Maria returned to Argos town. She passed by Chief Garry, the town chief. "Blumock!" he called to her.
Maria stopped. She turned back and faced the town chief. "Yes, Chief Garry?" She introduced herself to the town chief weeks ago, but she was not given any quests although she babbled a lot of things to him to incite a quest. Why did he suddenly call him today? she was intrigued.
"Congratulations on reaching level 20, Blumock. You are now an official adventurer. Here, this is my gift for you. Keep up the good work! We need strong adventurers like you in Argos." He tossed a scroll to Maria in a very casual manner and went on its way.
[You acquired a learning scroll.]
"Thank you, Chief Garry!" she called out happily. The chief just waved his hand as acknowledgment.
[You earned +1 Affinity point.]
Maria grinned and opened the scroll. This was a pleasant surprise.
[New Skill: Power Strike. Do you want to learn it? Y/N]
[Skill Info: A close combat skill that can overpower your opponent. STR +30 / CD: 40 seconds]
She cancelled it. "Huh? Is this a joke? It's not even funny. How come the chief gave this to me? This is also my reward from the skill shopkeeper's quest!" She ran towards the skill shop and inquired about it.
"Yes, they are the same," confirmed the shopkeeper after examining the learning scroll.
"Can I sell this other one to you?
"Sure. I will buy it for 1 gold."
"WTF is this? Do you think you can bully me because I am weak? You said the price of this learning scroll earlier was 20 gold?" She thought the shopkeeper was scamming her.
"Kid, the price of buying is different from selling. You don't know about this stuff so I will forgive your ignorance." He said he forgave her, but his tone was saying something else. "Just tell me if you want to cancel this quest and I will give it to someone else. Hmph!"
"Are you crazy?! Why should I do that? I already killed those wolves and collected the hides. Here!" He took out all the hides from his inventory and placed them on the shopkeeper's counter.
[Quest Completed.]
[You acquired a learning scroll.]
[New Skill: Power Strike. Do you want to learn it? Y/N]
"Yes."
[You learned an active skill: Power Strike]
This was the first time she learned an attack skill and felt unhappy about it.
[You earned +5 Affinity points]
"Yeah, yeah, I should be ecstatic about this, but I am not." It's a good thing the system still gives out affinity points after the quest.
"What's your name, kid?" He had a sudden interest in her.
"Blumock."
"Blumock, I will forgive your salty attitude since you brought me these hides. But you better keep watch, you hear?"
Maria pouted. (Is this man really crazy? He talked about forgiving but his tone was always condescending. Hmph! Besides, what is there to forgive? He's a scammer.)
"My name is Dacon, I am the owner of this shop. If you have hides like these, you can sell them to this shop. However, these hides are just of poor quality. You can also sell high-quality ones."
(Then why did you give a quest for acquiring low-quality hides? Besides, you only care about what you need, but what about my needs?) She was still feeling sulky and rebellious about acquiring duplicate learning scrolls. "Then honourable Dacon, can you accept a trade for this learning skill instead? Can I get another skill with the same value as an exchange for this?"
"No, you cannot. Unless--"
[Ting!]
[New Quest: Collect sticky sap from the spineless spiders. Do you accept it? Y/N]
"Oh! Can I exchange it? Then, I accept." She stopped being sullen and became spirited again.
[Quest Accepted]
"Brave kid! If your bad temper is an indicator of your strength, you may succeed in killing them spineless spiders. But if it's just pure poor temperament, then you're good as dead. Hah! Heed my advice, kid, although they are spineless, they are utterly dangerous. Once you get near their poisonous aura, you will be contaminated. I am not responsible if you get doomed along the way. Hmph!"
(Look at this old man cursing me again!) He had a distasteful character and it made sense why his face looked like he drank a bottle of vinegar. However, he was giving her quests, so Maria was willing to let his snide remarks pass her ears. "I will heed your advice. Thank you, honourable Dacon." She bowed to the elder. (This is only for the affinity points, great Dacon. Hmmph!) "I will make sure to accomplish this task."
[You earned +1 Affinity point.]
(See what I mean? I hope your tongue will be sorted out once my affinity with you hits the target! So, I will humble myself against the great sour person.)
"May I ask what use you have for the sticky sap?"
"Oh? Are you curious? Well, if you really want to know, it is one of the ingredients for making magic scrolls that we use to make learning scrolls. You will see eventually why the scrolls are expensive. Hah!"
Maria observed that Dacon seemed smug so she added, "You must be a master scroll maker. It now made sense of how you take pride in the scrolls being sold here in your prestigious shop."
"Indeed, I am a Scroll Master. Although you are a brazen little kid, you're still a bit attentive. I like it. I forgive you for your foul manner."
[You earned +2 Affinity points.]
Maria secretly rolled her eyes. (Who has more foul character than you?) "Then, I will take my leave." She surmised a possibility to acquire new learning scrolls if she increased her affinity with him. (I should suck up to him even though he ticks me off.)
Since the blacksmith's shop was right next to the skill shop, Maria went in to turn in her quest. She got the quest from the bulletin board, but the requester was still the blacksmith, so she approached the gentle elder. (Wow! He is the exact opposite of Dacon.)
"Hello, little one. How can I help you?" The man asked smiling at Maria who just entered his shop. He has a square jaw and was covered with a beard, while his head was missing some hair. His eyebrows were thick, and he looked really friendly. Although his body was bulky and muscular, he was not intimidating.
"Hi. Are you the blacksmith? I came here last time, but I don't think you were the same person who was tending the shop."
"Oh, you must be referring to Donnie. He is my apprentice. He is not here right now. He has to run some errands for the shop. If you need to see him, he will be back later."
"Ah, no. I am here to submit a quest I picked up in the Town Hall."
[Quest Completed.]
[You earned 50 silvers.]
[You acquired a low tier gem.]
[You earned +2 Affinity points.]
[You leveled up.]
"Nice." However, she couldn't put the gem in her inventory because it was not a bound item. "How inconvenient. I need a spatial bag!"
She checked the store for some cheap gears but found that they were too expensive. (Should I learn blacksmithing skills like that old manga Overgeared?) She remembered reading it when she was in elementary and enjoyed it. (It sounds plausible except I am not strong enough for that kind of profession. I don't even know if I will be lucky enough to find a legendary class.) Up to now only two rare classes were found, and it had already been more than a year since this game was launched. It was like finding a needle in the haystack. (But who knows?) She suddenly remembered the dimmed golden lucky coin.