The moment the barrier fades and the notification appears in my vision, I'm casting [Magic Missile]. I can instinctively tell how to cast it, that it costs 5 MP, that it takes 1 second to cast, and that it will travel 14 feet at the most. That's more than enough to hit the nearest goblin, which is only eight feet away.
Though this is my first time casting [Magic Missile], my spell still strikes dead-on where I aimed. I've heard from Awakened that the higher one's Rank is, the more easily they adapt to Skills and aiming their spell Skills. Rank 5s can apparently nail their targets on their first-ever cast.
My attack doesn't kill the goblin outright, but it does blast a small hole into its head before the missile of shimmering blue force fades away. Blood sprays out then begins to flow down the goblin's green skin, bone and brain exposed through the wound.
I did that much damage and the creature just seems a bit dazed. While I've heard about such things from Awakened before, I've never seen actual fights against monsters, only the aftermath. The same thing can happen for me now that I'm Awakened and have HP, but I don't really have an interest in getting struck by attacks.
Not wanting to let the goblin try to attack, I begin casting another [Magic Missile] immediately after the first one. The creature's dazed enough that it stumbles around long enough that I can blast it in the head again. I want to hit the same spot as I did before and almost as if respond to my thoughts, the [Magic Missile] I fire off curves a little to strike the creature in roughly the same spot, slamming into bone and brain.
+1 goblin slain!
The goblin drops to the ground and the scavenger part of me wants to cut open its chest and remove the crystal that acts as its heart. Essence crystals contain raw magical essence and can sell for a decent amount depending how strong the monster it came from is. They're extremely useful in crafting as well, and I make use of them when brewing potions while others might use them to make weapons and armor.
This is an Awakening Quest, however, so I can't bring anything out of here except what I came in with. Even that's not fully true since my clothes and gear dissolved away… I don't even have the knife I brought with me anymore!
I begin walking, taking down every goblin I come across. The eyesight of basic ones is rather poor, so I'm able to get pretty close without being detected. By the time they do notice me, it's too late and I'm able to nail them with a [Magic Missile]. That stuns and disorients them enough for me to fire off a second [Magic Missile], which makes the Awakening Quest… ridiculously easy.
From what Awakened I've spoken with have told me, they're usually rather difficult. All I'm really needing to do is approach a goblin from behind or the side and fire off a [Magic Missile], and I'm pretty much guaranteed to kill it with my next one. All of the goblins seem to be of the same strength and difficulty, so there's no variation in that regard, either.
As I travel through the field, I confirm that there's an upward slope toward the center. That doesn't seem to be anything special, though, so I ignore it in favor of continuing the Quest.
At least the air here is pleasantly cool. The amount of movement I'm doing would soak me in sweat if it were ten degrees warmer.
Finally, after almost two hours of walking around and shooting [Magic Missile]s, I manage to kill all of the goblins. It probably would have been quicker if I gathered up a bunch and used [Fireball], but I felt like walking rather than moving quickly and trying to group the monsters up.
Upon the death of the final goblin, notifications appear in my vision as I appear back home, right where I'd accepted the Quest from.
Congratulations on completing your Awakening Quest! You are now a Level 1 Rank 5 Awakened! Your classes are [Arcane Mage], [Elemental Mage], [Nature Mage], [Sacred Mage], and [Magic Craftsman], and you have 10 Skills! Your HP and MP have been refreshed!
You have 1 Daily Quest still available.
You have 1 Weekly Quest still available.
You are the [Keeper of the Gate to the Mythic Forest]!
I have a Title right from the start? Those are exceptionally rare to earn but I have one from the start. As most don't talk about their specific benefits, there's a great deal of mystery around Rank 5s other than that they're exceptionally powerful. We're exceptionally powerful.
It's entirely possible that we all receive a Title from the start and no one's mentioned it, or no one's believed it.
Curious about the Title, I call up the information on it.
[Keeper of the Gate to the Mythic Forest] The one who holds the key to entering the Mythic Forest, you are able to come and go from it as you please.
According to the ancient texts I've read, there are several Mythic Forests. Places filled with magic, in both beasts and plants, though relatively peaceful as well. When I first learned about them, I did some research into them to see where they were located.
I was under the impression they were here on Earth but quickly learned that they weren't and are basically pocket dimensions like Dungeons. They were only able to be accessed very rarely, through Quest rewards. Not many people could actually do that, though – the amount of ambient mana within them is so high that one needs a mana resistance equal to a Category 5-100 Dungeon, or a Dungeon that's the equivalent in power to a Rank 5 Awakened somewhere in the Level 991-1,000 range.
