Compared to the service they would get, Sila deemed that the price was reasonable. Still, it was undeniable that such a price was more than what the average individual player would have. He rechecked his remaining balance and found that Julia, his personal a.s.sistant, had used most of his gold for funding the union, leaving less than a thousand gold available. Nevertheless, he had good credit and could pay this through his credit card.

As Sila was about to take out his credit card, Midnight suddenly threw a question at Fowl.

“Is it possible to pay for it through other means?”

Everyone turned their gazes to Midnight. Isaac stammered, “D-Don"t tell me you want to pay for it with your body? ...I didn"t expect you to be so loose...”

—Poke!

Miki smacked Isaac"s head. “You pervert! You did it again! You need to think before saying something so inappropriate!”

Fowl seemed stingy. They guessed she wouldn"t accept anything other than gold. However, her reply surprised them.

“You"re not an amateur, I see.” She led the way. “Since you dared to ask, I will give you one. Follow me.”

The squad slowly followed Fowl to a corner of the room.

Along the way, Alpha poked Midnight, asking, “Hey. How do you plan to pay her?”

The reply was short. “I don"t know.”

“You don"t know?” The team repeated.

Midnight nodded. “Yeah. It"s just that most quests in Monster Soul have more than one completion method. If you can"t do it the traditional way, there will be an alternative path to get the same reward. When stumbling upon this kind of encounter, you should try to find other options to complete the quest.”

It was basic gaming knowledge in Monster Soul. Exactly like Midnight said, most quests really had other ways they could be completed. There were many players sticking with the traditional mindset from old games that quests were to be followed letter by letter. On the other hand, almost all Monster Soul veteran gamers knew full well that there were always alternatives if they sought them. The reward might change according to how they tackle the quest. Sometimes it got worse and sometimes it became better.

"Wow. I never knew," Sila thought to himself, wondering whether there were alternative ways to complete the Decolonizing the Slime Kingdom quest.

He was clueless about how valuable gold was in Monster Soul. Only elite monsters drop gold, meaning most players only have silver on them. The majority of rich players in Monster Soul gained their wealth from doing business, not hunting monsters. Non-merchant players tended to save their money as much as they could afford.

The world of Monster Soul wasn"t too cruel for players, however. All basic needs—such as potions, normal weapons, or hotel fees—could be paid for using silver. Even average players could get by just fine if they don"t spend money extravagantly.

Fowl led them to a stone wall. She knocked on it three times with pauses in-between and distinct rhythms to each sequence. The wall lifted up, revealing a hidden pa.s.sageway. The squad followed her inside. It took only a few steps before they arrived in a hall with a well in the center. Next to the well was a sculpture of a woman in a black robe, casting her eyes toward them. Despite it being merely a sculpture, it seemed as if she was alive.

Fowl bowed her head low with deep respect and told Sila and his team to do the same. The squad followed her instruction by bowing their heads a little. The gaze of the sculpture then seemed to become gentler despite no changes appearing on its face.

“This is an altar dedicated to the G.o.ddess of the Night, Nyx, the ruler of all shadows in the three worlds,” Fowl introduced.

“She seems gorgeous,” Isaac commented, his voice dreamy.

Fowl chuckled. “You may compliment her, but don"t speak rudely. Even though this is just her sculpture, you will have a hard life if you displease Lady Nyx.”

Sila frowned and asked, “I always thought G.o.ddesses can"t directly make a move against humans.”

Fowl shifted her gaze to Sila. “You"re quite knowledgeable. Only a few know about the G.o.ddesses" existence. Many believe that they are mere legends. True, they can"t directly bring harm to humans, or even monsters. However, there are many ways to make your life miserable. For example, Lady Nyx can make nighttime your enemy. Your night will be darker than anyone else"s. You won"t be able to see further than a meter even with the help of artificial light. She is also the mother of the G.o.ddess of Fortune, so she can influence your luck.”

Sila got the hang of it. His gaming life would feel like he was being constantly bullied that way.

“What do you want us to do?” asked Alpha.

Fowl beckoned the squad to approach the well. The inside of the well was deep and dark. Staring into it, they could see nothing but tiny specks of gold glittering in the distance.

“I did something wrong to Lady Nyx in the past, so I was cursed by her. To get rid of the curse and regain freedom, I have to fill the well with gold.”

The squad looked at each other. “Fill the well with gold? Erm... this well seems very... deep. You would need more than a million.”

“A hundred trillion gold. That"s the debt I have to pay.”

“A hundred trillion gold!!! How many zeroes are there? One, two, three, four...” Miki counted her fingers. The amount was so absurd that it went beyond her imagination.

Fowl pointed into the well. “I have been facing a serious problem for years. Goblins were there to help me in the past. They are kind. Hearing my story, they immediately agreed to help me without asking anything in return. They always came to visit me and throw their money, apparently obtained from trading with humans, into the well for me. Lately, however, they disappeared, which I think means they must have migrated to another place. I can"t go outside, so I can"t find more gold. One day, however, I noticed that the amount of gold decreased.”

