Hero Of The Lowlands

Levi continued until he got to the Stone monkey Pathway.

[Are you sure it was a good idea leaving him alone by himself?]

Levi thought for a moment "I'm sure he is smart enough to look after himself, besides Aiden chose to stay back, we have to respect his wishes"

"For now let's just get home and lift the curse" 

Thank goodness for the Pathways that made instant transportation possible, and this time he didn't have to pay for it.

"Ladiel" the Pathway activated as he called out his destination. He could already feel the warmth that came from the other side of the portal.

Stepping through he appeared in Ladiel, the warmth from the evening sun replacing the cold he had felt back at the First Village. There were fewer people around as most of the shops were closing for the day.

"So what do we do now Blue?" 

[Now that you are back in the Lowlands you can break the curse by simply activating your skill]

Levi let out a deep breath, it was a big moment for him. He was about to end a drought that had lasted close to 10 years. Having experienced it himself he could feel the pain of all the other residents of the Lowlands. 

With Levi's hand held out he activated his skill "CURSE DESPERSION"

<Curse of drought dispelled from the Lowlands>

His initial excitement faded away after the first few seconds when nothing happened. He didn't know what to expect from the skill but the fact that nothing was happening concerned him.

"Is that it?" He asked Blue before he heard a light thunder sound from above the clouds.

Little by little it became louder and was accompanied by a few lightning strikes. The bright evening sun was soon covered by dark rain clouds, causing everyone including Levi to look up in wonder.

Murmurs of concern could be heard from the villagers around.

Levi felt a single drop of rain fall on his cheek, followed by another, then another all of a sudden it became a heavy downpour. 

"Mummy, look water is coming from the sky" a little girl called out to her mother, it was her first time seeing rainfall.

"It-its rain" her mother managed to voice "It's raining!" She hugged her daughter and began sobbing.

"It's raining!" Another villager cried with joy.

The village was suddenly consumed with celebration as adults ran through the streets like children. "We are saved, it's raining!!"

____

You have successfully ended the drought in the Lowlands 

{S-grade Quest cleared}

You have Acquired the title: {Hero Of The Lowlands}

*All upgradable stats +15

*Max affinity with all Lowland Residents.

*Zero taxes on whatever income is made doing business in the Lowlands. 

____

"Is this all the reward?" Levi questioned disappointedly 

[It appears so]

"So I travel all the way to the Badlands, battle scary monsters and all I get is max affinity and zero taxes. What do I even use it for?" 

[They are both very reasonable rewards, with max affinity no resident would be hostile towards you, including the bandits and thieves. If you ever go to visit the king he'll receive you like a noble and now you don't have to pay any tax to the crown. I think it's a fair reward]

"Who cares what you think, why can't they just give me money or skills? I know other titles come with skill at least"

[Oh this Title is more of a honourary reward, although the people wouldn't know who you are but if you were ever to tell them you might even be treated like royalty… but didn't you do this to save the people? It shouldn't matter what the reward is right, their joy should be enough reward]

"Honourary reward my a**," Levi sighed in frustration, before taking a moment to see the villagers laughing and playing in the rain.

"But, yeah you're right, this is enough," he said with a satisfied smile.

[Of course I am, what do even need more money for, didn't you already make enough during the quest?]

"A little more wouldn't hurt, don't you know there's no such thing as too much money?''

[Tsk. Humans and greed]

"Judge all you want, I'll continue filling my pockets any chance I can get" 

It felt like their usual banter but Levi's words weren't just empty. He had lived a life of want, always having to manage with whatever little resources he could get, he had no plans of returning to that life both in the virtual realm and the real world.

"We'll head to Lowdan right after I trade the rest of the items I got" he rushed to the trade shop that was just about closing up and traded all the special gems and other valuable items he got, bringing his current net worth to 690 gold coins. It was considerably higher now that he didn't have to pay any tax back.

He decided not to sell any of the weapons even after the shopkeeper offered to buy both the minotaur's High-grade axe and the demonic Dagger for more than 5000 gold coins. He reasoned that with his skill 'item merge' he couldn't carelessly part with any item he came in contact with, even if he couldn't equip them just yet.

After a few minutes of waiting for an available carriage, Levi spotted a brown horse pulling a familiar Wagon steadily approaching him.

He easily recognized who it belonged to, "it's that greedy old man" he mumbled.

"If it isn't my favorite passenger" he mused as the carriage came to a halt. "Where are we headed today?"

Levi was reluctant to acknowledge the man's presence but there had been no other carriage for the past few minutes, probably due to the rain.

"Lowdan, how much would it cost me?" he grudgingly asked

"Come on warrior, you know our usual fee, a gold coin is all this poor old man needs" the old man jested.

"Like hell, I'll give you one gold coin… The drought has ended, can't you see that it's raining" Levi retorted 

"And that's exactly why It cost a gold coin, not many riders would go that far under this weather" 

"And besides do you think every automatically becomes cheaper just because rain falls, since when did you young children get so entitled" he scoffed sounding disappointed 

Levi knew from experience that the old man wouldn't budge no matter what he said, but he still found it difficult parting with his hard-earned money.

"Do you want to keep waiting under the rain?" 

[Just give him the money, you'll hardly notice the difference… I'm honestly beginning to question if the old man is the greedy one or you are]

Unable to contest with both Blue and the old man, Levi surrendered and handed him the coin.

"Nice doing business with you as always"