Chapter 5: Encounter (1/2)
The moment Rakna came out, a salve of arrows was shot his way. He immediately rolled away while intercepting a few of the projectiles with Sonata. His eyes calmly scanned the surroundings.
The Kobold Rider was located a few tens of meters away from him with the archers in line behind him. The Rider was barking orders like a maniac, probably telling his subordinates to shoot.
From the creature's perspective, when Rakna came out covered in blood, it had been struck by a sudden feeling of doom realizing all its troops had died. It was concretized when two of the archers were suddenly killed by throwing knives.
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Lv.5 Archer Kobold killed.
Lv.5 Archer Kobold killed.
Requirement for level up updated.
Current progress: 18/50
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Rakna dismissed the prompt and inhaled before kicking the ground. The four remaining archers shot their arrows at the same time. He deflected the first two, dodged the third one, and literally caught the last one barehanded.
Before the second salve could be shot, Rakna had entered the Kobold Rider's range. The first to attack was the wolf. The beast snarled and charged with an impressive speed. It reached with its opened maw and Rakna barely dodged it. At the same time, the kobold thrust its spear at him.
'One to str, two to dex, two to speed,' he ordered internally and felt the change happen instantly. His vision and mind became clearer. He easily saw the path of the spear and grabbed it. The kobold tried to pull it back but it was firmly held in place.
Rakna squinted and pulled it himself. The Rider almost fell off and that was an opening long enough for him to swing Sonata. The azure blade released heat and a cloud of smoke as it cut through the neck of the creature.
Rakna then jumped back as a volley of arrows descended. The wolf looked at its master falling on the ground next to it and howled. It rushed toward the human in front of it with bloodshot eyes.
The wolf leaped and swung its paw while falling down. Rakna followed it with his eyes and sidestepped to dodge it. The beast then opened its mouth to bite his neck.
Rakna whirled Sonata before it could do that and struck the wolf's belly with the shaft's end. He then grabbed its throat and slammed the entire beast on the ground. The wolf whimpered and before it could retaliate, a fuming azure blade had beheaded it.
Rakna sighed and swung his spear to get rid of the blood before putting it back around his neck as a scarf. He turned toward where the remaining kobold archers were supposed to be to see them dead on the ground with Pronos standing triumphantly on top of one.
Ding!
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Initiation Mission Completed
Assessment: No enemies were left alive. Host received no injury. Mission Time: 19:26:30.
Host was the first of his group to finish.
Rewards: 1000 Talys, Utility Item Select.
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[Congratulations, Rakna. You earned the right to pick a Utility Item.]
Rakna hummed as he picked up Pronos and put him on his shoulder. The little snake promptly snuggled inside the scarf. ”Start by explaining what a Utility Item is. And what are Talys?”
[Utility Items are also referred to as Providence Items. They are usually meant to be used out of combat to help the Hosts in their daily life. For instance, a water gourd that replenishes itself indefinitely is one example. The reward you have been granted by the System is to pick a Utility Item. You can choose anything. A drink that never ends, food that regenerates, effective but long application heals, and so on. As for the Talys, you can consider them as the System's currency.]
”I see,” Rakna mused. ”I assume there will be an occasion for me to spend these later. As for the Utility Item…” He pulled out his cigarette case from his pocket. ”Can you scan this case and turn it into one?”
[It is possible. The resulting Item will be of a higher grade than if it was made out of nothing as well.]
”Then do it.”
[Acknowledged. Please give the Item a name before the process.]
”Obsidian's Smoke,” he answered without hesitation. To the point, even Alexa was perplexed about the significance of this name. Right after, the case in Rakna's hands started glowing. After half a minute or so, the conversion was over. The silver had turned slightly more metallic looking and the Item's name had been engraved on it.
Rakna immediately looked at its properties.
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Designation: Utility Item/Cigarette Case
Rarity: Blue
Name: Obsidian's Smoke
Capacity: 20/20 (Recharges once every five hours)
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Description:
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A perfect combination of drugs and medicinal herbs. The formula for these cigarettes was made exclusively for Rakna Xiorra.
The case itself has an integrated lighter powered by Eion stones. It is used as the Azure Sonata's trigger input.
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Effects:
- Heightened Awareness: Increases Senses and Swiftness by 1% (Lasts an hour)
- Decelerated Alertness: Numbs emotions and cancels mental debuffs.
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”Not bad. I didn't expect it to have an effect like this,” Rakna remarked.
[Utility Items with a rarity above Green are generally hard to find and have additional perks that can support a Host during combat. You are lucky, Rakna.]
”I see. Can you tell me more about the rarity?”
[Items have seven rarity classifications. Gray, Green, Blue, Orange, Purple, Red, and Gold. In terms that most modern humans can understand, each rarity can be described respectively by 'common', 'uncommon', 'rare', 'special', 'masterwork', 'epic', and 'legendary'.]
”Hm, that doesn't explain much in my opinion but I guess I can more or less imagine how valuable each rarity is now,” Rakna remarked and lit up a cigarette before putting the case back in his pocket. At the same time, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.
One of the bows on the ground, dropped by the kobolds, was glowing. He raised an eyebrow and approached it before grabbing it. He briefly went over the statistics. There was nothing special about it and the rarity was gray. But a certain System window appeared in front of him.
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Conditions have been met. Do you wish to upgrade Azure Sonata by using 'Wooden Bow' as a material?
Y / N
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Rakna opened his eyes wide at the question. He only hesitated a few seconds before pressing yes. The bow in his hands then turned into particles of light that merged with his scarf. The process was fast and simple and the scarf itself had no obvious changes.
But when he checked Sonata's attributes, Rakna was pleasantly surprised.
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