[Volume 2: In the Absence of Light!]
[Adam's POV!]
"Are you sure you don't want to stay the night?" standing in front of her house, I saw Evelyn making a sad expression. Her eyes looked like she was doubting herself.
"I told you, didn't I? It was a really pleasant evening. If it wasn't really urgent, I would have spent more time with you," I consoled her, making her nod in silence.
"All right. How about another date next week? Just let me finish this thing that came up, okay?" I added, trying to cheer her up, but she just hummed in silence before making a smiling face," well then. Mr Adam. Let's see you tomorrow morning."
I smiled before I saw her close the gate.
In the end, I sighed deeply. So much for a good date… this better be worth it.
Moving away from there, I took the first turn to a blind alley where a woman stood there wearing a black robe. She looked barely in her 20s, but I knew it was a facade. This girl was well over 1000 years old.
"So. What does the Goddess of Light want from this humble soldier?" I joked, making a slightly irritated expression. Was it related to Ameliana? Did she do something again?
"I saw that you were an adventurer… hence I would like to commission you some work," she spoke, making me turn at her. My eyes were wide open. I looked at her, trying to understand what it was.
"Since the Saintess is away. Some of the Dark Mages hiding within the city have started acting up faster. They are creating various summoning circles to create monsters that are meant to attack the city within this week. Normally this would be done by the Saintess but since all three of them are away," Alepsia turned silent as she told me the general context of the mission.
Since I could use dark magic to destroy the circles, I was probably the only person in this city who could do the work properly.
"So. Do I need to destroy all the circles and the dark mages?" I asked with a slight doubt in my mind. If Alepsia wanted, she could have erased all dark mages a long time ago from the city….
"No. Only those places where I ask you to. I need some dark mages active within the city for the young priests to grow," she spoke, making me chuckle a little.
"No growth in adversaries. Huh?" I commented on her work, but she was silent.
"What are the rewards… also I have a condition," I spoke as I observed her face, while she spoke," I can't tell you the specifics of the rewards, but it will be delivered to you at the end of the work. It will be up to your standards. You need to protect the city for 2 weeks every night. You are free to do whatever you want during the day."
I nodded as she continued," what is your condition?"
"Since I will be using dark magic in the city of light, I need an item that can hide my identity while I do your dirty work," I placed my demand in front of her. I couldn't see through her expression, but judging from the silence, she must be thinking deeply right now.
After about 20 seconds of silence, she then looked at me." Wait for a few moments."
Vanishing from there, she left me alone in the alley. Meanwhile, I wondered what I should do during the day. Since hunting dark mages and monsters should give me ample experience, should I still hunt more monsters, or do something else in exchange?
Though before I could formulate my thoughts, she appeared again. This time with a strange ring in her hand. She looked at me before passing the ring as she spoke," this should help."
"Hmm?"
[Greater Ring of Illusions (Legendary)!]
[Description: This ring was forged by the Goddess of Light, Alepsia for doing mischief with her siblings. She used to play with them all the time, one of the best items from her childhood. Even the Gods won't be able to see through the disguise. A curse has been placed upon it to limit its functions.
Effect: Allows the user to mask himself in any humanoid form.
Limitations: This ring will be bound to the user and cannot be exchanged.
Base Mana Cost: 100MP/minute!]
"..."
"Seems like you are satisfied," Alepsia spoke as she looked at me. She sounded kind of proud of her words. But satisfied? I honestly couldn't have asked for a better item.
"I have placed a limitation so you cannot change into any form that is not humanoid. Other than that, you can do whatever you want with it," she said as she looked at me before adding," though the more specific you are with your magic, the more mana it will cost. It will also cost more mana if you deviate too much from your original form."
'So pretending to be someone else is possible, but the requirements will be harder, huh?' I thought as I understood its function. If not for the limitations, it might have been heaven defying given I could have copied anything or anyone. But even this much is great. If I could have enough, mana, perhaps I won't need to worry about the limitations either way.
"Yes. It's a really good ring. So. When is our first task going to be?" I asked as I wore the ring and Alepsia looked further into the alley. She then began walking as she asked me to follow her.
Not too far from where we were, we reached the end of the alley. Alepsia then touched the wall, opening a small stairway that led downwards.
"There are about 14 heretics hiding there with 3 magic circles at the very end. They have already summoned 5 small monsters and will be summoning more as time passes. Your task is to kill all the heretics, erase the monsters as well as the magic circles," Alepsia spoke as she then added," Once you are done. You are free until tomorrow. I will contact you again when I need you."
[New Quest: Guardian of the Night!]
[Grade: Rare
Difficulty: Moderate
Description: You have been tasked by the Goddess of Light to protect her city in the absence of her Saintess. Follow her commands for the next two weeks to fulfill the mission. Since the Goddess has given you an item from her arsenal, she is expecting good results from you on this mission.
Time left till Quest completion: 13 Days 23 Hours 55 Minutes
Rewards: ???
Penalty: ???
Remark: Try not using Light Magic at all for better rewards!]
I saw her vanishing from there, once again leaving me alone. Well, it wasn't all too bad.
"I hope they are at least a little powerful," I muttered as I descended down the stairs.