Chapter 258 Oxal Mountains Quest
Chapter 258 Oxal Mountains Quest
Baron's approval meant that Arthur would have a better chance at doing things now.
>Player Arthur's Reputation has risen!<
But that wasn't all he got.
>Quest Completed!< 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐𝘰𝑚
——
Quest: Deliver Letter To Guard Captain Fredric!
Grade: Uncommon
Difficulty: Normal
Reward: 50 Silver Coins.
——
"Here, take this for your work." Captain Fredric handed Arthur a pouch of coins.
"Thank you," Arthur said and stored it away.
While the 50 silver coins weren't that much for him now that he had a lot of gold coins, he still wouldn't say no to extra money. Besides, there was still some shopping he needed to do in the City.
'Should get the essentials after this.' Arthur thought to himself.
"Before we go ahead with this, let me ask you for confirmation. Are you really sure you want to solve the issue of the Oxal Mountains Trade Route?" Baron Selvig questioned Arthur, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Of course. I can't just stand around while the cultists of Iltan are free to do whatever they want just because some nobles do not think it is not worth their time." Arthur said righteously.
~thwack~
"Good!" Baron Selvig slapped the side of Arthur's shoulder and exclaimed.
Arthur maintained his expression, but still felt the impact of the slap.
'The old man's strength is no joke…' Arthur thought. 'Just a little more strength and my HP would have fallen by at least 1%.' He reckoned.
It was clear that the old man had controlled his strength though, and made it just enough so that Arthur's own defenses as well as the Armor could withstand it. It was another way of showing just how well the Baron had judged Arthur's capabilities.
"Since you are ready to go to the Oxal Mountains, you should be prepared. That area is dangerous, and even I wouldn't be careless there." Fredric replied. "There are many dangerous beasts there, but the worst ones are those pesky Goblins." He added.
Hearing that, Arthur's ears perked up.
"I heard there are bounties on the Goblins, right?" He asked.
"Of course. They are always a pest and swarm lone travelers." Fredric replied with a disgusted tone.
Arthur knew well about this, as Goblins were perhaps one of the most hated mobs in the game. Not only did they have numerous variants, but they were also crafty. Their intelligence was better than most other mobs, which made them a pain to deal with.
In some cases, they were even smarter than the Orcs and a bit more levelheaded, as such they could be difficult to handle when there were bigger numbers.
Sure Orcs might be stronger than them on average, but the Goblins had better tactics instead of getting lost in rage.
Their fertility was also very high, and they could reproduce at a crazy rate. They were highly adaptive and could live in almost all kinds of environments while also being omnivores that ate a variety of things.
Players had done extensive research on the Goblins, as they were one of the most commonly hunted mob and there was a lot of information about them.
Since they were a Humanoid Mob with intelligence, they too had gods that they followed. In fact, the reason behind their high fertility was a blessing of a god too!
And this was no weak blessing either. It applied to their entire race and allowed them to breed faster than most other creatures. It was said that they could birth 10 offspring every month in the right conditions and it would only take one month for the offspring to reach reproductive maturity.
This meant that just a single pair of goblins could hypothetically turn into thousands in a year's time!
This was simply a crazy number and could easily destabilize the ecosystem, if not for the fact that the Goblins were hunted by almost every other species. They actually ended up being one of the main sources of food for the natural beasts living in forests and other areas.
As such, literally every human settlement would have never-ending bounties on the Goblins. Thankfully they could also be used as materials. Their teeth and nails were used to make tools, while the rest of their bodies could be ground into minced meat and turned into either animal feed or just fertilizer.
Bringing their corpses back would give a varying amount of coins, and as such they would become a common means of obtaining money for players, especially since they were rather light in weight and small.
"Looks like I'll take some bounties when I go out too." Arthur stated.
"That'll be fine." Fredric nodded his head.
"You should read this, it'll help you." Baron Selvig handed Arthur a document.
It was a bundle of papers that were all hand written and seemed to contain a report of some kind.
Arthur started to read it and saw that it was information about the Oxal Mountains as well as the condition around it.
'Looks like Baron Selvig and Captain Fredric tried to investigate it a bit on their own too.' Arthur realized this was all compiled by them.
The report contained information about how to get to the Oxal Mountains through various routes, as well as the common risks that were present with it.
And once Arthur was done reading it all, the quest notification finally popped up.
>Quest Issued!<
——
Quest: Solve the problem of the Frozen Oxal Mountains Trade Route!
Grade: Epic
Difficulty: Hard
Reward: Experience, Reputation increase, Bonus rewards depending on the performance.
——
Seeing the quest pop up, Arthur narrowed his eyes.
'It's Epic Grade?' Arthur was a bit wary.
This was the first time this quest was coming into existence after all. In Arthur's last life, this quest did not happen, and things had gone quite differently. The Oxal Mountains would continue to freeze and the icy area would expand much more.
Eventually, it would become a forbidden zone that no one dared to go as they would fear getting frozen and dying in the cold.
The creatures living around the area would also get stronger and some would adapt to the cold, making it even more difficult to reach.
This would continue until finally, the Ice Dragon would awaken from its lair.
All of this was simply the prelude to a major quest in the future.
'But if all things go as predicted, I would prevent that from ever happening.' Arthur thought to himself.
He didn't mind the Epic Grade quest, as he knew this only meant he would be getting great rewards from it.
Plus, he would be killing two birds with one stone, as he would also be progressing his class quest by doing this.
Arthur was looking forward to the increase in his strength after he killed the Dragon. He didn't know how big of an improvement it would be for him, but he expected it to be massive.
'It won't be long now.' Arthur thought to himself and put down the report.
"Are you done?" Baron Selvig asked.
"Yes, I've memorized all the important points." Arthur nodded his head.
"Be careful and prioritize your own life first, Arthur." Guard Captain Fredric spoke. "I know you've managed to do dangerous missions before, but this time it is highly unpredictable. You will be going against nature, so there is no telling what could happen." The man warned.
"Of course, I'll be careful." Arthur nodded his head.
"And don't worry if you can't do it. We'll be continuing our efforts here too and try to persuade the nobles." The Baron added. "They have to heed my words, eventually." He added, a hint of threat in his voice.
"Yes," Arthur said before taking a deep breath. "I should get prepared then. I still need to check out the city and get some things."
"Very well." Fredric said and Baron also bid him farewell.
Arthur left the Baron's mansion and came out to see the starry skies above.
"Now isn't that nice," Arthur muttered, enjoying the sight monetarily before going on his way.
He quickly left the Noble district and made his way to the adventurer market.
This was the section of the market which especially catered to the adventurers. But Arthur wasn't going to shop right away. Instead, his goal was a particular building in the center of it.
The entire market was built around the Adventurers Guild which made it very convenient for all of them.
"This one is almost four times bigger than the one in town." Arthur said upon seeing the building.
'Samson Adventurers Guild'
Arthur read the large signboard while tens of adventurers walked past him. He used Dragon's Insight on a few of them, finding that the average levels of the adventurers were also higher than the town.
'Level 30 to level 50…' Arthur noted.
It was clear that the adventurers were a lot stronger than the town. The players would be in for a big shock once they finally arrived here, as the level disparity would increase once more.