[Soul Download Complete]

Dante awoke in the heart of the forest, feeling an unexpected weight pressing upon him as if he were crafted from wood. To his astonishment, he saw wooden hands moving right before his eyes.

"Waaah!" he exclaimed. "What is this? Oh, right. I'm a homunculus now. It's weird because I can still feel, hear, see, smell, taste, and balance as if I were normal."

"Oh, Wanderer. Please forgive me!" A girl suddenly cried in front of Dante, kneeling in shame. "I'm so sorry, Lord Wanderer. This homunculus is the best thing I could do."

Her tears flowed as Dante assured her, "It's okay. Little girl, this homunculus will do just fine. If it wasn't, the Holy System would not have accepted your request."

Dante's quick response reflected his natural tact, a skill he had possessed even in his life on Earth. Rising to his feet, he began moving around as the wooden homunculus, clothed in recently washed ragged clothes and equipped with a piece of bread and a rusty knife that had lost most of its edges.

The girl was still sobbing, awaiting punishment. Dante, trying to ease the tension, asked, "Can you tell me your name?"

"My name is Neritha, Lord Wanderer," she wiped her eyes and became more calm.

Although Dante's wooden form lacked facial expressions, the girl had carved a smiley face on his head in advance. He introduced himself, but to his surprise, he couldn't say his name. "That's weird?" Dante thought, attributing it to a condition of the Bilocational Pilgrimage.

Suddenly, an icon on the top right of his vision caught his attention, blinking.

Focused on the icon, a screen interface appeared in front of Dante.

[Pilgrimage: Hunt for 10 Twikmoths]

[Piety Requirement: Wanderer]

[Allocated Mana Points: 100/100]

[Summoner: Neritha Toravina]

[Pilgrimage Description: The town of Minova faces devastation as Twikmoths destroy villagers' crops. Wanderer, unite with summoner Neritha Toravina to save Minova.]

"Woah! So this is the Bilocation Mode Menu? Seems like Neritha is the one that summoned me. At least that information is confirmed. And I need to hunt for Twikmoths? Seems like a pretty easy Pilgrimage," Dante thought.

"Lord Wanderer?" Neritha asked.

"Oh. It's okay. Neritha," he said, patting her head carefully. "You can call me Juan. Juan Derer." Dante felt embarrassed by his lack of talent in making names. "And if you're asking if I will help you with hunting the Twikmoths, you can count on me."

Neritha smiled and teared up in happiness.

"Thank you, Lord Juan. This will be a big help for our village. The Twikmoths have been eating up our crops. And it's almost Harvestwane. Suncrest will be over soon, and we will have nothing left to store for the winter season."

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A sudden feeling of joy arose in Dante. He had never truly been needed by someone like this before. "Wow. Is this what it feels like to do good?"

Dante then checked the rest of the Bilocation Menu.

[Pilgrimage Objectives:]

- Investigate Crop Fields: Assess Twikmoths' damage.

- Locate Twikmoth Nest: Track down their lair.

- Hunt and Subdue 10 Twikmoths: Neutralize the threat.

- Protect Remaining Crops: Defend the food supply.

- Cleanse the Nest: Weaken their presence.

- Return to Minova: Report success to the villagers.

[Rewards:]

- 100+ Piety for defeated Twikmoths.

- Neritha's Amulet: Trinket of sentimental value.

- Friendship Forged: Unlocks unique dialogue and collaboration.

- Secret of the Crop: Access to exclusive summoner knowledge.

[Failure Condition: Unchecked Twikmoths cause famine, shattered trust, chaos, and devastation. Act swiftly to safeguard Minova and its people alongside Neritha Toravina.]

"So these pilgrimages have rewards? And the failure condition? Does it rely on me succeeding in this pilgrimage? I'm going to take this seriously then. This is my chance to prove to everyone that I can be a useful person. Not like before."

"Lord Juan?" Neritha shyly asked. "Please hurry. The village is already under attack by the Twikmoths."

"What!" Dante felt ashamed of himself for wasting too much time. "Alright. Tell me where the village is."

Dante and Neritha ran through the woods. The wooden body was surprisingly strong. Much stronger than Dante's 5-year-old body. "This must be one of the effects of the Bilocation."

Dante carried Neritha on his wooden back to reach the village faster. When they arrived, they saw giant moth-like creatures, the Twikmoths, flapping their wings with such force that the villagers' arrows and stones were blown away.

The village was populated by only about thirty people, but the fields they farmed were vast and well-irrigated, attracting the Twikmoths to freely feed on the crops.

Two Twikmoths were currently attacking the village—one being confronted by the villagers and the other consuming a large portion of the crops.

"Neritha. I need you to go and find shelter. Stay there until it's safe. I'm going to deal with this," Dante said.

Neritha smiled and said, "Blessed be the Holy System, Lord Juan, for sending us a Wanderer like you."

Dante, hidden under a ragged hood and holding a rusty knife, ran toward the villagers. His body, now light and flexible, allowed him to jump higher and run faster than normal. The villagers shot arrows at the Twikmoth from the safety of their homes, and Dante attempted to attack it from above, but the creature's wind flap blew him away.

"Shi- This wooden body isn't that durable. I have to be more careful."

Picking himself up, Dante kept a safe distance from the giant Twikmoth as the villagers did their best to drive it away.

Praying, Dante extended his hand toward the Twikmoth. Then he prayed.

"Oh Blessed Holy System, empower me with your righteous fury. Through Holy Smite, let your divine light burn brightly, striking down the undead and evil, weakening their grip on this world."

[Holy Smite Granted: Cost -20 MP]

A lightning strike from the heavens incinerated the gigantic moth, its wings catching fire before it fell lifeless to the ground. The sudden thunder following the Holy Smite scared off the other Twikmoth that was on the fields.

[You have successfully defeated a Twikmoth! +10 MP]

Seeing the opportunity, the villagers chased away the remaining Twikmoth to ensure it wouldn't return.

"Yeaaaa!" The villagers celebrated, wanting to learn more about the man who had come to their rescue, but Dante had already disappeared.

"Did you know that man?" the village chief asked, but none of the villagers could answer.

Dante returned to where he had left Neritha, and as he searched for her, someone jumped up behind him.

"Lord Juan! You did it! Thank you! You defeated the Twikmoths!" Neritha shouted and laughed, grateful that her prayer had been answered and for following the instructions given to her by the pilgrim.

Dante celebrated with Neritha, but he knew that his Pilgrimage was not over. He had to defeat nine more Twikmoths and complete the objectives to find the nest and reduce the Twikmoths' numbers.

"When I used the Holy Smite, it said that it cost me -20 MP. I had 100/100 Allocated Mana Points for this Pilgrimage. That means-"

[MP: 90/100]

"That means I'll have to make sure that every Invocation counts. Because I don't know if these Mana Points will regenerate on their own."