“Decreased? How is that possible? Even if you didn"t add more gold, it should have stayed there.”

“It seems the smell of gold attracted a particular monster. It"s called the Devourer. It is fond of deep holes, and they mainly eat gold. As long as it lives at the bottom of this well, I can"t possibly collect all of the required money. Thus, my task is for you to defeat that ugly creature. If you can complete the task, all of you may use every service in this place for free.”

Compared to not having the Devourer eating her acc.u.mulated gold, allowing five people to use her services for free was a cheap price Fowl was willing to pay.

“Is the Devourer strong? Why haven"t you taken care of it yourself?”

“No, the Devourer is not strong. Its fighting abilities are mediocre. I will even tell you how to fight it efficiently. It"s just that it worships Lady Nyx, so I can"t bring harm to it. That"s the reason why you people get to do this easy quest.”

“Won"t the G.o.ddess be angry at us instead? For killing this monster,” asked Alpha. He might not know anything about G.o.ddesses, but it wasn"t that hard to comprehend. They must be like transcendent figures such as G.o.ds or great demons commonly found in other games.

“She won"t. G.o.ddesses don"t normally interfere with worldly matters. It"s only because I"ve wronged Lady Nyx in the past that I"m afraid to offend her. You can be at ease.”

Isaac looked into the well. “This well is very deep. We"ll die falling.”

“You won"t if you know how to support your body in mid-air using magic power. All of you are capable of doing that much with a bit of training.”

Sila had seen Montra levitating before. Unlike the man, however, he only knew how to push himself from the ground using qi. He had never tried levitating using only magic power.

“I will teach you how to do it if you accept the quest. If it"s just for slow descents, it shouldn"t take more than half an hour. If you want to levitate and move around, I will teach you that after you defeat the Devourer. You don"t have to kill it right now, but do know that I will make the same offer to every visitor. The first group that manages to defeat it will get the privilege of having access to all of the training ground"s services for free. You may attempt to kill it, or go back, collect money, and come again. I don"t care.”

Fowl stepped back, allowing them a moment to discuss their options. Realizing that as their leader he had to start the conversation, Sila asked his members to express their opinions.

“What do you think, everyone?”

“I"m afraid it may be too dangerous. We"re the only group to have discovered this place. It"s possible that no one will come here even if we back off and collect money,” Isaac shared his thoughts.

Alpha agreed with Isaac, but not wholeheartedly, “What you said is highly possible, but don"t forget that five thousand gold isn"t an amount we can gather easily. Considering all of us, that"s twenty-five thousand. It will take us a year to have that much. That"s enough time for other players to discover this place.”

A year was too long for Sila as well. He planned to spend only a few days in Colossia City before going to wage war against Siaferia City.

“In times like this, we should ask the quest giver for more information,” said Midnight.

Sila turned to Fowl. “Can you tell us more about the Devourer?”

Fowl clapped her hands twice. Her psychic power formed into the hologram of a small fluffy evil. It had a pair of big white eyes and two rows of fangs. Apparently, its height was only a third of Miki"s, who was the shortest in their group.

“I already investigated. What you"re seeing is its actual size. The King of Gold Coins, Arden. Gremlin race. t.i.tle: the Devourer. It"s a psychic-type monster. Level 1,000 Lord Rank.”

“Lord Rank?! I can"t even handle a Marquis Rank monster,” Isaac exclaimed.

“Rest a.s.sured. I wouldn"t send you on a suicide mission. Although it"s at Lord Rank, the Devourer is essentially very weak. If you rely on a tip I have, it will be like a fight against a Knight Rank monster with high health points.”

“Is there such a great tip?”

Fowl nodded. “This tip only works on this particular monster. The Devourer"s strength and stats are subpar. No fraudulent skills. It has a trick or two, but they"re not fatal. What makes it so special is the unique pa.s.sive ability that causes it to become stronger according to the amount of gold its targets have on them. As long as you don"t carry money with you, it will take less than half an hour for you people to kill it.”

“Hahaha! Lucky us. We"re poor, so we have an overwhelming advantage.” Miki laughed.

“Will it be that easy?” asked Alpha.

“Yes, it will,” Fowl reaffirmed. If it wasn"t for the debt she owed to the G.o.ddess, she would have taken care of this problem herself.

“Is its ability affected by credit cards?” Sila asked to make sure. He didn"t want something unexpected to happen.

“It doesn"t. Silver also doesn"t count. Only gold matters. You can leave your money with me. I will return it after you defeat the Devourer.”

“If it really will take us only half an hour, we can finish the quest today! We shouldn"t miss such an opportunity.” Miki was excited.

“What do you think, everyone?”

