Chapter 2: First Quest Part Two

*DING!*

[New Quest Available]

[Quest Details: Collect crafting materials for Minnie.]

What on earth!?!

Alex had forgotten entirely about the System and why it had to show up now!?!

"Alex-san, what are you staring at?"

(Crap)

Was Minnie somehow able to see the System?

"Hey, Alex-san?"

There was only one way to find out.

"Minnie-san, do you happen to see something blue in front of me?"

"What are you talking about?

There's nothing in front of you."

*WHEW!*

Alex let out an inward sigh of relief.

"Did I accidentally slam open the door too hard?

I only wanted to get back at you a little for worrying me about your disappearance."

(YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!?!?!)

"Anyways, do you mind collecting some materials for me? It doesn't matter if it's from a low-rank dungeon or bought from the black market."

"Why do you need me to get materials?"

"That's because my usual suppliers are busy. I don't have many materials left in my storage."

"You realize that I am the worst student in the Academy, right?"

"Of course, I know that, which is why I'll give you a budget."

"You aren't worried that I might just keep the money and not get the materials for you?"

"Not at all. We might have only known each other for two weeks. I can tell that you're an honest guy."

He felt touched by her trust.

"Plus, the school is quite strict with theft and murder, so if I find out you didn't get me my materials. I'll just call security and they'll track you down in two seconds and toss you into the Academy Detention Centre."

SHE DIDN'T TRUST HIM AT ALL!

"But I'm a nice girl, so once you get me some materials, I'll craft you any commission you like for free."

"SERIOUSLY!?!"

"Mhmm!"

It may not seem like it from her appearance or shop, but Minnie was an expert blacksmith who created extremely top-notch quality and rarity items.

There were once stories about how she managed to craft an Orange-Tier weapon at the young age of twelve or how she was scouted by several major countries including the United States of America.

Despite her skills, she refused all of their offers and decided to attend St. James Assassin Academy for some reason.

(I suppose you can also make a killing selling weapons to a place filled with killers, mercenaries, and soldiers.)

How Alex managed to meet this young prodigy would be a story for another time.

Right now he had a quest to accept and a System to explore.

"No problem Minnie."

"Great, thanks!"

Minnie gave Alex a credit card.

"Don't worry if you lose this. I have multiple bank accounts, but that also means you won't be able to buy the materials, so be careful okay?"

Alex waved goodbye to Minnie and left the shop.

When he heard the door close, he immediately opened the System.

Host: Alex Blanc

Titles: F-rank agent, Worst Spy, Amnesiac, Academic Genius

Class: LOCKED

Attributes: LOCKED

Passives: None

Skills: Mana-charge (Basic: Level 1), Knife-work (Basic: Level 1), Martial Arts (Basic: Level 1), Sprint (Basic: Level 1), Sneak (Basic: Level 1), Stealth (Basic: Level 1)

STATUS

Level: 1

HP: 100/100

Mp: 50/50

Constitution: 10

Agility: 10

Strength: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

Endurance: 10

Status Points: 0

Condition: Normal

[The System informs you that there is a completed Quest]

[The System informs you that you can receive drop items from slaying Mid-rank Lieutenant-Level Demon]

[Would the Host like to receive the rewards and items?]

[Yes/No]

(Well that's a no brainer)

After immediately selecting [Yes] on the blue screen.

After selecting [Yes] on the blue screen, Alex received several messages and items that made his jaw drop.

*DING!*

[ The Host has received "Against All Odds" mission rewards.]

[Title: ???

Details: Not yet disclosed]

[Title: Tenacious One

Details: For every 30% HP lost, all stats are increased by 20%]

[30x Status Points]

[Unlocked Inventory]

[Received 1000 EXP Points]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[Due to exceeding the Quest's Completion Requirements. The Host will be awarded:

[1x Random Lucky Box

Details: A box that will give you a random item. Anything could be inside.]

[500x Gold]

[The Host has received the following from killing a Mid-Rank Lieutenant-Level Demon.]

[Received 250 EXP points]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[2x Low-quality Mid-rank Demon horns.]

[2x Low-quality Mid-rank Demon wings.]

[15x Low-quality Mid-rank Demon bones.]

