86 The First of Many Old Grudges (1/2)
”Will lady Emelnie attempt to enter the gathering of experts as well?” Asked Daniel with a polite tone.
Lady Emelnie smiled at Daniel and responded ”Yes. My daughter will act as my champion, and will compete to allow me to join the gathering. She is already in the capital, preparing for the event.”
Daniel had a good impression of Alesia, the miss of the Saullet family. She was direct and yet not too serious. She could laugh at a joke and fire back right away. Unfortunately, their interaction had been interrupted by the young man in green martial attire.
The two talked for a few minutes before lady Emelnie stood up, and said ”You should go and prepare now, Even with my husband's powers, it takes a week to get to the capital.” She then gave him another 'Ki Flag' with her husband's ki trapped within.
Daniel got up as well, and after bowing politely to the woman, he took the ki flag and disappeared in thin air.
When he reappeared, he was standing in the middle of Drester.
Daniel's karma count, for the first time since he had obtained the Karmic System, was at a neutral zero. He had cultivated until the very moment he had finished his karma points, and now, he needed to, once again accumulate them in the most tiring way possible.
Suddenly, one after another, his group members started to exit the pocket dimension and appear next to him.
”Finally.. Fresh air.” Said Ligart with an enthusiastic tone.
Imblen and Roley were those who had stayed within the castle the longest, so they were especially happy about being out in the open.
Roley, which was the only one who hadn't seen Daniel yet, approached Daniel and said ”It's good to see you.” He then gave him a friendly hug.
”It's good to see you too Roley.. I've checked you out when you were training.. Your progress are impressive.” Said Daniel in a friendly manner.
”I can't complain.. I was so focused that I think that I've reached my highest speed in cultivation ever during these past ten months.” Responded Roley while embarrassingly brushing his hair.
Just like Daniel had thought, the group had noticed their increased speed in progression. But since their increased speed wasn't too different from their normal speed, they had explained it as an odd state of focus reached thanks to their focus in cultivation.
”I remember something about this in the formation project.. Something about the castle being able to help in reaching a deep state of concentration.” Said Daniel with a vague tone. Trying to hint that the change they felt might have been thanks to an unknown effect installed along with the castle's formation.
”So.. what are we going to do now?” Asked Heimart curiously.
Daniel had an odd look on his face. He wanted to start a mission of the *Everything Counts* chain, but it would seem odd to roam around Drester while helping people in such a large group.
So, he looked at the group and said ”We only have a few days before we'll have to depart to the capital. Why don't we split and meet back here in five days?”
Surprisingly, none of them objected.
After a few words, Heimart walked towards a lively street filled with people, and left on his own.
The next ones to leave were Roley and Imblen, which went in another direction while bringing the two kids along. After them, Ligart looked at Daniel and said ”I'll go see if I can find you a wife Daniel.. You are almost sixteen now.” He then left while giggling.
After Ligart left, Alis waved her hand in salute and walked towards a direction that none of the other had taken. Daniel sensed with his spiritual essence that, after only twenty meters, she had entered an alley to the side of the road, and changed route. She was going towards Heimart's position.
Jerigh bowed towards Daniel respectfully, and said ”Five days.” He then left as well.
Daniel couldn't help but smile at the behaviour of his comrades. He then regained his composure, and started to think about helping others.
In just a moment, a new window appeared in his head.
*Primary Quest started: Everything Helps*
-Description: Offer your help to people in need.
Third objective set (Repeatable): Offer your help to 500 people within Drester.
Reward: 20,000 Karma Points / Drester reputation +5% / Group reputation +0.0000007%.
Time limit: 5 day
With a clear objective in mind, Daniel started to sense his surrounding. The very moment he found someone that appeared to be in need of help, he teleported away.
From simple things like giving money to a wanderer or helping someone move heavy items, to more serious things like preventing a raping attempt or stopping an assault. Daniel didn't miss any of them.
After four long days, the much awaited mission update appeared in his mind.
____________________________
*Everything Helps*
Third objective completed (1/20)
Reward: 20,000 Karma Points / Drester reputation +5% / Group reputation +0.0000007%.
____________________________
With an exhausted expression, Daniel finally sat on a bench to rest.
The events of the past four days had caused Daniel's view of human nature had change drastically once again.
He had seen many odd things, like people with positive karma that tried to rob people with bad karma, a girl with a very high amount of positive karma that kept her boyfriend chained in her house and tortured him for fun, and even an old man with relatively high bad karma that walked around distributing food to orphan kids.