Only Getting Stronger

The quest was as easy as he expected.

The goblins that he was requested to take down were incredibly weak, to him at least. It didn't take many punches at all before a single one would drop to the ground, in fact, he was confident that he could take each of these goblins out with a single punch.

The only reason he didn't put too much force into his attacks throughout the quest was so that he could practice his martial arts. The quest allowed him to kill two birds with one stone, such being that he could practice and also complete that system quest he had gotten.

In fact, he was now returning back to the guild after having finished clearing out the necessary goblins. Aside from gaining practice with his martial arts, he didn't get much actual player experience, which was understandable since they were really weak. The only other thing somewhat noteworthy was that he was going to need to go sell the gems he got.

"System, is it possible to turn off the auto collection feature?" Nixon decided to ask as they were walking through the town. Even if people heard him speaking aloud, they would probably assume he was speaking to Guoba, who was walking alongside him.

The auto collection feature was incredibly useful, don't get him wrong. The only reason why he wants to turn it off was for one singular reason, and that was proof to the guild. From what he had heard from Helen before he set off on his quest, the entire corpse is sometimes necessary for proof of the defeat of a monster.

While it wasn't too much of an issue for this particular quest as the guild didn't fuss too much on the smaller monsters as he had defeated, but when it came to stronger ones. A more evident verification is necessary to make sure that an adventurer wasn't lying to them about their accomplishments.

From what Helen had told him, the guild had some kind of function that allowed them to determine the duration of when a mana gem and more had been collected from a corpse. It was unnerving hearing something like that, but more reason for him to turn off the auto collect function.

He understood why as an adventurer could have potentially just stolen the spoils from a difficult kill that someone else had accomplished and reported it as their own feat, so having proof of a body was good evidence. Mainly because it would be harder to transport a full-on body of a monster than just its mana gem that you had harvested.

Just carrying the body of one would probably give the person who actually accomplished the feat to catch you before you could take their credit.

"Along with that, can I even store bodies into my inventory?" Nixon frowned as he thought about it. Never once had he tried to place another living or dead being into the inventory, the first being because it just didn't seem right to put a living person in a pocket dimension, and the other because the corpses of his opponents would vanish due to the auto collect.

『It is indeed possible to place other beings inside the inventory. However, they cannot be alive. User is capable of switching off the auto collect function whenever the user wishes, doing so will prevent the automatic harvesting of other beings. Would the user like to disable the function?』

"Not for right now, but much appreciated." Nixon nodded inwardly as he responded. If he found himself fighting something stronger that the guild would warrant proof then he would switch it off, though, for the monsters he had mostly been facing thus far, that wasn't really needed as of yet.

----------------------------------------------------

"W-Wait, this is way more than the commission requested for...!"

"Eh? Did I need to stay within the requested amount?"

"N-Not necessarily..."

Helen was dumbfounded at the moment as she stared at the blonde male in front of her, as well as darting her eyes back down towards the stack of small mana gems that were placed onto the counter that she was working at.

Nixon had just gotten back to the guild to turn in his quest, and to do that, he had come over to Helen and was now handing over the mana gems that he had 'harvested' from the goblins that he had killed during the subjugation. In total, that was around seventy-eight of them.

He had to admit, maybe he went a bit overboard with the amount as the quest asked for the elimination of only around eight of the green dudes. But, he might as well kill more, right? Plus, it wasn't like he had much choice since the area that was specified for the quest had an entire tribe of them instead of just a small group.

Not like he was honestly complaining, that was just more practice with both his contractor powers as well as the martial arts. Plus, the guild shouldn't be complaining about him dealing with a pest problem from around the area, right? If anything, he did them a solid.

"If you don't mind me asking... How many different groups did you encounter to kill this many of them?"

"How many? Only one, they were all grouped up in a small open clearing in the forest just outside the city." Nixon could hear a bunch of whispers from around the guild, though completely zoned them out as he had responded in a casual tone. What was everyone so surprised about? They were just a bunch of goblins...

"B-But, that would be considered a very high D-Rank commission... These are all authentic as well." Helen muttered in disbelief as she continued to examine all of the mana gems, Nixon couldn't help but sweatdrop at her reaction. True, there were a lot of them, but they were still just weak goblins...

"So... what happens?"

"Well, considering the authenticity of these gems and the fact that they are definitely not any older than two days... This would be considered finishing more than twenty E-Rank commissions." Helen even seemed to not believe her own words as she looked at Nixon. "This quest is definitely complete. With it alone, you would be automatically advanced to E-Rank..."

"Huh, neat."

Everyone seemed to face fault at the rather dull and casual reaction that Nixon gave in response to the news, accomplishing something like that as an F-Rank was completely unheard of. In all honesty, Nixon couldn't really care too much about increasing his rank.

True, the higher the rank he was, the more the higher-ranked quests he may actually receive personally. But, he didn't really care about that. After all, it wasn't like an F-Rank was forbidden from taking a higher levelled quest. Though, getting higher ranked quests may be good in the future if he ends up getting something good out of it.

