Chapter 17 The Lost Icon

I'm proud to say I got a contract offer, yay!

I have no intention of making the Novel Premium anytime soon, so you may rest at ease.

However, I do have the intention of experiencing what it feels like to be a contracted author.

And considering the fact my other two novels are Fanfics, this is my only chance in a long while.

I still haven't signed anything, so nothing should change for now.

This had been something I considered when I wrote this Novel for the first time, but didn't follow through with it due to some problems, but now that things are a bit more stable, perhaps I'll give it a try.

Hope you enjoy the chapter, same thing as before, I'll post the chapter, rest, and then post chap 18 later.

Peace!

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/Back in Resko.../

/Clack! Clack! Clack!.../

"Urg..."

/Clack! Clack!!/

"Phew… About time, finally." Dale mumbled to himself as he sat on a nearby rock

He looked around him, he had finished yet another one of the NPCs' houses.

In order to maximize his time, Dale choose the Quests that awarded the most possible amount of Reputation.

His criteria were simple:

Reputation > XP > Money > The rest.

All of this considering the approximate time of completion.

'I think I finished this batch of quests… Now for the next few…'

"Hey! You there! The hardworking outsider!"

Dale's thoughts were interrupted as he turned his head to see a young woman that looked to be in her late 20s with a casket on her head.

"Hello miss, nice to meet you." He said politely as he got up from the ground

He wanted to give her a handshake but he soon saw that his hands were dirty, so he pulled them back.

She smiled at this sight, grabbing his hand as she said:

"It's been a while since I've seen such a hardworking and polite youngster such as yourself… I don't mind about your reasons for coming all the way here at the end of the world, but I wanted to thank you for working this hard on such menial tasks."

"We've had visitors before, but most of them weren't nearly as honest as you." She said with a kind smile

She took a single fruit from her casket and gave it to him, it looked like a pear but bright pink, it made Dale squint his eyes...

His common sense told him that pear wasn't something it should be eaten, but the lady's kind smile put him in a tight spot.

Worse, it had a texture similar to carpet...

"Thanks, but there is no need for this, I'm being paid anyway."

She shook her head.

"Honest work is honest work… Besides, I don't think I've presented myself… I am Illia, owner of the only operating Inn in our village… If that is something to be proud of."

Dale smiled and said:

"Honest work is honest work, right?"

She smiled and looked at him, chuckling slightly.

"Hey! That's my line!"

...

The two chuckled a little before she told him her true reason for coming here, offering him a room in her inn.

Obviously, Dale agreed as he took a bite from his gift as she went on her way.

"UGH?!"

He was almost knocked unconscious due to how sweet it was...

The lady laughed and chuckled as she walked away in the street...

And as he looked at her departing back, Dale said:

"Is this an effect of my rising reputation?... It seems a bit too quick for that though..."

'Maybe the people of this Village aren't as cruel as I was led to believe, they may be just cautious.'

'Regardless, it just means that I'm on the right track!'

Dale turned around and ran back to the mercenary Guild.

…

"Again kid? Are you sure you are doing these tasks well?!" Misgurd asked with a frown as he saw Dale return with a small stack of contracts

"If I find out you've been doing these half-heartedly…"

'Give me a break kid! I just finished sorting the last batch.'

Misgurd may be tough on the outside, but internally he was complaining nonstop at Dale's efficiency.

"Guild Head, don't worry, there is no way I can flee even if I wanted to, so please process these while I pick a few more."

'I'm a bit sorry for overworking an old man, but I have plans to fulfill.'

"... Sigh, fine kid."

Misgurd turned around as he started to process the papers, taking out a pen as he started to write above the counter.

"A question... Why is this even necessary? I mean, it's not like there is anyone for you to report to..."

"Good question, one that is simple to answer."

"This isn't for me, it's for the Inspection team, even if we are falling apart, we're still part of the proud Mercenary Guild... Or at least, we once were."

"They only come once every decade or so due to how remote this place is, in fact, one such team is scheduled to arrive this year."

"Had it been 4 or more years until then... I would've just thrown these on a shelf and forgotten about it, but since we've resumed operations for the most part, I decided to clear myself of the trouble by doing it all now."

"An inspection team..." Dale mumbled as he pondered

He knew there was no way for such a thing to be coincidental, so he immediately understood it.

This must be a part of the Mercenary Guild Questline.

The Quest most likely had a time limit, and if he didn't complete a certain number of quests or achieved something within the necessary time, then he would fail or not pass into its next stage when the Inspection team did arrive.

Or perhaps, he had to complete something first before he triggered the event of their arrival...

There was a lot to consider, but regardless of the plot, Dale would continue to do as many quests as he could as he needed the Experience points, Reputation, and Money.

