Chapter 47: Quest Rewards
Tyler paused, looking at the achievements hovering in front of him.
The panels faded, and he realized James was already several steps ahead. "Come on, let's go," James called back.
Tyler took a step forward, but out of the corner of his eye, a small System identification bar materialized in the distance, hovering low to the ground. He completely turned his head to the left, startled, half-expecting another monster ambush. His eyes narrowed. What is that?
The text was too small to read from where he was standing. He changed direction, walking toward the brush.
"Where are you going?" James asked, stopping.
"I'm just gonna check something out," Tyler said.
As he pushed through the foliage, he found a small cluster of vibrant flowers growing near the roots of a tree. They were a soft, almost glowing pink color. As he stepped closer, the small System panel expanded, clearly reading: [VITAL FLOWERS].
Tyler exhaled, a wide smile touching his lips. "These are Vital Flowers?" he muttered to himself.
James walked up behind him. "What do you want Vital Flowers for?"
Tyler looked over his shoulder. "It's an ingredient."
He looked back down at the patch and counted eight distinct flowers bundled together in the dirt. Almost every single one had seven or eight healthy petals. *These are perfect.*
He willed his inventory open. The flowers shimmered with a faint blue light and instantly vanished from the dirt, safely stored away.
James watched the empty patch of grass. "It's a good thing you have that inventory skill of yours. If you walked around just holding those flowers in your hands, you would definitely draw Hexhorns right to us. You'd get instantly attacked."
"Huh? Why?" Tyler asked, surprised.
"I don't know. We only know that Hexhorns absolutely love being around these flowers. They don't even eat them. At first, we thought that they liked their scent, but these flowers don't smell like anything at all."
"Maybe they just like the color," Tyler suggested.
"Maybe," James agreed. "Let's get out of here before more of them come."
"Yeah."
They started walking again, significantly increasing their pace to put distance between themselves and the Hexhorn territory. A comfortable silence stretched between them as they navigated the woods, both lost in their own thoughts.
*I have the wood and the hides*, Tyler thought, mentally checking his inventory. *I should probably craft everything I can right now so I don't forget about them later. When we reach the camp, that's when I'll allocate my stat points.*
Meanwhile, James’s thoughts were far darker. *What the hell happened back there? My stamina... if it wasn't for Tyler, I might have died. And I wasn't being careless. I knew I had enough mana to use my standard skill two or three more times. But I didn't run out of mana. I ran out of physical energy. Something's wrong.*
Inside Tyler's mind, the System panel appeared:
[CRAFTING]
He was already mentally queuing up the wooden bow. The circular loading bar filled up in less than two seconds.
[CRAFTING SUCCESSFUL]
Tyler checked his inventory grid and saw a small new icon shaped like a finely carved wooden bow. He smiled to himself. I'll see what it actually looks like when we get back. Now, what else should I craft?
After a brief pause, he mentally commanded, Oh yeah, craft Leather Gloves.
[CRAFTING SUCCESSFUL]
The notification appeared almost instantly.
That was incredibly fast, Tyler thought, physically bobbing his head backward in surprise.
"What is it?" James asked, catching Tyler's sudden reaction.
"Nothing," Tyler said hastily.
Is it because they're just simple leather gloves? he wondered. He checked his inventory again and saw the new small glove icons resting in a slot. It's not a glitch. I really did craft them.
I'll equip them when we get back to the base. He sighed, his posture relaxing slightly. Now that I think about it, even if my body healed completely, my armor still took a massive hit.
He looked down at his abdomen, inspecting the dark leather cuirass strapped across his chest. Instantly, a small durability bar appeared hovering right beside the leather:
[DURABILITY: 1%]
What? he thought, his eyes going wide. It's at one percent? But that was just one hit!
Then, he remembered the sheer, blinding pain. He remembered how the C-Rank beast had sent him tumbling violently across the dirt, slamming his body into a massive tree trunk with enough force to shake the branches. He rubbed his chin, his walking pace slowing. But then again... that was a C-Rank beast. If anything, I should be dead right now. Thank God I put some of those extra points into HP earlier.
He started to hear the rushing sound of flowing water and knew they were finally close to the river border.
Suddenly, a bright red System panel flashed directly in his line of sight:
[LEVEL 29 SLIME ACTIVATED SKILL: BASH.]
Immediately, Tyler heard a melodic, high-pitched "Kyuu!" launching through the air from his left.
Acting entirely on instinct, the silver spear materialized into his hand. He pivoted hard, swinging the heavy weapon in a full-force, spinning arc. He struck the airborne Slime perfectly midair, using the flat of the heavy spearhead like a blunt baseball bat.