The only real reason he actually became an adventurer was so that he could get an identification.

"Well, please wait a moment while I update your guild card." Helen voiced as Nixon gave her a simple nod as he handed his card over. Nixon just, once again, leaned against the desk patiently as he waited for her to finish. Though, at least he was going to be occupied with something as he waited.

...

『Quest Completed』

Task: The budding start of a new adventurer, take your first steps towards glory!

● Sign up as an Adventurer [🟢]

● Complete your first quest [🟢]

Rewards:

● 200 System Coins

● 500 Player EXP

● Merchant Item Pack [Amount: 1]

...

『You have levelled up!』

After all, he had just completed his quest, thus the system quest had also completed in response. Thanks to the player experience that the quest had just given him, he had also gained a level upon completing it, so he had gotten stronger by a bit.

However, what he was more curious about right now was the item pack. He was wondering what items he was going to get, and considering that his merchant level had gone up twice since the first time, he should hopefully get even better items compared to before. Though, he was incredibly lucky in the first roll, so who knows how good these items will be. Maybe not even that good...

Well, he'd find out later as he didn't want to draw too much attention to him right now. He wasn't entirely certain whether or not people could see the box that appears when he uses the merchant item pack, so he'd do it somewhere private. Plus, it seems that Helen was finished anyway.

"Here you go, Mr Nixon. You have successfully been promoted to E-Rank!" Helen congratulated with a professional smile as Nixon gave a nod of appreciation. He took back the card and looked to see that the rank had indeed been updated, along with it saying that he had completed twenty-five quests. "If you're confused, we counted the subjugation of the goblins as twenty-five quests due to your ranking before."

"Oh, I see. Much appreciated." Nixon blinked a bit in surprise but shrugged soon after. At least this would look good on his guild profile for potential future quests that could help him out, people tend to want to seek out members without more successes than failures after all. "I'm going to retire for the day, I'll probably be back tomorrow."

"That's fine, we will be looking forward to your return!"

----------------------------------------------------

It didn't take long at all for Nixon to quickly get back home, his house was just outside of the city a bit of a distance away after all. He wanted to get back quickly so that he could open up the item pack that he had gotten from finishing the system quest.

Speaking of that, once he got home, he immediately went into the living room and sat down before taking the item pack out of the inventory. Thus, bringing us to our current situation with Nixon staring expectantly at the floating box in front of him.

"Alright, hopefully, something good."

...

『Items Received』

● Small Healing Potion [Amount: 12] - [A special potion that has incredible healing properties. Consuming one allows for the complete restoration of basic wounds such as cuts, bruises and more. However, this cannot regenerate limbs. Each potion restores 50 Health Points] [Cost: 60 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Common]

● Healing Potion [Amount: 10] - [A special potion that has incredible healing properties. Consuming one allows for the complete restoration of basic wounds such as cuts, bruises and more. However, this cannot regenerate limbs. Each potion restores 160 Health Points] [Cost: 200 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Mana Potion [Amount: 12] - [A special potion that allows the drinker to replenish their magical reserves. Each potion restores a maximum of 300 Mana Points] [Cost: 260 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Fire Resistance Potion [Amount: 6] - [A special potion that allows the drinker to become immune to both fire as well as lava for a short duration of one minute] [Cost: 200 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Swiftness Potion [Amount: 6] - [A special potion that allows the drinker to double their speed for a short duration of one minute] [Cost: 200 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Chef's Paradise [Amount: 3] - [A box containing ingredients used from all kinds of different countries. Each box is entirely random, and the ingredients within are all of the highest quality] [Cost: 1,500 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Seafood Package [Amount: 2] - [A box that is constantly kept at a cold temperature when closed. Contains all kinds of general sea creatures that have been caught and properly nurtured to bring out their best quality] [Cost: 1,200 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Perfect Glasses [Amount: 4] - [A pair of spectacles that will automatically adjust to the proper requirements to correct a person's vision] [Cost: 1,500 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Rare]

● Blood Restoration Medicine [Amount: 4] - [A medicine that when drunk raises the blood levels of the person to their optimal level] [Cost: 20 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Common]

● Strain Medicine [Amount: 4] - [A medicine that helps relieve any pain that is present within one's muscles] [Cost: 20 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Common]

● Fever Medicine [Amount: 4] - [A medicine that helps return one's body temperature to the optimal level, helping in removing headaches, delirium, and more] [Cost: 20 System Coins/Per] [Rarity: Common]

...

'Huh, guess I was just really lucky last time. Meh. whatevs, at least I've restocked.' From the looks of it, he had received quite a number of normal rewards this time. Nothing too crazy like the Quinque Steel and the enchantment books. The only thing that could somewhat compare were the potions.

It seems that the pack has managed to restock his potions supply, as well as adding a few others such as the fire resistance. He was getting some serious Minecraft vibes from it, they were no doubt based on the potions from the game.

