Even though Zephyr had never played this game before, he still knew several things about it.
For example, he knew that newbies leveled up quickest through accepting quests, and he had to approach respective NPCs individually to find quests. Of course, experienced players could rely on their own experience to find NPCs with quests as quickly as possible. Zephyr could only rely on his own luck.
Unfortunately, it was not an easy task obtaining a quest in Tensura. The reason is that the NPCs of Tensura possesses high intelligence giving them the capability to hold one on one conversation.
However, Zephyr wouldn't deliberately look for NPCs to accept quests because leveling up or not didn't matter to him. He didn't want to make a name for himself in this game anyway, and just wanted to find some fun for his boring life.
However, he still had to achieve a certain standard, even if he did not want to take the game seriously, he should not be left behind by the other players. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to do anything if he ran into any exceptional circumstances.
Zephyr needed to think about such things, so he dashed into the village entrance and approached numerous NPCs. However, using the word 'ran' to describe his movement seemed wrong. In the early phases of the game, his movement speed was very slow. He was almost walking.
Zephyr felt a little exasperated as he followed his mini map's directions toward the village entrance. He ran into several NPCs along the way. He stepped forward for a brief conversation, but he discovered after his conversations that no quests were triggered, and he hadn't found a single one before he reached the village entrance.
'Since I can't find any quests, then so be it.' Zephyr thought to himself. He decided to stop approaching NPCs as he ran straight for the village entrance.
Fortunately, the houses and whatnot that Zephyr had come across along the way were designed quite realistically, and even the NPCs appeared no different from real people.
The game appeared to be designed relatively well. The ancient European constructions were beautiful, and they radiated peace and harmony. The NPCs all looked very kind and friendly.
'Hmm? Something's not right.'
Zephyr found two guards standing by the village's main gate. Even though they didn't look different, Zephyr could feel that they were different from other NPCs.
Their expressions didn't look as natural as other NPCs inside the village, and they appeared a little anxious and worried. Zephyr had always been relatively sensitive to human expressions, but he probably wouldn't have seen this if he hadn't been moving very slowly.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Zephyr inquired, hoping for a lucky break.
One of the security officers frowned. "Young otherworld adventurer, we really need assistance, but you appear to be a little too weak right now."
"Yes," Zephyr stated flatly, "But as I acquire experience, I will become stronger."
Zephyr thought, "I really don't like talking about these topics." But he didn't have an option but to go through this lengthy procedure in order to accept a quest.
The guard replied, "Oh? You sound like a very ambitious youth. Alright, I'll give you a task! There are many wolves wreaking havoc outside the village, and I want you to destroy them. I will give you a reward for that."
Suddenly notification appeared in front of Zephyr.
[Are you willing to accept the quest, (Wolf Extermination)?]
'Accept!'
[Wolf Extermination] (F-rank Quest)
Kill 10 wolves. There is no time limit for this quest.
He turned around, and noticed that several other players were already heading in the same direction. He couldn't help but run even faster toward the village after turning back, but not because he wanted to gain the upper hand, but because he didn't want to be together with too many people.
The truth was, forming a team was the most appropriate method, but he didn't like being together with others, not to mention strangers, even though he was a newbie who didn't know anything about the game.
Zephyr passed a swarm of players on his way finding a wolf den. Wolves were level 4 monsters. Normally, no one at level 1 should engage even with 1 wolf much less a pack of 12 wolves.
He scouted his sorroundings and hid behind a rock before throwing a small pebble in a bush. It alerted a wolf and came to check it. Just as he peeked behind the bush.
CHOP!
[Critical!]
[You have dealt 300 damage to the target.]
[The target has died!]
Due to the ambush, the wolf was caught off guard which sent its head off flying. Due to a wolf's keen sense of smell, they detected the smell of blood and looked at Zephyr who killed their kin.
Now 11 wolves were charging on him. Zephyr ran around the obstacles to slow them down as he damaged the wolves one at a time.
[You have dealt 256 damage to the target.]
[You have dealt 261 damage to the target.]
[You have dealt 259 damage to the target.]
It took him 22 minutes with his stamina fully depleted that he finally slayed all 12 wolves.
[The target has died!]
[The target has died!]
[The target has died!]
[The target has died!]
[Level Difference of 2. Experience gain multiplied to 200%]
[5000 experience has been acquired.]
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level has risen.]
[Your level has risen.]
Zephyr looked expressionless as gained 3 levels as he reached level 5. He now had 50 unassigned AP (attribute point).
As he had gained 50 strength and vitality from the ring of the giants, Zephyr didn't hesitate to click the plus sign (+) of agility and intelligence. Rising both stats to 30. He didn't add on strength as for melee job, he concluded that agility is the best choice in the early stages of Tensura.
Zephyr opened his status window and looked for the changes.
[Name: Zephyr
Race: Human
Title: None
Class: Aprentice Swordsman
Second Class: None
Level: 5
Tier: 0
HP: 1,100
MP: 300
Stats:
Strength: 55
Agility: 30
Vitality: 55
Intelligence: 30
Available stats point: 0.]
