We walk into the Association's HQ after a long week of hunting. Maria happily carries our last Strengthening Fragnts tight in her palm.
After Arie scans his ID on the door at the back of the lobby, all 4 of us make our way to the mini-market run by the Association.
Our guide Tripp left us by ourselves about 2 days ago. Apparently, breaking us in was a bit easier than predicted. Bringing the blond-haired Association lap dog around with us on our daily hunting was just keeping him from doing other tasks.
I'm glad he's not on our expeditions anymore, it makes teleporting into the mutant range much easier. Less walking and more training for all of us.
Everyone on the squad has grown past level 365. We're considered a pretty tough C-Class squad, at least for the new recruits.
As we walk closer to our drop-off point, I see the white-haired rchant lady waving to us with a smile.
Sophie was pretty outgoing to begin with, but she's gotten even friendly with the 4 of us as the week progresses. I hear her high-pitched voice ring out as we approach.
"Look who's back, does this an what I think it does? The last one?"
Her eyes open wide as she bites her bottom lip in anticipation. Maria smiles and runs over in a half-skipping manner.
"It sure does, we got all 10!"
The cheerful blond and the excited rchant laugh together about sothing I decide to purposefully block out from my hearing.
I take the glimring silver tablet out of my item storage to watch the number on it shift in front of my eyes.
____________
[Jay Soju]
[Available Credits]: 0
[C-Class]
[Team Weekly Quota]:
[Strengthening Fragnts][9/10]
[Reward]: 5 Credits
[Individual Weekly Quota]:
[NONE][0/0]
[Reward]: 0 Credits
____________
Turns into:
____________
[Jay Soju]
[Available Credits]: 5
[C-Class]
[Team Weekly Quota]:
[PENDING TASK][0/0]
[Reward]: [See Regional Director For Instructions]
[Individual Weekly Quota]:
[PENDING TASK][0/0]
[Reward]: [See Regional Director For Instructions]
____________
I let out a long sigh.
"Well, this can't be good..."
I shift my gaze up from the tablet to see my other 3 team mbers staring at their shimring silver plates with puzzled looks on their faces as well. At least we all got the sa ssage, that's a good sign.
Maria flips her quota tablet around to show Sophie.
"Hey, what's all this about? Why do we have to go see the Director?"
The short white-haired woman scrunches her eyebrows and mutters sothing under her breath in a low tone.
"I had a feeling sothing like this would happen..."
I jump in after hearing this statent.
"Hey what do you an by that? What'd we do wrong?"
I know exactly what we did "wrong" but I won't be the one to admit it. The Association gave us this quest, how could they possibly punish us if we actually carried it out...
Sophie shrugs.
"Hey, I don't know what you did wrong. It's just pretty uncommon for a group of new recruits to fulfill their first quest... Well, it's actually near impossible."
She gulps, then continues.
"The advancent teams that create quest quotas directly under the Director often give new recruits a hard ti their first couple weeks. It's pretty normal for not even a single quota to be t. Yet sohow, you 4 have completed yours with ease."
She shivers slightly.
"One of the hardest ones too..."
The 4 of us stand in silence for a mont thinking over the words Sophie just uttered. Aside from my hypothesis that mutants have a 0% drop rate, there could be so truth to her statent even if these monster's rate was closer to 1%.
Without my teleportation skill and quick farming strategies, there's no way we could have killed enough mutants to even co close to eting our quota.
This is enough to convince my other team mbers... Abby crosses her arms and stares at the rchant with a smug look on her face.
"Well, we're just a whole lot faster than all those other teams."
Maria jumps in.
"Yeah, no way they could keep up with us. The Director probably wants to give us an extra reward or sothing!"
Arie grins and nods.
"We'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure this will be an interesting eting."
I swallow hard before adding to the discussion.
"I agree..."
The topic of conversation changes between my teammates and the white-haired rchant. I zone out staring down at my quota tablet.
On the bright side, we did complete our first mission together. Each of us has earned 5 credits, whatever that ans. I'm going to have to check out a few of these shops. Credits are worth 1 gold if exchanged, or double if used to purchase any items here.
