Ascension of the Master Assassin - Chapter 17: Elite Quest

“What?” Venn was momentarily stunned when he saw the changes of the quest given to him by the game system before he finally realised what on earth had happened. He had no idea the rarity of quests could be upgraded.

“Haha! What kind of luck is this?” The sudden windfall made Venn have a great urge to laugh but he tried his utmost best in maintaining a poker face lest there was someone else observing his actions.

After a short while trying to keep his calm, Venn hurriedly turned his attention back to the quest log that popped up in his vision.

“Who would have thought that the elderly were right! Studying really changes one’s life.” Venn grinned internally.

By just recognising who the letter belongs to, the quest reward had improved drastically. Venn counted his lucky stars that the mysterious letter was found by him. If it was found by someone else without the specific knowledge of the blood serpents, then wouldn’t such a rare quest be wasted?

The quest system in Heaven Descent is categorized into Common, Uncommon, Rare, Elite, Epic, Mythical, and Celestial. Similarly, the same categorization can be used for the equipment in the game as well.

In Heaven Descent, quest rarity correlates to its difficulty and the level of difficulty in obtaining them. Thus, at the start of the game, most players would only receive common quests from the NPCs. Quests like running delivery errands, mining ores, harvesting herbs were dime a dozen. Needless to say, the rewards for such quests were pitiful as well.

However, in order to obtain higher level quests, players have to put in a substantial amount of efforts and time in doing so. For Venn to receive an Elite quest so easily was something not anyone can replicate.

It was his years of accumulation of knowledge and hard work that he had poured into the Rosewell library that yielded the leap of the quest’s rewards and rarity. It could be said that it took Venn two lifetimes for it.

Venn was obviously elated about receiving an Elite quest. But, due to the lessons he had learnt just a while ago, he did not simple mindedly accept the quest.

If the rarity of quest depends on the choices players make, then wouldn’t he be able to further enhance the quest rewards? He decided to experiment on it. After all, he succeeded in doing so, so it was not entirely impossible.

Evaluating his options, Venn started to assess his situation from the beginning.

The real cause of why he was able to obtain an elite quest instead of the errand quest he was expecting to find, was because he had gotten hold of the book which the blood serpents used to communicate within themselves, a year earlier than he was supposed to.

This meant that instead of the blood serpents using the book as a tool to give the players’ delivery errand quests, at this point in time, it was still used among its members to spread information.

That would explain the terms he had translated in the mysterious letter that he found and the logo on it. The errand letter and the instructions accompanied with it that he was tasked to deliver in the past had no such logo.

He hypothesized that the blood serpents are most likely having a meeting among its members in an orphanage in Rosewell judging from the words he had, perhaps possibly seven days later.

All of the evidence supported his theory. The butterfly had flapped its wings.

As Venn arrived at the conclusion, his heart began racing rapidly. He had really found a method to maximise the benefit of the quest.

Normally the right thing to do in Venn’s scenario was to find and report the information of the blood serpents whereabout to the authority which would be to the head knight of the Rosewell Kingdom.

However, what if he was to deviate from doing the right thing? Instead of following the quest instructions like most players normally do, what if he was to join the dark side instead?

Venn palmed his forehead as he entered into a dilemma.

On one hand, the pros of handling the letter to knight Julius would mean guaranteed enticing rewards.

3500 experience points would get him instantly levelled up to level 13, which would mean unlocking the ability slots to absorb monster cores. 35 silver coins would make him a very rich man, and the capital would pave a way for him to earn more money by playing the game’s players’ market.

Furthermore, if he could get into Julius’s favour with this opportunity, that would mean receiving a chain quest or even more.

On the other hand, if he was to choose to infiltrate the blood serpent’s meeting place, who knows what other juicy information and benefits he could get? He strongly believed that the rewards for lifting the mysterious veil behind their organisation would be greater than the Elite quest he held.

The only thing stopping him was that he had no assuring plan at all to infiltrate their meeting ground.

He had to bullshit his way through the NPCs, and that would be worst than gambling. It was an impossible mission. At least with gambling, there was a chance to win.

He isn’t like the others. He must not fail. A single slip up would spell the doom for him and especially Rena, for her life depends on him.

A historical chance to uncover the secrets of the blood serpents or taking the easy way out?

After a much careful session of evaluating his choices, Venn was still on the fence. As he was about to finalize his decision, his vision was split into two halves.

[Ding]

[An entity had entered within 10 metres of your vicinity.]

[Switching to dual sights.]

[Do you wish to activate emergency log out?]

[Yes / No]

Venn’s vision was split into dual screens, with the left screen showing the events happening in the game while the right screen showing Rena approaching him after entering the room.

It was a safety measure implemented in the virtual helmet to prevent the user being completely oblivious from his or her surrounding.

When Venn saw that it was Rena that entered the door, he opted to log out normally. After a countdown of 60 seconds, he removed the virtual helmet.