[1x Demon Greatsword]

[Equipment Tier: Blue]

[Attack: 125]

[Skills: Rage

Details: Temporarily enhances user's strength by 30% for 3 minutes, the User's stats will decrease by 50% for 1 hour after usage.]

[Prerequisites: 50+ strength]

[Effects: 50% damage against Holy beings. -20% speed when wielded.]

[Durability: Perfectly New]

This was unbelievable.

The System gave him so many rewards that he wasn't able to have his thoughts process all of them.

Alex decided to look at his Status first.

STATUS

Level: 9

HP: 100/100

Mp: 100/100

Constitution: 10

Agility: 10

Strength: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

Endurance: 10

Status Points: 75

Condition: Normal

Alex has a hunch on what these points do, but just to be sure, he asked the System.

"System, what do these Status Points do?"

*Ding*

[The System informs the Host that Status Points allow you to allocate your points to Constitution, Agility, Strength, Intelligence, Perception and/or Endurance. Investing in one of the six categories enhances the Host's capabilities. Investing in different categories enhances the Host in different ways.]

(I think I know where this is going.)

Alex decided to invest 10 points into all six categories.

STATUS

Level: 9

HP: 1000/1000

Mp: 1000/1000

Constitution: 20

Agility: 20

Strength: 20

Intelligence: 20

Perception: 20

Endurance: 20

Status Points: 15

Condition: Normal

"Hmmm."

After putting 10 points into every category, he hadn't felt any change in his body.

The only way to find out if there was any improvement was to go to a dungeon.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any weapons on him besides the Demon Greatsword, which he couldn't use due to the 50+ strength requirement.

The Glock-18 and M1903 Springfield he used during the patrol mission were taken away by the investigation team.

There were a couple of spares in his room, but those weapons were used for school practice and training and were hardly fit for fighting monsters.

However...

"System, please give me the Lucky Box."

*DING!*

A perfect golden cube box the size of a ring case appeared in its hand. A person could mistake it for a block of pure gold if it weren't for a tiny white question mark that appeared on all sides.

Alex was hoping to use this to obtain a decent weapon.

After getting Minnie her materials, he was going to ask her to craft a weapon for him.

Wait a minute!

Didn't he already have crafting materials from that Mid-rank Demon!?!

He checked the messages and saw the number of materials he got from the Demon.

"Holy crap!"

"The quality and amount of these materials are enough for Minnie to craft a full set of blue-tier armour with a weapon to spare!"

Alex debated whether to hand these materials to Minnie.

"I think I'll keep these for now."

Handing Minnie the crafting items he got from beating the Demon would raise suspicion.

After all, how could an unknown F-rank have possibly obtained items from a Mid-rank?

If word got out about how he sold crafting materials collected from a Mid-rank Demon, this would put Alex under unnecessary attention and can get him into heaps of trouble.

It was far too risky.

He needed to get stronger.

By getting stronger, people wouldn't be suspicious of how he had Mid-tier or High-tier monster drops.

Luckily for him, he had a System whose purpose is to provide Alex with the power he desired.

Putting his thoughts of getting stronger aside, he decided to use the Lucky Box to see if he can get a weapon.

If not, he will have to use Minnie's credit card to buy one.

"System, activate the Lucky Box."

*DING!*

[1x Lucky Box has consumed.]

A bright flash momentarily blinded Alex.

After the flash disappeared and Alex's sight readjusted, he looked at the item he was given.

[The Host has obtained a "Random Attribute Orb" from the Lucky Box.]

(Seriously?)

(Another gacha?)

This wasn't what Alex expected.

(Could this be?)

The only Attributes he could think of were related to Magic and Spells.

(Am I going to be able to use Magic?)

For the dummies out there who don't know what Magic is, it is an invisible force that could be utilized by certain individuals to be able to have some control over the elements.

There are multiple different branches of magic, but since it's so complicated. The majority of the world simply split it into two categories, Basic Magic and Attribute Magic.

Basic Magic could be used and mastered by anyone, some of its uses are body-strengthening and charging up a projectile with mana.

Attribute Magic has several different branches like Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, just to name a few. It is similar to Basic magic, as the lower tier spells like Water Jet or Fire Bullet can be mastered by most people.

