Darren's limbs went numb and his blood cold. He would do everything to keep the system with him. His dreams and his future depended on the system.
With a gulp, Darren's mind began working in overdrive, trying to think of a smooth way to talk himself out of this. He was initially going to convince Naphaela that he was working hard because he had the system, a way to get stronger, but that wasn't an option now.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
Since the user seems to be surprised by the sudden warning, allow the system to clarify.
The user is still able to tell their companion about how the user has found a way to get stronger, but detailed explanations cannot be allowed. The system will warn the user if ever they are about to cross the line.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
As Darren paused to read the panel in front of him, Naphaela thought that he was stalling, so she called out to him, "Hey."
"Oh-- um, uh . . ." He tore his gaze off the panel of text and fidgeted around, trying to find the words, ". . . Well, the thing is . . ."
Unamused, Naphaela crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Darren.
"I can't tell you the details, but I've . . . kind of . . . sort of . . . found a way to cultivate."
Napahela's eyebrows became leveled as she looked at Darren with an expression that seemed to say, 'make a better lie.'
"No, no, I swear!" Darren shook his hands in front of his face, shaking his head frantically, "There's no way I would've carried nine sacks without getting tired, right?"
Naphaela's eyebrows furled and her eyes narrowed, ". . . Are you serious? How?"
"Yes and-- like I said, I can't tell you the details." He bit his lip and looked at his friend with an apologetic gaze, "I'm sorry."
Naphaela sighed and pressed her fingers upon her temple, "What have you gotten into this time? Are you sure you won't incite celestial ire?"
"W-Well, I just woke up one day and . . . found that I can cultivate. As for celestial ire . . . I don't think so." Darren liked to believe that his 'power' was give to him by the gods, but that was a very preposterous statement, so he held himself back.
Naphaela sighed once again. She didn't like the fact her best friend was dabbling in some strange way cultivation, but she had seen the results. Darren definitely did seem to get stronger. Since she also knew how society treated mossbags, she could imagine how excited Darren was when presented the opportunity to cultivate. She didn't want to stop her friend from getting on the road of cultivation.
As such, all she could say was, "Darren . . . just-- just swear to me. Swear that if you think it will incite celestial ire, don't do it, okay?"
Darren couldn't help but smile as he heard his friend. His eyebrows knitted together and his nose stung. For someone to understand him to this degree, he was almost as thankful as when he received the system.
"I swear . . . Naph, I swear."
"You better not break that." Naphaela stepped closer towards him and knocked at his chest lightly, before letting out a sigh and changing her expression to one without worry. "Are you still hungry? I could get us food and we'll eat it here."
Darren took a deep breath and pressed his lips together, wanting to agree. But he didn't get to say anything when a panel appeared in front of his vision.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
5h and 47m left before sundown
Bags delivered: 9
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
"Oh, right . . ." Darren clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Um, another reason why I'm carrying . . . working so hard right now is, um, it's kind of the way of cultivation. Apart from killing creatures."
Blinking, Naphaela's brows furled, "I'm sorry?"
With a nervous chuckle, Darren pressed his palms together and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to go! I still need to deliver eleven more bags!" He then began sprinting towards the direction of the mine, cursing himself for forgetting his quest and leaving the cultivator lady behind.
♦♦♦
"Damn it!" Darren cursed under his breath in gritted teeth, bringing down a pickaxe against a crystal embedded in rock. What followed was the sharp crunch of wood-- his pickaxe's handle snapped.
"Deities above . . ." He stared at the piece of wood in his hand in horror, before opening the system, wanting to see how much time he had left.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
17m left before sundown
Bags delivered: 19
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Usually, when one had their pickaxe broken, they would have to pay a tiny fee and have the pickaxe replaced. But one had to go back to the surface for that, so he didn't have time. As such, Darren ran over to a nearby miner and pleaded. "Can I borrow this for a sec? Please? It's going to be very quick."
The miner wanted to protest, but before he even realized, he found a handful of coins in his grasp and his pickaxe gone. Darren was again chipping away hastily on the walls of the tunnel.
There weren't many miners left working at that time of day, but to those who saw Darren work his hardest for whatever reason amazed them. At first, they made small talk out of him, having fun trying to guess the reason for his hard work, but they soon became worried.
They were all mossbags. If they weren't going to care about each other, then who would?
After one final strike, Darren got another chunk of mineral which he immediately stashed into his bag. He dropped the pickaxe beside the bag before he held it by its opening.
" . . . Quests." He muttered under his breath, his shoulders rising up and down rapidly from his shortness of breath.
▬▬▬Notice▬▬▬
9m left before sundown
Bags delivered: 19
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
His eyebrows were soaked with his sweat, and he had long since took off his shirt from the feeling of heat.
Every breath he took made rushing sounds of wind in his ears, as if he could breathe through them, and the entirety of his mouth was dry.
His body screamed for a break, but his mind was tough as steel. He was this close to reaping the quest rewards, and he wasn't going to give up on it. So with a roar through gritted teeth, Darren summoned the last ounces of his strength and shouldered the sack of stones. He then began sprinting upward the tunnel.
With each step, his bones and muscles creaked. His sides writhed in pain. His arteries and veins popped out of his skin. Darren was breaking the limits his brain had set for the body.
When he took his final turn in the tunnels and saw the barely illuminated skies from inside, his body was near its absolute limit. Even his brain couldn't do anything anymore apart from make simple thoughts of what he wanted.
'I'll finish this. I won't let it go to waste.' He chanted in his mind as he eyed the sillhouette of the man in charge of deliveries.
At the same time, an announcement rang in his head, "One minute and seven seconds left before sundown."
It gave him a final push as he began sprinting upwards, his body about to be torn apart. His ligaments and tendons screamed, and his muscles were starting to twitch from the stress.
"43 seconds." The system announced as Darren ran. He still had about the length of a basketball court to cover uphill.
As announcements of the timer continuously rang in his head, Darren did his best to maintain his speed, even trying to accelerate. But he was at his limit. He couldn't go faster even if he wanted to. The best he could do was to maintain his speed.
"13 seconds."
"12 seconds."
"11 seconds."
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
Only a few meters away from the tunnel's opening, Darren let out a roar and leaned forward, wanting to use his weight to help his speed.
"13 seconds."
"12 seconds."
"11 seconds."
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
Only a few meters away from the tunnel's opening, Darren let out a roar and leaned forward, wanting to use his weight to help his speed.
"Seven."
"Six."
"Five."
When finally got out of the tunnel, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his thigh. He couldn't move it anymore.
With a stiffened limb, he tripped and fell to the ground, a few meters away from the man in charge of the deliveries. Upon hearing Darren's roar, he immediately ran over to the young man to scold him for overwork, but then the young man collapsed. The few mossbags in the vicinity rushed in to help Darren, but there was only one thing in Darren's mind.
'Did I finish . . . the quest?'
As if answering his question, the system announcement played in his head, over his tinnitus-ridden hearing and the indistinct, panicked chatter of the people around him.
"You have completed your first quest. Title: [Hard-Worker] acquired. Conditions met. Hidden Title: [Tenacious] acquired."