In this perilous game world, a fierce battle had left our adventurer, Finn, with some wounds. But these injuries were no match for his determination to get back. He rushed on without a break and managed to return to Milltown, which we can call "Hope Town" for now, a whole day earlier than scheduled.
As Finn approached the rather flimsy - looking gates of "Hope Town", Coren, the town guard officer, greeted him with enthusiasm. "Finn, it's great to see you again. Maybe we can share a drink tomorrow." Coren was quite a character. He was second only to the mayor in authority in this town. With a thick, bushy beard covering his face, he usually had an air of self - importance. But when it came to Finn, a renowned adventurer with a legendary air, he showed nothing but respect.
Finn smiled and walked towards Coren. Amid the envious stares of the passers - by, they shared a warm embrace.
After a short exchange of pleasantries, Coren leaned in and said softly, "Ms. Mu has been in town for two days. She asked me to tell you to meet her at the Alchemist's House when you got back."
Finn nodded with a smile, yet there was a hint of confusion in his eyes. He thought his business with Ms. Mu had concluded a month ago. He couldn't figure out why she would travel such a long distance to this remote "Hope Town" just to find him. But for Finn, the top priority right now was to obtain the red turquoise as soon as possible.
When old Mulder, who was in charge of checking the adventurers' spoils at the Adventurer's Guild, saw Finn toss the entire Ghost Mist Ridge Demon Leopard's body in front of him, he was completely taken aback. And when he noticed the silver - furred ring around the leopard's neck, his shock turned to disbelief. His eyes widened as he stared at the leopard on the ground, as if he'd seen a ghost. "Oh, my! What is this? It's a silver - maned Demon Leopard. Young man, this is the biggest surprise I've had in nearly a year!"
Old Mulder kept heaping praises, but Finn wasn't interested. He pressed his lips together and cut to the chase. "I think... this leopard should be enough to complete the task. So, when can I get my reward?"
"Of course! If a whole silver - maned Demon Leopard isn't sufficient, what else would be?" Mulder rubbed his tired old eyes and then smiled. "But young man, as per the usual procedure, I need to contact the quest - giver and get their opinion. It won't take long, though. You know, they've already left all the quest rewards with us. Just wait a few minutes. If everything goes well, you'll get what you deserve in no time."
With that, Mulder pulled out a memory scroll from a drawer. He asked Finn to help lift the leopard's body so he could record all its features with the scroll. Once done, Mulder activated the information - transmission magic array on the square table and sent the 3D virtual image of the leopard, which he'd just recorded, to the Adventurer's Guild headquarters. A few minutes later, the audit results came in. Just as Mulder expected, the leopard's body passed the inspection without a hitch.
"Congratulations, young man. Here's your reward." After receiving the headquarters' approval, Mulder stored the leopard's body in his storage space and handed Finn a white cardboard box. Finn opened it right away and found twenty crystal coins and a fist - sized stone with a dark red glow.
"That's it!" Finn recognized the red turquoise at once. He picked it up, eager to examine it more closely, when he heard Mulder's question. "Young man, are you satisfied with the quest rewards?"
"Yes," Finn replied. Realizing this wasn't the place to admire his loot, he quickly put away the stone and the coins, bid farewell to Mulder, and left the Adventurer's Guild in a hurry.
In this dangerous game world, nothing mattered more to an adventurer than enhancing their strength. Finn went straight home after leaving the guild. He locked the door and used a scroll to create a soundproof barrier. Then, he took out all the materials needed to upgrade his Body Doubling skill from his storage space. He placed each material into the prepared Alchemy Dissolver one by one according to the instructions and then started the dissolver with an energy bar.
Through the clear crystal container of the dissolver, Finn could see the materials swirling around in the dissolving liquid like dumplings in boiling water, gradually getting smaller. When the hardest - to - melt red turquoise finally disappeared, the bright - red liquid in the container stopped churning. Finn picked up the container, gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and downed the liquid in one go.
After swallowing the red liquid, Finn felt terrible. It wasn't because the liquid tasted bad. In fact, it was sweet and refreshing, much like watermelon juice. But the process of absorbing the energy to reshape his body was excruciating.
Before the sweet taste in his mouth had completely faded, Finn's stomach started acting up. First, there were non - stop, stinky farts. Then, a sharp pain stabbed his abdomen, just like a bad case of acute enteritis. Next, he felt a strange sensation in his anus, as if something huge was being forced in. Finn quickly clenched his buttocks and rushed to the toilet. As soon as he squatted down, a mass of black, sticky liquid came out. After that, his body felt bloated, his joints creaked, and sharp pains shot through him. The pain was so intense that Finn rolled on the floor. But within five minutes, as the pain grew even worse, he passed out.