Chapter Ninety-Eight: Adventurer's Quest

After hurrying a few steps, I reached the eastern gate as well. The mounted guards there immediately crossed their knightly swords in front of me and barked, “There are undead servants everywhere outside. What do you think you’re doing over there?”

I looked them over. Their armor and blades were both chipped and cracked in places, clear evidence of how fierce the war with the undead had truly been. I hurriedly explained, “I’m a swordsman from Hurricane City. I hope you gentlemen will let me leave the city and gain some experience!”

A man who seemed to be their leader replied, “Oh, so that’s it. You may go train, but first report to the Adventurers’ Guild and obtain a certificate of trial. Then, of course, we’ll let you pass. The eastern side of Silvermoon City is different from the other directions. The undead here are extremely formidable, and many experienced adventurers have lost their lives there.”

Damn it. So I needed some ridiculous certificate after all.

I opened the city map and found that the Adventurers’ Guild was right next to the tavern; on the other side was a weapon shop, probably where equipment could be bought and repaired.

It took me five minutes to run there. Silvermoon City was simply far too large; walking around the city walls would probably take at least two hours! The Adventurers’ Guild was quite deserted, with no players coming to collect certificates yet. A knight in black armor stood off to the side, glaring at me with fierce eyes as I entered.

“I want to obtain a certificate of trial!” I said bluntly.

A young woman seated behind the counter smiled and asked, “What do you need the certificate of trial for?”

“What else? To get out of the city and kill monsters to level up!” Perhaps because this NPC beauty felt a little different, I actually blurted out a crude remark without thinking.

She didn’t get angry. Instead, she kept smiling and said, “You can have the certificate, but you must first defeat the middle-rank knight beside you, Nick.”

System message: You have accepted Nick’s challenge and entered the trial arena.

In the blink of an eye, I appeared in a contest field backed by a six-pointed star. The middle-rank knight Nick was already charging at me with his greatsword. I failed to dodge in time and took a slash, losing more than five hundred hit points at once.

Panicking, I quickly unleashed Ice-Sealing Slash, followed by Combo and Heavy Strike. Nick’s health was not very high, and those hits immediately cut away more than half of it. A couple more normal attacks and he’d be down.

System message: Congratulations. You have passed the test and obtained the certificate of trial!

A parchment scroll dropped into my inventory. I was then teleported out of the arena. That NPC beauty actually smiled at me again and said, “You’re the first player to enter the Silvermoon City Adventurers’ Guild. There is a quest here to rescue an adventuring team. I wonder if you’d be willing to accept it?”

Naturally, I chose to accept.

She went on, “Half a month ago, an adventuring team of more than thirty people went east into Silverpine Forest to eliminate a fierce rhinoceros monster, and they have not been heard from since. We hope you can go there, find them, and bring back the rhinoceros monster’s horn!”

System message: You have accepted the quest — Rescue the Adventurers. Silverpine Forest lies within Silvermoon Valley to the east of Silvermoon City. Rumor says that rhinoceros beast is extremely ferocious. Bring a few more companions with you before you go!

The quest text was blood red, clearly indicating a high difficulty.

Although the system also told me to bring more companions, I wasn’t an ordinary person. Taking on a boss of the same level alone would definitely not be a problem. If I couldn’t handle it, I could always call Murong Shanshan and Lu Xuehan later. Besides, they needed to go accept their own quests; disturbing them right from the start would hardly be appropriate.

After leaving the Adventurers’ Guild, I stopped by the weapon shop next door to repair my equipment. Then I spoke to every NPC in the shop and, as expected, received another quest of considerable level. A master blacksmith was looking for a metal used to forge high-grade weapons, called Crimson Silver Ore. It only came from the deep mountains beyond Silverpine Forest, and no one knew the exact location. Most importantly, this Crimson Silver Ore was usually guarded by high-level monsters, and there were quite a few of them.

Search for Crimson Silver Ore: Find ten pieces of Crimson Silver Ore and deliver them to Master Blacksmith Radin. Be sure to bring your mining tools!

The little mining shovel was still in my bag, so there was no need to waste time buying one. After taking two quests, I didn’t need to go hunting for more. I still had to leave some for Murong Shanshan and the others. Besides, taking too many quests myself would be useless; if I couldn’t finish them, it would only be a waste.

As I stepped out the door, I suddenly saw a player ahead of me rushing into the tavern. Looking more carefully, I realized it was the knight called “Let Go of That Girl.” I quickly opened the ranking list. There were only thirteen players in all of Silvermoon City, and I was shockingly ranked second. Murong Shanshan, at level 34, was fourth. First place was this level 39 knight. I had no idea how he leveled so quickly. Forget it. I’d head east and finish my quest first.

“Hey, you there in front, stop!”

I was hurrying along when someone suddenly called out from behind me. Looking back, I saw that it was the level 39 knight. From the way he looked, he was clearly shouting at me.

“You’re calling me?” I pointed at myself, genuinely unable to figure out what he wanted.

The knight caught up, raised his brows, and asked, “Yes, I’m talking to you. Tell me, how did you level up so fast?”

Looking at his overbearing expression, I couldn’t help feeling annoyed. In a low voice I said, “Your level seems higher than mine. How is it that you leveled up so fast?”

The knight choked slightly, then said coldly, “Why should I tell you?”

“Then I have no obligation to tell you anything either!”

I had no desire to waste time arguing with this sort of person, so I headed straight for the east gate. The gate guards saw me coming and immediately asked, “Young warrior, did you obtain the certificate of trial?”

“Of course!”

I took out the parchment scroll. The knight squad leader at once smiled and said, “In that case, you’ve gained the right to travel east. I’ll keep the certificate of trial. From now on, you may enter and leave the east gate freely. I almost forgot to tell you: the eastern Silvermoon Valley can only be entered through the east gate, so the monsters inside are a bit stronger than those on the other three sides. Most importantly, undead have appeared in Silvermoon Valley, so you must be careful. Also, we have something we’d like to entrust to you. Would you be willing to accept it?”

There was no reason not to. I quickly chose yes.

The knight squad leader continued, “The young king has issued a royal decree, hoping all warriors and adventurers will take it upon themselves to destroy the undead. Therefore, we hope you can eliminate some of the undead servants in Silvermoon Valley and bring us proof of your courage. Also, one of our squads disappeared a month ago, and we hope you can find news of them.”

Ding!

System message: You have accepted the quest [Trial of Courage]. Eliminate the undead servants in Silvermoon Valley and obtain 100 undead ribs to deliver to the Silvermoon City squad leader! Find and rescue Squad Koma!

A single quest with two requirements? I couldn’t help feeling like I’d gotten the short end of the stick...