looks toward Stolz. “I’m here to make a deal with you Devil of Pride: Stolz.”

    「Ahahaha, a deal with me? How amusing to make a deal with the great me.」


    “Yes, I will give you an entertainment.”
    Jin smiled as he holds his chest. “Aren’t you just after my body for the fun of it. Then I’ll give you the front sits.”

    「Your arrogance is something… really something hahaha.」
    Stolz laugh, his voice reverberated to the surrounding as pillars started to shake.「But to pick me? Isn’t Gnev the one who have been with you for so long.」

    “Yes, Gnev might be after my body longer but I decided to choose you.”


    「Oh..? Why is it?」


    “You’re the wisest among the sins and with your knowledge, you can easily calm Gnev.”


    「Ahahaha, I see… I understand. You want the great me to control Gnev, excellent! I like the way you are thinking.」


    “So... will you accept my proposal?”


    「Of course, I have nothing to do anyway. The Law of Universe restricts our power that we are stuck in hell just playing with the dead. Playing with the livings seems more fun and interesting as a pass time.」



    Jin sigh with relief as Stolz agreed but suddenly he could feel something bad is going to happen.


    「But~ with your high holy attribute, it is a bit problematic. We cannot even lend 10% of our powers to your body without making your body explode.」


    “Exploding?”
    Jin's face started to look grim. 'Wait… they are not even using 10% of their power when they are possessing me?'

    「Pfft… hahaha, do you think we’re ordinary Devils? We are the sins that represent the temptation of humans. The primary opponent of God.」
    Stolz grinned.

    "But your name is...?"


    「Oh... so you're interested about that? Well isn't it just our name in a different language. It is funny how people think we are weaker devils due to an alias~」


    'So they are only messing around.'
    Jin looks grim as he thinks of what he has experienced before was only at the weakest power of the devils.

    「Anyway~ we are very careful when using your body. This great Stolz shall teach you~ since you're an important amusement.」


    Stolz conjures an ice orb as he shows it to Jin, 「This orb is like your body, the ice covering it well... is your Holy magic that acts as a barrier to protect your body. Through your soul, we could lend our power inside. But we can only lend a small amount since even if you have high holy magic. Our power will still break your body apart. Just looking at you, even 1% of my power will kill you or made you insane.」

    “1%!? So how much were you using when you were possessing me”


    「Hmm… about 0.1% I guess, after all, we don’t want to destroy a rare vessel we can use to walk to the mortal world.」
    Stolz breaks the ice orb as he grins widely.

    “.....”
    Jin gritted his teeth, he was already having a hard time believing it.

    「 Don't worry, I can make your body more compatible to us.」
    Stolz move closer to Jin as he reaches his hand to point to Jin’s heart. 「We just have to awaken, the demon blood laying dormant inside you.」

    “Demon blood..? I’m just an ordinary hu--”
    before Jin could continue he remember the event at his age of 10 when he was close to death. Yes, that day Noshiro has dropped his own blood to Jin's wound which heals and save his life. Noshiro was a demon and strong one at that since he just one shot a possessed Golem. Jin clench his chest at the weird opportunity, feeling that it is too well planned.

    「So you know..? oh this is interesting. The demon who gave you his blood made sure his blood won’t spread to your body. Not only that, it would only assist your [Magic Tattoo: Lifesaver] to save your life when your endanger.」

    “...!? so that’s why I’m still alive even after that event.”
    Jin close his eye as he remembers the war that causes for him to join the Adventurer's Guild.

    「But this is pretty simple for the great me. I can easily make his blood change you into a demon.」


    Stolz starts to smile crazily as he notices something. 「Excellent! This is no ordinary demon blood but a blood from a Demon King! What a great opportunity! Hahaha.」

    “Argh... ”
    Jin suddenly feel a pain in his heart. He started vomiting blood from his mouth. He could feel a great stabbing pain inside.

    “GAAAAHHHH!!!!!”
    Jin shouted and started to scream bacause of the intense pain. He started to squirm on the ground as the [Magic Tattoo] glows and burn his skin making it bleed. Blood starts flows to his mouth, eyes, and nose.

    “GAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”
    Jin keeps vomiting blood as his complexion grow pale and his face grimaces from pain. He has been used to the pain from his [Magic Tattoo] but this was much worst. He could feel his bone breaking apart, his head aching as his skin seems to rip.

    Jin keeps screaming and squirming as his body becomes strange. He could feel a strong power trying to overtake his body. Something was changing in his body and it seems like something wants to let out his body. His eyes started turn black as he tears of blood drops on his face and his skin becoming paler. ‘SO PAINFUL!! I WANT TO DIE!!’


    Moments later….

    Something started to come out on Jin’s body. Horns and wings started to sprout out. He started to growl like a monster giving bloodthirst.

    「Amusing! a new demon lord is added to my collection!」
    Stolz grinned.

    ‘No!!!!! I don’t want to lose my humanity. I don’t want to become a demon just to have this power!!’ Jin grips his heart as his pride as a human wins over. He wanted to stay human, he doesn't want to lose his humanity nor his memories of his life.

    Suddenly a holy light envelope around Jin as he screams towards above. The [Holy Barrier] started to break apart as it power is absorbed back to Jin. He was surrounded by a white light disintegrating the wings and horns in his body.

    「Ahahaha! Amazing to reject becoming a demon lord that all the weak demons covet. Your pride as a human is really worthy of an applaud!」
    Stolz crazily laugh seeing the changes to Jin.

    Jin body suddenly grew normal as the holy light halt the demon blood from making him into a full demon lord. The holy mana flows inside his human blood as it blocks the demon blood from spreading.

    Just like yin and yang, both of the human blood with holy mana and demon lord blood make a balance to each other. The two never fighting each other but instead they coexist together, just like oil and water never interfering.

    Jin falls on the ground as he fall unconscious evolving into a new higher being. He was no longer an ordinary human but a human-demon hybrid. Half human with holy imbued blood and half demon lord.

    「Guess I have some new entertainment for awhile. Please don’t bore me prideful child.」
    Stolz image slowly disappears as all the pillar break apart.

    The Isolation Barrier's effects disappears since it shattered into pieces together to the Holy Barrier.

    -----

    “Master Vodka!!”
    Flyx shouted in alarm seeing Jin laying on the pool of blood. He then approaches Jin as he slowly inspects Jin’s body.

    “Why is there so much blood? What happened?”
    Flyx didn’t see the event since the [Isolation Barrier] has blocked everything from any interference and prying eyes.

    Flyx quickly inspects Jin body which is covered by blood. “Glad he's still breathing, all of the blood here has master Vodka's scent. But how was he able to survive from all this blood loss.”

    He was shocked to notice that there are no wounds as he wipes the blood clean.
    "I need to wait for Jin to awake seems like he's just sleeping." Flyx drag Jin's body with bloody clothes as he let him fall asleep.

    Flyx sits beside Jin as he summons a piano and starts playing a healing music.
    ---Day 3: Afternoon

    Jin opens his eyes as he finally wakes up. He then silently stands up as he stare to his fist.

    "Master Vodka you're finally awake."
    Flyx walk towards him.

    "........."
    Jin just silently stares at his hand not answering.

    "Master Vodka...?"
    Flyx could feel something wrong as he feels fear growing in his body.

    Jin tilts his head as he stares to Flyx, his silver eyes glow blue for a bit. Even if Jin's appearance was that of an innocent child but the aura he's releasing was frightening. "So... how long am I asleep?"

    "..that's, umm... you sleep for 2 days."
    Flyx step back as his hair stand up.

    "I see... that's a bit long I guess."
    Jin look downwards and move his head looking to Flyx.

    "....!?"
    Flyx flinches from fear.

    "Why are you scared Flyx?"
    Jin smiled gently as he moved slowly and patted Flyx. "Why don't we go search Ice Golems?"

    "Ah yes..."
    Flyx feels relieved seeing Jin back to normal but why does he still feel something was off.

    "Wait I'm dirty and full of blood~ I should go take a bath. Hmm... it seems like there is an underground lake here. This is perfect!"
    Jin move to a wall as he makes a giant hole opening a path to an underground lake.


    He quickly takes off his bloody clothes and bath to the freezing water. "Feels great~"

    "Master Vodka you will catch cold."
    Flyx seeing the lake filled with ice scared him.

    "What do you mean? it's quite nice."
    Jin smiled gently towards Flyx making him speechless.

    "....ugh I understand."
    Flyx gave up as he sits in the corner and waits for Jin to finish bathing.

    Jin falls deeper to the underground lake as he feels the cold water seeping in his body. It felt great as if his body was in full relaxation.


    Several minutes of bathing, Jin stood up and dry himself with a weak [Heat Wave]. He then grabs a new pair clothes in his Item box and wears it.

    "Hey~ wake up Flyx we're going to start finding Ice Golem."
    Jin shakes Flyx waking him up.

    "Umm.. ok then."
    Flyx rub his sleepy eyes as he stands up to follow Jin.

    Jin slowly walks away his eyes glow for a short moment.

    ----

    "Hmm~ hmm~ Ice golems are made of ice~ with a high defense they are quite hard to kill~ but I will still do my best in slaying one~"
    Jin start humming as he walks skipping happily.

    'Master Vodka is being weird...'
    Flyx was puzzled. Jin was too happy after summoning the devil. Flyx wanted to ask what happened but he didn't have the courage to do so.

    "Anyway! let's visit the Sentinel Ice Golem and look at his sleeping face~"
    Jin grin towards Flyx.

    "Wait that is dangerous!"
    Flyx tried to stop Jin but he suddenly laughs as he runs. "Master Vodka!!"

    -----

    "Aahhh!!"
    Suddenly they heard a scream above them. Jin looks above and sees 5 miners surrounded by an 4 Ice Golem. Seems like they mistakenly awaken the Ice Golem.

    ‘One of the great sins, whose is named shown to me is Stolz. I call upon thee... thy vessel. Lend me a fragment of your power.’
    Jin appearance suddenly change as he borrows 0.5% power from Stolz. Ice feather-like wings sprouted to his back. His iris turned in crystal blue as 4 ice stag-like horns grow to his head.

    "Someone is in trouble! I'm going ahead Flyx!"
    Jin flew above towards the upper floor of the mine where the miners and Ice Golem are.

    "[Rain of Ice]"
    Jin spread his wings wide as he waves it making the feathers of Ice falls toward the Miners and Ice Golem. The Ice feathers separated the Ice Golems from the Miners as it spread around and turned into a wall of Ice. Jin landed in front to the miners as he smiles.

    "I'm here to help you guys~ you have nothing to worry anymore."
    Jin smiled with confidence towards the Miners.
    [​IMG]

    "Ah! we're saved" "Thank the gods" "Is this an Ice Spirit!?" "The Ice Spirit saved our lives!!"
    Some of the miners fall on the ground full of relief and others kneel down.

    "...!? Wait! I'm just an adventurer! you don't have to overreact that much!"
    Jin blushed seeing them show a pair of shining eyes full of gratefulness and being called an Ice Spirit.

    Seeing that Flyx finally arrives by leaping above. Jin pointed towards him " *cough cough* I'm gonna finish them, you guys follow the Catsith for safety."

    "Yes, we understood" "Thanks, Ice Spirit!" "We will never forget this"
    The miners quickly run towards to the Catsith. Flyx guided them to safety as he nods towards Jin.

    Jin quickly flew to the other side of the wall of Ice to finish the Ice Golem.

    "Sorry to make you guys wait for me."
    Jin grin as he looks towards to the golem his eyes glow bluer.

    The Ice Golem seeing him started to walk toward Jin. The closest Golem raises his arm as he slams it to the ground to crush Jin. He quickly dodges it as he flew to the side.

    "Shall we test the power of devil possession?"
    Jin grinned since it was ice versus ice, the strongest one will the one will win and live.

    [0.6%]

    [0.7%]

    The Ice Golem feeling something wrong, quickly move towards Jin as they wanted to stop what he's doing. But a sudden gust of cold air pushes them away. Evil aura emerges to Jin’s back, they could see a dangerous image that seems to look down on them.

    [0.8%]

    Jin’s body undergoes changes as Ice-like gauntlet cover his arm and Ice-armor in his feet similar to a dragon. His wings grow larger as each ice feathers become sharper.

    “Fuuu… let’s begin.”
    Jin breath out cold wind as his eyes glow bluer.

    The Ice Golem stomp their feet as they move closer to Jin. Suddenly more gather around him as they act together to kill him.

    “I don’t like raising my head.”
    Jin flew above as he looks down with them. He gathered a large breath as he releases a powerful cold air. “[Chilling Mist]”

    All the Ice Golem start to freeze unable to move. Three stronger ice golem break the Ice as they move forward.

    “Excellent, I choose you to be killed by me.”
    Jin calls upon the wind as he floats above them. A small blizzard occurs inside the mine above them. The ice golem movements become rigid as the snow pile on top of them and wind pushing them back.

    “Shall we test, I heard hardness of Ice Golem is comparable to steel.” Jin’s [Magic Tattoo] flicker suddenly as mist is formed suddenly to his body with water flowing down from his wings.

    Every touch of the mist freezing its path at -196 degrees Celsius slowly it approached the 3 Ice Golem freezing them.The golem started to get frozen reducing their elasticity making them extremely brittle.

    Jin lightly approaches the Ice Golem closest to him and poke it. The Ice Golem shatter without trouble turning into pieces. He lightly waves his wing and the 2 other golem shatter from the wind pressure.

    “Done...”
    Jin lands to the ground as he raises his hand. The mini blizzard and mist started to gather back to his hand as the surrounding turn back to what it was. All the ice and snow covering the sorrounding started to melt as it drops to the ground and evaporated. His horns and wing also evaporate as his eyes return to silver. Jin then stares towards the remaining Ice Golems frozen.

    “[Heat Wave]”
    Jin chanted a fire spell melting his freeze magic on the Ice golems. The Ice golem then started to move as it ignores Jin when they lose their leader. They went back to where they come from.

    Jin notices 3 Frost core which acts as its brain of the Ice Golem he killed. He pick it up and observe it sensing it has no life anymore.

    「Eat it」


    “....Stolz? what do you mean?”
    Jin tilt his head as he heard the devil’s voice.

    「Devour the souls of the enemies you killed. You are now a part demon lord and devouring their prey makes them stronger. Keep on eating the souls and become stronger」


    “Eat this? But I’m…”
    Jin hesitated as he clenches the 3 cores. They were hard and seems like too hard to chew. But he remembered that his body undergoes changes. He takes the chance and put the first golem core to his mouth. As he started to chew, weirdly enough his teeth easily crush them into pieces and they taste like candy. He then started eating the rest feeling a cold energy swelling up to his soul.

    "That was delicious!! Well, now I’m done! Let’s go back to Flyx!”
    Jin smiled widely as used mana sense to track Flyx location.


    ----

    Flyx ears twitch hearing footsteps while calming the Miners. He did look to the source seeing Jin waving his hand smiling.

    “Master Vodka! I’m glad you were alright. Did you kill all of them?”
    Flyx was shocked since the Ice Golem is Rank C and have high defenses. Jin is only in his child form, even if he knows magic. A child would still have trouble dealing with those monsters that quickly.

    “Yup they are all annihilated! wait... only 3 of them~”
    Jin raise his 3 fingers and grins. He then looks towards to the miners and noticed they were quite young around mid-20s. “You guys are safe now, but be careful not to go too deep when mining again.”

    Jin seeing that they are close to the exit look to Flyx, “Shall we go to Crooked Mountain?”

    “Why don’t we take a bit of rest it almost night time, shall we return shortly in the Askian Hamlet?”


    “Well… okay then~”
    Jin open his pseudo-grimoire as he creates a magic circle where they are standing. Quickly they got teleported to the Askian Hamlet and take a short rest.
    ---Day 4: Early Morning

    Jin and Flyx departed towards the Crooked Mountain while riding the Airship from the Aeternus City.

    Several moments later, Jin could see what it seems to be the Crooked Mountain while still boarding to the Ship.

    “Hey,~ Flyx that seems like the Crooked Mountain right?”
    Jin grins while holding the map.

    “...umm, Master Vodka you're holding the map inverted. Your pointing the Snowy Mountain and to the opposite side is the Crooked Mountain."
    Flyx look to the opposite side as he points the Crooked Mountain.

