First Mission

All of the players who saw Markos could not help but take a second look at him. They felt a gust of wind blow past them, and then a player in black clothes who was constantly speeding up and slowing down.

This was one of the hidden advantages of <Ankle Breaker>. It was an ability that, due to its low MP requirement, could be used to move around the city faster. Before teleports came into play, travel was a big problem. Therefore, an ability like this that could be spammed was very helpful, reducing travel time by about 40%.

Markos finally arrived at Golden Ox, the butcher shop in the outer ring. All Beginner Cities were divided into four sections: Outer Ring, Middle Ring, Inner Ring, and Core Ring. For the time being, only the first two sections were available to players. 

Although the butcher's shop looked unremarkable, Markos knew that the best beginner mission for Assassins was here. By comparison, all the other missions were utter garbage!

Markos opened Golden Ox's wooden door and walked in, full of confidence and curiosity. He had only read about the secret beginner missions, so this was his first time doing one.

"Hello customer, what are you looking for? I have some freshly cut Brown Rabbit legs for sale." After entering the butcher shop, he was greeted by an old man with a white apron covered in fresh blood. This old man would be a clone of Santa Claus if not for the blood.

"Hello sir, I heard that your shop has the best meat in all of Broken Bridge City, so I came looking for something special. Can you recommend anything? Something that cannot be bought with money alone." This sentence was the key to trigger the mission. Otherwise, the only available interaction with the butcher will be the purchase of meat with healing properties.

Markos' words seemed to catch the old man's attention, and he began to inspect him with curiosity. "You do not seem to be from around here, do you? You are dressed like one of those crazy adventurers who are no different from mercenaries."

"You are right sir, my name is OneKill and I just came to town and heard by chance that you have the best meat in town." Markos smiled faintly and answered the old man's question. He always enjoyed talking to the NPCs because he knew they were not real and his social anxiety would not kick in with them. 

"OneKill? You guys really like those weird names... My name is Derek, but everyone calls me Old Butcher. I am really disgusted by the guys who gave me that surname, most people who hear it think I make my living by killing people hahaha..."

'Because that is your specialty, old man, tsk.' Markos struggled to keep his expression straight. All Beginner Cities had a hidden teacher for each class, and the Old Butcher was the one for Assassins. This was one of the few general missions that were the same in all cities.

"So, Sir Derek. Please let me know if you have anything like this. I am really looking forward to trying something special. I am ready to do anything." Markos continued to talk to the old man as if he did not know his real identity.

"Hehe, I really like you, kid. These days, people think they can get everything with just money, but you know that you cannot get the best things in life that way." The Old Butcher put his hand on his beard and narrowed his eyes. "I do not have anything like that right now, but if you are willing to help me, I can prepare it for you. Just be aware that it will not be easy nor quick."

"That is not a problem for me, of course I am willing to help you. Please tell me what I have to do." Markos said eagerly. He had been dreaming about this mission since he started playing, and now it was coming true.

"I will have to take time off from work to prepare what you want, so I will not be able to go hunting. I really like you, kid, but I cannot go fooling around or other people will steal my customers. So how about you go hunting for me? It just happens that I am running low on Iron Bear meat." The Old Butcher said as he looked at the glass counter filled with meat. "Of course, I will not take advantage of you, so you can consider it an advance payment. Now, do you agree with my terms?"

Markos nodded immediately and the mission board appeared.

[Old Butcher Test (In progress: 0/50) (Time left: 3:59:59)

You came to Golden Ox hoping to find the best meat in town, but nothing is that simple. Everyone knows that the best things come from hard work. Help Old Butcher with his hunting and prove to him that you are worth his time and effort.

Requirements: Kill 50 Iron Bears and bring the meat to Old Butcher's shop.

Reward: Unknown]

The mission was finally his. Now it was time to complete it. Without wasting any time, Markos waved goodbye to the Old Butcher and started sprinting toward the exit of Broken Bridge City.

All of the Beginner Cities were protected by high stone walls imbued with magic, protecting the citizens and preventing any monsters from entering the cities. Outside those walls, however, it was a different story, as monsters were rampant.

It did not take him long to get out of the city. Once he was outside the walls, Markos saw countless players fighting the level 1 monsters and many others recruiting players for their parties. But he ignored them all.

He had only one goal in mind, and that was to kill Iron Bears as quickly as possible. Iron Bears were level 8 monsters, so he had to go far away from other players to find them. Only elite parties will hunt monsters that are eight levels higher than them in the beginning, and even those parties will have a hard time doing it. Anyone who saw Markos rushing off to kill them alone would think he was a fool.

After running for some time, he finally reached his destination. It was a forest full of huge trees with large holes in their trunks. This was the home of the Iron Bears.