Chapter 66: Rewards And More Quests
Tyler lay back on the bed in his small inn room, his hands laced securely behind his head. The sun had already completely set, leaving the room blanketed in thick, quiet shadows. He stared blankly up at the ceiling, deeply lost in thought.
His mind drifted briefly to Kai. Tyler had offered to let him stay at this inn, but the boy had politely declined, choosing to find another place much closer to Hector's blacksmith shop so he wouldn't be late for his first day. That was fine, but something else entirely was eating away at Tyler's peace of mind.
The ominous warning Serena had given him just before they parted ways at the hunter base echoed loudly in his head.
*Are they really going to look for me?* he thought.
Unable to lie still any longer, Tyler groaned into the quiet room. He sat up, swinging his legs heavily over the side of the mattress. He pressed his palms against his forehead, dragging his fingers back through his hair in deep frustration.
"Why the hell did I even do that?" he whispered to the empty room. "I just broke a guy's shoulder."
A cold, tight knot of regret twisted violently in his stomach. The visceral memory of the bone snapping still felt too fresh.
He tried to force the anxiety down, rationalizing the violence. *But they have healers here. It's not like he's going to be crippled for the rest of his life, right? He might have gotten healed on the exact same day. James said that guilds have a ton of people, so they must have a high-tier healer on standby, or at least they found him one quickly.*
He paused, his hands dropping limply to his lap as a darker realization surfaced. *But still... even if he is healed, if they were to show up, they'd obviously want some payback for what I did.*
Suddenly, a sharp, familiar hum cut through the silence. A translucent blue system panel flashed into existence right in front of him.
[CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING THE SYSTEM QUEST. REWARDS WILL NOW BE GIVEN TO THE USER.]
*Finally,* Tyler thought, staring at the floating text. "What the hell was taking so long?"
The letters dissolved, instantly replaced by a new, rapidly flashing notification:
[USER HAS DEFEATED A BOSS MONSTER 40 LEVELS ABOVE THEM! A BONUS REWARD SHALL BE GIVEN.]
"A bonus as well. Nice," Tyler muttered, the heavy anxiety in his chest instantly evaporating as a wide, eager grin stretched across his face.
The text panel vanished completely. In its place, a larger, wider screen materialized in the air, presenting three distinct, brightly glowing icons lined up in a neat row.
Tyler leaned forward, squinting in the blue light to examine them closely. His eyes locked onto the first icon, a glowing silhouette of a human body standing with its arms spread wide open. Directly beneath the symbol, crisp white text hovered:
SKILL: CHAMBER
"A skill?" he muttered, his eyes darting across the rest of the floating screen. "Is it giving me three different rewards?"
Tyler shifted his mental focus to the second icon in the middle. It was shaped like a small crystal, carved like a jagged stone with two sharp, pointed ends.
Directly beneath the icon, a single word was displayed: ITEM.
Tyler's eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise. *The system can actually reward me with physical items? I didn't even know that was possible.*
He moved his attention to the third and final icon. It took the shape of an old, carefully folded scroll. Beneath it, the text read: TWO ELITE RECIPES AND ONE UNIQUE RECIPE.
"Unique," he repeated softly to the empty room. He was already familiar with the Basic, Common, and Elite crafting grades, but this was the very first time the system had ever mentioned a Unique tier.
*It has to be higher than the Elite grade,* he thought, a wide, eager grin forming on his face. *I wonder what it could be. I should probably check out the skill first, though.*
With a sheer mental command, the reward screen vanished from his mind's eye, instantly replaced by the detailed skill description.
[SKILL: CHAMBER]
[GIVES THE USER THE ABILITY TO CONJURE A CHAMBER MADE WITH ANY MATERIAL THE USER COPIES. MANA COST: 50]
[NOTE: THE USER HAS TO BE HOLDING THE ITEM IN ORDER TO COPY THE MATERIAL. THE CHAMBER CAN BE DISMANTLED WITH A MENTAL COMMAND (DISMANTLE).]
*A Chamber, huh? I wonder what it really makes. It could be anything. Should I test it out right now?* Tyler thought.