    “Ahahaha I see, my mistake. It seems like we're pretty close already aren’t we?”
    Jin tilts his head as a mischievous expression appears to his face.

    “Wait why do I feel bad about this?”


    Suddenly, Jin's eyes turned blue as ice horns and wings sprouted on his body.

    “Then Flyx shall we fly?”
    Jin grins toward the poor Catsith as he flies above him and grabs his shoulder.

    “Wait!”
    before Flyx can even continue Jin carries him as he flew down the Airship towards the Crooked Mountain.

    “AAAHHHHH!!!” Flyx screamed in fear from falling such a high height.

    Jin quickly moves his [Frost Wings] to fly towards the destination laughing happily from the sensation of the wind.


    ----Crooked Mountain

    They have landed at the mountain peak as Jin enjoyed the view.

    “Ughh….”
    Flyx kneels to the ground still shock to what happened as he starts shivering.

    “Well... That was fun! Flying really is great. This is better than regular old float magic, with wings I can move easier and go to higher heights.”
    Jin’s eyes sparkle from excitement.

    “Master Vodka, aren’t you cold? It is shivering here...”
    Flyx hug his body as he feels his going to get frozen.

    “Oh, that’s right~ here!”
    Jin takes a Yeti fur in his item box and gives it to Flyx. “I kinda forgot since I’m half demon lord plus with Stolz’s devil possession. The cold weather is just like energy source to me.”

    “What half demon lord!?”
    Flyx was surprised to hear those words and fear was seen in his face.

    “Well~ that’s not important let’s search for the living stones! I want to kill the fire bird already~”
    Jin spread his arm to use mana sense as he maps the Crooked Mountain in his head. “Well, I could life energy to the stone just below that cliff. Wait here Flyx and play some relaxing song as I flew to get the Living Stones~”

    “I understood but it is still cold”
    Flyx shivers.

    “Hmm… alright then”
    Jin move close a large rock as he gathers strength to his arm while activating his [Magic Tattoo] and surrounding his right arm with ice gauntlet.

    *BAAM!*

    With controlled strength, he makes a hole in the large rock making a roof from the cold weather. He then takes a wooden plank in his item box as he laid it to the ground and lit it with fire magic.

    “Just stay here for now, Flyx”
    Jin smiled as he flew away while Flyx could only nod near the fire and start playing a flute music.

    ----

    Jin flew towards the steep cliff to search for Living stone as they are the main ingredients in making a Living Golem core. He tried to sense an energy signature to each rock he hovers in the sky. It didn’t help that the wind is strong and snow keeps on piling up.

    Jin keeps using [Heat Wave] to melt the snow to check for the Living Stones. Luckily he is using Stolz's devil possession which focuses more on Ice magic and air for some reason.

    He finally found life signature on one living stone. “This seems like a living stone alright~”

    Jin uses earth magic to mine it from the ground. He then restarted his search as he focuses his mana in his eyes sensing the Living stones. Several minutes later, he finally found 4 more living stones and completing the quest.

    “Well I should better go find Flyx”
    Jin flew back above as the wing grew stronger.

    -----

    “Master Vodka!”
    Flyx runs over to him. “Are you done already?”

    “Yes we are done, let’s go to North Mountain.”
    Jin walk towards Flyx.

    “GAAHH!!”
    Flyx suddenly slips from an Ice and slides towards the cliff at a fast rate due to the wind.

    “FLYX!!”
    Jin quickly flew towards Flyx who is falling and hold him safely to his side.

    “Master Vodka Avalanche!”
    Flyx pointed towards above them as a large wave of snow falls downward.

    “Don’t worry~”
    Jin grin as he makes his wings cover him and Flyx. “Then shall we test the defense of my wings.”

    *BOOM*

    The avalanche hit them as it drags them to the ground.
    After several later, Jin's head peeks out to the snow.

    “Wow! I thought I was gonna buried alive there~”
    Jin laughs.

    “Master Vodka! That was dangerous, you can just escape right!?”


    “Yup~ but that would be boring~”
    Jin giggles but notices Flyx getting angry. “Okay, I’m sorry then shall we teleport to the Gallant Mine then? Since the Firebird is on the North Mountain.”

    “Well that’s much better than flying I guess”
    Flyx nod in agreement.

    Jin creates a teleportation magic circle on the ground as they teleported to the Gallant Mine.

    “Hahaha~ this is so exciting!!!”
    Jin shouted as he dodges incoming fireballs towards them while carrying Flyx as he flew to the sky.

    *BOOM! BOOM!*

    The fireballs hit the mountain making explosions. A loud bird screech was heard behind as the Firebird relentlessly follow them.

    “COOL! This is too fun~”
    Jin's eyes glimmers said as he looks behind from excitement.

    “THIS IS NOT FUN AT ALL! What happened...!?”
    Flyx covers his face in despair.

    -----Earlier

    When they arrives at the Gallant Mine they quickly started to walk towards the North to the Firebird nest. As they arrive, Jin suddenly saw a firebird sleeping.

    With his recklessness he went closer to inspect it. He even takes the time to draw the bird and look at every detail. Jin then accidentally step on its wings waking it up in anger.

    Jin who should quickly kill the firebird while it’s still confused instead say the word ‘oops’ and walk back slowly away.

    The firebird grew angry and chase after them.
    Jin quickly flew away grabbing Flyx while laughing.


    -------Currently

    And now they are being chased in the sky while Jin is busy dodging fire attacks while giggling.

    Flyx started playing a [Spell song]

    [SPELLSONG is used: All allies in the area will increase their fighting spirit, Mana regeneration increases, Stamina regeneration increases, Small Recovery is applied to all allies]​

    “Hahaha~ that’s nice song Flyx~”
    Jin smiles giving a thumbs up almost letting go of Flyx.

    “This is not the time admiring music!”
    Flyx still continues playing the music.

    “Hold on tight on my back!”
    Jin suddenly throws Flyx the air.

    “Wait why in the back!? GAAAAAAHHHHH!?”
    Flyx shouted as he falls down.

    Jin quickly let Flyx land to his back as he continues flying. “Hold on tight~”

    “AAHHHH! My nine lives are decreasing at a fast rate!”


    Jin dodges the fire attacks while laughing. “Hey~ Flyx is my back comfy? I made sure I coated it with soft snow”

    “Well, I guess it soft…”
    Flyx feeling the comfiness but suddenly realizes something, “WAIT! This is no time for stupid antics just kill it already!”

    “Alrighty~”
    Jin moves his body to face the Firebird, he takes a deep breath, “[Chilling Mist]”

    The cold wind covers the Firebird making it screech in pain a it flew towards Jin in rage melting his left wing.

    “Hahaha~”
    Jin quickly regenerate his wings with Ice as he falls. He quickly wave his wing making ice feathers hit towards the firebird. He then quickly flew above it and pointed his open hands, “[Blizzard]”

    Large hail of snow and wind fall towards the Firebird making it scream in pain as it fires starts to extinguish. Steam started to produce as it hinders the sight of the Firebird.

    “Let’s spin!”
    Jin dives towards the Firebird as he covers himself with his wings and rotates.


    *BAAM!!*

    The wing of ice hits the Firebird as some its part of melt into water covering the Firebird. The Firebird started to scream in pain as it flames finally extinguish and dying. Jin quickly opens his mouth to devour the Firebird soul.

    “THAT WAS AMAZING!!!”
    Jin shouted as he falls with his wings practically melting.

    “MASTER VODKA!! We’re going to hit the ground!”
    Flyx shouted seeing they are almost on the ground his eyes wide open. “NYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!”

    “Hahaha~ that was cute.”
    Jin laughs as he spread his melting wings and regenerate it as he glides to the ground reducing impact.

    -----

    “Well~ that was fun let’s do that again next time~” Jin put his hand on his hips as he smiles proudly.

    “Ugh…. finally ground~ I miss you”
    Flyx hug the ground.

    “So..? I still wanted to fly, shall we fly towards Aeternus City?”
    Jin grins.

    “Spare me!”
    Flyx shouted.

    “I don’t understand Flyx, flying is great”
    Jin flew alone as he starts humming. Flyx has decided to return to Askian hamlet. So Jin has no choice but to teleport him there whil he fly alone to the Aeternus City.

    Suddenly Jin notices something wrong, “Why do I feel sick... like something is affecting my mind”

    Jin looks below and saw a Merchant Cart being pillaged by a group of bandits.
    “Those bastards!” Jin gritted his teeth as he dives down suddenly his wings disintegrate.

    “Dammit! Stolz what’s wrong? Why it is happening now!?”
    Jin faces the ground as he falls down and uses float magic to descend safely.



    “Fuu….. that was close, geez Stolz won’t answer at all” Jin grumble as the Bandits notice him.

    “Now~ now~ what do you have here?”
    “Hey~ little child are you lost?”
    “Lucky isn’t this child look like a rich kid”
    The Bandits laughs as they gather around Jin.

    “Curse you!! I’ll kill you!! I’ll curse you even in death!” An old merchant suddenly shouted as he holds his bleeding stomach.

    Jin ignores the bandits moving to the old man to aid him. “Dammit... I’m too late.”
    The old man was slowly dying as his eyes filled with anger when Jin hold his hand. Jin could only close the man's eyes as he died. Jin look at inside the cart seeing a dead woman her clothes rip apart and noticed a disgusting odor.

    “..........”
    Jin grew silent as the rage grew inside him.

    “Hey, brat! Don’t Ignore us!” one of the bandits touch his shoulder.

    “Don’t touch me you dirty scum.”


    “What to hell you arrogant brat--” before the bandit can continue he could feel his hand suddenly burned. “What the hell!?

    “Hey what;s wrong just kill that child and take all his belongings”
    “Why don’t we kidnap look at his complexion~ the noble perverts will pay high price for a kid like him"
    “Excellent choice~ hey kid~ just come to us okay~”

    “Trashes.”
    Jin eyes suddenly turned red as he jumps and kicks the head of the bandit in front of him. He then drags it swiftly to the ground, crushing its skull.

    “I hate when Trashes look down on me.” Jin's voice was filled anger as he tilts his head. “Hmm.. already dead, what a weakling”

    The bandits started to shiver as they feels something was wrong… very wrong.

    “Look at that kid's strength it is not human”
    “What are you afraid of? It’s just a kid! Kill it!!”
    One of the bandits rushes to Jin swing his sword.

    “Pitiful.”
    Jin grab the sword with his hand as it started to melt. Jin’s shirt started to get on fire as flame wings sprouted to his back. The [Magic Tattoos] glows red and four horns different from Stolz possession emerge. The flames started to spread to the sword and move to the bandit's arm as it slowly engulfs the scum in a blaze of fire.

    “GAAAHHH!!! Demon!!” one of the bandit shouted as he falls to ground shivering while wetting his pants.
    “Run!! Run away!!” the others started to run as fast as they could.

    “Do you think I will let you leave..?”
    Jin tilts his head as he flew above them. “[Ring of Fire]”

    A fire started to encircle them not letting escape.

    “Please spare us...” “Don’t kill us please.” the bandit started to kneel on the ground begging for mercy.

    “Did you spare the innocent when they beg for their lives? How ironic that scum like you are begging for their lives now.”
    Jin still looking down feel somewhat strange.

    [Sadism Skill is triggered: Stats is increased, Torture skill is unlocked, Pain Tolerance increase, Guilt is decreased. Duration is 2 min by judging the severity of enemies' sin. Due to Gnev(Wrath)'s possession there is no limit]​

    “I’ll make you experience a life worse than hell”
    Jin eyes burned with hatred as he looks down at them blinded by pure rage

    ---
    ------

    Several hours later…

    Two people wearing white robes suddenly appeared feeling something was off.

    “I could feel a great evil energy here” the man spoke.

    “Yes… this aura, it seems the devil has set upon his power to the mortal world” a woman answered.

    They slowly went down the hill and notice a ring of fire. As they see burnt bodies and dismembered body parts that seem to be ripped apart with strong force.

    “This is...” the man crease his eyebrows as he sees the carnage.

    “Wait, there is something off to that child” the woman grabs the man’s robe as she pointed to a child.

    Jin was just munching on a soul as he grumbles, “Taste horrible… I don't even know why I bother eating them.” He then spits it out as he wipes his mouth, suddenly he started to stagger.

    “......urghh”
    Jin clench his head.
    “GAAAHHHH!!!” He screams as he clenches his face as the wrath consumed him. Tears of blood fall on his face as the flames in his wings grow larger.

    “This is bad, the child is being possessed by the devil!”

    “Leave it to me...” the man grab a cross as he started praying. “You are the salvation of those who turn to You. We beseech You to make powerless, and drive out every diabolic power and every evil influence aimed at this child.”

    A white holy light circle appeared on Jin’s feet as it engulfs his body. Slowly, Gnev’s evil power disappears as the possession stops. Jin falls down on the floor unconscious.

    -----
    ---------

    “Hey~ hey~ are you awake?” A woman voice awakens Jin.

    “......”
    Jin slowly opens his eyes from the noise. His eyes wide open as he saw a woman close to his face making him blush. He quickly rolls away and stands up properly.

    “Pfft… how bashful.” the woman laugh.

    “You are…?”
    Jin notices two people wearing a white robe: a woman, and a man. He suddenly notices he was topless. With haste, he quickly grabs a shirt and his wolf hoodie as he wears it. He grabs the hoodie downward trying to cover his face. ‘Geez… this is embarrassing.’

    The man who was standing beside the woman lightly bowed “Good day to you, my name is Whiteray and this Anjie. We are traveling clerics and noticed an evil aura gathering here. So we have come to stop its source”

    “Umm… I’m sorry.”
    Jin looks down as he finally realizes something. He lost consciousness again and was possessed by Gnev. He bowed towards them, “Thank you very much for stopping me.”

    “Don’t worry about it, our mission to help those in need.” Whiteray smiled.

    “But I hope you will be careful. It seems you being possessed by a powerful devil” Anjie stands up and hold Jin’s hand. “You should control your emotions and not be blinded by rage.”

    ‘Well… I kinda know but it's not that easy.’
    Jin bite his lip.

    “Anjie we need to go now, we’re leaving.” Whiteray grab a key in haste and suddenly a golden door appears in-front of them. “Child, I could feel high holy attribute in you. I advise that you learn holy magic to strengthen your spirit.”

    “Bye!! do your best!” Anjie give a fighting pose before she disappears as she enters the door. Whiteray nodded to Jin as he quickly follows.


    The golden door suddenly disappears leaving Jin alone.

    “Hmm… wait what about the fire?”
    Jin looks around to only see two graves and the grass that should be burned is covered by new grass like nothing had happened. “Did they perhaps fix everything? Who are they..?”

    Jin tilts his head as he looks at the place where the two mysterious white robes disappear. He then looks to the 2 graves which have flowers. He prayed and ask forgiveness for failing to save them in time. He then slaps his cheeks to recover his resolve.

    “Guess I need to go back now, I wasted a lot of time.”
    Jin focus as he tries to use Stolz’s devil possession.

    “Well, I guess my connection to Stolz disappears when I was enraged and Gnev took control. I should follow their advice and train my holy magic. But I need a God to have faith into. Sigh…. I hope I found suitable one.”
    Jin waves his ice wings as he flew towards the floating Aeternus City to submit his report.

    Note: Made 8 elemental runes from stones.
    @brasca123

    OOC: Well that escalated quickly... not really, from my SS and backstory everything is already foreshadowed. It just that I didn't know it is this soon.
    Around 9k words wow~ another record reach!
    I'll quote this in the main story board and write author notes and updates for Jin's changes
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2017
  13. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Desert Mine|#GD5|D-Ranked|Mine 50 Stone [60G | 20x Stone Slab]
    Desert Mine|#GC1|C-Ranked|Mine 12 Orichalcum Ore [200G | 1 x Orichalcum Ingot]
    Gallant Mine|#GD6|D-Ranked|Mine 50 Stone [60G | 20 x Stone Slab]
    Gallant Mine|#SC1|C-Ranked|Slay 3 Ice Golems [150 G]
    Crooked Mountain|#GB1|B-Ranked|Mine 5 Living stone from crooked mountain [270 G | 1 x Living Golem Core ]
    North Mountain|#SB2|B-Ranked|Slay 1 Fire Bird [300 G]
    ================================================
    "Anou... You are? Hikari is sorry, Hikari doesn't remember...

