Chapter 18: Pests Of The Plains

Inside his room, Lux was busy reading the information about Leaf Village in the Elysium Compendium. 1

"So this village is located in the Dwarven Kingdom of Gweliven," Lux muttered. "The specialty of Leaf Village is honey-flavored leaf candies. It restores 50 Health Points and 50 Mana Points…" 6

With the compendium in hand, Lux was able to access important information about anything in Elysium. Just like Eriol said, it was like a walkthrough that could help anyone who had it. 1

When Lux clicked the image of Leaf Village in the Compendium, he was given two options. The first option was the map of the village, and the second one was the map of its surrounding areas. Since he had already explored the village, the red-headed boy chose the information on its surrounding areas instead. 3

—--

< Leaf Village > 3

– Beginner's Zone

< North Zone >

– Figaro Gardens

– A place where insectoid type monsters roam. 8

< West Zone >

– Heartwood Forest

– The place where the majority of people from the Leaf Village hunt for food, and resources.

< South Zone >

– Leaf Village Cemetery

– A place where low-level undead are sighted during the night. 4

< East Zone >

– Aspiration Plains

– A wide open plain filled with monsters that travel in groups. 1

—--

"I see, the Compendium also allows me to view the types of monsters that can be found in each area. This is amazing! I'm glad I got this from the Gacha Pull," Lux felt truly blessed after getting the Compendium. "It might not even take me a year to enter the Apostle Rank. Now, the only question is, where will I go first tomorrow?" 4

Lux rubbed his chin as he checked the information regarding the various monsters exclusive to each zone. The Compendium even highlighted the location of the dangerous monsters that roamed their territories, known as Alpha Monsters. 1

These monsters were often referred to as Newbie Killers because their strength could easily kill any newcomer who had unknowingly wandered in their territories.

Aside from the Alpha Monsters, Lux also noticed that there was one "Field Boss" in the territory of the Leaf Village and it was found inside the Heartwood Forest. 2

The name of the Field Boss was Forest Wolf King. Lux checked its stats to get a better idea of how strong a Field Boss was.

—--

< Forest Wolf King >

– Beginner Zone Field Boss

– King of the Forest

– Rank 4 Field Boss Monster

Health: 300,000 / 300,000 9

Mana: 80,000 / 80,000

Strength: 200

Intelligence: 100

Vitality: 250

Agility: 250

Dexterity: 150

Skills: Windwalk, Wind Blade, Air Blast, Call of the Wild. 5

—--

Lux sucked in a deep breath because the stats of a Rank 4 Field Boss Monster truly made him feel insignificant.

In Elysium, the mortal and the monster ranks depended on their combined stats.

This was the Basic Ranking System for Mortals.

Grade A Apostles - 800 Points

Grade B Apostles - 600 Points

Grade C Apostles - 400 Points

Grade D Apostles - 200 Points

Beginners - Anyone whose stats are below 200

—

As for monsters, their Basic Ranking System was as follows.

Rank 4 = 800

Rank 3 = 600

Rank 2 = 400

Rank 1 = 200

Common Monsters - Below 200 Points

—-

After their points surpassed the 800 Point Mark, they would enter a new Ranking System. However, since this was only the Beginner's Area, anyone who surpassed 200 points would be forcefully teleported out of their starting zone after ten days. 6

"Even if I reach the Apostle Rank, I would still not be able to beat the Field Boss alone," Lux said softly. "I can only fight it if I team up with other people. Challenging it alone is akin to suicide. It's a shame… the rare drops I can obtain from killing it are very tempting." 16

Lux greedily eyed the monster drops of the Field Boss, which would be enough to last him until he became a Grade C Apostle. Still, he knew his capabilities, so he decided to just take things one step at a time. 5

After memorizing the information of all the zones around Leaf Village, Lux finally went to sleep.

—-

The next day…

Lux stood in front of the Bulletin Board where all the Guild Quests were posted. The quest rewards were mostly paid in copper or silver coins. Some of the quests offer low-grade Beast Cores as rewards, and these were the most popular among the Dwarven Adventurers who had chosen Leaf Village as their starting area.

"Big Brother Lux!"

A cute little Dwarf walked towards Lux with a smile. It was none other than Colette who had tried to befriend him a day ago. 7

"Good morning, Colette," Lux greeted. "Are you here to take some quests as well?"

"Un!" 1

"Goodluck."

