Ambrose took out the first item. It was some kind of golden whistle, and soon information popped up in front of everyone.
[Calling Whistle: By blowing the whistle, the player would attract every creature within a 500 meter radius]
‘This is an extremely good tool for any level grinder.’ Ambrose nodded in affirmation and put it down on the floor. ‘I wouldn’t have to search for things to kill anymore; they would come straight to me. However, it could also attract something very dangerous…’
“A good item.” RedBand nodded in approval. The rest of the party was equally impressed.
Ambrose then took out the second item. It was a blue, curved horn. It looked like a magical item, and it was very beautiful to look at.
[Magic Horn (Blue): A master blacksmith can fuse it with any weapon and add one magic skill to the weapon]
“Whoah!” Roza exclaimed. “I know there is magic in this game because of Karma, but to think that players can also get magic!”
“However, it would need a master blacksmith.” RedBand scratched his head, and then turned to Marcus. “Does Amaterasu have a master blacksmith?”
“No one has reached that level of blacksmithing in a century.” One-Leg Marcus said. “From what I know, there are blacksmithing villages somewhere in the Dark Continent. If there are master blacksmiths anywhere, it would be there.”
“Why in the Dark Continent?” Roza asked.
“Dark Continents have better metals and ingredients. They can create stronger weapons there, so it ain’t surprising that they moved there.”
Ambrose placed the magic horn beside the whistle. ‘It would take a long time before any player ventured into the Dark Continent. It might take years. I am not a patient person, so I should focus on getting items that increase my strength now.’
He then took the third item out of the treasure chest. It was a brown pouch, and once Ambrose opened it, a notification appeared saying that there were 1,500 silvers inside.
“1,500 silvers,” Ambrose placed the pouch beside the magic horn. Others in the room looked at it with desire. While silver was important for purchasing various things, obtaining a valuable item that couldn’t be bought with money held greater significance.
Ambrose then uncovered another item—a round shield with a lion insignia. Though heavy, it could be folded into a compact size that fit in a pocket.
Felixar immediately straightened his back. His eyes shone as he stared intensely at the folded shield. 𝓋xt.𝐂𝑚
Ambrose placed it on the floor, uninterested, and proceeded to examine another item. This time, he revealed a green-colored whistle emitting an unpleasant odor.
[Orc Whistle: By blowing into the whistle, you can summon an orc. The orc will immediately attack the summoner. It cannot be controlled, but killing it grants XP and has a 0.001% chance of dropping an item.]
RedBand and his party members had mixed reactions. It was tempting since the orc gave experience and had a small chance of dropping an item, but otherwise, it was quite useless!
Ambrose looked at the green whistle and smiled. “I’ll take this.”
“Uh, are you sure?” RedBand asked in surprise. He expected him to take Calling Whistle or at least check the remaining items. ‘Is he risking it in case the orc drops something incredibly valuable?’
“Yes, I’m sure.” Ambrose tossed the whistle into his inventory.
“Alright.” RedBand looked inside the treasure chest. There was only one item left. It was a small, silver ring with a large ruby embedded in its center.
[Ruby Ring: Increases the attack and defense of the user by 10%]
RedBand smiled and said. “I’ll take this.”
They decided beforehand that he was the second person to choose reward.
His friends nodded, but Roza looked slightly bitter, as she wanted it because it looked very pretty.
“I will take this.” Felixar reached out to the round shield. He unfolded the shield and stood up with it. The shield covered his torso right behind it. However, it was quite heavy, but he was very pleased.
“I’ll take this.” Roza took the Calling Whistle.
Andyy grabbed the magic horn and wryly smiled before throwing it into his inventory.
PamPam looked at the last remaining item—a pouch worth 1,500 silvers. She sighed and stored it all inside her interface.
“Alright, Marcus.” RedBand turned to the quest assigner. “What will we get?”
“Our village is not the richest, but we gave something that would definitely please players.” One-Leg Marcus rummaged through his pocket and took out a very small pouch. It looked like it could fit only 100 silver coins inside.
As everyone looked disappointed, Marcus opened the pouch, and everyone received bright notifications.
[5000 XP Acquired!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 18 -> 19]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 19 -> Level 20]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 20 -> 21]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 21 -> 22]
[LEVEL UP!]
[Level 22 -> 23]
“Whoah!” Andyy exclaimed with a giant smile. “Quests are definitely worth it!”
RedBand nodded with a smile. “So, the villagers managed to transform their rewards into XP. Not bad.”
Ambrose nodded with a slight smile. He looked at his stat points, and he once again had a lot to use.
“Well, here ends our cooperation.” RedBand stood up and shook hands with Ambrose. “Thanks for helping.”
“No problem. I don’t mind being invited for another quest if the rewards are like this.”
“Heh, well, if you find one yourself, consider calling us.” RedBand looked at his party members and Marcus. They all shook hands with Ambrose and then left the dojo in good spirits. It was a very fruitful quest.
Ambrose sat on the floor and thought about this day. A morning started normally, but everything went downhill quickly.
“I need to earn money…” He sighed and looked around the dojo. There was only one way to get money quickly, and there was only one thing he could sell that would cause a commotion.
“This dojo… I have to sell it.” Ambrose sadly smiled. “I started to like this place, but for now, I have to let go.
“To earn money via Martial Online, I need strength. A lot of strength.” Ambrose opened the interface and looked at the stat points. There were 60 stat points. He had 10 beforehand after leveling up earlier today.
“Strength…” Ambrose pressed on Strength and put all stat points on it.
[STR: 40 -> 100]
His strength reached 100!
[Str%4&&//&¤ Ad¤%&” Re”¤&”&]
“Wait, what the hell is that?” Ambrose looked at the glitched message, which disappeared almost immediately. He shook his head and thought it was just a bug. It wasn’t strange that there would be bugs in a game of this size.
‘I guess I will report that bug on the forums.’ Ambrose thought and returned upstairs to his room. He laid on the bed and looked at the ceiling. The sky had already turned dark above Amaterasu.
He didn’t want to return to real life because of the pain. He had heard that it was possible to sleep inside Martial Online.
“I am now alone…” Ambrose wiped the tears from his eyes. He had long been sheltered by his parents and had grown used to such a lifestyle. He never expected them to throw him out like this, and it made him feel sadness, which swallowed him from the inside.
“It’s fine… I will show them.” Ambrose closed his eyes and whispered gently. “I will show them all. I am not useless.”
…
In a dark hospital room with a beeping machine and a nurse. The nurse checked the machine and glanced at the sickly-looking young man before leaving the room.
After the door closed, Jesse’s body shuddered for a moment. The golden visor started glowing, brightening the dark room significantly.
His veins bulged and started glowing with a similar golden glow.
That night, a miraculous scene happened in a random hospital room. Jesse’s body, riddled with incurable disease since the moment he was born, started having its first miraculous transformation.