Elder Jie returned after a while, holding a stack of silver hay that was tied by a rope. He handed it to Atlas and left a message.
"Tell Gon to send me a jar of honey faster next time. My horse inside needs sweets to keep working their old bones!"
"I will. See you again, Elder Jie."
"Make sure to tell him, young man!!"
Atlas nodded once again and left with Ferin. As he walked away, a notification popped up in front of him.
[Ding! Hidden quest is generated!]
[The silver hay given by Elder Jie seems to have a strange power. Investigate its true identity.
Reward: Unknown]
[Elder Jie is happy! You have gained +10 reputation.]
"Did you hear that, Ferin?" An excited smile appeared on Atlas' face as he heard the notification. He looked at Ferin, who had a similar smile.
"I got the quest notification, too," Ferin answered.
The quest system in Horizon Online was shared between party members. As for the reward, it depended on what quest it was. There were rewards that were shared, but there were also some quests that only gave a single reward.
But one thing was clear. The reward from the quest completion was given to all party members.
Meanwhile, reputation affected how nice NPCs would converse with players. The higher the player's reputation, the more favorable the NPCs would become. It allowed a player to get quests easier.
"This hidden quest will only appear when a lever 3 player visits Elder Jie while bringing a jar of honey. And this silver hay…" Atlas paused and gave the silver hay to Ferin. "Its true identity isn't important. This is better used to get the Moon Fighter class for your class advancement."
"Hehe, thank you!"
Getting the material she needed for her second-class advancement in advance was a huge thing for Ferin. It would make their progress faster.
Getting a hidden quest didn't necessarily mean they should finish it. Sometimes, the quest item was the one players needed. And this hidden quest was exactly like that.
Besides, even without the quest item, the couple could also finish this quest in the future. They didn't need to hurry because it was practically impossible to finish it right now.
'The true identity of the silver hay will be revealed in Ferin's class advancement. That will give us an extra reward from this Hidden Quest, which we didn't receive in the past because we bought the silver hay from another player.'
All was according to plan. And now, they had to move to the next stage.
"Now that we get the item we need, let's hunt again and move to the first city."
"Agreed!" Ferin nodded her head excitedly, "But Big Rat's hunting area would be swarmed with people right now. The common quests require Rat Claws to be finished, after all."
"That's why we won't go there. We will go hunt Level 5 Black Wolves instead. They will give us more EXP and allow us to level up faster."
"Good idea. With our mechanic, hunting monsters with higher levels should be possible."
"That's right. Now, shall we go?"
***
Black Wolves' den was located a bit deeper into the forest than the Big Rats' hunting area. Passing a rocky hill area, Atlas and Ferin found themselves in a forest with fewer trees but more bushes.
A water stream trailed down the mountain, making this a perfect place for both animals and monsters to drink. Where the prey gathered to drink, there would always be something hidden in the ambush: their predator.
Atlas hid behind a large tree. He observed the surroundings and found his target, a group of 3 Black Wolves hiding behind bushes.
Preparing [Mana Bolt] to attack, he gestured to Ferin, who hid next to him, to block their escape. With a soft nod, the bunny girl kicked the ground and circled around the forest. Her steps were silent. She reached the other side in just a few seconds and gestured that she was ready.
The wolves were still unaware of their presence. They were too focused on the single deer that drank the water from the stream.
Everything was ready. Atlas jumped out of the tree and activated his skill.
"[Mana Bolt!]"
A bluish mana bolt was launched from the staff's tip toward the nearest Black Wolf, which hit it right on its head, creating a critical hit. This time, it didn't kill it immediately and only roused its anger.
"Grr!"
The wolves found Atlas' location. All of them turned and were ready to pounce at him.
However, Atlas wasn't worried. A grin appeared on his face as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.
"Fool. We're two people."
Ferin, who was stationed behind Black Wolves earlier, leaped forward.
"[Dash]"
She activated the first skill given by the Warrior class. The effect was pretty simple: it was to increase one's speed momentarily.
Her sword was unsheathed. A feral smile adorned her face.
With a swift movement, which was impossible to replicate in the real world, she beheaded the three wolves at once. Three clean arches were left. Following that, red hexagons that replicated the damage and blood in Horizon Online gushed out from the cut part as the wolves fell with a thud.
[Ding! 3x Level 5 Black Wolves has been defeated!]
[2x Black Wolf Fangs obtained.]
[1x Black Wolf Pelt obtained.]
Landing on the ground nicely, Ferin sheathed her sword back and raised her arms.
"Yay! That was the cleanest one I have done today!" She exclaimed excitedly as she approached Atlas. "And we got a lot of EXP from that. Won't we level up again if we just kill a Big Rat? Level 4 is in front of our eyes!"
"I don't really remember, but you should be right," Atlas replied, looking at his status. His EXP bar was almost filled. "But we shouldn't worry much about level, anyway. Our target is to reach level 9. Then, we can find the rare monster and hope that it will drop a piece of rare equipment."
He closed his status and looked around. The forest around the Black Wolves' den was pretty much silent.
"Now, let's focus on increasing our level before other players arrive."
"Yeah! I also want to fight again. My hands are so itchy to kill those monsters."
The bunny girl was out for blood today.