(Unluckily for Alex, he is not in the majority.)

What sets Attribute Magic apart from Basic Magic is how diverse people's talents can be.

To put this in perspective, if a hundred recruits were to go through the Academy's Basic Magic training routine, they would all have mastery over the basics within two to three months, with only a few struggling.

If the one hundred students were to go through Attribute Magic training, fifteen wouldn't be able to use any Attribute Magic, thirty would have trouble with casting their first Tier One spell, fifty would do okay, while the remaining five are learning it at a faster pace than the rest within two to three months.

However, having Attribute Magic doesn't mean you become a certain bald boy with blue markings who can bend any elements to his will.

Most Attribute Magic users generally specialize in one or two types of magic since it takes too much time and resources to learn different spells belonging to other elements.

Some people can master more than two Attributes, such as the S-rank Saintess, Anne Bellione, who is capable of wielding six elements, which are Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Light.

People who are capable of mastering more than two attributes were highly sought after by many countries and a person could find themselves living quite a cushy life.

Originally Earth didn't have magic, and warfare still relied upon modern 20th-21st century conventions.

When the Great Cataclysm occurred in the year 2065, multiple countries of unknown origin appeared in the Pacific, Southern, and Atlantic oceans.

These countries introduced the concept of Magic and Mana which completely changed the rules of warfare.

When the war started, the first battle that occurred wasn't initiated by Earth, but by the recently appeared countries whom people began calling the Otherworlders.

The Otherworlders launched an attack on the shores of Los Angeles, California, America.

The attack consisted of 150,000 medieval-style foot soldiers, archers, and knights that attacked California's shores with wooden warships.

At first, the battle was in the American army's favour, and the Otherworlders were sunk one after another by the technologically superior firepower of Earth, the battle would end with America's victory, but not without losses.

Among the 150,000 Otherworlder soldiers. There were a group of mages that saw how the battle was near-irrecoverable for their side, so as a desperate last attempt.

The mages performed a destructive spell and offered their own lives as a sacrifice to maximize the damage.

Witness accounts were distorted, but according to most people,

"The clouds parted to make way for a circle of light that grew brighter after every second that passed. Eventually, the circle gave a bright flash and a pillar of light fell upon California."

This pillar of light killed roughly 10,000 soldiers, and 470,000 civilians, and caused 87 billion US dollars of damage.

A spell by a small squad of trained mages managed to do more damage than the two nuclear bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in WWII.

At this point, nuclear weapons became obsolete and the world could no longer view them as places for colonization and exploitation, but as dangerous foes that must be put down.

The invasion of Los Angeles sparked the Cataclysmic Wars that threw the world into madness more complicated than Game of Thrones.

Back on topic,

Alex activated the Random Attribute Orb and waited for the results.

*DING!*

[Random Attribute Orb activated.]

[Host will be given a random Attribute with a random tier.]

He couldn't wait for the results!

Being able to have an Attribute or Element would be a huge help as it allows more variety to his attacks instead of being only stuck with Basic magic which only strengthens his body or weapons.

*DING!*

[A Attribute has been selected.]

(Yes go on.)

[ERROR!]

(Huh?)

[Recalculating...]

"What's going on!?!"

[Recalculating...]

"I'm just being given a random Attribute, what's taking so long!?!"

*DING!*

[System informs the Host that there is a special Attribute that can be unlocked.]

[To unlock Attribute, the Host must complete a Side Quest for the current Quest "Collecting materials for Minnie."]

[Does the Host accept?]

[YES/NO]

"Eh, why not?"

*DING!"

[Side Quest Unlocked!]

[Side Quest Details: Defeat 10 F or E rank monsters in a Dungeon]

[Rewards: A Special Attribute will be given to the Host]

"That goes nicely along with my plans."

He was so hyped up!

A Special Attribute!?!

Now that was something that piqued his interest immensely.

He was willing to settle with an F-tier Fire Attribute or something similar, but this is so much better!

But he felt that something was missing.

(Crap! I forgot that I had no weapons!)

*Sigh*

"Looks like I have to go shopping first."

