“I see. There could be a grave danger if the reports are true. We’ll investigate right away. Please return to us in a few hours.” The guild member said. Leon was back at the Adventurers’ Guild and submitted his report.
Leon nodded, knowing they would need to verify. Feeling sluggish and tired, he planned to sleep and return later. He left the Adventurers’ Guild and walked to the nearest inn using his map.
As Leon walked, he couldn’t help but think about the war and the castle. Who did they fight? And why did they miss this castle during clean up? Was it really an oversight? This castle was very close to the capital. One would assume it would be the first to be destroyed.
Leon shook his head. It was no use thinking of things when he was tired. Additionally, he was delaying addressing the matter of Beans until he reached the inn.
He suppressed his emotions for the quest and planned to let them out later in a safe place. The streets were unsuitable. Leon felt a minor headache forming as his emotions struggled to come out and go wild.
He made his way to a massive inn and paid the worker 10 copper. It was more expensive, but he didn’t have to wait. After settling into his room, he sat on the bed and took a deep breath, releasing the clamp.
He closed his eyes and recalled the entire fight. Leon’s breathing sped up and tears filled his eyes once more. “Beans…I’m so sorry.” He cried as he planted his hands in his face.
All of Leon’s sorrows and fears flooded out, his body shivering as he crawled up into a ball, burying his face in his knees. Sorrowful screams sounded out and Leon wasn’t in the right mind to even wonder if people could hear him.
“I should’ve saved those life-saving skills until the end. Then you wouldn’t have got hurt.” Leon hated how he could see the answer in hindsight. He hated how his mind gave him clarity after the fact. He hated how-
“Ow, what the!?” As Leon was busy with self-loathing, he felt a sharp pain at his ankles. He looked at his legs, his eyes still red and swollen.
Beans had come out of the familiar space and was now right in front of Leon. Seeing Beans standing there scabbed over made his heart ache all over again.
“B-Beans…” Leon muttered, looking away. He couldn’t look at him, for it reminded him of his failures. Beans wasn’t having that and nipped him once more, making Leon flinch and look at him.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment until Leon spoke, “I-I’m sorry, my failed plans got you hurt.” Beans chirped as he shook his head. He was trying to communicate that it wasn’t Leon’s fault.
“It is my fault. It was my plan, and I’m responsible for your well-being Beans!” Leon argued back. Beans shook his head again as he communicated to Leon that it was his decision to jump in at that time.
Leon couldn’t debate that. It was indeed not his plan to have Beans jump in front of them. “S-Still, I could’ve handled it differently.” Leon didn’t want to dismiss his fault.
Beans thought about it and nodded while giving him a look of, ‘We’ll do better next time.’ Leon smiled, seeing Beans cheer him up.
Leon’s meltdown was receding, making him release an exhausted sigh. “Alright, we’ll do better next time. But I want you to promise me one thing.” His voice was serious.
“Never do that again. We’ve just met today and the thought of losing you is already painful enough.” Leon said with a soft smile. Beans nodded in understanding. Perhaps it was a bit rash of him to jump in between them.
As the situation dissolved, Leon’s exhaustion hit him as he lay on the bed. He didn’t even bother changing out of his clothes and fell asleep while setting the alarm. Beans noticed Leon sleeping and crawled up to snuggle next to him in a snuggle and also started sleeping.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, as Leon and Beans got busy resting. A woman with blood-red hair came into the Adventurers’ Guild and went to the desk.
“Give me another job,” Rose demanded from the guild member. It was the same woman Leon had reported his findings to half an hour ago. Without their knowledge, Rose and Leon were in the same kingdom and capital.
I have to hurry up and clear all these quests before they attack. Rose thought as she pressured the woman.
The guild member stood there in silence. Just how many jobs did she do already? At this rate, there won’t be much left. She thought as she looked at Rose.
The woman had an idea for a job. “Seeing that you’re so eager to take on a job, I’ve got a special one for you.”
Rose frowned a little at the unexpected offer. “Depends. What does it entail?” She asked. NPCs had their own agendas and could use players for their schemes.
“It’s a simple verification of a report we’ve just obtained,” The woman smiled a little too nicely for Rose’s liking.
This is bound to be hard or a fake lead. Rose could already guess the woman just wanted her gone.
“Can you be more specific?” Rose knew how to talk to these types of people, never agreeing at the first sign of a quest.
“Supposedly, there’s a massive goblin nest in an abandoned war castle. A beginning adventurer discovered during his initiation quest. Are you interested?” The woman explained, still not buying the discovery.
Rose, however, had a different thought as she came to a stunning realisation. Goblins!? Is it them? Little did the woman know that Rose already believed the report because of a future event.
In about one week, a massive army of goblins will launch an attack on and devastate the capital. All of them were equipped with remarkable armour and formidable weapons, which made them a significant threat. It was an event that had never happened in the opening week of any game before, which is why she remembered it.