Most people start off with a very low level of mana resistance and can build it up over time. If they go somewhere with too much mana for their tolerance level, they start to feel nauseous, dizzy, and a pressure against all parts of them. Staying in for too long can start to have other adverse affects and cause even harm to one's body. The lower a person's tolerance is compared to the mana of the place they're in, the more quickly this works.
For a Category 5-10 Dungeon, it's straight-up lethal to even set foot inside for most people. Mythic Forests are Category 5-100 based on the reports. That's not just lethal, that's the sort of mana levels which would dissolve a person in an instant.
The Bureau of Magical Affairs tests people for their mana resistance when they register as either an Awakened or a scavenger – optional for the former, mandatory for the latter. They have setups called "mana rooms", which are twenty-foot-wide cubes filled with mana. It lets them know what level of tolerance a person has for it. To test, a person can either walk in while wearing mana-resistant clothes or just stick their head in.
This makes it easier to know who can handle what degree of Dungeon, and they can test from Category 1-1 all the way up to Category 5-10. I didn't feel even faintly off when I stuck my head into the Category 5-10 equivalent.
I do still only go into Category 1-1 and Category 1-2 Dungeons as a scavenger, though. The materials are cheaper in them but I also don't have to worry as much about people trying to pull crap with me in my shop.
If I had to estimate things, the Awakening Quest's location was the equivalent of a Category 5-1 Dungeon based on the amount of mana I could feel in the air. That fits in line with the monsters within it, even if they were more basic than I would have expected for such a difficulty level.
Reaching such an absurd level of resistance for anyone – whether Rank 1 or Rank 5 – to be able to withstand a Category 5-100 Dungeon is so rare that the records we do have claim that the Mythic Forests are called such specifically because they're mythical. It's not real, just something people claim exists. At the same time, some reports claim that all Rank 5s are immune to the mana in the air of there regardless of their actual resistance level.
This Title window floating in my vision claims that not only is it real, but I can access it at will.
One of the reasons they're believed to be a myth is because they suddenly stopped showing up in rewards around five hundred years ago. Even the longest-lived of people don't live that long, so there's no one who's received it still alive.
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After contemplating about it for a few minutes, I decide to try and access the Mythic Forest. If the reports are to be believed, its ambient mana won't affect me. Even if those reports are false, I'm still certain I'd be immune as its Keeper.
The moment I activate my ability to enter the Mythic Forest… I find myself back in the field my Awakening Quest was in. Not just anywhere in it, but the exact spot I'd left from.
All of the goblins are gone, though I'm suspecting more time has passed here than I spent between visits as there are small mounds of soil scattered throughout. Those could be from the bodies decomposing. The dense wall of fog remains unchanged, leaving it as exactly as I remember… from both my Awakening Quest and from the one occasion I was in a Category 5-1 Dungeon before.
I was hoping I was wrong about that, but now that I'm here without any fights, I'm certain of it. This is… that place. Dungeons can be recycled but I didn't think that was true for Awakening Quests. In fact, everything I've seen said the Dungeons for Awakening Quests are always unique.
If this is a Mythic Forest, then something happened to destroy it and eliminate even a trace of its trees. Then, it became a regular Dungeon occurrence until I guess now, when it's become accessible at will by me.
Whatever is going on here, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm going to hazard a guess and say that it's not restricted to just this Mythic Forest. If such a legendary place is in such a bad state, then I'm sure the others are as well. That would explain why they stopped showing up as special rewards.
While I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do as its Keeper, I know that I'll see if I can't revitalize this place. It feels wrong to leave it in this state and I want to see it flourishing as it surely did long ago.
"I'll be back," I tell the Mythic Forest. "For now, there's other stuff for me to do."
Accessing my gate, I find myself back home once more. There's a lot for me to process, so I fix myself dinner as I work on sorting through what's happened.
Most people have more specific Classes than I do, and what Skills we acquire are based on those Classes. A [Fire Mage] will gain Skills related to fire magics, a [Water Mage] will gain Skills related to water magics, and so on. As an [Elemental Mage], however, I'll gain Skills relating to any elemental magic.
Though the only one I have right now is [Fireball]. All of my other Skills relate to my other four Classes.
So while my Classes sound generic, they're the most advanced versions there are. I've only met four people with any of those Classes, too.
Every Awakened also has Daily Quests and Weekly Quests. The former reset at midnight, while the latter resets at midnight on Sundays. We can only take on one from each of those per time period they're for – so only one Daily Quest a day, and only one Weekly Quest a week. However, we're given an option between what we want to do for them.
