Quest
"Excuse me, Sir?"
The barkeeper was filling and giving drinks to customers who asked for them. He did this until he heard a voice from a young man as he was leaning on the bar. He had short, black hair and red eyes. The young man looked very skinny but could see his body frame slightly built.
The barkeeper thought that this young man wasn't asking for a drink because he referred to him as 'Sir'.
The barkeeper finally said, "What can I do for ya"
The young man was naturally Arthur. Arthur was told by Dite to ask for a quest from the barkeeper so he could level up.
"I was told that you give out quests, is that true?" Arthur asked.
Even though Arthur was told by Dite, he didn't want to assume the barkeeper did and thought it was a bit rude to suddenly ask for a quest.
The barkeeper looked Arthur up and down, "I do...What about it?" he said. He wasn't sure if Arthur could complete the quests he'll give him based on his looks.
"Ah, That's great! May I have a quest?" Arthur said with a happy expression.
"Yea...I don't know kid, are you sure you'll be able to handle it?" the barkeeper hesitantly said.
"Yeah, don't worry about it..." Arthur waved his hand then pointed his thumb to his chest and said "I know I don't look like it, but I'm stronger than I look" Arthur said with a smug look on his face.
Arthur thought that he should appear confident because the barkeeper was judging him.
The barkeeper was surprised by the response Arthur gave and titled his head back and laughed, while stroking his beard, "Hahaha, brat. Fine, I'll give you a quest"
Arthur chuckled. The barkeeper reminded him of Robert and he eased up.
A blue screen appeared in front of Arthur
....
[You have been given a quest by [Braxton]: Hunt 10 wild rabbits and bring them back to [Braxton] (0/1)]
[Your relationship with [Braxton] has increased!]
....
Arthur closed the blue screen and smiled, waving goodbye to Braxton, and he did the same.
Arthur walked out of the tavern and looked at his quest.
....
[Quests #1: Hunt 10 wild rabbits and bring them back to [Braxton] (0/1)]
[Time Limit: 1 day]
{Penalty at Failure: Decrease relationship with [Braxton]}
{Reward: 500 EXP |+1 Strength, Agility, Dexterity | 2 raw rabbit meat | 5 Gold Coins | Increase relationship with [Braxton]}
....
"This is a really good quest!" Arthur looked amazed by the rewards he'll receive once completed.
'The time limit is doable, and the penalty isn't that bad' Arthur thought. It's not like he couldn't try again.
Arthur thought 'It shouldn't be that hard to hunt 10 wild rabbits. However, I shouldn't underestimate them. They're probably not like the ones on Earth'
Arthur nodded and decided to look at what he had for his equipment. He glanced down at his sheathed sword and pulled it out.
Arthur could see himself through the reflection of the shiny sword. Arthur touched the sword and slid his fingers down the blade, but accidentally cut himself.
"Ow!" Arthur yelled and started sucking the blood for a second before shaking his hand.
'Hmm?' Something odd came to Arthur. Making a curious expression, 'Did that hurt?' Arthur thought and decided to use his senses.
Arthur knew his eyes and ears were working, but he could also smell the trees and the grass. He didn't have any food at the moment, but he thought he could taste as well.
'Why does this game feel so real? I thought the interactions with the residents and Dite were a little too realistic but thought they had better programming. How did they do this?' Arthur asked himself inwardly.
Arthur never heard of a VR game that could make players smell, taste, and feel pain.
Arthur pondered for a few minutes but couldn't come up with anything. He wasn't going to get answers standing here, so he decided to get ready for the quest.
Arthur then went to an open area where he could get a feel for his sword.
After arriving, Arthur made some space and started swinging. He felt a bit awkward because this is the first time he's swung or held a sword.
It wasn't until 15 minutes before he saw a notification
....
[You have increased your proficiency to level 2]
....
Arthur kept swinging while looking at the screen, he could feel himself slowly getting used to it.
New information flooded his head and he could see what he was doing wrong before.
'My movements before were awkward and I use too much energy into each swing, but now that I know that, I'll fix it and continue to improve' Arthur thought.
Using the new information, he fixed his mistakes and swung his sword for another 30 minutes until he got another notification
....
[You have increased your proficiency to level 3]
....
Like before, he got new information, but this time he took a break.
