4 Emerald Pine Valley

While activating the Nature Spirit's natural regeneration ability, Sydra noticed that the pile of bones and roots had begun turning to stone, due to the ability of the Luminous Night Deer dagger. The antlers of those creatures were coated in a layer of poison that could petrify the target, and when the blacksmith created the dagger, they kept that ability in mind.

'I'm lucky the Bone-Tree Golem wasn't fully grown yet, or I don't think I could have beat it even with this body's training,' Sydra thought as the wound on his shoulder closed back up. Standing up, Sydra prepared to leave the forest when a green and white sphere emerged from the petrified pile.

After spinning around a few times, the sphere shot towards Sydra, who ducked down, causing the sphere to fly over his head. Being unsure of what the sphere is or does, Sydra turned around to run from it, but he didn't get more than two steps before the sphere flung itself back at him with twice the speed. The sphere flew at Sydra faster than he could dodge before it disappeared into his back.

"What the heck was that?!" Sydra shouted as he searched his back for any wounds. Although he found none, Sydra was still skeptical about the purpose of the sphere, at least until he detected his body growing stronger. Both his bones and his ability to regenerate seemed to have increased significantly after the sphere entered his body, and they continued to do so as changes occurred in the Arbor Sanctum.

Sitting back down, Sydra entered a meditative state to withdraw himself back into the Arbor Sanctum, curious about what had changed after the green and white sphere entered his body. Once inside, Sydra floated over to the tree, where he found the sphere merging with the end of a root. As the sphere continued merging with the root an influx of knowledge flowed into Sydra's brain.

'So, whenever I kill someone or something, I will gain a portion of one of their powers,' Sydra thought, his face lighting up as he realized how beneficial that would be. However, the next set of information caused Sydra's face to drop. It seemed that the ability to absorb the aura of others had restrictions, such as Sydra had to be resting for it to activate, and he could only absorb the aura of one creature a week.

'Well, it's not like I'll be going around killing everyone I see to gain power, and the restrictions aren't that terrible,' Sydra thought as he left the Arbor Sanctum. Jumping up from the ground, Sydra shakes his hands back and forth before activating the aura he just received.

Suddenly, Sydra felt his body becoming encased in a suit of armor made from bones, with the joints covered in a layer of sturdy roots that allowed Sydra to move while still being protected. He also had the ability to manipulate the bone armor to a certain degree, allowing him to create hidden weapons anywhere on his body.

Finished with exploring the possibilities of his new power, Sydra dismissed the bone armor and glanced up at the sky. The battle with the Bone-Tree Golem had been a quick one, and the sun hadn't moved far from its last position, 'Looks like I have plenty of time to return to the Guildhall and complete the quest,'

Before leaving the forest, Sydra went over to the petrified pile and dug through it, looking for the bone swords the Bone-Tree Golem had been using. After fifteen minutes of digging, Sydra managed to find one intact blade and two broken ones that could still be used as daggers.

"I'll sell the Bone Blade to a merchant, but I think it would be wise to keep the daggers for myself," Sydra said as he sent the weapons into his Arbor Sanctum. Finding nothing else, Sydra returned to the mountain, where he managed to find a road that led back to the town.

The town was called Emerald Pine Valley and was classified as a medium-sized town that existed thirty-seven miles away from the next one. Emerald Pine Valley had been created within the boundaries of the Lunarmoon Kingdom, which was ruled by Elves, so the town was mostly populated by elves.

As Sydra walked through the town, his eyes caught sight of a massive log building, with multiple people in suits of armor making their way in and out of a set of oak doors. Above the doors was a sign with a war hammer covered in flames, which told people that this was the Guildhall.

As Sydra pushed open the oak doors, the sounds of people discussing what quests to go on next could be heard. Making his way across the wooden floor, Sydra approached the counter where a female elf was waiting.

"I've completed the quest to collect the Sunset Fortune," Sydra said as he pulled out thirty-three of the blue and gold flowers and laid them on the counter. Seeing all the flowers laid in front of her, the Elf lightly gasped.

"Oh my, I'm not sure we received enough gold coins for all of these flowers," She said, slightly flustered, "Do you mind showing me your insignia so I may confirm that you took on the quest?"

'Insignia? What's an insignia?'Sydra wondered, checking the memories he had. It turned out that an insignia was both the only way to accept quests, as well as the way to determine what rank you were. Searching his body, Sydra found his insignia on a necklace around his neck with the letter E on it.

"Here you go," Sydra said as he showed the elf the back of the insignia, which proved he had taken the Sunset Fortune quest, 'That E, is that supposed to be my adventure rank? But it's so low,'

Checking the insignia, the elf smiled awkwardly and looked around, "Do you mind holding on a moment, I need to go ask the Guild Master what to do here,"

Before Sydra can respond, the elf rushes away from the counter with the flowers, leaving Sydra no choice but to wait for a response from the Guild Master. Glancing around, Sydra decided to sit down at one of the benches along the wall and find out what else he knew about the Ranking System of Phisloke.

Recalling the memories he had from the Nature Spirit, Sydra discovered that there were a total of nine ranks, that went from F-rank, which was slightly above normal, all the way to SSS-rank, which only two people possessed, or at least to what people knew.

The ranks were based off of the amount of aura a person possessed, because the more aura one had, the stronger their attacks would be. Aura also increased a person's physique, allowing them to become faster and stronger, and people could use their auras to increase resistance to things such as heat, or poison.

As Sydra was studying the information he had on ranks, a group of adventures walked into the Guildhall and headed for an attendant waiting behind the counter.

"I told you we could do it, Elly, but you didn't believe me," Said one of the members of the group as he pulled out five silver and black feathers, "How big was the reward for slaying the Ash Griffins, again?"

"It was thirteen gold coins for the entire nest of Ash Griffin's slain, and I did too believe in you. I just said I wouldn't go out with you even if you did manage to succeed," The female elf working behind the counter responded as she grabbed the feathers out of the man's hand.

"Why not?" The man asked as his face dropped, "I thought saving all those farmers from having their livestock taken would surely make you love me,"

"As if," Elly scoffed, "But I'll make a deal with you if you can complete a quest that benefits the entire town, then I'll go out with you,"

"You're on," The man said as he collected the reward before rushing over to the quest board with the rest of the group, "Come on guys, find a quest that will get me that date,"

"Excuse me, sir," Called out the attendant that had gone to see the Guild Master. After standing back up, Sydra made his way over to the counter.

"Yes?" Sydra asked, "What did the Guild Master say?"

"He told me that we could give you all the gold coins we have in for that quest today and that if you come back tomorrow, we'll give you the remaining five," The female elf said as she pulled out a pouch of coins as well as a letter, "If you bring this letter up to any of the attendants working here, they will bring you the remaining gold coins. Does that work for you?"

After pondering for a few seconds, Sydra sighed and nodded, "I guess that will be fine, as I have to stay at an Inn tonight anyway,"

Hearing Sydra say that the attendant relaxed as she handed Sydra the pouch of coins, "Perfect, then I hope to see you tomorrow,"

"Me too," Sydra said as he flashed her a smile that caused her knees to go weak. As Sydra turned to leave the Guildhall, his eyes caught onto a wooden pedestal with a runic tablet placed on top of it, 'Maybe I should check my rank before I go? I also have to add my name to the insignia, but that shouldn't be to hard as the Nature Spirit never added his,'