Black String of Fate

Crystallized Moon Dew, Alchemized Gold, Holy Water, Cursed Water, Firesun Seeds, Azalea Magica…

Damn, I've never even heard of most of these things, let alone know how rare they are. I just know about Azalea Magica because they made a famous wine with it…'

At that moment, Xavier remembered something he saw when he arrived in front of the cave. He got up and carefully went outside the cave, checking if there were any monsters nearby. After confirming there were none, he went near the walls of the cave entrance and saw some small purple-white flowers.

'There it is… It's Azalea Magica! What a stroke of luck, encountering one of the key ingredients already!

I should gamble sometime…'

Xavier picked off the flowers and carefully stored them inside one of the pouches he had torn off from the carpet sack. He couldn't possibly keep such delicate flowers in the midst of those heavy books. After wrapping them carefully, he put the pouch inside his robes and went back inside the cave.

The night was long, but Xavier did not dare to slack off. If by any chance, a wild monster caught a whiff of his scent, he would become a free midnight snack. He also no longer had any of his sword mastery to defend himself, let alone rank.

However, staying up all night was nothing new to him. He had once trained in the Great Forest among mythical, deadly monsters, so he knew his ways to survive in the wilderness very well. Soon, morning arrived, and he started his journey back to the nearby town.

'Let's hope I don't encounter any monsters… I can't use Advent of Insanity now, so I'll simply become food for it. I need to go through this very carefully…'

Like that, he went up in the trees and stayed clear of open areas. He took his time to avoid the natural territories of certain monsters and sometimes lay in wait for the path to clear up. It took a long time, a week to be exact, to make it out of the forest.

'There were so many monsters I could've easily killed had I not sealed my Arts. But, oh well, I must look out for the future. It'll all be worth it.'

Xavier had to console himself, as he felt humiliation and embarrassment when he was tiptoeing around mere rank 1 monsters. Even in the trial, he had slain peak rank 3 monsters while still being unawakened, but now, all that power was gone.

He saw the town right in the distance and approached the gate carrying that heavy sack. When the guards saw him approaching, they became suspicious and stopped him.

"STOP! What are you carrying in that huge sack?"

"My loot from a quest. Check your records, there's an active D-rank quest on my name." Xavier replied in a deadpan tone, he did not have the energy to deal with such annoyances.

The guards looked at each other before one of them brought out the registrar. It was a book that recorded all the adventurers who had left the city for a quest, and whether they were permitted to enter back without any toll.

"Your name and quest?"

"Xavier, D-rank quest of ruin investigation."

Hearing the terms D-rank, the guards looked over at Xavier in surprise. Even they knew that D-rank quests were dangerous enough to be only attempted by Elites, and now, in front of them, there was a boy who was claiming to have returned alive from that.

They did not say anything further, but they checked the records with suspicion. Soon, they found his entry, and with a surprised face, they let him enter.

After he was gone, they discussed it among themselves.

"An uninitiated child cleared a D-rank quest? How is this even possible?"

"I'm telling you, this will be the talk of the town for a while. I've never heard of anyone clearing a D-rank quest at that young age."

Xavier heard their talks while passing, but he paid it no mind. He was used to people talking about him, as he was no normal face in the crowd. The talented stand out whether they want to or not.

Soon, he once again stood in front of the adventurers guild. He smiled, and with the adventurers eyeing his huge sack, he went in and placed the sack on the table.

"Xavier here, I've completed the ruin investigation D-rank quest."

A receptionist hurriedly arrived at the counter and attended to Xavier.

"You're alive?"

"Should I not be?"

"Erm, sorry, that came out wrong. We just never expected an uninitiated to complete a D-rank quest. Can you please come with us to report the details?"

"Sure, if that's what's required."

Xavier entrusted the pouch to the adventurer's guild members and went to a separate room. He did not have any doubts about the integrity of the adventurer's guild members because stealing the loot of adventurers was the highest offense they could commit. Their organization ran on trust, if even a small incident of that breach of trust occurred, it would spell serious trouble for them.

Leaving that aside, Xavier in the other room completed the formality procedures. He reported his findings of the ruins, which of course did not include the trials, but he did report his loot from the ruins of Salazar.

"As you know, the adventurer's guild has no right to the loot of our adventurers. While you are free to keep everything, we can connect you to the magic tower to sell some of the items you find useless. Salazar's artifacts are considered priceless treasures for them, so I'm sure you'll most probably be set for life."