‘Finally, level 300. I can’t believe I actually made it in under ten months.’ Mongrel almost couldn’t believe his speed.
He had the Capital’s abundant dungeons to thank. There was one extremely suitable dungeon for him to hunt. Level 310 to 330 creatures who had weak sight and perception.
The missions he took were mostly missions that required physical strength. He showed the organisation that he was a crazed power-based fighter.
His debut mission went extremely well.
Acting as if rage overcame him, he tore apart at everything in sight and even attacked allies.
There were a surprising amount of jobs for people like him. Or rather, Berserkers.
Jim had become somewhat of a teacher for him. The bartender taught him common knowledge.
Berserk skills like his were good physical buffs that didn’t require mana and once he reached a certain level, the payoff was great.
He did plenty of menial labour at the start and most importantly they were all team missions.
When he finally gathered enough ores to pay for a basic mana manipulation course from the Mage Association and the Jaded Parasite’s board. He wanted to compare the advice given.
The Mage Association held lectures and learning from them felt like he would have a stable foundation but he didn’t see results even after three months.
The mage that he bought the services of was actually a Journeyman mage. He was the only one Mongrel’s request and price got.
It was as unconventional as Jim told him.
A warrior like Mongrel didn’t hear such a method from months of lectures from the Mage Association. The Journeyman mage instructed him to infuse his mana into an object, but then the mage attacked him by forcefully channelling his own mana through it.
The mage would forcefully guide his mana and the training method was for him to redo the motions over and over together.
In a single week, Mongrel’s control over mana got twice as smooth and he felt like he could infuse his body and weapons almost twice as fast.
The drawback was that the mage would know how his mana flows but Mongrel didn’t care. He didn’t have any advanced body enhancement magic for the mage to steal from.
While that was going on, he transitioned to material and ingredient collection for other members of the Jaded Parasites. The problem with these missions was that they didn’t pay well but he could gain combat experience for going on these missions.
Since he wanted to get stronger, he saw it as a boon.
He didn’t follow Jim’s initial advice and kept using the same worn down equipment.
In just half a year, he lived up to Jim’s scoring of 2.4 points. Going on team missions was just his method of watching others’ skills. The braggers were the best as he could listen to them chat.
In the following three months, his growth skyrocketed and he hit 300.
His double-edged axe only had a single edge left and was filled with chips and cracks. His tattered clothing and leather armour were barely holding themselves together.
Unnamed never came back for him but Mongrel was already thankful enough for bringing him into Tidal. The Capital’s environment was very suitable for growth.
Despite being level 300 Jim’s scoring for him remained at 2.6.
It was quite pathetic but the difference in skill refinement and tier was very obvious now that he reached this level. Copying training methods that didn’t fit him from ear didn’t exactly help much.
Between selling materials for the Quest Hall and the Jaded Parasites, he earned enough to get a new axe and leather armour. He made sure to dirty his new equipment immediately.
‘How do I get stronger now?’ Mongrel found his journey to level 300 to be remarkably smooth.
However, his skills mostly stagnated.
Other than his Core Skills which gave him the edge over monsters, he was barely passable as a warrior compared to the parties he glimpsed at.
Jaded Parasite’s members could easily be found inside dungeons. He simply needed to enter a dungeon, locate them, leave the dungeon town together, and then he could proceed to act independently.
Learning the faces of his fellow Parasites helped to smooth out such actions. At least he didn’t have to pay for their help by acting as a party.
He did make a few enemies. Berserkers weren’t very well-liked.
However, members usually didn’t bother with each other. Avoiding them was pretty easy. He just had to get the help of people who didn’t hate him to the bone.
In the Capital, many warriors possessed the ability to utilise at least one body enhancement spell, although not all could. Among them, Berserkers were unique, as they underwent full-body enhancements, resulting in a more balanced increase in power compared to those who enhanced single body parts. This meant that even an unrefined berserk skill could be one of the few things that set a warrior apart from the rest.
However, that wasn’t a good thing.
