“The word ‘teacher’ refers to someone who helps others acquire knowledge. Just like how I’m ‘teaching’ you now. Understood?” Himo said as he rode a brown horse. The two kept overtaking trees in a mad dash forward. They skipped over rocks, sidestepped the trees, and stepped over bushes. Once in a while, they leaped over pits.
Just as they overtook a boulder, the steed spoke. “Teacher… teacher… teacher… Yes, understood.”
“Great! The next word will be—”
Ding!
[Detected ??? at 32 km from here. Creating a quest...]
[Quest: Retrieve the special item!]
[The system will provide the location of the item. Recover it!]
[Quest Difficulty: A+]
[Quest Reward: 33 BS points.]
[Quest Failure Penitence: None.]
[Will you accept? Y/N]
“A system that asks me if I want to start a quest?” Himo widened his eyes.
[It’s a standard quest, not an abrupt one.]
“Even so, it’s an event worth celebrating.” Himo nodded vehemently. “Anyway, I accept!” His eyes sparkled at the sole thought of obtaining an item the system deemed ‘special’. His hand darted to his right. “Phylia! Full speed in that direction!”
Without warning, the ‘steed’ shifted direction.
Himo nearly fell off the saddle.
-----
Twenty minutes of speeding later, the two reached the side of a glistering lake. Surrounded by a green prairie, the limpid water held a few small waves that reached at the two newcomers.
That sight reminded Phylia of a word she had just learned. Sea. Without hesitation, she jumped to the water—Himo grabbed her mid-air and placed her back on the shore. She gave him a puzzled look.
“Pay attention to where you’re jumping.” Himo pointed at the lake. “It’s full of monsters.”
Her gaze snapped toward the water. “Ah!”
Just below the surface level were floating several hundreds of round gelatinous blobs. With a size akin to a large table, their small movements made ripples that crashed into each other, forming small waves. Seen from the shore, they looked like yet another layer of water just beneath the surface.
Himo scratched his head at the sight. System, what kind of monsters are those?
[Jellyfalls.]
[An ancient species of monsters. This is likely one of the last settlements in this planet.]
Jellyfalls? Himo blinked. Staring at the monsters, he caught a glimpse of white tentacles. Aren’t those just huge jellyfish? After thinking for a moment, he jumped on one, but the jellyfall kept floating still, uncaring about his movements. Thus, he considered safe jumping over the others. Following the direction the system had provided him, Himo leaped from jellyfall to jellyfall by spamming [Hopper]. It looks like the ‘foothold’ required to reset [Hopper]'s uses works even with monsters floating on water. His eyes brightened even just by thinking of possible moves he could undertake with that knowledge.
At first, he slipped on the bouncy, slimy heads of the jellyfalls, but jump after jump, his mastery kept increasing until he could leap from one jellyfall to another with seemingly no effort.
[Skillful use of Hopper registered. Hopper leveled up to level 2!]
[Hopper lv_2]
[Produces an invisible solid platform mid-air to stand on. The platform can generate a force of propulsion, enabling what the user loves to call “double-jump”. Limited uses while in mid-air based on the skill’s level.
Standing on a steady surface will replenish the uses. Max consecutive uses at lv_2: 3]
“Oooh!” Himo grinned. A surge of excitement spread through his body, and he slipped. As he fell toward the water, his sight got occupied by the thousands of white tentacles lying just below him. He shuddered. With a hurried [Hopper], he tumbled over to the closest jellyfall. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
[The system regrets saying “skillful use”.]
Himo had no way to retort to that. Feeling ashamed by the failure, he let out an awkward laugh and leaped to the next jellyfall. Coincidentally, that was also the last one. To his surprise, he found a circular area devoid of monsters, an area of limpid water where numerous waves intertwined on themselves and formed tiny whirlpools. The sunlight passed through the water easily, lighting the depths of the lake—lighting the red sand which acted as its floor. Himo estimated that its depth reached fifty meters.
The system’s direction aimed at the center of that area.
After taking a deep breath, Himo dived underwater and used a stacked [Hopper_x2], darting to the lake floor. Half-way through, however, a blue light spread from behind him. Eh? Looking back, he saw that the tentacles of each jellyfall were covered in blue lightning.
A tinge of surprise arose on his face as he jumped to the side with the last [Hopper] just before a ray of blue lightning passed at his former location. Stepping on the lake floor, he grabbed a red gem hidden amidst the sand—the quest item—and threw it in the storage without looking. He frowned. The ‘monster-free’ area had been overrun by the jellyfalls. The monsters stood in a tight formation, blocking the sunlight. By that moment, the only light underwater was the blue lightning.
Not wasting a second, Himo dashed toward the shore. But a bolt of lightning cut his path. And it wasn’t the only one. Following the first, more and more flashes of lightning started to fall, turning into what could only be called a ‘rain of lightning’. Striking the red sand, the bolts melted it into glass. Against that, Himo had a single solution.
[Hopper], [Hopper], and even more [Hopper].
Even a single moment of distraction might prove fatal. Thus, he focused on each jellyfall and tried to predict their attacks. He soon entered a loop of predicting and avoiding and predicting and avoiding, until he found himself glaring at each blue lightning with a frown. Why is the electricity not spreading in the wate— Boom! A bolt exploded at his side. Himo stared blankly at the melted sand. Better leave doubts to later.
Having made up his mind, he snapped his gaze to the cluster of jellyfalls. There has to be a gap! Dashing to the shore, he fixed his eyes on the monsters while avoiding the countless bolts. His efforts paid off in just ten seconds. He found a small path amid four jellyfalls, but he had to be quick.
Crouching on the sand, he couldn’t restrain himself from grinning.
Three invisible platforms coalesced under his feet, and thus, they thrust him, each multiplying the others’ strength. Like a bullet, Himo darted in-between the four monsters, leaving a shockwave behind. He was then caught mid-air by Phylia and brought back to the shore. “Thank you. I’ve got the item, let’s go.”
Phylia nodded and morphed into a steed. The two escaped quickly from the area.
Floating in the lake, the jellyfalls began to shake uncontrollably, some raising themselves over the water. However, neither Himo nor Phylia noticed it. They were already in the midst of the forest, rushing to the capital.
[Quest Success: Retrieve the special item!]
[Quest Difficulty: A+]
[Quest Reward: 33 BS points.]
[You now have 43 BS points!]
Staring at the gem in his hand, Himo frowned. “System, what is this?” He felt cheated. Wasn’t the item supposed to be some great artifact?
[To acquire this information is needed to complete a “mystery quest”; does the user want to accept it?]
"Mystery quest? What do you mean?"
[The user may call it a long quest that won’t interfere with the life of the user. It also possesses zero failure penitence.]
"In that case, it should be fine. I accept."
[Mystery Quest: The Seven Regalia.]
[Description: Locked. Unlock condition: Survive a certain future event.]
[Quest Difficulty: Unknown.]
[Quest Reward: Unknown.]
[Quest Failure Penitence: None.]
"...You're quite precise, aren't you?"
