Chapter 12

Alice and Gravel aren't here today, so I guess I'll go on a solo commission. It might also be a good idea to try and find out what I can do.

Let's see, let's see... hunting commissions... light hoof deers, boars... Kojo birds, hmmm...

I'd like to, but I don't really know how to track them down. What else is there?

Gather wild herbs... collect Thorn flower nectar, this one looks good.

Slime subjugation... wood cart escort... hmmm...

Alright. I'll take this one.

"Hello Glendel."

"Hello Ether. Welcome back. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes. I did. Thank you. I want to ask, can I take more than one commission at a time?"

"Yes, of course you can. However, if you don't complete it in time it will count as a fail, and it will have negative effects on your reputation. People do take more than one commission at a time, but only when the locations line up and they are sure they can complete all of them in time."

"In that case I'd like to start with this one then. " I put the parchment on the counter. "Collect Thorn flower nectar. By the way, what are Thorn flowers anyway? And how do I collect it's nectar?"

"Thorn flowers are very beautiful and sweet smelling flowers that grow in the forest. They look like pink flowers that sit atop a small mound of dirt surrounded by thorny vines. They usually have nectar pods under their petals, and that's what you collect. However, it's also a trap. If you trigger it, the vines will flick towards the flower and wrap around its victim. It's very painful and very hard to escape from. If you're not careful, it can be really dangerous, some even consider it a monster for how hard it is to handle."

"And you're telling me this is a beginners commission?" Getting entanglement in thorny vines don't sound like fun to me. Not in the slightest.

"Oh, it's only dangerous if you don't know how to handle it. All you have to do is cut all the vines surrounding the mound, then you can safely collect the nectar. It's just that the vines also reattach very quickly, it only takes a day or two for them to reconnect the severed vines, so be careful if decide to revisit a flower. The nectar pods on the other hand takes up to one or two weeks to regrow."

"Alright, thank you for the information. I'll take this commission then."

"No problem. It's my job to provide you information, and make sure you are prepared for your commissions."

"By the way, Do you go out on commissions yourself? Sorry if I'm being rude." She is level 7, so I'm just a bit curious.

"I don't mind. Yes, I do go out on commissions after my shifts. I believe the other receptionists do too. I'm sure you've met Silvia, she's a level 12 mage, and I myself am a level 7 archer."

Level 12? When I saw Silvia yesterday she was level 13. Guess she hasn't checked her level yet.

"Heaaa... around the same level as Alice and Gravel huh?"

"Hehe. Those two are actually quite famous around here, you know?"

"Heh?" I turn my head. I had my suspensions, but that still caught me by surprise a little bit.

"You've just arrived in town, so it's natural you don't know. Those two are famous for being the youngest adventurers in town to have reached Silver rank, and they were given the nicknames Black Steel and Green Fang. They're also just very kind people. You're lucky to have been able to go on a commission with them."

"Wow... I didn't know they were celebrities."

"Huhu, looks can be deceiving, I know."

"Yes, I didn't expect that. Well, I'll get going than."

"Yes, good luck on your trip."

...

She told me that Thorn flowers can normally be found outside the west side of town. The sun is already high in the sky, and I need to get 10 pods for this commission. I don't know how long it will take to get them, but I should hurry nonetheless.

Guard, "Leaving already?"

"Going on a commission."

Guard, "Oh? So you're and adventurer now, hehe."

"Yes, I am. I registered yesterday."

Guard, "Ahh... to be young and full of energy. Well, good luck on your commission." He slaps me on the back and pushes me forward.

"I'll see you later."

...

I'm a little bit into the forest now. I don't think any one can see me, so should I maybe test myself out now?

First off, let's do some hops, then some stretches to get myself warmed up. Then ready... set... GO!

In an instant, I accelerated so fast, it felt like I was on a high performance motorcycle, maybe even faster. It took a second for my mind to catch up. Right now I'm probably going highway speed, everything looks like it's going in slow motion.

