BXBX NOVEL Chapter 40: "..."
Reji placed his hand on the magic stone, and Shermen standing beside him immediately tensed up. The Shadow Demon was clearly prepared for the worst-case scenario: if their king was exposed by the human's detection, she would protect the king and retreat with all her might.
As the magic stone emitted a faint white light, symbolizing the lowest level, Shermen finally let go of the tension, her admiration for Reji growing even more.
Humans had magic stones a thousand years ago, so Shermen was well aware that even they the Shadow Demons couldn't guarantee a 100% concealment against such stones. Yet, the demon king was not only powerful and insightful but even in hiding his presence, he far exceeded the Shadow Demons!
Easily deceiving humans, despite possessing top-tier power, he could still disguise such a low-level illusion on the magic stone.
'Although I can also deceive the magic stone, there would always be a tiny bit of aura leaking out'
And even just a tiny bit, once detected by the magic stone, would likely cause the stone to light up brightly. If it were a lower-grade magic stone, it might even explode due to being unable to withstand the energy.
During the human-demon war a thousand years ago, that cunning Son of Destiny had used this to his advantage.
Intentionally using the lowest-grade magic stones to inspect the human elites, he easily identified many spies that the demon race had painstakingly infiltrated, causing them heavy losses.
Reminiscing, Shermen pursed her lips. Even with her indifferent personality, she harbored deep shadows and fears regarding the Chosen One of humanity from a thousand years ago.
This is also why, despite sensing that the humans around her were incredibly weak, all of them ants she could crush with half a finger, she remained extremely cautious and dared not let her guard down.
On the other hand,
'Indeed, as the Wisdom Demon said, the new demon king our race welcomed after a thousand years was like an endless treasure. The more we interacted with his majesty, the more we discovered surprises at every turn'
The gloom that once hung over them under the Child of Destiny seemed to gradually dissipate as she followed the new king, and the confidence of her and the demon race, once shattered by the Child of Destiny, was being slowly picked up again.
On the other side.
Reji could feel Shermen's respectful gaze.
But in reality.
The bitterness inside Reji, he knew best himself.
His attributes were all "1", where was the need for any concealment?
It was a natural performance, purely natural.
This further solidified Reji's resolve to quickly improve himself.
There's no need to look any further.
Once Reji completed the registration and acquired the adventurer identity, by casually taking on four commissions to fulfill daily tasks, with the rewards given by the system under the hundredfold enhancement of the Demon King's trajectory, he could undergo a complete transformation today, rising at least twenty to thirty levels!
Seeing the result from Reji's magic stone, the staff didn't discriminate against him for it.
Rather, this was the current situation for the majority of newcomers from outside areas.
Initially, the staff saw that Reji had a companion with him and wanted to test Shermen as well, but Reji stopped them, indicating it wasn't necessary. Afterward, all procedures went smoothly, and it wasn't long before a badge symbolizing the "Black Iron Level" was added to Reji's chest.
"Sir, this is the commission list provided by the association based on your rating. You have complete autonomy in choosing."
"However, please note that once you accept a commission, any breach, cancellation, failure, etc., will be recorded and affect your credibility rating.
If your credibility score is too low, we will forcibly revoke your certification within the association, and you will not be able to apply for qualifications from the association for a certain period."
As the staff spoke, they handed Reji a tablet. The tablet was enchanted with a simple spell, and text magically appeared in front of Reji, listing about a dozen commissions.
Being the lowest Black Iron level, the commissions were very simple, mostly involving tasks like delivering messages, parcels, carrying goods, going to the lowest-level wild forests to gather herbal materials, etc.
These commissions were simple, but the rewards were indeed very low, basically just a dozen copper coins per trip, not even making a silver after a day's work.
However, this didn't matter to Reji, as he wasn't relying on the employer's reward; the main key was the system's generous rewards.
"What do these red markings mean?"
Reji pointed to the first five or six commissions at the front of the commission board. Not only were their colors different, but their rewards were also somewhat higher than those behind.
"Sir, these are commissions issued by the Five Flowers Alliance. As an adventurer who has accepted sponsorship from the Five Flowers Alliance, the association, according to regulations, will prioritize assigning you commissions related to the Five Flowers Alliance."
'I see'
Reji looked around at the adventurers who joined with him, noticing that the majority of these newcomers from outside areas had chosen to take on the red-marked commissions, serving the Five Flowers Alliance.
This was normal, especially after just receiving benefits from the Five Flowers Alliance; naturally, they would lean towards serving the alliance. Moreover, since the Five Flowers Alliance offered higher rewards than others, there was even less reason not to choose them.
This clear strategy of winning people's hearts didn't prompt much comment from Reji; after all, they indeed provided tangible benefits.
However, since Reji wasn't motivated by the rewards, he didn't plan to take on commissions from the Five Flowers Alliance; he was just looking for the simplest, quickest commissions to complete.
