“Blah, bleh!”
Seth spat out the last few remaining moths from his mouth.
If I never have to go there again, it will be too soon.
Shaking off the feeling of the countless scuttling legs, Seth began to inspect his new surroundings. It seemed like his starting position was located somewhere in the purple swamp he saw earlier. Large trees with purple leaves and grey bark loomed over Seth as he stood on one of the very few dry spots in the humid swamp. Intense smells assaulted Seth and it took all of his willpower not to gag.
They seriously couldn’t have dropped me anywhere else?
With a grimace, Seth used his left hand to pinch his nose while summoning Anar with his right. Not a second later, a huge serpentine monster blasted out of the brackish water toward Seth. Thankfully, Nightmare Adrenaline was constantly running so Seth reacted instantly. A black rip tore through the air, bisecting the creature and covering Seth in violet gore. Blood dribbled down the hilt of Anar so he quickly dismissed the weapon before extending his hand toward the corpse of the large snake. As the normal black oil was drawn into the whirlwind of his hand and Plunder ran its course, Seth turned his attention to the environment, watching for any more surprise attacks. Although he was able to dispose of the creature relatively fast, he could tell that it was a lower tier two.
If the normal, wandering monsters were already tier twos, then whatever the ‘boss’ is will probably be more than I can handle alone.
Despite the estimated strength of future monsters, Seth was very happy with the situation. After hunting monsters for a full six months while totally unprepared, it was a nice change for Seth to actually be ready for once. A grin ripped across his face as he re-summoned Anar.
“Let’s get started, baby!”
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“Come here you little shit!”
Seth sprinted as fast as possible after the near imperceptible teal beetle. It had been nearly three days since he had been dropped off at his starting position. After just one day, Seth had found his first ‘challenge’. Deep in the swamp, he had found a burrow in one of the trees that led to a large underground chamber. The chamber consisted of a metal jungle that spanned the size of a football field. It took only a minute for him to realize that the door behind him had been sealed by a series of brown myths. Shortly after that, a quest appeared.
-New Quest: Capture the Minlon (Reward: Low Quality Tempering (Choice))
It took him a full day just to see the little fucker.
Perceive and True Sight were pushed to the absolute max in Seth’s pursuit of the Minlon. Unfortunately, shortly after finding the Minlon for the first time, Seth was absolutely worn out so much that he had to stop and rest. Although that exhaustion didn’t stop him from continuing with Fool’s Errand. A couple hours of rest and a recovery crystal later, Seth was back on the prowl. This time it only took him a few hours to track down the Minlon. Learning from his first attempt, Seth pushed Nightmare Adrenaline to the max as well. Fortunately, Seth was able to come much closer to the Minlon this time. Unfortunately, he was still nowhere near catching the thing.
No matter how much he swiped, pounced, or cussed, the Minlon would always evade his grasp. It was incredibly agile, but that wasn’t even what made it so hard to get. The thing was, it was so hard to track because of the completely random pattern it followed. Unlike an actual bug, the Minlon would dart back at Seth, sometimes even crawling on him or jumping over him for no reason at all. It was impossible to try and guess where it would be.
Finally, after five more hours of chasing, Seth had an idea.
While sprinting after the critter, Seth activated Wicked Being, and put it at full blast. Even though the bug didn’t act like one, Seth’s racial ability would affect all living beings that were below his tier. Now even though the Minlon was faster than Seth, he was still positive that he was a higher tier than it. Within just a few minutes after using his racial ability, Seth noticed a stark difference in the beetle’s behavior. Now, it never tried to come near Seth. Finally, he had become the predator in the insect’s eyes. With this new development as well as four abilities running at maximum power, Seth eventually caught the Minlon after eight more hours.
“FINALLY, huff… I GOT YOU… huff… YOU LITTLE BASTARD…bleah!”
Bile spewed from Seth’s mouth all over the floor of the chamber. He hadn’t eaten much in an effort to ration out the food Seth brought with him, so his stomach was pretty much empty, especially after throwing up. Almost an hour passed as he sat up against the metal wall. His peripherals had been blinking the whole time, certifying the completion of his quest, but Seth didn’t care.
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Whoever made this ‘challenge’ can suck my dick.
Almost two full days of chasing a literal speck had thrown Seth’s patience over a cliff. He tiredly cracked a recovery crystal while keeping his left hand clenched over the tiny bastard that was trying desperately to escape his grasp. As he took a new, unimpeded breath, Seth finally opened his menu and navigated to the blinking Quests.
-Capture the Minlon (Reward: Low Quality Tempering (Choice)) (Achieved) *Claim?*
He mentally assented and a new window appeared in front of his eyes with the familiar attribute layout from the Status tab.
