Opportunity reward

For the three days the mayor gave him, WindBow hunted monsters and leveled up his collection skills.

He had to recover the lost exp and proficiency.

On the third day, he was back at the mayor to get his rewards. He held a mild expectation due to the high level enemy he found. It shouldn't be so bad. Bit also felt down remembering how useless he was against him.

So his expectations weren't very high for the quest's rewards.

As he got close to the manor, he felt something amiss. There was very few people on streets.Way too few actually. There was just a few random guards who were clearly low level patrolling.

He felt the unusual restlessness increase as he got to the mayor's house. There was a lot of soldiers there and most of them were injures as if they barely survived a war.

"This... Maybe this is bigger than I thought."

As he got inside he saw the mayor with a heavy face. He had pondering and dark expression. He didn't know how to ask for his rewards in this mood.Luckily for him, the mayor was not as bad as he noticed him and showed a better face. He couldn't smile after such findings, but he showed a cordial expression.

"Young hero WindBow, I welcome you. Please come, have some tea."

"Thank you, mayor."

The mayor led him to his office to have some tea and where the mood was not as gloomy.

"Last time you brought me news of a very dangerous man. I didn't believe it fully. I thought it would be dangerous for you, but not for me. Still, you have some reputation to your name so if you found a enemy as powerful as you said maybe I should be somewhat careful."

WindBow listened to mayor telling his thoughts. He made a mental note about how his reputation was affecting NPCs.

"The result is worse than what you saw. I sent 50 men to the forest.Only 44 returned, 12 are badly injured and will retire. There are still 20 who have injuries that will take some time to recover, but are somewhat fine."

"So this was a failure."

"Indeed. I sent my men to neutralize the danger element and came back defeated. So we failed."

WindBow worried if the mayor would blame him for this. He might have died for nothing! If not for the unusual poisonous materials then it would have been useless!

"We indeed failed, but you didn't. You brought me info about something I didn't know and such a dangerous element became known because of you. As the scout I sent to explore the region, you succeeded greatly. The hardest enemy to fight is the one you don't know it even exists! That's why I prepared a fitting reward for you."

Servants started coming from the door. Three were holding bags and the last one was holding an armor.

"For your service of giving us the chance to fight our enemy before it comes to us, I reward you these items! Please accept them, young hero!"

[You have completed the quest Exploration of the Gloomy Forest]

Rewards:

Leather Armor (Uncommon)

10 gold

High grade potions

Poison Resistance Necklace (Common)

An opportunity.

('Opportunity? The only I think this could be an opportunity is... ')

"Thank you, mayor. This is way more than I deserve. I would feel indebted if I received this for only this small service. Please, is there nothing else I could help with?"

"You did more than enough. This trouble is too much even for me so my friend is leading his elite troops here and should deal with this problem soon."

"Please, accepting such good will without repaying back is not something I can take pride in. There should be something I could help."

"Hum.. The enemy is honestly too strong for you to be of any help. But I guess you could accompany them and provide support if you want. This kind of job should be boring and unrewarding for an adventurer like you."

"I accept it. Please let me accompany as support troop."

"Alright, be here tomorrow by morning. My friend is just about to arrive and shall be resting for tonight. We're departing as quickly as possible to stop the dark wizard ritual. Don't be late!"

[You got the hidden quest Support Troops in Gleist Town.]

Accompany the troops leaving for the forest tomorrow. Provide support the way you can. The rewards will be given based on your contributions points.

('Hidden. So this is probably the opportunity.The lack of information actually gives a high expectation. Let's use this chance to see if opportunity rewards are a bonus or a minus in this game. Nobody said about every opportunity being a good one.')

WindBow left to get ready for tomorrow.

=======================

"Finally I did it!"

Love Money spent all his money on getting ingredients. His gamble was a risky one, but he got the necessary recipe at last.

"Hey, Sam. I got it! I have the antidote recipe ready. How many do you need? 15? 20?"

"Oh, so you did it. Right on time. I'm going back there and need antidotes and potions if you can."

"Don't worry, this brothers of yours shall provide everything needed for you to surpass even the number 1 player!"

"Thank you. Then please get me 100 antidotes by tomorrow and as many potions as you can."

"..."

Love Money tried to answer him, but his voice didn't come out. He moved his mouth up and down as if trying to say something, but his mind was still trying to process what he heard.