The Slime was sent violently flying backward into a thick bush. Before it even hit the ground, it disintegrated into a cloud of blue dust, leaving only its dark core behind.
"That was close," Tyler sighed, lowering his spear.
James stopped, genuinely surprised by the sheer, blinding reaction time Tyler had just displayed.
Tyler walked over to the bush and peered inside. Resting on a bed of green leaves was the dark Slime core. Its smooth, glass-like surface reflected his face perfectly. He reached out, grabbed it, and sent it straight into his inventory.
"That was some impressive reaction time," James said, sounding deeply impressed.
"Oh, it's nothing," Tyler said, a small smile breaking across his face. "It was just a Slime."
They continued walking, finally reaching the muddy banks of the river. They stepped carefully over the wet, slippery rocks, skipping across the shallow currents until they safely reached the other side.
As they left the immediate danger zone, Tyler looked over at James, deciding to finally break the silence. "So. What skill did you get?"
"What?" James asked, genuinely confused.
"You became a C-Rank, right? I'm assuming you got a new skill since you ranked up."
"Oh, that." James sighed, looking straight ahead. "Well. It's a bit complicated."
"What do you mean?"
James let out another heavy breath. "Well, I got a skill. But I didn't expect to get that specific skill."
"What skill?"
James looked over at Tyler. "You saw the skill that I used back there against the Hexhorns?"
"You mean the massive slash skill?"
"Yeah. That one. The one that drained absolutely all of my stamina."
"Yeah," Tyler said, nodding as he remembered the destructive force of the attack. "That skill was incredibly strong. It looked bigger and far more deadly than the one you used before. Is that the new skill?"
James nodded in silence. He sighed once more, his shoulders dropping. "Yeah. That's the skill."
"So it's possible for a person to get a skill similar to the one they already have?"
"Yes. It acts like a skill upgrade."
Tyler looked at James, smiling encouragingly. "It looked pretty cool, though. It was so much bigger and faster than your ordinary skill."
"Cool, huh?" James murmured, a small, weary smile finally touching his lips. He stretched out his sword arm with a strained grunt. "Well, it's not all bad," he said, rubbing his shoulder. "As soon as we get back, I'm going to register as a C-Rank to officially upgrade my badge. Once I do that, I'll be able to accept C-Rank quests that have much better rewards."
"Really? That's great," Tyler said happily. "That's not bad at all."
Tyler looked ahead and saw a few other armored Hunters passing them, heading deeper into the monster zones. "Right. I almost forgot we're not the only Hunters out here, he thought. I guess I'm just so used to being completely alone, or just with James. It kind of feels strange seeing other people here.*
They finally stepped out of the dense treeline of the monster zones, the oppressive canopy giving way to the bright, open sky near the base’s entrance. Tyler could already see the large canvas tent of the Hunter Base in the distance.
He looked over at James, deciding to ask a question that had been running through his mind since the fight.
"James... you saw that your sword got damaged back there, right?"
James looked at Tyler, mildly surprised that he had caught that detail in the middle of the chaos. "Yeah. It did."
"So what are you planning to do?" Tyler asked. "Are you going to buy another sword? I think it would be a pretty bad idea if you went back into the monster zones with that one."
"It might break while we're still facing monsters," James agreed. "You're right."
He exhaled a long, tired breath, staring at his scabbard. "Hector's gonna be so pissed."
I
"Yeah," Tyler said, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips.
As they reached the massive canvas tent, Tyler stepped forward, just about to
enter.
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" James asked, grabbing his shoulder.
"Oh," Tyler said, his eyes widening in sudden realization.
"Let's go around the tent," James muttered.
They quickly circled around to the back of the base, checking to make sure no one was watching them. Finding the area completely empty, Tyler held out his hands. Two heavy D-Rank Hexhorn hides materialized instantly into his palms.
James took them, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. The hides were completely dry, almost as if they had been meticulously cleaned. They didn't smell of blood or dirt, and they weren't even slightly moist. The thick leather was actuallysoft to the touch.
"The hides..." James murmured, running his gloved thumb over the material.
"Must be because of the System," Tyler answered.
"Your System gives you a lot of advantages, doesn't it?" James said, giving Tyler a long look.
"Yeah. It does," Tyler admitted.
"Alright, let's go," James said, nodding toward the front of the tent.
They both circled back around. *I have a lot of Hexhorn hides in my inventory now, including the C-Rank one, Tyler thought to himself. Since it's C-Rank, it must be significantly tougher. So maybe I can make better armor with it later.*
James and Tyler ducked under the heavy canvas flap and stepped inside. Tyler saw Serena at the counter, talking to a male Hunter with short black hair. He was clearly accepting a quest. The Hunter nodded, and Serena gave him a warm smile. "Come back safely."
