Gene walked through the Olahal City looking for a specific NPC, Joel. This rare NPC wasn't difficult to find, but the hard part was gaining a quest from him. He usually spawns in the inner districts where players with low fame are restricted entry. But from time to time he would also appear in lower districts.

Joel is well known for being greedy. He would often disappear with the goods. Even with the slightest mistakes, Joel would punish the players and won't give the rewards. Gene wasn't interested in the quest initially since almost all requests from Joel were high end. But considering her current situation with the god of piety, she was willing to take the gamble.

After a couple of minutes of running around, Gene was finally able to find Joel chatting up a salesgirl in a clothing store. From one look at the store owner and the girl being harassed, Gene could tell the company wasn't helpful. Most people avoided Joel like a plague. This was affecting the store poorly.

"Sir Joel?" Gene walked into the store and sat next to the old man as if it was an accident.

"Ah, what a beautiful young lady you are. Do I know you?" Joel started measuring Gene internally. His face lit up once he figured out he had never tasted that wine.

"I just wanted to buy a couple of jewellery. Sorry to be a bother. I'll be back later."

"No, no, it's fine. Not a bother at all. Are you new in town? Such a young lady and yet I've never heard any rumours."

"I merely arrived a couple of days ago from La-Dalia. Why would there be rumours, Sir Joel?"

"Nothing, nothing…" After a short pause, he continued. "I was wondering, are you perhaps an adventurer? Maybe you could help me out from time to time."

"I do occasionally take some orders from clients but… It doesn't come cheap."

"Of course, of course. When you are free, do come to my mansion. I do have a couple of things that require someone of your calibre."

"Definitely. Thank you for the offer, Sir Joel." As long as one could put up with the constant teasing, no one could provide better results than Joel. Gene quickly bought up two rings that were decorative and left the shop thanking the girl at the counter. Joel, bored of the old girl, quickly left once Gene was out of sight.

Gene walked around the inner district trying to waste some time. According to the information she had it wasn't good to immediately approach Joel's mansion. He would think the other party was desperate and try to capitalize on it. The guide she referred to said to give at least a day before approaching him again.

Bored of nothing worthwhile, Gene went back to the quest hall looking for some decent tasks that she could pick up to fill her time. Gene had yet to try out the profession she picked up. Herb gathering was a lot easier but she still had to fill up at least 70% of her diary to receive a pill maker apprentice license. Looking through the quests the only few suitable quests were all for mining which she had no interest in participating in.

Gathering Quest: Herb gathering

Profession quest.

Gather the herbs found around Olahal City.

Moonwisp(0/100)

Cartel Red(0/200)

Conflower Bud(0/50)

Gentle Breath(0/300)

Finding some of them was hard. There was very high competition amongst the gatherers in the cities. Even if the herbs grew out exceedingly fast, there was a heavy shortage considering the insane population and demand. Many players would take days to complete these quests considering it wasn't possible to buy them from the market.

Gene wasn't confident either but because she merely wanted to pass time, she decided to focus on gathering. After walking along the outskirts of the city, Gene was able to finally find a couple of conflowers. These were good ingredients for low-grade disguise potions and were high in demand.

She kept searching for the others and soon found a few patches that were about to bloom. As she walked towards it, she suddenly felt something hit her on the back of her head. Gene immediately blacked out.

LeroyJenkinsxD killed you.

Gene was forcefully spawned back in the resurrection circle.

'I was too careless.' Losing a bit of experience wasn't bad but after she checked her inventory, she found that she also dropped a few spirits capsules that she had left. The other items weren't worth much or useful.

Gene was agitated a little but she knew better than to retaliate. The resources were heavily contended for and the opponent was disguised. There was a high possibility that he was a thief. Gene went and bought a small insight potion useful to discern through stealth.

Insight potion effect

Cooldown: 10 minutes.

A little confident she went out again a little bit more careful, back to looking for the herbs.

Moonwisp was one of the rarest herbs that appeared in the city. Gene found a few close to the eastern gates. As she continued to search, she found the player that killed her before. Thanks to her insight potion, she had gained the ability to see through stealth. As she saw the guy who killed her, she felt a little annoyed.

[LeroyJenkinsxD

LVL 119]

The guy was too high level for the region. Killing players who are too low level doesn't give any gains. Which meant he was going through a power trip. Seeing Gene in the area, Leroy rushed in killing her again.

'Fucking Bastard'. Gene could only mutter under her breath as she slowly respawned in the city again.

"You think you can kill one of us and continue playing here as if nothing happened?" A shout came from her flank. Gene turned to the side to check and found a male archer sitting cross-legged on a half wall. He had her eyes closed, a sure sign of activating 'hunter's mark'.

'Shit..' Before Gene could complain, another manly voice shouted from the side.

"You guys got some nerve harassing my friends."

***