Tempering:
-Augment an attribute dependent on quality and level of individual. (Permanent)
Level: Tier Two (Progress: Middle)
Intellect: Class C (+)
Constitution: Class C (+)
Might: Class C (+)
Intuition: Class D (+)
Resolve: Class B (+)
Small (+) signs appeared directly after each attribute on the new screen. Seth’s was unsure how to feel about the reward. On one hand, he was able to level up his intellect by chasing after the Minlon, but on the other hand, it had been two days of work for almost nothing. It’s not like intellect leveled from this quest alone, if Seth had to guess, it was almost seventy percent of the way to leveling up anyway, this challenge was just a good push to do it himself.
Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess.
He turned his attention back to the screen in front of him. He had no real idea how much this tempering would boost his attribute, and the words ‘low quality’ didn’t inspire much confidence either. Seth shrugged and picked the attribute he thought would help him most at the moment. With that, Seth chose Constitution and observed in disbelief as the attribute skyrocketed by what felt like fifty percent, quickly pushing the stat to Class B.
Holy shit! And that was supposed to be ‘low quality’?!
Seth became very giddy at the idea of pursuing more ‘challenges’ now.
If I have only been here for just about three days and already leveled up two attributes, imagine what I could do with a whole YEAR!
He swiftly got up from his spot on the ground and began to head toward the now open door. He was almost out of the chamber when a squirm in his hand reminded him of the small insect that he had captured a small while ago. Seth smirked before shoving the bug into his mouth where he promptly devoured the little shit. With a satisfactory crunch and a quick swallow, the Minlon was no more. Seth thought about the possible loot he had just squandered by not using Plunder or Anima Thief.
“Worth it.”
He grinned with an antenna sticking out from between his teeth. Time for another! Seth began trotting up the steps out of the chamber with a gleeful look when he spotted a couple figures standing at the entrance of the burrow. “Heh?”
--------
“I suppose we can’t work this out in a civil manner?”
Seth now stood across from a trio of fancily clad teenagers that were pointing golden weapons at his heart. The group consisted of two girls and one young man who looked like the picture-perfect image of spoiled brats. They had pink skin and both girls had green eyes, while the boy’s were red. It was clear to Seth that they were no older than sixteen, yet they were currently hefting three deadly weapons that no teenager should have access to.
“Give it up boy, we know you just completed that challenge down there. Give us whatever you won and scamper off before I have to break you.”
The boy in the middle scoffed at Seth while poising menacingly with the golden falchion in his hand. At his demand, the two girls flanking him also prepared their weapons while glaring at him.
Wow, this is like textbook royal brat behavior. The only thing they’re missing is a snotty introduction of their names and house or whatever. Also, how am I the boy?
Seth grinned internally even though he could tell that they were definitely tier threes. Maybe I should give him a chance to say it…
“I don’t know what to tell you man, what I got can’t be given away. Who do you think you are anyway, trying to take my hard-earned reward?”
Seth’s wishes came true as he watched both the girls tense with anger while the boy waved them off and sheathed his sword.
“I am Rich Letmond, of the esteemed Letmond royal family that rules over the Serion sector of the Galactic Plane.” He turned up his chin to maximum arrogancy before gesturing at the two surrounding him. “My two party members that you see here are Dia and Tia.” As Rich introduced them, Dia propped up her halberd while Tia smashed her mace on the ground while staring daggers at Seth’s existence.
It took all of Seth’s power not to grin right in their faces, which would definitely lead to his swift demise.
“It is a pleasure to meet you ma lord! Forgive my arrogance, for I did not realize I was in the presence of royalty!”
Seth bowed in mock respect while changing his voice to a falsetto. This apparently seemed to please the young lord as his chin reached even higher into the air.
“Ah, no matter my young friend, although I do warn you for the future; almost every participating in this event is royalty of some stature, so do make sure to act accordingly if you survive long enough to meet another group.”
The boy surprisingly didn’t seem incredibly interested in who Seth was at all.
“I suppose you must have received a tempering for your reward then, yes? Count yourself lucky, I know some who would pay a small fortune to get such a definite boost in resolve.” Rich stated.
Seth’s eyebrows knit at the prince’s explanation. Why does he think I boosted resolve?
“Um, ma lord Dic- uh, Rich? Why do you think I received a tempering in resolve?”
The young lord’s face became a look of absolute pity. “Oh my! How horrible it must be to have such a plebian mindset that when granted a tempering, you do not choose resolve!”
Rich put his face in his hands before turning away from Seth in disgust.
“Please, make sure this imbecile cannot take any more rewards of ours! But show mercy for such a young idiot, perhaps he can at least learn on the level of cattle.”
Dia and Tia both snarled before rushing Seth with their weapons put aside. Seth’s tripled reflexes were barely enough to register the foot and fist flashing toward his face.
“Oh shi-”