    Eh!? Ji-Jin-san!? Wha-what happened to Jin-san!?

    Uhn... Hikari is sorry for the confusion... Let Hikari see the report then..."

    *looks through it*

    "Everything seems to be in order, Jin-san's reward will be of 1040G and the listed items!

    Please be careful Jin-san! Hikari was really surprised by how Jin-san looked like this time!" >.<
     
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  14. JinVodka

    JinVodka 「Back to Work Back to Suffering _(-ω-`_)⌒)_」

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    "Hello Hikari-sama~ done with my quest with Boss Shad and Raz" Jin smiles widely, "Wait is the honorifics alright? I copied it from the eastern isles. Well calling without honorifics to the Goddess you are serving seems weird. Oh well~ I'll not use the honorifics if you don't like it~"

    Sandy Desert|#SC1|C-Ranked|Slay 5 Desert Wyvern [150 G]

    Party with @shad12ow and @Razogul

    <Guild Tavern>

    "I want to rank up and do my best for Godd-- *cough cough* I mean Hikari. Maybe I can also ask an upper rank guild member to come with me."
    Jin looks to the tavern to search for an upper rank adventurer to come with him. Luckily, he found Guildmaster Shadow passing by and with haste he quickly runs over to call him.

    "Boss Shad! Can I have a short quest with you? It would be just a short and fast one since it is just slaying 5 desert wyverns."
    Jin wave his hand so he will get notice since he was short.

    “Hmm?”
    said Shadow as he stopped and looked toward the source of the voice. “Oh, Jin, is it? A short quest? I don’t really mind.”

    “YAY! Thanks Boss Shad!”
    Jin raise his fist to the sky and spins while grinning. When he turned around, Jin sees Razogul. “Sup! Raz we're going to do one rush quest want to join!!”

    Razogul looks over at Jin from his name being called out. "Sure, I've got nothing else to do currently. We're just slaying some Wyverns?"

    "Yup maybe 2 Wyvern each for us, even though it suppose to 5 only."
    Jin tilts his head pondering. "Well, I need to find a strong albino Wyvern for its pelt. So I will hunt a regular one then find the rare one if I can."

    Jin looks up towards Shadow and Razogul while holding his chin. "Will that be fine...?"

    "Seems fine for me, I'm ready when you are."
    He gets up and readies his equipment as he says this.

    "Need me to make us a portal there?"


    "It's fine for me."
    Jin smiled as he wears his wolf hoodie. "How about you Boss Shad?"

    "I'm fine with that. Give me the last one so that I can process it. It's time for me to restock on some material, after all."
    Shadow let out a small chuckle after he said that. "Ready when you are. I've got my weapon and equipment too. I'm okay with portal too."

    "Oh nice! in your hands, the pelt would come out better. I will do my best in searching the strongest Wyvern!"
    Jin said with determination. "Then please~ grace open us your portal Raz!"

    "Okay."
    Razogul gathers dark energy and opens a dark portal in front of Shadow and Jin. "This should do, let's go!"

    Razogul walks into the portal, disappearing from their sight.

    "Oh? How fascinating,"
    said Shadow with a clear voice of amusement. "A portal kind of like the teleportation gate I made. From start, this has become a good research material. Hahaha~!"

    After saying that, he walked into the portal without any hesitation.

    "Well I should hurry up and follow!"
    Jin quickly runs toward the portal and enters.


    <Desert>

    "Ah, the desert. Such a nostalgic place for me. My first place where I met my wife. Hahaha~!" After saying that, he donned his usual desert garb and put on his desert mask.
    "Well... here we are." Jin look to the vast sand. "So any plan how to hunt the Wyverns? I'm planning to go high ground and search."

    Jin quickly called upon Stolz growing Frost wings and horns as he slowly hover on the air. He then coated his wings with holy magic to protect it from the intense heat.

    "I also might search far since I need to find that Albino Wyvern. It will be fast since I can quickly fly back."
    Jin looks towards Razogul and Shadow for any suggestions.

    "Well, there are many way to do that. We can try to look for them, or, my suggestion," he pulled out his trusty crossbow and load the weapon with an explosive bolt, "let them show us the way."

    With that last word, he aimed the weapon to the sky and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew straight up and then exploded, making a loud noise.

    "Well, chances are, we will be welcomed by at least one of them."


    "Oh nice~ guess we can just wait for them to come"
    Jin lands back down as he fold his wings and release cold air to cover himself from the intense heat.

    "Well hope it is a group perhaps? so we can finish quickly."
    Jin grab his pseudo-grimoire and prepares himself.

    "Yeah, let's wait for them and get this over with."
    Razogul takes out a cloak and wraps it around him. Helping get rid of the heat on him.

    "So, when will they appear exactly?"


    "If my calculation is right,"
    Shadow took out his pocket watch, "right about...now."

    Just as Shadow said, the sound of flapping could be heard from the distance. Without wasting any time, Shadow replaced the pocket watch with his spyglass and scouted their would be adversaries.

    "Ah...bugger. Only two. So what do you want to do, gents? Spare one, at least."


    "We need at least 5 though..."
    Jin ponder as he tilt his head suddenly he heard a voice inside his head.

    "Oh! you guys deal with those two. I gonna try a new skill Stolz just teach me just now."
    Jin swiftly flew above the sky as he stop mid-air 80 meters high ground. He close his eyes as they glow bluer and send a mana sense to his surrounding.

    "I'll be back it seems like I found a big one!!!"
    Jin shouted loud enough to be heard by them as he flew away.

    "And there he goes. So, Raz, old pal. You take left I take right?"
    asked Shadow with his usual grin on his face.

    "Sure, will only take a second."
    Razogul points his finger towards the wyvern on the left and smiles. Gathering dark energy towards his hand.

    "Dark Ray."
    Saying this, a dark beam fires from his finger and blows the wyverns head off. Crashing onto the ground and blood gushing out of its neck where it's head was once attached.

    "As usual, you don't waste time. But that kind of corpse is bad for material collection. Well, let me enjoy this. I need some...exercise."

    After saying that, Shadow vanished from his place and reappeared on top of the wyvern. Surely enough, the desert creature become panicky. With the added fact that it realized its partner has been slain, it is trying its best to make the invader on its back fall off.

    "Oh, a lively one, aren't cha? Well, this will do nicely for now."

    A few spiders skittered from behind Shadow's back onto the desert wyvern's body. They quickly drilled and slashed into the beast's body, forcing it to let out a loud roar of pain. Soon enough, the beast opted to retreat from the losing battle. And then Shadow teleported back to the place next to Raz.

    "Okay~ Now we can just wait for Jin and we can let that one fellow lead us to its lair. For now,"
    he pulled out a pair of bottled drink and threw one of them to Raz, "some drink while we wait."


    <Somewhere in the Desert's Sky: Jin Vodka>

    Jin flew above the sky as he goes to the destination where he feel a strong aura. He opens his eyes as he sees a Wyvern below him.

    "Found one~ while I was heading to the big one. Might kill this one!"
    Jin stop as he dive towards the Wyvern quietly eating a wild Desert Black Rhino at fast speed. He covered himself with his wings as he rotated and sharpen the edges of his Frost Wings.

    *BOOM*

    A loud crash was created as wave of sands are blown away.
    The Wyvern quickly dies with a large bloody hole on it's back. Jin quickly stand up as he look to the east where he feels the big Wyvern. He took its horns and put in his item back as proof. “The hole is too large, I can't take its pelt”

    "Oh well~ one done! Guess I go to the big one fast!"
    Jin flew again towards his destination.


    <Razogul and Shadow>

    Razogul grabs the drink and starts drinking. "So...how do we lure the other wyverns out? Do we just keep waiting or search for them?" He questions Shadow as he starts practicing while they wait.

    "Well, with my spider on top of the bugger, we can just follow the signature of my spider. Chances are, it will fly straight to its lair."
    He stopped for a bit and then took a sip from his own drink. "After that, I'll order the spider to latch onto a couple of them and kill them from the inside. Then we'll get there, collect the corpse, jobs done, no unneeded hunt, everyone happy. How's that?"


    <Jin Vodka>


    Jin found two Wyverns that seems be have white scales flying in the sky. "Wow! the other one seems really large, its pelt is just perfect!"

    [​IMG]

    Jin rush over as he aim his wings to wave it and release sharp ice feather but suddenly stop. "Wait I need to make sure it's not damage much. How can I kill it!?"

    Suddenly the two Wyverns noticed him and flew towards Jin to eat him.

    "Geez! I'm still not used to air combat so two are already a hassle"
    He dodges them as he move back. The bigger one suddenly releases a green breath which melted his wings.

    "OH!!! is this an evolved Wyvern? it has poison breath!"
    Jin quickly regenerate his wings and dodges as the two Wyvern team up to kill him.

    "Better bring this two to Razogul and Boss Shad. I'm still not use to the changes in my body!"
    Jin waves his wings to release small amount of Ice feather just enough to taunt them.

    "Well catch me if you can!!"
    Jin shouted as he wave his hand and flew swiftly back.

    .....
    ........Moments later

    Jin finally sees Razugol and Shadow below waiting for him.

    "Incoming!!"
    Jin shouted as he bring one regular-sized Wyvern and a large one who can breath poison gas. As he landed next to them, "Please don't damage the big one I need it's pelt"

    "ROAARRR!!!" the big Wyvern roared as he sees two more to eat while the smaller one follows.

    “I'll take the wyvern and Shadow help kill the big one. Should be able to do that without damaging with your mechanical spiders right?"
    Razogul says this as he pulls out his sword and uses his magic.

    "Blink."
    As he says this, he teleports on top of the wyverns neck and slashes down his sword. Decapitating the Wyvern. Razogul blinks back to the ground and watches the wyvern fall onto the ground. "That should do it."

    Jin hover to the ground as he face the big wyvern. He stop it's mouth from releasing its poison breath as he hold it closed with his hands covered with solid ice gauntlet. "I'll be the tank and make his attention focus on me Boss Shad!"

    "[Chilling Mist]"
    Jin open his mouth to release a cold breath to slow down the Wyvern movements.

    "As you wish then."

    After saying that, Shadow disappeared and then reappeared on top of the big wyvern. He also immediately released a dozen spider from his spatial gloves.

    "Chop chop, boys~!"

    With that last word, sound of mechanical drills and saws resounded from the back of the beast. Soon enough, the big wyvern's movement dulled.

    "W-Woah there!?"

    Probably noticing the danger from its back, the wyvern tried to make whatever it is on its back fell down. Unfortunately, Shadow has a rather poor balance at that moment, in which he was thrown away. But fortunately he could activated his teleportation skill and landed near Raz.

    "That was a mighty close one, I say. Jin! It's all yours! Just don't destroy my spider as best as you could!"


    "Yes boss Shad!"
    Jin still holding closed the wyvern mouth suddenly get an idea. "Then I'm gonna choke it's neck enough to make it stop breathing"

    Jin grab the wyvern and move it's face to the right to release it's poison breath. Jin move backward as he let himself get affected by the rage of the wyvern. With it, he let himself get possessed by Gnev at 0.3% making his is shirt started to get burn. Only the Flame Wings appears in his back as his magic tattoo glow red. He started to absorb all the heat mana in his surrounding. A solid large magma gauntlet appears to his right fist.

    As the wyvern open it's mouth wide to swallow Jin whole.
    Jin sidestep then move below it's head and release an uppercut with controlled strength.

    *BAAM*

    The impact made the wyvern spits blood as one fang falls down to the sand.
    Before it falls to the ground, Jin holds it neck with his right hand as the magma gauntlet grows larger, enough to cover the wyvern's neck. Jin eyes glows redder as he tighten his grip and started choking it.

    The wyvern started to scream and squirm as it try to escape his hold.
    Slowly it start to die due to lack of oxygen as it go limp.

    "I'm done!!"
    Jin grinned as he release the possession and return to normal. He then grab a new pair of shirt to wear.

    "Oh right! I just killed one earlier~"
    Jin grab a Wyvern's horn in his item box and shows it. "So this is my two kills... I guess?"

    "Reminds me, here's the souvenir I promised a while ago."
    Razogul gets a box out of his storage ring and tosses it to Shadow gently. "It's something called a Heavens Mana Crystal. I stole it from that dead maniac. Maybe you can find something to do with it."

    Shadow caught the crystal and then examined it.
    "Ho, interesting, very interesting. I'll need to research it first. Thanks a bunch, my friend."
    He then put the item inside his spatial glove.

    "Hmm~ hmm~ disassembling some large wyvern~ larger than regular wyvern~"
    Jin looks to the spiders doing their job to the large wyvern. He then looks toward to Shadow and Razogul while he smiled excitedly.

    "So... where are we going next to hunt the rest?"
    Jin ask while raising his hand.

    "Hmm...how much do we have to hunt again? And...I can already detected their nest from my spider. It's not far from here."


    "Well... I killed another one on my way to this large wyvern."
    Jin pointed his hand to the wyvern, "But I think this one is different than regular desert wyvern cause it's larger and can breath poison~"

    "From what I see there are total of 2 corpses here plus the one I killed."
    Jin tilt his head. "So we just need 2 more."

    "Well then, the bugger from before have reached its den. And there's about 5 more. But since we only need one more beside that last one, I suggest we go there quickly, finish that last one, and then lure one out and get back as soon as possible."

    Shadow then pulled out a map of the desert and then pointed to a certain part of it.
    "It's there. Not far from here."

    "I see, well let's head there then."
    Razogul starts walking in the direction Shadow pointed to. Taking out one of his canteens from his storage ring and drinking as walks.

    "Hmm... its hot~ guess I will use that again"
    Jin use Stolz's possession as he make his frost wings acts as his cover from the heat while drinking strawberry milk.

    "So is the spiders done with what they are doing?"
    Jin tilted his head as he look the corpse. "Are you going to take the materials including the pelt to process Boss Shad? or the spiders are processing it?"

    "The spider will process everything and by the time we're done with the last two, it will be done."
    Shadow take another sip from his drink. "And don't worry about them. I've place several traps just in case."

    "Nisu~"
    Jin nodded as he follows them while drinking his milk.

    After walking for a while, Razogul can't help but ask. "So...any idea on what contraptions you can make with that mana crystal?" Curiosity brimming due to knowing if it could be for attacking or utility of some sort.

    "Don't know,"
    said Shadow with a calm voice. "Maybe weapon, maybe vehicle, maybe some portal. Who knows? Might be even possible to power up Aternus for all I know."

    "I see, looking forward to it. Hmm? I think we arrived everybody."
    Razogul points in front of them, wyverns flying around .

    "So... how to take the bugger one away from the lair and lure another one without rousing the others?"
    Jin raise his head to look towards them still drinking his milk.

    "Hmm.....good question. Say, Raz, ol pal. Can you somehow...kidnap the wyvern?"


    "Sure, I can probably teleport, grab it and come out unharmed. Hopefully there's another one nearby. Be right back!"
    Razogul blinks and disappears from everyone's sight. A few minutes later, a dark portal opens up in front of them and Razogul jumps out of it.

    "Get back a few meters! I kicked its mouth and it's coming here!"
    After saying this, the wyvern Jin was talking about comes out along with another wyvern. Seeing that they're both through, Razogul closes the dark portal.

    "I'll take the other wyvern!"
    Jin flew above the tag-along Wyvern and kick it to the ground.

    "[Glacial Spikes]"
    Jin creates ice spikes underneath the Wyvern. He made sure to trap its movement by pinning it's legs, arm and neck between the spikes not injuring its body.

    "Well~ let's cut it head off clean, [Ice Blade]"
    Jin creates a large Ice blade and make it fall towards the wyven's neck. The wyvern squirms trying to move away as it feels a cold ice falling towards him. Cracks started to appear to the spikes. But before it could even escape, the ice blade falls swiftly cutting it's head off.

    "[Heat Wave]"
    Jin lands next to it's decapitated corpse and melts the ice. He then hold the head above him and shouted proudly, "I beheaded the wyvern!"

    "You fool!?"
    Due to the sudden appearance of the wyverns, Shadow could only jumped away to the side. "Eat this!?"

