Going back to that old man, I took out the 20 Bear Hearts and gave it him: “Senior, I’ve brought back the items that you needed!”
The old man looked extremely excited as he received the items: “Young Undead, you really moved me. Come, this is a small token for you!”
“Ding～!”
System announcement: You have completed the task 【Wild Bear Hearts】. You have received 2500 exp and 70 fame. You have also obtained the quest reward: Large Magic Stone x 5!
d.a.m.n! What an OP quest, it actually gave me five Large Magic Stones all at once?!
I almost burst into tears, the rewards of this quest were indeed ample and generous. Looking at my inventory, five large magic stones laid peacefully inside, with qualities ranging from 80-100. They could be sold for at least 1 gold coin!
A golden light then shone down upon me as I rose to level 25. I had fulfilled the level requirement to equip the Weeping Fireblade and the Cyan Fire Cloak. Unfortunately, these two items were still in Frozen Mound’s storage. I must return there to equip them.
Holding the hearts with trembling hands, the old man said: “Young man, I still need some fresh ginger!”
A jolt shot through my body, “Ginger?”
“Yes, its one of the ingredients.”
“What do I need to do, to obtain the ginger?”
Thinking, he loudly said: “Go south-east. There will be a few wild gingers in the forest 1 km from here. You can go there to pick them, but you must first learn the Hunting skill.”
As his words ended, he stretched out his hands and waved it a little. A blue light immediately enveloped my whole body–
“Ding～!”
System announcement: Hunter Huang Huo wants to teach you Hunting Skills. Decline or accept?
……
Is there any reason to decline?! Quickly accepting, a new hunting skill immediately appeared in my skill window.
“Go, young undead, and savour the joy of hunting!”
“Ding～!”
System announcement: You have accepted the task 【Gathering Gingers】! (Quest level: F, lower cla.s.s)
……
In my Hunting skill, there were two different uses. One was Gathering, used to gather plant-based ingredients. The other was Hunting, used to gather animal-based ingredients. This was indeed a good set of skills.
Putting my Green Forest Blade away, this time, I tried avoiding monsters as much as possible. After all, there weren’t much potions left in my inventory. If I still tried to kill monsters along the way, I would probably run out of my potion supply in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t have a Floating Ice City’s Return Scroll in my inventory, so I wouldn’t be able to run away even if I want to.
Ten minutes later, I entered the legendary Hundred Leaves Forest. After avoiding the a group of 30 or so wolves, as I entered the forest, I found a few wild gingers sprouting out on the ground. I grew up in a village, thus I was very familiar with the appearance of ginger. Gingers that could be found in supermarkets are usually of the root-type, while wild gingers that grew on the ground have shoots similar to a bamboos’.
Stepping forward, I started to use my skill on a piece of ginger–
“Ding～!”
System announcement: You have acquired ginger x 3. Your hunting skill proficiency has increased by 3 points!
Ginger, a level 4 ingredient.
Oh, the sense of accomplishment appeared while I threw it into my inventory. A group of five occupied 1 inventory s.p.a.ce, and soon three inventory s.p.a.ces were filled up. I had finished gathering 15 fresh gingers.
Quickly returning back, I gave the gingers to the old man. A red light glowed upon his body as he took out a small bottle of salt and displayed his Cooking skills on the scene. Stuffing the ginger slices into the bear hearts, he then seasoned them a little with salt. He then built a campfire and roasted the hearts for a while. A fragrant barbecue smell immediately appeared.
The old man then took out a small dagger and started to carve the hearts into thin stripes, then tasted a small piece.
I stood at his side without feeling anxious. After a while, the old man turned towards me and said: “Young Undead, your praiseworthy character has touched me greatly. Come and receive your rightful reward.”
“Ding～!”
System announcement: You have completed the task 【Gathering Gingers】! You have received 500 exp and 1 fame. Your have also acquired +100 exp in Hunting Skills!
I was ecstatic, for this reward was quite good, especially the 100 exp for my Hunting Skills. Otherwise, if I were to slowly practise, how many level 1 ingredients must I collect to raise my skills?
After eating the hearts, the old man stood up and said: “Now, young man, escort me out of this forest to complete my task!”
I nodded my head and said: “Okay!”
Following the quest’s storyline, the old man walked out of the forest slowly while I summoned a lvl 20 Bear Skeleton Guard. Although it couldn’t help me much, it was still usable.
Now that I have reached level 25, with the addition of a lvl 20 skeleton meat shield, I have no real fear for these Wild Bears. The journey was smooth-sailing as I killed the bears along the way.