He quickly shook his head, dismissing the idea. *No, it might be too dangerous to test it inside this room. I have no idea how big this thing is going to be. Plus, I don't exactly understand what it means by copying a material yet.*
He sighed, his mental gaze dropping to the high cost. *It does use a lot of mana, though. With my current pool, I can only cast it three times in a row.*
He straightened his back against the mattress. "Still, if it works the way I think it does, this could be incredibly useful."
With another thought, the skill panel dissolved, replaced seamlessly by the item details. The jagged crystal icon reappeared, accompanied by its description:
[ENHANCEMENT STONE: WHEN MANA IS APPLIED TO THIS ITEM WHILE IT IS TOUCHING THE SURFACE OF AN OBJECT, THAT OBJECT'S ATTACK AND EFFECTS WILL BE INCREASED BY 75%.]
"Whoa," Tyler exhaled into the quiet room. "That's pretty awesome. I can upgrade my equipment with this thing."
He held out his hand, opening his empty palm. Suddenly, a sharp blue glow flared directly from his skin, briefly illuminating the dark inn room. The light swiftly dimmed, leaving a solid, dark blue crystal resting heavily in his grasp.
It felt exactly like a perfectly smooth, polished shard of dense glass. It was large enough to fill half of his palm. He turned it over with his fingers, inspecting the sharp facets.
"So this is what it looks like. I should save it for later. After all, I only got one." The stone shimmered with a faint blue light before dissolving cleanly into his spatial inventory.
*Okay, now for the recipes,* he thought.
The system interface shifted again, presenting the newly acquired crafting knowledge in a neat, organized row within his mind.
[WEAPON RECIPE (ELITE GRADE)]
1/2 CRIMSON ALPHA JAW BONE, 1 SMALL STEEL INGOT, 4 CRIMSON ALPHA FANGS- TEARRA DAGGER
[ACCESSORY RECIPE (ELITE GRADE)]
ASSASSIN'S MASK: 1/2 CRIMSON ALPHA JAW BONE, 2 PIXEL BEAKS, 100 PIXEL FEATHERS, 1 SMALL BRONZE INGOT
[ALCHEMY RECIPE (UNIQUE RECIPE)]
POISON BOND: 1 VENOM BLOOM, 200 ML OF WATER, 100 ML OF USER'S BLOOD, 100 ML OF BASIC HEALING POTION, 50 ML OF DEFENCE POTION, 1 DROP OF BROLIN BLOOD
Tyler read the recipes, his eyes widening in surprise. "Huh, I actually have some of the ingredients for these," he muttered under his breath as he scanned the text.
"Assassin's Mask. I wonder what kind of effects it has. It's Elite grade, so hopefully, it doesn't disappoint."
He shifted his mental focus downward to the final recipe. It required a lot more ingredients than anything he had seen before, fitting for a Unique grade. But the sheer combination of the items left him deeply confused.
*Poison Bond?* he thought, tilting his head. *What does that even mean? Is it some kind of poison?*
He read over the required materials again. "It must be some kind of poison since it uses the Venom Bloom, but at the same time, it requires a healing potion. And a defense potion as well? That's really strange. But I guess I'll see what it actually does once I gather everything to make it."
The recipe panel vanished from his mind. *It is a Unique recipe, so it must be something super helpful,* he reasoned. *I hope it's not just a normal poison, because I could just use the raw Venom Bloom for that. I'm pretty sure I still have one in my inventory.*
He stretched his arms high above his head, rolling his shoulders. *Right now, I just need to craft the Tearra Dagger and see what it can do.*
"System, craft Tearra Dagger," Tyler commanded mentally.
A new panel materialized in his mind, displaying the word [CRAFTING]. Directly beneath it, a circular loading bar appeared, filling up at an agonizingly slow pace compared to his basic items. He sighed, watching the sluggish progress.
Suddenly, his eyes went wide. He slapped his palm hard against his own forehead.
*What am I doing? I'm so stupid.* He dropped his hand back to the mattress, gripping the sheets in frustration. *It's already crafting, but I completely forgot to use that skill bubble thing. I could have infused the liquid with the metal to guarantee a skill.*
He paused, staring at the slowly creeping loading bar. A sudden memory surfaced, easing the knot in his chest. *Wait. I think I actually chose the steel ingots back then to fuse with the liquid. I don't know exactly how many ingots the liquid merged with, but it had to be more than one, right?*
Finally, the circular loading bar connected, and the panel flashed: [CRAFTING SUCCESSFUL].
