Syl

Chapter 73: Quests

I had lost track of time in the library as Luke had arrived for at least an hour or two. I decided I'd ask Luke if there was a skill for keeping track of time, and it would certainly help if I decided to live in a dungeon or cave for a while and eventually return to civilized society. Luke was a short boy, probably no older than fifteen. As if showing the wealth difference between branches, this branch had individual booths engraved with sigils that dampened sounds to prevent eavesdropping. Luke also offered to take me to a private room if I felt the sigils weren't good enough, although he personally vouched for them.

"So Miss Syl, Master Lisa tells me to emphasize jobs with harvestable monsters, but do you have any preferences or a particular fighting style?" Luke asked, "You can be vague if you want, but it helps to prevent sending a Nature Mage against any monsters with fire abilities or warriors against ghosts, for example. I'm sworn to secrecy, on my honor and Master Lisa's."

I blinked slowly at the endless words coming from the boy's mouth, "No problem, Luke. Offensively, I've got Water and Fire magic. I'm also good with sneaking and can use a bow in a pinch."

I decided to keep my Corrosion magic a secret for now. Mostly just to see if the other branch had shared that knowledge with this one. Luke took in my words and nodded as he shuffled through some parchment.

"I think I got one that's perfect for your Water magic... There's a small silver mine nearby, which was invaded by a salamander." Luke began, "Their scales are worth a lot, although they can be tricky to harvest. The only issue is they breathe fire and can be exceptionally deadly. How good are you at dealing with fire?"

'I mean, I'm practically immune.' I chuckled to myself.

"Not an issue. I can handle some fire."

"Noted, just be careful. I'd even recommend buying a Fire resistance potion if you don't have one already." Luke warned, "But thankfully, they are rather weak in vitality, and if you can bypass its defensive scales, they go down rather easy. Drowning it with Water magic is another option."

"Since you are heading in the area, you might as well take a general extermination quest for rock elementals. If you can harvest their mana crystals, they are worth a lot, and the miners will be thankful." Luke also said, pulling out another piece of parchment, "They are slow so easy to deal with by any good mage. Their cores can be a bit fragile, so be careful when you're harvesting."

I couldn't see any reason not to, so I also accepted it. I'd likely kill any monsters whether I had a quest or not, so it was nice to be paid for the effort.

After a moment of looking through his documents, he found a final quest for me, "You're not scared of spiders, are you?" He asked, and when I shook my head, he smiled, "Since you have Fire magic, these should be easy for you. You can burn their nests and get quite a few easy kills."

"Twenty seems like a big jump in numbers compared to the elementals?" I queried.

"Ah yes, this quest is a bit variable; Silver rank spiders will count as five, Bronze will count as two, and Iron will count as one. Your guild tag will allocate them all automatically, so you don't need to worry about that."

"That's certainly convenient. Thanks a lot for the quest advice, Luke."

He blushed and gave a cheery smile, "No problem at all, Miss Syl, just doing my job. Do you have any other questions or requests?"

I nodded and asked if there was a skill or trait that helped with keeping track of the time. Luke nodded and fetched an older staff member to show it to me, as since he was so young, he didn't have the points to spare on a utility skill. The skill was simple; it was called [Time Keeper] and was unranked and thus likely only available through purchase. The trait felt a little barebone as it told you the current time, and you could also use it to set a timer. I didn't purchase it, but was glad to have the option now.

For my request, I asked if the guild could find me any slime magic catalysts and noted I was looking for Ice and Lightning in particular, although I'd gladly take any that wasn't water. I'd gladly take some free levels in any of my other slime traits. Luke nodded and said he'd check in with the supplies and local stores for me, and it would only cost a minor finders fee. I made sure to mention that I'd gladly take even a raw slime core, as maybe it would be easier to find than a finished product.

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I thanked Luke for his time and hoped he'd be successful. I told him to let Lisa and Roderick know I was heading out if they asked for me. When I was leaving the guild, a few adventurers approached me to ask if I wanted to join them on their quests or if I needed any help on mine. Roderick had warned me that this was very likely, not only due to being an elf but also due to my high levels and unique class.

"Sorry, I'm running solo for a bit until I can establish myself. Thanks for the offers, though. Maybe next time?" I responded, and thankfully, they all seemed to accept that response. I made a mental note to thank Roderick for his advice once again. At least I got two skills out of it, although I had started to ignore Gamma's constant notifications and promptly raised the levels on the filters to above twenty.

