Not entirely enthusiastic, the mayor gave him a map, the money needed to buy the medicine, and information about the path he was going to take.
The moment he accepted the map, a panel appeared before him, telling him about how the system is processing the information on the map. After a few seconds, he was brought to the Map Tab, with the path and locations regarding the quest highlighted for him.
After that, the mayor left him alone, leaving with the words, "Please hurry. My daughter is in grave danger."
Darren was glad that the mayor made it quick, so the usage of the [Pokerface] skill only lasted a little over than 4 minutes. When he turned it off, he immediately felt the side effects of having low SP.
Strength left his arms and legs, and every breath he took seemed shallow. He let himself collapse into the bed to rest for a few minutes and recover some SP, while reviewing all the information found in the Map Tab.
There were three prominent hazards that could be found in the forest: the tusked boars, the porcupines, and the leeches.
▬▬▬Map Details▬▬▬
▼Beasts in the Area
▼Tusked Boars (LVL 7-9)
Average-sized pigs that has reinforced, lengthy tusks. Can pierce flesh with enough momentum.
▼Porcupines (LVL 7-9)
Average-sized porcupines that are extra quick on their feet. They can shoot their spines and have an effective range of 5 meters.
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"Doesn't seem all that hard . . ." Darren mumbled to himself, smiling wryly. The rewards seemed awesome, but the risks seemed tall too. "Say, system, can I handle this?"
▬▬▬▬Answer to Query▬▬▬▬▬
Affirmative.
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Darren didn't really know if he could do it or not, even after the system's response, but he'd still be up for the task anyway. He needed to make some real progress after all.
And so, he went out the resthouse and met with the mayor, wanting to ask him a question. He reactivated [Pokerface] right before he did.
"How soon do you need the medicine?"
The mayor's face turned strange upon being asked by the adventurer. He wondered if the E-ranked would even make it through the forest alive. Still, he answered Darren's question, "By sunset . . . no, she may still last until sunrise . . . but please."
The mayor clenched his large fists and looked at the ground, "Do it . . . as soon as possible."
"I can't promise anything," Darren began, still under the effects of [Pokerface], "But I'll do my best."
Meanwhile, in his mind. Ryn couldn't help but scoff into a grin, "An overused line but . . . that was still pretty cool."
♦♦♦
"Gah--!" Darren exclaimed as he once again burst into a running mess. He wanted to take back the line 'Doesn't seem all that hard' whether it would or wouldn't make the forest go easy on him. But it was his reality-- he was being chased by two Tusked Boars, and his skin had been punctured a total of 9 times by porcupine projectiles.
Not to mention his limbs were covered in slightly swollen scratch marks because of all the thorned plants in the forest.
His SP was draining rapidly from all the running, and he only had about 60% of it left. As for his HP, they were far from going in the red, but he would definitely like it if he didn't receive any more damage. And he hasn't even travelled a fourth of the distance towards his destination.
Still, if this continues, his SP would be emptied and he wouldn't be able to move. He had to do whatever he can to find a temporary break from all the running.
Grinding his teeth together, he exclaimed, "Pokerface!"
As he kept running, his SP began to fall at an alarming rate-- falling by 1% every second. But even thirty seconds seemed to be plenty of time to Darren who was under the effects of [Pokerface]. Although his limbs got heavier and heavier by the second, his mind was calm.
Most of the trees nearby had their branches up high, unable to be reached by Darren, but there was the occassional tree that was thicker and had branches at a lower level. He spied one of such trees that he could climb about a dozen or so meters, so he kept up his pace until he reached the tree.
Not wasting anytime, he grabbed a branch and tried pull himself up, only to find out that his low SP made it much difficult. Even under the effects of [Pokerface], Darren couldn't help but click his tongue and annoyance.
He looked back and found one more Tusked Boar that had joined the other two in pursuit of him, and they were closing in on him fast. Without panicking, Darren baited the creatures with his own body, and jumped up at the last second, supporting himself with the branch.
Two of the boars slammed into the tree hard and were stunned for a while, which Darren used as a platform to jump once again and pull himself up successfully up from the ground.
Still, he wasn't safe yet. Although the porcupines dealt minimal damage, the spikes had hooks at their ends. Pulling out a spike was extremely painful, so Darren didn't want to face them right now.
He climbed further up into the tree, until he broke through the foliage of the other, smaller trees. He only stopped climbing after making sure there were no hazards nearby, and after finding a spot where he didn't need to worry about falling down.
And so, he deactivated [Pokerface].
It wasn't that [Pokerface] allowed him to not feel pain or tiredness, but it allowed him to not affect his mental thinking. As such, when he deactivated the skill, he was forced to face all the things that was happening to his body.
His breath was shaking and it seemed as if he could breathe through his ears. He didn't remember getting a cold but his nose was runny. But above all, his whole body felt extremely heavy.
"Stats," he mumbled under his shaky breath.
▬▬▬
HP: 374/495
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SP: 22/108
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Debuffs: Fatigue I
Penalties: -50% EXP Gain
▬▬▬
Darren closed his eyes and craned his head backward, as he took the time to catch his breath.
"This is hellish." Darren mumbled, his eyes still closed. Still, Darren couldn't say that he didn't like this. He couldn't forget how much he dreamed of this while he was just the ordinary mossbag working in the mines, so he wouldn't stop just because it was hard.
Sure, he overreacted that one time in his fight with the shadow fox, since it was terrifying to see your own flesh get bit off like that, but he was just mentally prepared at the time. The various things the system could do also spooked him, but none of those were enough to make him back down.
A calm breeze then began to blow on Darren's face, making him feel cool. He let out a sigh of satisfaction as he opened his eyes, and that was when the sight before him registered in his brain.
The numerous smaller trees were all leveled, making them look like a carpet of green. There was the occassional gigantic tree like the one Darren was on currently, and he could see quite a few of them from his position. Each of such tree differed in height, thickness, and how their branches coiled.
He hadn't been in this world for long, so he wasn't sure if it was late morning or early afternoon, but the day wasn't too sunny.
"System," he began, relaxing from the beautiful sight, "Is this world Hidarya?"
▬▬▬▬Answer to Query▬▬▬▬▬
Negative. This is a nameless world.
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Worlds being nameless wasn't too big of a deal for Darren, since his home world didn't have a name as well, as far as he knew.
After resting for a while, Darren opened the Map Tab and found that he was had traveled a fourth of a distance. If he went on with this pace, he wouldn't be able to get the medicine and return before sundown.
But he couldn't risk the mayor's daughter dying, because he didn't think the mayor would give him the rewards if he were late-- or, another person might come and get the medicine for them instead.
As he mulled about things, Darren couldn't think of any other way than to level up and increase his stats if he wanted to be faster. Even though he had an EXP gain penalty, he might still hunt for creatures if they provided plenty enough EXP.
And although he knew that killing one would let him discover the amount, it wouldn't hurt to ask the system first.
"So, how much EXP can I get from Tusked Boars?"
▬▬▬▬Answer to Query▬▬▬▬▬
Such information cannot be disclosed.
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"Fine." Darren sighed, before beginning his descent down the tree. "I'll kill one myself."