Chapter 73: Seeker Ranks, The First Mission

While walking for a while, Marius, Leya, Quon, and Illiak had arrived in the central area to accept missions. A Seekers Union escort saw them and spoke, "Oh, you're the newbies, right, then I suppose that you're that Marius Edgewick."

Marius and the others stared at him and nodded; the escort then smiled as he beckoned Marius while speaking, "Perfect, please follow me; this is the area for weaker Seekers. Normally, this would be the board you start with, but as you've defeated a pinnacle E Class Mystical Beast, then it's no longer a board suitable for you."

"Eh, then what about us?" Leya said as she stuck nearby like a tail.

"We as well," Quon said as he stood forward, tapping Illiak's shoulder as he forced the latter to show a more bold look, trying to break his timid and meek nature.

The escort looked at Marius, who shrugged before he glanced at Leya.

"Miss Paltine, your strength has similarly been proven in the Drilling Trails; you have somewhat qualified for the advanced boards. I can also say the same for you two rising stars."

"That's great! If I didn't get to tag along, I would have complained to my father," Leya said in excitement.

"Luckily, we aren't like those simple weaklings," Quon said with a laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

Illiak held his head down, not saying anything; he only peeked at Marius from the corner of his hidden eyes.

Marius sighed heavily at this; he felt he was a bit too old when in a young crowd like this, the escort looked at him with pity but said nothing; he merely gestured for them to follow as he moved to a different area.

After moving along with the escort, Marius, Leya, Quon, and Illiak had arrived at the core mission area, a place with many different mission boards that had glowing runes edged on their surfaces.

"Oh, that looks fancy," Marius said with beaming eyes.

"Huh?" Leya and the others said as they looked at Marius strangely, such things were familiar to them, so they found his utterances a bit odd.  Naturally, they would never know Marius wasn't native to this world, and he certainly wouldn't go out of his way to tell them that either.

Soon, the escort stopped before an area with the title E Class Mission above a few boards; some powerful-looking Seekers were observing different papers that hung atop their surfaces with varying expressions. Some have looks of sternness and others with excitement.

As the escort saw this, he shook his head before addressing Marius and his self-proclaimed party members, "Well then, we've arrived at the E Class Mission Boards. Please take your time in choosing tasks that fit your ranks. You don't want to go and take up what you can't handle, even more so for your initiation mission. Now that I've brought you here you can all be considered E Class Seekers, you might know this already, but I'll say once more just in case. Seekers rank from G, F, E, D, C, B, and the most vital being the A-class. Any power above is regarded as our Empire Champions, directly in charge of our nation's safety."

When Leya and the others heard this, they nodded in agreement as they knew of these details; Marius also knew a bit from his reading at the Mountain Ax Senior's abode.

The escort once more continued, "Good, these ranks mentioned before also have their hierarchy in the military setting, with Classes, C and B upwards being in the ranks of the Empire Knights. However, for us Seekers, they have a different meaning. Seekers of a certain level can only do missions in their category, and the only way to take on higher missions is to advance your Seeker rank. To rank up, you must first perform enough missions in one category before applying to take a higher-class mission. If that task is a success, you will be promoted as a higher-grade Seeker."

Marius's eyes lit up as he heard those words. He thought to himself, 'Interesting, it's like those video games I saw before, ranking up as an adventurer... no, Seeker, huhu... I've got to run this by Ria once later.'

While Marius thought to himself, the eyes of Leya, Quon, and Illiak shone as each showed their own determinations, showing their youthful spirits; it seemed that they each had a goal they were striving to achieve.

"That's enough for now; I've said what I've been required to, happy questing to you all Seekers," The escort said as he walked away towards a different area.

"Take care; thanks for the help," Leya said as she waved off the escort.

Quon, on the other hand, stared at the mission board with bright eyes as he spoke, "Oh, so many missions, I've heard that they were quite plenty, but I didn't think that at such a rank we'd see so much. Which do we start with?"

