Chapter 137 - Intercepting The Traffickers - II

Merlin took his mask, throwing it in his inventory before leaving, he made sure his hood was at least partially obscuring his face as he shopped. The mask seller would be able to identify any crimes caused by him using the mask and potentially the robe, but Merlin could always hide and change those, but he couldn't change his face.

'Well, if I'm going to be out there, I might as well pick a couple quests to give me an excuse to be out there, and earn some money on the side.' Merlin thought to himself. 'But at the same time they deal in news and rumours, so if the victims start talking about their saviour, some identifiable features might pop up...'

'It's better to be safe than sorry, lets do this.' Merlin took off his warm panther cloak, throwing it back into his inventory before grabbing his apprentice's black cloak and wearing that instead.

He entered the crowd as usual and made his way over to the mercenary guild, entering the building once he arrived. Surprisingly enough, the usual woman who served him wasn't there anymore, instead replaced by another woman.

"Hello there. Would you like to look at our job listings, receive reports, news and rumours, or would you like to purchase alcohol?" The receptionist spoke, she was much nicer with her words, extending the prompts into full sentences instead of the one word limit the last receptionist gave him.

"I would like to hear about any news and rumours, please." Merlin asked, curious to see what changed over the week.

"Sure thing! Let me see what I've got for you." The receptionist spoke in a friendly voice while pulling out a bundle of paper. She began flipping through the sheets, looking for the most crucial news.

"Are you aware of what's been going on with Charisia?" The receptionist asked.

"Yes, has anything new happened over the last week?" Merlin responded.

"No, it looks like you're all up to date on that information then." She said while flipping through to another page. Her face darkened when it came across a certain page.

"The latest news would be that the city of Laconia and its nearby town Sparta has fallen to the undead horde." The receptionist said with a sad voice. "Not even the spartan warriors could face against so many undead."

"The temple has officially declared Laconia as the city of the dead, renaming it and the surrounding lands to Necropolis. It is nothing but an undead wasteland now." She said. Merlin noticed that tears seemed to be forming in her eyes as she read it. "The temple has decided that it will now be sending its holy warriors to keep the undead at bay, as they have received support requests from the towns of Caphyae and Argolis."

"There have been updates in regards to the Tegean Marshlands, a single scout managed to return from their expedition into the marsh, although he came back in critical condition. He apparently confirmed that the Lizardfolk were cooperating with the Naga, and even worse, that they had undead on their side as well." She continued. "Oh gods, why is there nothing but news of the dead walking every week. This is not natural. Something truly evil must be working behind the scenes."

Merlin gave the receptionist a moment to calm down before she told him a few smaller news pieces that didn't really interest him, until the last one grabbed his interest again.

"There have been rumours of a new addictive drug circulating the city. The town guards are paying for any information that could help them put a stop to its production or trade throughout the city." She said, "There have been a few reports that criminals have been drugging the children of nobles, getting them hooked before blackmailing the parents with their child's life on the line."

"Disgusting behaviour." She muttered before putting the sheets back into a pile. "Unfortunately that's all I've got in regards to news, can I help you with anything else, work perhaps? Or a drink after all that bad news."

"I'd like to see what jobs you've got available." Merlin said, "Preferably extermination quests heading towards Megalopolis."

The receptionist started flipping through a new stack of sheets.

"I know we had a bunch a week ago, goblins especially, but it seems someone has taken most of them." She said, flipping through a couple more pages. "I've got a couple for wild boars, oh and there's one for a giant wild boar."

"I'll take them." Merlin said, specifying all three quests.

"Efficient. Alright, here you are." The receptionist said as she handed Merlin each quest form, causing three notifications to appear before him.

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[Common Quest]

Makin' Bacon.

The mercenary guild has requested that you acquire meat from the local wild boars. They are offering to pay six copper per kilogram of meat, and they need about a hundred kilograms of meat in total.

Wild Boar Meat: 0/100

• Reward: 300 EXP, 60 silver

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[Common Quest]

Acquire Pigskins.

The mercenary guild has requested that you hunt down local wild boars and harvest their hide. They are offering to pay one silver per meter of hide, and they need about forty kilograms in total.

Wild Boar Hide: 0/40

• Reward: 200 EXP, 40 silver

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[Uncommon Quest]

Jurassic Pork.

A mutated wild boar has been spotted west of Macedonia, it is much larger and more aggressive than the regular wild boars.

This giant wild boar has been quite an issue for hunters, preventing them from hunting the local wildlife without suffering injury.

The mercenary guild has requested that you set out and slay the giant wild boar.

Kill a giant wild boar.

Giant wild boar: 0/1

• Reward: 300 EXP, 20 silver

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Merlin accepted all three quests, throwing the quest forms into his inventory.

He thanked the receptionist and made his way out of the mercenary guild building, quickly running towards the western gate.

He slipped out of the city, summoning his ball of light as he made his way down the darkened road. The cold midnight wind rustled the vast fields of barley that surrounded him.

'I wonder if that wild boar is still there.' He wondered to himself, 'Those players probably ended up getting revenge, so I'll just have to hope one spawns.'

Merlin made his way over the bridge, greeting the few fishermen who were still working diligently throughout the night. 

He eventually made it to the vast rolling hills once he escaped the farmland, and he began eyeing up the boars in the area, looking for a giant variant, but he wasn't so lucky.

Merlin swapped his cloak out for his panther cloak, finding the cold air much more tolerable now.

"Well, wild boars don't give much experience, but they're weak enough I should be able to level you up by tonight." Merlin said as a rose sprouted from his hand. 

He needed to waste time while he waited anyway, so he decided to give some love to his soul that hadn't levelled up yet.

The rose wight soul didn't seem to get experience from weapon kills, or at least didn't get any experience from the weapons Merlin used on a regular basis.

"Well based on how the original rose wight fought." He said as two vine-like tentacles extended out of his hand. "It should just be kills with you guys, and the poison I guess."

It seemed the rose wight was a picky soul when it came to harvesting experience, some souls were similar, in which there were very few actions that would help it grow.

For most of these souls, they were often regarded as not worth the effort, even if they gave better stats, as it'd just be faster to level up a different soul that was more lenient with its requirements.

"Lets see what you've got." Merlin muttered as he ran towards one of the boars, sending his vines out to puncture its hide.

The vines both pierced the boar, but it was still alive. It wasn't until he ripped the vines out and stabbed it a few more times that the boar dropped dead.

'They really are weak.' He thought, 'They seem to have powered up a little though, so it's linked to stats as I thought.'

He continued throughout the hills, using his vines exclusively to kill things. It was inconveniently slow, but he was still getting his quest done.

He originally planned on skinning the boars to get it over with faster, but seeing as they were dropping a few items on their own, and he had plenty to kill, he just kept at it.

About an hour had passed, and he was getting close to completing the quest for wild boar hide when he heard a loud stomping sound in the distance that seemed to be getting louder.

Merlin turned his head to see a cloud of dust behind the giant wild boar that was chasing after him.

"This little piggy is going to the market.." He muttered while equipping his daggers.