Most parties do not include a Berserker for a reason Mongrel was more than clear on. He’d doom one and wasn’t about to doom another.
Setting out into the dungeon with two limbs less and four people fewer truly pushed him to survive. Especially when the dungeon was above his actual strength.
Back at the tavern, being the dirtiest and smelliest patron, he drank the house brew all alone. Mongrel hadn't amassed enough reputation to receive personal missions, but Jim informed him of a suitable job.
“Huh? Is this real?” Mongrel pointed at the client’s name.
“As real as it can be.”
Instead of a name, the information on the space was a title. ‘Mage association’
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
They didn’t know the exact person who requested it but Jaded Parasites only cared about the remunerations. The client’s information rarely matters unless they were clients who had debt and hadn't paid up for a previous job.
Mongrel swallowed the mission contents into his mind.
“Can I take this? I don’t meet the point requirement by a long shot.” Mongrel pushed the piece of note back to Jim.
The rating required was 3.2 points, according to Jim, he was a measly 2.6.
It might be acceptable for large, joint missions that needed a lot of people but this was a solo mission.
“I’ll use my annual recommendation on you. This will be a test of sorts.”
“...You’ll do that? You’ll bet on this Mongrel?”
“Bah, you’re my favourite newbie of the year. I don’t lose anything. This is a long-term mission. It’s up to you to accept it or not, just remember-”
“I know, the Jaded Parasites don’t fail missions alive.” Mongrel signed up knowing that if he failed a solo mission, death awaited him. It would be a stain on their records and reputation mattered a lot to the Jaded Parasites.
Failure on a team mission would only result in the organisation posting a mandatory mission for other members to undertake. The same would happen for solo missions but there was a rumour among the members that those who failed solo missions vanished, never to be heard from again.
The point system provided some level of protection by discouraging members from selecting missions beyond their capabilities.
Jim, as one of the bartenders and handlers hinted to him about the truth of the rumour.
“Will you take it?”
“Yes.”
“No hesitation, that’s why I like ya kid.”
Mongrel nodded at the level up of his ‘Acting’ skill. It went from untier to tier 1 surprisingly fast. He was more confident that he no longer felt like some farm boy.
‘Searching for an old castle that used to hold mana slaves…the reward, 3 bottles of Rare Elemental Sensitivity Potion. Rare!’ Mongrel had heard of the elemental sensitivity potion, a concoction that allowed a common man to take their first step toward becoming a mage. The only prerequisite was that the ‘common’ individual could wield and manipulate mana.
However, he didn’t know a Rare-quality one existed. He knew that Ebony was gifted an Uncommon version by the Frost Elves but that was the extent of his knowledge regarding the potion. Even this information had been acquired accidentally when he noticed the order form on his old boss's table.
The monetary rewards of hundreds of Blues were incomparably worthless in comparison.
“But, Vermin Paradise…how am I supposed to find something the mage association cannot.” Mongrel acted as if he was whispering out loud to himself for Jim to answer him.
“Shh!” Jim hurriedly covered his mouth a little too late.
He was ushered to the back rooms after a signal was given for him to act drunk.
“Come on, that was careless of you. Mana slaves have been banned for almost a century, the mage association wouldn’t dare to touch anything regarding it on the surface.”
“And they put it as the client name.”
“As I’ve said, on the surface. The good and the bad both play the same game, they dare not show their greed in public but everyone knows that mana means the most to those grangley mages.”
“What would an old, abandoned castle matter?”
“Silly boy, you don’t understand the contents of the mission do you?”
“...” Mongrel mastered the act of staying silent to hide his ignorance.
He slackened his eyes to show his unhappiness at the disdain. The stone mask really helped when all others could see were his eyes and mouth. Adjusting his shoulders and feet to show a ‘are you kidding?’ expression.
Jim may or may not have seen through him since he had a good eye but the bald bartender sighed.
Mongrel continued to stay silent even though he didn’t know what the sigh was for.
“Your job’s to deliver the goods back to them in secret.”