Arthur sheathed his sword and walked to a nearby tree and sat down, leaning his back against it.
He processed the information he learned earlier, along with the new information. He compared them and pictured himself adjusting to it.
'If I learned about all this, then why don't I have any information about the [Common Palm Technique]?' Arthur asked himself.
When Arthur arrived at the village, he felt like a fresh new player with 0 skills. However, he knew that wasn't the case but it felt like it.
Arthur shook his head and continued his break for 15 minutes.
After his break, he stood up and walked back to the spot he was training on. This time, he was going to try punching the air, using his palms.
He did so for a minute until a load of the information entered his mind.
"AH!" Arthur dropped to the floor, grabbing his head and yelling in pain.
The reason why Arthur didn't receive it immediately was that it was too much for his brain could handle.
However, since Arthur tried to force himself to get the information from the palm technique that was maxed out, the system allowed him to and this was the result.
If Arthur waited a few hours, his mind would've gradually received the information instead of all at once.
After a few minutes, Arthur finally calmed down and started panting.
"Hah...Hah...Maybe, this was the reason why"
....
[+1 Intelligence]
....
Arthur looked up and saw the message before him.
'How did I get this? Was it because I was learning new things?' Arthur asked himself.
Arthur was partially correct. He was pushing his brain to the limit, causing it to stress. After calming down, the brain became a little stronger.
Arthur stood back and took a deep breath. He was slowly processing everything and decided to put it into action.
He got into a stance and started hitting the air with his palms. He would switch between his left and right.
Arthur practiced for 15 minutes and finally got used to it.
'This is pretty good, but I like using the swords more' Arthur thought.
'Alright, let me check my stats before doing my quest'
....
[Name: Arke]
[Class: Cultivator/Dual Cultivator (Unique)]
[Sub-Class: None (Unlock Level 10)]
[Cultivation Stage: Mana Gathering (Early)(0%)]
[Liquified Mana: 0 ml]
[Currency: 0]
[Level: 1] | [EXP: 0/500]
[HP: 650/650] | [SP: 850/850] | [MP: 1,500/1,500 -> 1,550/1,550]
[Attribute Points (AP): 2]
[Vitality: 13]
[Strength: 13]
[Agility: 13]
[Dexterity: 14]
[Intelligence: 20 -> 21]
[Charm: 31]
{Skills: [Common Mana Cultivation Technique (1/10)], [(Beginner) - Mana Absorption (1/10)], [(Beginner) - Dual Cultivation Arts (1/10)], [Common Palm Technique (MAX)], [(Beginner) - Basic Swordsmanship (3/10)], [(Beginner) - Mana Manipulation (1/10)] }
{Titles: [Unique Class Bearer], [Blessing of ####### #########(NEW!)] }
(A/N: After this chapter, I'll start simplifying it so you don't have to look at the unnecessary information. I'll also post the status at the bottom in case anyone's interested)
....
Arthur looked at his status and felt satisfied.
"Tch" Arthur looked at his [Currency] and saw it was 0. Arthur thought he would get money to start out, but it was 0. He also planned to spend a bit of money to get better armor but looks like he'll have to wait.
"Sigh...Well, I think I'm ready as I'll ever be" Arthur said and walked back into town.
Arthur had to find where the wild rabbits were so he decided to ask someone.
Arthur walked up to a pair of girls who looked average and appeared to be residents (NPC's). Arthur didn't like calling people NPC whether they were or not.
They looked at him and blush a little while averting their gaze downward.
"Excuse me, Do you know where I could find the wild rabbits?" Arthur asked.
"E-Eh?" The girls said in unison.
"Do you know where I could find the wild rabbits?" Arthur repeated his question, tilting his head to the side a bit.
"Y-Yes, You can find them in the forest over there" The girl on the right said as she pointed in a direction.
Arthur followed her hand and saw the forest the girl mentioned.
"Ah, Thank you very much" Arthur waved goodbye to the girls and walked to the direction the wild rabbits were in.
"Aww" The girls pouted as Arthur left.
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Thanks for reading!
If you have any questions post them in the comments and I'll respond as best as I can without spoiling too much of the story.
If you like this novel, check out my other one -
"Broken Vampire with a [System]" - Ongoing
Chapter 7: Quest