But at this moment, Reji noticed that Shermen seemed to change her gaze, and it was fixed on a particular commission for a long time without moving.
It was one of the Five Flowers Alliance commissions at the very beginning, marked in eye-catching red.
[Search and Rescue the Lost Bululu!]
The picture below the commission was of a very cute, snow-white fur ragdoll cat, clearly indicating that Bululu was this little cat's name.
When Reji moved his finger towards other commissions, Shermen's gaze dimmed a bit, but when his finger returned to this one, her gaze brightened up again.
'Alright then'
Reji hadn't expected to inadvertently discover Shermen's affinity for cats.
'In that case, this one it is'
Reji directly accepted the commission to search and rescue the kitty, recorded by the staff, making this commission disappear from other adventurers during Reji's mission period.
Apart from satisfying Shermen, the special nature of this commission was also a reason; it displayed as a "four-star" mission from Reji's system perspective.
A total of four stars for daily tasks, one could take on four one-star commissions or one four-star commission to receive full rewards.
The only difference was, although the latter saves effort, the actual difficulty would also be relatively higher.
A search and rescue mission for a little cat reaching four stars could only mean that the cat's owner was probably no ordinary person.
After accepting the commission, Reji received the following detailed information.
According to the employer, Bululu was lost in the queen's district, a place not frequented by commoners, akin to a backyard for the nobles within the royal city, further confirming Reji's earlier guess.
Although the employer provided a specific range for the lost cat, hard searching would probably take up half a day, but for Shermen... not to mention for an apostle, for a Shadow Demon, something like searching for a lost item was too simple.
Arriving at the place where the little cat was lost, Shermen activated her ability, turning any shadow into her eyes. In just a few seconds, Shermen nodded at Reji and quickly headed towards a big tree.
Just under the shade of the tree, the "meow meow" sound was heard. Shermen, with a light tap of her toe, easily leaped to the treetop, where a white ragdoll cat was meowing non-stop, exactly the cat from the commission.
Shermen reached out to the little cat, unusually using a very gentle method to gently embrace the cat into her arms, even stroking the cat's head back and forth, not at all like a terrifying apostle of the demon race.
After jumping down from the tree with the cat, it seemed only then did Shermen realize her lapse, looking somewhat embarrassedly at Reji, as if she had exposed some shameful hobby in front of her king.
Reji, on the other hand, didn't mind and was actually quite happy.
'The demon race is not just a race filled with destruction and killing; they also have their own side'
Thinking this, Reji prepared to return to the association with Shermen and the little cat to deliver the commission.
However.
Next, Shermen suddenly frowned, the affectionate and gentle expression she had while holding the little cat vanished entirely.
"My King, there's something wrong with this little cat."
Shermen seemed to sense something, changing her approach and abruptly gripping the little cat's neck tightly with her hand. The cat, which had been meowing, now seemed frightened, frantically flailing its limbs.
'Something wrong?'
'What does that mean?'
'Wait, could it be...'
Reji quickly guessed, the only thing that could make Shermen change her expression like that, he directly cast a [Check]on the little cat, and what made Reji's expression become serious was...
The Check spell actually Returned a result.
And to know, in the game, [Check]could only be successfully used on... corpses.
Seeing the [Check]return on the screen, Reji fully understood why Shermen was so tense and on high alert now.
[Bululu (Deceased) (Demon Egg Parasite)]
-----------------
[Name: Reji]
[Lvl: 29]
[Fate Track: Demon King]
[Current Number of Lit Stars Sculpt: 1]
[Star Sculpt I King's Birth](Activated)
[Activation Condition: Complete the summoning ritual, successfully descend into the world]
[Activation Effect: Demon King, born to plunderAll basic rewards you receive are increased by 10000%]
[Star Sculpt II - King's Rise ](Not Activated)
[Activation Condition: Possess a "Stronghold-level" demon territory and obtain at least one apostle's "Utmost Loyalty" favorability]
[Territory: NoneNot Achieved]
[Current Number of Apostles with "Utmost Loyalty" Favorability: (2/1)Achieved]
[Activation Effect: Demon King standing above allYou ignore any "skill/item" learning/usage requirements]
[Star Sculpt IIIKing's Momentum](Not Activated)
[Activation Condition: Possess a "Castle-level" demon territory and obtain at least three apostles' "Utmost Loyalty" favorability]
[Current Number of Apostles with "Utmost Loyalty" Favorability: (2/3)Not Achieved]
[Activation Effect: Demon King, unstoppableYour personal attribute values increase by 100%, your spell effects' accuracy increases by 100%, your attacks will always critically hit, you will ignore any control effects, any "instant death" spells or attacks will not work on you]
[Star Sculpt IV???]
[Star Sculpt V???]
[Star...]