It wouldn't hurt to take a look around the place. I'm sure there's so pretty decent gear. An upgrade or two never hurt anybody. On the off chance nothing strikes my fancy, I can just exchange my credits for gold.
I twist my head around, then look back at my teammates.
"Hey uh- I'll be back in a minute, I want to check out the shops."
Arie smirks.
"Sure, et us back here when you're done. We'll be heading up to the top floor right after. Luckily, the Director isn't away on business, we can talk to him right now."
I gulp, then turn with a wave.
"Sounds... good... I won't be long."
Arie turns back to the rchant's stand with Maria and Abby. I'm not sure what they're looking at over on the short woman's counter, but it seems to be sothing that's keeping them entertained...
I shrug and begin walking leisurely through the neon flashing signs. The primarily pink and blue lights reflect off the glossy black floor.
It makes focusing on one shop pretty hard, maybe this is so form of advanced marketing tactic?
Or... maybe I just have a hard ti focusing and think everything around is designed to ss with my mind, when in fact I'm the one doing all the ntal manipulation myself.
Either way, there's so pretty unique-looking gear in this market. I use Appraisal on a few interesting-looking pieces.
There are long silver swords, heavy tal armor and shield sets, huge axes, shiny black daggers, and even a few high-percentage stat-boosting accessories.
[Enchanted Silver Long Sword] 400 Strength
[Shield of Solitude] 600 Defense
[Armor Set of Solitude] 800 Defense
[High Ogre's Axe Set] 600 Strength
[Enchanted Dagger Set] 400 Speed 400 Agility 200 Strength
[Ring of Protection] 35% Defense
[Enchanted Silver Ring] 40% ntal Strength
[Amulet of Quickness] 45% Speed
[Yeti's Charm] 50% Defense 50% Ice Magic Resistance
All the shopkeepers seem nice, and their items are definitely high-grade, but nothing here gets anywhere close to my blades or so of my own stat-boosting items. I decide haggling isn't even worth my ti.
I rember the Director ntioning the Association regulating the buying, selling, and use of elent stones. A wielder has to have the stone bonded with their weapon. So, they wouldn't just have them out on display here... If this is all the gear they have on display then I'm not in the market for anything new.
I begin to walk back to my group, but a bundle of green and pink potions catches my attention.
20x [C-Class HP Potion] 2500 HP
20x [C-Class MP Potion] 2500 MP
I raise an eyebrow while walking over to a grey-haired older-looking man sitting behind a small counter with potions from E to C class lined up very neatly.
"Good evening, are you in the market for any potions today?"
I nod while examining them closely. This is the first ti I've seen a C-Class potion. They're much more compact than the E or D-Class bottles I've purchased before. There's no need for to buy MP potions, plundering mana from crystals is much more efficient.
During the exams, every ti I wanted to get back up to full health I had to drink 2 potions. Having so higher-grade HP items may be very beneficial. Being able to heal 2500HP in a single compact potion will allow to act quicker in the heat of a battle.
"How much for the C-Class HP potions? All 20 of them."
The man begins tapping a small tablet under his counter, then turns it toward . It reads out: [0.6C] in black text.
"That will be 0.6 credits. Just scan your tablet here and the transfer will happen in an instant."
I nod slowly, then reach for my small silver square. Thrown off by this new technology, I don't even try to throw him a counteroffer. I'm sure I could have gotten them for under 0.5 credits if I tried...
"Uhh- Sure, here you go-"
The two tablets flash with a dim white light, then the rchant smiles and hands a bag full of potions.
"Appreciate your business today, see you again soon!"
He waves off before I even think of a reply. I just mutter out a quick "thank you" while continuing my walk back to my team. I place both the tablet with 4.4 credits left on it, and the 20 new HP potions into my item storage.
Arie, Maria, and Abby all stand by the rchant's counter patiently waiting for my return. Arie is the first to greet , as the others begin walking back toward the lobby.
"Let's go, Sophie just made special arrangents for us. Our eting with the Director is about to begin."
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