Caleb stared at the bulletin in front of him trying to decide on what quest he wanted to take on. Unfortunately most of the quests for G-rank were trash quests or crafting quests. After looking over the quests for G-ranks for the 5th time Caleb finally tried asking the elf maiden behind the front desk. "Is it possible for me to take an F-rank mission?"
"Yes you may take a 1-star F-rank mission as a G-rank. This is not advised though as there will be considerable danger. " The woman stated politely.
"What exactly does the 1-star signify?" Caleb asked. Though he was pretty sure he knew, this was no game even if at times it may feel like one, so it was better to know for sure rather than jump to conclusions.
"Missions for every rank are divided into five stars based on the perceived difficulty to accomplish the task, 1-star being the easiest/safest while 5-star being the hardest/most dangerous. At a lower rank you can only take a the easiest 1-star, this restriction can be lifted after leaving the Tutorial by becoming a VIP of the adventurers guild, of course that will only apply to combat missions and the only way to become a VIP is to show a combat capability far exceeding you rank which is very rare as in 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,000. There are usually only around a 1,000 VIPs in a normal galaxy and there are cases were there are less than 50 per galaxy. The test to prove your power level is extremely dangerous and 87% of those who try to become VIPs either die or become crippled. The reason so many take the risk is do to the rewards that the Epic quests give out for each rank, and only VIPs are eligible to accept or even see Epic quests. Also every time you advance your rank you lose your VIP status and must retest to once more acquire it. As a G-rank you currently are barred from becoming a VIP." the elven woman explained and with quite frankly far more information than Caleb had been expecting, though he was glad she had decided to share so much.
"Thank you Miss Jasmine. I would like to see the 1-star F-rank missions then please." Caleb said after reading the name plate the young elf wore.
"Kehehehe. I am far from a young miss my child. I have been married for 2,000 years and living for nearly ten times longer." Jasmine giggled with good natured humor. She found it funny how easily these humans mistook other races ages.
"Oh I am so-sorry. It's ju-just that you lo-look so young." Caleb stuttered with a combination of embarrassment and shock that this 19-21 looking girl was actually a 20,000 year old grandma.
"Haha, it is ok. But for reference with dark elves we have pitch black hair but for every century of our life we also have a dark navy blue hair, with a perception over 28 your should be able to see an elf's age within the century, for high elves their hair is blond while their age hair is silver. Elves are considered adolescents after receiving their first age hair and adults after receiving their second. Elves will usually only marry after living for at least 10,000 years and we typically only marry those who have a similar lifespan. Humans under C-grade typically only live for a century or 2 but luckily after you reach C-grade you gain 10,000,000 years which is at least a respectable length of time. " Jasmine stated. She often wondered how humans could be so accomplished with such a pitiful short amount of time like a couple of centuries.
Caleb really enjoyed this woman's talkative side as she shared plenty of information. But hearing that he could grow to be more than a million years shocked the hell out of him. What do you do when you had so much time? After some time Caleb managed to pull his mind out of his own personal existential crises. Looking down he tried to find a quest he could do. After searching for a bit he saw one that seemed good and he really enjoyed the reward.
QUEST: UNDEAD HEART: An alchemist is in need of the Phylactery of an undead Lich. There is a dungeon near the city of Bowgarth that is rumored to be a weak F-rank undead dungeon likely ruled by a low level F-rank Lich. Retrieve the phylactery and turn it in to receive your reward. Basic reward: 2 cubic meter storage ring, 100,000 credits and TP. Rewards subject to change based on unforeseen circumstances altering the quest.
"I plan on taking this quest but what does this part mean about the rewards being subject to change? " Caleb asked in confusion after handing over the slip with the undead heart quest. He didn't want to work his butt off only to get less rewards than promised just cause he pissed someone off. Not6b that he planned to piss someone off but still.
"The Quest is a 1-star quest if it somehow becomes a higher star or god forbid a higher rank but you manage to complete it you will receive increased and very generous rewards. The base rewards won't be lost though if that is what you're worried about." Jasmine explained before placing a stamp on the slip of paper.
**DING** ACCEPTED QUEST: Undead Heart. Time Limit: 2 weeks
"Thank you Mrs. Jasmine. You have been very helpful." Caleb said before turning to leave.
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Caleb hid behind a tree while staring towards the group of skeleton warriors standing before an iron door set into the cliff face. A quick scan showed that all of the skeletons but one was only level nine but the one in the middle of the other five was a level 11 skeleton warrior. This explained why the city believed the dungeon to have a low level boss as Liches usually kept their minions within 1 to 3 levels below them. This meant the Lich was probably a level 11 or 12 undead summoner as that was the most common class for liches. After thinking for a bit Caleb came up with a good strategy admittedly most of it was 'just wing-it'.
Caleb started by using Blood Mark on the level 11 bag of bones, after words he sent Lightning Vines to entangle them. After he began to quickly cast a barrage of Thunderbolts, thanks to his high lightning affinity and that runes more efficiently used mana each thunderbolt used 10 mana and each hand could cast 1 bolt per second. After casting 20 thunderbolts Caleb stopped and prepared for the level 11 skeleton. he had used 5 thunderbolts per level 9 skeleton to kill them quickly so he would only have to face the single level 11 by itself. The skeleton in question was already on his way as Lightning Vines was only able to hold him for 5 seconds and it could only hold him that long do to Caleb's high lightning affinity strengthening the spell. By the time Caleb finished his barrage the skeleton warrior was only 4 yards away.
