Chapter 6：Impossible Mission?

"Welcome young Adventurer. I see you have completed your quests." the Village Leader welcomed Marius.

"Thank you for your time," Marius replied politely as the system rewarded him

(Player Midnight Solitude has completed the Elemental Squirrel Swarm quest.)

(Rewards: 2,000 Exp, 8 Silver coins)

"I see that you have grown much stronger. Perhaps you are ready to help me with a serious matter?"

"Of course," Marius replied

"The Boar King has started encroaching on the Village's hunting area. As it is, we cannot suppress him without serious loss to our hunters. Could you hunt down the Boar King for me?"

(Will you accept the quest "Hunt the Boar King?")

Marius accepts.

"Thank you, Adventurer." The Villager Leader says gratefully. "The Boar King is a powerful enemy but does not take action unless his army has been attacked. You will need to kill 100 Large Boars to draw him out. Good Luck"

Marius was stunned by the high requirements for the quest.

He was still thinking about it as he left. He had killed a Large Boar before and with his improved stats and customized weapon, he should have a good chance of succeeding.

Looking at the time he saw he still had a long wait for the Customized Weapon to be ready.

Shrugging, Marius went exploring, talking with NPC's and hunting for quests.

From a fletcher, he found the quest for harvesting Brutal Sparrow Feathers, trading them for a bundle of Brutal Arrows. The market price for them wasn't great but the stats had impressive pierce damage so he held onto them. Rangers would find them useful later.

He tracked down the Refinery and found out the price of refining the Pure Element Stones. It would be quite expensive but Marius felt that it would be worth it to see the increased stats and utility for his Customized Weapon.

Then he wandered, collecting a few minor quests and completing them, earning some bronze coins.

he couldn't say that the system was stingy, but after completing a quest to find a stray cat for 2 Bronze, Marius had to say, these side quests were stupid. But, he reasoned, maybe they would lead to something later?

(Your Grey Wolf Set has been bought by Proud Master for 4 silver Coins)

The system announcement pulled Marius' attention, followed by another.

(Proud Master has sent you a friend request. Will you accept.)

Marus accepted.

A moment later he received a message.

"You are Midnight Solitude?" The sender was Proud Master.

"I am" Marius replied. "How are you enjoying the Grey Wolf Set?"

"It is excellent. I was wondering if you had any other items to sell? Money is no object."

Marius was stunned by the old-fashioned term. He hadn't heard anyone use that since he was a young businessman, still green to the industry.

"I have a bunch of Brutal Arrows that a Ranger might want. But I'm not ready to sell those unless I get a good price."

"Are they a rare item?" Proud Master asked.

"I would say they are hard to come by in the early game. Obtaining them is a trade secret you understand?"

"Of course. Well, I am willing to buy them with real money if you want. They sound like just what I need for my quest."

"Oh?" Marius said, "What quest are you doing?"

"It's an elite quest, Elemental Squirrel Swarm. The little buggers are fast and though their individual damage isn't high, there are a lot of them."

"I see, so you plan on attacking from a distance?"

"Yes. It's impossible to take them on in close range."

Marius suppressed a laugh. He had a very good idea about who he was speaking to.

"I'm afraid that I'm only interested in Silver and Gold at the present time," Marius replied. "But I might be willing to trade Elemental Stones for them."

"I have 3." Proud Master replied.

Marius coughed. How did he fight them before? Head on?.

"Let's say, a stack of 20 Brutal Arrows for 20 Elemental Stones."

"But I only have 3. It will be difficult to obtain any more."

Marius laughed. "No problem. I will let you pay me back. But remember, this is a deal in good faith. If you do not pay me back I have my ways of getting retribution. Do you understand?"

There was a pause before Proud Master replied. "I accept these terms."

Marius set up the private trade and sent the Brutal Arrows to Proud Master.

"Good luck, and happy hunting." Marius farewelled Proud Master.

In reality, Marius knew that the value of Brutal Arrow was nowhere near the Elemental Stone. After some time, Rangers would realize how easy it would be to get them and would farm them with ease. But a few Elemental Stones now was a huge gain, especially if it led that Warrior to do the dirty work for him.

Marius went back to the Smithy and collected his new weapon.

Customized Weapon - Silent Night

Level 1 - White Grade (0/2000 experience)

(refine by using 100 Iron Grade items to upgrade to Iron Grade)

Attack: 5

Defense: 4

Intelligence: 5

Spirit: 4

Dexterity; 6

Skills: Unlock at Gold Grade.