    He then threw a bunch of grenades toward the remaining wyvern. That was enough to confuse the wyvern. Using that opening, he quickly jumped to the head of the wyvern and released a dozen spiders that immediately burrowed onto the wyvern's head. Soon enough, a loud roar echoed and it collapsed onto the ground.

    "A little more warning would be appreciated next time!!!"


    "Well, I did warn you guys when I came out. Besides, I had full trust in your capabilities to do it."
    Razogul says this with utmost trust in his fellow adventurers.

    "Well I'm quite quick to take action and adapt to any events~"
    Jin grin but it just his recklessness and love for fight.

    "Though, apparently someone has been following us..."
    Razogul shoots a dark spear towards a boulder behind them. A persons hand appearing at the corner of their eye, severed from someone's body.

    "Hoo~ Someone foolishly brave enough to tail us, is it now?"
    An evil grin spread on his face as he said that.

    "Hmm... a person?"
    Jin look towards the boulder where Razogul shoots his dark spear. "Is he dead? shouldn't we at least capture and interrogate him?"

    "True, but I just aimed for that persons hand."
    Razogul goes behind the boulder seeing a person with a cross emblem on his cloak, looking with bloodshot eyes at him. Without waiting for anything, Razogul grabs his leg and throws him into the middle of the group.

    "Umm... what if they are like just curious or perhaps scared and hesitant to talk--" Jin trying to to find excuse couldn't continue cause he see a cross emblem on it's back.

    "Anybody who sneaks up on people does not have good intent."
    He says this as he smiles evilly at the mysterious person.

    "Would you guys want to have the honor of....extracting information from him? Here, have this," said Shadow as he gave a few potion to Raz, "they're truth serum. Would be useful. Meanwhile, I will dismantle the corpses. I already have a hunch on that, but...yeah, it's yours for now."
    After saying that, he moved toward the wyvern corpses.

    "Thanks guildmaster." Razogul pops open a potion and smiles evilly. "Drink up." Razogul shoves the truth serum into his mouth. Seeing he swallowed it, Razogul becomes serious as he questions him.

    "Wait... from what religion are you?" Jin ask as he hastily deactivates Stolz's possession. Jin's face suddenly went pale as he cover his face. "Is not because of my devil aura right? Ah! I still emit demon aura even if I'm just a half. I'm very sorry, I really need the concealment robe asap."

    "Where are you from?"
    As he says this question, the man bites on something in his mouth. Foam starting to come out as he dies. "...So, Shadow, guess this person had a backup plan in case he got caught. You know where this emblem is from? I don't keep track honestly."

    Razogul throws the cloak he had to Shadow.

    Shadow caught the cloak and quickly examined it.
    "Too generic, but my guess is from some of the many cult that has connection to the Holy Empire of Man. But then again...the symbolism is kind of too generic."

    "Hmm, oh well. Weird why they're out here though..."
    Razogul shakes off the feeling and makes a dark portal in front of them. "No use in worrying about it much, I take it we're done here?"

    "They might be scouting? or maybe planning to tame wyverns for a mount?"
    Jin ponders as he tilt his head. "No matter! were done~ just need to wait fro the spiders to finish disassembling the wyverns"

    "After we've done dismantling, yeah, we're done....Which is now..."

    Right after that, the sound of spiders came toward them as they gestured with tier mandible toward the pile of perfectly dismantled corpse. Shadow walked toward them and stored all of them inside his spatial glove.

    "Good. I'm done."


    "Well, guess I'm going first then."
    Razogul walks into the portal and goes back to the tavern.

    "Okay then~"
    Jin walks towards the portal but look back to Shadow, "Boss Shad please just send me the pelt in the tavern. Maybe it is a bit unique compare to a regular desert wyvern."

    "Sure thing,"
    said Shadow as he walked toward the portal, "I'll packed it nicely in a crate or something."
    He then entered the portal and disappeared into the tavern.

    @brasca123

    OOC: Thanks for the party~
     
    BlancFrost, AliceShiki and Razogul like this.
  15. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Sandy Desert|#SC1|C-Ranked|Slay 5 Desert Wyvern [150 G]
    ==============================
    "Welcome back, Jin-san, Raz-san, Shadow!

    Ah, uhn... Hi... Hikari... Sama? Uhn... Hikari doesn't know... Is it alright to call Hikari like that? But... Hikari calls Ran-sama and Yukari-sama like that too, so... Hi... Hikari thinks it is... Alright?" *blushes* "It still feels weird for Hikari though...

    Eto... Ah, the quest! E-everything seems good on it! Though Hikari was quite surprised to see Jin-san being able to hold a wyvern's jaw by himself!" >.<

    "The reward will be of 150G divided between the 3!

    Please take care, okay?"

    @shad12ow @Razogul @JinVodka
     
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  16. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

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    Delta Town|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 100 Rats [100 G]
    Delta Town|#GE1|E-Ranked|Gather 10 Chickens [20 G| 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town|#GE2|E-Ranked|Clean Barnacles from hull [40 G]
    Delta Town|#GE3|E-Ranked|Fish 5 Speedy Tunas [80G | 1 x Speedy Tuna Fillet]
    Delta Town|#GD1|D-Ranked|Gather 10 Lumber [100 G | 3 x Wooden Plank]
    Blablablabla...
    Jk.

    Etto,
    After taking these quests from a certain receptionist, I left to Delta Town.
    There, I needed to kill some rats.
    All I need is 100 traps to kill 100 rats.
    Easy?
    Not really.
    First, I didn't have any money. So, like any other sensible person that might-or-might-not have come from a certain island country, I lent my clothing for a clothing expert to study for a cheap price of 20G.

    After that long hour, I used 10G to buy traps.
    Not wanting to kill the rats, I modified the traps.
    Not kill the rats? Why?
    Because, rats are very intelligent animals. That means that they can be trained. Yet, how would I train these rats?
    You gotta read on to find out.

    With 10G, I could only buy 10 traps, but that's okay.
    In modifying them, I broke 9, but that's okay.

    With the one (incomplete) trap that I have now, I can do it all.
    But, first, I need to finish the trap.

    That's where the lumber comes in.
    Lumber can be found on the outskirts of Delta Town, or any city really, so I just went there.

    I activated Holy Light, commanding the trees to prostrate themselves before me. (effectively cutting them off)

    A burst of light came out of my body.

    Nothing happened.

    As expected, that didn't work. Now I need to spend an hour to charge the skill.

    Sigh, why did I do that?

    In the end, I picked up fallen branches.

    They were blessed with my Holy Light, so they should be better than a regular branch, and therefore sell for a high price.

    Putting the branches into my item box, I remembered something.

    That I had an item box in the first place!

    That was obviously a godly item; what kind of person conceived of the idea to give it to every newcomer???
    Or, maybe, the Guild's just way too rich...




    I feel like I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I took all the large boulders in sight.



    I returned to the town, and asked around for people collecting rare woods.
    NPC1 apparently was, so I went to his shop to sell my branches.

    Nothing. They're just regular branches.

    ...

    Who put this on hard mode!?
    In the end, because the branches were pretty healthy for the area, he bought all of them for 1G.
    Yay.

    Now, I went to the harbor, and looked for a shallow, secluded area.

    Speedy tunas must be called speedy for a reason, so they must be ha—
    Eh, who cares.

    In that shallow, secluded area of the harbor, I released the boulders, effectively separating that area from the rest.

    Then, I slowly drew the water in.

    ...

    Yay, 42 flopping almost-dead fishes.
    I easily put them in my item box.

    Leaving 5 fishes in my box to turn in to the Guild, I sold the other 37 for 98G.
    Yep, the Guild makes a huge profit.

    Needing a wood plank, I just bought one off of someone else for 6G.
    With that, I finished my 100-rat trap.

    I bought bait (cheese) for 3G, and waited an hour.

    ...

    100 rats caught.
    You see, rats are smart and able to be trained. But, they aren't that smart. That means that they are the perfect targets to tame with my Holy Light.
    I activated my cr*ppy skill, and the rats looked at me as if I was Kami-sama.

    Idiots.

    I'm a ******* nekomimi.
    Though, I only became one recently, and can't eat rats, I am still part cat.

    I released them out of the trap, and brought them to the forest just out of town. I made some motions (I won't say because they're too embarrassing) and the rats bit me out 10 trees.

    Item box.

    Clean out barnacles?

    Just use the rats.

    Get chickens?

    Rats.

    Kill 100 rats?

    Holy Light + Rats.

    Of course, along the way of killing the rats, I made new rat subordinates.

    Quests Clear.
    Notes:
    Gained army of rats
    Killed an extra 5947 rats
    Gained 100G from extra sources
    Known in the town as "Strange Person with the Rats"

    @brasca123
     
  17. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Delta Town|#SE1|E-Ranked|Slay 100 Rats [100 G]
    Delta Town|#GE1|E-Ranked|Gather 10 Chickens [20 G| 5 x Eggs]
    Delta Town|#GE2|E-Ranked|Clean Barnacles from hull [40 G]
    Delta Town|#GE3|E-Ranked|Fish 5 Speedy Tunas [80G | 1 x Speedy Tuna Fillet]
    Delta Town|#GD1|D-Ranked|Gather 10 Lumber [100 G | 3 x Wooden Plank]
    =====================
    "Welcome back... Uhn..." *peeks at his card* "Akira-san!

    Let Hikari see the report..."

    ...

    "Eto... Hikari is... Conflicted... Hikari is haopy that Akira-san was able to kill so many rats... Though also surprised that there were this many rats in Delta Town on the first place...

    However the guild prefers to not overkill, so as to not damage the environment... At the same time, they're rats, so... It should be okay... Try not to overdo it next time, alright!?

    The fishes are similar... Though Akira-san did sell them to the people of the town, so it should be okay this once... Do-don't make a habit out of it, okay!?" >.<

    "However... Hikari has no idea how Akira-san cleaned the barnacles or got the chickens, so... Hikari will have to fail those, okay? Hikari is sorry for the inconvenience...

    The final reward will be of 280G, 3 Wooden Plank and 1 Speedy tuna Fillet.

    Please work harder next time!" >.<

    ((Hmmm, for some OOC notes.

    It's okay to use the rats to do things for you, but describe it a bit, alright? The impression it gives if you describe it with just "use rats" makes it feel like you just got lazy midway... It doesn't need to be much, the part you did for the lumber is already good enough... It doesn't help that I can't imagine rats being able to capture chickens alive, or cleaning barnacles of a ship that is docked... I mean, they would fall on the water! >.<

    Also... 5947 rats!? What's up with this crazy number!? I do realize rats are a pest, but it's only a single town! It's as if you wiped all rats from the town in one go! Be a bit more reasonable! >.<

    Hmmm what else... Oh, and about the gold, it's all good to find gold on quests and use it as you see fit, just don't put it on your sig, okay? Only put the gold you got from quest rewards or event rewards or other players on the sig, so as to let us have a better control of the flow of money. (When making transactions with staff/players, you only use gold in your sig)


    Lastly... I loved the story! It was really funny and your character was really easy to get attached to! The part of making the trees bow for you was hilarious!!!

    Keep up the good job! I hope you had fun writing it!!!))
     
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  18. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

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    Etto, I kinda don't want to tell how I got the rats to clean barnacles because it's sort of embarassing...
    I maybe got on all fours and ate the barnacles? I maybe fell into the sea 31 times?
    Anyways, the rats ate the glue that stuck the barnacles to the hull. Rats, though idiots, are surprisingly versatile, you know? They can even walk on the hull with surprising ease.

    As for the rats... Sigh, do you know how many rats there are in ships??? 90% were foreign rats from visiting ships, sigh. A plague might come to Delta Town soon, please be careful of invading pests.

    The chickens... You know the saying that ants can take down an elephant? No, you shouldn't, since you're from this world... Umm, well anyways, a chicken surrounded by 100 rats will eventually go down, especially with me there.
    No need to mention how I spent 8 hours running around town trying to catch a first chicken so the rats would imitate me... There's a reason for the "Strange Person with the Rats" you know?

    (OOC: Thanks for the compliment :)! Glad that someone enjoyed it. Yeah, I did just get lazy at the end, but maybe the explanation that I gave cleared it? If you need more, I can always write it.)
     
  19. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    "Oh... Uhn... Hi... Hikari is sorry for asking Akira-san to share it then...

    Eto... Generally we don't change the rewards after the report is given though... But... Well, it's the first time, so it's okay, Hikari will give the rest of it! Akira-san will also receive 60G and 5x Eggs aside from the previous rewards! Make sure to put it on the report next time, okay?"

    ((*giggles* It's okay, there is no time limit for the quests, so you can just finish it later if you're feeling lazy! ^^)/

    Oh, and as I said IC, we don't usually alter the rewards once they were given, it was more of a first time bonus.

    Nice to see you liked doing it though! Have fun!!! \(^^)/))
     
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  20. NiQuinn

    NiQuinn 『Optimistic Pragmatist』

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    After arriving at Aeternus, I immediately proceeded to the Guild hall and headed straight for the receptionist's desk. Walking to the front, I rang the bell and gave my report.

    "Good day. Just finished with these ones."
    • Desert Mine|#GD1|D-Ranked|Mine 12 Mithril Ore [60G | 1 x Mithril Ingot]
    • Desert Mine|#GC1|C-Ranked|Mine 12 Orichalcum Ore [200G | 1 x Orichalcum Ingot]
    • Sandy Desert|#GC2|C-Ranked|Gather 10 Young Desert Worm Hide [160 G | 2 x Pristine Desert Worm Hide]
    • Sandy Desert|#GC3|C-Ranked|Gather 10 Desert Dolphin Hide [200 G | 2 x Pristine Desert Dolphin Hide]
    • Sandy Desert|#SC1|C-Ranked|Slay 5 Desert Wyvern [150 G]
    • Ant Nest|#GD1|D-Ranked|Bring 3 Ant Corpses [110 G | 1 x Arachne Silk]
    After successfully filing for the quests, I took a day off and returned to the designated inn made to be used by members of the Guild. The room I had rented out the first time I got here was still the one I occupied to this day. The familiar sight of the furnishings inside made me sigh in appreciation. Come to think of it, I haven’t had a proper rest since even the last raid. Where had the time gone?

    Speaking of which, that Adventurer Graveyard. I couldn’t get my mind out of it. To be sure, the whole event was surreal but it was more what Grave and Digger had said to me before I was sent away from that place.

    "But then you appeared, Miss Fae."
    "Such a huge surprise."
    "Death, indeed, so faraway."
    "Northern Child defies."

    "How silly."
    "How queer, Miss Fae from the North."
    "Can't you see those three lines,"
    "Marking your dear throat?"

    The thing with fairies, from my experience at least, though they had the inability to lie, they wouldn’t blatantly tell the truth as it was. It was either they were speaking senseless or they were speaking the truth to your face. I felt like they did both that time I encountered them which was what was troubling me.

    Three lines to my throat? It was a belief by some that the controllers of fate had an invisible lasso on your throat to signify your inevitable death. Did three lines to the throat mean I had three chances to die or was it that I already died three times? Neither was a comforting thought. It suddenly made me wonder if the imprint in my mind had some connection to it.

    Then again, I might be overthinking things. Deciding to leave that aside for now, I rechecked my current inventory and made a mental note to drop by the Tavern and get some rations for my trip. Afterwards, I cleaned my daggers, though they didn't really need it, and then inspected my armor. Still in good shape.

    Once all the checks were done, I decided to get an early dinner before turning in to sleep. It was a long day tomorrow so better to start it off as soon as I could manage. I made another round of checks and once I was satisfied that everything was in proper order, I finally retired for the night.

    I rose the next morning even before the sun was out. This early, one would think it would be cold outside of the inn but the temperature was actually very pleasant. It was probably thanks to Aeternus' tech.

    With the Tavern open in all hours of the day, I was able to acquire some good rations for my journey without trouble. Normally, I was fine settling with dried jerky and the like but Pierre, the tavern's chef, would have none of it. Instead, I had an array of different sandwiches that didn't seem very practical to bring to a journey in the desert.

    "They have a cooling effect," said one Adventurer who saw my confused face. "He gave me a set last time I went to the desert."