The difference in his stats was so massive as he gained the Ring of the Giant in the early game making him save AP on strength. Zephyr then look at his loot.
[You have acquired 55 bronze coins.]
[You have acquired Leather Boots.]
[Leather Boots]
Rarity: Common
Durability: 5/7
* Increases agility by 2%.]
Zephyr looked indifferent at his loot as he equip the boots. The loot was decent for his first hunt. Especially the 55 bronze coins. At this stage of the game, bronze coin has great value.
A commoner NPC would only earn about 10-15 silvers a year. Hence, the value of 55 bronze coins were worth a month of someone's effort.
The world follows the system.
100 bronze coins = 1 silver coin
100 silver coins = 1 gold coin
While most players were still stuck on level 2 or 3, Zephyr is already level 5.
(Ratings: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Unique and Legendary.)
Zephyr went back to the village and submitted the quest to the guards.
"Mister guards. I have completed your request and slayed 12 wolves instead of ten."
Zephyr said as he took the corpse of the wolves from his inventory. Seing that Zephyr completed their request very swiftly, both guards smiled.
"Thank you fellow for listening and accomplishing our requests."
[Wolf Extermination] (F-rank Quest).]
[Status: Completed.]
[2000 experience has been acquired.]
[Your level has risen.]
['Basic Sword Mastery' proficiency has increased by 2.5%]
['Chop' skill proficiency has increased by 2.5%]
Completing the quest, Zephyr left. As he was now level 6, he was now ready for the quest that would be given by the village chief.
He went straight to the village chief to the desolate hut of the village chief.
The hut was visited by many players, because it's position is very peculiar. It stands out a lot. But none could get a quest as the minimum requirement is level 5.
As he entered the hut, he saw the old man who gave him his rewards for clearing the tutorial. He turned around at Zephyr and sighed.
"You look troubled. Is there anything I can help you?" Zephyr asked the old man.
"You are an exceptional adventurer. You are gaining strength too fast. Perhaps you indeed has the capability to help me.
The old man took a seat and started narrating the story.
"Our village was once a prosperous farming village. We have a very beautiful lake in the vicinity. That was until 30 years ago when lake water turned black and made the area unable to do farming. I am the village chief for 60 years and I am nearing my death. Please help me solve the mystery of the lake."
Suddenly notification appeared in front of Zephyr.
[Are you willing to accept the quest, (Beginner Village Request)?]
'Accept!'
[Beginner Village Request] (A-rank Quest)
Help the chief solve the mystery of the lake.
Rewards:????
Failure: -300 karma, -3 levels
.
This was a terrifying quest. At the early stage of game, A ranked quests were not possible for players to clear, and the penalty were heavy.
Zephyr had no idea what this quest is about but he was not afraid of it. On contrary, he was interested as he was curious why it was an A ranked quest for a new player. Zephyr headed towards the direction of the lake after accepting the quest. It didn't take long for him to discover something.
It was a round, fat, and shaggy living being, dark green in color. It was about half a meter tall, and it looked like an enormous ball. He ran for a little while more before he finally neared this monster, and he could see its attributes.
[Slime]
Rating: Common
Tier: 0
Level: 3
HP:50
MP: 50
Introduction: One of the low-rank living beings on the continent, but it doesn't have a good temper. It will attack anyone on the vicinity.
He came near the Slime, he thrust with his first attack, and made his move before the Slime could attack.
His sword found its target, and green blood oozed out!
However, the blood didn't splatter far, and didn't touch his body. Even so, he couldn't help but feel a little sick, but he didn't reveal any uncomfortable expressions.
His graphics settings were set to be completely realistic, and the green blood did seem very realistic. However, such things didn't affect him at all. Images like these couldn't possibly affect him at all.
'Green blood? I see…' Zephyr paused for a while when he saw the color of the Slime's blood, but he quickly understood.
Normal people should be able to accept this better if the blood is green, Zephyr thought to himself indifferently, as he continued his attack.
The Slime missed its attack and was about to launch another one. Zephyr began to shift back diagonally to his right as he tried to distance himself to evade another attack.
All monsters in the Newbie Village had faster attack speeds than players did, and even Level 10 Newbies leaving Newbie Village wouldn't attack more quickly than low-rank monsters like Slimes. Therefore, the Slime would always attack him before he could strike again.
However, after Zephyr added AP to his agility, his movement speed became faster as he begun to outran the slime.
Indeed, the Slime started attacking again.
Zephyr took a step back before this, as he had sufficient speed. The Slime's huge mouth clamped down toward his calf, and he immediately pulled his leg back before he plunged his metal sword into the Slime's head. He managed to damage the monster, and stopped it in its tracks.
The Slime struggled vigorously after a moment's pause before it broke free and started attacking him again. This time, the Slime leapt into the air as it went for his thigh.
Zephyr didn't panic despite what was happening. Instead, he was slightly pleased as he believed jumping into the sky was an idiotic move. The reason was because the Slime couldn't change direction or evade in the air, and Zephyr could slash and hack at the Slime however he wanted.
Zephyr looked expressionless as he started his assaults to the poor slime.