"Just like that, I got my first death."
Shudder.
The feels he got from dozens of wolves shredding him was still fresh on his head.
He was now in his private space. The boundaries between the game and real life. He would come here often every time he logout or killed.
He checked the notification he got earlier.
He has advanced 4 levels from killing some wolves and the 'Palemoon Boar'. But, also lost a portion of EXP from the wolves. He was now at Lvl 5.
...
[System] Congratulations! You unlock a feature. Easter Egg #19: First Unique Monster Encounter.
Description: A guaranteed unique monster will appear in the vicinity among the first 100 monsters you hunt as a solo. You have met and able to choose a path for them.
[System] Congratulations! You have met (hunt) a Unique Monster. Additional reward(s) have been delivered.
....
From his first hunt, he got 1 gold and 20 silver. His current pocket was now 2 gold and 20 silver.
The most important thing was the monster drop, he had already got the information from Harden that the monster only dropped silvers at least for now in the beginner area. It was proven true even for the Unique Boar he just killed.
The reward from the boar was separately delivered to his mail.
[Mail] Reward(s) from Unique Monster in the Beginner Area
That was the title of the mail. The description said that he got a specific reward based on the monster he hunted, which in this case, was a 'Palemoon Boar'.
...
[Misc] Palemoon Spirit Soul
Beast Soul of the fallen species of 'Palemoon'. The high soul value of the 'Palemoon' species makes it appears in a form between the boundaries of Beast Spirit and Beast Soul. It can be used as either of the two.
...
"Hm.. Beast Soul.. It is the material needed for one of the branches in the Path of Core."
Now, in his VPS, he voiced what he thought. Only he himself in this spacious white room.
"Should I consider the 'Soulshifter' path? I still don't know at what level I will advance to the next class. And hmm.. there is also another option. I should talk to Vi the next time we meet. I will surely give this to him if he finally decided and commit to becomes a 'Spirit Summoner'. Well, let's keep it for now."
He login and appeared again in front of the village's entrance. There was a commotion there. A lot of people gathered to search for a party.
He has appeared at an interesting time. A human on top of a box with glasses and sheets of paper on his hand was about to start a speech.
"Trial Lvl 10 is the first struggle we will face now. I am looking for a party who is confident enough with only 3 adventurer members in the hunt!"
The surrounding adventurers were silent for a few seconds and focused their eyes on the origin of the sound. They took their time to inspected the person and came back to their own business while leaving a snort.
The person on top of the box just let out a sigh and mumbled quietly while going down from his 'podium'.
Arceede was playing finger trick with a 'tube' on his hand while listening to the guy's speech. He walked through the sea of people to meet the guy. He found his proposal interesting.
"Hey, can you explain more?"
The guy had just about to left the crowd and startled by a guy who asking him while playing a 'finger trick'.
"Uhm.. umm yes?"
Compared to his loud voice while giving a speech, his awkwardness was a stark contrast upon closer inspection. He might put a lot of courage to overcome his awkward self.
"Well, you know, your speech earlier. Can you elaborate more on it?"
"Uhm.. By the way.. are you an adventurer or perhaps a civilian?"
Arceede was tilting his head, not sure how to respond or rather what was the purpose of the question.
"I just.. I am not sure myself. Sorry about that, let's look for a chair to sit on first."
The glasses guy was apologizing while bowing deeply and then gesturing to followed his step.
Arceede could only follow him with confusion on mind
Both of them walked through the village entrance gate to found a seat.
At the entrance gate, Arceede found a familiar face.
"Hi, Griz! We meet again."
"Hi, Ar! I've seen you login some hours ago but you move to the hunting area directly."
"Wow, you can see me login from here?"
"Well, I am a Royal Guard after all. Have you finished your hunt?"
"Hahaha, I just come back after being killed by the wolves." He answered it while scratching his head, feels embarrassed.
"Ah, it's all right. It is the needed experience to go further." The middle-aged man reassured him.
"Sure do." He replied with a formal smile.
"By the way, what business do you have with Avia?" He asked him while pointing to the guy behind him.
"Ah, Avia? Nice to meet you. I am Arceede, you can call me Ar."
"Ah, Uhm, nice to meet you."
The glasses guy seemed more awkward or rather, scared now.
The Royal Guard, Grizram was tilting his head and asked for confirmation from Arceede.
"We just met and are about to find a seat."
Grizram was focusing his eyes on the guy who was avoiding his gaze while hiding behind Arceede.
"You can talk here then, my place is quite nice for a meeting."
"Sure!" Arceede answered the good deeds lightly. But, in contrast to him, the guy behind him seemed hesitant. But still, he followed while avoiding the Royal Guard's gaze.
He found a seat inside the patrol house and began to talk, with a frontal question from Arceede.
"What are you doing to Griz? To make him look at you like that."
"I- I.. I've made mistakes. He has punished me but.."
"Okay never mind, may I know your opinion of why they ignored your speech?"
"Uhm... it's about the Lvl 10 trial, our trial before going to the Mainland. You know.. there are still no people to reach Lvl 10 as for now and also.. umm maybe because I am not an adventurer?"
His voice was gradually lower and lower as he spoke.
"Then, what's the advantage of having you at the party?"
The guy seemed flustered by how direct the opposing party question was.
"Umm... I have appraisal skills to help."
"Helpful?"
"I can check the monster's current HP."
"Is that 'helpful' enough? You should aware that having you means that the party has a sandbag tied on their leg." He emphasized the word helpful.
"But still... I also want to join the hunt. I've asked the party's request but no one is interested in the slightest. And then I tried the speech.. but you know.."
"Why are you forcing it then? I am pretty sure the civilian has its own requirement to be able to go to the Mainland."
"My class isn't anywhere near the requirement to go to the Mainland nor even enjoyable for now. It sucks!"
Arceede let out a sigh after hearing the complaint.
"Follow me to the hunt then, I will guarantee you to be able to join the 3 slotted adventurer party for the trial."