14 SMO Chaper 5.1 : Back to Back

After finishing dinner, everybody goes to their rooms to sleep.

Mina and Shi both occupied the Empty Rooms on the 2nd floor.

Suuco, who still hasn't told anybody other than Shi that he plays SMO, takes the headset, and dives back in.

. . .

As soon as he gets in, LacX hears a loud commotion heading towards the Center of the town.

Looking out of the window from the Inn he logged out of, he could see that almost every person in sight was heading towards the Town Square.

'What is going on?' Leaving the Inn, LacX heads towards the Square.

Not being able to get through the crowd, he uses "Short Range Teleport" and gets up on a nearby building.

'Maybe I can see from here. Or maybe I should get closer.' He starts running along the rooftops, hoping to find a better spot.

To his surprise, other people seem to have the same idea, since some were already perched on good spots.

'I guess I'll have to find a pretty good spot.'

As he ran, he noticed that someone was sticking to the walls.

'Wait, maybe I can...' Getting into range, he activates his skill.

[Appraisal]

[Name : Gaza]

[Race : Human]

[Guild Rank : D]

[Level : ? ]

[Unique Skills] (1)

No longer being surprised, LacX smiles at the next window.

[Daily Copied Skills : 1/3]

After running out of the Player Gaza's sight, he uses the skill and pours his remaining MP into it.

'So it also has a timer? Interesting. I hope this lasts.' As soon as he finished that thought, a horn blows.

Everybody focused on the person in the center of the square.

"I thank you all for coming here today. I am happy to introduce a new Event that we will be starting from today onwards." Everybody stares in anticipation, waiting for the details.

'A new event? This should be interesting. It almost feels too early for this, but the game has been out for a long time, so I guess it isn't all surprising.' LacX checks the timer to make sure he doesn't fall.

"This event will be held in 3 Different Locations, with 2 Tasks in each location. The Tasks will be to Exterminate the Rare C-Rank Creature in the area, and to gather as many Rare Herbs from the area as well. The person with the Rarest Herb will be the victor in that regard." The Speaker begins to look around, and spots the people on the rooftops, and the 2 people sticking to the wall. Smiling, he continues.

"The first event will be held today, in the rearby forest. The first task will be randomized for every person. We will scatter Cards around the town, and only a certain amount of people can get one specific quest. And to make it more fair, when you grab a card, the card will Disappear, and a Quest will be formed in your system. So when I finish speaking, the Cards will rain from the sky. So you better be quick. Without further ado, let the first event, BEGIN!"

As soon as he said that, cards appeared out of thin air, and started raining all over town.

'I should take one, but I don't think the Extermination Quest will end very well.' As he finished that thought, he begins to fall.

"Uh oh..." Luckily, there was a pile of Sacks that were filled with rice. It still hurt, but it broke the fall anyways.

'Well aren't I just lucky.' LacX takes a Menti Herb from his bag and places it in his mouth.

"Not as effective as Potions, but they help for MP Restoration." Getting enough MP, he teleports back to the rooftops.

Sprinting towards a falling card, he nabs it... or ao he thought.

Before he could grab it, an arrow shot past him, and hit the Card. The card was undamaged, but then the arrow suddenly began turning.

'What the he-' Barely avoiding the arrow, he realized that the card was gone.

Looking back at his pursuer, he finds the card in his hands, slowly turning into light particles.

'Well, no reason to be angry when it's technically a free-for-all. I'll just find another.' Activating "Sprint" this time, he bolts at top speed, searching for another card.

. . .

Finally finding a card, he didn't risk it.

Finally geting enough MP, he teleports directly to the card, and grabs it this time.

The card began to glow, then disappeared.

[New Quest]

[Rare Herb Gathering]

'Silver forest? Is that the name of the Forest where the Rabbits were?' Not knowing the name of the forest, LacX heads towards the Guild.

. . .

"THE SILVER FOREST?!" Lisa roars, making everybody in the guild silent.

*Cough* "The Silver Forest? Is that the quest you were given?" Lisa has a worried look on her face.

"Is that not where I fought the Rabbits? I don't know the names of the local area." LacX is confused.

"No, that's the "Breeze Forest", which is for beginners. The "Silver Forest" contains "Silverwind Wolves", which are C-Rank Creatures, and have an "Element" of Wind, which makes them even more dangerous. I recommend not doing this quest, or forming a party first. This quest is extremely dangerous, and you can't do it alone." Lisa takes a piece of paper from the back shelf, and gave it to LacX.

The paper was a Form for requesting a Party. There were many different boxes to check, lile wanting a short or long term party.

"I'm only going to get some herbs. And even if I got the Extermination Quest, I would need to hunt a "Rare Creature", so I wouldn't be fighting any Silverwind Wolves, but maybe something stronger. There are 3 Events, so if I do end up getting an Extermination Quest, I'll fill out a Party Request Form, okay?" LacX ensures Lisa that he wouldn't be fighting.

"I... I guess that's fine, as long as you don't run into anything dangerous. Just stay safe. The Forest you're looking for is straight to the Left from the front gate, so you should head in that direction." After that, LacX was off.

. . .

Reaching the Silver Forest, he could feel a slight breeze coming from it.

"So the part about the Wind Element wasn't just an exaggeration. I should be careful."

Walking in, LacX starts to roam around and mark where he has been with his dagger. While he did so, he also appraised many of the plants and animals that he ran into.

After a but of wandering, he finds a glowing flower, which still had a bud, and didn't seem pretty grown.

[Appraisal]

[Name : Wisp Willow (Bud)]

[Rank : B]

'So it's just a bud. It can't bloom unless something dies, but I don't think that will happen.' As he finished his Appraisal, the Skill level rose to 7.

'Wait, did it just go up 4 Times? Was it because I was Appraising everything around here? Or was it because of the Ranks of everything here?' Interrupting his thoughts, a gust of wind blew from his right.

Jumping onto the trees, LacX waits for what was to come.

A Light-Blue wolf burst through the bushes, and along came a pack of Silverwind Wolves...

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