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Chapter 33: About the missions
Chapter 33: About the missions
After spending so many years facing life-and-death situations around the tower and dealing with others, most of these Apprentice Mages had long understood one thing: pies don’t fall from the sky, and nothing is ever truly free. If something claimed to be free, it was definitely a trap!
As they looked at the green-colored missions in front of them, they sensed something suspicious.
As expected, with a wave of Mage Eclivel’s hand, most of the words colored in green instantly vanished, being replaced by orange text, representing dangerous missions, and red text, representing extremely dangerous missions.
"These green missions that you saw earlier are Apprentice missions you may take on in the future. But before that, each of you will have to complete a mandatory mission! You have three months to complete any one of these mandatory missions, and if you fail... Hehehe... You will be punished with the loss of your Apprentice status!"
At this moment, the expressions of all the Apprentices changed.
For the Apprentices who trusted in their own abilities, this was undoubtedly a great opportunity to earn Knowledge Points and resources. But for those weaker Apprentices, perhaps all that awaited them was death.
Everyone quickly scanned through the list of mandatory missions. At the end of the list was the only green-colored mission.
Swamp Tower Garrison: This mission required ten apprentices, one librarian, one lab administrator, one tutor for apprentices, and two tower inspectors...
A glimmer of hope rekindled on the faces of the few new novice apprentices, who were the weakest of the entire group, and they quickly turned to their leader apprentice, Brandon, who coincidentally had a joyful expression on his face. Meanwhile, the four ’good friends’ surrounding Brandon had triumphant looks, holding their heads high.
Leon’s gaze briefly paused on that green-colored mission before moving on to thoroughly examine the list of mandatory missions.
With his skills and qualifications, he knew it was impossible for him to become one of those ten lucky ones. Perhaps, after today’s meeting ended, many Apprentices would immediately begin covert negotiations among themselves, and some might even meet with Leader Apprentice Brandon privately, submitting to him in exchange for access to the safe mission.
After all, out of the 57 official Apprentices present, there were 4 Advanced Apprentices, 21 Intermediate Apprentices, and 32 Novice Apprentices, including Leon.
Looking at the list of mandatory missions, an orange mission could be dangerous even for an Advanced Apprentice. How difficult must the blood-red mission be? Perhaps only a Pseudo-Mage could complete it safely!
No wonder that, after all the Apprentices saw the list, the room immediately filled with somber expressions.
"Hmph! I’ll go to that Brandon and force him to give you a spot in that safe mission. If he refuses, I’ll…" For some unknown reasons, Bleia became quite angry. Although she was baring her tiny canine teeth and had a fierce look on her face, her actions were cute to Leon, making him feel warm inside.
Leon grabbed her arm.
"No! You have to trust me. I can handle these orange missions!" At that exact moment, a firm and calm look could be seen in Leon’s eyes.
"Well, since you’re so confident, then you should focus and choose a good mission!" Bleia was very good at changing the pace and continued, saying, "Oh, right, what do you think of my skin? Is it delicate and smooth? I can feel that my skin condition is getting better and better!"
Seeing how Bleia gently licked her lips and showed an arrogant expression, Leon shuddered. He knew that Bleia was testing him, so he quickly released her arm and did his best to focus on the list in front of him.
After all, being a man full of hormones, he could end up getting an erection.
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Clearing the Great Cemetery (3/10) Orange Mission
Mission Details: Elite-Level Undead Creatures have been found in the Great Cemetery, located to the south of the Tiga region. Ten Apprentice Mages are needed. During the mission, Viscount Gary will send a squad of two hundred elite guards to assist with the clearing.
Mission Rewards: 30 Knowledge Points, 3 Magic Crystals, 10 Merit Points from the Zhentarim Association.
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Abnormal Creature in the Lands of the Giant Willow (2/3) Orange Mission
Mission Details: Traces of an abnormal creature have been found in the Land of the Giant Willow, located near the southern border of Talion Forest. Eleven local residents are missing. Three Apprentice Mages are urgently needed for an expedition deep into the mountain to find the source of this abnormal creature.
Upon completion of the mission, the local base of the Zhentarim Association will issue a certificate of mission completion.
Mission Rewards: 20 Knowledge Points, 1 Magic Crystal, 5 Merit Points from the Zhentarim Association.
(If the Apprentices completing this mission can resolve the source of the disaster, based on the evidence provided, the reward will be considerably increased.)
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Cliff Griffin Taming Mission (0/3) Red Mission
Mission Details: The Cliff Griffin, located in Rahia. The expertise of three Apprentice Mages is urgently needed to assist Beast Master Hank in the capture of Griffins. The mission will be concluded upon the successful taming of ten Griffins.
The mission completion certificate will be issued by Beast Master Hank of Rahia.
Mission Rewards: 50 Knowledge Points, 10 Magic Crystals, 30 Merit Points from the Zhentarim Association.
(Upon mission completion, the Hamilton Company will provide a private reward.)
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Subterranean Cave Investigation Mission (4/10) Red Mission
Mission Details: Traces of subterranean creatures have been found in the Subterranean Cave of Nigond. An investigation team of ten Apprentice Mages is urgently needed. The team will be required to venture at least sixteen kilometers underground, investigating the activity of living creatures in that area.
The mission status will be determined by the Zhentarim Association base in Nigond.
Mission Rewards: 70 Knowledge Points, 12 Magic Crystals, 50 Merit Points from the Zhentarim Association.
