4 Repeatable Quest (2)
He walked over to the stall.
"Sir, what would you like to buy?" The salesman asked enthusiastically. He looked to be at most in his late thirties. He had messy hair and dark circles under his eyes.
"Does he make the shoes himself?" Nolan wondered as he saw the dark circles under the salesman's eyes and his fingers wrapped in white linen.
Nolan threw a quick glance at the shoes exhibited on the stall. A pair of black leather boots immediately entered his eyes.
"How much are these?" Nolan pointed at the black leather boots.
"Hundred copper coins."
"Ahh!" Nolan sighed and turned to leave. Though he liked the boots very much, he couldn't spend all of his money on boots. As for the rest of the footwear exhibited on the stall, he didn't like them, so he was going to search for other stalls selling footwear.
"Sir, please wait!" The salesman grabbed Nolan's hand. "I'm in a difficult situation. No one buys my footwear, but I have a family to feed. Please tell me how much you can offer.
The salesman's action shocked Nolan but also gave him hope. He fell into deep thought, and the salesman didn't bother him, letting him think about the price.
If what the salesman said about feeding his family was true, then he couldn't give him a bad price.
Nolan was well aware the salesman could have said that about his family just to get a better price, but what if it was true? Nolan couldn't take the risk.
"Seventy copper coins, that's the best I could offer."
"Seventy?" The salesman's eyes widened in shock. "Sur, you know you could lower the price even more?" The salesman spoke, knowing that this could make Nolan lower the price, but still, it didn't feel right not to say it.
"Hahaha." Nolan laughed. "I would rather suffer losses than let an honest, good man suffer losses. But I couldn't confirm whether you were a good man, so I just bet. However, what you said just now confirmed you are a good person."
A smile spread across the salesman's face as tears filled his eyes. "Thank you, sir!" He bowed ninety degrees to Nolan.
"Do you have children?" Nolan asked out of nowhere.
"I do. A seven years old son." The salesman replied confused.
Hearing this, Nolan's heart softened even more. "Take this." He passed him the bag of copper coins.
The salesman took it and gave the black leather boots to Nolan.
"Inside the bag are hundred copper coins. That's all I have." Nolan said as he tried the boots. They fit perfectly, like made for him.
"But sir…"
"Take those extra thirty copper coins and buy your son candy."
"Thank you, thank you!" The salesman bowed in tears.
"Please. You gave me the boots, and I gave you money. We just did business."
The salesman shook his head. "Sir, you saved my family. No one wanted to buy my footwear. So if not because of you, I'm afraid my family would have starved. In the future, I swear I would repay you."
Nolan couldn't say anything to this. He just turned and walked away.
The salesman held his head down, bowing to Nolan, till he disappeared from his sight.
…
Nolan arrived at the river in twenty minutes. Ten minutes faster than usual because with the boots, he felt like he flew. With the new boots on, he didn't have to watch where he steps.
Previously, he had to be careful with every step he took as not to step on something that could hurt his feet, but now that was not the case. So naturally, he walked faster.
The boots also matched his black hanfu, which was one of the reasons why he wanted them.
"Aghh!" He sighed. "All my money is gone. I guess I would eat tomorrow." He muttered as he sat under the tree and leaned on the trunk.
"Inventory." He muttered, and a blue window appeared before him. The window had many squares, of which only two contained something. One square contained the rusty shovel, and the other the basic swordsmanship manual.
"System, give me the basic swordsmanship manual."
A blue book appeared in his hand.
[Basic swordsmanship manual]
[Fuse with the basic swordsmanship manual]
[Yes/No]
"System, what will happen if I fuse with the basic swordsmanship manual?"
[The manual will disappear, but the knowledge will implant into the host's mind]
"Can I still learn it If I don't fuse with it?"
[You can]
'It's a basic swordsmanship manual, so it should not be rare. But If I don't fuse, it could take at least a week to master it.' Nolan thought. After calculating the pros and cons, he decided the best option was to fuse with the manual.
"System, fuse."
The swordsmanship manual disintegrated into blue dust and entered Nolan's head.
