Chapter 83: Charity Quest

Chapter 83: Charity Quest

"Good morning, Miss Syl. I hope you had a pleasant evening?"

"Morning, Luke. It was certainly worth my time. I got my prize, and it sounds like Johnathan will try to hunt down some more for me."

"I'm glad it worked out then. Master Lisa did mention that it's very beneficial to have a merchant connection." Luke replied, "So, what can I do for you today?"

"I'm ready for my next quest. However, I'd also like information on an intermediate caster class. I want to potentially get some skill revelations that I believe my hybrid class won't have access to for some time."

"I see. It can be beneficial to round out your build with a dip in another class, and plenty do so. You're lucky that you're dipping into a class you're already part of, so it shouldn't set back your progression at all - if you were asking to dip into something like Warrior, I would have strongly advised against it."

"It's good to know I'm not doing something stupid or taboo. My only issue is that I still need to receive a class revelation for an intermediate caster role. Tabitha mentioned that there were requirements, some of which are known while others are hidden."

"If you're willing to wait a bit, I'll check with one of my coworkers on what knowledge can be shared. Regrettably, I'm not too familiar with many intermediate classes yet."

"Thanks, Luke. Also, I have Lisa's dress to return. I've already cleaned it."

Luke's cheeks reddened slightly before he nodded, "Ah, yes. I'll see that it's given back to her."

I didn't have to wait too long for Luke to return, which I was grateful for, as I had a few others trying to recruit me to join them on their quest. While I was open to the idea eventually, I still had many things I wanted to try out as a slime.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting. The natural progression from Mage would be Sorcerer. Of course, this ignores obscure or specialized classes focusing on a particular element."

"That sounds like what I want; I'm not planning on specializing in an element. Not yet, anyway."

"Right. The most common way to unlock it is to get one of your elements to level five, but others have unlocked it by getting two elements to level four. There are other reported cases of someone unlocking it by getting a magical-related skill to level five rather than an element. More importantly, there's a minimum mana requirement, although I believe you far exceed that."

I glanced over my status profile. It had been a while since I bothered looking at it, and perhaps I had neglected it lately.

Name: Syl [Dungeoneer]

Race: Chimeric Mimic Slime (Blue) LV 4

Class: Shadowcaster LV 9

Status: Healthy

Mana: Overflowing

Emblems:

[Experiment]

[Apex Hunter]

[Elven Legacy]

[Dungeoneer]*

Traits:

Slime:

[Mana Slime LV MAX]

[Acid Slime LV 7]

[Poison Slime LV 5]

[Blaze Slime LV 6]

[Cryo Slime LV 4]

[Morph Slime LV 7]

[Pseudopod LV 6]

[Slime Shot LV 6]

[Slime Burst LV 6]

[Vaporize Slime]

Core:

[Core Refinement LV 6]

[Core Storage LV 5]

[Sub-Core Alpha LV 4]

[Sub-Core Beta LV 4]

[Sub-Core Gamma LV 4]

[Sub-Core Delta LV 4]

[Sub-Core Epsilon LV 4]

[Sneak Attack LV 5]

[Identity Block LV 5]

[Acting LV 4]

[Rogue Expertise LV 2]

[Subtle Afflictions]

Skill Points remaining: 6

The most straightforward solution would be to get [Fire Magic] to level four or [Mana Manipulation] to level five, as I had been rapidly gaining levels through all the spell tinkering I was doing. [Water Magic] leveled shortly before I fought the salamander, so it was unlikely to reach five before my next class level.

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"Thanks, Luke. I must redouble my effort before I gain my next class level."

"Not a problem, Miss Syl. I'm happy to be of use." Luke replied with a beaming smile, "As for your next quest, I couldn't find any flying monsters, but they should start coming in within a week as the island approaches."

"That should be fine. Anything else interesting or unique in the meantime?"

"Well... Currently, the biggest request is to deal with the uptick in orc activity. It seems the three you dealt with were not an isolated case, and they've been raiding the roads to the north."

"I'd rather not fight more orcs unless there's nothing else?"

"Some adventurers who witnessed or heard about your display against the training golem have made a personal request about whether you're willing to sell any magical knowledge. The guild doesn't mind whether you accept or deny such requests, and it can certainly be profitable."

"I'm not struggling for coin at the moment. Maybe if it was a slime catalyst."

"Yes... I can quite comfortably say that you will not struggle for coins anytime soon. There's a bidding war going on over the inferno sac you acquired..."

"Really? I knew it was valuable but didn't expect that much."

"You can thank Mister Thern for that. He mentioned it to his father, and now the dwarves are fighting the local noble over purchasing it. The dwarves want to turn it into a furnace heart, while the noble wants to turn it into a magical catalyst."

