XLIV

  Bonus Quest complete. Report your findings to the Adventurer’s Guild in Sarus.

  Please select one of the rewards below:

  - Mage Novice Robe (Refined)

  - Ring of Mana (Refined)

  - The Arts of the Glaive (Simple)

  - Full Restoration and Upgrade of (Battlemage’s Glaive) (Refined)

  Kaz stared at the options laid out before him, and he had conflicting emotions running through him. He wanted all of these. He exhaled in frustration, and he thought he should at least check what each reward offered before choosing something randomly.

  Mage Adept Robe (Refined): This robe is worn by those beginning with their Calling of the Mage. Robe provides +5 Mana Points and restores itself using the Mana Points of the wearer out of combat.

  He was intrigued by this concept of the robe, as this would be beneficial in both ways. The extra five Mana Points was nice but considering he needed ten now to cast one [ Mana Burst ], it didn’t seem all that impactful for him. On the other hand, he would love the ability to have his robe essentially fix itself whenever it got damaged. Kaz looked down on his own robe he was wearing now, and cringed when he saw the holes, tears, and stains on it. Maybe he should consider this option. Next was the ring, and it read:

  Ring of Mana (Refined): This ring is imbued with the power of Mana, providing its own core for the user to call upon. Ring provides the wearer with +20 Mana Points.

  Twenty Mana Points was a lot, considering that he now had around one hundred, and most importantly, it was another two casts of [ Mana Burst ]. And if he also had to do the math, this ring provided him with roughly another seven Resonance worth of Mana Points. This would be very valuable to him, and he immediately put this option this over the robe. Moving down to The Arts of the Glaive (Simple), it displayed:

  The Arts of the Glaive (Simple): This book provides the foundation of combat and utility with the glaive.

  Staring blankly at that description, confusion was the only thought going through his mind. That’s it? Just the foundation of combat and utility with the glaive, which seemed very vague, and for him, he felt like he had the foundation for it already. It was tempting to choose this option, although Kaz knew he would be able to potentially learn this information from someone who could show him the basics to fighting with a spear or a staff. Tapping his chin, he then read the final option, Full Restoration and Upgrade of (Battlemage’s Glaive) (Refined):

  Full Restoration and Upgrade of Battlemage’s Glaive (Refined): Your Battlemage's Glaive will be repaired of all damages, along with an upgrade to the shaft of the weapon, to help strengthen it against any potential damage until your first Revelation.

  Again, he was left unimpressed just with like the previous option of The Arts of the Glaive (Simple). This was an issue that he would easily fix with a quick visit to the Blacksmith that he talked to before going on this journey. And also, it didn’t help that the description mentioned this would be strengthened till his first Revelation, which he didn’t want to overrate his own progress, but he believed he would reach that within the next year or so.

  Putting his head into his hands, he contemplated which option he wanted for his reward. It seemed obvious at first that he would choose Ring of Mana (Refined) over the Mage Novice Robes (Refined), but there were some things to consider. For the robe, it would provide him with a robe that would not only give him the five extra Mana Points, but the most crucial was the ability for it to restore itself with just some of his Mana Points.

  This was big because he would save a lot of his Tokens from repairing his current robe, which Bilbas, the Tailor back in Sarus, mentioned that the robe required an expensive material to repair it. He would also always be in a presentable state and wouldn’t look like a Gnome who was without a home, struggling to find his next meal. Unfortunately, he couldn’t view the actual look of the robe, as he wasn’t offered a preview of it. Kaz wouldn’t be the first person to walk around with weird looking attire, as Adventurers wore whatever their [ Archive ] gave them, as long as they provided stats that helped them with their Calling.

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  On the other hand, the ring would provide him with another twenty Mana Points. That was always his problem from the beginning, the obvious lack of base Mana Points from his Awakening. This would help him overcome that obvious defect that he possessed, and his Mana Points would look normal for someone at his Resonance. And also, with this he would be able to go from casting ten constructs of [ Mana Burst ] to twelve, which could be the difference in a more difficult, drawn out fight.

  With a deep breath, he mentally chose the Ring of Mana (Refined). His [ Archive ] then slowly disappeared, and a plain looking silver ring floated from it to his eye level and remained there, floating slightly up and down. He examined the silver ring and noticed near the top of it that it had a slight indentation, resembling the four-sided star, and it was glowing a faint blue.

  Kaz reached out and grabbed it, the cold silver sending a shiver through his body, and his mana core caused him to feel a little uncomfortable, as if it was recoiling from the mana the ring contained. He naturally put it on his index finger on his left hand, and to his surprise, the ring shrunk to fit his small finger, feeling snug.

  With a start, causing him to jolt up, his [ Archive ] opened up, immediately going to his [ Equipment ] page. It now read:

  Head: —

  Head Accessories: —

  Neck: —

  Chest: Brown Robe (Simple)

  Arms: —

  Hand Accessories: Ring of Mana (Refined)

  Belt: —

  Legs: Canvas Pants (Simple)

  Footwear: Leather Boots (Simple)

  Main Hand and Offhand: Battlemage’s Glaive (Refined)

  After catching his breath, he quickly scanned the list before him, and annoyingly closed his [ Archive ], not seeing why it would open when he knew that he equipped the ring. As he closed his [ Archive ], he was hit with a big wave of nausea, needing to quickly lean over the branch and empty his stomach. His mana core flared, sending a hot static like wave of pain throughout his upper body.