Illiak remained silent as he eyes the board, Leya who only now turned her attention to the board, she frowned as she scanned it over and spoke, "Hmm, it seems a bit difficult to choose, uncle, which one should we do?"

Marius sighed; hearing this, he thought to himself, 'Of course, I, as the game protagonist, must be the one to choose the mission. Oh well, no use complaining; let's see if there's anything good.'

With his thoughts decided, he scanned it slowly to go over everything, but much beyond his expectation, a strange change occurred. His eyes glowed in a faint light. A system notification he didn't hear for a while sounded in his mind, followed by a display screen only viewable to himself.

____

Ding!

[Host has discovered current world questing board, updating system!]

Ding!

[Update complete, you have unlocked the questing feature, mission board unlocked!]

Ding!

[Seeker's Union Mission Board - E Class]

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[Pick 1000 Grasilm Herbs | Reward: 50Krills (System Rewards: 5 Mastery Pts)]

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[Kill 150 Elite Iron Tail Wolves Iron Fur | Reward: 200 Krills (System Rewards: 15 Mastery Pts)

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[Inspect the Thunder Hawk Ridge and find a missing artifact | Reward: 1000 Krills (System Rewards: 50 Mastery Pts)

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[Suppress the Silverback Mystic Ape of Claw Edge Mountain Range | Reward: 11000 Krills (System Rewards: 55 Mastery Pts)

_

[Retrieve the gal of the Poison Marshes Black Python King | Reward: 25000 Krills (System Rewards: 100 Mastery Pts)

...

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Marius was shocked at the sight; he didn't think his system would have such a change. Noticing his surprise, Leya spoke out, "Uncle, what's the matter? Is there something wrong?"

Marius quickly calmed his mood as he thought, 'Ho, well now, this is something... looks like I might just be able to grow stronger even when suppressed.'

"Uncle!" Leya called out again, feeling a bit angry that she was ignored.

Marius rolled his eyes before staring at them and speaking, "It's nothing; I was only thinking, for our first mission, we'll just go with this one."

When Marius spoke, he pointed his finger at the mission that said Suppress the Silverback Mystic Ape; the others had curious expressions as they pondered what kind of monster had such a reputation but knew it should be quite powerful.

"Great, then let's get started immediately," Leya said, feeling pepped up.

"Haha, this should be fun, much better than hunting those random mystic beasts in the woods," Quon said.

"I... I think we should be more careful." Illiak said a bit timidly.

"Illiak, what did I say before?" Quon said in a slightly admonishing tone; Illiak sighed as he replied, "F-fine."

Marius gave them a look and face-palmed before he turned and left, waving his hand as he spoke, "Come on, kids, let's get moving; I have to get home before dark."

Leya stared at Marius and tiptoed near him, peeking up at his face as she teased, "Hehe, uncle, you're acting like you have to go home to your wife and kids!"

"Haha, she's right; since when does a grown man live on curfew?" Quon said.

Marius shook his head and replied while walking, "The day you look at the partner of your dreams and say I do."

When the others heard this, they made shocked looks; they never thought he would make such a reply, even more so as he looked so young; Leya was mostly joking about him having a wife and kids.

"Uncle... this..." Leya said a bit awkwardly.

Marius patted her head and spoke, "Kid, don't worry about such things; that's what we adults have to do; act as free as you wish while you still have no commitments in your life."

Leya felt his advice was a bit interesting, but she also felt angered by his form of address. As she smacked away his palm, she pointed at him and spoke, "I'm not a kid, I'm eighteen years old, remember it already!"

"Sure-sure, of course, you are..." Marius said offhandedly.

Leya gnashed her teeth but didn't bother to curse any more; Quon and Illiak looked at each other before they laughed and followed along, their group soon leaving the Seekers Union as they headed towards the town's exit, ready to venture into the unknown.