"The tokens..." It was at this time that Eldric suddenly remembered something.
"In the school, you said that tokens can not be given to any other person. But I just paid tokens to these people here."
Saying this, he waved his hand before forming a small card in his hand.
"Oh really?" With a smile, Ellina waved her hand and formed a small similar card. "Go on... try to transfer some tokens to me too."
Looking at her wicked smile, Eldric hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth.
Touching his card with hers Eldric thought about giving her five tokens but nothing seemed to happen.
"Uh..." Even though the card was already clean, Eldric still wiped it on his clothes before trying again.
But no matter how hard he tried, nothing seemed to happen.
Confused, he could only look at Ellina who was sitting in front of him with a smug smile.
"Did you not go to the mission hall?"
Speaking slowly, she continued "Only people who have accepted the mission to work in this city can be paid. Even then, they can only be paid their fee, nothing else."
A look of realization struck Eldric. It seems that not every mission is about killing and finding materials as he initially thought.
"Since you have already run out of tokens, here's what I think you should do."
"Accept some missions of working here. And after you have earned more than a hundred tokens, buy yourself some equipment. Then choose a group mission and spend the tokens to transfer there instantly.
This is the best course of action for you."
Listening to her suggestions, Eldric was lost in thoughts. Just like the woman in front of him said, this is the best course of action for him.
"Your time is almost up.
If you have any other questions, do ask me."
It was now that Eldric noticed the time of one hour was almost up. Talking to her, he didn't even realize how fast time passed.
"One last thing. Can you tell me more about Life Professions?"
Thinking about how there was something related to it in the shop, Eldric couldn't help but ask.
Ellina paused for a moment and thought for a while. She was wondering whether she should tell him in detail or just the bare minimum that he needed to know. And after thinking for a while, she looked at Eldric before speaking softly.
"You have already learned in school that if one awakens a life profession instead of a combat profession, then their future road will be extremely limited."
"Well, it is completely true. Those who awaken life Professions instead of combat professions, do not go through the trial or evolution.
Instead, they need to master their life skills."
Looking at Eldric, she spoke further "If you want to, you can go to your city's town hall to buy a blessing stone.
Only those who have awakened their combat profession can awaken their life profession after every evolution.
The rest of the conditions are the same as others."
She already knew what Eldric was thinking. After all, this wasn't the first time she had seen a youngster full of hopes and ambitions.
It's a pity that all of them crumble later when faced with the ever-increasing difficulty of making progress.
"If you are thinking about earning tokens from a life profession, then I would suggest you give up this thought.
You need to be someone proficient in the profession to even hope to make a splash. Just focus on improving your strength first. That way, you will have plenty of time for life profession."
The two of them talked about numerous things till the time was up. Eldric had to admit that it was worth spending those fifty tokens for so much information.
"Do hire me again if you have any more questions."
A shiver ran down Eldric's spine when he saw her expression of wanting more money. Bidding her farewell with haste he ran to the mission hall to see if there was something he could do.
[Deposit 10 Black Boar Tusk: Reward 10 Tokens]
[Clear the area around white hills: Reward 10 Tokens]
[Deposit 10 Dusk Flowers: Reward 10 Tokens]
Looking at the long list of missions, Eldric couldn't help but gasp. The majority of the missions were related to materials. Checkin on the auction, even the lowest priced material was at 11 Tokens. And here, they were asking ten of those same materials for 10 Tokens.
"What a rip-off." Cursing at these profiteers, Eldric kept on looking at a suitable quest. But even after searching for a while, he couldn't find anything that stood out.
"Let's just upgrade the skills first." Since he was running low on tokens, Eldric decided to evolve his skill first. As for which one... He couldn't decide.
On one hand, he wanted to see the next evolution of his main attack skill but on the other hand, he wanted to evolve his newly gained skill.
Torn between the two, Eldric thought for a long time before he decided to evolve his newly gained skill first. Compared to his first skill, his second newly gained skill was rather cheap to evolve.
Making up his mind, Eldric exited the zone and opened the panel.
[Name: Eldric Stormborne]
[Profession: Brawler(Tier I)]
[Vitality: 2]
[Strength: 2]
[Agility: 2]
[Skills: Thunderous Barrage, Fast Leap]+
[Tokens: 60]
He then looked at the newly gained skill.
