Chapter 76: Trait: Voice of Joy (Half-Elf)
Lance didn’t just toss aside the tactical reports she gave him like scrap paper.
He calmly slipped the parchments into a hardcover notebook he always carried with him.
He already had a plan in mind.
On the last day of her internship, he would gather all the daily reports and notes Cecilia had written, then find a craftsman to bind them into a personalized internship journal.
He would give it to her as a graduation gift.
’That’s sure to be a great surprise.’
’Of course, I have to keep it a secret for now.’
The two of them arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild hall.
Although they took the same type of quests as yesterday, this time Lance ripped off twice as many quest slips from the board.
He was taking on a workload calculated to be their absolute maximum capacity.
The gathering quota for Light Moonlight Moss alone was doubled.
Afterward, Lance was pleasantly surprised to find that when they re-entered the Copper Creek Forest and triggered the quest panel, the system’s rewards had indeed changed.
It seemed that an increase in the quest’s difficulty, as determined by the system, also led to a direct increase in experience gain.
The reward for the two gathering quests had become [Skill Experience 10, Knowledge Experience 30].
’That extra 20 Knowledge Experience is a great bonus.’
As for the extermination quest, the reward for killing a single Stone Shell River Crab remained at 6 Skill Experience, but the total number required on the quest slip had soared to 25.
This was just what he wanted.
He had come today with a new goal in mind.
He was eager to test just how effective the Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique would be in a real life-or-death battle.
「A little over an hour later.」
The familiar mudflat once again received its two visitors.
With the experience from yesterday and a shift in her mindset, Cecilia’s movements were noticeably more efficient today.
The two worked together in perfect sync. Before long, their gathering bags were filled with layers of Moonlight Moss, still damp with soil.
Just as Lance was bending over to organize his pack...
Cecilia stole a glance at him.
’I’ve decided I have to test my wrist again today,’ she thought. ’If it’s some kind of ailment, I need to get it treated early.’
’And if it’s caused by something in the environment, I should talk to my mentor and see if we can change our quest objectives later on.’
’However...’
A moment ago, when her mentor wasn’t looking, she had deliberately tested the mud on the back of her hand.
The cold, sticky feeling was disgusting, but it didn’t trigger that tingling, reddish reaction.
’It seems it wasn’t an allergic reaction to the mud.’
’Could the cause be... my mentor himself?’
The confusion in Cecilia’s eyes deepened.
To test this hypothesis, she decided to take a risk.
When no one was looking, the girl secretly grabbed a bit of rotten mud and dripped it onto her clean right wrist.
She wanted to perfectly replicate the scene from yesterday when her mentor had helped wipe her wrist clean.
After doing all this, she took a deep breath and waded through the mud to a different spot.
She pretended to adjust her cuffs, but was actually, and very deliberately, sticking her now-filthy wrist right under Lance’s nose.
It was in a position where, if Lance just looked up, it would be the very first thing he saw.
"Whew..."
Lance stuffed the last piece of Moonlight Moss into the gathering bag and straightened up.
His gaze was instantly drawn to the wrist stained with mud.
The black mud looked especially jarring against her fair skin.
Lance’s brow furrowed slightly, and he subconsciously reached for the water canteen at his waist.
But the moment his fingertips touched the canteen, he froze.
’Wait.’
’I have a ready-to-use Spell in my ring.’
Under Cecilia’s expectant, even somewhat nervous gaze...
Lance didn’t walk over and take her hand like he did yesterday.
He just stood where he was and extended his right hand toward Cecilia’s wrist.
The Silver Ring on it flashed with a faint light.
[Cleaning Skill]
A distinct, invisible wave of Magic swept over it in an instant.
"Lance... how did you learn a Spell in just one day?"
Cecilia stared blankly at her now-spotless wrist, feeling a tiny bit of disappointment in her heart.
She subconsciously lifted her head, her gaze falling on the new silver ring on Lance’s right index finger.
A very faint glow of Ether still lingered on it.
’Is that the effect of that Magic Item?’
Before she could ask the question, Lance had already nodded in satisfaction.
"Much more efficient. Clean in an instant."
He swung Cecilia’s gathering bag over his own shoulder, not seeing the complicated expression on the girl’s face.
"We’ve finished gathering the Moonlight Moss in this area. Let’s go over there."
With that, Lance turned and headed toward another patch of shade, his steps light, clearly in a good mood.
Cecilia stood frozen in place, watching his retreating back, all the words she wanted to say caught in her throat.
Lance had walked seven or eight meters away when he realized he couldn’t hear her familiar footsteps behind him.
He stopped and turned his head in confusion, only to see Cecilia still standing there in a daze.
"Cecilia? Keep up."
Lance called out.
"Oh... Coming!"
Startled by her mentor’s call, the girl, who had been standing there feeling a bit dejected, jumped.
She immediately ducked her head like a startled little rabbit, then frantically pulled at the edge of her cloak’s hood, trying to hide her secret thoughts from view.
The girl hurried to catch up.
This was a mudflat, and the path underfoot was already slippery and difficult to traverse.
Just as she was getting close to Lance and stepping over a protruding tree root, her foot landed on a patch of slippery moss.
"Ah!"
Cecilia’s foot slipped. Her body instantly lost its balance, and she pitched forward uncontrollably.
If she took that fall, she would definitely end up with a face full of mud.
In that critical moment...
Lance, who was ahead of her, reacted almost the instant he heard her cry out.
He grabbed her wrist, but it wasn’t enough to stop her fall.
The Master Level Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style Fighting Technique he had just learned instantly took over his body’s instincts.
Lance’s center of gravity dropped rapidly. He took a large step forward with his right leg, moving directly under Cecilia’s tipping center of mass.
He braced with his shoulder and gave a gentle push upward.
And then he was met with a slightly awkward, soft sensation.
Cecilia ended up sprawled solidly across his shoulder.
Supported by Lance’s rock-steady stance and his shoulder, the girl finally stabilized herself, avoiding a true face-plant.
’That was close.’
Lance breathed a silent sigh of relief.
The moment their bodies made large-scale contact, the familiar blue box popped up on his retina again.
[Through large-scale contact, you have caused a drastic change in the body of a Sub-human Species·Half-Elf. Half-Elf Research Progress +3]
[Biological Research Level Up: Level 1→ Level 2]
[Research Trait Unlocked: Voice of Joy (Half-Elf)]