The old woman remained lost in her own thoughts, but Emil had finally started to get impatient. He waved his hand at her, and this gesture pulled her back to her senses.
"What is it, senior?" Emil said he didn’t know what to refer to her as, so he went with something that sounded way too obvious.
"N-Nothing...it’s nothing," she said before pulling out a leather pouch that had golden linings marked across its surface; the top of it was sealed with a red thread.
Instantly, she swirled the thread and opened the pouch. A certain kind of badge was placed inside of it; she gently put her hand inside and pulled one outside.
A phoenix, which was made in the form of a badge, had crimson lining across its sores, which reflected its fierce nature of fire.
She directed it towards Emil. "Every summoner who forms a contract with their summon from a certain tower receives a badge of that tower."
She paused for a moment before continuing.
"You might be thinking why, right? It’s because once a summoner forms a contract with their summon through a tower, they can no longer join any other tower. Their path is decided from that moment onward, leaving them with no choice but to become a member of that tower"
’Huh? Such a harsh rule that is... What if someone forms a contract from a tower that they don’t want to join, but then they’ll get restricted by a rule of such kind?’ Emil recited inwardly.
He picked the badge from her grasp and gently slid it into his pants pocket. Then, he leaned his upper body slightly, trying to act respectfully towards his senior. "Thank you for helping me. I would not have contracted a summons without your help."
The sudden gesture reflected by Emil made her jaw drop; she covered her mouth with her palm. "There’s no need to thank me for that." A strange worry was mixed in her tone.
She took a small pause before continuing. "It’s you who successfully contracted with your summon, and I just merely did what I had to."
Emil straightened his back again and cleared his throat. "I’m still grateful for the guidance that you showed me." He said.
But then his gaze turned towards the leather pouch, which remained in her hand. "Is that a subspace pouch?"
She followed his gaze and noticed that he was looking at the pouch. She lightly chuckled, and right after that, beautiful blue mana began to swirl around the pouch before gradually fading away into thin air.
"Yes, it is. And if you’re thinking of owning one, it’s not that easy to do so.
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"To obtain it, you first have to get certain materials. Unfortunately, those materials can only be found inside dungeons."
She folded her arms before continuing. "However, if you manage to get the required materials, then I’ll introduce you to the alchemist of our tower. With their help, you’ll be able to have a subspace pouch crafted for yourself."
Because of her words, Emil got lost in his thoughts. ’I would need one of these in the future to store my stuff. I also need to level up and find a way to make my summon strong too... I think this mission is a win-win for me.
═══════════════════
◇ SYSTEM ◇
═══════════════════
[Quest Appeared]
└ Subspace Pouch Creation
───────────────────
[Quest Issued]
└ Quest: Gather Dungeon Materials
└ Objective:
• Enter a dungeon
• Collect required crafting materials (0/3)
• Return safely
───────────────────
[Materials Required]:
└ Goblin Tooth X 3
└ Goblin Skin X2
───────────────────
[Rewards]
└ + Access to Tower Alchemist
└ + Subspace Pouch (Basic Grade)
└ + 300 EXP
└ + 20 Copper Leaves
[INFO: Copper leaves are one of the forms of currency that are used in Elysia Online.]
───────────────────
[System Warning]
└ Dungeons contain hostile entities.
└ Risk Level: Moderate
└ Death Penalty Applicable
═══════════════════
Emil’s eyes widened as he read the entries written on the panel. The moment he looked at the rewards, he was left astonished by them. He did expect to get a quest, but the rewards were a real jackpot.
’Access to the alchemist, subspace pouch, EXP, and also... Copper Leaves?!’
’Once I log out, the first thing I’ll do is gather as much information about this as possible.’
His gaze finally left the panel and turned towards the woman again. "Then, I’ll be on my way to gather all the desired items."
He turned and began walking toward the door on the opposite side of the chamber. The giant warrior standing beside him finally stepped through the still-open portal behind him.
Golden and black waves of mana rippled from its surface. Beyond the portal, faint traces of the vast unknown civilization stretched into the distance.
Before he stepped out, the old woman’s voice echoed through the chamber once again. "Do not lose the badge." Her voice sounded deeper than before.
A small pause, then she continued. "There are many out there who’ll try to snatch it away from you, but you should not let go of the badge because it belongs to you and the tower."
Emil tilted his head and looked at her with confusion, which was reflected in his eyes. But he didn’t try to ask why; he just simply nodded and turned towards the exit.
When Emil finally stepped through the door, he found himself standing in pure greenery. Around him, a huge number of trees were located; faint noises of murmurs echoed through the air, which sounded like they belonged to birds.
He looked around himself and noticed that the Summoner’s Tower was built in a forest. The only way leading to the nearby city was the path ahead of him.
On the tree, which was in front of him, a wooden board was hung from one of its branches. On it, some characters were written: [The City of Lumina - 500 meters ahead.]
The moment he read those letters, a sense of relief flickered over him. He was thinking that he would have to walk for hours just to reach the city, but not anymore. He didn’t waste any more time and started walking towards the city.
A/N
Readers, if you’re reading this book, please let me know in the comments if you like it... It’ll increase my morale, and I’ll be able to write more.