Waking up, I felt well rested. Checking my status screen, I saw that my HP had fully recovered while I was sleeping. Grumbling, I thought about how wasteful it was for me to have used two of my potions to recover some HP when I was going to fully recover while asleep anyway.
“Oh well. What’s done is done. Time to go hunt monsters and complete Quests,” I muttered. “If I want to be strong enough to help get everyone out of here, then I need to keep fighting and working hard.”
Leaving the inn, I decided to gather the [Vials of Goo] and [Vials of Acidic Goo] for Wadd. Plus, if I was lucky, I might level up by doing so. Besides, it’s not like I couldn’t do any of the Quests that took place in the forest right now. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday so soon. So, the logical choice would be to kill slimes in James’ wheat field.
“Let’s get going!” I shouted, sprinting full speed. I reached the field in no time, and just as I was hoping, it was filled with Green Slimes hopping all around. However, there were now Red Slimes hopping around too. “It’s all the same to me!”
I charged into a group of slimes, swinging my greatsword. It sliced through all of the monsters, killing them instantly. Thanks to that, I now had 6 out of 10 Vials of Goo to turn in to the alchemist. Grinning, I was ready to keep hunting. However, right as I was about to attack another group of Green Slimes, a Red Slime suddenly shot out of nowhere. I cut in half before it could hit me, but that simply attracted its group.
The Red Slimes all merged into one Giant Red Slime, but I wasn’t concerned. Readying my sword, I swung it at the monster. It sliced right through, but this time it was different.
[[Excellent Custom Greatsword] has come into contact with [Giant Red Slime’s] [Fiery Goo]]
[[Excellent Custom Greatsword] has lost 5 Durability]
“Crud! This is just like what happened before!” I shouted. But that didn’t change the fact that I had to kill this monster. I hacked it again, which killed it, but my sword lost another 5 Durability.
[You have obtained [Vial of Fiery Goo]]
“Oh, nice,” I thought aloud. But that’s when I realized that the slime’s body hadn’t disappeared yet. Instead, it was swelling up and looked as if it would burst. Which is exactly what happened, spraying its Fiery Goo everywhere.
[You have come into contact with [Giant Red Slime’s] [Fiery Goo]]
[You are under status effect Burn for 10 seconds]
I winced as the goo burned my skin. I did my best to scrape it all off, but it was difficult since anything that touched the goo would heat up and either burn me or catch fire. However, even after I got all the goo off of myself, I was still burning.
“Must be because of that status effect,” I muttered. Sighing, I checked my sword’s status.
[Excellent Custom Greatsword]
[Rarity: Rare]
[Type: Sword]
[Subtype: Two-Handed, Melee]
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[Restrictions: 50+ Str, Player Cain]
[Damage: 100 + Physical Attack Power]
[Durability: 120/130]
[Weight: 60]
[Effects:
1. 5% chance to ignore 10% of target’s Physical Defense
2. Immune to acid damage
3. Additional lightning damage equal to Magic Attack Power
4. 5% chance to Paralyze targets]
“It’s down 10 Durability, but it still has plenty left,” I stated. “However, I don’t want to waste its Durability on [Giant Red Slimes], so if I have to fight one of those, I’ll kill it with rocks.”
Happy with my plan, I collected a bunch of rocks. Then, I slaughtered the nearest group of Green Slimes, giving me the last of the Vials of Goo I need for Wadd’s Quest. I also received a notification that I had leveled up, which restored my HP to full.
“Awesome. Now, since I’m starting to get more Active Skills, I think I need to raise my Int,” I said, weighing my options. I put all 5 stat points into my Int stat, raising it to 20. That, in turn, raised my max MP, Magic Attack Power, and Magic Defense to 100. Feeling satisfied with the increase in strength, I began hunting down the Giant Green Slimes.
It was pretty easy to do so, especially since my sword was immune to acid damage. I was able to kill as many as I needed in order to get 10 Vials of Acidic Goo, which leveled me up once again. And once again, I put all the stat points into Int. This raised Int to 25, MP to 125, Magic Attack Power to 125, and Magic Defense to 125.
