Expedition towards the Green abyss

Hey my guys, here is the chapter.

Sorry for the delay, I still have 2 more to post today, hopefully, I'll post one more.

Phew, so much work... I hope you like it.

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/A few minutes of listening later…/

[Your quest has updated]

[The Unknow Devil

A powerful Devil has settled in the Southern Horizon Woods, disrupting its ecosystem with its intrusive actions, creating a great deal of trouble for all of those in and out of the forest.

A preliminary analysis has pointed to the possibility of the Devil being severely wounded due to a recent fight, weakening it considerably.

It is unknown what it was fighting, nor does it matter.

Requirements:

Pass the Shard of a Greater Devil to Tina 1/1

Wait for her to inspect it 1/1

Prepare for the Forest raid and eliminate the Greater Devil 0/1

Absorb the Greater Devil to evolve the Tripodial Mark 0/1

]

"Phew..."

After listening to a lengthy explanation, Dale was finally given some time to breathe…

He massaged his temples, trying to make do with everything that had been happening recently...

"With that in mind… The faster we take it down, the better it'll be for us."

But Tina's expression did not change, she wasn't happy with this information in the least.

/Shua.../

A red ball of smoke was created in her fighters, she played around with it...

For some reason, Dale remembered the stress balls back in reality.

"However, we cannot bet everything on a single attack."

"So instead, we'll confirm its current conditions before proceeding."

"If it's weakened, we'll proceed with its extermination, if it's not then we'll retreat and rethink our plans, such as luring it out of the forest where many variables lay."

"Regardless, we have to move fast."

She got up from her chair, saying:

"For now, you're free to do as you wish, but be sure to be ready by tomorrow morning, that's when we move."

Dale was a bit confused, this progressed a bit too quickly.

"Wait a bit… I understood everything you said before, but you didn't tell me how the excursion in itself will play out, nor your plans in how to find this creature..."

"What about the other creatures that are in the forest? I doubt they'll just let us be."

'And with the recent changes, every monster in there will be stronger and more annoying to deal with...'

'And just when I wanted to keep a low Level! Dammit!'

"Also, you didn't make it clear who'll be coming with us... Unless you want to keep it a small expedition like how you usually do it..."

'Remembering those times makes me shudder a bit.'

/Chuckles.../

She smiled, saying, "Everyone." as she walked away.

"Hey! If everyone comes, who'll stay to take care of this place? What about my other questions?"

"Aren't there some newcomers? They can do that."

"Are you willing to bet on…"

"Dale, if we don't move, everyone's gonna hang their boots, we have to compromise."

"..."

"Get ready, tomorrow… We'll be hunting some Devils."

"Hey!"

"You'll see it tomorrow~"

/Clack/

She closed the door to the kitchen, leaving Dale alone in the living room.

"..."

'Damn old hag.'

Knowing that it was best to not remain here for longer, he also left, walking outside.

…

After walking for a few minutes under the scalding sun, Dale sat on a bench, watching the people walk by.

Most players ignored him, not because they didn't recognize him, but because they knew he was going to refuse to talk with them.

In the first place, to be in this part of the town, they need quite a high Reputation, and second, in order to talk with Dale directly, he decided to set up a bar of at least +20 reputation.

And the majority of the players didn't have that...

But those were only some of his excuses, in truth, Dale was an awful person to talk to from the players' perspective because he was always working, and slightly stressed, he would let out some steam on these poor players that only want to get some quests...

"Sigh, what a mess…"

'Announcements, Resko's new rating, the Caravan, and now… This?

'What a fulfilling day, it's as if those damn developers were waiting for this.'

/Crack…/

Cracking his back, Dale thought:

'Time to visit the Mercenary Guild, see what they have to say.'

'My rankings were always strange, they don't represent my current capabilities, but that doesn't really matter as I have a very high Reputation with Misgurd, so any quests he can give he'll pass to me regardless of Rank…'

'But he puts a lot of importance on his Ranking as well, and if something were to happen to that because of not cleared suspicions, he would be very upset.'

'Albeit… I don't think those people would do anything of the sort in the first place, why would they care if a man in the corner of the world has raised the ranking of a single mercenary after 4 decades?'

'And who knows? I wouldn't refuse some Rank ups, they may be useful one day, especially in the far future when I leave this place... If I ever do that...'

'No, I will, there are some things I need to confirm, such as the things I collected from the Corps Commander Vault.'

'Albeit... That'll likely take some time...'

"Hey! Hurry up man! Where's Coby and Leroy?" A man exclaimed behind Dale, a player from the looks of it giving his shabby gear and way of speech

Players could be easily distinguished from other townsfolk due to the translation feature, as said before, the reason why Dale can't be distinguished like this as well is that the system translates his words in another way.

"Co... Coby is... Huff..."

A girl, visibly tired as she ran, replied:

"Coby will meet us at the gate! As for Huff..."

"L-Leroy… He's dead already! Hit the bucket not so long ago!"

"What?! Did he rush alone again?"

"Yes… And he was killed in one shot by that guy."

"DAMN LEROY!" The player screamed in unending anger

"If our kill participation decreases I'll take a bite of his leg once I log out!"

Those players weren't the only ones running…

Dale found it really curious, why were there so many players running toward the crop fields? At least that was the general direction…

He turned his face to look at the road, seeing more and more players converge...

"Did something happen? An Event?" He mumbled to himself in a low tone

"It's not like this is the first time such a thing has happened, a few days ago a rare Field Boss spawned in the grasslands near the farms, and many players formed parties to try and kill it."

"Of course, it took several thousand sacrifices, but it went down as its health was chipped away."

"In this sort of game, 10000 ants can shake a tree, one bite at a time."

'But this seems a bit much… They are quite euphoric.'

'I'm bored, might as well check it out.' Dale thought as he walked after the players

There was no need to rush, he would get there eventually.

His armor was unequipped allowing the faint breeze to pass through his hair… What a good feeling…

[DING]

But Dale's peace soon came to an end as he came to a complete halt.

"Holy sh… I swear, they're messing with me at this point in time." He said with a frown

'This awful timing...'

[Quest, Visitor of the Wooden Heart has activated]

[Many creatures live within the ocean of emerald trees South of Resko.

From common animals to Monsters, and even from Devils to Undead…

Perhaps even a few more other abominations…

But such creatures aren't all there is to it.

From the dark depths of those woods, a visitor has arrived.

As an Elder of Resko, upon hearing about it, it's your responsibility to act upon it!

>Requirements:

Meet with this foreign being and understand its motives behind its visit 0/1

Or put a short end to its trespassing 0/1

??? 0/1

??? 0/1

]

"... How great…"

'More trouble…'

/Crack!/

Not thinking much more, Dale stopped walking as he bolted forward, cracking the ground beneath him and leaving the players behind with dust in their mouths.

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Notes