〔Quest: A pain in the ass〕 (Unique)

> Type: Misc. Difficulty: N/A

> Given by: Brennda Swordsinger 〈Show details▼〉

> Location(s): Mistwood

> Details: Help Brennda convince Master Archer Gwyndham to train Anthony Baker to use the crossbow.

> Reward:

1. Brennda's heartfelt gratitude

2. ???

.

"Huh!" Manco said in surprise. He had only expected the reward to be access to the trainer. However the quest giver turned out to be Brennda and there was a hidden reward.

He had an inkling of what her "heartfelt gratitude" would entail. After all, 'Epoch of Liberty' featured matured themes. Extreme violence, swearing and intimate physical contacts were all featured and even considered selling points. Especially the third point, which was delivered with the remarkably life-like sense simulation and was enough to get plenty of players hooked. Mahn Li remembered reading about players who spent days messing around in virtual brothels or engaging in weird fetish acts with each other. After several high profile cases of addicted players being found malnourished in their VR rigs, Immersive Interaction, the company behind EoL, had to come up with several restrictions on matured contents.

Deciding he would deal with the reward when it came, Manco opened up his to-do list.

First week

* Level up. (Min lvl 10)

* Up 「Mana bolt」

* Up trade skills

* Get new armor

* Train crossbow techniques

* Buy crossbow

* Prep for "Helping hand" quest w/ Rust's crew.

* Get the gun (!!!)

Mahn Li's true objective in Mistwood village was the very thing this whole build relied on: the gun.

According to the players who found it, the artifact was hidden in a secret chamber at a location only accessible while on a quest. There are many quests that featured this location, and "Helping hand" was one of them. This quest was the most straightforward, but was also the most difficult, regarding the level requirement. He would need to gear up properly to survive it.

After making sure he did not leave out anything on the list, Manco gave the butcher the panther meat and drops the panther pelt at the leather worker as payment for their training. It was entirely possible to snuff them and break his promise, but doing so only saves a few coins. Definitely not worth the hit to his reputations.

He replenished his trapping supplies then went back to the tavern to meet Brennda and find out what the hidden reward might be. The redhead was sitting at a table. She waved at him.

"Where's Anthony?" he asked, sitting down opposite her.

"Upstairs sleeping." She shrugged "The idiot was out all night gambling."

"Gods!" he shook his head: "Are you sure it's a good idea letting Gwyndham train him?"

"Not the best idea, but not the worst either. At least he'll learn enough not to hurt himself. He'll just find another equally suicidal thing to do otherwise."

"So after he's trained, you guys will leave for Deon, I presume?"

"Yes. We'll leave tomorrow morning," she said hesitantly. Then she bit her lips and asked: "What's your plan for today?"

Wait… Mahn Li knew that look. He glanced at the bottom of his vision and saw a blinking icon. Mentally touching it brought up a notification screen.

〔Open NPC Information screen?〕

〔►Yes〕〔No〕

'Ah… The NPC Information screen. A relic of the old role-playing games. It's been a while.' Chuckling, he mentally selected "Yes."

The screen dissolved into light particles which gathered around Brennda and formed several screens.

The first screen showed her character sheet, in a similar format to Manco's, but only the most basic information was visible.

〘 Character Info 〙

- Name: Brennda Swordsinger

- Female. Age: 21. Status: Single

- Class: Swordsman

- Level: 24

〘 Pri. attributes 〙(Locked)

〘 Sec. attributes 〙(Locked)

…

The second screen was the conversation assistance.

〘 Relationship 〙

- Attitude: Amicable

- Interest: 76%

- Mood: Happy / Uncertain / Hopeful

〘 Dialogue 〙

Conversation history 〈 Show ►〉

"What's your plan for today?"

〘 Possible reactions 〙

► Flirt with her.

▢ Ask her to go out for a walk.

▢ Ask her back that question.

▢ Change the topic.

.

"Attitude" was self explanatory. Ranging from "Hatred" to "Love," it represented the overall view of the NPC toward the player character.

"Interest" showed how concerned the NPC was with the conversation. If the NPC was busy, then they might not want to talk with players, even if their relationship was good.

It should be noted that only the "Attitude" field showed the correct value. The displayed level of "Interest" and "Mood" were not always correct, but varied randomly. Having better Charisma and higher "People Reading" skill would reduce the margin of error.

Manco, of course, did not want to waste time getting tangled in an NPC's love life. He had better things to do, like leveling up and getting better gears. So…

"I'm going out for a walk…" he replied "in the woods. To hunt. You wanna go?"

"Sure," she sounded a bit disappointed, "I'll go crazy sitting around doing nothing."

.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

〘 Misty Woods 〙

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After Manco set several traps at strategic spots near the edge of the wood, he and Brennda went deeper inside. With his Tracking skill, he quickly located footprints of several types of predators like coyotes and dingoes and the two of them follow the tracks.

Before long, they spotted a pack of Wicked Coyotes and began engaging them in combat.

「Mana bolt」! 「Mana bolt」! 「Mana bolt」!

-5! -6! -5!

*THWACK!

-15!

「Mana bolt」

…

It took Manco two minutes to kill a coyote. Turning to assist Brennda, he saw her wiping her sword clean amid six slain creatures. She looked nonplussed, like someone who was taking a walk in the park.

