Chapter 19: Dire Wolf

Grendel suddenly awoke, finding his body lying on a wooden bench near the arena with Moko and Aruru looking at him amusedly while chatting with a group of women.

'The hell that woman put me in my place... After all, I lack the strength to act self-important. Let's train and fight from the bottom!'

⟪Greed Activated⟫

[Greed Module Fully Active!]

Suddenly a new tab was added to the Runic Board, which was labelled [Greed]

'Let's check....' His finger slipped across the board to open the page as it began to show a list of tasks and choices.

Unlike Lust, which seemed random, Greed was like a planner or guide to his desire.

[I want to beat that woman!]

[First Task] (5 Days)

Once formed, kill 15 goblins with your mercenary group in the Porcelain level request ⟪Goblin Village⟫ found at the Mercenary guild's job board in [Pellitas - Zeruas Kingdom]

[Reward]

100 Gold

All Mercenaries + 5 Attributes

Mercenary Lord + 10 Attributes

[Second Task] (2 Weeks)

Accept the Bronze level request. Destroy the Kobold nest in the southern mines of [Krivbald - Zeruas Tribe]. Aim for no casualties and kill the level 30 Kobold Mage!

[Reward]

500 Gold

All Mercenaries + 10 Attributes

Mercenary Lord + 20 Attributes, + Fire-type Primal Spirit

"Wow..." Rubbing his sore waist, he climbed from the bench, sat back, read a few more quests, and realised a few things.

'So the days beside the task are the time limit... I can even change or desire different jobs or quests, which will be changed in real-time...'

He found this out when seeing a dragon-slaying quest further down, now changed to a wyvern-slaying quest.

When he tried to swipe with his hand, suddenly he felt a burning pain and noticed the bite marks in his flesh... now dark red and a little swollen. 'Damn woman... like a dog!'

"Ah! Grendel, you're finally awake?" Aruru skipped over, holding a little black bracelet or necklace.

'I'm not sure, but she looked excited—rather, there were two of them, but one had a wolf head in the centre with the name of some sort of group?'

Then the excited girl passed him the wolf head necklace and smiled. "Hehe, we made it! I am a Rank 1 Mercenary, hehe!" She then danced around her little skirt, almost showing her skin, as I looked at my pendant.

⟪Rank 2 Mercenary⟫ was engraved in a light silver runic text but felt alive like a light.

'Maybe for when it upgrades in future?' He thought.

Then seeing the text below the wolf's head and its strange name made him feel he had finally achieved something.

⟪Rank 1 Mercenary Lord⟫ - ⟪Dire Wolf - Mercenary Group⟫

'Dire wolf...' Swiping across his Runic Board showed the information of monsters and beasts.

[Dire Wolf]

A powerful and arrogant breed of wolves that normally travel alone with a small pack of females following one leader.

The leader will fight even the strongest predators to the death, as retreating is no option for the leader.

"Who chose this..." He muttered while placing it around his neck and fastening it tightly with a smirk.

"Do you like it?" Aruru asked, now showing her black necklace that shimmered with Rank 1.

To his surprise, Moko also had a Rank 2, but her necklace had Mercenary Captain instead of Mercenary Lord.

Standing from the bench, he stretched his sore body, wondering how long he was out for. Then remembering the power of that woman, he felt the desire to grow stronger building inside his heart.

"Ah, it's quite fitting. Did you choose it?"

"Mmm..." she began to sway, acting coy.

"I thought of the wolf, but Freya chose the breed. She said you were like the ferocious and unrelenting Dire wolves of the Arctic north."

'If she chose it because of that wolf race description, she probably knows it is from a monster species—one much more sinister than a normal wolf.' He nodded to himself silently.

Suddenly he was embraced from his side by Moko. With a little push of her modest, plump chest, her breasts flattened against him, showing a strange sense of affection that he did not understand. Her sweet voice sent chills across his ear.

"How did you impress that damn monster!? She hates most men and beats them until they cannot function normally!"

After feeling those soft mounds, he relaxed, his tension released with just a few movements.

Then the fluffy black panther moved away, her cheeks pink. "Don't misunderstand. I was using my magic to ensure you were alright. As our leader, your health is imperative to us!" she puffed with pouting lips.

"Moko isn't very honest, but she's very soft-hearted," Aruru chuckled. "Let's go get food; it's late, and food comes with this contract!"

'She might not be honest, but you are! Damn, glutton.'

He nodded, smiling at Moko, "Go to the mercenary Guild and accept the task for our Porcelain rank, ⟪Goblin Village⟫ It should be a local job with a small reward. My cute little captain."

She snorted, looking away, blushing and turned to Aruru with pouting lips, "What does he take me for? And get some equipment, not just food!" Then they split apart, Aruru and him heading to the market and Moko to the Guild.

"Hehe~ we were able to rent a small house for cheap, but we need to pay with our own money after 6 months; I spent most of the special money from mother!" Aruru chuckled while swinging both bags with food as he nodded in agreement.

'If we work with this method to raise our level before asking for large requests with the gold we save on our rooms, our levels and combat strength should rise with less stress...' He thought.

Slowly they began to move around the butchers, looking for cheaper meats. On average, living at most in this kingdom would cost a person 1 gold per week. With 100 silver coins making 1 gold and 100 copper making 1 silver... The meat ranged between 1 silver and 10 silver. Though mostly, the rare or expensive creatures were rarely less than 80 silver or 1 gold each, leaving many options for the common creatures such as deer, boar, goblin, cow, pig, and chicken.

"Hmmm, I like chicken, but deer and goblin are so cheap..." Aruru was looking around while writing down the prices on a little slate. 'She's trying...'

Looking at the butcher, a bead of sweat falls to his chin from his oily and sweaty face from working for hours.

Grendel's hands then raised, using the Runic boards ⟪analyze⟫, before picking 3 cuts of meat, chicken breast, deer steaks, and some strange-looking goblin stew meat set with weird-coloured vegetables. 'I am here to taste-test everything and support my team!'

Reaching his hand forward to pay 5 silver, as he gained money from the orcs killed, having 20 gold and 80 silver in total. This made Aruru blush red like blood in her eyes.

The strange sight surprised many onlookers, showing strange excitement in their expressions as they looked between Grendel and this beautiful mature Monster Beast like two newlyweds choosing their weekly shopping meals.

He would ask her the meats she wanted and then buy the most high-grade and healthy items using his cheat.

Soon Grendel shopping and food splurging, gained enough food for 12 days and only spent 1 gold. It took them about 30 minutes as Moko smiled at them from the opposite wall.

"Good. Did you buy a lot?"

"Mmm! Lots! All fresh and good! Hehe~ praise me, Moko!" Aruru took the credit like a goblin!

Moko just smiled and looked at Grendel, who was interested if it worked with other items, like necklaces, weapons and armour. "Right, Leader, should we go and get some weapons and reserve weapons and supplies for the quest? Here is the slip and information for you."

The request form said it needed to find, scout out the main monster at its base camp and, if possible, eliminate the goblin encampment.

This contract made by the Guild was designed for learning new classes and gaining more experience and the risk of losing parties or groups of younger mercenaries that wished to gain power and earn money and experience.

'A reward of 10 gold... My Greed is 10x the Reward!?'