  Within minutes, his mana core settled, and he felt this sort of fullness from his mana core, almost like it was on the edge of bursting. But it felt weird, as the mana core felt like it would burst out, but it made him question himself, burst out of what exactly? Rubbing his eyes and laying back against the tree, he opened his [ Archive ] again, this time summoning his [ Status ] page. While he didn’t take any damage to his Health Points, which he felt like he did, he glanced to his Mana Points. A weak grin appeared on his face as he looked at the new total, 121.

  Closing his eyes, he laughed at the absurdity of it. A single item gave him a massive boost to his Mana Points, and it was only one item. But of course, with his luck, he couldn’t just receive something without his mana core acting up, always causing him some sort of pain. He hoped for the day that when his first Revelation would come, that hopefully all of his troubles with his mana core would vanish away with the past.

  It also brought the thought of whether he would be able to purchase additional accessories that would also provide him with boosts to his status. Of course they wouldn’t be cheap, but after completing a few Quests, he hopefully would possess enough Tokens in order to find more permanent lodging and also purchase some gear here and there. He’d have to ask Laelara once he returned back to Sarus if she knew any Merchants or shops who are selling such gear and accessories.

  Kaz was brought out of his wandering thoughts when he heard movement coming towards his direction, the foliage around him crunching and being pushed around. Fear and adrenaline gripped him as he squatted on the branch he was on, looking towards the source of the noise. His heart dropped when he saw four Kobolds walk towards the tree he was on.

  There were two Archers, one with a spear, and one with a sword. The two Archers were scanning the area, and seemed to focus on the area that he was currently in. The Swordsman waved his sword around the area, hissing loudly. The two Archers fanned out and kept searching the area, with the Spearman going back the way they came, probably looking for more clues.

  Realizing this was his best opportunity, he began casting his [ Mana Burst ], sending his construct down from the tree. With a flash of silver, his construct made impact with the Kobold, momentarily stunning it, and before it could react and make noise, another bolt of mana hit it. Wasting no time, Kaz scaled down the tree and jumped once he was halfway down, wincing when he landed a bit harder than he should have, and rushed towards the Swordsman, who was recovering from the sudden six second burst of damage.

  Kaz kept his glaive pointed straight, holding it tightly and tucking the broken end of the shaft under his arm, and then proceeded to drive his glaive straight into the chest of the Kobold, using his momentum to push the Kobold onto its back. It either gasped for air or tried to call out for help, but to its dismay, that only caused it to gurgle as blood filled its punctured lung. Taking out his glaive, he kicked the Swordsman’s sword away from its hand as it weakly tried to take a swing at him, and then Kaz drove his glaive into the head of the Kobold, instantly defeating it. Scanning the area briefly around him, he noted that the others weren’t nearby, so he quickly went up the tree again, and cooled off, trying to control his breathing.

  He tried to get his racing thoughts together, wondering if he should head off away from the area, hopefully not running into any of the other members of the Kobold search party, or stay put in this tree, using the height and foliage of the branches and leaves to his advantage. At the moment that he decided that he should make a run for it, he heard hissing coming from behind his location, and he saw one of the Archers return, warily approaching the dead body of the Swordsman.

  When the Archer reached the body of the Swordsman, it quickly investigated the wounds, and he assumed it looked for a pulse. Once it concluded that the Swordsman was dead, it got up on its feet, half drawing its bow, examining the area for any signs. Kaz decided he should act now, and if he was lucky, he would be able to take on these Kobolds one on one, which would be highly beneficial to him.

  Again, he summoned his mana, constructing his [ Mana Burst ], letting it fly towards the Kobold Archer. As he did with the Swordsman, he began casting a second [ Mana Burst ] as soon as his first one ended. As the Archer was struck by his attack, it quickly hissed out loudly in pain. Kaz’s adrenaline spiked as this loud hiss could definitely be heard by the rest of the group in the area. Thankfully for him, the Archer couldn’t find him, even after he struck the Kobold for the third time. On the fourth cast, the Kobold finally looked up, straight into his silver eyes, but Kaz decided to play it safe, and just sent out another [ Mana Burst ], this fourth one being the one to put down the Archer, who collapsed and perished before sending a single arrow at Kaz.

  Not waiting this time around, he descended down from the tree, a lot slower this time to not potentially hurt his feet, like he did against the Swordsman. As he reached the bottom, he hastily opened his [ Status ] page, and saw that he had 61 Mana Points left, which was half of his new Mana Point total. He wasn’t entirely happy with his current total, but he could work with this if he needed to. As quietly as he could, he escaped into the foliage, mentally activating his other Quest for Manashrooms, and altered his pathing to the direction his [ Archive ] led him in.