It was the why Rose wanted to clear all the quests and gather as much money as she could before they attacked once they attacked the capital got engulfed in inner turmoil and the royal family would be executed for their failures making crime explode and the capital soon fell into history.
I have to find out for sure. Rose was already determined to take the job, but she needed to talk about compensation first. “How much will this job pay?” She asked with a curious tone, keeping calm as she really wanted this job.
The woman smiled as she thought she’d hooked Rose. “Since it’s a simple job, how about 1 silver?” In her eyes, it was a fool’s errand.
Rose nodded. “Fine, I accept the job.”
[Hard Quest: Goblin Discovery has been accepted.] Quest Detail: A young budding adventurer found a harrowing sight, goblins at an old war castle. The Guild seems to be sceptical. It’s up to you to prove the young adventurer’s claims. Objective: Bring back proof of goblins at the castle.
It’s even a hard quest? And who discovered it anyway? Hard quests for Rose were rare, as Gaia showed the quests’ difficulty based on the player’s strength. Rose was currently level 16. She was hard-pressed to find good rewarding quests.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Can you tell me who found it?” Rose asked curiously.
The woman shook her head. “I’m sorry. According to guild policy, we don’t give out information like that.” She denied Rose outright, but she did give her Leon’s report.
Rose didn’t expect it to work and nodded as she set off to where the report stated the castle was. She read the report and noticed how oddly familiar the handwriting looked. Players had to hand write reports like these.
Rose shrugged, not minding the familiar look. Oh well, If I can eradicate those goblins, then the Kingdom of Gurhl could be a good starting point. She initially didn’t want to stay here due to the inbound invasion, but now she had a different plan as she set off to the forest and the castle.
----------------------------------------
Leon awoke to the familiar sound of his internal alarm. As he gradually woke up, he felt more revitalised than he typically does. As he glanced down, he felt a strange weight on his body. Beans, who had been sleeping on him, was now fully recovered, with his fur completely regrown in just a few hours.
He gave a content sigh, seeing Beans back to normal. Alright, time to go claim that reward. Leon thought as he got up and placed Beans’s limp body on his shoulders.
He quickly got back to the Adventurers’ Guild, where the woman smiled brightly. “Ah, there you are!” She said as she bowed towards Leon. Leon immediately felt put on the spot and couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
“O-Okay…” He said as he glanced around nervously. The woman realised she was making Leon uncomfortable and calmed down.
“We’ve confirmed your report and were shocked to see such a massive danger under our noses. As a token of our thanks, we’ve doubled your reward.” She said, still smiling.
Leon was stunned as his eyes opened wide, [Hard Quest Completed: Adventurers’ Path. Obtained 1,050 EXP. Awarding +100 reputation with the Kingdom of Gurhl.] The EXP finally gave Leon a level. The tutorial was just a warm-up.
The upside with summoners was that the familiars had the same level. In other words, Beans also levelled up. Reputation. That’s really good! Leon’s eyes gleamed as he read the message.
Reputation was a massive thing. It helped with everything, whether it was buying something from the store and being given a discount or becoming nobility and having laws not apply to you.
The woman also gave Leon 20 silver. That amount of money could buy him a lot of things. It would help kick start his alchemy session. “Thank you very much!” gratitude filled Leon’s voice.
“You’ve earned it. Would you like to do another job?” The way the woman interacted with Leon was a stark difference between him and Rose, even though they were brother and sister.
“Maybe later. I’ve already got something planned.” Leon apologetically said to the woman. She was a little disappointed, but still nodded. She had long figured out Leon was lucky or smart, and reading the report, she would have to go for the latter.
Leon left the Adventurers’ Guild and returned to the Alchemists’ Guild. He was eager to jump into more alchemy. Before leaving the inn, Leon looked on the forums for prices and saw health potions going for nearly 1 silver a piece.
That will probably go down as I make them, but I can still make money dependent on the price of the materials. Leon thought as he walked to the Alchemists’ Guild. Selling items to players could be done in a few ways, either face-to-face or through the marketplace.
Face-to-face selling was simple, you meet them and you sell your items. The marketplace was a more distant way of selling. One would put the items up for sale and once it was sold, a two per cent fee would be taken as a convenience tax.
Leon wasn’t going to sell face-to-face. He had zero communication skills when it came to haggling and bargaining, so the marketplace was exactly for someone like him.
As he entered the Alchemists’ Guild, Leon went to the board and looked around for a moment. The jobs there were mainly people requesting specific rare materials or recipes. A few were looking for assistance to help them brew as well.
Not interesting, time to look at the price of the materials. Leon went to the clerk and asked for blood grass and midnight dew. “Blood grass is 5 copper a piece and midnight dew is 20 copper per bottle, sir,” She responded professionally.
