First Mission Reward

[A starter pack is a sort of reward that you are awarded for your accomplishment....The starter pack contains something that will get you started....]

'Getting me started? I thought that I had already began the cultivation journey long time ago....,' Alex's thoughts drifted towards the end. He just remembered that even though he had strength that could match those in rank 1, he wasn't an awakener, just a body builder.

[The system gives rewards only after accomplishing something....It is called a starter pack because this is where cultivation is being born....At such a stage, real cultivation hasn't began at all, it is in the process of starting....]

Of course, Alex understood what the system meant that the cultivation was only in its begining stages. He couldn't refute it as an entity such as the system had to be created by someone, and that someone must be strong. 'Can I open it?' asked Alex as he saw the box floating in front of him in the holographic screen.

[Reward claimed....You have received Golden pillar body cultivation technique....You have received Golden magic creation magic cultivation technique....]

Alex heard the voice from the system that for some reason sounded sweet. He couldn't help but wonder if he was just imagining things or if that was true. Not hesitating anymore, Alex sat down and tried to feel the qi that was in his body. The information about how to revolve qi was already inserted in his mind and he felt like he had read it and memorized it.

Starting by moving the qi that was located below his belly baton, moving it towards his chest, then moving it to the head, arms and legs. Moving the qi was taking a toll on him as it consumed his mental energy. Alex persisted until he made a full revolution. Just once and Alex could already start feeling the increase in strength even though it was just miniscule.

"Hahaha! I can finally cultivate like all the others!" Alex shouted feeling the ecstasy from cultivating for the first time in his life. He finally got out of his thoughts when he remembered where he was. He needed to finish the mission before his time ran out. He then checked his mission progress.

[Mission; Kill fifty monsters one stage above you within forty eight hours....Progress 21/50....Time remaining 22 hours 43 minutes 17 seconds....]

Seeing that he didn't have much time, Alex decided that it was time to check out if the system would change the conditions when fighting against monsters in the tower. Remaining in the same terrain, Alex chose an offensive type monster at the mid stages of rank 1. He selected a one on one battlefield of course. He wasn't ready to face two monsters that he didn't know how strong they were.

The light appeared as usual and disappeared after some time revealing a desert python. Alex wondered if his luck was bad or it was just that the tower wanted him dead. The python in front of him was about five meters ling and it had brown scales that made it blend well with the sand. Such a python could just lie down on the sand and hide its tail. Someone could easily think that it's a log of wood with the scales that were dull looking like a tree bark.

Just like before, Alex activated his movement technique and rushed towards the python. The python reacted by baring its fangs at Alex but as usual, it was slower than Alex whose agility could not be compared to that of an agility type monster when using his light steps movement technique.

This time, Alex targeted the eye of the monster, planning to end it as fast as possible as although he had twenty two hours, he still needed to consider that he needed rest. Even in the dungeon, he had to take occasional rests before continuing to the next room.

The attack connected and the python hissed in pain. Alex didn't remove his dagger from the eye but pushed it further into the head. He knew that these monsters had high vitality than those found in the dungeon and thus he couldn't afford to make the same mistake as the one he made with the initial stage python.

Feeling the dagger dig deeper into its skull, the python shook its head from side to side while swinging its tail at Alex. Seeing the attack, Alex was forced to remove the dagger from the python's skull to block the tail that was falling towards him. He used the dagger to block the attack but he was pushed backwards from the power of the attack.

The python wasn't categorized as offensive for nothing. To add to this, the attack was a desperate move from the python and had more strength into it than it would normally have and thus it gave the python the ability to push Alex back by a few steps. Just as Alex was trying to stabilize himself, the python had already dived into the sand in that even with Alex's reaction speed, he couldn't catch it.

Now that the python was underground, Alex had to stay vigilant of his surroundings and be careful of any movements that weren't his own. He looked left and right but he did not move from his position. One of the python's special ability was sensing a source of heat, so there was no use of him moving.

