Ye Cang began chopping up the corpses. His backpack was filled with fishman meat, fishman eyes and fishman scales. He looked over at a meter wide pond which had faint flickers of light on the surface. He arrived beside it and found something immersed inside.
A fist sized night-luminescent pearl glistened in the middle of the pond. The slight ripples in the water carried a gentle light, giving off a peaceful cozy feeling. Ye Cang reached in and took it out. Night had just fallen, and the shining pearl attracted everyone's admiration.
Blue Night-Luminescent Pearl (Valuable): A high quality night-luminescent pearl. It's not cheap.
Ye Cang took it and indifferently said, "Mission complete, let's go back to town to turn it in."
ThornyRose and the others didn't say anything, they knew it was probably some quest item.
At night, the river looked exceptionally peaceful. The rushing of water and rustling of leaves mixed together making a comfortable sound. Suddenly they heard something unnatural. Ye Cang quickly pulled out his two-handed sword. "Fishmen are coming! Everyone be careful!"
Everyone prepared for battle and looked around alert. They raised their torches towards the source of the sound.
A large swarm of fishmen appeared, making ThornyRose frown. Why was there so many? They might be screwed. "Retreat!"
When the fishmen saw the ring on Ye Cang's hand, they immediately stopped. They all started to grumble and gurgle, all trying to speak at once. They looked very happy as they jumped into the river and swam away. There was one that was only slightly smaller than Gil Rage. It raised it's harpoon and waved towards Ye Cang. It's other hand patted it's chest, and gurgled with gratitude.
Ye Cang waved back, patted his own chest, and shouted with a smile "Mrgle Mmmm!"
The boss like fishman let out what should be laugh and swam away.
Everyone looked blankly at Ye Cang who looked like he was having a happy conversation with them.
Ye Cang felt everyone's suspicious stare, and shrugged. He faintly smiled and explained, "The fishmen earlier were from the Blue Scaled Rebel Army, along with their chief - Yoji. They saw my ring and knew we had killed the blue scaled fishman chief - Gil Rage, I just confirmed it. Right now they are rushing to occupy the territory upstream. Before he left we became good friends and he said I would always be a friend of the fishmen. He said I should come over to play when I'm free, he'd give me a tour. Then the system said my reputation with the blue scaled fishmen became respected. I'm now an honorary warrior of the blue scaled fishmen tribe."
"Brother Lil'White, so cool! I want to be the tribe's warrior too! Too bad I can't speak fishman…" Lin Le pouted enviously, feeling a bit of regret.
What the *! That can happen!? He got reputation with a monster race and it's actually respected!? An honorary warrior!? ThornyRose, FrozenBlood, and SpyingBlade felt their stomachs hurting. That ring! But thinking it over, it required the fishman language to trigger the event.
"Brother PaleSnow. Tomorrow, can you bring everyone to the fishmen village to look around!? That reputation whatever, we want to establish one too." SpyingBlade said. ThornyRose also thought of it. Having reputation with a hidden faction would be useful. They would have their own merchants which would sell unique items, and there would definitely be many quests.
"Let's talk about it tomorrow. First we should return to town…" Ye Cang nodded. Everyone continued walking down the path. The journey back was like a walk in the park, since all they met was some wild animals.
In no time at all, they had already arrived at the outskirts of town and met up with GreenDew. After giving her her share of the loot, they came to the heart of the village where the workers were preparing to go home. The guards saw that it was Ye Cang and relaxed their guard. "Lieutenant PaleSnow, what business do you have with the mayor so late at night?"
ThornyRose sucked in a breath, surprised. This kid was a Really New Village lieutenant!? No wonder he could receive a quest like this. Normally, one wouldn't be able to meet the mayor without a good reason.
"It's regarding the blue scaled fishman chief." Ye Cang said hinting at the bounty that Mayor Mar had posted.
The guards heard it and remembered Mar's instructions. They nodded and allowed them to pass. Everyone followed Ye Cang's group and entered the mayor's office. Mar looked haggard as he sorted through his documents. His face had a few new scratches. He weakly looked up and saw that it was Ye Cang's group and happily stood up. "Is it done?"
"This is it's head, it's foam, hand, foot…" Ye Cang nodded, and began taking out all the remaining parts of Gil Rage. Zhang ZhengXiong and Lin Le again began piecing them together. Mar could feel the contents of his stomach rising. He wanted to shout, "Just taking his head out is enough! Don't put it together again!" ThornyRose, FrozenBlood and the others were also horrified.
Mar took a deep breath. "I've confirmed it. Well done, you and these brave warriors have completed the quest. Here is your reward."
"Congratulations. You've completed the hidden story quest 'Slay the Blue-Scaled Fishman Chief - Gil Rage'. Your reputation with Really New Village has become respected, and you've been promoted to Really New Village's Guard Captain. Received 700 experience, 5 gold, a random class talent, and a random common talent."
"Congratulations, you've received class talent: Ranger's Mashup Spirit (Uncommon · Beginner Level): +2 to all attributes, and all weapon proficiencies. You can choose any equipment (including weapons), the restrictions to equip it will be reduced by 50%. Can only affect one item at a time. Only works on yourself."
"Congratulations, you've received common talent: Clever and Deft (Beginner Level): +1 Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, all weapon proficiencies, and +2 to reflex."
Everyone was extremely happy. They didn't care about the experience or the gold, most important was the talents. One class specific talent and one common talent. Both were rare and difficult to acquire. In the future, the ones they obtain from the class instructors would all be normal ones. They had even received reputation and a post. ThornyRose and the others were now Lieutenants. Zhang ZhengXiong and Lin Le had become Vice-Captains.
Zhang ZhengXiong and Lin Le showed their rewards to Ye Cang. Zhang ZhengXiong got Strong and Tough Body (+4 Constitution and gain 1 Strength for every 5 Constitution) and Lightning Reflexes (+4 Reflex, +2 Dexterity).
Lin Le's was Armed Merchant's Strength (+3 Heavy Weapon Proficiency, +4 Strength, +3 Constitution, +15% effectiveness of consumables. 25% reduced stun duration and 5% chance to negate) and Tenacious (+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +2 Will1).
Ye Cang crossed his arms and nodded. Zhang ZhengXiong's talents were very practical, it would become even more powerful in the future, and right now it was only Beginner Level. Now his strength would be decent. That brat was pretty lucky, all he had to do was add constitution. As for Lele, he got more destructive power and the ability to resist stun. His own talents were also not bad, he got increases in every attribute as well as weapon proficiency (affects the damage of a weapon), and he could wear a piece of equipment that he normally wouldn't be able to, like some heavy armor.