When I activated my [Mapping] skill, I could feel three tugs pulling me northward. Navigating through the city was easier than expected as I continuously walked towards one of the large gates I could see in the distance.

To avoid attention, I used [Vanish] while walking. Whitney had recommended it to me during one of our watchtime conversations as a good way to avoid unwanted attention, as the presence obscuring would work even if I wasn't actively trying to stealth away.

"It makes the average person sort of overlook you - it's very convenient. Although anyone with even a smidgeon of [Perception] will see right through you."

I was just glad to stop having people staring and pointing at me. When I reached the gate I dropped [Vanish], startling some of the commonfolk, and presented my tag to the guards. My silver tag seemed to cause some recognition amongst the guards, and they hastened my exit approval. I found myself wondering what their reaction would be if I was Gold rank.

Once I was beyond the wall, I proceeded at a light jog before eventually sprinting towards my quest marker as if it were a glowing beacon in the distance. If I compared this to hunting in the forest and randomly looking for prey, it felt like a joke due to the convenience.

'And then they will pay me for doing the job. Not to mention the reward for harvesting it, which I'd do anyway.'

Much to my frustration, people were on the road, so I couldn't just drop my disguise. I received some waves and cheers as I ran past, clearly showing the popularity of adventurers. Luke had told me I would be traveling north along the road, which then forked towards the mine, and the total travel distance was about half a day's journey if I walked.

I had the benefit of infinite stamina, but I still hoped I'd eventually get Wind affinity for even speedier travel. Although with [Mana Reinforcement] on my legs combined with my mimicked agility traits, I was already zooming.

Along the path, I saw a group of travelers assaulted by large greyish creatures. They had snouts and large tusks on their heads but were fat and humanoid-looking. My immediate thought was they were some strange evolution of boars.

'So those are orcs? Strange and hideous creatures.'

The two guards seemed to be struggling, so I pulled out my bow to aid them. I would have cast a spell, but I was worried about casting into melee. I quickly nocked an arrow and fired it at the eye of one of the orcs. My shot landed perfectly, although the orc barely shrugged at the wound.

"Oi! Some bastard shot my eye!"

"Shut up, Gurk, you still have one more!"

"Get back! I'll deal with them!" I shouted to the two guards, who seemed relieved at my appearance.

"Look, Bork, it's a pretty lady."

"I can see that, Flurk."

"I can't."

"Use your other eye, you idiot!"

"...Right, sorry."

I tried firing more arrows, but now that they were looking at me, they blocked their vitals with their arms. The arrows still struck, and I could see the blood, but they just seemed to shrug it off.

"She's a feisty one, ain't she?"

"Would make a good wife."

"She's too small for you two, I call dibs."

"You the smallest. You can't call dibs."

The humans had thankfully backed away from the orcs during my distraction. I was feeling quite repulsed by these creatures. It was no wonder the humans didn't trust us monsters if this was what the other intelligent monsters had to offer. The level of intelligence here was highly questionable, though.

The shaman waved his hands and launched a rock at me, which I dodged with a quick sidestep. I then rapidly channeled an empowered [Fire Arrow], aided by my [Sub-Cores], and launched it at the shaman.

"Oi, she's magic too!" The shaman shouted before the fiery bolt pierced into his chest cavity. He staggered backward and was trying to rip the flaming bolt out of his chest. I quickly fired two more and he went down.

"Ha! Can't call dibs if you dead!" One of the orcs shouted and kicked the smoldering corpse.

"Big talk for such a little guy! Then he goes and dies! Stupid, Flurk!"

"The first one to grab her gets her!" The other orc shouted, his companion grunted in acknowledgment, and they both charged at me.

I broke out of my momentary stunned confusion and ordered all my cores to form [Fire Arrows] in tandem and fire at will. Magical projectiles continued to barrage the orcs, and they didn't even bother trying to dodge or anything. Their mindless lack of self-preservation shocked me, and I could only assume it was due to their lack of feeling pain.

The weaker orc died before reaching me, and the other swung his axe, although with such a slow and easily telegraphed attack, it was simple for me to dodge. I continued to dodge his blows, causing him to scream in anger before he finally fell to a few more flaming arrows.

'Honestly, I think that was one of the strangest fights I've ever had...'

I doused the flaming corpse before stuffing it into my storage, then proceeded to repeat the process with the remaining two. I'd eat them once I was off the road and away from witnesses.

The humans tried to thank me for the rescue, but I waved them off and continued towards my quests. I'd wasted enough time with this short distraction, and I didn't feel like repeating the same song and dance of them being fascinated by an elf.