    Judging by what he said, he meant that literally. Taking the food without complaint, I went on my way. Travel was made convenient thanks to the teleportation circle in the city. The array was a familiar technique and was somewhat similar to the one we had at our temple except the execution was different.

    This was a transfer to a connected circle. Ours was akin to ripping through the intended location. Back home, I was known to be a voracious reader but even then, I knew very little about arrays despite the extensive collection at the temple. I knew how to repair one but to make a new one from scratch was a whole different matter.

    That aside, I reached Desert Village without mishap. It was not a bustling place with it not really having a heavy presence in trade. Still, even at this early hour, people were already moving about getting ready for the day. Majority of those I saw were carrying weapons. Local hunters off to find some game.

    Being that this was my first time here, I decided to head for the town's watering hole. In places like this, gold or coin wasn't considered precious. Instead, water was the main commodity.

    One of our affiliated temples was located in a desert and though I had only visited it a few times, I learned quite early on that people in places like this didn't gather in a tavern to listen for news regarding the outside. Instead, they congregated around the main watering depot where people would often be found chatting together and exchanging stories with each other.

    When I saw the map back at the Guild, I suspected that the main watering area must have been the lake near the village. Much to my relief, I had been right on the mark. Even this early, people could be found loitering around getting ready for the day.

    Some had buckets to take home, a few were filling their jugs before leaving for their errands, while others led their animals here and directed them towards a beast enclosure where some water trough was set aside for them. It was where all of them most likely started and ended their day. I wondered what kind of lifestyle they had here. Despite knowing some people who grew up in the desert, I still knew very little and held a healthy dose of curiosity for how they lived.

    Suddenly, someone called out to me making me lose my train of thought. I looked ahead and saw one of the men come out from the animal enclosure. Though his face showed wrinkled features, his physique belied his age what with his muscular and healthy build. His undershirt made for armor plus his sturdy boots, leather gloves shoved haphazardly in a back pocket, as well as a harness of some sort strapped like a vest over his shoulders made me conclude that he must have been one of the hunters in the area.

    "Adventurer?" He asked sounding rhetorical. After all, there was only one array here and it was in the direction I came from. I answered anyway.

    "Yes, I am."

    The man eyed me. Not in a rude way but more like he was judging my capabilities. "What you here for?"

    I told him the specifics of my quests in the order based on the route I planned on last night. He gave me a pensive look. "Is it your first time here?"

    "Yes. How do people usually handle quests here?"

    "Well, depends on you but we're more than welcome to share the load. Others from your city go at it alone. The rest ask help from the locals." He then gave me another look. "We've learned not to judge people from your city so I won't even insult your itinerary. You need help going to the mines?"

    "I do, actually. I grew up in a mountain surrounded by woodlands. I know very little about the desert so I don't know what to expect when I go out there."

    "Well, I can think of two ways you can get there. One, you can follow the river and it will lead you to the mines. Two, you can go a bit circuitous and traverse open desert.

    "The former, I don't particularly recommend because that's a little too close to the Ant Nests. They can get territorial about that section of the river. While the latter route has quite the number of beasts, it would still be preferable over a horde of ants because the creatures that live there are more predictable in their habits."

    "The problem is, I know very little about the animals here so I don't know what to look out for."

    The man looked like he was thinking hard. "What are you good at?"

    Surprised at the sudden question, confusion followed. "I'm sorry?"

    "You said you were going hunting for wyverns. Have you hunted anything like it before?”

    “Something similar to it. The one I faced in the past didn’t have wings though. You asked what I was good at. In regards to fighting, I’m good at close combat. I have a skill that can pierce through thick hide from a certain range.” I paused to think about it. “I don’t know if this is relevant but I have high sensitivity to mana and a certain energy source called the ignis.”

    “What are the things you can do with that sensitivity of yours?”

    “I can sense the locations of living things to a certain range.”

    The man gave me a dubious look. “Can you give me an example?”

    So I did. Concentrating on the mana and ignis flow in the area, I focused on my surroundings. Much to my surprise, it seemed as if my range had grown wider and my sensitivity did grow stronger. Was it due to breaking that first layer of imprint in my mind?

    Feeling motivated by this new discovery, I started to dictate my findings.

    "There are six animals in that enclosure, two of which are juvenile. There are currently fourteen people around the immediate vicinity of the lake. Also, speaking of the lake, it's deeper than it actually looks. Midway to its bottom, there seems to be an area where a school of fish have settled guarding a nursery of their young. At the bottom, bigger fish reside. As to what kind there are, I don't know.

    "I realize that you can't really tell if I'm telling the truth in regards to the lake, so let me point to areas nearby that can prove the validity of my statements. That man in red carrying two buckets has a small rodent-like animal in his waist pouch. The dried up bush in the corner of that house has a snake hiding in its confines. There's a spot in the roof of that small house that has a nest of birds-"

    "Ok," Said the old man suddenly cutting me off. I realized then that others had been listening to us and were now wide-eyed as they stared.

    "I do have a pet with me," replied the man in red. "It's called a Jaculus." He opened his pouch and out came the head of his pet. "He helps in alerting if there is a dangerous reptile hiding away in the shrubbery."

    "That house you pointed to that you said had some bird's nest," came the voice of the old man who was interrogating me. "My wife and I live there so I know what you're talking about. That's pretty impressive skill you have there."

    For some reason, his expression turned excited. "Cagleya!"

    "Yeah?" Answered a man sitting to the side.

    "You think your brothers might be up for some dolphin hunting?"

    Suddenly, the young man started to grin. "You know we're re always up for some dolphin hunting."

    With a delighted laugh, the old man turned back to me. "Before I say any more, let me introduce myself first. My name is Garret. I lead a group of hunters in charge of providing meat and hide for the village. For what we can’t get from trade, we get from open land. It’s a very dangerous job so usually hunting parties are carefully planned and scheduled. We were supposed to go for a heavy load in a few days but there’s no problem doing it a little early if you don’t mind helping us a bit.”

    “What do you have in mind? I'm Levana, by the way.”

    “Good to meet you, Miss. As to the original plan, we were just going to hunt for some wyverns today but with your help, maybe we can squeeze in some dolphins too. If you lend us a hand, we can guide you to the mines and we can do some errands of our own while you get what you need. Dolphins come out roughly two to three hours after midday but wyverns can be found easier late into the afternoon."

    I was relieved at the suggestion. That would allow me all morning to finish mining. "I have no problems with that. How long is the travel to the mine?"

    "If we make good time, under two hours but barely. You need to prepare? My crew is about ready to head out in ten minutes."

    Judging by how he threw out such precise times made me realize how professional and experienced his team was. Garret had a no-nonsense way of speaking and carrying himself that made people listen. Hopefully, this carried out in his work as a hunter.

    "I'm good to go anytime," I replied as an answer to his inquiry.

    "Great!" Garret gestured to a woman by the animal enclosure and she approached with a curious glance. "Drina, this is Levana. Levana, Drina. This person here is one of my hunters. She's a beast tamer who takes charge of our mounts. Drina, you know what to do. Excuse me for a bit. I need to make some preparations."

    I turned to the woman who was now smiling at me and noticed that she was shorter than my height by roughly a foot. Her long, dark brown hair was braided and coiled around the back of her head in a thick bun. The woman was attired to the nines with weathered but sturdy armor.

    "Let's head back a little towards the river. We have a building there housing our beasts. We need to get us a Jag."

    "A what?"

    "Jaglit. Big feline with rabbit face and ears. Or, you could even say big rabbit with a huge, feline body. Most of the villagers think its features are more feline though." Seeing my incredulous expression, Drina laughed. "You'll understand when you see it."

    And she was right. The jaglit was indeed a huge feline with rabbit ears. It was fascinating. The top of my head reached just up to the middle of its shoulder and I was five feet, seven inches tall! The animal's sand-colored fur had hazy circular patterns and it had a long, wispy looking tail.

    Taking it all in, I really was overwhelmed. Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Drina laughed again. "They look ferocious but their main diet is mainly cacti and desert rodents."

    "Cacti?"

    "Yes. You didn't hear wrong. They eat cacti - thorns and all. Good thing those are easy enough to plant around here."

    I felt useless as I watched Drina equip the jaglit with mounting equipment. I noticed the saddle was longer and had three distinct grooves on it, the last one more pronounced and had raised edges that had holes separated a good distance from each other.

    Noticing my curiosity, Drina explained while making quick work of the multiple harnesses she was fastening. "The saddles we use for jaglits are good for two people. Single saddles are more of a custom make. You see that third section at the back? That's for additional equipment like ropes, hooks, nets, etc. The multiple holes to the sides are used to have cords loop through to tie the equipment secure."

    Drina paused to double-check that the straps were done right and pulled the animal along to go to where the others were. She then continued to talk.

    "Your addition to the hunting party is actually good timing. Garret was debating going single saddle for this trip which means an extra jag to the group and more feed to bring for them which can be a hassle. This one was left at the building because the boss couldn't decide. Before you came, we were a total of eleven people. Garret was thinking of either leaving one of us out to keep the jag to five or going with six mounts with eleven people.

    "There are a lot of underlying reasons why he was worried about leaving out a member. One, said member would have no cut in payment because he's being left out. Two, each member of the hunting party has a specific and important job to do. With your sudden participation, though there's an added mount, the extra expense would be justified. We can't afford to be wasteful in the desert."

    Drina didn't really need to explain all this to me but I appreciated it anyway. Turning to look at the jag she was leading, I couldn’t help but ask, “Is there something I should know about riding a jaglit?”

    “What experience do you have with mounts?”

    “I’ve ridden a horse, a juvenile direwolf, a domesticated black comodo, but mostly red caped elk that is indigenous to the mountain where I grew up.”

    Drina gave me a dry look. “You’ll be fine then. Jaglits as mounts are easy enough to navigate. Despite their fierce face, these animals are pretty docile. Plus, it’s been trained well and quite domesticated. They’re very loyal and would go so far as to defend a rider it's known a while. Plus, those big, rabbit ears? That’s the important part. They can hear danger from miles away so they’re a huge help against land creatures. Wyverns though are still a threat because they tend to ambush from high up.”

    I made a point to take note of the important parts as we finally arrived where Garret and the rest were making the final checks. Upon seeing us, Garret approached me. “We’re about to set off. It would be great for us to leave before the sun’s out. You can ride with Drina. Is that okay?”

    “No problem at all.”

    “Great. Now, let me give you a quick rundown of the team. You’ve met Drina. She’s one of the team’s beast tamers. During the trek out, she handles the animals and usually carries half the feed and necessary items for the mounts. The other half has gone to Zane, the other beast tamer, who went ahead yesterday and is already out at a checkpoint in the desert with the rest of the team. You’ll meet them later.

    "Then, we have the three spears. Vallis, Moret, and Reza."

    I took the most distinguishable characteristic they had to help me remember them.

    Black-haired. Bald. The only other woman in the team.

    "Our gunners. Quaid, Shen, and Tex."

    Short. Long auburn hair in a low ponytail. Blue eyes.

    "Trappers. Fitz, Hobs, and myself."

    Heavily bearded. Only has right leg, wooden from knee down on the left. Garret, the old-timer.

    "And finally, Cagleya. He and his brothers are expert lurers. They bring the big game to us."

    Youngest in the group, rather effeminate.

    Garret further added. "The rest you'll meet later in the afternoon. I hope it's not too overwhelming." He turned to the rest of his team. "Everybody, this is Levana. She'll be helping us out today."

    We didn't take too long with the pleasantries simply because we really didn't have time for that. When I approached the area where Drina was, much to my surprise, I saw all of the back ends of the saddles on the jaglits were filled with items. With the equipment being segregated evenly, the load wasn't too much for the mounts.

    Drina was already on the back of a jag. Seeing me approach, she pulled me up to my seat once I put my foot on the stirrup. I plopped down on my spot behind the beast tamer and immediately grew impressed by the height. This might be a bit rude but I wondered how Drina managed to climb up when it was so high. Before I could even dwell on that thought, the jag trotted off.

    Considering how big our mounts were, our group sure made for an intimidating party. Drina and I were at the back while Garret and Quaid, sitting on the same jaglit, were leading at the front. From our position, I could see the others whispering to each other. I had a suspicion about what they were talking about and just as I decided to ask Drina a question, a solitary figure from a few yards out was riding back to the village from open desert.

    Intrigued, I gestured towards the stranger. “What is he riding? I’ve never seen an animal like that.”

    Drina, seeing where I was pointing, replied, “That’s a gryffid. An avian type mount. Flightless bird as you can see. Also, that gold part on it’s forehead? That’s not added armor. That’s actually bone fragment and is considered the gryffid’s horn. Only males have those. The females have flat, feathered heads. They’re famous sprinters and they can even travel far but they’re more temperamental than the jags. They’re meat eaters and they burn food fast so you have to take quite a lot with you if you plan to go far. That’s not much of a problem if you can hunt some rodents along the way.”

    Before Drina could say more, Garret's voice rose from the front of the group.

    "We're entering the outskirts. Keep close! Remember, be alert and trust your mounts. The mistake from last time will not be tolerated. We're off!"

    With that acting as a signal, all the jaglits went on a run. The impact was not as jarring as I thought it would be but it was still a bit disorienting to be on the back of such a wild and fast animal. Though its speed at the moment was indeed quick, it was obvious the jaglits were merely running at a leisurely pace. What was it like, I wondered, to be on the back of a jaglit at its top speed?

    Exhilarating, I was sure.

    As we got farther away from Desert Village, I eyed the people riding on the other mounts and controlled my curiosity. Despite the very welcoming way I was introduced to the group, I found myself becoming suspicious.

    Why would a seasoned hunting party welcome an amateur into their fray? It was strange. Not only did it not make sense but it also showed a recklessness that they didn't portray. I had barely shown any real skill but I was invited to help them along anyway.

    True, Garret had asked some questions but even then, the inquiry was sparse. In any case, I didn't feel any I'll intent from any of them so I didn't really have to worry that much. It was going to be a long day and it would hardly do me good to be anxious this early.

    Seeing the sky in the horizon starting to change color, I braced myself. Of all the things I was going to do today, I was not looking forward to the heat of open desert the most. Though I did have a hooded cloak on me, that would hardly negate the hot beat of the sun. Dreading it slightly, I made sure my cloak was secure and hoped for the best.
    As I suspected, the sun was unforgiving when it showed itself. My hooded cloak had no real special quality but it did do its purpose of keeping me protected. It was still very early in the day so the heat wasn't actually that bad yet but, later in the afternoon, I was sure it would be worse.

    Along our journey to the mines, we encountered a few beasts. In the immediate vicinity surrounding the village, it was mostly a mix of large lizards, jackals, and even some rhinos. The first two looked as if they wanted to cause trouble but mostly stayed away. While the rhinos simply minded their business and was lazily trudging along. There were other critters about but our large mounts mostly scared them off.

    Drina mentioned that at this hour of the day, it was mostly safe to travel near the river after passing through Ant Nests, though it might be circuitous. Though there were a lot of animals by the water taking their time hydrating, they were too preoccupied to do much else. Eyeing their young, taking precaution against other predators, and plainly relaxing because the day, even for animals, was just starting.

    As much as possible, people who lived in the desert left them alone during this time. True, with them being this defenseless, the animals were easy pickings. However, the locals feared that if they started to encroach during this time of rest for the animals, then the daily habits of this place would change too much. If the animals ended up too cautious, they might not want to live in the area making hunting for meat harder.

    Thus, the animals were respected and given their due. Everything had a proper balance. It would do nobody well to mess that up.

    All-in-all, the travel to the mines was mostly uneventful. There was no real reason for the animals to bother us. Six jaglits on the run were not easy prey.

    We reached our destination a little under two hours, as Garret had declared earlier. The animals were led to a drinking hole made for mounts while everyone took the little bit of time to stretch out their limbs. No matter how used they were to riding out with these beasts, it was still quite taxing to the body.

    "We'll come back for you around noon," Garret said as they got ready to go out again. "We're going to be meeting some traders a little North of here."

    "I'll make sure to be finished with mining by then."

    Once we got that out of the way, they left to do their business and I proceeded towards the inside of the mines to do mine. At the entrance I encountered a man who looked to be resting.

    "Good morning," I greeted once I was close enough to the stranger.

    Seeing me standing there, the man appeared confused at being approached. "Is there something you need?"