Alex went back down the streets to the series of shops he passed before and arrived in front of a "Gerard's Gun Grave."

Although the owner, Gerard, wasn't as talented or well-known as Minnie. He made good quality weapons and sold them for less than the market price to people like Alex who had a tight budget and were among the weaker agents in the Academy.

Gerard's store was the complete opposite of Minnie's.

The shop had clean windows, vine-free cement walls, and a very spacious wooden interior with shelves and displays that showed off weapons and armour without a clear pattern.

"Hey, Gerard!"

"Alex! Is that you!?!"

A behemoth of a man walked up to Alex from the counter, wearing a biker jacket and leather shorts, standing 7ft tall with bulging muscles that coiled like pythons, brown-skinned with a clean-shaven face and a bald head.

Many often mistake him for a criminal due to his tattoos, sharp cheekbones and fierce grey eyes. For those that know him, he was a lawful and kind-hearted man who would help an elderly lady rescue her cat from a tree or throw away litter he found on the ground into the correct garbage bins.

"Yup! How's business?"

"Meh, the usual."

"By the way, you had me scared off my rocker when I heard you were part of the patrol squad that got attacked by a Mid-rank Demon!"

"Got lucky. A Demonic Boar sent me flying away from my squad just before the Demon attacked."

"That is lucky."

"Speaking of the attack. I need to buy some replacements for the gear that I lost. Do you happen to have anything cheap?"

"You bet!"

After a bit of bantering with Gerard, Alex purchased a second-hand mana-charged M16 and a brand new SIG Sauer P226, which were effective against monsters at E-rank or lower.

Once he made the payment using Minnie's credit card and was about to leave.

"Hey, Alex! Wait up for a sec."

Gerard went to the back of the store looking for something.

A minute later, he came back to Alex holding an attachable bayonet knife for his M16 and a black bulletproof tactical SWAT vest.

"These are on the house, go ahead and take them."

"You sure? You always sell things cheaper than the market price. At this rate, you might go bankrupt."

"Don't worry about it, I got quite a bit of money left over from the time I used to work as an agent for the Academy."

"Seriously!"

This was the first Alex had heard about the man's past. Gerard would never reveal anything about himself more than five years ago when he first opened his shop.

"If you want to know more, you better take these items."

"Really?"

"Yeah, visit my shop sometime on Saturday and I'll tell you just a few stories."

"I thought you didn't like talking about your past?"

"Nah, that's just what most people think. Whenever I try to recall my past life as an agent, I tend to make a weird thinking face that scares them off."

"Ohhh!"

That made a lot of sense given his fierce-looking face and the delinquentish clothes he wore.

"Well see yah! I'll be back on Saturday."

(Wait a second!)

"Hey, Gerard, what time and day is it today?"

"It's 11 am, September 25th, Monday."

"I'M LATE FOR SCHOOL!!!"

"Chill out, it was on the Academy Newsletter that classes will be cancelled this week in order to pour more time and resources into investigating the Demon incident."

*Whew!*

"Thank goodness!"

"Whelp, I better get going now. See you on Saturday Gerard!"

"See yah!"

Alex walked out the door and pulled out an Academy-issued phone.

He tapped on maps and searched for any available low-tier Dungeons.

After three minutes of searching, he found the perfect one.

"Tier E Dungeon: Goblin Woods"

The location was close to where he was, the monsters weren't too hard to kill with his current equipment and despite being called Goblin Woods, the Dungeon boasted a variety of other monsters such as Slimes, Large Insects, and hostile Plant Monsters.

After a while, Alex arrived in front of the Dungeon entrance. A small wooden flimsy castle gate carved with several indecipherable runes and symbols.

Dungeons were mysterious spatial occurrences that appeared soon after the Great Cataclysm occurred.

The term "Dungeon" can be misleading.

When one thinks of a "Dungeon" one will imagine a long passageway that leads to several rooms containing monsters, with one big room at the end where the Dungeon Boss is.

This wasn't wrong, as most Dungeons tended to be laid out like that, but some Dungeons don't follow this trend.

For example, the Dungeon "Goblin Woods" Alex is currently visiting would be considered a "Field-Type" Dungeon.

As the name suggests, the wooden gate will transport Alex to a field of woods that mostly had goblins as enemies.