The Hunter turned and walked past Tyler and James. As the path cleared, Serena's eyebrows shot up in pure surprise as she saw the two of them approaching the wood.
"We're back," James said, dropping the two heavy hides onto the counter.
"Already?" Serena asked, staring in disbelief. She looked down at the materials. "Wow. When did you even have the time to do this?"
She picked up the top hide, flipping it over in her hands. "It's so dry and clean. How?" she asked, looking up. Her emerald eyes met Tyler's.
Tyler immediately avoided her gaze, looking down at the counter.
"It's sort of a long story," James deflected.
"A long story? But you came back so quickly. Usually, quests like this take hours. Did you buy them off another Hunter or something?"
"No," James said firmly.
"Excuse me," a deep, gruff voice interrupted from behind them. "Can you do things a little faster? I brought back the materials."
Tyler glanced back. A man with dark skin and short, cropped dark hair was
standing there, impatiently holding a heavy sack filled with leaves. Above the man's head, the translucent text hovered: [HUMAN LEVEL: 32].
*He's a D-Rank*, Tyler thought.
Immediately shifting into a professional demeanor, Serena took the Hexhorn hides and placed them on the floor behind the counter. She pulled open a heavy drawer, grabbed seven silver coins, and stacked them neatly on the wood toward James.
"You'll explain everything later," she whispered to him.
"Yeah." James turned around. Tyler gave Serena one last glance before looking away, following James across the room.
They sat down together on a wooden bench in front of a small, scratched table.
"Right," James said, holding the stack of silver. He looked over at Tyler. "Can you give me fifty copper coins so we can split it?"
"Huh?" Tyler asked, confused.
"I want to give you four silver coins. If you give me fifty copper back, it will be like we cut it perfectly, three-fifty to three-fifty."
"Oh," Tyler realized. He reached his hand into his pocket. Just as he was about to mentally command the coins to materialize from his inventory, he stoppedhimself, a deep frown carving into his face.
*Why am I taking this money when I owe him so much?*
He pulled his empty hand out of his pocket and looked at James. "You can take it
all."
"What?" James asked, genuinely surprised.
"I still owe you a lot of money, and I want you to have it all."
"I can't do that," James said, immediately shaking his head. "You put so much effort into this hunt. Not to mention that you saved my life out there. You should have your fair share of the rewards."
"No," Tyler insisted. "I already have enough money to get a room at the inn."
"Do you have enough money to eat something?" James pressed.
"Yeah."
James paused for a long second. He dropped his hand to the table and let out a heavy sigh. He looked Tyler dead in the eyes, seeing the unyielding, serious expression on the younger man's face.
"I don't think I can change your mind," James muttered. He scooped all the silver coins into his palm and dropped them into his pocket. He pushed himself up, his wooden chair scraping against the stone floor with a loud shriek.
"Are we taking another quest?" Tyler asked eagerly.
"No," James said. "You wanna take another one already?" he asked, looking down at him in disbelief.
"Yeah, I don't mind."
"Aren't you tired?"
"No. My energy refills every single time I level up, remember?"
"You never told me that part. I only knew that you healed, but I didn't know your stamina refilled completely."
"It does," Tyler said, standing up from the table.
"Sorry, Tyler, but I can't," James said, shaking his head. "I have to go fix my sword. Plus, I'm almost completely out of stamina because of the skill I used."
"Right," Tyler said, remembering the cracked blade. "Wait. Didn't you say that you wanted to upgrade your rank?"
"I was going to do that right now. Follow me," James said.
They walked out through the open flap of the tent and headed across the dirt toward the large, gray brick building. James pushed open the heavy double wooden doors. Meters in front of them was a sturdy reception counter. Behind it sat Sam
on a wooden stool, wearing a simple brown shirt, his blonde hair neatly combed
back.
"James. Good morning," Sam greeted him.
"Morning," James replied.
"Are you here to check your level again? So soon?"
"Yeah," James smiled slightly. "I feel lucky today."
Sam's gaze drifted over and landed on Tyler. "Oh, wait. Aren't you that guy who came in here the other day? The one from Lyria?"
"I am," Tyler said, offering a nervous smile.
"You're here to check your level again? Wait, you're a Hunter now?" Sam asked, his eyes catching the dark E-Rank necklace resting against Tyler's chest.
"Yes. I'm an Assassin."
"Wow. You look completely different. You built up a lot of muscle in the last couple of days. It must have been hardcore training," Sam said, looking over at James for confirmation.