Exiting the jungle, we could see the city from a far distance. The old man laughed happily as if he had been given a new life, “Young man, you are extremely courageous and filled with a good sense of justice. I will pa.s.s down my most treasured skills to you!”
“Ding～!”
System announcement: Hunter Huang Huo wants to teach you Cooking skills. Decline or accept?
……
After accepting the skill, another skill bar appeared on my skill window. I had officially broken the restriction of the system, having two side professions to myself!
Excited beyond words, I escorted the old man back to his village and ran like the wind back to Frozen Mound, ready to re-equip myself!
I took out the two pieces of equipment from my storage. The Weeping Fireblade was surrounded by a touch of a fiery murderous aura, while the Cyan Fire Cloak glowed with a mysterious blue ink-like gloss.
Replacing my Green Forest Blade with the Weeping Fireblade, and donning the Cyan Fire Cloak, I could feel the enhancements they gave–
ID: Fallen Hero
Level: 25
Attack: 104-188
Magic Resistance: 0
Luck: 0
Sure enough, bronze-tier equipment was too powerful. With just two bronze tier equips, my attack had risen to 188. My health had also reached 490. It could probably rival Ghost Valley’s health, whose profession was a knight.
My confidence was greatly boosted at once!
At this moment, Du Shi San messaged me: “Lu Chen, how is your training going?”
“So-so, how about you?”
“Not bad, I managed to reach level 20. There is someone selling apple jam in the Floating Ice City’s entrance, 4 silvers a jar. What kind of item is that?” Du Shi San asked.
“Is there anyone buying?”
“Yeah. Lots of Priests, Mages and Bards are buying it. The supply couldn’t even keep up with the demand!”
“Hm… I understand. You should continue with your training!”
“Okay!”
I desperately tried to suppress my excitement. It was a chance to earn money! Apple jams are one of the products for Level 1 Cooking Skill. It had the ability to replenish mana that had been consumed for skills. In , there were no mana potions, only Enchanted Foods. Only 1 food could be consumed per minute, hence these foods were the most important items for the players in the Magic Category!Opening my cooking recipes, a series of recipes greeted me–
LV 1. Apple Jam – you need: Apple x 5 & Empty bottle x 1. Restore: 100 mana
LV 3. you need – Green Pepper Meatb.a.l.l.s: Green Peppers x 10, Rice x 20, Chicken x 10 & Salt x 15. Restore: 300 mana
LV 5. Braised Chicken & Rice – you need: Chicken x 30, Salt x 10, Green Peppers x 15 & Garlic x 10. Restore: 500 mana
LV 7. Turtle Soup – you need: Fish x 20, Green Peppers x 20, Ginger x 20, & Salt 20. Restore: 800 mana
LV 9. Arowana Pot – you need: Arowana x 20, Green Peppers x 25, Garlic x 25 & Salt x 25. Restore: 1500 mana
LV 10. Dragon Pot – you need: Dragon meat x 20, Green Pepper x 50, Garlic x 50 & Salt x 50. Restore: 2500 mana
……
Apple Jam was only a LV 1 recipe yet it could be sold at such a high price. This opportunity really showed no bounds!
Well, I need to quickly grind my hunting and cooking skills to LV 2. To fight with two sub professions in the early part of the game, ensures a quick path to money. Thankfully these two skills came to me, otherwise I’m afraid the world will look down on me.
Returning to Frozen Mound, I went to gather the materials. One empty bottle cost 1 copper coin and could be overlapped in my inventory s.p.a.ce. Hence, I bought 200 all at once, occupying two storage s.p.a.ces.
I went to the forums and found a post that provides the coordinates to a fruit forest. Looking at the world map, I discovered that the fruit forest was south of Floating Ice City, around half an hour journey from my position. There was a wild apple forest in there, but the surrounding monster levels were quite high, so not many people dared to go there to pick apples. That was also the reason for the high price of the apple jam. Of course, the main reason was those unscrupulous businessmen who charged exorbitant prices for the apple jams. Otherwise, with a total cost of a few coppers, how could it be worth 4 silvers?
Carrying my Weeping Fireblade that was glowing with flame, I covered my face with my Cyan Fire Cloak. This way, I would look like a swordsman with a red-coloured name, instead of an Undead, the enemy of all humans.
Half an hour along a secluded path through the woods, I finally arrived at the fruit forest.
Going up to an old, burly apple tree, I plucked an apple. + 2 hunting experience. Oh, very good!
Just the, I heard a voice from behind–
“Young man, who allowed you to pick apples here?”