    "I was wondering if there was a sample of the ores in this mine available for perusal? It's my first time mining some things and I need to know what they look like."

    "Is that all? Well, there's a small hut inside where some ores are stored. You can check there."

    After thanking him, I went inside to look for said hut. It wasn't difficult to find. Shabby though it was, the small shelter stood out despite it being made from the wood the same shade as the rockface behind it. One would think it would blend well into the environment but the fancy lanters by its entrance ruined the view.

    Not wanting to waste time, I entered the hut and actually saw a shelf filled with ores on the wall opposite the doorway. It seemed that this hut was actually made just for this. A sort of guide for people like me who had no idea what they were looking for. I didn't recall seeing something like this in Gallant Mine but then again, I never needed the help with the crystals. Elemental items were easy enough to distinguish. Raw ores, however, were something I never really had the opportunity to look for myself.

    Even before I had entered the hut, I had already sensed the fire and earth crystals stored here. The raw items were too small to be of worth to anyone so I wasn't surprised nobody took them out. Ignoring the crystals, I focused my attention on the ores.

    Surprisingly, there was a hint of earth and fire mixed into all of them. Both of which probably helped in the smithing of the ores. Come to think of it, the presence of the two elements wasn't really that shocking. After all, these were ores.

    Taking a piece of copper, mithril, and orichalcum, I tried to 'read' what I could from the raw materials using my mana and ignis sensitivity. To my amazement, copper had a bit of wind element infused into it. Was that why it was highly conductive to electricity? Wait, even the orichalcum ore had some wind element attribute as well and it seemed richer than the one for copper. Mithril on the other hand was rich in earth, fire, and water. Fascinating. I wondered why it was that way.

    In regards to mana content, mithril was the richest, followed by a well-balanced ratio in orichalcum, and copper having the smallest. As for ignis, I was memerized when I sensed them flowing quite energetically in the ores I was examining.

    For copper, it went and swirled in small circles. In mithril, it zig-zagged in dizzying patterns. Orichalcum, meanwhile, was a lazy wave that went up and down seemingly reminiscent of the waves found in the ocean.

    Normally, it wouldn't have been possible for me to sense these things so well but ever since I made a conscious decision to use my Miko skills again, it somehow ratcheted my sensitivity higher than before. I couldn't understand the connection and the reason why it happened but I was more than happy with the benefits it gave me.

    Once I was sure I could differentiate the ores properly, I returned them to the shelf and left the hut. After grabbing some mining instruments, I went deep into the tunnels in search for some much needed ore.

    Among all the quests I had taken, mining was by far the easiest. All I had to do was to follow the flow of ignis crawling along underneath the rockface until I found what I needed. Add the fact that my sensitivity to mana and ignis had heightened, finding ore deposits became faster than when I first had mined.

    Copper was plentiful. So much so that I decided to grab a few for myself. Then, came mithril. It was surprising how fast it was for me to find a healthy deposit of the ore but even then, gathering twelve good sized ones was hard work. Copper and mithril mining ate up a good three hours of the morning. I had two hours left for a healthy leeway until Garret and the others came back. I could push for three but that would mean I would finish exactly at midday which was cutting it close.

    Not wanting that kind of scenario, I pushed myself to end this part of my quest quicker. It took a bit until I found a rich orichalcum vein so I dove into work the moment I pinpointed where it was. Thankfully, it was actually an easier dig than the mithril set. Orichalcum, even raw, was quite the tough ore. As hard as I hit the rock, there was no fear of me destroying the orichalcum underneath. In fact, I was more cautious because I was liable to break my pickaxe instead.

    Finally, I managed to finish the mining of orichalcum ore with time to spare. In total, I mined 10 copper ores, 17 mithril, and 17 orichalcum. The extras, I planned to keep for myself in case I might need them for emergency projects in the future.

    Feeling the pressure from wanting to finish on time slacken, I felt myself relax and decided to take an early lunch. It was very peaceful here and far more quiet than Gallant Mine with all the Adventurers there. Here, not too many occupied the tunnels making the sound of steel hitting rock far lesser.

    The sandwiches Pierre had given me were delicious. No surprise there. The quiet atmosphere and great meal was a wonderful reprieve from such arduous work earlier.

    Occasionally, when the rare Adventurer would pass by where I was, they would give me an odd look but upon seeing the familiar sandwiches from the Tavern, they looked envious. They probably hadn't thought of dropping by there for rations before going out for a quest. Such a shame. Pierre, despite his serious character, liked spoiling his regulars.

    Meal done, I went on my way and soon enough, I left the confines of the tunnels and reached the entrance to the mines. With nothing left to do, I decided to just take this moment to rest up. I could tell that the afternoon would be quite busy and this was probably the only moment I would have to myself.

    The wait only lasted for roughly twenty minutes until I saw the tell-tale signs of jaglits heading this way. Making sure my cloak was securely wrapped around me, hood up as protection from the sun, I walked out and waved at them when they neared.

    Even from afar I could tell they were fewer in number. When they got close enough for me to see the riders clearer, I noticed trappers Fitz and Hobs as well as the spearmen - Vallis, Moret, and Reza - were absent. In fact, even the effeminate member, Cagleya, was not here.

    As if to explain their absence, Garret said once I rode the jaglit led by Drina, "They went ahead to set up traps for the dolphins. That way, work will be quicker."

    Afterwards, Drina handed me some tinted goggles. "These are for you. Sun's particularly vengeful at noon. The brightness on the sand could give your eyes some serious flash burn."

    "Thank you," I replied quite pleased with the item. "I didn't even consider such things to be an issue."

    Which was careless of me. Kane, my husband, lived in a temple atop a snow-peaked mountain. Sun reflecting on pure white snow could cause permanent damage to the eyes. At worst, blindness. Was it any wonder then that the sands could do the same?

    Again, I said thank you for the goggles and wore them immediately. Now, the desert didn't look so daunting anymore with these protecting my eyes with a haze of dark tint that made the sun seem relaxing rather than hurtful. It was too bad it did nothing to negate the heat.

    Once the jaglits took a few mouthfuls of water from their designated watering hole outside the mine, we then left for open desert. This would be my first time in such a place. Rather daunting if I did say so myself.
    It didn't take us an hour to reach the area Garret had mentioned they had set traps in. It was a region of the Sandy Desert a little North-East from Desert Village. From afar, I was able to see rods planted in the sand in a semicircle that might have been two hundred yards in diameter. Once we reached a close enough distance, I found that the rods were knee-high of the jaglits, waist-height for me.

    I refrained from asking what they were for since I was sure it would be explained to me in due time. Majority of the people present were faces I had seen at the village earlier today. Six among them, however, were strangers I had yet to meet.

    "Levana!" Called out Garret as I dismounted the jag. "I’d like you to meet the rest of the team.” I approached them and the old hulking leader immediately started pointing out the new faces. Again, I made a point of remembering a distinct characteristic each of them had.

    "This here is Zane, our other beast tamer."

    Wavy, shoulder-length brown hair.

    "Cagleya's brothers, Hal and Zelig. Experts at baiting game."

    Quite good-looking duo. The former had a long scar from left jaw straight up to temple. The latter had sharp, striking eyebrows that made him look wicked with his grin.

    "Heavy handed spearmen, Jaren and Ulan."

    Long, dark hair in a bun. Wearing very little armor compared to the others.

    "Finally, the last trapper in the team, Neiv."

    Had a coiling snake tattoo that started from his right shoulder and circled down to end with its head on the back of his hand.

    To summarize quickly, Drina and Zane -beast tamers. Trappers - Garret, Fitz, Hob, and Neiv. Gunners - Quaid, Shen, and Tex. Luring specialists - Cagleya, Hal, and Zelig. Spearmen - Vallis, Moret, Reza, Jaren, and Ulan.

    That was a lot to remember but I was used to these things. It took a village to kill a named oni. It was a common saying among the oni hunting teams of our affiliated temples. There was more than one occasion where I was forced to work with people I didn't know. I had to learn early on how to remember names and to which person it belonged to every time it necessitated for my team to work with many others I met on the spot.

    Even trickier was the fact that people had used pseudonyms due to the danger it posed of shouting another person's name. After all, an oni's driving force was to steal a name and use it for its own. True, it was useless if it wasn't the owner themselves who said it, but knowing a name would whet an oni's appetite in stealing one.

    Back to the topic at hand.

    "How are we going to go about doing this?" I asked Garret while looking at the rods I had sighted earlier.

    "Normally, we'd start with having the luring specialists to find some dolphin pods. The problem is, the main tracker is currently working with a nomadic family to gather some pelts for their clan. Which is why," Garret paused and gave me a smile. "Your ability is important today.

    "Mind you I'm a little skeptical but if this does work, we'll be hauling quite the catch. After all, dolphins are in season."

    I appreciated the fact that he was honest enough that he didn't quite understand what I could do. The possibility of having a big haul must have overruled his diffidence about me. That was still a huge gamble if one thought about it.

    "Do you have a general idea where to start looking?" I asked as an afterthought.

    Garret took out a map and showed me the spots where the dolphins would usually be in. After talking a bit more about today's strategy, I was then led to where Hal was and readied for the main event.

    My main objective for today was to join Cagleya and his brothers to ride out and bait the dolphins into the inside of the semicircle. The rods, apparently, were specially made items that had a unique effect of stunning the dolphins in particular. They weren't normal rods that produced electricity. I had no idea how it worked but it was a commodity desert hunters priced quite highly or so I was told.

    After quick preparations, the four of us went on our way as Garret and the others made final checks on their traps and firearms. We had taken two jaglits. Cagleya riding with Zelig while I rode with Hal.

    "How exactly do you lure a pod of dolphins?" I finally asked once we reached a good distance away from the main group.

    Hal reached into his small bag located at the lower end of his back that was secured to his waist. He then showed me an object about five inches in length that looked like the tail-end of a rattlesnake.

    "We put this in a protective metal cylinder designed to amplify its sound, bury it under sand, and have the cylinder tied by rope on a jaglit. It mimics the sound a cleaner scarab makes. It's the dolphins' main prey. Very simple bait and tackle but it's worked well."

    "Cleaner scarab?"

    “Insects the size of a toddler’s head. They live in swarms of fifty or higher. Reason why they’re called cleaner scarabs is because they feed off of the molts of a desert worm. One molt from an adult desert worm can feed a swarm for half-a-year. Though they also sometimes go for animal carcass, the molts are their usual go-to food.”

    It was rather daunting to hear that. Not the fact that cleaner scarabs were that big or the fact that they would eat leftover molting from a desert worm but the fact that it took them six months to finish an adult desert worm’s sloughing. They were insects and were supposed to be relentless eaters but even then, half-a-year? How big were fully grown desert worms exactly?

    There was no time for me to ponder about that because we finally reached a certain location where we had to prepare the lures. The brothers showed me certain tracks that were evidence of dolphin activity and I took special note to remember what I was being taught. Once the baits were tied to the jaglits, we were off again.

    “I need you to tug at the rope of the lure when I give you a signal,” said Hal suddenly. He was the one holding the reins of our mount so he was rather busy to do much else. He further explained, “The mechanism is such that when you give a good pull on the rope, the rattle will stop. Pull it again and it will start. You’ll know if it works when there’s a slight vibration to the rope attached to the cylinder. For now though, we need to look for the pods.”

    “I understand.”

    Hal then started telling me that a healthy pod was at least eighty in number and since there was apparently a rise in cleaner scarabs in the area, they were expecting three times that number. Despite the fact that I thought Sandy Desert wasn’t all that big, I was still amazed at the sheer number of the animals living here.

    “Even though we’re considered good trackers,” Hal suddenly said out loud, “it’s still hard to look for those dolphins. They’re considered to be playful and mischievous animals but when they keep to themselves under the sand, it ends up as a gamble when we go this way and that. Staying in the desert is extremely exhausting so we take particular care with how much time we take on in hunting for prey.”

    Understandable. The heat alone would deplete a person’s stamina. This was tiring work. Tapping at his shoulder, Hal looked back at me. “Stop the jaglit. I’m going to try something.”

    Though he did look confused, he pulled the reins causing the jaglit to slow to a stop. Hal signaled for the other jag with his two brothers to wait for a bit. “What are you planning to do?”


    “The one thing Garret decided was worth the gamble.” He looked surprised and even more so when I held on to his shoulder and stood up on the saddle. Cagleya and Zelig approached with their jaglit and looked at me in confusion but I ignored them. Instead, I turned my eyes to the horizon and studied the landscape.

    The tinted goggles were a godsend as it allowed me an unfettered view of the pristine sands. It looked like a desolate view but upon tapping into my ignis sensitivity, I was surprised at how much life there actually was underneath the dunes. Small critters, insects, and snakes among other things. However, what mattered was the flow of ignis in the very terrain of the desert. What I found was rather shocking.

    Ignis flowed rich in the leylines of the land. From there, it crisscrossed into tiny little veins so thin it might as well not be there. It spread like small, unending tendrils of electricity that breathed life into the soil. Here in the desert, however, those lines were nowhere to be seen.

    Instead, a rich stream of ignis flowed in certain directions under the sand leaving certain parts devoid of the life-giving energy. I was perplexed and it must have shown on my face because the three men with me looked even more confused now. Concentrating harder, I tried to make sense of what I had felt just now.

    There it was. The streams of ignis reminded me of a river flow but then there were spaces under the sand that drew blank in my mind. Why was that there? It took another minute until I thought of a conjecture. Those blank spaces didn’t look permanent. Maybe because it was sand and it tended to not remain stationary? In certain areas, the ignis intruded in that blank space and it reminded me of worn out treads on dried mud where constant passersby smoothed out the soil over time. Was it the same case? Was that blank space actually signs of the underground animals’ constant usage? Well, it did make sense in a way. That blank space devoid of ignis appeared like a big tunnel in my mind.

    “Miss Levana,” called out Cagleya with an inquiring tone. “Is everything alright?”

    I nodded absentmindedly at him. “I’m trying to find signs of the dolphins.”

    They looked even more perplexed at this. Hal gave his brothers a serious look that stopped them from asking more and I appreciated that. After a few minutes, I returned to sit on my saddle and pointed north-west. “There. Head in that direction.”

    Much to my surprise, they didn’t even question me about my command. I couldn’t control myself and asked Hal about it. He answered simply, “Garret had told us to trust you until proven otherwise. Besides, we got here earlier than expected so we’re ahead of schedule.”

    I smiled at his frankness and we didn’t say anymore as I continued to direct our route. This went on for a while until I sensed something different. Suddenly, I gave Hal a strong tap on the shoulder. “Stop the jaglit.”

    Hal signed to his brothers and glanced at me in question. Pointing at a certain place, I said, “Dolphins that way.”

    There was a pause then he gestured for his brothers to come closer. “Can you tell how many?”

    I closed my eyes trying to get a better sense of them. “I’m losing count at thirty. We’re too far out for me to get a proper number.”

    Hal turned to his brothers. “You two go in first. We’ll go silent on the first rally.” He turned to me. “They’ll be the ones to start the bait and tackle. We’ll be taking turns to make the dolphins exert as much energy as they can. The stunners work better on a fatigued dolphin. It will be a bit of a challenge. Usually, we have four teams for this to take the load off but the others are helping out a nomadic clan to gather some pelt for the winter. We’ll have to make do with what we have.

    “I’ll be leaving the rope for you to handle. When I tap on my thigh like this, it’s a signal for you to pull on it to either to turn the rattle on or off.” Hal made me try it for a few times to get the hang of it. “Drina told me you have experience with mounts so I don’t think it will be much of a problem but I still have to remind you to be alert. Jaglits are fast on a full run. Even more so on a sprint but we’ll avoid that to keep their staminas in tip-top form.

    “Jags could easily outrun the dolphins but, like I said, we’ll be using bait and tackle so we won’t be running in a straight line. We’re a little farther from the traps than I’d like but the team has had worse but this is your first time. Please do your best not to fall off the saddle.”

    “I’ll make sure to stay focused.”

    “Ok then.” Hal turned to his brothers. “Go.”

    Hal waited until his brothers were a good distance away before he led the jaglits in the same direction. Meanwhile, I did my best and concentrated on the dolphins. When we were finally close to the pods, Hal suddenly veered left and I watched as his brothers went right. I saw Cagleya tug at his rope and it was then that Hal spoke, “We’re going for a run.”