"Aghhhhh!" Nolan screamed in agony. He felt a head-splitting headache as images of a figure swinging a sword appeared in his mind.
He jumped on his feet, broke a long branch from the tree, and using the branch as a sword, he repeated the moves of the figure till sunset.
[Ding]
[You entered the path of martial arts]
[You mastered the basic swordsmanship manual]
[Your strength increased by 5]
[Your stamina increased by 3]
[Your agility increased by 2]
[Ding]
[Occupation: Beggar who knows basic swordsmanship]
Several system messages bombarded Nolan at the same time. An indescribable happiness filled his heart, but he was too tired. He felt like his arms would fall off because of all the swinging.
He dropped the branch and lay under the tree. He fell asleep immediately.
…
He woke up early in the morning, even before the sun rose. He didn't wake up this early voluntarily but because it was cold.
"Ahh!" He sighed in frustration. "It's getting colder. I need to find a warm place to stay at."
[Ding]
[Main Quest: The Beggar from Another World]
[Beg 40 times: 0/40]
[Reward: Ordinary Longsword Exp 20]
[Repeatable quest: 4/5]
"Perfect, just what I needed!" Nolan stood up with a smile. He quickly undressed and dressed in old clothes. Since it was dawn, he decided to wait a little longer. Thus, he sat under the tree again and leaned on the trunk.
"Status window."
[Name: Nolan]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 19 years, 4 days]
[Personality: Mentally unstable]
[Occupation; Beggar who knows basic swordsmanship]
[Level 1]
[Exp: 60/100]
[Martial arts: Basic swordsmanship]
[Strength: 10]
[Stamina: 8]
[Agility: 10]
"Wonderful!" Nolan exclaimed at the sight of his stats.
"Ehhh. System, I forgot to ask you. I see that there is a basic swordsmanship manual, and I have mastered basic swordsmanship. What are the other grades?"
[There are eight grades in total: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Good, Very Good, Excellent, Top, and Legendary grade]
[Those grades do not only apply to Martial arts, but they also apply to occupations]
[The system recommends not to underestimate the grades even if it's only basic]
[If two people with the same stats engage in combat, but the one knows basic swordsmanship, the one who knows basic swordsmanship would come on top]
Hearing this, a wide smile spread on Nolan's face.
He jumped on his feet and stood facing the tree trunk.
Swoosh!
He threw a punch at the tree trunk.
Pam!
The few yellow leaves fell off the tree, leaving the tree completely naked. Nolan looked at his hand.
A few drops of blood rolled down. He quickly switched his gaze to the trunk because he didn't care much about the tiny scratch.
However, despite what he expected, the tree didn't have even the slightest punch mark left.
Nolan blushed in embarrassment. Luckily no one saw him punching the tree.
"Fool, fool, fool!" He slapped his forehead several times. "What did you expect?"
However, he quickly regained his composure. He wanted to complete the quest as soon as possible. Thus, he headed towards the street.
…
[Ding]
[You completed the Quest: The Beggar from Another World]
[You received: Ordinary Longsword, Exp20]
Nolan completed the quest a few hours before dusk. However, he continued begging in hopes of raising the level of his skill [Begging lv.2]. But even with the few extra hours of begging, the level of his skill didn't raise.
The sun set, and the oil lamps lit, lighting the street.
Nolan gave up on raising the level of his skill and stood up. His stomach roared like an angry beast. After all, he had not eaten anything all day, and on top of that, he had not eaten yesterday night too.
He had the money to buy food, but no one would sell food to a beggar. And it would take too much time to go to the river, change clothes and then come back to eat.
Now, he could think of only one solution. Beg.
He got closer to a street stall selling food. "Sir, please have mercy. Give me little food." He spoke in a weak voice.
The moment the salesman saw Nolan, his face twitched in anger. But he didn't scream as everyone else did before. Instead, he took a steamed bun he just cooked and threw it to Nolan.
Nolan coughed the hot, soft steamed bun.
