19 Investigating The Strange Anomaly (1/2)
Having managed to successfully track the little animals and showing that they have adequate ability in tracking, Haz allowed the three to spend the rest of the night with their own plans.
Rentaro had only just returned to the tents that Ichi and s.h.i.+n had pitched, when a system notification resounded in his mind.
[System Notification] [New Mission]
[Hey, Lil' Bro! I told you, just wait and a mission will appear soon enough! Hahaha!]
'Yeah, yeah! Just open the [Missions] function already!' Rentaro couldn't be bothered with Wilhelm's budding narcissism, his eyes burning with eagerness to see what mission he has been given.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
[Missions]
[First Hunt] [Intermediate] - [Incomplete] Hunt a Foundation Establishment Sub-Stage 1 Beast.
[Rewards] [1,000 credits of one credit type or 500 of each] [Sub-Shop Function - Trade-In]
[Investigate the Strange Anomaly] [Intermediate] - [Incomplete] [Chain-Quest: Step 1] Investigate the cause behind the animal's evolved intelligence.
[Rewards] [1,000 credits of on credit type or 500 of each] [Sub-Function - Research and Investigations]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
'Aside from the credit reward, it's just another sub-function reward. Will there ever be a mission with interesting rewards? And, what's a ”Chain-Quest”?' Rentaro couldn't help but pout as his newfound revelation.
[Ah, don't be such a baby, Lil' Bro! For the system creator to have set such a mission reward, it surely must be helpful to you! Also, a Chain-Quest requires multiple steps before the quest is considered complete. Simply put, after you complete the first step, another step will appear. As for how many steps until the mission is completed, that's determined by the system's concept of completion and sufficiency, not mine.]
'Hah, I guess there's nothing I can do. Welp, I have nothing to do right now and I'm rather curious about this village of small animals myself, but you better help me investigation this! If you try to act as if you're asleep or anything, don't expect me to get anything done!”
[Alright! I'm still processing data on the five statues and the Krose ancestral hall though. I have yet to find any knowledge in the system database on this subject. Furthermore, there weren't any system notifications about it which is awfully strange. The only possible explanation is that you don't meet the system's requirements for the investigation yet.]
[For instance, you might lack something to spark an interaction between you and the statues like a specific cultivation stage, a specific character trait, or you might need to be of the Krose bloodline. If you need to be of the Krose bloodline, you'll have to give up getting such a mission unless you use a way to mutate your bloodline, though I don't recommend mutating your bloodline. Other reasons I though of, you might need to start the investigation yourself or a specific event needs to take place before any correlated mission pops up.]
'Bloodline mutation?' Rentaro listened wholeheartedly to Wilhelm, but couldn't help to ponder over the idea of mutating his bloodline.
[Uh-hm. It is possible to mutate your bloodline yourself, but many dangers are present in order to do so. Naturally, the shop has several types of refined bloodlines along with methods to merge them with your bloodline. Aside from that, there are different ways to mutate and refine your own bloodline without the use of another's bloodline, if you want a more ”natural” way.]
'I'm not sure... I'll ponder over this some other time. Wilhelm, let's go investigate this mission awhile!'
Rentaro questioned the idea of mutating his body and bloodline, as such a topic seemed rather interesting when thinking about gaining some newfound powers, but he felt it taboo to change the body he was born with.
Instead of taking time to train, Rentaro's curiosity got the best of him and he decided to look around the village and investigate. Naturally, Roy had no desire to sulk in his boredom and Icrin pulled himself into the group as this was his first time in the small animal village.
The clearing's area wasn't too large and the trio decided to travel to the center of the village, which should theoretically be the location with the most interesting characteristics. Walking casually, the three took in the sight of the beautiful surroundings, when the atmosphere seemed to suddenly thicken around them. Their breathing became heavy, as if they were climbing a mountain of extremely high alt.i.tude, each breath required more oxygen than the last.
Luckily, the three weren't ordinary mortals and had the ability to cultivate. Otherwise, the three wouldn't even dare to try approaching any further with the suffocating atmosphere surrounding them. Before they realized it, they had arrived at a small crystal pillar.
The crystal pillar emanated a dim purple color and with the sun high up in the sky, the color wouldn't have been visible to the trio without the surrounding trees casting their shadows over it.
Closely examining the crystal pillar, they noticed that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny runes imprinted into the pillar. Aside from the runic imprints, there seemed to be strange carvings of animals around the pillar, though the carvings didn't seem to resemble the small animals in any way.
”Ohh~, so strange!” Icrin's hand crept forward, gently touching the surface of the crystal pillar.
A humming sound resounded from the crystal pillar and a sudden repelling force was generated, launching Icrin backwards. He tumbled around six meters back, before catching his balance.
”Icrin!” Rentaro and Roy were shocked at the sudden turn of events, the crystal pillar was giving off a peaceful and gentle aura, but it now gave off a strong repulsive force.
”Phew, I'm fine. I was unprepared for such a situation to occur, that's all.”
Heavy footsteps approached from the distance, they noticed that Haz and the rest of his squad were rus.h.i.+ng over with haste as they wielded their weapons. Rentaro and Icrin shared bitter smiles, as they awaited Haz's lectures.
”Hey, you three! What the h.e.l.l is going on here? d.a.m.n, I'm in charge of you guys, you know? If anything happens to any of you, I'll be a dead man when I return!”