[Fast Leap: Jump forward with great strength, dealing damage.] +
[Materials Needed for Evolution: White Rabbit's Paw x 1, Fluorescent Flower x 1]
Checking the price of the two items in the auction, Eldric breathed in relief. He only needed to spend a total of twenty-two tokens to evolve this skill.
Without any hesitation, he brought these two items from the auction and looked at them in front of him. Just like the shop, the two items were giving off a dim glow, which after he checked displayed their names.
"Evolve." Soon under his expectant gaze, the screen in front of him flickered before the skill 'Fast Leap' disappeared and a new skill took its place.
[Swift Leap: Jump forward with enhanced strength, dealing increased damage and briefly stunning the target.]+
[Materials needed for evolution: Black Rabbit's Paw x 1, Illustrious Flower x 1]
Looking at the items that cost 26 tokens in total, Eldric gritted his teeth and decided to evolve it one last time.
Soon, the screen flickered in front of him once again and the previous skill disappeared before being replaced by a new one.
[Surging Leap: Leap forward with great speed and power, dealing significant damage and briefly stunning the target. Upon landing, gain a temporary speed boost for a few seconds.]+
Feeling the familiar warm sensation enveloping his body, Elric almost cried out in comfort. This sensation lasted for a few minutes before disappearing completely.
When everything was back to normal, Eldric looked at his remaining balance of [12] Tokens before almost crying out. It took him so much effort to just earn these tokens and now they were all gone. The more he thought about it, the more distressed he became.
"You there?" When Eldric thought about how he was able to clear the trial with the help of the girl, he couldn't help but call her out. Since the day he completed the trial, he never saw her again. He didn't know what happened inside the Nightmare difficulty trial. But he was sure that whatever it was, it took a heavy toll on her. So much so, that even after two days, he still couldn't sense her.
He called her once again, but after a few minutes, he just gave up. "I hope she is ok."
Eldric wasn't an ungrateful person who would forget his benefactor. On the contrary, he was dying to meet her and ask her some questions. But unfortunately, the only thing he could do right now was to wait.
.
.
"I guess I will take this mission." Standing in front of the mission hall, Eldric looked at the relatively easy quest before making up his mind.
[Deposit 10 green bull horns: Reward 10 Tokens.]
Going to the nearest receptionist, he talked about the quest. Although the receptionist was a bit surprised when she found out that Eldric was going alone, she didn't think too much about it. There will always be powerful people who like to do missions alone. Perhaps the young boy was one of them.
Handing him the task, she pointed at the giant bronze pillar behind her. "Go there for teleportation."
Eldric was about to ask her some questions but after seeing her get busy with other people, he swallowed his words and walked in front of the pillar.
As soon as he touched it, a window suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Whether to check the position of Green Bulls?]
"That's convenient." immediately nodding, Eldric agreed, and soon a long list appeared on the screen in front of him listing numerous habitats.
[White Meadows: 0 Tokens]
[Red meadows: 0 Tokens]
[Tropical Grasslands: 0 Tokens]
After talking to Ellina, Eldric knew that to teleport using the pillar required spending tokens.
But seeing how the cost was zero, he was dazed for a second before he saw a small '*' at the bottom of the screen.
*Nightmare Exclusive Benefit: Exempted from the cost of teleportation.
"Shiit." Eldric almost cried out in surprise. He knew from the others that every teleportation requires at least a minimum of five tokens. And that is for the areas which are low in resources and have weak enemies.
For some areas, the price goes as high as one hundred tokens.
But seeing how he was free from paying any fees, Eldric couldn't help but clench his fists in excitement. With this, he wouldn't have to worry about accepting tasks based on his token balance.
Without any delay, he chose the first map he saw before disappearing from there.
.
.
In the real world...
As soon as Eldric chose to teleport, his body suddenly blurred before disappearing completely from his room.
"Huh!?" The moment Eldric disappeared, a voice filled with surprise echoed throughout the house.
Inside her room, Aria lifted her head and looked at the wall in front of her, as if seeing through it to the other room.
"Strange..." For the very first time, her voice echoed in the house. "Why would he be so hasty?"
The only explanation for his sudden disappearance was because of teleportation. And the only way Eldric could teleport at his level was to accept the task.
With a frown, Aria looked at his room in silence, with her eyes seemingly lost in her train of thought.