[DING!]

[Mercenary Contract, fix the fences x9 has been completed]

[Mercenary Contract, kill the rat pests on the warehouses x3 has been completed]

[Mercenary Contract, clear the rotting wood and stone debris from the demolished houses x7 has been completed]

[Mercenary Contract…]

[+840% Level xp

Resko Reputation +3

You have received 21 Zulls of Iron]

[DING]

[You have Leveled Up]

[You have Leveled Up]

[All Stats +4]

[Player has achieved Level 10 and is eligible for a Class change]

[Proceed to your closest Church to complete the process]

[You have achieved Level 10, your current Special privilege has worn off]

[You were the first to reach Level 10!]

[For being the first to reach Level 10. All forms of Reputation gain have been doubled, and experience gain has been increased by 20%]

[This privilege will last until the player reaches Level 20]

[Would you like to leave your name in the Hall of Fame?]

'Hm... No.' He thought after a few seconds

'If I put my name up there for people to see, be it my real one or my pseudonym, this may incentivize some of them to act faster.'

'For me, the slower they grow the better… Though I think I can leave the notification window unanswered if I do wish to add it to the Hall of Fame later on.'

'I also lost my privilege... Oh well, it's not a problem anyway.'

'Even if I can't see the grade of the Quests anymore, nothing changes, I'll still do them all.'

"Guild head Misgurd, do we have a church in the village?"

This question caught Misgurd off guard.

"Why do you ask? Are you the religious type? You didn't strike me as one, though I do apologize for the rudeness of the question."

"Well… You could say so…"

"Tsk, don't be ambiguous, kid, you either are a follower of a God or you aren't." He said bluntly as he looked at the door of the Guild

"As for your question, we do have one, however, there is a small problem."

Dale rolled his eyes, of course, there was a problem...

"Our Village used to worship a single God, I wasn't from that time nor am I a religious person, so I can't say much about it, but the Icon of the Church was stolen long ago during the downfall of the village."

"I was small at the time so I don't remember much."

"The villagers still use the Church to pray from time to time but it's only a husk of its former self, I know some believers would consider such a thing heretical, however, the people need their spiritual guidance, so who am I to stop them?" He said as he sat on his chair and stretched his arms

"So only the Icon was stolen?"

Misgurd scoffed, saying:

"No no of course not Kid, everything was stolen. As long as it was made from something valuable and could be carried, it was stolen."

"Relics, cups, tapestry, candle holders, heck, even the decorated windows and some of the chairs are gone!"

"... So why wasn't another Icon made?"

Misgurd scoffed once again at Dale's words.

"Icons can't just be made, they need to be carved and confectioned by the best craftsman available, then blessed by a higher authority within the respective Church for it to be of any value."

"Only then does it become official... And I also bet there are several more rituals and boring procedures that have to be done in between for it to be acceptable by the community."

"But even if you do learn about it, never talk with me about it unless I am SEVERELY drunk."

"..."

"Just like a church has a hierarchy, the places where they preach also have their own."

"Only an Archpriest can bless the Icon of a Church under the watch of a Cardinal, and only a Cardinal and above can bless an Icon of a Church under the watch of a Bishop, and so on."

"As for what is an Icon... It's a medium for the believers to connect with their God... Whatever that means, they have fancier words to describe it, but I don't really remember."

"Why not just pray yeah? Seems a bit too much of a hassle for me..."

"..."

"Anyway..."

"Our Church used to be filled with priests and Bishops, it has a very long story, and knowing how hot-headed some of these people can be, I am sure that even if you went to the closest city, none of them would be willing to bless a new Icon unless it was in line with our Church history and legacy."

"Not only convincing them... Just leaving this damn place seems impossible."

"Although... You did come here kid, so there might be a chance... Although that is as high as me getting laid at this age buwahaha!"

After a hearty laugh, he got serious again and said:

"Meaning… It's hopeless unless you somehow convince, at minimum, a Cardinal to bless a new Icon."

[DING]

[Chain Quest Activated, Lost Icon]

[Description: Without an Icon, the believers cannot commune with their God.

Nor can you proceed with your plans and goals.

A Church is a vital part of any territory, and a spiritual Pillar that is necessary for men to thrive, especially in dire circumstances.

Investigate the ruined Church and seek out its lost treasures, bringing back the lost light to this decadent land.

Or find a replacement for them as they would be just as grateful nonetheless.

Requirements:

Find the lost Icon 0/1

Or find a suitable replacement 0/1

]

Reading his new Quest trigger, Dale asked:

"You wouldn't mind if I took a look at it right?"