The entrances to Dungeons were also quite diverse and did not necessarily have to be an actual set of gates or doors. Examples would include caves, Magic Circles, pits, Magic Portals, the bottom of lakes and oceans, and even the moon itself.

Alex readied his gear.

He tightened the bayonet on his M16, double-checked his SIG Sauer P226 was loaded and holstered, and his tactical SWAT vest covered the vital points of his body.

Looking around, he could not find anyone around him that looked like they were going to enter the Dungeon.

(No one's raiding this Dungeon? Guess it makes sense since the Dungeon is quite low-levelled.)

(However, why do I feel that there is something off about it.)

Despite his uneasiness, he decided to go on. After all, he made a promise to Minnie that he will bring her back some crafting materials. Plus this Dungeon was weak enough to complete his Side Quest and test his new powers.

With one last check of his equipment, Alex opened the doors to the Dungeon and stepped to the other side.

When Alex stepped into the Dungeon, two figures were conversing hidden in the shadows within a nearby alleyway.

"The target has entered a Dungeon."

"Perfect, this makes cleanup much easier. If anyone finds his body, they will assume he died to a goblin or something."

"Don't be cocky, he might be more dangerous than he seems."

"Pffffft. As if, the guy is an F-rank and the weakest one to boot."

"How do you know that?"

"I sparred with him a couple of times and wiped the floor with. The only thing that keeps him in school is his brains."

"Why doesn't he switch to Intelligence if he is this poor in Combat? From his grades, I can tell that he has the potential to become a B-rank or higher researcher or operator."

"Don't know, don't care. As far as I'm concerned, there is a huge bounty for his head."

"Whatever, let's just get this mission over with already."

A bright light temporarily blinded Alex for a few moments, and when his eyes readjusted, he found himself in a small grass clearing in the middle of a small wood of oaks.

"Alrighty, time to start hunting."

Alex walked forwards, sticking close to the trees in case he needed to use them as cover from incoming enemy fire.

Minutes after he entered the Dungeon, he found a group of goblins surrounding a small wooden cage covered with a dirty cloth.

(Dangit, the first monsters I meet just had to be these little green bastards.)

Goblins, short in stature, weak, naked except for a loincloth covering their nether region, dumb and ugly with their green skin, large pointed nose, bat-like years, and yellow crooked fangs.

By itself, these monsters are nothing but a joke to even F-rank agents.

Group them together, and even veteran C-rank adventurers will run away from them, especially the girls.

What makes Goblins so frightening isn't their reputation for defiling young women, their disgusting faces or their stench.

It was the amount of noise they made, which can attract the unwanted attention of beasts much worse than a goblin.

Fortunately, the Dungeon was E-rank and goblins were the strongest monsters you can find besides the Dungeon Boss.

(I should probably find another path.)

However,

The small cage the goblins were guarding piqued his interest.

What could these idiots want to possibly keep alive besides women?

Also, if he backed away from some goblins, how would he ever grow stronger?

Alex looked at his stats and skills.

Host: Alex Blanc

Titles: F-rank agent, Worst Spy, Amnesiac, Academic Genius

Class: LOCKED

Attributes: LOCKED

Passives: None

Skills: Mana-charge (Basic: Level 1), Knife-work (Basic: Level 1), Martial Arts (Basic: Level 1), Sprint (Basic: Level 1), Sneak (Basic: Level 1), Stealth (Basic: Level 1)

STATUS

Level: 9

HP: 1000/1000

Mp: 1000/1000

Constitution: 20

Agility: 20

Strength: 20

Intelligence: 20

Perception: 20

Endurance: 20

Status Points: 15

Condition: Normal

"Oh right. I'm a spy, and spies are experts in stealth.

God I am an idiot!"

Alex readied his M16 and made sure that the bayonet was attached tightly to the end of the barrel.

Activating his skill "Stealth." He moved around the goblin camp to a position where he can get good clean shots at most of the goblins.

Once he found the position, Alex began charging the bullets in his rifle.

(This is it!)

He set the M16 to automatic.

(The first step to becoming stronger!)

Alex slowly pulled the trigger.

