Quest Completion

"I think this is enough."

Ethan murmured, in his hands was a lot of grass. It could be called a bundle because of its quantity.

He trodded to the spot where a large boulder of rock was resting and laced the white dotted grass on top of it.

Ethan pointed his right index finger at the grass bundle as he whispered "inflammori".

A flickered flame suddenly appeared after saying that abrupt word.

The flame slowly lit the bundle of grass as if it was an incense candle.

Someone inquired as to why he possessed that spell?

The spell he uttered was one of the magic "root spells."

Root spells are considered the ancestors' spells in this world.

However, even though they were the origin of the spells, they are essentially the most useless group of magic.

Obviously, a small flame with only the size of his thumb can't possibly kill a monster.

That is why, for so many centuries after the discovery of magic, the denizens of Utopia have continued to research how to improve the root spells until they are fit for use.

For instance, «Inflammori» was a root spell of the flame element.

If upgraded, it could produce a larger flame like the «Fire Ball» or a «Fire Blast».

A practitioner can also adapt it into a much more versatile version, such as «Flame Whip» or «Flame Arrow».

That's only for the flame element.

The root spell of the other elements had also undergone improvement as a result of the never-ending research of many scholars in the past.

These spells were later incorporated into books and dubbed "spellbooks."

The NPC can learn by studying, but the seekers can easily learn the various spells by simply ripping the pages.

Anyhow, after Ethan lit the grass, it released an incense smoke.

Following that, he respectfully knelt on the ground and bowed his head, both eyes were closed.

"I hereby make an offering to you, the entity behind that fiendish mask; I offer you this scent as a representation of the souls I slaughtered; may you find this tribute amusing to your taste."

Wishh~

As soon as he finished reciting, a sudden slight gush of wind blew in his spot and black smoke starts discharging from his body.

But it wasn't an ordinary smoke, it was in the form of human souls, and it seems they were crying without a voice.

Seconds passed, and the ominous smoke was completely sapped out of him until it vanished into thin air.

[Ding! Sadistic Devil had accepted your five soul tributes.]

[You have received 400 EXP.]

[You have received 1 Pandora Candy!]

Three notifications rang out in the air.

Ethan opens his eyes and rose from his spot after hearing these.

He then checked his status and noticed that the orange mark he received from player killing had vanished.

"That was a quick response... and you're still hungry as usual," he muttered with a tone as if he knows the devil behind this ceremony.

A simple ceremony like this was a tribute method to remove the PK mark.

This ceremony was only discovered after the game reach its second anniversary.

The name of the thin white-dotted grass that he uses was called "Angelica".

It was a common item, but it was the primary material to conduct the ceremonial tribute.

Ironically, the entity with a sadist personality is the one who will be receiving the grass with the name of an angel.

Sadistic Devil, a self-proclaimed God who enjoys listening to people's anguish and regrets.

But he was a slacker who only waited for people to serve him. In exchange, he will bestow gifts based on how many souls they had slaughtered.

It is for this reason that he was dubbed the God of PK Players.

Anyways, Ethan crunched the pandora candy and received a random +2 attribute in his MGC.

The said bonus was the pandora candy effects.

"Thanks!"

Ethan expressed his thanks for the free bonus he received and began to walk away from his position. It was a simple and short ceremony.

Raising his head, he notices the glinting sun and assumes it is already past noon.

'Not that I had any important business on this day, though,' Ethan thought.

He traverses a path different from the one he had previously taken and cautiously strolled through the dense forest.

After fifteen minutes, Ethan finally reached the forest's outskirts.

He can now see the city's image and its imposing wall. Because of it, he decided to increase his marching speed, not minding the players hunting in the meadow plain.

Reaching the gates, he summons the Visitor ID card that he received in default after arriving in this world and shows it to the city guards.

Ethan was admitted inside. He immediately heads to the street where the Adventurer's Guild is located.

The city was as lively as it had always been. An indication that the city was fully thriving.

Each person, NPC, and player have their businesses and concerns. The ambiance of fantasy cities depicted in books many years ago can be felt in this place.

After a few minutes of trodding, Ethan eventually arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.

Ignoring the people in line, he went straight to the counter table and addressed Mikala, the receptionist. Just like last time, he was quickly admitted to the office of Guild Master.

Inside the room, there was a figure of Sergio Finas staring intently at the paper.

He raised his head and offered a curt greeting to the person who entered his office.

"Lad, did you come back after realizing you couldn't complete my request?"