"He went through a lot of training," James agreed smoothly.
Sam turned around and gestured toward the stairs. "Alright, follow me."
As James walked around the counter to head up the stairs, Sam looked back. "You're not coming?"
"No. He's the one checking his level. I... I'm okay waiting here," Tyler responded.
"Alright," Sam said, leading James up the stairs and into the main office.
Tyler sighed as they disappeared behind the heavy door. He leaned his forearms against the counter, tapping his fingers thoughtfully against the wood.
I'm a Hunter now, he thought, a slight frown touching his lips. But why do I feel like something's missing?
The very second the thought crossed his mind, the translucent System panel flashed in front of his eyes.
[CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING A D-RANK QUEST. REWARDS: +2 EXTRA POINTS]
[WEAPON RECIPE:] [1 MEDIUM STEEL INGOT + 1 SMALL STEEL INGOT -> KATANA]
[ARMOR RECIPE:] [1 LARGE STEEL INGOT + 1 SMALL IRON INGOT + 25 HEXHORN HORNS ->
OFFENSE SHIELD]
[ACCESSORY RECIPE:] [10 PIXEL FEATHERS + 1 SMALL BRONZE INGOT -> HYPNO RING]
[ALCHEMY RECIPE:] [1 CLOUD MUSHROOM + 5 VITAL FLOWERS + 4 BRUNISH LEAVES + 400ML
OF WATER -> ENERGY BOOSTER POTION]
*No wonder something felt off. The rewards appeared way later than usual*, he thought as he rapidly read the glowing text.
*A katana? Never thought I'd have that. This sword is actually famous back in my world.*
He scanned the other recipes.* So I finally get to use those Pixel feathers. Nice. I'll see if I can draw a skill from the ring as soon as I get back.*
He looked back up at the top of the stairs.* The only problem is... James wants to head back so early. But I don't blame him. He lost most of his stamina, and his sword is about to break. On the other hand, I'm so full of energy. I want to
go on more quests.*
He stared at the closed door of the main office, deep in thought.* This will help
me level up faster, I'll make more money faster so I can pay him back.* He turned around, resting his elbows against the counter and facing the double doors.* It's settled. Even if he goes back, I'll keep doing quests.*
*But while I'm waiting, I might as well update my stats.*
With a thought, Tyler's status panel shimmered into existence. His eyes narrowed in focus as he started mentally allocating his points.
*Hmm, my Strength stat and my Agility stat are close to reaching a hundred. Maybe
I could get them to 100 and see how strong it makes me. Maybe I could even get
an achievement for that.*
A small grin started spreading across his lips, but it vanished instantly. His face became deadly serious as a harsh realization hit him. The vivid memory of the C-Rank Hexhorn violently ramming its snout into his chest flashed through
his mind, sending him tumbling over the dirt, hot blood spraying from his mouth
as his back slammed into the tree. He shook his head to clear the phantom pain.
"I should definitely add more to Defense," he muttered.
He looked at his Defense stat, currently sitting at 82. He also mentally checked the +37 that had been passively added by his leather cuirass.
*It's still confusing. Do the armor points affect my whole body, or just the part
that the armor is covering?* He sighed, rubbing his forehead. He mentally confirmed the allocation. Instantly, the stat updated.
DEF: 82 -> 90
He took in a deep breath as he physically felt his muscles tighten and compress,becoming distinctly tougher beneath his skin.
*Wow*, he thought.* It feels similar to when I rank up. Alright, now that that's done, I should probably move to Agility. I need to be able to outrun those
monsters if I can't beat them. Back there, James was right, I couldn't outrun those Hexhorns even if I tried. So, I should probably push it to 100.*
AGI: 92 -> 100
He exhaled slowly. He instantly felt significantly lighter, his entire body feeling far more confident and fluid as he lifted his leg to test the shift in
balance.
*I feel so light. But not only that, it just feels easier to move.* He rotated his wrist, rolling the joints in his shoulder in a smooth circle. "It's almost as if I've gotten more flexible."
A new panel immediately popped up in front of him.
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]
[QUICKEST E-RANK] [CONGRATULATIONS. THE USER'S STAT HAS REACHED 100 IN AGILITY
WHILE E-RANKED. +5 EXTRA POINTS.]
*Wow. I got another achievement and even more points, and I wasn't even done yet.*
*Alright, I should probably put the rest of the points into Strength. I think I have a lot of Stamina right now, so I'll put extra points into it once I get them.*
STR: 93 -> 99
*I feel a little stronger, and I almost got it up to 100. This should be fine fornow.*
He heard the heavy door click open upstairs and turned around. James and Sam were walking down the wooden steps.