All his senses were activated to the maximum as we as well as his movement technique. The dagger in his hand was held firmly and his hands muscles were tensed, ready to attack at a moment notice. Just then, alex felt slight tremors underneath his feat. Without thinking even for as second, he jumped backwards from that position.

No sooner had he jumped away than the head of the desert python poked out of the sand ready to take a bite of its prey. Just as it arrived at the top, it found that the target had escaped. Before it could go back into the sand, Alex was already upon it with the dagger ready to dig in. The dagger pierced through the other eye rendering the python blind.

Before it could once again attack, Alex had already pushed the dagger dipper and added a fist to the side of the head of the python. With a thud, the monster fell onto the sand and breathed its last. Alex finally let out a breath of relief after seeing this.

[You have acquired a rank 1 mid stage monster core....]

Alex then checked the mission progress and found that now he needed twenty eight more monsters. This made him smile since the mid stage monsters weren't that difficult to kill.With that, Alex finally immersed himself in the mission looking forward to the mission rewards.

[You have acquired a rank 1 mid stage monster core....]

[Mission Complete: Kill fifty monsters one stage above you within forty eight hours....Mission evaluation....Time taken, thirty seven hours....Mission rating, very good. Rewards, rank 1 mid grade skill book steel hands and rank 1 mid grade dual swords....Bonus reward....one system function unlock]

Alex heard the voice of the system as he read the words that were flashing in front of him. He had finally done it, he had finally completed the mission after killing the thirtieth python of the day. He decided to get used to the attacks of the pythons and finally he got a gist of how they usually operated. After that, everything was smooth.

Furthermore, the last battle was one vs two and he finally got rid of them with slight difficulty. Now that he had gotten his rewards, Alex decided to end the day there since he really needed a good rest. The monsters in the tower were no joke at all. Alex had to rest after every three battles.

After requesting to quit, Alex was teleported outside the tower. When he found himself at the entrance, Alex took a deep breath before looking back at the tower. He really needed to do this more often. With that conclusion, he left and went back to the inn. He had left in the morning and it was already past noon.

After saying hi to Jane, he went to his room and plopped himself on the bed and drifted off to sleep only waking up after about four hours. After that, he decided to check his rewards. He first checked his cultivation techniques that he had received. The golden pillar body cultivation technique and golden magic cultivation technique.

He had already tried out that for body but he had yet to try his magic cultivation technique. Sitting down in a lotus pose, Alex felt the mana in his chest, closer to his heart. The mana pool is located closer to the heart and thus helps in increasing the lifespan of a mage. As for a warrior, his whole body and organs are strengthened by the qi in their body.

Slowly but surely, he began moving the mana inside the mana pool. Just like the qi, he felt that it was indeed difficult to move it. This made him wonder how he move his mana till it formed lightning sparks after he awakened. Focusing his mind on the current task, Alex kept pressing forth till he felt the mana pass through his mana veins making a full cycle.

The purity of his thunder energy was considerably good for someone who had never cultivated before. Leaving behind the issue of cultivation, Alex decided to claim his mission rewards.

[Rewards claimed....Learnt a rank 1 mid grade skill steel hands....The rank 1 mid grade dual swords have been placed in the inventory....Bonus reward, you can select any of the locked chapters to unlock....]

Alex did not longer too much on the skill that he received. He wanted to check out the weapons that he had received from the system. It had been a while since he last wielded dual swords and he was quite eager. With a thought, Alex retrieved the dual short swords. They had sharp edges and a black handle. The weight was like that of a feather in Alex's hand.

[The weapons that master receives from the system cannot be wielded by somebody else....In case someone else takes them without master's permission, they would crumble to dust....]

The system's notification surprised Alex. It was a good thing if no one else could wield his weapons as that would ensure that his weapons aren't used against him. It would also be bad if his only weapons are snatched away by someone only to crumble to dust. He wondered if this was a good fortune or not. 'Why is this going to happen?' Alex asked the system.

[Update the system to level two to get the answer to your question....]

Update? That was a new word to Alex. Since he was checking his rewards, he decided to push that to the back of his mind and look at it later. Now, he decided to claim his bonus reward.