Fifth Quest

In the forest surrounding Luxen City.
 
Vivian and Marie were walking side by side.
 
Vivian had her sword out, while Marie still had her weapons sheathed on her waist but was holding a small sack.
 
"Sister, our quest is to gather 15 tails of the Bukaroo, right?" asked Marie.
 
"Yes, and you're in charge of picking up the tails. Leave the killing to me."
 
Since Marie wanted to tag along, Vivian decided that might as well use her. And plus, she would just feel awkward of having Marie follow her around without doing anything.
 
Beak!
 
Beak!
 
Vivian quickly turned her head in the direction of where the sound was coming from. And once she spotted the bird, she immediately rushed toward with.
 
As she was rushing to the bird, she made a quick glance at the sword on her hand and her lips curled up into a grin.
 
Can't wait to use this…!
 
The bird finally entered her attack range.
 
Whooosh!
 
With one swing, the blade neatly passed through the bird's body in mid-air and it whipped its tail to sting Vivian but missed as Vivian stepped back away and dodged it.
 
A red line suddenly appeared on the bird's body and it slowly separated into 2 pieces, causing blood and guts to start falling.
 
Thud.
 
Thud.
 
The bird's dismembered corpse fell to the ground and Vivian's eyes narrowed.
 
This is not good…
 
I don't know if the blade is too sharp or I'm too strong…
 
Or perhaps both…
 
Either way, I need to kill the bird in one swoop without giving it a chance to attack…
 
She ignored the bird and watched Marie extract the tail.
 
Marie grabbed the lower half of the corpse and then ripped the tail away.
 
"Sister, I'll be moving faster. The only time I'll take a break is when you're extracting the tail."
 
Vivian didn't wait for Marie to reply and immediately started running.
 
***
 
Vivian noticed Treebark up ahead at the corner of her eye.
 
She didn't stop running and simply changed direction, heading right straight to the monster.
 
When she got around 10ft away, the monster turned around to face her and charged.
 
Whoosh!
 
Vivian didn't bother jumping or doing any fancy moves. She ran towards it and then swung her sword.
 
Just like the Bukaroo, her sword easily sliced through the monster's body without any resistance. The monster whipped its arms and Vivian had to take a step back once more in order to dodge that attack.
 
Tch!
 
Vivian clicked her tongue as she stared at the monster and continued walking.
 
Thud.
 
Thud.
 
The monster took a few steps forward when it finally stopped as a red line appeared across its body and the upper body slid down to the ground.
 
Vivian glanced at her sword.
 
Given that its shell was thick, I didn't bother to decrease my strength…
 
It really is too much…
 
She resumed running.
 
***
 
This time around, Vivian noticed 2 sunflower monsters up ahead.
 
Without stopping, she raised her left hand and activated a skill.
 
[Fire Arrow].
 
Wooh-brrrg!
 
A 15-inch arrow made of fire burst out of Vivian's hand and shot through one of the sunflower monster's bodies, leaving a hole before finally landing on a tree.
 
Whooosh!
 
Meanwhile, the other monster was stuck down with a sword by Vivian and she took a few steps back to avoid its gas attack.
 
When the second monster finally died, she turned to the first monster which was already dead and her eyes landed on the tree where her [Fire Arrow] struck after shooting through the monster.
 
The [Fire Arrow] continued to burn until it finally vanished.
 
So 3 seconds…?
 
The [Fire Arrow] lasted for 3 seconds…?
 
She went closer to the tree and examined the burned marks.
 
It wasn’t enough to burn the whole tree…
 
But based on its penetrating force, it was deadly…
 
“Sister?” asked Marie.
 
“It’s nothing.”
 
She continued running to search for more enemies.
 
***
 
After a couple of steps, a fox jumped out of a bush to attack Vivian and missed.
 
No, its trajectory was too far off that it ended up landing close to Marie who was following Vivian from behind and she easily avoided it.
 
Vivian made a sudden brake, turned around and then charged towards the fox.
 
Whooosh!
 
The sword easily cut through the fox's body and a fountain of blood came bursting out.
 
Vivian immediately resumed running around in search for more enemies.
 
***
 
A couple of steps later, this time around, Vivian encountered a group of tiny jumping mushrooms. And without any hesitation, she charged at the group.
 
Whoosh!
 
Whoosh!
 
Pah!
 
Bam!
 
She slashed, kicked and stomped them.
 
And after dealing with the mushrooms, she immediately began running once again.
 
***
 
Beak!
 
Beak!
 
