The Return

With tired eyes, Mahn Li skimmed over the notifications.

〔111195 XP gained〕(+315%)

〔Level up x 5! Your level is now 20!〕

〔Int +12; Wil +6〕

〔Free attributes points + 12 (Total 23)〕

〔You have defeated 1 Corruptor - Unique variant〕

〔Title received "Purifier I." Number of possessed titles: 2〕

〔Rewards: Fame +25; All attributes +1 〕

〔You have defeated 1 mini-boss unassisted〕

〔Title received "Solitary Hero I." Number of possessed titles: 3〕

〔Rewards: Fame +30; Free attribute points +5 (Total 28)〕

〔 Congratulations, you are now leading the Level leaderboard! 〕

〔 Congratulations, you are now at 5th place on the Fame leaderboard! 〕

〔 To view the rankings, please access... 〕

With a sigh, he dismissed the notifications .

He did not want to level up that fast. Although he was quite sure what he was not breaking any in-game rules (yet), he still preferred to keep a low profile. The top names on the leaderboard would naturally be scrutinized the most. Especially when he just jumped on top of the Beta Players. However, he had no other choice. He had to get to level 25 as quickly as possible to raise the soft cap for Mana Bolt to 30, which would unlock the skill he wanted.

He did not dwell on it for long. Five more levels and he would be stuck at the level 25 and had to travel to the city and complete a series of advancement quests to continue leveling up. At that point, he would probably get pushed down in ranking again and stop standing out.

Sitting up, Manco looked around the cottage. It was a mess. The floor was littered by broken furniture, shredded dry leaves, pieces of rocks and a lot of ashes. The air was still thick with the smell of sulfur.

He poked around the pile of black ash next to him and uncovered the Corruptor's skull wand. The mummified arm was dry and felt cold to the touch. The skull in the hand was locked in a permanent rictus grin, its eyes shining an eerie green glow.

〘 Dark touch 〙(Unique) ☆☆☆

Type: Wand (One-handed)

Requirement: INT 18

Damage (melee): 7-8 (Blunt)

Effect(s):

- Mana + 200; MP regen +50%

- ??? (Wizard only)

Innate spells:

- Shadow bolt (lv 15)〈Show details▼〉

- Dark Implosion (lv 15)〈Show details▼〉

- Marshland (lv 15)〈Show details▼〉

- ??? (lv ???) (Wizard only)

- ??? (lv ???) (Wizard only)

Description:

Originally belonging to a spell weaver, it had been twisted, along with its owner, into its current form by exposure to the dark forces.

Weight: 2.5 stones

Durability: 50/50

—o—

For a mini-boss drop, it was decent. Objectively, it was excellent, but Mahn Li had long been jaded to low-level boss drops like this.

The boosts to his mana pool and regen were a welcome addition, as were the extra spells. The spells could not be leveled, but it did not bother him. One special effect and two additional spells were only usable by wizard classes, who were experts at harnessing the power of staves and wands.

Manco put the wand to his primary weapon slot then proceeded to retrieve the crossbow bolts and the lengths of rope scattered around on the floor.

Afterward, he turned up every nook and cranny in the tiny cottage. Eventually, he found a small box under the bed, hidden under some rags. Opening the box, he found a small leather-bound book and a comb.

A brief glance at the pages told Manco it was a diary.

"I don't know how long I have been here. I don't remember how I got here..."

"Today I remember. I was here to hunt the corruptor. Damn thing was..."

"...SO nice and WaRM and filling. make ME realize HOW empTY i was afore it own ME."

'The hell?' Blinking, Manco kept rifling through the pages. Eventually, he concluded either there was more than one writer, or the sole writer had multiple personalities.

The pages alternated between expressing the desire to leave the cave, bragging about how good the power felt or exclaiming how delicious the raw meat was. The personalities often switched places right in the middle of a sentence.

"I saw him in my dream, next to the cottage he said he would build for us. How I wish to jump into his arm and..."

"...sink MY teeth in his FLesh i bet HE taste..."

Skimming toward the end, he found that the entries made by the "sane" personality got sparser and sparser. The last few pages were filled with profanity-laced scrawlings of a tortured soul.

On the final page was a single line, written with the same neat handwriting as the one on the first few pages.

"Gwyn, I'm so sorry!"

Sighing, he put the diary aside and inspected the comb. It was made of some type of wood he did not recognize, with intricate carvings depicting plants and flowers. He put it away along with the diary.

Leaving the cottage, he checked the cave carefully and found the fire gecko crumpled up in a corner. The poor creature was barely alive. Cooing apologies and encouragements, he fed it some Redberries potion and scooped it up into his arm.

After another check which revealed no more treasure, he turned toward the boulder blocking the pathway leading outside.

「Marshland」!

Holding the skull wand, he activated the spell. Immediately a transparent circle with intricate runes representing the spell's area of influence appeared on the ground. He fiddled with the wand and changed its orientation to alter the circle's position and size.

Adjusting the circle to be under the boulder, he released the spell. Immediately, the ground under the boulder turned soft, and the big rock quickly sunk into it, revealing the pathway.

Manco entered the pathway and made his way toward the cave's entrance. Outside, he saw the Sacred Deer.

As he released the fire gecko, which quickly scampered away, the Deer approached him.