    And so we did. It was the first time I experienced the jaglit’s full-speed and it made my heart race. No wonder these animals looked so taken care of. The power of those legs were shocking. There was no time for me to fully appreciate it though. As great as our speed was, the startling number of dolphins I could feel on our tail was more pressing.

    Though I obviously couldn’t hear the bait they were using, I could tell that it was doing its job with them hounding Cagleya and Zelig’s jag. It was just that, I was overwhelmed at the number of dolphins there actually were in this pod. In the middle of counting the animals, I saw Hal tap at his thigh. Knowing that was my signal, I tugged at the rope and after a beat, felt a slight vibration on the thick cord. Almost immediately after that, the pod headed for us.

    It went on like this for a good while and nine exchanges later, I shouted towards Hal and hoped he would hear my voice despite the wind from our fast run. “The pod’s over eighty! I’m having a hard time counting about that!”

    I hoped he heard me and when he glanced back with a grin, I knew that he did. Since coming to this place, I haven’t had this much fun in a quest or at all. Reminded me so much of hunting expeditions in the forests back home.

    It took twenty minutes of a full gallop until we finally saw the rods. The stamina of the jags were almost shocking for me. I was worried we were working the beasts too much but they seemed fine even now. No signs of fatigue at all.

    From afar, I saw them getting ready with gunners and spearmen set in intervals outside of the semicircle. Garret stood holding something in his hand standing in front of the middle rod, right outside the curve of the traps. At this point, I had no idea of what exactly would happen next.

    There was no time to think about that as we got nearer each leap the jags made. Soon enough, we finally reached the trap that was set up but hadn't stopped with our full gallop. Just as the two jaglits carrying Hal, Cagleya, Zelig, and I crossed over the intended area for the trap, I looked back and finally saw my first glimpse of the dolphins of the desert. It was so surreal and even intimidating to see these grinning animals jump out of the sand and head straight for you looking for food.

    We were a few yards from the rods when I saw Garret hit the one closest to him with a small, metal club. A buzz resounded in the air and I watched as the rod glowed yellow. Then, the two rods closest to it changed and it went on in a continuous chain until all of them glowed yellow. By then, the two jags finally passed the entrapment area and was being led to jog around so that its fatigue wouldn't cause the animals to collapse.

    Everything happened so fast. The buzzing sound had intensified and the two hundred yards worth of prepared trap did its job magnificently. The ripple of the sand had stopped and I could feel that the a number, not all, of the dolphins had become stationary. The rest of the pod were trying hard to go back to open desert. It was at this time that the gunners and spearmen did their jobs.

    The former focused their attention on those above the sand while the latter used their sharp, hardy spears to target those still submerged under. It was a blind shot and Looking to Garret, I shouted, "I can help pinpoint the dolphins!"

    When he nodded at me, I jumped down from the jaglit much to Hal's surprise. The animal was still being worked so that it could finally stop to rest. I really had no time to be concerned about that as I rushed to where the dolphins were.

    "Don't step into the cordoned area," warned Garret quickly. "You need special boots to cancel the rods' effect."

    I nodded at him. "How long until the stun ends?"

    "We got a little over five minutes."

    After hearing that, I immediately activated Ignis Volley. However, instead of arrowheads or stakes, I created flat discs and sent them to locations where dolphins were plentiful.

    "Aim for the areas where the discs are!" I shouted as I continued to pinpoint areas where I felt the animals were. After I've successfully managed to place the indicators, I then changed the Ignis Volley back to the arrowheads and started targeting dolphins myself.

    It was a fast five minutes and by the time the rods lost their power, whatever dolphins were left alive in the enclosure retreated out into the open desert. I took that time to fire a few sets of ignis volley under the sand to kill any of the injured ones that were still alive.

    This seemed like a merciless thing to do but it was the way of the desert. Besides, judging from their talk earlier, dolphins were in season. As long as they didn't overdo it, hunting them was an acceptable task. One must always respect these things because in the end, the desert inhabitants themselves would suffer if they took advantage of indiscriminate hunting.

    Looking around my current companions, I could see that they were pleased with the outcome though they had no idea just how successful they were yet. I saw Drina and Zane ushering the other jaglits into the hunting ground to dig out the dolphins that were killed. While they were doing that, I approached Garret.

    "I count 24 dead under the sand."

    Garret looked at me in surprise. "You can even find corpses?"

    "Only if they're fresh. A day old and I would be useless. I can help with pointing out where to dig though."

    "Please do. The rest of us have to dismantle these rods as soon as possible."

    So I went about and did some more work. There was not much us humans could do. All the digging was left for the jaglits and every time they uncovered a dolphin, they would tie it up by the tail and have a jag pull it to the side where the bodies were left to lie in a row.

    The more they uncovered, the more the hunters looked excited. I supposed it was because this was an altogether successful hunt. Drina approached me with big smile.

    "Hal told me they found the pod early because of you. We're two hours ahead of schedule thanks to that."

    "I was only doing what I was supposed to." I looked back at the dolphins and asked what had been bothering me since earlier. "By the way, what are you planning to do with these dolphins? Isn't the meat poisonous?"

    Drina grinned. "Yeah. It's mostly thanks to their diet but that doesn't mean it's inedible. Hal's family has a way of preparing the meat that makes it possible to eat. Makes them one of the few families that are well-known for it. Aside from that, some organs are used for alchemy while its hide can be sold for a good price. Don't worry though. You'll get your share too."

    I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me at seeing her so excited. "How are we going to transport this?"

    "We won't really do anything. While you were mining, we went to a trade post to ask for their assistance. Some merchants we know will be coming with their own workers to make do with this lot. They're interested in buying and leaving whatever's our due. It's a win-win."

    It was then that Garret approached us. "Everything is settled here. Drina and Zane as well as the brothers will be staying to help out with the dolphins. I'm sure our talkative Drina has told you all about the merchants by now."

    Did he actually let me ride with her earlier to avoid having to explain things himself. Judging from Drina's sheepish grin, that was the case exactly. Garret laughed and I could tell he was in a really good mood.

    "How about the wyverns? Are the merchants going to help us there too?" I inquired skeptically.

    Garret nodded. "Once they finish up here, they'll follow our route towards the wyverns' hunting grounds. Hopefully by then, we've brought down a good number of the lizards for their boys to bring back."

    "When are we leaving?"

    "Right now. Unless you still have something to prepare? We're not taking jags this time so leaving early would be great especially with the dolphins out of the way."

    “I’m good to go anytime.”

    “Good! Sorry that this seems sudden. It’s been a pretty hectic day for you.”

    “Not more than the usual.”

    Garret laughed at that. “I can’t imagine being part of your Guild. That one sentence alone is making me feel exhausted.”

    I laughed. Garret excused himself as he had to instruct Drina and the others some last minute reminders and I took that time to mingle with the others. At our interaction I could tell how close they were to each other. They must have worked together for a long time now.

    Soon enough, Garret called for the rest of the team to set off. Waving goodbye to Drina and the rest, I listened absentmindedly to the others talking. I appreciated the fact that they also included me in their conversations. As we got further inland, however, we conserved our energy and remained silent for the rest of the trek.
    On our journey to our destination, I found out that one of the reasons why we left the jaglits behind was that it was to prevent the wyverns from hunting them down. The team didn't want to risk such a valuable mount as bait and put them in unnecessary danger. Besides, we were bait enough for those flying lizards.

    In that way, wyvern hunting was far more straightforward than the dolphins. No complicated bait, not much planning needed, but more firepower required in taking them down. As any animal who lived in the desert, wyverns were opportunists and as such, would target our party the first chance it got.

    Having seen what I could do with Ignis Volley from earlier, I was relegated to work with the gunners. Though not as powerful as the firearms I had seen some Guild members use and not as hi-tech, the rifles the desert hunters used still packed enough punch to apparently bring down a wyvern if one knew where to shoot. Not kill, just debilitate enough for the spearmen to finish them off once they got close to land.

    It was a delicate operation in a sense that the trappers had to act fast if their help was needed. Carrying specialized harpoons, they went for the legs and not the wings. True, targeting the latter seemed to make more sense but the price in the market for undamaged wing membrane fetched a higher cost than a torn one.

    The journey to our destination was an uneventful trek. Much to my fascination, we reached an area of the desert that had hard packed, cracked soil instead of the loose sands the dolphins swam in. A little bit further and we arrived at a shallow ravine with a series of winding pathways walled in by some rock outcropping that rivaled the buildings from Aeternus in height. We continued to go deeper into the narrower areas and it took us roughly an hour until we reached the other end of the ravines back to open desert.

    “We’re waiting here,” announced Garret suddenly. “Get your things ready. Once the wyverns fly-by, none of us will have time for a breather.”

    It was only at this moment that I took off my goggles. The sun was at an angle now that didn't hurt the eyes when it reflected off the sand. Looking around, I saw the others were actually quite relaxed and even laughing about one thing or another.

    It was from this lull of preparing for the upcoming wyvern hunt that I found out that, though we were indeed early, the wyverns were still going to arrive their usual time. That was still a while yet so I took this time to talk with the others. I mostly stayed silent as the group told stories of their past ventures but they would always segue the conversation to me. It was during one moment of this that Garret asked me what else I had on my agenda.

    “After hunting the wyverns," I replied. "I still have to go to Ant Nest to get some ant corpses and I also have to find some young desert worm hide."

    Garret frowned at that. "You might not be able to get all that done within the day."

    He sounded truly concerned and it didn't take me long to find the root of it. Staying out overnight meant added expenses. Though I had only agreed to help with the dolphin and wyvern hunting, Garret seemed to have been treating me as if I was a normal comrade. Had he forgotten that I was from the Guild? Our members don't really go by the normal rules of society. Funds were not my highest concern at the moment.

    Just as I was about to assure him that I would be fine on my own, Garret suddenly spoke, "Why not hunker down with some merchants we know back at the trade post tonight? You can then start off bright and early at Ant Nest. It's a tricky place and going there at night would be dangerous. We'll put in a good word for you. We owe you after the big success with the dolphins."

    It sounded like a good plan. After all, I had no idea what to expect at Ant Nest. As much as my newly improved senses were a big help thanks to my mana and ignis sensitivity, it would hardly matter in the face of an ant horde. Especially with ants probably as big as a cow.

    Thanking Garret for the offer, I accepted his suggestion. Afterwards, talk among the group resumed. I hadn't even realized they had been listening. It seemed that they grew interested with the idea me going to Ant Nest by myself. They regaled me with stories of how the desert people considered it as one of the most dangerous places here. Even the biggest predators of the desert steered clear away from it. That was understandable. Ants could take down prey five times its size. Though I had idea how the ants from Ant Nest behaved, I thought it prudent to treat their threat level as if I was more than likely to become their meal if I wasn't careful.

    Time passed in a rather leisurely pace and it seemed a bit surreal that we were just biding our time until the wyverns passed through. From what I understood from their explanation, at a certain time in the day, the winged animals would always pass a route that seemed more by necessity rather than by habit. As to the underlying reason for it, I wasn’t able to ask being that Garret finally motioned for us to get our gears ready.

    The speed at which the others reacted was impressive. No questions asked, they checked their ammos, inspected their spears, and even helped each other with their armors. Meanwhile, I took this time to remove the cloak I had been wearing since earlier and unsheathed both my daggers. I then contemplated which gem to use in my right dagger and immediately ignored Flint of Oya as one of the options. So, it was either go for a paralysis effect or one that would cause them to slow down. I turned to Fitz, a trapper who was closest to where I was standing, and asked.

    “Are wyverns susceptible to paralysis?”

    “Not very.”

    “How about slowing them down via weapon effect?”

    He thought for a bit then nodded. “That could work.”

    Good thing I asked. I’ll go with Futen no Shōkan then. Slotting the gem in my dagger, I watched as it started to glow a vibrant green. The main reason why I didn’t even ask about my fire gem was because the effect it had was a slow burn. It worsened over time. Not an ideal situation when the main objective for the wyvern hunting was to kill as many as we could at the shortest amount of time possible. After all, the animals were just passing through. Undoubtedly, they would come for us once they saw us but if we proved to be too much of a hassle to take down, they’d leave without preamble.

    Ironically, with the slow effect my gem can give, it will make the wyvern to be an easier target. Even then, I was sure it would still prove to be a difficult task. The team was doing this for their livelihood so, as cautious as they would be, Garret and the others would want to take down as many as they could today. For me, honestly, I just wanted my five kills for my quest list.

    Suddenly, I felt them. Looking up at the sky, I could see a dark cluster was heading towards our location. The trappers, upon seeing them as well, took out some old wineskin in their travelling pouches and poured all of its contents out on the ground. The coppery scent was a dead give-away. Probably some blood from the dolphins earlier. Albeit it was primitive but incredibly effective as, even from this distance, the wyverns were swooping lower to the ground.

    During that time when we were mostly resting, it had been discussed that they were forming teams of four with myself adjusting to whichever team that needed my help. It seemed unfair but after seeing the flexibility of my Ignis Volley, Garret thought it prudent to use it effectively during this hunt. I had no qualms about it. In truth, I wholly supported the plan. Dragon scales were vastly different from rhino hide so having my ignis arrowheads going at it was something that I needed to test out.

    The wyverns were fast and once they arrived at a certain distance from us, I finally formed the ignis arrowheads until I reached the maximum that I could manage which was fifteen. Gunners readied their rifles and the spearmen solidified their stances. Some trappers were brandishing broadswords ready to hack and slash at the beasts speeding our way while the others had their harpoons. The wyverns were coming in from open desert, behind us was the ravine. They were closing in quickly.

    500 meters...300...100...80 meters...60...50...40...30…

    Finally, when it reached to roughly 20 meters, I let the Ignis Volley fly. I had aimed for their eyes and most, if not all, had hit its mark. That quest with the crows and cyclops was proving more valuable than I thought. Three wyverns had gone down while four had merely been stunned for a moment. The others I had not gone for were shot at by the gunners while the spearmen waited for their moment. Not all the wyverns had bothered with us. The rest remained high in the sky and flying away to wherever it was they were headed to. That was a good thing. My last count was at twenty-eight aiming for us. Hopefully, the number wouldn’t rise because if it did, we were in trouble.

    Now focusing at the task at hand, I prepared more Ignis Volley and kept letting them fly towards the wyverns. The three I had effectively blinded were now rampaging in fury and were coming at us on all fours, the tip of their wings acting as their front legs. It was a slightly disturbing sight but the urgency of the matter brushed that thought quickly aside.

    The three teams of four finally made their move. Each rushed to a group of wyverns while I remained slightly back to check who needed some backup. It was a task I had to seriously concentrate on. It was an incredibly delicate operation. The reason why Garret opted not to go too far from the ravine was so that we would have a route of escape if we needed it. With that in mind, we couldn’t run around willy nilly at the risk of getting too far. However, as hard as it was, I preferred this kind of confrontation rather than the one with the dolphins.

    Occasionally during the skirmish, I would rush in with my Specter Guard activated and attacked with a barrage of Soul Cleaver, Smite, Rend, Ankle Biter, and even a close-ranged assault of my Ignis Volley. We needed to be relentless with these kinds of animals. Thankfully, two out of five I had attacked did get affected by my gem and had their movements slowed down. Pair that with Ankle Biter and the spearmen had a field day.

    There was no time to count the fallen wyverns because as more of them fell, the angrier the rest became. Teeth and claws came at us and even strong gusts of wind as some of the beasts would flap their wings at us. If we hadn’t been prepared, we would have gotten blown away by now. The trappers did good in keeping an eye out in that regard and warned us ahead of time.

    I could tell that when we started, the others had been worried about whether or not I could keep up with them. The dolphin hunt earlier was a walk in the park compared to this. However, this compared to oni hunting, subjugating wyverns was akin to a tea party. Not that I was belittling the difficulty. It was just that, with these animals, it was a straightforward hack and slash kind of confrontation. With onis, one had to worry about not letting a whisper of its voice enter your mind. Its tempting offers could lead one to sell their soul. Add the fact that they’re as intelligent as a human child, had the brute strength of three cyclops combined, knew how to cast spells, and also the fact that they had the capability to taint souls.....wyvern hunting really was like a tea party then.

