Having managed to successfully track the little animals and showing that they have adequate ability in tracking, Haz allowed the three to spend the rest of the night according to their own plans.
Rentaro had only just returned to the tents that Ichi and Shin had pitched, when a system notification resounded in his mind.
[System Notification] [New Mission]
[See! I told you—just wait and a mission will appear soon enough! Hahaha!] Wilhelm burst in excitement.
'Yeah, yeah! Just open the [Missions] function already, Wilhelm!' Rentaro couldn't be bothered with Wilhelm's budding narcissism, his eyes burning eagerly to see what mission he had been given.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
[Missions]
[First Hunt] [Uncommon]—[Incomplete]
Hunt a Foundation Establishment Stage 1 Beast.
[Rewards] [2.0 credits of one credit type or 1.0 of each] [Sub-Shop Function—Trade-In]
[Investigate the Strange Anomaly] [Uncommon]—[Incomplete] [Chain-Quest: Step 1] Investigate the cause behind the animals' evolved intelligence.
[Rewards] [3.0 credits of one credit type or 1.5 of each] [Sub-Mission Function—Research and Investigations]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
'Aside from the credit reward, it's just another sub-function reward. Will there ever be a mission with interesting rewards? And, what's a "Chain-Quest"?' Rentaro couldn't help but pout in his newfound revelation.
[Ah, Don't be such a baby! For the system creator to have set such a mission reward, it surely must be helpful to you! As for a Chain-Quest, it's a quest that requires multiple steps before it can be considered complete. Simply put, after you complete the first step, another step will appear. As for how many steps until the mission is completed, that's determined by the system's concept of completion and sufficiency, not mine.]
'Eh, I guess there's nothing I can do. Welp, I have nothing to do right now and I'm rather curious about this village of 'Creatures of Innocence' myself, but you better help me investigate this! If you try to act as if you're asleep or anything, don't expect me to get anything done!"
[Alright! I'm still processing data on the five statues and the Krose ancestral hall through the system; I have yet to find any knowledge in the system database on this subject. Furthermore, there weren't any system notifications about it which is awfully strange.]
[The only possible explanation is that you don't meet the system's requirements for the mission yet or the system creator doesn't have any information on the subject at hand, which is a possibility. As a matter of fact, that might be where the 'Research and Investigations' function comes in handy.]
[Other explanations I've considered: you might lack something to spark an interaction between you and the statues like a specific cultivation stage, a specific character trait, or you might need to be of the Krose bloodline. If you need to be of the Krose bloodline, you'll have to give up getting such a mission unless you use a way to mutate your bloodline, though I don't recommend mutating your bloodline unless you're absolutely resolved to. Or maybe, you need to start the investigation yourself or a specific event needs to take place before any correlated mission pops up. I only have so much information myself.] Wilhelm rambled.
'Bloodline mutation?' Rentaro listened wholeheartedly to Wilhelm, but couldn't help to ponder over the idea of mutating his bloodline.
[Uh-hm. It's possible to mutate your bloodline yourself, but many dangers are present in order to do so. Naturally, the shop has several types of refined bloodlines along with methods to merge them with your own bloodline. Aside from that, there are different ways to mutate and refine your own bloodline without the use of another being's—if you want a more "natural" way. As you cultivate, your own bloodline will become more prominent based off of your cultivation techniques and innate abilities, which is how special bloodlines are formed one-hundred percent naturally.]
'Mutate my bloodline or form it naturally... I'll ponder over this some other time. Wilhelm, let's go investigate this mission awhile!'
Rentaro questioned the idea of mutating his body and bloodline, as such a topic seemed rather interesting when thinking about gaining some newfound powers, but his current line of thinking felt it was a taboo to change the body he was born with—though his body was technically already changed during its reconstruction.
Instead of taking time to train, Rentaro's curiosity got the best of him and so he decided to look around the village and investigate. Naturally, Roy had no desire to sulk in his boredom and Icrin pulled himself into the group as this was his first time in the small animal village as well.
The clearing's area wasn't too large and the trio decided to travel to the center of the village, which would theoretically be the location with the most interesting characteristics.
Walking casually, the three took in the sight of the beautiful surroundings, when the atmosphere seemed to suddenly thicken around them. Their breathing became heavy, as if they were climbing a mountain of extremely high altitude, each breath requiring more oxygen than the last amidst the thinning air.
Thankfully, the three weren't ordinary mortals, having had the ability to cultivate and a stronger constitution than normal people. Otherwise, the trio physically wouldn't be able to advance any further through the suffocating atmosphere, no matter how much they dared to try.
Before they realized it, the trio stumbled upon a small crystal pillar. It emanated a dim purple aura and with the sun high up in the sky, the color wouldn't have been visible to the trio without the surrounding trees casting their shadows over it.
Closely examining the crystal pillar, they noticed that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny runic symbols imprinted onto it. Aside from the runic imprints, there seemed to be strange carvings of animals around the pillar, though the carvings didn't seem to resemble any of the small animals they had seen in the village.
"Hoh~ So strange!" Icrin's hand crept forward, gently touching the surface of the crystal pillar.
Hum Hum.
A humming sound resounded from the crystal pillar as a sudden repelling force generated from the crystal, propelling Icrin backwards. He tumbled around six meters back, before catching his balance.
"Icrin!" Rentaro and Roy were shocked at the sudden turn of events. One second, the crystal pillar gave off a peaceful and gentle aura, yet the next second it gave off a strong and violent repulsive force.
"Phew, I'm fine. I was unprepared for such a situation to occur, that's all."