Sergio inquired, his voice a little tired as if already expecting this scenario.

"No, guild master," Ethan said with a smile, "I came back to report the success of my quest."

'Don't underestimate me, Old man,' he thought at the same time as he waited for Sergio's shocked expression, but all he can see is a frown.

"I don't need those words," Sergio sighed, urging Ethan to produce the evidence.

"I need proof of completion if there is one," he added.

'Ah right... How come I forget that thing.'

Ethan immediately places the silver locket on the desk, "Here."

"Huh? T-This is...?!"

Sergio let out a surprised expression. He knows this thing. It was the present he gifted to his son!

He flicks the locket open, revealing a golden stone embedded within it.

"...How come? You really did my request. You—uhh no, sorry for my tone," Sergio cut his words and bowed his head sincerely.

"Thank you, truly, thank you for this lad," he said, his voice somewhat a little sober as if he was holding back whatever emotions he was feeling.

'What can I say except you're welcome?'

Ethan thought for a moment but soon responded appropriately.

"You're always welcome, guild master. You trusted me so I need to produce results in return," said Ethan with a grin.

"This is truly incredible; my team and I have no chance of killing those many monsters due to the unusual location! But lad you did it and only for a short time!"

The guild master's face was colored with awe.

"Amazing. I had only read about it in the book, but I can't believe that seekers are really this strong," he paused and looked at Ethan.

"As promised, I'll give you a reward for this lad!"

Sergio gratefully said and hurriedly rummage his desk.

He took a small box and place it on the table.

"That contains ten gold coins." Sergio urges Ethan to open the box.

"I wanted to give you a property, but I'm only a guild master, not a governor. So I hope you can understand."

"It's fine, guild master; this is more than enough money for me; don't worry about it," Ethan replied, smiling.

No one can't tell if he's sincere or not.

However, one of the reasons why he was behaving in this manner was due to the notification that flashed before his eyes.

[Ding! Your affinity for Sergio Finas increased to 70!]

He gained an affinity.

It was a simple point but already an acceptable reward for this quest.

Moreover, the real reason why he prioritized this quest was to earn money.

That's why he wasn't disappointed and eagerly stowed the gold coins in his inventory.

It was a large sum of money and he can exchange it for real credits!

After finishing his business in the guild, Ethan thanked the old guild master once more and exited the building.

Now that his first objective is done, it's time to sell the items he obtained.

Ethan made his way to the raucous and always-busy Trade Center, where the large Auction house was standing.

Ethan was planning to auction all of his gold coins into credits.

At the same time, he wanted to save the profit he'll be going to earn after selling the items he collected from the hidden dungeon of Asthima.

He wasn't worried about in-game coins because he expected to make a lot of money from just these items.

...

"All right, I'm finally done."

Ethan exclaimed as he exited the auction house building.

He took his time spending the previous silver coins he possessed to buy common items such as garments, staff, and other miscellaneous things like potions.

Unfortunately, he can only buy these types of items since the auction house was already deserted.

It means all the good-quality items have been auctioned. Nevertheless, Ethan was still fine wearing the common ones, not that he had a war to prepare for.

"Now for the next goal; it was about this quest," he muttered as he walked down the street, hands on his chin, wondering what to do next.

"If I take this quest, I'm not sure how many days it will take, which may slow down my leveling speed, but... why am I afraid of falling behind? It's not like I had a competition going on. I am a free man now!"

Ethan contemplated, nodding as if he had made his final decision.

"Yosh! let's go," he said, raising his right hand after.

A woman in her late twenties came to a halt in front of him.

She, like him, was wearing a fancy hat but she was riding a broom. Yeah, literally.

"Oya? You're a Witch like me. Why are you—Oh! I see. May I ask what level are you now?"

The woman gently inquired.

"I am only level 8, Miss...?"

"I am Hazy Witch, and my name is Helen!"

Helen, the Hazy Witch, beamed in response.

"Since you had called me here, I'm guessing you're going to ride on me?" she asked.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Helen. If you please, I wanted to go to the Silver Witch's house," Ethan responded also with a smile.

"Of course! By the way, if I may ask, what is your business with the genius Witch? Hmm, are you one of her suitors?" the woman inquired as she giggled slightly.

Ethan can only let out a chuckle because of this and answered a no before stating his true reason.

After paying in advance, the two of them hop on the broom as they ascend from the ground.

They began to move and quickly accelerated to the street section where the noble area was located.