Marius was shocked by the weapon he had received and was eager to test it out.

He quickly left the Smithy and dashed towards the Woods, ignoring the players and monsters as he went, pausing to when he got to the Brutal Sparrow territory.

"Should I harvest a few of these?" Marius thought to himself. The respawn rate for them wasn't too bad and he could easily one hit them. The problem was that they were very territorial so he would have to travel a long distance to collect more Brutal Sparrow Feathers.

Deciding against it, Marius continued into the Woods. He could just sell the information later if he wanted.

A short while later, he entered the Large Boars territory. Smiling, Marius unsheathed his sword and found a Large Boar to attack.

Moving quickly, Marius attacked the Boar

-35, -35, -75. The damage appeared above the boars head.

Marius was shocked by the damage.

(You have used a Customized Weapon to attack. You will gain double proficiency points for all sword-based attacks.)

The notification almost made Marius shout in surprise. So far each attack had given him 2 proficiency points, slowly grinding up the level of his Basic Slash. This, however, would increase his speed wonderfully.

Not to mention the increased damage he did to the Large Boar. It was three times what it had been the last time Marius had killed a Boar.

With even more gusto, Marius took out the last of the Boars Health and went looking for another one to kill. It had taken less than 10 seconds for Marius to kill the Boar and he hadn't even needed to use his Binding Shadow Skill.

"Might as well train it up some," Marius thought to himself. After increasing his Intelligence his Mana had increased by quite a lot, giving him access to more Mana and more uses for his Magic Attacks. It would be a shame not to take advantage of it.

over the next hour, Marius gained experience grinding the Large Boars. Though it didn't take long to kill them, it took a while to find them but after a little more than an hour the 100th boar was killed.

Halfway through the grind Marius had gained Level 6 and was around halfway to Level 7.

On the other hand, Marius had managed to increase his Basic Slash to Level 2, increasing damage by an additional 10% which increased his efficiency by leaps and bounds. He was only annoyed that his Binding Shadow was still only halfway to Level 2.

"That skill really is a nuisance to level up," Marius pondered it as he heard a rumble coming from the Forest.

Boar King. Level 10 - Obsidian Rank

Health: 2,000

Mana: 1,000

Attack: 500

Skills: (Savage Charge), (Shredding Tusk), (Wild Barrage).

Marius felt a cold sweat.

The Boar King was huge, roughly the same height as Marius and covered in thick muscles and hide. If it was anything like the Large Boars, it would have high defense and attack with low speed. The problem was its skills. The Charge and Tusk attack looked like it would be a combo while the Wild Barrage was probably a Finishing Move of some kind.

Not to mention it was Obsidian Rank. There were 8 ranks for a Monster. Grey, Black, Obsidian, Lord, High Lord, Demon and Demon King. obsidian was the 3rd Rank and on a totally different level from the Large Boar which didn't even have a ranking, indicating Grey rank. This was a fight with a lot of unknowns, but the challenge excited the old man.

As it was, Marius only had 250 Health. He didn't think he'd survive the combo, let alone the Finisher making this a real risky confrontation.

"I'll need to interrupt that skill." Marius thought, keeping Binding Shadow in reserve.

Dashing forward, Marius attacked the Boar King, launch this Basic Slash at its eyes.

-22

The Boar King squealed and charged blindly. Marius barely dodged as he watched the Boar King flee then turn, readying another charge.

"Only 22 damage? Discounting the 10% damage boost from the basic slash, I'd only deal about 20 damage. That's a third of what I did on the Large Boar. Maybe the defense didn't increase that much after all?"

Marius considered these things when a sudden notification popped up.

(You have received 20 Elemental Stones from Proud Master.)

Cursing, Marius quickly turned his notifications and communications off, barely dodging the Boar King.

"Son of a" Marius cursed. What a bad time for that idiot to contact him.

Rolling, Marius got to his feet and charged after the Boar King. That charge told him all he needed to know. Its speed was manageable and its defense breakable.

"Binding Shadow." Marius cast his spell and launched his three strike combo.

-22, -22, -50, -22.

Surprised that he managed to inflict a fourth strike, Marius barely had time to kick the Boar King's Leg out from under it before Binding Shadow ended.

-12. The Boar King Tumbled and Marius Launched another barrage of slashes.