The trees don't sway, the leaves look suspended in mid air and my body seems to react to obstacles on its own, scaling tall trees and rock faces like it's nothing.

To top it all off, I don't even think this is my max speed. This feels like a slow jog.

It's amazing... so this is the power of high agility stat...

Alright, let's stop for now. I jump and bounce off a few trees to slow down my momentum. It surprisingly feels... natural to do so. Like it's muscle memory.

I hit the ground and slide to a stop. Lets see, what's next... hmm... let's try Stealth.

...

... ...

A few moments pass...

Yeah I didn't think this through. Stealth doesn't do anything if no one is actually trying to find you. Although I know from the game that if you reach a sufficient stealth stat and meet the appropriate requirements, you can actually go invisible for a short period of time. I should try to get that skill, it might come in useful.

But... I don't actually know what those requirements.. are... sigh...

If I knew this was gonna happen I would have done some research. Ahh.. well.

Anyway next, let's do perception. I guess all I need to do is focus on something...

Ouuu... nice. I can see what I focus on so clearly. Even individual ants on a tree dozens of meters away, like I'm looking at it through a magnifying glass. Plus, anything alive stands out like a sore thumb, even those with perfect camouflage.

Everything, from bird to lizards to insects, it feels like they just lit up against a dark background. I can even track fast moving insects perfectly.

This is a great skill. It's from the Assasin skill tree and it's effectiveness increases with my stealth and intelligence stat. And since I had a max level Mage, I have a lot of intelligence, so it probably shouldn't be surprising that it's so good.

Hmm...? Oh...? A light pink flower sitting atop mound of dirt surrounded by vines...

Didn't think I'd find it this quickly. This perception skill came in very handy. I would've just walked passed it if it didn't light up.

Thorn flower, level 2. This thing actually has a level? Wow. Maybe it is a monster.

Ok, first I need to cut the vines. I pull out my knife, put it on the vines and with the slightest bit of force, the knife went right through it like I was trying to cut through soft tofu.

Chocolate dagger... an event item from the game. I know it's a good dagger, but I didn't expect this...

It looks no different than a chocolate bar, but it's sharper than a razor. Note, do not try to eat.

Oh! An idea! Let's see what magic can do.

I took a step away from the vines, imagine chopping the vines and make a chopping hand motion and surely enough, the vines chopped. I imagine slicing it and flick my fingers, a groove slides through the ground and cuts the vine. I imagine throwing a sharp object at the vines and a hole appears on it. But when I try imagine grabbing the vines and tearing them apart, nothing happened.

Then I had an idea, a classic energy beam. I point my hand towards a vine and a beam of white light shots out of my hand, cutting the vines.

I couldn't do this back in the game, furthermore this actually used up 1Mp point. In the game there's no spell that costs only 1Mp, either it doesn't require Mp or it requires a multiplication of 50Mp.

I tested it out a bit more and found out that I can keep the beam going for as long as I want. It takes 1Mp every few seconds. Furthermore, it looks like I can't manipulate it very much, it doesn't bend or take any form. That's why I couldn't grab the vines. But I can adjust the size and range of the beam to a certain degree.

Alright, that's going to come in useful later no doubt, but for now let's do what I actually came here to do, collect flower nectar.

The pods are about the size of a lime and this flower only has 4 pods on it. That's not a lot, but with my perception skill I managed to find several more flowers and collected 35 pods in total. I stored 25 in my inventory.

While I'm here, I might as well have a look around. I might even find some boars here. I know they're in this forest, since I found some on my first day here.

During the hunt, I realized that when I focus on what I want to find, my perception skill highlights it out for me, making my target look brighter than the rest. With this I was easily able to find two boars in no time at all.

I also tried to focus on Kojo birds, but it looks like I might have to actually see one first before I can do that. The sun is getting low anyway. I should be heading back now.

I put one of the boars in my inventory and threw the other over my shoulders. Pulling a boar out of thin air might look just the slightest bit suspicious, so I'll just carry it back to town like this.