As they reached the counter, Tyler asked, "How did it go? Is it done?"
"It's done," James said. He reached under his leather armor and pulled out the heavy silver pendant hanging around his neck.
Tyler saw the deeply ingrained letter C stamped clearly onto the square metal.
"Nice," Tyler smiled. "You're C-Ranked now."
"I bet you feel great. You've been after this for months now," Sam said with a warm smile.
"Yeah," James said, a small, proud smile finally returning to his face.
Months, Tyler thought in surprise.
"Alright, I'll see you next time," James said to Sam.
They walked out of the building together into the bright morning sunlight. James stopped and looked at Tyler. "So, are you going to take another quest?"
"Yes," Tyler said firmly.
James sighed. "Thought as much." He stopped and gave Tyler a deeply serious look. "Listen, be careful out there. You can be a little reckless sometimes."
"I know. I'll be careful," Tyler promised.
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah," James said. "I'm going to rest, but I may come back later.
As they reached the edge of the tent, James placed a heavy hand onto Tyler's shoulder. "Don't go into the monster zones at nighttime. It's incredibly dangerous. Make sure you come back before sunset, alright?"
"I was planning to," Tyler said.
"Be safe out there," James said, turning and walking away down the dirt road.
"I will."
Tyler watched him go, a knot of adrenaline tightening in his stomach.* I'm about to take a quest completely on my own*, he thought.
He ducked under the flap and re-entered the tent. He found Serena sitting alone behind the counter, staring down at the wood and frowning in deep thought.
"Hey," Tyler said.
She snapped out of her thoughts, looking up. Her emerald eyes widened as she met his gaze. "Oh, hi! Sorry... are you taking on a quest?"
"Yeah," Tyler said.
Serena quickly gathered herself. "There aren't a lot of E-Rank quests at the moment. There are only two available. There's a regular E-Rank quest, but the other is a bit..."
"What?" Tyler asked.
"It's highly recommended that the person be an E-Rank Plus."
"That's alright. I'm an E-Plus.
"Really? Okay, then I guess you can take the quest."
She opened the heavy drawer and pulled out a stack of parchment flyers, setting
them on top of the counter. She started flipping through them one by one, searching for the specific quest. As she searched, she casually looked up at him.
"So, how did you get to know James?"
"What?" Tyler asked.
"I'm asking how you two met."
Tyler’s mind raced. Shit. What do I say to her? I can't tell her I met him in the monster zones. I'll be completely selling myself out.
"We met in Lyria," Tyler lied.
Serena paused. "Lyria? That's pretty close by. But how did you even meet James in Lyria? He never really goes there. Maybe his wife does, but not him."
"I don't know, I just met him there," Tyler deflected weakly.
"Yeah, but how did you two meet, exactly?" she pressed, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"It's kind of complicated," Tyler said, shutting the conversation down.
"Okay..." Serena said slowly. She pulled a specific quest flyer from the stack and slid it across the wood toward him. "This quest needs you to come back with an E-Rank Plus Crimson Wolf hide."
Tyler picked up the flyer. "The reward is three silver."
"Yes," Serena said.
Tyler frowned. It's so little.
He looked back at Serena. "Can an E-Rank take a D-Rank quest?"
"No." Serena shook her head, thoroughly surprised by his question. "Why would
you want to take on a D-Rank quest at your rank? That's very dangerous."
"No reason. I was just asking."
Serena watched him closely.* Is he really that new at being a Hunter? But... it doesn't make any sense. They also haven't told me how they came back so fast with those hides."
She subtly studied Tyler's build over the counter. He doesn't have a single injury on him, and he doesn't even look tired at all.
"I'll take it," Tyler said, sliding the flyer back toward her.
"Where's James?" she asked, looking toward the exit.
"He left."
"He's gone?"
"Yeah."
"That's strange," Serena noted, her frown deepening. "He usually does at least two or three quests before going back."
"He broke his sword," Tyler explained.
"Again?" Serena let out a long, exasperated sigh. "He always does that with that skill of his."
"His skill?" Tyler asked, genuinely confused.
"Yeah, you didn't know?" Serena asked. "Every time James uses his skill, it
damages his sword. Most Knight skills are like that, but his is worse for some reason."
So that's what happened, Tyler realized.
Serena handed Tyler the ink pen. Tyler quickly signed his signature and slid theflyer back toward her.
"Alright, I'll come back with the hide," he said, turning and walking away.
"Okay. Come back safely," Serena called out.
As Tyler exited the tent into the bright sunlight, he stopped dead in histracks.
"Crap..." he groaned, dragging a heavy hand down his face. "He completely forgot to teach me about the territories."