“Was it that bad?” Leo swallowed nervously after seeing Jeff’s reaction to his simple question.
“You have no idea. Unlike D-Rank and below where you only have to fight a couple of monsters at the same rank, all promotion examinations for C-Rank and above require you to complete a special mission, and it’s a different mission every time you take it, so you will never know what to expect until the end.”
“For the first two examinations, I had to gather certain materials from monsters in the Wilderness. I nearly died both times because I underestimated the mission.”
“For the third and fourth examination, I needed to harvest a specific resource from a specific location. Lastly, for the fifth examination, I needed to clear out a group of monsters that had been threatening a certain trade route.”
“The worst part is that they make you do missions that are way too hard to do alone for your rank because they expect you to receive help from others, not to mention the strict time limit.”
“That does sound a lot harder than fighting some monsters…” Leo mumbled in a dazed voice.
Jeff sighed, “Honestly, I am afraid of the B-Rank examination. Chances are I will remain as a C-Rank for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t be so negative. I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Dean said.
“Trust me, you will understand my feelings once you eventually take the C-Rank examination yourselves.”
After talking for some time, everyone beside Leo and the person on the lookout went to sleep.
“Why did you decide to become an Adventurer, Leon?” Trista, who had replaced David, asked him as she stared at the Wilderness with a somewhat dazed look on her face.
“It wasn’t really my decision to become an Adventurer. My teacher was the one who made me into an Adventurer,” he said.
“I see… Well, I became an Adventurer because I wanted a better life. I grew up in a poor family, and the only way people like us earn money nowadays is to become an Adventurer or win the lottery.”
Sometime later, she asked, “What about your future? What do you hope to achieve?”
Leo stared at the starry night through the windows and mumbled, “I don’t know… I have spent most of my life staring at books and studying for exams, so I haven’t really gotten the chance to think about such things. Just like you, I was born into a poor family, and in order to make a better life for myself and my family, I poured all of my effort into education, but after a certain incident, all of that effort became pointless, and I somehow ended up here, where education is worthless.”
“Education, huh? You must have entered a very prestigious school. How lucky. That kind of stuff is considered obsolete in most schools nowadays, and we only get to learn the very basics before we’re taught how to survive in the Wilderness. After all, what use is education if our world is overrun by monsters and vampires? Will education help us fend off monsters? Will education help us when we become livestock for vampires? Only the rich and elite care about education because they have the luxury to choose between working in the city or becoming an Adventurer and risking their lives everyday outside the city.”
“Most of them choose to stay in the city where it’s safe. After all, who in their right mind would want to risk their life in the Wilderness when they can make a living inside the city?”
Leo remained silent as he listened to Trista complain about the current state of their world, where education is no longer the most important aspect but the ability to survive in the Wilderness, which only made Leo feel more bitter because he’d spent the majority of his life and all of his effort into bettering his education.
“Honestly, you should give up on being an Adventurer and work inside the city. Don’t waste all of the effort that you’ve put into education. That’s what I would do if I were in your shoes.”
“I will think about it,” he said.
They stopped talking shortly after to ponder about their own things.
“What do you think, Lilith? Would you stay with me if I decide to stop being an Adventurer to work a boring job inside the city?” Leo asked her in a somewhat joking tone.
“No matter what you decide to do, I never want to go back to being alone without a single soul to talk to. You can pick up garbage on the street for the rest of your life and I will still choose to be with you.” she said.
“Also, while there is some truth to what that woman said, it really depends on your situation and what kind of person you want to be. Look at Miss Camille for example. She seems to be from a wealthy family, yet she decided to become an Adventurer at such a young age.”
“What do you want to do, Leo? What kind of person are you? Do you want to be wealthy? Or do you want to be famous? If your wish is to be surrounded by beautiful women, that is fine as well. If you’re ambitious, you would aim for multiple goals.”
Leo suddenly retrieved a mana core and stared at it in silence.
“I was only good at studying and memorizing textbooks in my old world, so I was forced to focus on it. However, in this world, I have other talents, such as magic, which I find a million times more interesting than staring at a textbook, even if it’s a little more dangerous.”