Heavy footsteps approached from the distance, they noticed that Haz and the rest of his squad were rushing over with haste as they wielded their weapons. Rentaro and Icrin shared bitter smiles as they awaited Haz's lectures.
And sure enough, "Hey, you three! What the hell is going on here? Damn, I'm in charge of you guys, you know? If anything happens to any of you, I'll be a dead man when I return!"
"Ai. Calm down, Haz. They seem to have done the same thing we did when we first arrived here." Phu sighed nostalgically as he approached the pillar.
"Oh? Haz, you also did the same thing I did? Ahahaha!" Icrin laughed.
"Shut it, Icrin! Phu, some things don't need to be spoken in front of others! And Icrin, I'll make sure to let Elder Astrona know about how you endangered yourself when we return."
"No-No-No! Please, no! That's too far, Senior Brother Haz!"
"Hmph! You think that will work on me now? Call me that for the rest of the trip, and I'll consider it."
While Haz and Icrin were embroiled in their bickering, Rentaro decided to get some clarification from the others.
"Phu, what is this thing, exactly?"
"We don't have any definitive answers. We have already brought this topic up with the grand elders at our village and they seem to lack any concrete answers as well. In fact, we can't even be sure that this has any connection with our village. Our only guess is that it is the cause behind the animal's intellectual evolution. You may have considered the same thing, huh?" Phu paused.
Rentaro nodded his head affirmatively, "Uh-hm."
"All-in-all, we decided to leave it here and befriend the small animals in order to maintain tranquility and peace. Let's return to our tents and have something to eat," Phu smiled, "Ichi will be cooking tonight, so you know the food is going to be good!"
"Damn, the four of you always take advantage of my skill! You think I'll cook just because you want a good meal?" Ichi's voice was filled with distraught, though one could still make out a strong sense of pride in his words.
"Aw, Come one, Ichi! Think of the newbies, not us." Shin patted his back, speaking with a tone of justice.
Ichi relented, "Alright, alright! I'll cook a nice meal for my new Junior Brothers!"
"Good, haha! And while you cook for the newbies, just make a little extra for us! Easy solution to a simple problem." Shin's tone still contained a sense of justice, contrary to his motive.
The group returned to where they pitched their tents, Ichi suddenly walked over to his tent and grabbed his bag, prompting glints of expectation to appear on his four friends' faces as if they were waiting for something.
He opened his bag, revealing a variety of ingredients. Among which were different spices, crops that he brought with him from the village, and a few strange plants that he had collected from the forest during their trip—Rentaro questioned if he had been learning to cook under Elder Astrona.
Phu set up a small campfire for Ichi to cook with. Tsyun, quiet as always, made an appearance with a dead wolf in hand. Rentaro wasn't affected by the sight of a dead wolf very much, as he recalled incidents of road-kill that looked much more sickening than the wolf which seemed to die from one clean hit.
There was still a slight aura lingering around the wolf's corpse, showing that it was at Foundation Establishment stage 1, which would've completed Rentaro's quest had he been hunting with Tsyun. Rentaro wasn't the only one disgruntled about not being able to join Tsyun on his hunt, as an unresolved voice rang out.
"Ahhh! Tsyun, why didn't you tell me when you were leaving?!"
"Shin, any beast would have fled as soon as they noticed you. I wanted a swift hunt, simple?" Tsyun's long grayish-blue hair still covered the majority of his face, only revealing a minuscule smile on his face.
"Hmph! I would've scared the animal into shock, the hunt would've been even more swift."
"Wrong, Shin! You're too slow! Tsyun would've needed to walk really slow in comparison to your fastest speed, and so it would've taken much longer to even find a beast." Phu chimed in with a sharp refute as always.
[Oh? Very impressive, a silver tongue of a serpent surely and words as sharp as his blade. Impressive indeed.] Wilhelm's voice resounded in Rentaro's mind, though Rentaro couldn't help but agree and sigh in admiration towards Phu's natural comebacks.
The hunters bantered among each other, as Ichi prepared the food; a savory aroma assaulted everyone's noses as Ichi finished up the food. The aroma was top-tier with the addition of all the spices, but it was still below that of Elder Astrona's cooking, an old man who seemed to instill his emotions into his cooking.
Ichi served out plates of meat, sprinkled in seasonings, along with different crops prepped on the side. Some of which Rentaro had never seen before, yet the scent from them implored him to eat without a care.
The group enjoyed the meal and the experienced hunters told stories of their past hunts while making fun of one another regarding their past rookie mistakes. It was a happy atmosphere; paired with the setting being a village filled with small animals, it was truly dream-like for Rentaro.
Naturally, the hunters had remained alert at all times, but being alert was instilled in them as an instinct by now, so it didn't downplay their mood in any manner.
Night fell, the squeaking of small animals fell silent, and the group put out their fire, returning to their own tents.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It was in the middle of the night that an aura elapsed the entire animal village without attracting the attention of anyone, except—
[Rentaro, wake up! Quick, we have a lead!] Great Detective Wilhelm urged in excitement.
Rentaro shifted his body, his desire for a little bit more rest like anyone else, forcing himself up as Wilhelm's voice stressed importance, 'Hah? Lead for what?'
[For your investigation mission! There was a very weak aura just now, but no matter how weak it was, it definitely came from a spirit that cast its senses across the village! Putting two and two together, it all makes sense now! Go towards the pillar, I'll explain my thoughts on the way. Make sure you're quiet though and just go alone to prevent any complications from arising, it shouldn't be anything dangerous based off of the aura I sensed.]