“Grrw” He growled in acknowledgement. This wasn’t an act, he didn’t notice until too late that he growled. It was now a habit but he left it as it was.
‘Deliver the goods? So…there are mana slave facilities still running!?’ Mongrel might have spent too much time in the dungeons that he forgot what kind of organisation he joined
The Empire’s control over the continent wasn’t as almighty as he assumed.
‘They want a Master so that the delivery personnel-me is not so conspicuous. The combat rating is 3.2 but they expect a much higher stealth and secrecy rating. The next delivery is due in three months. There’s no map attached, not even instructions only a hint that it’s somewhere deep in Vermin Paradise.
The only reason there’s this mission is because the previous deliveryman is either dead, no longer useful or silenced. If I take this mission and succeed, I’ll be their delivery man and have to complete the mission every once in a while. If I want to stop…it’s probably out of the question unless the mage association has no way to track me but that’s impossible.
3 bottles of Rare Elemental Sensitivity Potion and 1 every subsequent delivery with a larger Blue compensation.’
Mongrel pondered on the repercussions of taking this high risk mission. The mage association could easily find some level 400 and above Grandmaster who specialised in stealth. Heck, they probably had mages and magical items that could do the same.
He came up with a few possibilities. The ‘delivery’ was the mage association purchasing or trading something and didn’t want anything or person to lead back to them. The Jaded Parasite had a reputation for leaving no traces back to their clients.
All thanks to the perfume spray Mongrel was given.
It was anti-divination perfume.
One so potent that not even the Archduke of Beastmen could sniff them out.
As for who made it, Mongrel believed it was one of the leaders of the Parasites. Jim and the other bartenders would always have plenty in stock.
“Jim, help me post a request for someone to teach me tier 3 stealth with a minimum of 300% base in under a month. Physical or a small mana cost of 10 to 50 a minute. Non-elemental.”
“Can you afford it? That would easily cost Purples and even our missions rarely include Purples for 5 pointers.”
“My stake will be 3 bottles of Rare Elemental Sensitivity Potion to be paid within 4 months.”
“...I’ll help you post it but I doubt anyone would take it unless they were desperate. You’re on a tight schedule and such a good skill isn’t something most people will sell or share. To get to that a 300% refinement in under a month is…near impossible if it's a fresh skill but if you already have one, it might be cutting it close. Furthermore, payment after? That’s that worse news for us.”
Despite the negativity that Jim showed, the Elemental Sensitivity Potion was not easy to obtain. The Jaded Parasites did not have access to them and even ill-gotten methods got them Common or Uncommon ones at best. He got a teacher just 3 days after his posting.
Jim was hiding this mission and its details for Mongrel and he was going to make full use of it. Otherwise, the mission wouldn’t even have lasted on the board for a minute. There were plenty of capable people.
His new teacher’s teaching methods were very interesting. Mongrel didn’t even know if his teacher was a man, woman, beastmen or elven. Because the person never showed up. His teacher simply spoke into his head and started sending him images.
The images showed a realistic golem practising stealth in all sorts of locations. From the urban city to a crowded forest to a rocky mountain. He was guided to the Quest Hall’s special training ground where one could pay for changing or simulating a certain environment. Then, he was handheld through every step of the process.
Just like his request, it was a fully physical stealth skill. Even better, his teacher taught him how to mask and suppress his mana so that it was harder to spot and wouldn’t needlessly overflow. Apparently, many monsters found people that way and Mongrel had been unaware.
The biggest problem with handholding was probably the fact that he would have a very difficult time improving the skill unless he understood the skill perfectly.
Mongrel didn’t care. For someone as clueless as him, he needed something to start with and he could work on it after.
By the third week of the easiest skill training he had, he evolved his stealth skill into Covert Occupancy.
“Pass the potions to a barkeep. I’ll find you if you don’t keep your word. In life or in death.”
His teacher’s last words were worrisome but Mongrel got used to how most of the Jaded Parasites talk.
Mongrel waited no longer and headed for Vermin Paradise.