“Like many, I have always fantasized about being a powerful magician or a hero when I was a child. Although it is nothing more than a childish dream in my old world, that is actually possible in this world. Also, do I really need a goal in life? There are countless people out there who have managed to live a proper life without having a set goal, and that is exactly what I am going to do until I find an actual goal.”
“So you’re just going to follow the flow? I guess that isn’t a bad idea either. Having a set goal will help you achieve it faster, but with your talents and the Magic System, I guess that kind of stuff won’t really matter.”
“Well, my goal right now is to be promoted to a C-Rank Adventurer before the Wilderness Training Course. I can find another goal after that.”
About two hours later, Trista suddenly shouted, “We have a group of monsters ahead! Prepare to fight! I will wake the others!”
Leo literally jumped out of his seat and prepared to go outside after hearing her words.
Sure enough, the vehicle stopped moving a few moments later.
Leo did not hesitate to go outside to face the group of monsters.
[Black Bullet!]
A barrage of Black Bullet flew towards the group of monsters blocking the path, killing most of them before Trista and the others could even step foot outside the vehicle.
<You have completed a Quest>
[+100 Magic Points]
When the monsters saw how Leo had killed the majority of their group with a single attack, they all scattered in fear.
However, Leo wasn’t willing to let them go and began sniping them with Black Bullet.
In the end, he killed several more monsters before the rest of them ran away.
“…”
The others felt useless when Leo finished the whole thing before they could even cast a single spell.
“Ahahaha! Amazing! He’s the best bodyguard I’ve ever encountered!” Tami’s laughter could be heard from inside the vehicle shortly after.
“I don’t want to complain since I didn’t have to fight any monsters, but man, I feel really useless.” David said with a bittersweet smile as they harvested the mana cores.
“You should spare at least one or two for the rest of us, Leon.” Dean said.
Leo raised his eyebrows and said, “But our priority is to protect cargo. It would only make sense to deal with the threat as soon as possible. If you want some mana cores, go ahead and take some. I don’t mind sharing.”
“Hahaha! He’s got you beat, Dean! You can’t argue with that logic!” Jeff laughed out loud.
“Do you really not mind sharing your mana cores with us? Even though you did all of the work? I don’t want to be shameless, but it would really help me out.” Trista said.
Leo nodded and said, “You guys can keep whatever you harvest.”
“Thank you, Leon! I really like you now!” Trista said with a bright smile on her face.
“Why are you giving them the mana cores even though they don’t deserve it?” Lilith asked him.
“I guess I feel a little bad about killing all of the monsters by myself. Also, it wouldn’t be wise of me to hog all of the mana cores when everyone is trying to make a living. I don’t want to make myself look like a selfish prick, especially when we have to spend the next week together. And it’s just a couple of F-Rank mana cores. I would gladly sacrifice some of them to keep the atmosphere between us positive.”
“As expected of a human. You care too much about others’ opinions. It is because of this trait that you humans sometimes lose out on opportunities and profits. No vampires would sacrifice themselves for another vampire.” Lilith sighed.
“I don’t see any benefit in offending other people. That’s how you get stabbed in the back.” He shrugged.
“Maybe not in your old world, but in this world, you’ll get stabbed in the back regardless if you’re being generous to them or not.” Lilith shook her head.
And she wondered inwardly, ‘He’s still too naive, but I guess I cannot blame him. He came from a world where this kind of environment did not exist not too long ago.’
Sometime later, once they returned to the vehicle, Leo opened up the Magic System and purchased the quest that required him to learn a Tier 5 magic spell for 100 Magic Points.
<You have purchased a new Quest>
[Quest: Learn a Tier 5 Magic Spell]
[Time Limit: N/A]
[Reward: 500 Magic Points]
Ding!
<You have completed a Quest>
[+500 Magic Points]
Leo looked at the Quest Shop after completing the quest.
{Quest Shop}
[Kill 100 Monsters: 10 MP]
[Reward: 100 MP]
[Limit: 1/3]
[Learn Tier 6 magic Spell: 1,000 MP]
[Reward: 5,000 MP]
‘Oh? There’s actually a limit to how many times I can repeat these quests? What a pity.’ Leo thought to himself after seeing the changes to the Quest Shop.
Either way, he purchased the quest that required him to kill 100 monsters again.
