Sorry for the delay, I caught a cold day before yesterday that lasted till now, so it took a small toll on me to post the chapters.
A bit of a spoiler...
In here, I'll be starting the time skip, tell me in the comments what you thought of this method to display the events.
Would you prefer it like this, or something like a massive jump, with me showing the events progressively?
Or do you have another even cooler idea?
I'll be here to discuss it with you!
.
.
.
----------
As the days went by, Dale continued with his training, and progressed with his plans…
(I'll start the time skip by giving a quick summary of the previous 2 days, you'll understand why later…)
Day 1
The first Day of Resko's intensive training.
Starting off with a bang, this was the day Testros reached enlightenment after achieving a long dream, while also setting up a new one for himself, a desire to surpass himself and reestablish, or better put, make a new future, one he can be part of, instead of entrusting it onto another generation.
It was also the day Dale learned how to use Mana after watching him, changing his future in unpredictable ways, by opening the Heart Gate, while also learning a bit of the truth about the outside world when he was attacked right next to his home.
While also marking the start of his ever-growing desire for power, something that was once simply meant for him to seek out the truth, and not truly a goal, was now more than that, since now things had escalated into a matter that involved the people around him, his family.
Day 2
Nothing much happened this day.
Dale witnessed Illia's progress and her growth toward becoming a Cook and not simply a caretaker.
She had finally settled into doing something of her life, instead of living day by day taking care of children that were not hers, letting the days pass by without a goal...
Albeit she loved doing so, it wasn't what she was meant to be.
A goal to strive towards, something she lacked... Now she can take better care of the kids around her, by preparing tastier foods.
Seeing their smiles was everything she could ask for.
Later that day, he created a Player squad with the goal of collecting materials in the Catacombs, and hopefully, that would be enough to shut a certain old man's mouth in regards to the lack of materials...
And he reached Level 30, being the first one to do so, and receiving the correspondent privilege for such an achievement.
It was also around this time that Tina came back from the Forest, and although she tried to brush it off, it was clear that she was hurt, although lightly, it was still an injury.
And for old people like her, no matter how strong she is, her natural healing ability has long stopped working properly.
Dale couldn't tell her to stop, because he knew she wouldn't, at most, he would make her hesitate, and that was the worst thing he could do to her when she was risking herself like that.
Although she acted though most of the time, he knew she always took what he said to heart... So what if she were to hesitate at a crucial time? He didn't want to think of that.
He gave her a potion so her injuries could heal quickly, and left, this was the most he could do for now.
Following that, he passed the rest of the day studying, and later, practicing what he learned by sparing with Testros in the training arena.
Midway through that, Misgurd joined in, a bit heated up as well, although it was unsure why he was so eager to fight...
Perhaps he felt worked up by seeing everyone trying so hard, and even though his arm didn't work the same way as it once had, it was more than enough to take on Dale.
After finishing his training, Dale did a quick stop to log off and eat dinner at home, else he might be punished by his mom… But that only took a few minutes of his life...
And what to say? It was very tasty.
He also used this opportunity to test the effects of his Skill.
Dale wanted to see its effects and what exactly would happen if he were to use it for short periods, and he was surprised to find out that he gained nothing…
It seemed his Skill would only work given a minimum amount of time… As to what that time was, he would need to make a few more tests.
But it was certainly more than an hour.
...
The day ended with Dale taking a quick look at the crop fields, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw they were okay... Albeit for now.
However, he quickly noticed that one Bull and 2 chickens were missing, and this pissed him off.
He was told by the Head that the village had a total of 2 Bulls, a bit over 55 Cows, and around 60 chickens.
It seemed this peace wouldn't last forever, as seen by the fact that the number of Bulls has been cut by 50%...
"It's manageable for now, but I can't rely on luck with this…"
'Nor can I wait until the players reach +10 Reputation, I need them here, now.'
Dale was clearly stressed, he wanted to eradicate these pests, if they weren't a thing, then it would simply be a matter of feeding the farm animals and taking a bit of care around the crops...
A job the players could easily accomplish, giving enough time for the villagers to go back after 2 weeks have passed.
Unfortunately, they were exactly like spiders as they put up thousands of eggs, and with little competition, they proliferated at crazy rates.
With a serious look, Dale spread a strange, yellow powder around the crops and the farm animals.
This powder was made by Yumi, it was a simple repellent, and it should do the trick for now, or at least, heavily minimize the damage.
