Chapter 833: Nevermore: Special Delivery

Chapter 833: Nevermore: Special Delivery

Actual traveling.

Who would have thought that the job as a Courier would include traveling? Sure had Jake fooled after he only ran around a city for several days. Sure, it hadnt been the worst, and there was plenty of diversity thrown in there to make it entertaining.

Nevertheless, Jake was glad that phase of the Challenge Dungeon was over as he proceeded with Courier Job 20. It wasnt like he had to go far, but it did feel good to finally be out in the open. He had traveled around a bit in the House of the Architect while in the worlds there, but he didnt go full speed most of the time as he had to actively scout out the environment and couldnt just focus on speed.

Now, speed was the only thing that mattered. Jake used One Step repeatedly as the city had long turned into just a blip on the horizon. Every single step passed around a kilometer of distance, having improved quite a lot during all his time in Nevermore. He was still quite a bit from passing a thousand miles like the name indicated it technically could, but with the sheer speed he could trigger the skill, that wasnt really a problem.

Jake had experimented a bit with actually trying to increase the distance a lot, and it was possible. His record was about a hundred and thirty kilometers or eighty miles or so with a single step. However, that step had taken him well over a minute to perform and had been done under perfect circumstances with nothing in between him and his target destination. This is to say that if Jake just wanted to travel quickly, smaller but faster steps were far more effective. Also a lot more efficient, as a One Step taking him a hundred and thirty kilometers consumed way more than a hundred and thirty times more stamina than those taking him only a single kilometer.

With his speed, Jake was the fastest in his Nevermore party when it came to purely traveling, though Sylphie beat him thoroughly in shorter distances. His relatively high stamina pool and constant supply of potions also meant he wouldnt really ever run out of energy as long as he didnt push himself too hard.

For his very first job outside of the city, the Challenge Dungeon had even picked something super exciting, too. Jake had been tasked with wait for it - delivering a tax form for a local small mayor to fill out. He even had to bring it back again once it had been filled, making it twice as exciting!

Alright, yeah, the Courier Job sucked ass, and it was clear the entire intent of this was for Jake to travel a longer distance than usual. Jake wouldnt really call it long-distance travel, though, as it only took him a bit over five hours to reach the small town in question. It would probably have taken longer if any of the wildlife in the way dared get in his way, but luckily, they were all on their best behavior, as blasting his aura pretty much worked like a max repel.

Reaching the small town in question, Jake saw that there were two guards at the entrance, both barely in C-grade. They looked tired with slightly damaged armor, and observing the area, it looked like they had been struggling quite a bit with monster attacks recently.

I can almost smell it

Entering the town by flashing his Medallion, Jake headed to the mayors office straight away without any problems and delivered the tax form to a secretary there. Right as he did so, the mayor himself exited his office and saw Jake, and it looked almost as if a wave of relief washed over him.

Ah, youre the Courier, am I right? the man said with a bright smile. Thank you for the delivery. Tax papers, right? I will get to it immediately so you can bring it back, but

Here it comes

we have recently been dealing with excessive monster attacks from a nearby monster nest, which have put a strain on the guards. Seeing as you made it all the way here safely, you look like you can handle yourself, so would it be possible to look into it while I do the form?

A side quest!

Right as he thought this, a system prompt appeared before his eyes.

Courier Side Job: Eliminate the nearby monster nest.

Objective: Monster nest eliminated (0/1)

Accept Side Job?

Jake had no reason to refuse as he nodded. Ill take a look at it in the meantime. Do you know where this nest is located?

Courier Side Job Accepted.

Thank you! the mayor said, relieved. I believe the guards mentioned all the attacks usually come from the north, so I reckon it is in that direction. As for any details, I couldnt possibly tell you the exact situation; we simply havent had the resources to send out a scouting party.Discover new chapters at novelbin(.)com

Its all good; Ill find it, Jake said reassuringly. Just have those forms ready by the time I return!

Most certainly, the mayor said with a small bow as Jake headed out of the office again. On the way, he released a Pulse of Perception and about a hundred and fifty kilometers to the northeast, he saw a big collection of monsters gathered around a few small hills and rock formations. The monsters all looked to be of the insect type, but with their small number, they definitely werent of the eusocial type. If they were, Jake also doubted the town would still be around.

Jobs done, Jake said.

I saw, the dwarf gave Jake a big smile. Here, let me have your Medallion.

Huh, why? Jake asked as he nevertheless placed it on the table. The dwarf didnt even try to pick up but just pointed at the item.

Now take a look at it.

Jake instantly realized what the dwarf was getting at, and a quick Identify confirmed it.

[Courier Medallion (Common)] the second-lowest rarity of Courier Medallion for a relative newcomer to the field who has begun to get some experience under his belt. This Medallion will hold information related to jobs and can give general directions to your destination if those are provided (may not be entirely reliable). Will automatically upgrade as Courier Jobs are completed and your reputation grows.

Requirements: Soulbound

Finally, Jake was no longer running around with an inferior rarity Medallion! Alright, it wasnt that big an achievement, but Jake was happy it happened. It also only took 35 Courier Jobs. This made Jake wonder if he would have had to do more easy jobs to upgrade it maybe 50 easy Courier Jobs and 40-something medium jobs? It didnt really matter, but Jake liked to tell himself he had saved time.

Congratulations are in order, the dwarf said, clearly happy for Jake. Less than two weeks, and youre already beginning to no longer be a complete novice. If you keep this up, you may just become a real top-tier Courier who can take on the truly dangerous and rewarding jobs!

Jake wasnt sure about the rewarding part, considering he was an unpaid worker, but he still smiled in response. Thanks, mate. Now, just because I went up in rank doesnt mean Ill stop my momentum. So hit me with the next round of jobs!

Yeah about that, the dwarf said, his mood fading a bit. I have good news and bad news. What do you want first?

Alright hit me with the bad news, I guess.

After getting promoted, you can go to one of the small-sized cities to do jobs rather than here, which is rated as a smallest-sized one. Usually, you would do this through the teleportation gateway but there was an accident, the dwarf explained with a big sigh. So now it is no longer operational as the space-locator or something has been broken.

yeah, this is one hundred percent a scripted event, Jake very quickly concluded, as he already knew where this was going.

And the good news?

In order to get the teleportation gateway up and running again, we need to do either one of two things. Either we can call a space mage to come to fix it here, which will take about a month or someone has to bring the currently broken space locator thing to the mages in the small-sized city, and they can fix it remotely from there to get the network up and running again, the dwarf explained as he looked at Jake. I dont think I have to tell you who this someone would be?

Not sure how this is considered the good news, Jake questioned.

Its a Special Courier Job, the dwarf said in a serious tone. The trip there will be a lot more dangerous and take a lot longer than the jobs you have done so far, but if you succeed, you will already be well on your way to upgrading your Medallion again. I also need to warn you that as your Medallion upgraded, I cant give you any properly challenging jobs if you stay in this city, which may delay your next upgrade, but the choice is naturally yours.

As the dwarf finished his sentence, a system prompt expectedly popped up.

Choose your next action:

Accept Special Courier Job 1: Transport the Space Magic Locator to the small-sized city.

Or

Continue doing regular Courier Jobs in the smallest-sized city for 1 month (30 days).

Needless to say, Jake was going on a cross-country road trip because there was no fucking way he would stay back and do regular boring Courier Jobs for another full month.