"All hail the Brennda train!" He chuckled humorlessly. The vast difference in strength made him feel a little emasculated. 'At least leveling will be quicker' he consoled himself.

"What was that?" Brenda was confused by the strange expression.

"Nothing!"

With Brennda's help he gathered the coyote carcasses and began harvesting them. While waiting for the progress bars to fill, they chatted.

From the conversation, Manco gathered that Brennda is quite frustrated with her life. She yearned for adventures, but was stuck babysitting an incompetent son of a businessman. Looking for a lover was difficult, for she was stuck day and night with an obnoxious and inconsiderate man. He dared note openly insult her or physically abuse her, but the frequent mocking remarks and callous treatments were not something she wanted to deal with every day. Her familial responsibilities were the only thing keeping her from walking away.

After having gained several pelts, Manco opened the Crafting screen. A few crafting recipes he had learned from the leather worker were displayed.

〕===〘 Recipes 〙

〕==〘 Leather Working 〙

> Cleaned hide: (Pelt + knife)

> Tanned hide: (Cleaned hide + Tanning mixture + Barrel)

> …

He selected "Cleaned hide," put some of the most tattered pelts into the crafting queue, hit start, and closed the screen. The processed hide would sell for a little bit more money, and crafting was automatic, so there was no reason not to do so.

They began to form a rhythm. They would fight some creatures, then Brennda rested while Manco harvested them. Occasionally, he would open the Crafting screen and put more pelts into the material slot and let the crafting progress on its own.

At noon, he took out the rations and they had lunch together. After a short rest, they continued the hunt.

The leveling went smoothly. This area of the wood is basically a noob zone for Brennda. Watching her effortlessly dancing left and right between the animals, dodging teeth and claws, chopping off heads and limbs without breaking a sweat, Manco could only shake his head. The only thing he has to worry about was to not accidentally hit her with 「Mana bolt」.

"We should go back," After harvesting the last Grey Panther, Manco said. Gwyndham had said he would train Anthony in the afternoon, and Brennda should make sure the brat would show up for the training.

"Already?" She checked the time "Oh, it's this late. Let's go back."

While on the way, Manco checked his character sheet.

〕 ===〘 Character Info 〙=== 〔

〕 ===〘 General 〙

|> Name: Manco the Face Wrecker

|> Class: Crimson Mage

|> Level: 9 (85.52%)

〕 ===〘 Pri. attributes 〙

|> Strength: 5

|> Awareness: 15

|> Coordination: 12

|> Intelligence: 38

|> Willpower: 21

|> Constitution: 8

|> Charisma: 11

* Free attribute points: 16

…

In the last few hours he had gained another 7 level and is almost level 10.

Among the masteries, Carcass Harvesting had progressed the furthest, sitting at Level 11.35. He was now able to harvest sinew, and the quantity as well as quality of harvested material had significantly improved. The harvested pelts were now "Intact" instead of "Tattered." Leather Working had increased to 10.50, opening up several additional recipes. All in all, his time was well spent.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

〘 Mistwood Village 〙

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Gwyndham the archery master was in front of his house, wearing the hunting attire gifted to him by Anthony.

Sitting in his chair (again), he began giving a speech to Anthony and Manco (whom Brenda introduced as Anthony's cousin, and persuaded Gwyndham to teach as well).

"Many people think of the crossbow as a peasant's weapon. One for the unskilled, untrained. A coward's weapon…"

"…But it requires a lot more from the user than people give it credit for…"

"…"

The speech continued and Manco believed he might have dozed off while standing until...

DING!

〔Mastery learned: Crossbow〕

〔Level: 19.92〕 (Soft cap exceeded. Leveling speed reduced by 98%)

〔Technique learned: Fast Reload〕

〔Technique learned: Aimed Shot〕

〔Technique learned: Focus Shot〕

"Damn! That's a master for you!" Manco said, impressed. He had instantly gained almost 20 levels in Crossbow mastery and unlocked three techniques just by listening to that short speech.

In the evening, after dinner, Anthony immediately ran off with some of his bodyguards, leaving Brennda with Manco.

An hour and a few mugs of ale later...

〘 Relationship 〙

- Attitude: Amicable

- Interest: 95%

- Mood: Frustrated / Hopeful

〘 Dialogue 〙

Conversation history 〈 Show ►〉

"What you want to do now?"

...

...

They couldn't get into the room fast enough.

Closing the door with a kick, she pulled him close and brought her lips to meet his.

Her lips were soft and moist and tasted of ginger ale.

The scent of her hair and her skin. The taste of her kiss. The feel of her body against his. The combined sensations overwhelmed Manco, making him light-headed.

Their bodies entwined, and before he realized it, they were on the bed, her on top of him.

They disentangled for a moment, her striking green eyes staring into his.

"Thank you!" She said, her voice barely a whisper.

Then she lied down and nuzzled his neck, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"Hey!" Mahn Li poked her. She was sleeping soundly, letting out a cute soft snore.

"The hell?" Mahn Li asked in disbelief. He looked at her contented sleeping face then down at the tent pitched between his legs. Eventually he noticed something flashing at the bottom edge of his vision.

A notification.

〔To experience matured contents (including but not limited to: advanced gore, depictions of physical intimacy, lifting of swearing cap), please consider upgrading your account to "Matured Adventurer"〕

〔One time cost: US$ 1,999.95〕

〔►Yes 〕〔No 〕

...

...

Fuck.