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Quest generated!
'Defeat a total of 450 disciples in a day.'
Reward: 2500 Essence, 5 Attribute points, 1 Skill Token, 1 Outfit Token.
Progress: 0/450.
Duration: 24 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds.
Activation: Anytime.
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April 16th of Earth calendar. 15 days have passed since Lee reached this dimension. A recap of these days was a sweet reminder to Lee that he can survive anywhere if he had the system. His gratitude to D was slightly shaken when he saw the notification in front of his eyes as soon as he woke up.
Quest was something that the Will of the Dimension consciously conveyed to D. Thus, it can be said that the Will itself is the person who demands the completion of the quest. As D informed earlier, each quest has a meaning and is meant to help Lee achieve his objectives.
The displeasing and unexpected appearance of the quest panel made Lee frown. He was a little surprised to see a quest after a long time!
'D, I got the overall quest description. But explain the rewards, duration and activation.'
[You are aware what an Attribute point is. So let's skip that. The Skill Token is a one-time token to buy a skill you like. The skill can be anything. The Outfit Token is another one-time use token to buy an outfit of your liking. If Shop has it, you can have it.
The Duration only appears with time limited quests. Here, the quest has a maximum time limit of one day. If you fail to complete the quest in one day.....even I don't know what will happen next!
The Activation is the cue to start the quest. For this quest, it is given as 'Anytime'. That means the quest activates on its own when necessary conditions are fulfilled. I guess the condition might be to have a sect disciple in the vicinity or visual range.]
Lee heard the explanation and was in a dreamy abstraction. He took a few minutes to think and again asked several minute doubts. After going for around 30 minutes, An twitched and yawned as she woke up. Her face bloomed as she saw herself in Lee's arms. Her arms went around his neck as he greeted her.
"You seem distressed. Is there something worrying you?!"
An asked as she noticed a frown which was inappropriate for the occasion. Lee repeated the words of the quest in a different way that it felt like the Sovereign had commanded to do so. An was surprised to hear about the outside commotions of yesterday. She got up and sat on the bed. Lee followed her lead and sat up.
"Was there any specific command on defeating them all by your own?"
An probed as she did not hear any clause that conveyed 'Lee must defeat them himself'. Lee can tell her intentions even before the question was complete.
"Yes. I have to do it myself. If I don't, then I cannot grow further."
Lee gave an indirect answer that meant he must do it himself. An did not feel gloomy as his answer contained the need of doing so.
Some noises from downstairs confirmed that the old man and his grandchildren are awake. Since they run a restaurant, it was important to wake up early so as to prepare the ingredients for cooking.
Lee took out his jacket and An's outer robe and sword from his ring. He held the sword as he told her that he will reforge it as soon as possible. She smiled in delightment as a reply.
Old man Li was sitting on a chair near the table when they descended the steps. He greeted them and they greeted back. An glanced around and saw Li Fenfang and Li Aiguo feeding the roosters, through the window. She was excited at once and went outside. Lee did not follow her, but gave the old man a company.
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7 A.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
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The reminder went off and the old man rose up on his feet. As someone living for more than six decades, old man Li was very cautious about time. He was so precise that he and the system's clock were in harmony!
Old man walked outside and saw his grandchildren and An feeding the roosters and goats. As they caught the glance of him, they hurriedly halted their activities and came at him. An walked and stood next to Lee, who was right behind the old man. When the grandchildren joined them, the old man took the lead and walked to the kitchen of the restaurant.
Within 10 minutes, the kitchen was prepared and the vegetables and ingredients needed for the morning food was readied to proceed. Li Aiguo wore his chef's attire while Li Fenfang went to open the door. As soon as the door was opened, a few dwarves and young orcs came and gladly greeted her. From the greetings, it is evident that they were regular customers.
"I cannot thank you enough for your help."
Lee turned to old man Li before going out of the kitchen door and into the diner area. Old man Li patted his shoulder and replied-
"You are a good man, son. Take care of your wife well."
