Chapter 170: Benefits (1/2)
Flying in the air, Cole abruptly lunged himself towards the brown, hideous-looking thorny toad monster. With his sword in hand, he struck down towards the unsuspecting beast's head, his decisive motion made the short sword in his hand pierce deeply into the beast's skull. Amidst the sound of the bones breaking under the sharpness of the steel blade a crunchy, mushy sound could also be faintly made out.
The whole event happened in a split second, the toad didn't even have the time to let out a croak before it succumbed to the fatal attack and sprawled and briefly spasm on the ground, becoming motionless a few seconds later.
With one swift motion, Cole retrieved his weapon from the shattered skull and wiped it clean with a piece of now-dirty, bloodstained cloth that he used for such activities. As the blade wasn't clean, to begin with, his action merely smeared the gooey substance all around the blade of the weapon instead of neatly removing all the stains.
Cole frowned seeing this, his eyes darted towards the river, he really wanted to have a clean edge and fuller. However, despite his desire, he didn't dare to take a step towards the surface, afraid of the blueish, slimly, webbed hands pulling him under, forever vanishing under the watery depths of hell.
”That was incredible Cole! Nicely done! That should be your sixth kill.” A clean and crisp youthful voice came from behind. A soft hand was placed on the brown-haired boy's shoulder, patting it lightly.
In the next moment, a long, black-haired youth with slightly tanned, bronze skin and exotic, golden eyes walked next to him. He had a friendly smile on his face.
”Since it's your kill, you should have the honor to retrieve its Gall Bladder. I can't possibly steal this honor from you!” he said with a light chuckle mixed in his words.
Before Cole could react, the boy looked ahead and spotted another one of these monsters. The friendly smile curled up a bit more, his voice turned eager.
”While you are busy, I will get a few extras, I can't possibly have you take all credit after all!” Following his words, he immediately dashed forward. This time, however, he did not exert any superhuman feats, his figure didn't flicker, he simply charged forward.
”Sure… let me do the 'honors'! You are so generous Aiden!” Cole shouted at his friend's back with the continued frown on his face before he approached the slain creature and crouched down. He pulled out a small skinning knife from his belt and began the gruesome process of cutting the carcass apart.
While he wasn't really that enthusiastic about having the 'honor' of cutting the beast apart, he had to also admit that Aiden had no knowledge about what to do. He saw him how he retrieved the Monster Orbs from the Sahuagin after all! He was fearsome and brutal. He would most likely damage the important organs, not to mention he had no idea about the other, important bits and pieces, that they could sell for some extra cash.
So, while he didn't want to, Cole had no choice but to grit his teeth in annoyance and complete the job for the sixth and last time. At least for today.
While Cole was busy complaining to no one in particular and doing what was necessary, Aiden had already crushed the poor beast in a single strike. As the monster died under his hands, he swiftly lifted its body in the air with his left hand. Then he simply watched as the creature quickly dematerialized into particles and merged with the air, only to reappear inside his System's inventory, next to two similar carcasses he gathered along the way
With its assistance, he could easily obtain the required parts from the beast. Concentrating, he closed his eyes and sat down in a lotus position and looked towards the river's serene surface. He focused his will on the first carcass and watched as the system did its magic. In the next instant albeit not visible, a tiny dark red organ appeared next to the creature. Focusing again, he watched as the item vanished as the system consumed it. The notifications began to ring in his ear, giving him credit for the deed.
[1 Thorny Forest Frog's Gall Bladder has been consumed!]
[Quest Objective Updated: Consume Thorny Forest Frog's Gall Bladders for Analysis 1 / 3]
[Starting Analysis… Estimated time for completion: N/A - Error: Unable to begin analysis due to insufficient volume of materials.]
Seeing the messages pop up, a satisfied smile appeared on Aiden's face. He quickly repeated the process with the other two bodies and watched with apt attention as the notification continued to pop and ring inside his mind. Opening up the last three, he confirmed that the same situation has happened as it did before.
[Quest Objective Updated: Consume Thorny Forest Frog's Gall Bladders for Analysis 3 / 3 - Completed!]
[Thorny Forest Frog's Gall Bladder Analysis In Progress… Estimated time for completion: 02 hours 59 minutes 58 seconds]
The last message was about the Quest Objective update that he got when they completed the previous quest. What surprised him, however, was that the system seemed to be capable of tracking progression even though he wasn't the one holding the requested items, but Cole who should have no connection with it at all. He couldn't wrap his mind around it at all… How did the system know? Enya wasn't the one holding the reins this time, she was still 'out of commission'. Did the System itself have some sort of sentience? Or was it something else?
He quickly shook his head, he shouldn't waste time dwelling on this matter, it was pointless. Still, he was even more determined to find out more about this magical construct that resided in his soul and lorded his every step along the way.
He sighed, and shook his head, trying to clear his mind from these troubling thoughts. Focusing on the last notification he opened up to confirm his last suspicion.
[Quest Objective for Optional Quest: Gather Thorny Forest Frog Gall Bladders has been updated!
New Objective has been added: Report back to the guild with the items to receive your rewards! (0/1)]