Lux wanted to talk more, but the glares from the Dwarves who accompanied Colette were starting to make him feel uncomfortable. 1

'Well, at least they're not shouting at me today,' Lux thought as he eyed the little peepsqueaks who seemed to be part of Colette's fans club. 7

The Dwarf that had pointed a sword at him yesterday was glaring at him more intensely than the others. It was quite easy to tell that this Dwarf was among Colette's top admirers. 7

After eyeing Colette's group of six, Lux once again shifted his attention to the bulletin board. He was looking for a decent quest to take, but most of the good ones were already taken. The only ones remaining were chores like gathering herbs, helping with village repairs, and escort missions. 6

After pondering for a while, Lux decided to choose the quest to pick the herbs that grew in the Aspiration Plains, located in the East Zone of Leaf Village. 3

He had read all about the monsters that could be found in this area and he deemed that all of them were within his capabilities.

After Lux registered the quest with the Guild Receptionist, he immediately headed to his destination and left through the Eastern Gate of Leaf Village.

After ten minutes of walking, he arrived in a wide open plain that extended as far as the eye could see. He could see several monsters grazing on the grasslands, as well as Dwarves who were busy completing their own quests.

"Well then, time to find the Toyama Herb," Lux muttered as he walked towards the Grassland Area. "I just hope I finish before lunch time." 3

Two hours later, Lux was able to gather six out of the fifteen Toyama Herbs needed to finish his mission. 2

When he was about to get his seventh herb, a horned rabbit jumped out of nowhere and snatched the herb that he was just about to pull out of the ground. 2

"Bastard!" Lux shouted at the Horned Rabbit who had already bolted away after snatching his herb. "You think I'll let you go that easily!"

Lux summoned a fist-sized stone from his storage ring and threw it at the fleeing horned rabbit.

"Accurate Throw!" 5

The rock flew straight and true, hitting the Horned Rabbit on its head dealing five damage. Horned Rabbits only had fifteen hit points, so Lux's single rock throw was enough to lower a third of its Health Points. 1

The enraged Horned Rabbit immediately turned back and charged at Lux with a vengeance.

"That's more like it!" Lux summoned his sword, Tranquility, and prepared to fight the rabbit that was now hell-bent to stab him with the horn on its head.

"Kaizer Sword Art First Form," Lux said as he thrust his sword forward. "Piercing the Heavens!" 34

With one fluid motion, Lux executed the sword thrust that Vera had taught him when he was ten years old.

Tranquility's blade, and the horn rabbit's horn collided, spreading a metallic sound in the surroundings.

A second later, a pained cry escaped the horned rabbit's lips as it flew several meters away after getting hit by Lux's perfect sword strike. 2

—-

< Ding! >

< Repeatable Quest Activated >

< This Quest can be repeated 10x > 2

< Pests of the Plains >

– Horned Rabbits are notorious for attacking beginners as well as interrupting those who are out to gather herbs in the fields. 1

– Kill ten of them to show them who's boss! 4

– Horned Rabbits Killed ( 1 / 10 )

< Rewards >

– 1 Free Stats Point

– 1 Body Constitution Point

– 5 Skill Point

– 10 Elysium Copper Coins 6

—--

Lux was slightly disappointed when he saw the rewards, but his mood gradually changed after realizing that the quest he received was a repeatable one. Meaning, he could do this quest over and over again in order to farm points that he could use to make himself grow stronger. 5

Also, Lux realized that this was the perfect quest to help him upgrade his Accurate Throw into its stronger form, which was the Power Shot.

—-

< Power Shot >

– Increase Throwing Skill accuracy by 30% and damage by 30%

– Has a 5% chance to deal critical damage when using Power Shot Skill.

– Requirement to upgrade: Hit a moving target using Accurate Throw 100x

– Progress ( 1 / 100 ) 2

—

"One down, ninety-nine to go." Lux smirked. He then picked up the body of the foot-long horned rabbit to sell back at the Adventurer's Guild after he finished his herb gathering mission. 5

Right now, he had limited funds. Even though the horned rabbit meat wasn't the most delicious meat in the Beginner's Area, it was still something that could be sold for one Elysium Copper Coin.

Lux could also use the meat for his own consumption, which would lessen his food expenses.

'Back then, I couldn't even catch one Horned Rabbit,' Lux mused. 'Now, I can kill them without any problems. Thank you, Grandma. Those years of hard training were not wasted.' 8

After storing the Horned Rabbit's corpse inside his storage ring, Lux scanned the surroundings in order to hunt for more.

Since he found one in the area, it was only a matter of time before he found more.

At the corner of his vision, he found something moving fast in the grasslands. A smile appeared on Lux's face as he made his way towards his next target. 1