Misgurd gave him a side glance and said:

"Be my guest recruit, that old place gives me the creeps."

"Here, take these keys, otherwise you won't even be able to enter that shed of a church."

"And pick a few contracts while you are it, you aught to work those young muscles out if you wish you to become strong like me, Buwahahaha!"

Dale nodded, quickly selecting a few decent contracts before he turned around and left towards the church.

…

/Later.../

"This place is quite eerie…" He said as he looked at the church

'A Church at the corner of an isolated village on top of a small hill, and there is nothing here apart from these dead trees and dried grasses…'

'Who would pray here?! This place is closer to a haunted house than a Church.'

"I was never a fan of horror games... I always questioned why people would get out of their way to go to a seemingly dangerous place..."

"And I'm now one of them... Sigh, it's now or never..."

/Creeeek!/

Dale opened the big wooden doors of the church and looked inside.

It had a simple design, a large rectangular hall with many long chairs and a big stage at the back, however, despite its size, the only things remaining there were the lectern and the altar.

And Dale soon found out that the reason the altar wasn't stolen was that it was glued to the ground, but he could see that several decorations had been stolen due to the marks on the wood and stone.

Including the centerpiece… The Icon.

"Cough!... This place would go well with some cleaning..."

"I'll start by doing my contracts and I'll later search this place for any clues." He said as he shook his head in disappointment

'Fix the chairs, remove the broken pieces of glass around the Church, remove the dead trees, clear the dried grass...'

Thus started Dale's adventure.

…

/A few hours later.../

The hours passed and Dale did many actions.

He fixed the chairs, cleaned the ground, fixed the hinges of the doors, removed the dangerous glass pieces from the windows, cleared all dead tree stumps, cleared the surrounding grass, and mopped the ground and some of the walls of the Church…

"I'll stop for now, I'm done with this…"

'I'll cash in my quests when I'm back.'

"Now, time to search for any clues…"

'I did look around as I cleaned things, but I found nothing, this seems hopeless...'

'If there was anything that could be found merely by looking around, then the Icon wouldn't have been lost for so long...'

He looked out the window and saw the sun slowly setting.

"The villagers are likely returning by now, and many more quests are bound to appear."

"I farmed a rather decent amount of Reputation points, so I should be able to have them look at me in a favorable light at the very least…"

'My advantage is dwindling, players will soon descend into this place.'

Dale looked around the place once more, the Church still looked shabby but it was much better than before.

"Even if I try for an entire week, this place won't change, the only way to improve it would be to commission skilled craftsmen to do the rest…"

'Wood, stone, and metalwork should be possible, but all of that takes time, resources, and the appropriated places...'

As he thought, Dale made his way to the Altar, it was a rectangular box the height of a small fridge with a glass box above it.

It was this way so that all of the believers in the Church could see the Icon in all of its glory.

But now, it remains empty…

"Let's see…"

Dale started to check every nook and cranny of the altar, from the bottom to the top…

...

/10 minutes later…/

/Thud/

Dale sat on the ground with a depressed expression.

"Sigh, it's hopeless… Will I really be unable to change my Class in time?"

'From what we tested in the Beta, getting to Level 10 allows you to choose your first Class based on your actions and gameplay. This opens up more chances for players to get a decent starting Class instead of being a villager…'

'If I don't get one, I will have to rely on luck to get it… How unsettling.'

"It's all because of a petty thief…"

/Tock!/

"?"

When Dale punched the ground near him, he felt that something was strange.

/TOCK!/

He punched harder but the sounds did not change.

"Is this ground hollow?"

Dale started to knock on the ground all around the Church, and as expected, the sound was only like that on the stage.

...

Time passed, but Dale only got disappointed as he layd on the ground.

"Sigh, it's not hollow, it's only due to the fact this is a stage…"

'It's probably made from another material...'

"Where could this be…"

Dale looked one more time toward the Altar and he found something wrong, he looked at its base and noticed a strange detail.

"This isn't nailed to the ground… And it doesn't seem to be glued to it either. So what is keeping it stuck like this?"

Feeling curious, Dale tried to lift the stone slab connected to the Altar, but it didn't budge.

He tried to lift the Altar but he was afraid of breaking it, so in the end, he stopped

"What a pain…" Said Dale as he rested his hand on the Altar

'There is definitely something wrong with it…'

"It won't open like this." Said a voice from the other side of the Church

"?!"

Another mysterious appearance!!

Dale turned around and gazed at the sudden, uninvited guest…

…

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Notes

What do you think?

For the old readers, are you guys starting to remember the story? Or are you guys perhaps enjoying the changes?

For the new readers, what do you think of the plot?

I'll ask this question a few more times as we go by...

Anyway, have a nice day!