The voice was faint and the statements were true. An was surprised to hear this, but Lee was not. From his old age and interaction with so many people, it is agreeable to say that he can read people like a paper. Lee nodded with ardency. Lee and An entered the diner and slipped to the outside. Luckily, the customers were having a hearty conversation and they did not notice them going out.
The streets were gradually getting bright with the light from the horizon. Lee searched for the nearest inn and found one about 100 meters west from where they were. He let An know of the inn and they walked towards it together.
It was morning and the number of disciples were very low. They were searching for Lee the whole night. Thus they became tired by the morning. Lee thanked fate for making them search in a haste last night. Without a single disciple in the vicinity, they strolled while enjoying the early warmth of the starlights.
"Heavenly Zither Inn"
The four storeyed tall and wide building stood basking in starlight as Lee stood in front of it and read out its name. The brick red coloured walls and gorgeous golden murals of people playing zithers filled the sight. Stepping forward, Lee and An went up the set of steps and reached the door. The closed door reflected the bright daylight with a golden elegance. As Lee inspected the door, it was opened from the inside.
A goblin girl appeared as the door was pulled inside. The girl was surprised to see customers the moment she opened the door. She froze in her tracks, but the door swung open. Her hands were retracted to her chest at the first glance of Lee and An.
The girl was hardly the height of Lee's shoulder. Her face and figure was that of a 17 year old. She wore a blue kimono and her hair was well combed and braided. She felt helpless as Lee peered at her from top to bottom.
"Ha...hai! Hello! Welcome to the Heavenly Zither Inn."
Despite the surprise, she held her composure and tried to greet the strangers. She politely moved out of the way and welcomed the duo. Lee and An were impressed by her etiquette as they nodded and entered.
The reception welcomed them with a wonderful painting hanging behind the desk. It depicted a man with his zither fighting a hideous creature. The art was applaudable as only experts could decipher it.
The girl that received them hurriedly reached the reception desk as the couple scanned around the inside of the room. The girl wore a delighted smile as she spoke up-
"Welcome to Heavenly Zither Inn. How may I help you?"
An was impressed in her manners and speech, even though it was all part of her job. She stepped forward and replied.
"We are travellers from another city. We need to rent a room."
The goblin girl nodded as she gladly conveyed that only one room was vacant. She politely added-
"The room rent for a day is 35 silver coins. The three meals a day costs 45 silver coins. We have bath facilities for each gender separately. The bath cost 50 silver coins."
The professional side of the girl was evident. Her fluent explanation was short and precise. An looked over her shoulder and Lee came forward.
"We need a room for two. But before that, we need a bath. Meals are not necessary. It is difficult to tell how long we will stay. Let's say for a week."
The girl was delighted to hear Lee's response. She quickly took out a key from the drawer and handed it over to An. The key had the number '12' etched on its bow.
"The room rent for the week will be 245 bronze coins and the bath will be 100 bronze. Its 345 bronze coins in total."
Lee glanced at his Inventory and saw only 31 bronze coins. But his gold coin count was very high. So he had no choice but to pull out one and ask for change. The girl's eyes went wide as she saw a gold coin appearing in Lee's hand. She was surprised to see a gold coin, but was more surprised to see it coming out of thin air!
"Sir, we do not have a change as it is still early for the stores to open. I suggest you pay after converting it to silver or bronze coins."
Lee nodded and asked where the bath was. The girl pointed to the long corridor left to the desk as she told that the baths are at the end of the corridor. She added that the baths are clearly labelled to not have any mishaps.
After taking 10 or 13 steps into the corridor, they saw doors on the right and left sides. The door to the right was labelled 'Female' while the left one was 'Male'. They separated and entered the baths. Both of the baths were empty. There was a large tub of warm and bubbling water. It was partitioned by the wall as it extended to both baths uniformly. Without wasting a moment, they entered the water. A rushing sensation of comfort greeted them as they felt their fatigue floating away.
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8 A.M.
1820 Essence harvested.
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Lee woke up from the serene fantasy by the popped up panel. He glanced at the Map and confirmed they An is safe and secure in the bath next door. Lee turned his attention to his affinity panel. Fire, Water, Ice and Light was still to be improved. Remembering something, he raised his doubts at D.