"H-H-How many!?"

"100."

"A freaking hundred!? Dude, are you masochistic!? How are you going to use that with your low Hp!"

"If you can't do it, its okay. Just make as many as you can."

Love Money was sweating a lot. Maybe he pressured his brother too much with their last talk. His brother probably has gone crazy with the pressure! His first order of antidotes was already on triple digits!

"... Alright. I'll do it."

"Thank you. I'll be dropping a few resources to help you."

A few minutes later, WindBow came.

"Bro, if you feel like you can't do it, it's fine. Prioritize your health, alright?"

"Why health? Isn't my character more agi and dex oriented?"

"... Nevermind."

Love Money accepted the bag a little absent minded. His brother didn't get his honest worries about his actual health. But as he received the report from the system that he received 5 gold and a lot of loot, his mind recovered fast. Indeed his brother didn't go crazy.

With this amount of resources, he could complete the order. After confirming his friends needs, WindBow went to sleep. He needed to be at his best tomorrow.

========================

"Tch, after seeing that insane guy, I can't feel as if I'm doing a good job again."

Grim was killing monsters solo again. He just killed a higher leveled monster solo, but didn't feel. happy about it. He remembered that archer who invested in mobility too. Although he had ranged skills and the pet to help, his own movements didn't look half bad. Actually, he moved better than most players Grim had ever seen.

"That sense of his... Although his movements were not as very beautiful or fancy like martial artists, he somehow could control even the opponents position through his evasion."

Grim was trying to repeat WindBow way of evading. WindBow has high reflexes indeed, but the most fearsome thing about him was still his brain. He could perceive a lot with just a bit of information and very quickly. Not only that but he run calculations and simulations in mid battle.

Because of that, every move WindBow made his opponents move the way he wanted. It's like making a move in chess just to force your opponent in a tight spot by himself!

"Damn it! Who the hell was that guy!"

As he thought about how he chose the most agile class to show his talent, but couldn't beat that archer, he went after stronger prey to vent his frustrations.

=======================

The next day, WindBow got there early and found the mayor talking to another middle aged man.

The brown haired man was emanating a strong presence, even stronger than the mayor. There was this feeling that he was a no nonsense man. Window's favorite actually since most of them don't talk much!

"Are you the archer who found the wizard?"

As soon as he got close the man questioned him.

"Yes, I am."

"You did good. This dark wizard could have brought a great catastrophe if not for your warning. I heard you volunteered for the support troops, is that right?"

"Yes. I'm sure I can be useful at this expedition."

"Although you don't look strong enough for it, but if my friend here recommends you then I shall let you accompany us. But remember your position! You shall not question any orders given to you or I shall he impolite! This is a military expedition and we have our rules!"

"Yes, sir! You can rest assured I'll not question any orders given."

The man gave a nod, his eyes showing appreciation for this man.

"Alright, from now on you can call me commander. We're departing immediately! The support troops shall be stationed on the back and act as reserve troops. If a prolonged fight happens, the support shall provide a provision route and protect it. Did you get it?"

"Yes, very clearly."

"Good. Then go report to Sergeant Dolan. He's that man with a bald head and grown beard."

WindBow found the man easily. His features were pretty unique in the camp. After joining the squad, they marched to the Gloomy Forest.

With almost a hundred soldiers marching, they quickly got in the forest. But their formation was not optimum for forest terrain and so they advanced very slowly once inside. Also, the troop was formed of mostly warriors, then scouts (thieves and archers) and lastly mages. Mages and Warriors didn't have the mobility to avoid attacks so they were often poisoned.

When they got poisoned a few times, WindBow respectfully told his superior about how he had some antidotes to give. He got this batch of 100 antidotes with Love Money just before coming to the meeting at the morning.

WindBow's plan worked. The commander felt those antidotes were very useful and he received 500 contribution points just by giving items. A nice investment!

As they got deeper, WindBow noticed something. The number of monster was too high!

Last time he got to the dense mist after killing half of the number of beasts killed now. This time even a few wild dogs and cats appeared!

"I guess things won't be easy even with this group."

WindBow raised his alertness. His heart burned a fierce will even though his head was colder than ice.

======================

"Damn, I shouldn't have come here. This place is full of poisonous monsters!"

A lone thief found himself in a gloomy forest while wandering in search of strength.