He aimed his sights at the group of goblins....

and fired.

A volley of bullets hit the goblin encampment, several of the bullets missed, but the remaining hit their marks.

*DING!*

[The Host has killed Goblin 3x]

Three goblins fell dead to the ground and two were injured.

The goblins shrieked in fear and surprise at the sudden attack.

They quickly grabbed whatever weapons were near them and scrambled to find the attacker.

"GRAAK EIIIIYII!!!"

One of the goblins found where Alex was after the effects of Stealth were cancelled.

Having been found, Alex rushed forward and stabbed his bayonet into the chest of the shrieking goblin.

"GIIIIGIIGgiiigiigiiii...."

*DING!*

[The Host has killed Goblin]

Removing his bayonet from the dead goblin's chest, he looked around and found four goblins rushing toward him with clubs.

Deciding that engaging in melee with four goblins is too risky, Alex dropped his M16 and whipped out his SIG Sauer, sending ten rounds at the charging goblins.

*DING!*

[The Host has killed Goblin x3]

Three goblins fell dead, while the fourth used his comrades as body shields.

"How cowardly."

Alex aimed his pistol at the last remaining goblin, but before he can pull the trigger, the goblin threw his club at Alex.

The club hit Alex in the right shoulder, causing him to drop his pistol and send a wave of pain into his nervous system.

"Why you little-!"

Before Alex could finish his cursing, the goblin leaped into the air and clung onto Alex, clawing at his black SWAT vest in hopes of taking him down with it.

Alex angrily grabbed the filthy thing by its scrawny neck and smashed its head into the ground multiple times before dropping its body.

*DING!*

[Host has killed Goblin]

What remained of the goblin's head was a bloody mess of brains, skull shards, and blood.

After calming down, Alex picked up his guns and urveyed the goblin encampment. There was nothing to note except for a few tiny animal fur tents, a campfire and the tiny wooden cage.

(Damn, that was easier than I thought.)

(It seems like investing those status points into those six categories does make me stronger.)

Had Alex attacked these goblins before he obtained the System he would have been dead meat.

Even if it was only against five goblins, Alex in the past would have only managed to shoot one before engaging the other four in a desperate struggle.

Alex opened up the System to check his Side Quest progress and stats.

STATUS

Level: 9

HP: 950/1000

Mp: 700/1000

Constitution: 20

Agility: 20

Strength: 20

Intelligence: 20

Perception: 20

Endurance: 20

Status Points: 15

Condition: Normal

[Side Quest: Defeat 10 F-rank or E-rank monsters in a Dungeon.]

[SIde Quest Progress: 8/10 monsters killed.]

"I think I know what each category does."

"The Strength category obviously boosts my strength because in the past, I seriously doubt I could smash a goblin's head into a bloody mess."

"Constitution seems to be related to the amount of HP that I have, but apart from that, I have no idea what else it does."

"Agility increases my speed, but it might also have something to do with body flexibility. I'm going to have to test that one out after I learn some gymnastics.@

"Intelligence is still a mystery. I have a hunch that this relates to my MP since the remaining two categories have nothing to do with magic."

"Endurance is just as easy as Strength to figure out, it boosts my endurance."

"The last one would be Perception. This is a bit tricky, but I'm guessing that it has something to do with my sight."

Having a rough idea of how each of the six categories boosts his overall power, Alex started to scavenge for crafting materials.

As he was about to get to work.

The System gave him a message.

*DING!*

[The System informs the Host that Inventory can be used to pick up and store items.]

[Would Host wish to collect the drop items from recent battle?]

[YES/NO]

"That's a no-brainer."

After clicking yes, the goblin corpses and their camp disappeared in a flash of light.

The only thing remaining in the field was the small wooden cage Alex noticed earlier.

*DING!*

[The System informs the Host that they can store and retrieve items from the inventory whenever they wish.]

"Sweet! This will save me a lot of time."

"Now then, its time to check out what's in that cage."

Alex walked up to the cage.

He made sure his guns were loaded.

Holding his SIG Sauer 226 in one hand, he used free one to quickly remove the cloth covering it.

Removing the cloth he found a....

*SQUELCH!*

*SQUELCH!*

A SLIME!?!