"You've done it!" it said, its voice trembling, "you have my undying gratitude, o' friend of the forest. If there is anything you wish done, I shall do my best in my ability to make it happen!"

Manco thought for a moment.

"Can I call in this favor some other day?" Right now, he had nothing he needed that the Deer might give him.

"A wise choice," the Deer nodded, "Whenever you need me, use this. I will know where you are the moment your lips touched it."

Trying to keep a straight face at the deer horn in his hand, Manco solemnly nodded "Thank you. I will remember it!"

〔Quest completed: "The Corruptor."〕

〔XP + 6012 (+215%)〕

〔Reward: Standing improved with Misty Woods' Sacred Deer. Attituded Friendly ► Amicable〕

〔Reward: A favor with Misty Woods' Sacred Deer. Number of owed favors: 1〕

〔Reward: Title "Friend of the Forest I." Number of possessed titles: 4〕

Turning its head to look at the cave, the Deer said: "This Corruptor is gone for now, but others will take its place. My children will get ready by then."

"True. And there will also be others like me who will come to your aid," Manco replied. Sometime later, another Corruptor would spawn in the cave, though it would only probably be a generic model, not the unique mini-boss he just defeated.

The Deer looked at him and continued: "I assume you would need someone to escort you back to the village. After all, you just finished a harrowing battle!"

Manco nodded gratefully and they set off toward Mistwood Village. With the Deer escorting him, he no longer had to worry about fighting predators. His fatigued mind was on autopilot, guiding his body to mechanically put one foot before the other.

For the better part of an hour, they walked in silence until eventually the trees thinned and the wheat fields surrounding the village became visible.

"I'd hate to send you away empty-handed after what you've done," the Sacred Deer said, "Please accept this as a small token of my gratitude."

The deer lightly touched his shoulder with its snout.

〔 You've received Misty Woods Sacred Deer's gift. Spell upgraded. 〕

〔 Spell: Mind Link level 1 ►5〕

〔 Misty Woods Sacred Deer's Blessing received. All the water in your inventory has been Blessed. 〕

Besides the announced rewards, Manco's body felt refreshed like the moment when he received the Blessing of Growth. Only the lingering headache remained. He checked his status. Sure enough, the buff had been expanded by another 48 in-game hours!

'Calm down!' He scolded himself 'You're gonna log out and take proper rest. Don't kill yourself now!'

He also could not help but smile bitterly at the last reward, the blessed water. 'That sure would have come in handy earlier!'

"We shall part way here, but I believe our paths will cross again!" The Deer said and headed back into Misty Woods.

With renewed vigor, Manco dashed toward the village. Passing the south gate, he went straight to the tavern and entered his room.

As his character collapsed onto the bed, Mahn Li selected "Log out" from the menu.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Mahn Li barely had time to put away the VR helmet when sleep claimed him.

He found his eyelids heavy like lead. Unable to hold back the drowsiness any longer, he fell asleep without bothering to set the alarm.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Manco woke up to the clamoring of morning activities outside the tavern window. As he walked downstairs, he saw a large notice board behind the counter.

The board was covered in pinned up pieces of parchment. Written on them are requests made by the local businesses or guards. Leather maker needing more pelts, butchers needing more meat, guards want the predators killed and so on. The requests made up the quintessential fetch quests or kill quests that had been the staple of many RPGs for almost a century.

"This board wasn't here yesterday, was it?" He asked the barmaid.

"Nay. It was put up here beginning today," she replied.

Nodding in thanks, Manco turned to the board. Regardless of how he felt about them, they were easy money and experience. He already looted the animal remains the other night, might as well make use of them.

As Manco focused on each piece of paper, the quests are entered into his list.

〔Quest received: "Crush the Coyotes."〕

- Details: Kill 10 Coyotes. Deliver 40 incisors to the Guards' office as proof.

- Reward: 250 XP; 2D 50T

--.--

〔Quest received: "Destroy the Dingos."〕

- Details: Kill 10 Dingos. Deliver 40 incisors to the Guards' office as proof.

- Reward: 250 XP; 2D 50T

--.--

〔Quest received: "Wreck the Wolves."〕

- Details: Kill 10 Wolves. Deliver 10 pelts to the Leather maker as proof.

- Reward: 350 XP; 3D 50T

--.--

〔Quest received: "Pummel the Panthers."〕

- Details: Kill 10 Panthers. Deliver 10 pelts to the Leather maker as proof.

- Reward: 450 XP; 4D 50T

--.--

…

As Manco filled up his quest list, movements caught his eyes. Turning to the entrance, he saw Rust's group entering the tavern and sitting at their usual corner.

Rust has a large burn scar on the right half of his face, distorting his handsome feature. Manco felt a twinge of pity for the man, before remembering he had tried to kill the Sacred Deer.

"Hello there!" Rust approached the bar and greeted Manco warmly as if everything was right in the world. Turning to the barmaid, he said: "Give us the usual. Four portions… Uh, you eating with us?"

"Morning, Rust. I already ate." Manco replied "That looks painful!" he said, nodding at the scar.

"Ha, it's nothing! Just an accident with a boiler. The healer said it'd be gone within a week. Come, sit with us!"

As Manco joined them at the table, Rust said in a low voice: "We do the job tonight. You still in?"

Manco nodded, feeling a rush of excitement. 'It's about damn time!'