These farm animals weren't weak, nor stupid, a single one of these Spider pests isn't enough to even faze them… Not even towards the chicken, those meant business, and another one of the many reasons why kids weren't allowed here...
But 10? 20? 30?... Given enough ants, even a tree would fall… And even an Ignition Bovine can be taken down by a swarm.
Dale logged off, ending yet another day of hard work.
...
Day 3 (Actual start of the Time Skip)
/Early morning… Inside the Mercenary Guild…/
"This is?" Misgurd asked as he looked at a small stack of papers
"A few missions I want to be issued, I imagine that I can do that?" Dale asked with his arms crossed
"Yes you can, there isn't a restriction for that, at least, I'm not enforcing it." Misgurd said as he read the papers
"Of course, missions have ranks, and what you can ask to be posted is based on your Rank and position, while the contents of the mission itself are also considered."
"But you don't need to worry about that."
"What about the newcomers?"
Misgurd scoffed and said:
"Yes, they can post commissions as well, as long as they pay, it's okay."
"I don't mind as long as I'm not the target, I won't do any of their missions unless it's something critical, nor should you, we aren't here for them, they are here for us, be wary of that Dale." Misgurd said with a serious look
"Once they find out how much money it's necessary to boss you around, they'll keep doing... Perhaps for you, reputation doesn't matter, but if you keep refusing their commissions after they realized how much you 'cost' they'll start calling you a pretender."
"So until they prove themselves worthy, don't take commissions from them, don't let them order you around."
"..."
'That's quite the pessimistic outlook of the players... But he's right, there are all sorts of crazy players, what if they decide to lure me into the forest under the guise of a quest?'
Misgurd continued:
"... Decency is also a requirement for the quests, you can't post a quest that asks someone to run round naked, causing quite the upheaval and a fair deal of problems, the quests were made to resolve problems, not cause more…"
"Nor scream next to my office… Or to pull a prank on me… Much less call me bald loudly... The last one I'll make sure to throw the culprit in jail." Misgurd said with a dark expression
"Did… Something like that already happened?"
"More frequently than you think. But we're getting off-topic, can you explain to me what this is about? You know very well what we talked about last time, we decided to keep them inside for now…"
"Yes I know, but we need to take care of the crops, so I'm willing to break the agreement we decided on and have a group do the job for us."
'Someone has to feed the animals, someone needs to be outside.'
"... Fine, I agree with you on that one. Both me and Edimund were discussing how to deal with this issue, and this may very well be a solution."
"I'll issue this quest as soon as possible, I'll pick up the most trustworthy people, you can be assured of that." Misgurd said with a smile
"Thanks."
"Why are you thanking me? This benefits both of us." He said with a small chuckle as he patted Dale's back
"Is there anything else?"
"That was all." He replied as he shook his head
"In that case, I'll be here if you need me for anything else, I've been drowned in work recently, so it's unlikely I'll leave this place anyway." Misgurd said, annoyed
"You should be thankful, as the second highest ranking member after me in this Branch, you should be kneeling on the ground that I'm not drafting you to work as the Vice leader." He said smugly
"Yes yes, thank you, your highness." Dale replied with a bow
Misgurd rolled his eyes and moved his hand, shooing him away
Dale smiled, leaving to train.
…
/Around a minute later…/
"Hopefully with this, another problem shall be resolved." Dale said as he looked back towards the Guild
'A few simple repeatable quests, it's the best solution for this problem.'
'One quest that involves hunting the pests, one that involves protecting the crops and animals, and one that involves taking care of them...'
'I'm sure there'll be a lot of players interested in that, or at least one of them, from the older players to the new ones that just came in…'
'At first, I was thinking of leaving this with Rodi's Clan, but that may attract too much attention to them and make the players think I'm favoriting them.'
'Besides, it's not like they have time for that after the quest I gave them already.'
'And although I'm leaving these quests for the normal players, I doubt they'll fuck it up.'
'If at first, they fail, then better players will take their place, all the way until this quest's difficulty is set in place.'
'Overtime, suitable players will flock to complete it, while the less capable ones will have to remain to do the miscellaneous quests to increase their Reputation.'
'Increasing the quest diversity within the Mercenary Guild is key, as it is currently one the best tools at controlling the players, so I need to increase its appeal to them.'
'But I'll have to wait and see the effects of these quests later.'
For now, Dale removed this matter from his head and went to train.
Each day, he pushed himself a bit more…
He needed to, he had to.
All of it to become…
…
.
.
.
Notes