Tyler opened his empty palm. Just above his skin, a dense cluster of faint blue particles gathered in the air. A second later, the blue light violently shifted into a flashing, deep red before rapidly solidifying, dropping the heavy weight of a physical blade directly into his grasp.
His eyebrows rose in pure amazement as he tested the balance of the weapon. The handle of the dagger was a deep, dark red that bordered on pitch black.
Just above the hilt, forming a vicious guard, were four spiky red fangs taken directly from the Crimson Alpha. They were seamlessly coated in steel, but the metal itself had taken on a dark, blood-red hue. Past the four rows of sharp steel fangs, the lethal blade extended upward. It was perfectly smooth and terrifyingly sharp. The weight felt incredibly promising, and the entire length of the blade was a striking crimson, perfectly mirroring the fur of the massive wolf.
Not only was the weapon physically imposing, but it also looked remarkably expensive. Tyler turned it over in his hand, watching the blunt back edge catch and reflect the pale moonlight filtering through the inn window.
"This looks amazing," he breathed.
A small system panel appeared in his mind beside the weapon's image:
[TEARRA DAGGER]
[ATK: 150 - 230]
[AGI: 25]
*Wow, that's incredibly high attack damage,* he thought, his pulse quickening. *It also increases my agility by twenty-five. That's incredible.*
That panel dissolved, instantly replaced by another:
[ENOUGH MANA ENGRAMS HAVE BEEN DETECTED TO DRAW OUT A SKILL. WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRAW A SKILL?]
Tyler grinned. "Of course."
With a thought, the Tearra Dagger vanished into his inventory. A processing screen flashed briefly across his vision and disappeared just as quickly. Tyler immediately summoned the crimson blade back into his hand. As soon as his fingers wrapped around the dark hilt, the skill description materialized in his mind:
[RED RUSH]
[ONCE THE USER TASTES THE BLOOD OF THEIR TARGET, 30% OF THAT TARGET'S STRENGTH AND SPEED WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO THE USER FOR 180 SECONDS.]
[COOLDOWN: 5 HOURS]
[NOTE: AFTER THE SKILL DEACTIVATES, THE DEBUFF TRANSFER WILL BE CANCELED.]
Tyler's brow furrowed in deep disgust as he read the text.
*What the hell?* he thought, his upper lip curling. "Licking an enemy's blood?"
The sheer thought of it made his skin crawl. "Isn't that a bit barbaric?" He paused, reading over the massive stat boost one more time. *I mean, sure, the results are absolutely incredible. It gives a huge, almost unfair advantage in a fight, but also... it's totally disgusting.*
The text vanished. Tyler stared down at the gleaming red blade for a moment longer before dismissing it back into his spatial inventory.
"I'll probably only use that skill as an absolute last resort," he muttered to himself. "I can't believe I actually have to lick someone's blood to trigger it. But..." He remembered the sheer, suffocating terror of almost dying beneath the Crimson Alpha's claws. "...if the opponent is overwhelmingly stronger than me, as long as I can cut them, I'll do it. It's too big of an advantage to ignore."
He shook his head vigorously, trying to clear the sickening thought away. "Still, nah. It's not like I'm immune to diseases in this world, right?"
A sudden flurry of system panels erupted in his mind, completely interrupting his thoughts:
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: DEFEAT A BOSS MONSTER (+30 POINTS)]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: LEVELS DON'T MATTER - USER HAS DEFEATED A BOSS MONSTER 40 LEVELS ABOVE THEM (+25 POINTS)]
"Whoa," Tyler breathed, his eyes widening. "Fifty-five points."
Before he could process the massive payout, another, much larger system panel rapidly materialized, completely overlaying the others in his mind.
[THE QUEST WAS COMPLETED SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE THE PENALTY COULD BE APPLIED, AND THE USER HAS GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THIS. WITH THIS DEDUCTION, THE SYSTEM HAS CONCLUDED THAT QUESTS HAVE A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE USER'S GROWTH.]
[ANOTHER QUEST WILL BE GIVEN SOON.]
Tyler froze, a cold chill running down his spine.
*Wait... what?*