Those options are based on our Classes and can change from day-to-day, though there are two standard ones everyone receives: Fitness Quest and Daily/Weekly Dungeon Quest.
Curious about mine, I call up the Daily Quests log.
Daily Quests Daily Dungeon Daily Fitness Harvest Cleanse Alchemy
Five choices, huh? I've heard the actual number available ranges from three to five each day regardless of a person's Rank, but that it's always five on the day they Awakened.
I flick through the different choices given to me.
Daily Dungeon Defeat the Queen Hunter Ant in your Daily Dungeon within 4 hours. 0/1 Queen Hunter Ant Reward: 500 EXP
Daily Fitness Perform a daily fitness routine. 0/10 push-ups 0/10 sit-ups 0/30s plank 0/5 pull-ups 0/10 squats 0/20 star jumps 0/10 lunges 0/1 mile ran Reward: 500 EXP
Harvest Harvest materials to assist in your crafting. 0/2 gallons manaberries 0/10 pounds manacap mushrooms 0/10 gallons mystic spring water 0/2 pounds manasprig leaf Reward: 500 EXP
Cleanse Cleanse impurities in contaminated water and soil. 0/1 gallons cleansed Reward: 500 EXP
Alchemy Brew up mana potion with 200 MP per 1 ounce. 0/10 gallons brewed Reward: 500 EXP
[Cleanse] is one of my available Skills, though I'm not sure I really want to use that right now since I'd have to track down soil or water that would qualify for the Quest. For the Daily Alchemy Quest, I don't have the reagents necessary to brew that much. That's the amount I was expecting to brew on Sunday, after doing some Dungeon scavenging tomorrow.
With harvesting, I'd either have to leave the city and try to find an area that has enough of those, or get lucky in a Dungeon scavenging session. That's not something I'm interested in dealing with this evening.
Which leaves Daily Fitness and Daily Dungeon. I'm in shape even if slender so the fitness stuff wouldn't be too much of an issue for me. Too much. It would probably push my limits just a little bit. Then again, I did just Awaken, so my stats are a little bit better. I could probably manage it fine.
That reminds me, I haven't checked my Status yet.
Name: Evan Rethe Rank: 5 Species: Human Sex: Male Level: 1 EXP: 0/18,767 HP: 3,100/3,100 MP: 3,100/3,100 Strength: 10 Constitution: 13 Agility: 10 Dexterity: 13 Magic: 14 Mind: 14 HP Regen: 5% MP Regen: 5%
The Regen rates are per hour while asleep and are equal to a person's Rank. They never change, as far as I know. My HP and MP will increase by their starting values every Level, while my other stats will increase every Level with some factoring of my Rank and Classes involved. Reaching Level 1 also affects them, which means I am stronger than I was before, though I don't know what my exact values pre-Awakening were.
Mostly, the Daily Fitness Quests are for people focusing on the more physical side of things when it comes to combat, or for who want to improve their stamina. Basically, it's the System's way of encouraging us to build up stamina and stay in shape.
I could probably do that, but I'm not quite interested in it, especially not with the Daily Dungeon available.
Hunting monsters is something which sounds like a side job to me, not a main job. Kills within a Daily Dungeon don't award EXP, so I'll only benefit from the completion reward. However, they help give combat experience, and resources from within them can be taken out if one has storage which can withstand the Dungeon's ambient mana.
The Daily Dungeon is based on the person's own Rank and Level, so I technically don't have something that works. No item in my possession can withstand such a high amount of ambient mana.
What I do have, however, is a Skill called [Dimensional Storage].
[Dimensional Storage] Level: 1 A cubical dimensional storage space where time is stopped, allowing for the transfer of products between dimensions. Size: 1' x 1' x 1'
If I'd had this unlocked before I finished my Awakening Quest, I'd have a lot of essence stones right now as I know that items placed in can be taken out of even Awakening Quest zones. A cubic foot of space isn't too much, but it will give me enough space to bring out some high-ranking materials I can sell. That, in turn, will let me purchase gear which can withstand the energies of a Rank 5 Dungeon.
My decision made, I decide to accept the Daily Dungeon Quest. Upon confirmation, I find myself standing in front of a wall of fog within a dark tunnel. It's not completely dark, however, as small crystals in the walls of the tunnel provide a minor amount of faint, blue light.
A four-hour timer begins ticking down in my vision, informing me of how much time I have left to slay the Queen Hunter Ant.
Hopefully, I have enough time I can harvest stuff, too.