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Suddenly the skeleton flashed with a green light and its speed doubled crossing the distance in a single breath. Caleb just smirked dodging to the side almost effortlessly. This was why he focused on speed. Something he had heard when he was a child that always stuck with him, "All tricks and plots are worthless before overwhelming power, but in the end only speed is unbeatable". If you are fast enough the enemy would never manage to hit you. And if you are fast enough the weak can break any defense. The saying reminded Caleb up the day he walked outside his house after a tornado had come through. There was pine needles stabbed through the metal door of his grandpa's shed. They had been thrown by the tornado so fast that they, weak as they were, were still able to pierce metal. Back to the fight, the skeleton swung its sword in a downward arc. Caleb stepped in and to the right of the blow appearing behind the skeleton. swinging his sword he attacked the back of the skeletons neck while simultaneously casting a thunderbolt into the back of the skeletons head stunning it. This allowed Caleb to land another hit on the skeletons neck, this time decapitating it. After slaying his enemy Caleb looked over his system notification before checking his status.
**DING** Level 9 skeleton warrior slain. Bonus exp rewarded for killing enemy above your level. 5,345 credits and Tb earned
**DING** HUMAN(G) Has reached level 8. +1 to all stats +10 free points
**DING** Level 9 skeleton warrior slain. Bonus exp rewarded for killing enemy above your level. 5,145 credits and Tb earned
**DING** Level 9 skeleton warrior slain. Bonus exp rewarded for killing enemy above your level. 5,525 credits and Tb earned
**DING** Level 9 skeleton warrior slain. Bonus exp rewarded for killing enemy above your level. 5,005 credits and Tb earned
**DING** Level 11(F) skeleton warrior slain. Bonus exp rewarded for killing enemy above your level. 11,345 credits and Tb earned
**DING** HUMAN(G) Has reached level 9. +1 to all stats +10 free points
STATUS PAGE NAME: Caleb Fulmen RACE: Human (G) LEVEL: 9 CLASS: N/A PROFESSION: N/A TITLES: (FORERUNNER OF EARTH) (MASTER OF THE COMMON TONGUE) (PRODIGIOUS LINGUIST I) (TIER 1 ARCANIST) (RUNIC SPELL SCHOLAR I) STATS HEALTH (HP): 190/200 STAMINA (SP): 207/540 MANA (MP): 175/450
VITALITY: 20
TOUGHNESS: 20
STRENGTH: 30
AGILITY: 60
ENDURANCE: 24
INTELLIGENCE: 45
WISDOM: 45
WILLPOWER: 50
PERCEPTION: 31
FREE POINTS: 0
SKILLS:
INSPECT: Allows user to inspect anything non-sapient. Scales off of wisdom and intelligence.
IDENTIFY: Allows user to identify anything sapient. Scales off of wisdom and intelligence
JOURNAL: allows use of system panel to right down thoughts and ideas. Every 5 levels in race adds one panel.
QUICK-STEP: Increases movement speed at the cost of stamina. Scales off of agility and strength
SPELLS:
MANA BOLT: a bolt of mana that causes damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom.
MANA SPEAR: Mana in a spear shape. increased penetration. damage scales of intelligence and wisdom
RUNIC SPELLS:
MANA BOLT: Made of 5 runes, a bolt of mana that causes damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom.
MANA SPEAR: Made of 6 runes, Mana in a spear shape. increased penetration. damage scales of intelligence and wisdom
THUNDERBOLT: Made of 8 runes. A ball of lightning that blasts the enemy dealing lightning and magic damage. damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom LIGHTNING VINES: Made of 17 runes. Creates vines of electricity that shock, and bind enemies in a 20X20 yard radius at the targeted location. can be cast at an equal number of yards as perception stat from caster. Power and strength of vines scaled off of intelligence and wisdom. INFERIOR BLOOD AMPLIFICATION: Made of 23 runes. Burn your blood to increase all stats by 10% with zero issue, 25% at an added cost of 10 HP/sec and a 7 hour weakness debuff lowering all stats by 75%. for every additional % of increase costs an additional 50 HP/sec BLOOD MARK: Made of 15 runes. Mark the enemy with your blood making it impossible to be lost, few can even notice the Mark. Increases exp from Marked enemy, increases damage enemy receives from caster. must be within 1,000 yards and have enemy in sight to place Mark distance can be increased through perception. damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom BLOOD ARROW: Made of 18 runes. Difficult to heal. 10% of damage caused returned to caster as HP. damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom SACRIFICIAL BLOOD SLASH: Made from 30 runes. Uses resources from all three pools. Does true damage to enemies HP equal to a quarter of sacrificed HPs. Must use claws or a bladed weapon. scales off of intelligence and strength. StarCleansing Firebolt: Made from 7 runes. Does fire and magic damage. Does double damage against the undead and living dead. Damage scales off of intelligence and wisdom
ELEMENTAL AFFINITY:
Inferior, Low, Medium, High, Great, Supreme, Peak, Apex, Demi-god, God
DARK: Inferior
LIGHTNING: High
BLOOD: Supreme
?: ?
ELEMENTAL WEAKNESSES:
Inferior, Low, Mild, High, Extreme
HOLY: Mild
RUNE MASTERY:
TIER 1: 100%
Caleb was shocked that his stamina had been down to only 57. He also learned that Blood Mark cost 10 HP on top of the 25 MP cost, and while he didnt know how much extra exp it had provided he had felt that the Mark seemed to eat a certain amount of the monsters HP every time Caleb injured it. After distributing his points with ten into endurance and five into strength both to increase the max amount of stamina its regeneration as well as slow down the stamina draining during running or fighting. To be honest he probably should have waited until he had regened most of his stamina before engaging in a fight.