"If I get any choice in the matter, I'd rather it go to the dwarves. I plan on visiting them, and it sounds like a good way to earn some favor."

'I wonder if I couldn't just trade it for a silver core...'

"Sorry, Miss Syl. Once you handed it over to the guild, it became our responsibility. Especially now that it's gone further than the expected sale value due to its rarity. As you may or may not know, the guild takes a small portion of the sale as a handling fee, although since your items came in already harvested, it's much smaller in your case."

"Oh..." I said, disappointed.

"It's not just the guild wanting the income. It's also for the protection of the adventurers. Sometimes, especially if things go to auction, unscrupulous individuals try to bribe or even threaten the adventurer into relinquishing their find to them." Luke explained reassuringly, "On the positive side, I think it will end up with the dwarves in the end. Mister Thern always tells me never to underestimate the stubbornness of a dwarf."

"Alright, I guess that makes sense," I reluctantly replied. I already had a plan in place to get my silver core, so it may be better this way, or I'd be throwing any plans Thern made upside down. The boisterous dwarf had seemed quite eager for me to visit them.

"So... As for unique monsters, there is one that came to mind that I think you'd be great for, but..."

"But?"

"The pay is terrible; the farmer can't afford much, and it's been overlooked. A plant monster has taken root in his field and killed all his crops, and if it's left for much longer, the soil will be barren soon. It's a charity case, which makes many adventurers reluctant, but it would be good for your progress to Gold rank."

"Sounds good to me. I'm sure it's harvestable regardless if the pay is bad."

"It could be. The monster is known as a Plant Horror. They start out small and graft any plant, including trees, into their form to grow in size and strength." Luke explained, "Anything they've grafted is basically a super version of what it was normally. Medicinal herbs are now double as potent, fruit is twice as sweet, but you're just as likely to find one that has only grafted weeds or poisonous plants."

"So potentially, it could be extremely valuable or hazardous and worthless."

"Exactly. Not many are willing to risk the luck of the draw, especially for such a low payout."

"Sounds fun, and if it's worthless, I can easily deal with it using [Fire Magic]."

"Great. The farm is also to the north, so I will give you the orc extermination quest just in case you run into any. There's no set limit or penalty if you come back without killing any, but at least this way, you'll get properly compensated."

"Can't I just bring back the ear?"

"You could, but because orcs have class levels, they could be anywhere between a Bronze and Silver rank threat. We can't tell that from an ear alone, so you'd be compensated the same if you killed a level two warrior or a level twenty barbarian."

"Then I can't see any reason not to. I certainly won't complain about the experience."

I thanked Luke for his assistance and headed out. Once I broke into the streets, I utilized [Vanish] to head towards the gate. When I arrived at the gate, the guards seemed to recognize me. This time, they saluted me and wished me good luck on my quest. I wondered where the new politeness came from as I walked again down the familiar road.

I immediately broke out my spell construct and started to work on the tinkering. I kept Alpha to assist me while I had the remaining four work on rapidly cycling through casts of [Kindle]. My hope was that either I'd get [Mana Manipulation] to five or my [Sub Cores] would get [Fire Magic] to four before we encountered a monster.

Walking down the road with four flames flickering around me was quite a sight, causing some fellow pedestrians to mutter complaints about adventurers while others just looked on with curiosity. At least this proved I wasn't the first to focus so heavily on training skills if this was a regular enough occurrence to complain about.

While traveling, I headed towards the quest marker, which eventually led me off the road and into the wilderness. I didn't mind too much since this was leading directly to my destination, and once I was further away from the road, I could settle my curiosity with [Cryo Slime].

I saved my progress with my still incomplete spell tinkering and let Alpha join the others with casting [Kindle]. I cast an unmodified [Torrent] spell toward the wilderness, the water bursting from the magical circle. With [Cryo Slime] at the absolute minimum temperature I could utilize, I thrusted my icy hand into the magical circle. Soon, what was just a column of endless water was quickly filled with long shards of ice and the occasional more hefty chunk. Ice fragments were scattered everywhere, and being propelled by the water, the level of destruction was far beyond what I initially imagined.

While combining water with ice seemed obvious, I had yet to consider the potential of using [Torrent] as a delivery mechanism. What if I added [Poison Slime] or [Acid Slime]? Or what if I tried to combine [Torrent] and [Acid Dart]? I felt absolutely giddy with excitement at the possibilities.

I also tried the opposite, utilizing [Blaze Slime] and thrusting my hand again into the circle. Immediately, there was a loud hissing sound, and the water became violently bubbly, with some steam bursting forward.

Overall, I preferred the results from adding ice to the water, but I couldn't imagine anyone or anything being happy being on the receiving end of either. While thinking over my results, a sudden notification halted me in my tracks.