    Knowing that I was more than competent in keeping up with the group, the teams freely did as much damage to the wyverns as they could. Meanwhile, I had to weave-in-and-out to places where I was most needed. It was during one of my sneak attacks that I felt something was different. It took almost immediately for me to realize what was wrong. Some of the wyverns were starting to fly off. I had no time to worry about that as everyone made sure to take down the ones they were facing right now. Our attacks grew more determined and even the trappers who had been more careful earlier were now stepping into the front lines.

    Just as the last of the wyverns we were fighting fell lifeless on the ground, I finally managed to look at our surroundings. The other beasts had really flown away. They had finally decided that we weren’t worth the trouble.

    The team gave a victorious shout and I couldn’t help but smile at that. I had weathered better than the majority of them who now sported fresh cuts and bruises but the wide grins on their faces took center stage. Eleven dead wyverns. More than I needed for my quest and more than enough for the group judging by their jubilant expressions.

    Neiv, one of the trappers, took something from his pouch that looked like a wooden tube with a rope dangling at the end. Pointing it up towards the sky, he pulled the cord and a signal flare shot up leaving a bright orange smoke trail at its wake.

    “For the merchants,” Neiv explained after seeing my confused expression. “They’ll be the ones lugging this lot to the trading post.”

    "Be on guard!” Garret suddenly shouted to all of us.”Bandits are still a concern.”

    With that being said, we remained vigilant. While the others were keeping an eye out, the rest were arranging the corpses of the animals in a neater pile to make it easier for the merchants later on to take them. Moret and Jaren, two spearmen, had taken the task to slice off the wings and put them aside in a different mound as the others. Just as they reached their eighth wyvern, the merchants finally arrived with five flatbed wagons. I wondered how we could ever manage fitting eleven worth of wyverns in there.

    Silently, I stayed to the side and watched as the hired hands of the merchants did quick work on the animals. Their cleavers were frighteningly sharp as it only took two slices at the most to completely cut off a wyvern’s leg. Faster than I thought was possible, they loaded everything on the wagons and even had room to spare. Clearly, they were used to this kind of job.

    Afterwards, I was quickly introduced to Garret’s merchant friend and he thankfully allowed me to go back with them to the trade post as the others were heading back to Desert Village. Though the sun was still out, the sky was already at the point of dusk and I couldn’t help but be happy at how much I accomplished today. I haven’t had a busy day like this in a long time. It really was a good feeling to be so productive.

    For tomorrow, all I had to do was head for Ant Nest and get my much needed ant corpses. As for the young desert worm hide, Garret had told me not to worry about it. Apparently, they had an excess of that at storage and had promised me the amount I needed. I felt strange at being given something so freely but he had insisted that I more than earned it after what I had done today.

    Though I was still a bit conflicted about it, Garret had told me to look for them at the village tomorrow when I returned to take my share and head back to the portal to Aeternus. It seemed sensible enough so we said goodbye for now.

    It was quite late when we finally reached the trading post where numerous tents had been set up for what must have been for the merchants. They were arranged in groups and each clump had a flag at front and center that indicated the insignia of their temporary shops. The one we headed to had what I can now recognize as two gryffids at the sides of what looked like a fancy crest that had a cleaver at its center.

    Weaver Cleavers, a tannery known in the desert for their wide variety of goods. I wondered about their name but refrained from asking. It was explained to me anyway. It had started off as an inside joke but was wholly spread before they could even file for a legal name for their store. To save themselves of the effort, they kept the name and it had stuck since.

    It was in their company that I stayed. They even told me that the materials from the animals we successfully hunted today would be sent to the Village tomorrow. I didn’t know what kind of agreement they had with Garret but I was glad I was going to get my share.

    The night was not a quiet one being that this was a trade post. Everybody was busy doing business and I was told that the reason for that was because majority of the merchants here were leaving in a few days. So, whatever they could finish, they did so without rest. Though I did think it sounded a bit counterproductive, I didn’t question them since it was their business after all.

    Once I was finally shown to my little corner in a tent after a good dinner, I decided to turn in early. Ant Nest was a bit far from the trade post and I had no mount tomorrow. Another early day. I didn’t mind that at all.
    Unexpectedly, the following morning, my hosts here at the trade post had prepared some rations for me. It was a sweet gesture that made me smile. With a good start to my morning, I then set off for Ant Nest. Like yesterday, I left while the sun was yet to rise. The dark was slightly gloomy plus the cold morning wind on sand was the only thing I could hear. It wasn’t a particularly strong breeze but I still had fabric wrapped around my head to cover my nose and mouth. It was a scarf called a shemagh given to my by the merchant back from the trade post. My hood was up as well and it protected me from the occasional sand that was flying about.

    It was a mostly uneventful trek and it wasn’t until half-an-hour after the sun rose that I saw some animals out and about. I had decided earlier on to head for the river that bisected the whole of Sand Desert. It was there that I saw some animals having their fill of the water. At times, even an occasional juvenile wyvern could be seen gulping down a mouthful.

    The scenery was somewhat a pleasant sight owing to the fact that the animals kept to themselves. It was a sign of a healthy environment that the big predators like the wyverns were not lunging for the coyotes or other creatures meandering about by the water. At the very least, they didn’t seem to be hard up on food.

    Of course, I had to take in the fact that it was still very early in the day. Reptiles, like the wyvern, basked in the sun to keep their metabolism going. This might be a lazy time for them with the sun barely showing its true might in the desert.

    Taking my cue from the animals, I kept to myself and walked on. The hike lasted almost four hours until I saw from a good distance away some tall rock formations that I knew to be the signifier of Ant Nest. When I was finally a few yards from the sedimentary formations, I paused to take in the sight before me. The size of these rocks were majestic. I felt so small in comparison to them.

    After taking a deep breath, I continued on and made sure to be extra careful in this place. The more I got deeper into Ant Nest, the more I felt myself getting nervous. I could sense them. So many ants scuttling along underneath the ground I was walking on. What made me jumpy wasn’t the amount of them but rather the size of each individual ant. They were huge! Add that to their sheer number and equaled to a volatile mix.

    Feeling the palpitations of my heart getting a little out of hand, I wrestled with my nerves until I was calm and clear-headed enough to get what I came here for. In the first place, I already had a plan. Ants were insects that lived in a colony. They were creatures of instinct and habit. Their actions were dictated by a certain drive to make sure the colony had enough to survive on. Also, they kept tabs on their colony’s health.

    That being said, ants that died inside the colony were taken out into a designated dumpsite outside of the tunnels and a bit of a distance away from any of their entrances. The problem now is to look for it. Scouting around, I took note of the entry points and even dodged a few ants I had sensed coming my way. The further I went along into Ant Nest, it became a constant thing to dodge and hide away from those huge insects. Being that I didn’t really need to go to the center of this place, I looked around near the edge of the colony hoping to find what I was looking for.

    Thankfully, I found it after a few minutes of careful scouting. If my memory of the map at the Guild hall served me correctly, I was at a part of Ant Nest that was North-East of the land’s cardinal directions. My assumption of the ants having a dumping ground for their dead was spot on. Their graveyard was a dug up pit that was very deep which I sensed with the ignis rather than saw.

    Hiding behind a boulder to the side, I watched as some ants were carrying their dead and dumping them off at the edge of the pit. There was no point to be hasty so I waited. To be careless now would be catastrophic. However, as time went on, the ants coming to the pit carrying a carcass never ended. Just how many of them died per minute? I sighed.

    Change of plans. Quick grab and run then. Making a mental check of my inventory, I realized that there was nothing in my arsenal that would work as an effective diversionary tactic. True I could use the explosive arrowheads given to me by another Adventurer but that wouldn’t be that effective so close to the center of Ant Nest. Again, I sighed.

    Planning out my route, I then activated my skill, Tuoni’s Shroud, and dashed ahead. As much as possible, I made sure not to make too much noise with my feet and avoided loose rock on my pathway. Tuoni’s Shroud only lasted for three seconds so before it lost effect, I leapt over the edge of the pit and slid down where the corpses were. Once there, I hastily hid away among all the insect bodies dumped there. It was a little nauseating but at least I was safe.

    Surreptitiously, I brought out my item-box-turned-pouch and took the needed corpses for my quest. As an afterthought, I took a dozen more and hoped I could somehow exchange some silk for these ants. Admittedly, I had no idea about the process and I felt a little bit stupid for not having checked the library first before heading out for this quest. That done, I waited for the right time to get myself out of here.

    The wait was excruciating. Especially so when I kept on hearing the click-click sound of those insects walking around to dump more carcasses in the pit. Frankly, the sound was goosebump worthy. These ants were like machines. The constant detour here seemed unending. However, once I noticed a minuscule gap of activity, I activated Tuoni’s Shroud again and sprinted upwards. Good thing the angle wasn’t that steep but it was still a harder task than going down. In fact, I had to activate Tuoni’s Shroud twice more until I managed to reach the top and hide behind a crevice in a nearby rock formation.

    Forcing myself to cast consecutive Shrouds had caused me to be lightheaded which was irritating. My mother had always enforced the idea of cool-downs. That small amount of time to allow your mana or, in my case, ignis to settle back down to a calm state allowing for a more stable cast. If she had been here, she would have reprimanded me with no mercy. Force casting was only done when in very dire circumstances. This wasn’t one of those. The fact that I did it just so I wouldn’t be noticed by the giant insects wasn’t enough of a reason that my mother would have accepted. I grimaced at that thought.

    From there, it was a slow journey out of the confines of Ant Nest and back to open desert. I heaved a huge sigh of relief once I was at a safe enough distance to rest. This close to the colony, there was no real animal threat I needed to worry about. Glad that this corpse gathering was out of the way, I finally headed back to Desert Village.

    Goggles and shemagh on, I trudged along the sands and even saw some dolphins jumping from dune to dune. The journey back seemed to feel faster now that everything that I needed to do was finally crossed off. Upon seeing the village at a distance, I couldn’t help but feel a huge sense of relief. Even though I had already sighted the settlement, it took a bit of time to get there. After all, I was traveling on foot.

    Reaching the oasis first, I followed its edge until I reached the part where the animal enclosure was located. Much to my surprise, a jaglit resting there came towards me and started butted its head on my shoulder. Because of its size, I had to make sure my footing was stable else I would have tumbled to the ground. Reaching up, I scratched hard under its chin and it actually closed its eyes, totally relaxed. I recognized this one now. It was the jaglit I had ridden with Drina yesterday.

    “Levana!”

    I turned to the person who called out to me and greeted the man with a smile, “Hello there, Zane.”

    He was surprised but laughed when he approached. “I was half convinced you’d forgotten my name. Not hard considering Garret bombarded you with that numerous introduction yesterday.”

    Feeling mischievous, which I rarely did, I started dictating the members of the group. “Trappers. Garret, Fitz, Hob, and Neiv. Spearmen and woman. Vallis, Moret, Jaren, Ulan, and Reza. Gunners. Quaid, Tex, and Shen. The brothers. Cagleya, Hal, and Zelig. Then finally, the beast tamers. Drina and you, Zane.”

    He was gobsmacked. Looking as if he lost a game he so badly wanted to win, he shooed me away. First though, he let me meet all the jaglits again and told me the names of the mounts. The one I had ridden yesterday was called Denali. After being told to head south of the village to where the others were currently hanging out at the residence of Cagleya and his brothers, I headed there.

    It didn’t take me long to find the place. There looked to be a crowd at the front of the building that must have been the house I was heading to. The gathering was lively and there was lots of laughter and jesting involved. To the side of the house, there was even a bonfire where numerous sticks were dug in the ground surrounding it, meat thick and juicy at the other end being cooked.

    A bonfire. At noon. In the desert.

    I grimaced at the imagined, unpleasant feeling of added heat in this place. As much as the desert fascinated me, I could definitely say this was a place I couldn’t live in. Approaching the group, I finally saw two familiar faces. It was Drina and Zelig, the former sitting snugly at the latter’s lap.

    They were whispering at each other and I could see Drina giggle at what he said. Not wanting to bother the two, I looked for somebody else. Almost immediately, Cagleya stepped out of the house and saw me approaching. With a huge grin on his face, he shouted back inside his house and soon after, Garret came walking out.

    The huge man approached me with a grin and gave me slap on the shoulder. “You’re here earlier than I thought! Did you get what you need? Are you in a hurry to leave?”

    “Yes, I did and, no. I’m not in a hurry to leave.”

    “Great! The merchants just got in about an hour ago and we’re just cooking some of the dolphin meat. You should try it. Don’t worry. It’s edible.”

    He ushered me to where the bonfire was and then detoured towards a table nearby. On it was an array of different dishes that was unfamiliar to me. Garret took a stick of skewered meat and handed it to me. Feeling slightly overwhelmed at this kind of greeting, I took the offered food anyway. Having been taught as a child to eat grub and other food others considered as exotic, this was hardly something that disturbed me.

    Taking my first bite at the black colored meat, the first thing that I tasted were the spices. Then, the real taste of the meat erupted on my taste buds. It was somewhat like liver with with the texture of beef. Oily too. I had eaten similar dishes back in the temple so it didn’t really bother me much. However, thinking of Kane, I knew he’d dislike this dish immensely.

    I had no moment to myself as more people gathered here with great excitement. They seemed to be celebrating something but as to what the occasion was, nobody bothered to tell me and I had not bothered to ask. People I had met yesterday and even those that I didn’t know came up to me and gave me desert delicacies for me to try. It was slightly overwhelming but I didn’t want to seem ungrateful of their hospitality.

    Finally, after all the people were sated, they had to excuse themselves due to them needing to get back to work. Desert Village had a small population compared to other places I’ve been to. It was the type of place that the residents themselves had to work hard to make sure their own village would stay afloat. Their lifestyle was something I was familiar with. My temple was somewhat like it. From clothing down to kitchen utensils, we all had to learn how to make them from scratch. Maybe that was probably why this place, as different as it was from my old home, was giving me very nostalgic feelings.

    With everybody leaving to go back to their jobs, I prepared to do the same. Garret, upon seeing me about ready to depart, took something from inside the house and brought it to me. It was a small, wooden crate and inside were the things promised to me and some extra pieces that weren’t included in my quest list.

    “These are too much,” I protested but Garret was having none of it.

    “This isn’t too much. This is more than fair. We also included the worm hide that you needed.” Seeing my troubled expression, he explained. “Let me put things in perspective. On a good day, we would, at best, be able to kill five dolphins. Even then, we finish overtime and barely make it to the wyverns and end up with three of those, maybe five at the most.” He paused to let me digest that information.

    “Yesterday, we killed a total of twenty-four dolphins and eleven wyverns all because you managed to find the dolphins quickly, helped us locate them under the sand which allowed us to finish quicker which then gave us more time with the wyverns. Like I said, these items are more than fair. Plus,” he took a small pouch from inside the crate and shook it. I heard the clinking sound of coins. “Here is 670 gold, your share from the successful transaction with the merchants.”

    Shockingly, I then realized I was very much low on normal gold. Gold from the Guild couldn’t be used in normal transactions so I was actually quite pleased upon receiving that. Thanking him about my loot, I finally said goodbye and promised to return for a visit. Because of that, I was told to keep the goggles and the scarf for the future. I lugged the small crate along with me and refrained from putting it inside the item pouch for now. I had no idea if they knew of its existence so brazenly showing it off didn’t seem like a smart decision.

    Taking a peek at the contents of the crate, I was pleased again at my productivity since yesterday. Hopefully, there were more days like it.

    The loot:
    • 10 Copper Ores
    • 5 Mithril Ores
    • 5 Orichalcum Ores
    • Tinted Goggles
    • Shemagh Scarf
    • 8 Wyvern Wing Membranes
    • 6 Dolphin Hide
    • 2 six inch wyvern hind claw
    • 670 gold
    @shad12ow

    I finally finished! :blob_coughblood: Like my character, I've always been fascinated with the desert and thought to have fun with writing this quest. I didn't expect it to get that long though :notlikeblob: Also, the links that lead to youtube vids of ambient sounds were something I searched out of curiosity coz I had no idea what it actually sounded like lol ~

    Just a reminder, sir o/ This quest was primarily to gather materials for my crafting request.

    :blobpeek:
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2017
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