Anyway, aside from the potions, he had also received some ingredients for cooking. He was actually very much okay with this as he was already getting tired of eating whatever was in this place that he managed to get his hands on. If he got a bunch of different ingredients, he could only imagine the kinds of new dishes he could start making again.

To go with that, the Seafood Packages could be quite the money maker. He had noticed the horrible selection of aquatic foods here in Crimonia, which was understandable due to there being no source of fish aside from the nearby rivers. The closest large body of water was the one across the mountains where that other town was.

He could probably raise the price above what the system said the actual worth of the seafood would be, this being because the seafood would appeal to the people living here greatly. Even if he made it a bit expensive, people would probably be tempted to buy it due to it being a rare item.

While that sounded a bit cruel to sell things for a much higher price than he should, that was just business. The only thing really making him reconsider that was that he wasn't at all running low on money, and he honestly wanted to eat the fish since he had been eating things like wolfe meat, hard bread, and stuff like that ever since he'd been in this world.

He was getting sick of it.

Plus, it seems that even if he decided to keep the seafood to himself, he could still sell the medicines it seems that he was given in the item box. They appeared to be basic medicines, and no doubt people would probably be attracted to them. Especially adventurers considering their line of work.

Considering the progression in this world, they didn't seem to have many medicines that were too effective at all, even ones that would usually help with minor issues. After all, medicine has improved by leaps and bounds over the years. Healing magic here was also not that common either, so the common folk would usually depend on medicinal supplies they could find.

Most of the time, those probably wouldn't work.

"System, aren't the healing potions just the same as the medicines?" Nixon was kind of confused. If he was assuming correctly, the healing potion healed wounds as well as giving back the blood. Kind of like restoring a wound back to its previous state before it had been inflicted.

『You misunderstand the healing potions. The potions heal physical wounds that have been inflicted, they do not help with mental issues. Also, muscle strain is more considered a soreness than it is an injury』

『For the blood restoration, the healing potions do indeed refill the body with the necessary levels of blood. Even so, the Blood Restoration Medicine would be more appealing to those of the common fold due to its lower price value』

"Okay, that makes sense. Thank you." Nixon nodded his head after hearing the explanation. In other words, the healing potions are more towards adventurers, mainly if they are preparing for a quest, and the medicines are for the common folk due to the low cost. 'Oh, wait. I still have those two status points, don't I? Might as well.'

After having finished the system quest, he did end up gaining one level due to the player experience as the reward. That gave him two status points to allocate, and from the looks of it, his Strength was at ninety-eight, might as well make it one hundred.

...

『Milestone Achieved』

Due to your Strength being the first to reach 100, you have been granted the title: Brutal Master

...

"Huh?"

Nixon blinked at the unexpected popup, his face displaying obvious confusion as he blinked at the hologram. He shook his head to refocus as he read the information more carefully, and from what he understood, he seemed to have been rewarded for some kind of achievement other than completing a quest.

"System, what is this?"

『Milestones are ghost accomplishments that the user gets rewarded for upon having completed them. In this case, since you had increased your Strength value to one-hundred, and that it was the first one to have reached this milestone, you have been rewarded a random title befitting of the achievement』

"Huh, that's interesting, definitely not complaining... Gues my Endurance doesn't count since it is technically being boosted by an outside object." His Endurance had indeed reached past one-hundred, but it seems that the system didn't count it as the base value for the parameter was only seventy-five. So, technically, his Strength was the first value to reach one-hundred.

Nixon curiously went into his status and checked to see if anything had changed, and it seems that something indeed has been altered. The placeholder for the Title section, which was previously labeled as 'None' was now replaced with Brutal Master. He curiously tapped onto it, and a screen opened up in response.

...

『Titles』

● Brutal Master - [The user now gains three points into the Strength parameter instead of two per level up. The user also gains 50% more experience when defeating enemies with a physical attack]

...

"Holy crap!" Nixon hadn't expected the title to actually have such a damn impact. Just by reading it, he could already tell that this title was kinda overpowered if he was honest. Not only would his Strength increase by a larger margin as he levels up, but it even made it easier for him to level up by giving him extra experience for killing.

True, he had to kill his enemies with his fists or a sword or something, but he was fine with that. The title was still incredible, it wasn't even like he had to kill his enemies with lightning for him to build up the proficiency of the skill. He could literally just shock his enemies before finishing them with a punch if he wanted.

Aside from that, his Wisdom increased through reading instead of just levelling up, then that still meant that he had to focus on reading to keep his mana levels up. Though he could just borrow the crown he gave Guoba and give it back to the bear whenever he was done with it, that way he could speed up his progress in reading even more.

He'd probably just do that whenever Guoba was asleep. The little bear actually needed sleep, unlike him who literally couldn't feel exhaustion. While he enjoyed sleep, perhaps pulling a few all-nighters to read wasn't too bad. Unless he got immensely bored, of course.

Aside from that, he was just going to get stronger from here on out!