Sila asked again. He actually was confident that he alone could defeat the Devourer. Even though he didn"t know its capabilities, there shouldn"t be a problem if what Fowl said was true. This confidence didn"t come from arrogance but experience born from fighting against high-level monsters frequently. He could more or less gauge how capable Fowl was. If Fowl said their five-man team could defeat the Devourer, it must mean the monster was truly weak.

“Up to you, Leader.” Alpha shrugged.

“I"m fine with whatever. Nevertheless, I would like to try if possible,” Isaac said, half hesitant and half confident.

On the other hand, Midnight simply nodded. Sila decided. “We accept the quest, Miss Fowl. We"ll take care of the Devourer tonight. Please teach us how to use magic as we agreed.”

Fowl smiled merrily. She led Sila and his friends back to the Skills Training Ground, gesturing at them to enter teleportation circles.

“My psychic bodies will teach each of you how to support your body in mid-air using magic power. You have an hour to learn. If you finish your lesson early, I will teach you other skills. Consider it my personal thanks.”

“In that case, see you again in an hour,” Sila said goodbye to his squad. The five of them then entered different teleportation circles.

***

An hour is neither short nor long. Whether it feels like not enough time to get things done or too much time depends on how you use the time you"re given. People who use time wisely will benefit from it the most.

After exactly an hour had pa.s.sed, the five people left their circles. There were no obvious changes in them, but Sila was confident that they had somehow become stronger. The numbers above their heads were indicators of this.

Sila"s number had improved from 41 to 56. Midnight"s 35 became 54. The two"s numerical changes were the most obvious, followed by Alpha"s, which improved from 16 to 25. Miki"s 8 rose to 20 while Isaac"s 5 managed to become 14.

Fowl had informed them beforehand that the number would increase easier the fewer number of skills they had. The fact that Midnight"s number increased more than Sila"s might be because the man had fewer skills.

“How did Leader and Midnight"s numbers increase so much?” Isaac asked with a hint of jealousy. He had thought his increment of 9 was already a lot, but it turned out that everyone else was better than him.

“Aren"t you too lazy? Look. Everyone else has at least 20 points.” Alpha chuckled.

Just to be sure, Sila asked, “Are you all capable of levitating?”

Instead of answering, the four squad members all floated half a meter from the ground. Isaac confidently puffed up his chest. “Miss Fowl said it normally took half an hour, but I only needed twenty minutes to learn it.”

“What a brag. I only spent fifteen minutes learning,” said Miki.

“I used thirteen minutes,” Alpha replied with a smug smile.

“Ten minutes,” Midnight expressionlessly declared.

Everyone turned to Sila. “Leader? How long did it take for you?”

Flinching, Sila murmured, “Erm... Half an hour...”

“Eh?! What took you so long, Leader? Levitating is quite easy,” Alpha wondered.

“Maybe it isn"t my thing,” replied Sila. He wondered whether it was because everyone else was a direct magic-type player that made it feel easy for them. For him, using magic was very difficult. Its principle was completely different from qi and psychic power.

For the record, Sila"s special points were enormous in quant.i.ty and high in quality, yet he had never tried manipulating magic power. It was natural that he couldn"t properly control it the first few attempts. It was already praiseworthy that he could learn how to levitate in half an hour.

Also, unbeknownst to him, his lesson was different from what the others went through. It wasn"t because Fowl favored him, of course. Knowing that Sila had the essence of magic, Fowl taught him a different way to levitate, using the approach that would benefit Sila in the future.

The five of them left their money with Fowl. It wasn"t like there was a lot though. Only Sila had more than a hundred gold on him, causing Isaac"s irises to enlarge.

They gathered in front of the well. Given Fowl"s signal, they jumped into it. Isaac, in particular, tightly closed his eyes, gulped his saliva, and slowly leaned forward. Annoyed, Fowl kicked the man to follow his teammates.

Having Isaac"s scream as background music, Sila noticed that his squad members properly controlled their magic power to support their bodies. Their descent was as slow as they had hoped.

Everything was going well. So well that Sila felt relief. Below them were mountains of gold. By estimation, there must be at least ten million gold there. Sila waited until everyone landed on the mountain of gold before landing himself.

Suddenly, the mountain shrunk by half. Around half of the gold in the room disappeared, making them lose their balance and fall.

“What happened? Did our fall shift the gold?” Alpha tilted his head.

Sila received a system notification. He frowned as he had noticed half the gold transforming into a light and flying into him. He opened his system window in a hurry. Reading the contents, his expression turned grave.

“This is bad!! Everyone, be extra careful!! Don"t underestimate our opponent!! It"s going to be much stronger than we antic.i.p.ated!”

His system window was left open. Only Sila had seen what was written on the last notification.

You have received 5,000,000 gold. It"s the maximum amount you can carry in your system window.

Apparently, he had totally forgotten the skill he obtained from Mamon—King"s Treasury—and it was far too late to do anything about it now.