Vivian stopped and searched for the bird.
 
Marie, who was following behind her, stopped and looked around as well.
 
When Vivian finally spotted the bird, she immediately charged towards it.
 
Whooosh!
 
Thud.
 
Thud.
 
The bird was cut in half in mid-air before having its separated body crashing to the ground.
 
Marie rushed to where the lower half of the bird landed and extracted the tail.
 
When Vivian saw her putting the tail inside the sack, she immediately resumed running.
 
***
 
Vivian saw 2 Treebarks up ahead and headed straight to them.
 
Whooosh!
She delivered a horizontal slash to the first monster.
 
The second monster approached her and swung its branch-like arms.
 
Thud.
 
Vivian leaped over the monster and landed from behind.
 
Whooosh!
 
She turned around and delivered a diagonal slash.
 
Vivian resumed running around.
 
***
 
Vivian encountered 2 sunflower monsters and rushed towards them.
 
Whoosh!
 
Whoosh!
 
Ding!
 
'Unlocked [Body Art Mastery] (Sword Mastery) - Level 2!'
 
Finally…!
 
She stopped which surprised Marie.
 
Based on what she had observed with Vivian, unless it was the Bukaroo bird, once she killed it, she would immediately resume running like nothing happened.
 
The only exception was when she threw a [Fire Arrow] at a sunflower monster one time.
 
"Sister, are you feeling tired?" asked Marie.
 
Vivian turned to her.
 
Hmm…
 
Can people see my Status Panel…?
 
Since transmigrating to this world, she has once never opened the Status Panel in front of anyone.
 
There was one time that she opened it in public outside the eatery next to The Silver Wing Inn. But she was at a corner and made sure that she wasn't disturbing anyone or blocking the way. On top of that, it was nighttime.
 
Furthermore, the Status Panel wasn't really big, only about the same size as a fully opened laptop and its light or color didn't reflect or bounce around its surroundings, including at her.
 
"If you're feeling tired, I can cast [Blessing] on you."
 
"[Blessing]?"
 
"It's a Class Magic spell that temporarily boosts your Physical and Magical Force by 1 grade."
 
Last night, when Criselle and Marie bombarded her with questions while helping her bathe, she bombarded them with questions as well.
 
"I don't really need it. But will it help you in learning other [Class Magic] skills?"
 
“It depends on the situation. The only remaining Class Magic I need to learn are [Sacrifice] and [Resurrection]. If we encounter a dangerous situation and my [Blessing] was able to help you, then perhaps it could help a bit in me learning [Sacrifice] and [Resurrection]. But considering your strength and the enemies we’ve encountered so far, it seems there wouldn’t be any problem. But still, fatigue is fatigue.”
 
Vivian thought about it for a moment before answering.
 
"[Halo] boosts mana recovery and makes the bearer appear more trustworthy, right? Meanwhile, with [Sacrifice], the owner will take 50% of the damage inflicted on the target, right?
 
Marie nodded.
 
"That is correct."
 
"I see. If you want to cast [Blessing] on me, I don't mind."
"Okay, sister," she said and then cast a skill.
 
A red light enveloped Vivian's body and she felt not only stronger, but it also seemed like she recovered some stamina as well.
 
Vivian stared at her hand and then formed a fist.
 
I don't know how strong the other classes are but this skill is really amazing…
 
I hope I can--…
 
An idea suddenly popped inside her head.
 
"Sister, I have a question."
 
"What is it?"
 
"Our Temple has certain rules in helping outsiders in order to generate income and keep the Temple running, right?"
 
"Yes."
 
"But given that most of our Class Magic ties with saving and easing the pain of others, wouldn't we be able to learn much faster if we just help everyone?"
 
"Yes, that's true. But it's complicated," she said and then paused for a moment. "Let's just say the current rules and regulations were placed by the Temple of Priests for a reason. This allows the temple to hold so much power, influence and resources so that it can properly nurture its members, especially the rookies, in battling demons, demon-kins, the Cult of Infinity and the heretics."
 
"I see. I understand," Vivian said before turning around and running to search for more enemies.
 
As for checking her Status Panel, she didn't bother to risk it. In her mind, once she completes the quest and gets rid of Marie, she could stare at the Status Panel all she wants.
 
I really should try testing opening the Status Panel in front of someone…
 
Maybe a crazy or deranged person…?
 
Or a drunk person…?
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
 
By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…
 
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There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
 
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain spoilers or dispel some of the mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 273-277 are posted there.
 
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Chapter end