Chapter 319 : Mainline Quest Rewards
Chapter 319: Mainline Quest Rewards
「Bzzzt一—
At the same time that Janna-Roland was feeling emotional, her fingers moved slightly, and dozens of threads imbued with the power of purification rapidly flew out from the dying tree in front of her, then quickly dissipated into the air.
「It’s finally———— over.」
Looking at the tree that had been completely cleansed of Dim Sun pollution, Janna-Roland could not help but feel a surge of excitement in her heart.
「Grow—」
Her slender, pale hand gently covered the tree trunk’s surface. As green light continuously surged from Janna-Roland’s palm, the tree, which had been sickly and leafless, began to sprout and grow leaves rapidly.
In just an instant, the dead wood was revitalized. The once-dying tree sprouted lush green branches and leaves, and even the ashen-gray bark regained a new sheen, brimming with renewed life.
「Ding—」
As the green light gradually faded, Janna-Roland removed her hand from the trunk, and right on cue, she heard the system notification sound that signified the completion of a quest.
【Mainline Quest: Save the Withering Life – Revive the dying trees in the Misty Forest (Completed);
Quest Rating: B-Rank
Rewards: Talent Experience +800, Skill Experience +2500, Mental Power +0.9, Luck +0.1, Insight into the Withering Law Fragment *1;】
「As expected, it’s an Insight into the Law Fragment—」
Seeing the third reward listed on the quest interface, Janna-Roland wasn’t particularly surprised.
However, when her eyes turned to the first two random rewards, her spirit suddenly lifted.
「System, open the character interface.」
The moment the character interface opened, aside from her already level-19 Witch Level, Janna-Roland’s gaze went directly to the “Mental Power” section under “Character Attributes.”
「It’s already reached 29.7——」
Letting out a soft breath, Janna-Roland calmed her emotions and closed the character interface. 「At this pace, I’ll soon break through to Third-Tier Witch Apprentice.」
Thanks to the generous rewards from the Mainline Quest, her progress, which was originally expected to break through by the end of the year, had advanced by several months.
Although it was beyond her expectations, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable. But as she looked at the newly appeared “Quest Rating” entry on the quest interface, Janna-Roland’s expression grew a bit odd.
「Why is it B-Rank?」
She remembered that the last time she completed the “Eradicate the Remnants of the Dim Sun Church” quest, the rating was A-Rank. Why did it drop to B this time?
Fortunately, the quest rating only affected “Talent Experience” and “Skill Experience.” The random quest rewards weren’t significantly impacted.
Shaking her head, Janna-Roland, who couldn’t figure out the so-called quest rating criteria, eventually closed the quest interface.
「Could it be that the trees I revived had some imperfections?」
At that thought, Janna-Roland’s eyes once again fell upon the tree she had just brought back to life.
「Or was it because I took too long to complete the quest———」
As Janna-Roland continued pondering the reason, suddenly, a sense of danger that made her hair stand on end surged into her mind.
「Bzzzt一」
Without any hesitation, accompanied by a flash of earthy-yellow light, Janna-Roland immediately activated the Well of Vortex, then transfigured into a green snake form and fled swiftly.
「That sensation just now must have been an early warning from Danger Perception.」
It wasn’t until the teleportation location of the Well of Vortex re-anchored at the vine tunnel’s entrance and she crawled out from a shield’s porthole that Janna-Roland dared to revert to her human form.
However, the chilling feeling from moments ago still lingered in Janna-Roland’s heart, refusing to dissipate.
「Was it the Dim Sun Church? Or some powerful shadow creature?」
As she walked quickly through the vine tunnel toward White Coral Academy, Janna-Roland kept thinking about the situation.
But there were simply too many possibilities. Unless she saw it with her own eyes, she would never be able to confirm whether that sense of danger had truly been aimed at her——
「Or could it have been a vampire?」
At that thought, Janna-Roland suddenly stopped in her tracks, her face turning grim.
After all, up to now, the only one she could truly call an enemy was the already-dead Vampire Baron Earl-Bloodred.
Moreover, when Anthony-Blackcrow had learned that Janna-Roland had comprehended the Growth Law Fragment, he had also warned her not to set foot lightly into the Shadow World. The reason being that the previous wielder of the Growth Law—Euphresia—was the archenemy of the Prime Vampire, the Bloodred Archduke—
「Haa一」Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Janna-Roland calmed herself quickly. She did not return to her dormitory immediately, but decisively turned around and headed toward the Magic Tower.
At the same time, in the Misty Forest—
Not long after Janna-Roland had left, a pitch-black spatial rift tore open just outside the Magic Tower’s barrier.
Immediately after, blood aura billowed out. A silver-white bat, no larger than two palms with blood-red eyes, lazily flew out of the spatial rift and landed on the very tree that Janna-Roland had just revived. A pink nose kept sniffing the tree.
「What a repulsive smell——」
Upon detecting the residual aura of life on the tree, the silver bat’s face twisted in disgust. But soon, its wings flapped rapidly, and it flew along the edge of the Magic Tower’s barrier, landing on a second lush tree.
「There’s some here too—though the scent is fainter.」
After flying to several more trees and coming to the same conclusion, the silver bat cautiously withdrew from the Magic Tower’s barrier, then gazed thoughtfully at the long line of “revived” trees in front of it.
「The power of Dim Sun has indeed diminished—though the effect is small, it’s a terrible omen.」
With that thought, the silver bat narrowed its eyes slightly, and a faint trace of amusement flickered across its blood-colored pupils.
「Earl-Bloodred was killed—life energy has re-emerged... perhaps, this isn’t entirely a bad thing.」
Flapping its wings once more, the silver bat, having completed its reconnaissance, didn’t linger. It blew out a puff of black mist toward the edge of the Magic Tower’s barrier, then swiftly disappeared into the spatial rift.
「Zzzz——」
Black mist spread, and foul air surged.
Any tree touched by the mist instantly sprouted countless black borers. As their numbers grew, the once-lush branches and leaves began to wither.
Soon after, the number of borers surged with the tree’s life force draining. In no time, the black aphids had multiplied from hundreds to over a thousand.