25 per potion, I could get 80 portions but I need to save some money for a room and I still want to play with that snake’s blood and venom. Leon thought carefully about how many he wanted.
“Can you give me 60 of each, please?” Leon asked, and the clerk nodded.
“That will be 15 silver.”
“Can I also get a room for 5 hours’ worth of time?” Leon added he could hardly brew in the main hall, could he?
“Of course, the total comes out to 18 silver.” She totalled the amount.
Leon nodded and paid the clerk. He was given a plaque with a number on it which was enchanted to vibrate once the room was free. Finding an empty chair, Leon began to browse through the forums again.
As he was going to do alchemy, he decided to visit the alchemy sub under the professions topic. Suddenly, he saw a post that piqued his interest.
Home—>Professions—>Alchemy—>Impossible Test?
Nightkin (Original Poster)
Posted on Jun 15th 20XX:
How do you pass the alchemy test!? I’ve done it over 5 times by now, but I can’t seem to brew that damn potion!
>Spellcraft [Verified Magician]
Replied on Jun 15th 20XX
I know! It’s extremely frustrating, and it’s eating away at my savings!
>Emberage [Verified Alchemist]
Replied on Jun 15th 20XX
Get good, it’s that simple.
>Nightkin (Original Poster)
Replied on Jun 15th 20XX:
@Emberage You’re not helping.
Leon looked at the post and it looked like the majority of people were having trouble with the test. He quickly noticed the problem. Do they not get used to the cauldron before starting? Did they seriously expect the game to do it for them?
This was actually the truth. Souls Online was revolutionary in using all the human senses and even adding one more during gameplay. The gamers of the lower colony are used to the game doing it for them, and those who did it naturally could just have got lucky.
I guess I could help them. Leon thought as he typed a reply to the post. One could set flairs next to their name to identify the poster’s integrity, the game automatically added titles based on souls and titles. Leon could even use his Pioneer Summoner flair, but he certainly wasn’t going to do that.
>Tempest [Verified Alchemist]
Replied on Jun 15th 20XX:
@Nightkin Get used to the cauldron first. Think of your mana as firewood and the cauldron as a flame. The more firewood you throw on the flame, the hotter it becomes.
Leon posted it and he didn’t have to wait long for a response.
>Nightkin (Original Poster)
Replied on Jun 15th 20XX:
@Tempest Mana as firewood? Seems like a bit odd of an advice but I’ll give it a try next time!
Leon smiled as he read the message. It felt pretty good to help others out when possible. Suddenly he remembered something from the novel in the later parts.
In later parts of the novel, Rose could use special techniques to slash and send mana slices forwards. Leon remembered such a line, techniques were different from skills in that they had no cooldown but used stamina. The more one practised, the less stamina it took.
Sending mana slices forwards… mana is like a pool… wouldn’t this mean that mana would be the same as water? As Leon reached this epiphany, he had an idea. He brought his hands together like he was grabbing an invisible ball.
If mana is like water, then can I change it to give it a form and be solid? Isn’t that what she did? Leon tried to focus his mana to move to the space in between his hands. His constant practice with Arcane Missile honed his control as a small mist began forming.
Leon was ecstatic with the result, yet it suddenly stopped, and he felt a small headache. Looking at his MP gave him the answer. MP: 0/260. He had run out of mana in just that small moment. He could drink water to recover it, but decided against it.
I don’t want people to look at me oddly, but I still need more practice. Leon didn’t want to attract attention by doing something other than reading the forums. Quickly, another idea formed. If mana is a pool, then could I fill it?
Leon entered focus again, kept his eyes open and zoned out, almost like he was reading the forums, except he was doing something else. He tried to focus on the surrounding air, trying to feel the mana in the air.
Soon he could feel the familiar feeling of mana, and he drew it into him. He did this by ‘opening’ his own pool and breathing rhythmically to draw it in. It took a while, but soon Leon could feel and see his mana being replenished at a visible rate.
[New Skill Meditation has been learned.] The message broke Leon out of his focus as he looked at the skill. Meditation: Active Skill. Requirement: 10 Wisdom. Draw in the ambient mana, helping to recover your own. Recover 1MP per second. Skill Level: 1 (Mastery 0/100)
That’s pretty cool, it’ll certainly help. Leon nodded happily as he read Meditation. He practiced meditation a little in his past life, as he thought it would’ve helped with his autism, but Leon never went beyond the basics.
As he activated the skill again with help from the system became much easier. It felt like his previous attempt was a crude imitation of the actual skill. There’s no cooldown and I don’t see a skill mastery check. Is it different? Leon thought as he activated it.
After two minutes of meditation came a message, [Mastery +1], it made Leon understand it was more based on time spent and not how the skill was used. I guess that makes sense. Leon thought. Meditation was fairly simple.
His mana was soon back to full, and as he was about to try his other experiment again, the plaque vibrated. Guess it’ll have to wait. Leon got up and entered the room.