(The Subterranean Cave is well known for being rich in Black Herbs, Poisonous Mushrooms, and Night Eye Stones. If any of these materials are collected during the mission, you may keep them.)
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Line by line, a list of missions occurring in almost all dangerous regions controlled by the Zhentarim Association was presented to them.
In the center of the Mage Continent, in order to protect the ecosystem that nurtured the demonic resources of their home Plane, all Mage associations and alliances strictly prohibited high-ranking Mages from engaging in any development that would devastate the continent. Thus, humans only occupied about 35% of the land, with the rest being boundless wildlands, devoid of human activity.
Countless demons and strange creatures roamed freely in these places.
When confronted with some of the more commonly seen wild beasts or demons, the local inhabitants were capable of defending themselves or driving these creatures away by force. But when they encountered those terrifying demons, possessing frightening abilities... small villages being massacred overnight was not uncommon in this world...
Thus, whenever something like this occurred, to eliminate these terrifying demons that encroached on the human world, these local authorities would need the help of powerful and supernatural Mages.
Naturally, these Mages would never travel such distances for these petty matters. Therefore, most of these supernatural forces were dealt with by Apprentice Mages. Through all sorts of missions, they obtained the resources they needed, training themselves while helping to maintain the safety of human society along the way.
And that was how the Mages maintained this world.
Leon carefully examined every message he found on the list of mandatory missions. At the same time, the chip, which Leon had ordered to deactivate its scanning capabilities, was sorting and summarizing each mission, quickly copying all the data into its memory.
Among all these mandatory missions, Leon was only able to take on Orange missions. He would never dare touch the red missions.
A legend at the top of the list stated that Orange missions were only suitable for Advanced Apprentices. Apprentices below that level would have to be prepared to face a certain degree of danger. As for red missions, they were prepared for Pseudo-Mages. Perhaps even an Advanced Apprentice would have slim chances of surviving those missions.
But, obviously, this was a bizarre and fantastical world of Mages. There was enormous uncertainty in any of these missions… Even those simple ones labeled as ’safe.’
Take, for instance, investigation-type missions, the most common type on this list. Venturing deep into a dangerous area was extremely risky, yet these investigation missions in ’safe’ regions were also not places where one could relax. The demons that typically appeared around mortal villages were low-risk creatures, such as Swamp Slimes, Gnomes, or Stirges.
A Novice Apprentice could handle them with ease.
But if luck was against them, they might have to face Wyverns, Stone Monsters, or Forest Spirits. All of these were extremely frightening creatures. Even an Advanced Apprentice would be in a life-threatening situation if they actually encountered these demons.
Thus, choosing a mission was like gambling, as no one knew when bad luck would strike. Every year, 13% of Apprentice Mages died while trying to complete missions.
After a quick selection process, the Chip chose an Orange mission that was a perfect match for Leon. It examined each mission and removed those with the most uncertain elements.
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**Training Apprentice Alchemist Mission from Klage (1/3) Orange Mission**
**Mission Details**: An Apprentice Alchemist from Klage is completing his training mission. He urgently needs three Apprentice Mages to accompany him to the Treasure Pit.
The mission will be considered complete once the Apprentice Alchemist’s training mission is finished. The mission completion certificate will be issued by the Apprentice Alchemist.
**Mission Rewards**: 20 Knowledge Points, 3 Magic Crystals, 1 Tranquility Potion, 1 Invisibility Potion.
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The difficulty of this mission was not high. The Treasure Pit was a training field that all Apprentice Alchemists had to visit. It was a place filled with countless ’trinkets’ that had been casually placed by master Alchemists over thousands of years, waiting for newcomers to unearth them.
Although they were just small trinkets, no matter what, they were created by master alchemists. Each one held great research value. Some might even find the legacy of a master alchemist in a random object.
Therefore, this Treasure Pit was the traditional treasure-hunting site for all Apprentice Alchemists.
But every Apprentice Alchemist could only enter that place once. They could bring one item from the location but also had to leave an item behind. This was the true purpose of the Treasure Pit.
There were all sorts of items created there, and most were quite dangerous. For example, if an Apprentice Alchemist wanted to bring out a created Golem, the only way to obtain it was by defeating it. Since most Apprentice Alchemists were quite weak at the elemental stage, the Alchemist Association allowed these Apprentices to hire three helpers.
However, these three helpers were not allowed to take anything from that place.
It seemed like a relatively easy Orange mission, as long as that Apprentice Alchemist wasn’t excessively greedy and didn’t try to challenge one of those truly dangerous items, this mission could be completed without much trouble.
Additionally, the mission reward of 1 Tranquility Potion also attracted Leon. It could increase the Spirit of an Apprentice who had less than 10 Spirit by 1. It was considered a supreme treasure among all Beginner Apprentices! (This item could only be used once. Afterward, it would have no further effect!)
After making his decision, Leon whispered it to Bleia, and she also felt it was the right choice after assessing the risks. As for Bleia herself, she simply chose the Red mission to investigate the Underground Cave.
Relying on her Vampire traits of flying, fighting, and regenerating, she was confident that she could stay alive, even when confronted with some fairly dangerous demons. Thus, she purposely chose the mission where she had the highest chance of encountering many different species of demons.
It was not hard to tell that Bleia was in a stage of exponential growth, and what she needed most was the blood of powerful creatures!
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