After three rounds of attacks, Marius had inflicted about 10% damage to the Boar King. Getting into a rhythm, Marius kept grinding away the Boss's Health, using a few well-placed kicks to stumble the monster.

90%, 80% ... 50%. Bang.

The Boar King smashed its head into the ground, causing shockwaves to rumble around it.

-30, -30, -30. Marius took damage as he tried to flee.

He wasn't expecting an AoE attack, let alone one that could deal that much damage. In a few moments, he had escaped but only had 40% of his health left.

Marius reflected on his situation as he took a health potion. It was a low-grade one and only healed about 50 Health, but it was enough to give him a small safety net.

The potions had a 30-second cooldown so Marius abandoned any thoughts on attacking. let the Boss come to him and reduce the chance of being hit by the Wild Barrage again.

As expected, the Boar King Charged again and Marius countered it with a Binding Shadow before suppressing it again. with a 4 level difference, Marius was confident that he could grind it down, he just had to be wary of it headbutting the ground again. So he slowed his tempo, focussing more on controlling the boss than dealing damage, waiting for Binding Shadow to come off cooldown.

40%, 30%, 20%. Sure enough, the Boar King made a familiar motion of headbutting the ground.

"Binding Shadow." Marius cast his spell, praying that it would cancel that AoE skill.

Thankfully, the Boar King froze. Its head was inches from the ground. Inches away from completing the skill.

Choosing caution, Marius retreated a safe distance and waited for Binding Shadow to end. He took another potion to bring his Health up to 100%.

When the Shadows fled the Boar King its head hit the ground and the skill once again sent out the damaging shockwaves.

Marius was glad he had played it safe. That skill was more trouble than it was worth. Frowning, he waited for it to end before charging at the Boar, Casting another Binding Shadow to stall it.

Then he attacked, chaining every hit he could

15%, 10%, 5%, 0%.

in a stream of light, the Boar King fell.

(Congratulations. Player Midnight Solitude is the first player to kill the Feild Boss Boar King. you have been awarded +10 Luck)

(Rewards 100,000 Exp, 50 Silver Coins, 1 Skill Book and 1 Boar King Tusk)

Marius also Leveled up to Level 8

Name: Midnight Solitude

Class: Night Stalker

Level: 8 (147,510/256,000)

Occupation: None

Health: 310

Mana: 440

Luck: 13

Attack: 30

Defense: 13

Intelligence: 30

Spirit: 9

Dexterity: 45

Skills: Basic Slash Level 2 (240/1000 proficiency) (Deals 110% base damage. Cooldown none)

Binding Shadow Level 1 (590/1000 proficiency) (Binds target for 2 seconds. Cost 10 Mana. Cooldown 5 seconds.)

Marius took a moment to recollect himself before turning his Notifications and communications back on.

"Brother solitude, those Brutal Arrows were amazing. Please send me 100 more and I will collect the Elemental Stones as soon as I can."

The message from Proud Master made Marius both angry and a little happy. Angry because it had almost gotten him killed, happy because now he had an excellent business opportunity.

"I'm glad that they worked out for you Proud Master," Marius replied.

A moment later, Proud Master replied.

"Brother Solitude, how did you kill the Boar King?"

"Haha, it was just a quest from the Village Leader," Marius replied.

"I see. I think that now that The Boar King is dead the quest has changed to kill 100 Large Boars. I envy your luck." Proud Master replied.

Marius nodded to himself. It must have been a first in, first served quest. The rewards must be exceptionally good.

"I was lucky," Marius replied, not mentioning that he had to kill 100 Boars to unlock the Boar King. "Which reminds, you wanted more Brutal Arrows."

"Yes. I'll take whatever you can spare." Proud Master replied.

Marius paused, as if in consideration. "I am sorry Proud Master," he said carefully. "I found a buyer who traded in silver and now I am all out."

Proud Master was silent for a while so Marius continued.

"To make it up to you, I could sell you the secret to obtaining the Brutal Arrow. I am sure that you would have yielded some good results with the Elemental Sparrow, correct?"

"Yes, I can definitely agree to this." Proud Master replied enthusiastically.

"Understand, that this is a massive opportunity, so I can't sell the secret cheaply." Marius continued.

"Of course brother Solitude, name your price."

Marius smiled savagely. If Proud Master killed enough Elemental Squirrels to get 20 stones, then he must have gotten at least 3 silver. Including the 2 silver for completing the quest would be 5 silver.

"I can only sell it to you for 20 silver."