William was confused, "What is it?"
Jenny pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to William. "Here is your Special Quest, created and assigned to you by the Guild Master himself."
He took the sheet and read its contents. It was a mission to guard a large convoy of trading goods on its way to Blue Moon City. The mission would take place in ten days.
"What were you going to do if I couldn't recover the Mana in the array before that time?" he asked.
"We can cut your punishment short if you are making good progress or on your best behavior. At your speed though, this might not be necessary anymore." Jenny showed some concern for William, "Are you not worried about this Quest? Usually only Adventurers at the Foundation Establishment Realm will accept this kind of Mission."
"I'm glad a cute receptionist like you worried about me, but I'm strong." William showed a smile.
"Are you asking to die? I better not hear that from you again!" Jenny turned to the side to prevent William from seeing the blush on her face.
Cute?
She angrily walked to the doorway, "Just be careful, I don't need your death reflecting poorly on my record."
So she's that type of person huh..
Will looked at the Quest sheet again for reference, then decided it was time to leave. According to the grandfather clock on a nearby wall, it was nearly midnight.
***
Ten days later.
William showed small improvements in this span of time. He used the Livingwood Forest as a training ground to develop new spells in secret. Even with an increase in Magical Beasts, William could no longer be threatened. The Liffox were much too weak, and Wind Wolves were slower than William after he awakened the Wind Element.
The Livingwood Forest seemed to calm down a bit. The spawn rate of Magical Beasts was very high, but they weren't nearly as aggressive. Instead, the Outer Ring of the Livingwood Forest was losing its vitality. Perhaps in a few years, the Livingwood Forest would only have an Inner Ring and Core Region.
He developed spells that allowed him to increase his speed by sliding on ice while the Wind Element pushed him forward and maintained balance. William decided the previous explosive method to boost his speed was unnecessary and dangerous, so he scrapped that idea.
William also practiced hardening his skin with the Earth Element. The best method seemed to be covering his body with plates of Earth. He could leave openings for his joints to avoid restricting movement, or completely harden everything to survive a powerful AoE attack.
Using the various spells, William was able to kill any beast in the Outer Ring of the Livingwood Forest. He didn't attempt to explore the Inner Ring, as there was too much risk involved. He spoke with the Guild about the Inner Ring, and found that there were powerful Wind Wolves at the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm actively hunting. Only Jenny and the Guild Master could possibly compete with those.
William sold most of the materials he picked up, finally surpassing the 100 Gold milestone. His Moneybags talent was subsequently upgraded, increasing William's Fame by another 2 points.
All these plus various battles with Magical Beasts placed William at 64 Potential Points. He wasn't sure how long it would be until he could upgrade his Magic Talents since he would be doing a mission, so William decided to purchase another random magic talent.
--Talent Purchased: Lightning Affinity
-Lightning Element Acquired: +1 Potential Point
As usual, William tested the effects of the Lightning Element before upgrading it directly to D Rank. With each upgrade, William's resistance to lightning and its attack power increased. He could have used lightning to increase his speed further, but it was too difficult for now. Maybe reaching C Rank would give William more control over the Lightning Element.
This was about all William could do with his points before leaving, so he said goodbye to his mother and walked to the Guild Hall where the convoy was waiting.
The organizer of the convoy looked to be a middle-aged nobleman with a portly look. The nobleman looked at William and seemed disappointed.
A young female servant was sent out to greet William, "Hello Mr. Gold Rank Adventurer, I am in service to Baron Leff who has asked me to give you the details of our trip to Blue Moon City." the young girl looked a bit nervous, but she was still able to explain William's duties.
William was just one Gold-Rank Adventurer of about a dozen others, most of which were from different villages or cities. Each was tasked to guard a section of the convoy, and since William was the most junior Gold-Rank Adventurer, he was placed in the center.
Torc was also on the convoy, and would be guarding the center as well. The man waved enthusiastically when he saw William approaching his position. Some of the others saw William too, but they lost interest after finding that he had no Cultivation.
"Hey you, Commoner! Where are you going?" an unfamiliar male voice sounded.
William turned his head to see a young noble with a pudgy face walking in his direction. 'Is this a chance for more Potential Points?' he became a bit excited. No one would expect that William was already preparing to kill someone he had just met.
Will spoke nonchalantly, "What is it?"
William's tone angered the noble. This kind of attitude needs to be punished! "What do you mean, what is it? The f*ck is a Commoner with no Cultivation doing on this Mission? Does the Guild not have enough members that it has to send an inexperienced child?"
William shrugged his shoulders but said nothing. Seeing this, the noble was about to grab William when Torc stepped forward with his shortsword unsheathed. "We fought together; I can vouch for his strength. He is also a healer."
'Nooo Torc what are you doing?!? Can't you see I almost had 5 more points?' William was crying inside at the loss, but he still appreciated the man for defending him.
Hearing Torc's words caused the noble to pause. The noble looked at William suspiciously, but his aggression subsided when William released some Life Mana.
"A healer? I guess he can stay for now..." as much as the noble didn't like William, healers were worth much more on a Quest like this than they had initially paid. They tried to recruit Charlotte to join, but she refused because the pay was too little for such a long trip.
The noble kid walked to another area to inspect the other Adventurers, leaving William and Torc to chat about the last few days.
Just after lunchtime, the convoy was prepared to leave. The Adventurers packed their things and took their positions on the top of different wagons, designed much like those from medieval times in William's previous world. Will followed suit, sitting cross legged on the top of a wagon.
He lost his balance quickly when the convoy started moving, so William looked around at the others.
The Cultivators were using their spiritual energy to remain seated but William didn't have that ability, so he discreetly used Ice Magic to stick his clothes to the top of the wagon.
The convoy took a turn out of the village and traveled East. The sound of horse hooves clacking on the ground became a metronome that led William to lose himself in thought. Will wasn't sure how long it would be until he saw the Thin Creek Village and Misha again, but something told him things would be very different next time.