“Wow, Cain, you’ve done an amazing job of hunting monsters in my field!” Farmer James said. I never even noticed him walk up next to me.
“Thanks. Anything you need help with?” I asked.
“Actually, yes. The [Green Slimes] were bad enough since they’re acidic, but now there are [Red Slimes] too,” he complained. “They sometimes randomly burst into flames, which makes it difficult to grow any crops in this field. Could you get rid of them for me, please?”
[Farmer James would like your assistance in getting rid of the [Red Slimes]]
[Hunt 0/10 [Red Slimes]]
[Reward: 50 gold, +Relationship with Farmer James, [Special Seed (x10)]]
[Failure Penalty: -Relationship with Farmer James]
[Accept? Y/N]
“Ugh. Another kill Quest. Fine, might as well,” I said, accepting the Quest. “Besides, I’m curious now as to what a [Special Seed] is.”
“Oh, thank you for your help!” Farmer James said. “I’m sure for an Adventurer of your caliber, this will be easy!”
“You’re welcome,” I replied. Turning around, I started hunting down the Red Slimes. I managed to avoid having any of them merge into Giant Red Slimes and easily completed the Quest. I then returned to Farmer James to turn in the Quest.
“Thank you very much, Cain!” James thanked me. He then gave me the rewards for the Quest.
[You have obtained [Special Seed (x10)]]
[Special Seed]
[Rarity: Epic]
[Type: Consumable]
[Subtype: Random]
[Effect:
1. Has a random effect when thrown
2. Grows into a random magical plant when planted]
“Uh…huh. I honestly have no idea how I should use these seeds since have 10 of them,” I thought aloud. I turned to Farmer James. “Um, how should I best use the [Special Seeds]?”
“However you want! Use them in combat by throwing them, or plant them to have your own garden of random magical plants,” he replied with a smile. I sighed.
“Can you at least tell me what effects they can have when thrown?” I asked.
“They can explode upon impact, turn a creature to stone, heal creatures, teleport the person who threw it to its location, any number of things,” he answered. “And it’s all entirely random. I enjoy using them myself time-to-time, but I usually keep them in storage as a special reward for helpful Adventurers, such as yourself.”
“I see. Thank you,” I replied. I was still a little annoyed by his explanation though. However, complains wouldn’t do anything, so I just decided to see if he had any more Quests for me. “Anything else I can do?”
“Well, you could help me with some more plowing and sowing,” James replied.
[Farmer James would like your assistance in plowing and sowing his field]
[Plow 0/20 plots]
[Sow 0/20 plots]
[Rewards: 100 gold, +Relationship with Farmer James, [Special Seed (x15)]]
[Failure Penalty: -Relationship with Farmer James]
[Accept? Y/N]
“Sure, why not,” I said with a shrug. Accepting the Quest, I immediately began plowing the marked plots. It was easier this time than it was the first time, but it was still definitely hard work. In fact, I even received a system notification when I had finished plowing.
[You have surpassed your physical limits]
[Your Str stat has been permanently raised by 5]
“Awesome. That’s what I was hoping for with this Quest,” I said. I wiped the sweat off my forehead before sowing the plots. The sowing went much faster and I returned to Farmer James afterwards. “I’m finished.”
“Already? Very impressive! I’m sure you’ll become a skilled farmer yourself in no time! Maybe you’ll even choose farming over adventuring,” he said with a wink. He then handed me the rewards.
“Thank you very much,” I said, then turned to leave. However, the NPC began talking again before I could walk away.
“Please wait, Cain! I actually have one more favor to ask of you,” he admitted. “Though, this one is a bit tougher than the others. Something’s been picking off my livestock at night, and I have no idea what it is. I’ve tried trapping it and having mercenaries look for it, but nothing’s worked…or come back alive. Would you try to take care of it?”
[A mysterious creature has been killing off Farmer James’ livestock, and he’d like you to kill it]
[Hunt 0/1 unknown creature]
[Reward: 1000 gold, +Relationship with Farmer James, [Special Speed (x15)], ???]
[Failure Penalty: -Relationship with Farmer James, all of Farmer James’ livestock killed]
[Accept? Y/N]