"Take it and leave." The salesman spoke calmly. He seemed to have experience in dealing with beggars. And he knew how many customers can a beggar make him lose if not given what he wanted.
"Thank you, thank you." Nolan bowed in gratitude with the steamed bun in hand as he distanced himself from the stall.
[Ding]
[The skill Begging lv.2 leveled up]
[Begging lv.2] – [Begging lv. max]
Nolan smiled in satisfaction as he ate the steamed bun and looked at the system window before him. If not because he had this skill, he would have to beg for several days to complete today's quest. Also, in the few days he begged on the streets, he also had a chance to observe other beggars, which only further proved to him how overpowered his skill was.
On his way back to the river, he finished the steamed bun. Though it couldn't fully fill his stomach, it was still better than nothing.
When he arrived under the tree, he immediately lay. Since the night had fallen long ago, and he was tired of begging all day, Nolan fell asleep instantly.
…
Before the sun even came out, he woke up again because of the cold. He looked at the black hanfu and boots next to him. He felt it would be a pity to cover himself with the beautiful black hanfu.
" System, why can't I store items in the system inventory?"
[The host has not yet gained the system skill inventory]
"Then where the fu.ck is the sword and the rusty shovel stored?"
[The items from the quest rewards are in the Reward inventory]
[The host can't store items that are not from the system in the Reward inventory]
"Then when can I unlock the inventory?"
[Ding]
[NEW QUEST: System's gift]
[Strength stat reach 10: 10/10]
[Stamina stat reach 10: 8/10]
[Agility stat reach 10: 10/10]
[Reward: System skill-inventory]
[Time limit: 2 days]
"How do I increase the stamina stat in two days? The system sure gave impossible…" Before he could finish his sentence, a system message interrupted him.
[Ding]
[Main quest: The Beggar from Another World]
[Beg 100 times: 0/100]
[Reward: System skill-inspect, Exp 20]
[Repeatable quest: 5/5]
"Now you are talking!" Nolan shouted in excitement. Many doors would open to him with this skill. But to beg a hundred times was a lot. More than double that of yesterday. And even with his skill [Begging] at the max level, he didn't have the confidence to complete the quest before dusk.
However, before going to beg, he wanted to at least see the sword he got yesterday.
"Longsword."
The swords appeared in his hand.
He drew the sword out of its leather sheath. The sword had a beautiful shiny steel blade.
He dropped the sheath.
Taking position, he started swinging the sword, practicing basic swordsmanship.
He practiced with the sword for about fifteen minutes before stopping.
"It sure feels different practicing basic swordsmanship with a real sword in hand." He muttered as he sheathed the sword and returned it to the Reward inventory.
…
[Ding]
You completed the quest: The Beggar from Another World]
[You received: System skill-inspect, Exp 20]
[Ding]
[You leveled up]
[You received: 3 allocation points]
It took much less time to complete the quest than Nolan thought. He had still underestimated the skill [Begging lv. max].
But what surprised him, even more, was that he levelled up. His experience accumulated so slowly that he didn't even pay attention to it.
"Status window."
He looked at the changes that occurred in his status.
[Level 2]
[Exp: 0/100]
[Martial arts: Basic swordsmanship]
[Strength: 10]
[Stamina: 8]
[Agility: 10]
[Allocation points: 3]
Without even thinking, he added all the allocation points into stamina.
[Stamina 11]
[Ding]
[You completed the quest: System's Gift]
[You received: System skill- inventory]
Nolan couldn't help but smile at the many system notifications bombarding him. There was no greater pleasure than the sound of a system message.
"Skills." He muttered.
[Martial arts skills: None]
[Active occupation skills: None]
[Passive occupation skills: Information gathering lv.1, Begging lv. Max]
[System skills: Language Translation lv. max, Inspect lv.1, Inventory lv. max]
[Inventory lv. max: Can store items regardless of whether they come from the system or not]
[Inspect lv.1: Gives basic information about the target. The details of the information would increase as the skill level increases]
"Good, good." With a smile, Nolan stood up to leave, but someone blocked his way.
"HEY!!"
