“All right. I’ll confirm the quest for you.”
The receptionist still looked like she wanted to say more, but after seeing Ethan’s attitude, she ultimately kept her advice to herself. If the person standing before her were a Warrior or a combat profession with strong survivability, accepting an S-Rank Advancement Quest would be reckless, but not necessarily hopeless. Unfortunately, the profession data on his profile clearly labeled him as support.
Life Priest.
She let out a quiet sigh and began working on the Display. “All right.”
After Ethan gave his final confirmation, the quest status on his profile immediately changed to accepted. Almost at the same time, the activity board in the center of the area updated with a new notice. Advancement Quests with exceptionally high difficulty were normally flagged so support teams and safety personnel could monitor them more easily. As a result, the appearance of an S-Rank Quest immediately attracted quite a few eyes.
「Quest: Abyssal Apostle」
「Requirement: Enter the dungeon, find and kill the Abyssal Apostle, and obtain the Abyssal Heart」
「Difficulty: S」
「Recipient's Profession: Life Priest」
「Level: 10」
「Status: Accepted」
Someone waiting at a nearby counter looked up at the Display, then turned to Ethan in disbelief. “A Level 10 accepted an S-Rank Quest?”
The person beside him looked over as well. “What kind of profession is a Life Priest? I’ve never heard of it.”
“Maybe it’s a rare profession.”
“Rare or not, it’s still a support profession. If the quest requires directly hunting an S-Rank target, going alone is way too dangerous.”
A few others began paying attention to the conversation. No one knew exactly what abilities a Life Priest had, but merely looking at the profession type and level was enough for most people to reach the same conclusion. This quest was beyond what an ordinary Level 10 Awakener should attempt.
“Maybe he has a team backing him.”
“That would make more sense. If he really plans to solo it, I don’t know whether to call him brave or suicidal.”
The whispers quickly spread through the area, but Ethan paid them no mind.
From these people’s perspective, their speculation was perfectly reasonable. Without Limitless Amplification, even Ethan himself wouldn’t have believed that a Life Priest who had awakened less than two days ago could complete a quest like this.
The receptionist glanced at the surrounding onlookers and lowered her voice. “You don’t need to pay attention to them. Before entering the dungeon, make sure you carefully check the target information and the escape conditions. S-Rank Quests don’t leave much room for mistakes.”
“I know.”
Ethan nodded, put away the confirmation device, and prepared to leave the counter.
The receptionist watched his back as he left, still unable to shake her confusion. Someone who could reach Level 10 in such a short time and possess Elemental Origin immediately after awakening was certainly not as simple as his profile suggested. Perhaps he really did have a powerful dungeon-exploration team or substantial resources backing him.
If so, the S-Rank Quest might not be a suicidal decision after all.
Ethan had barely gotten any distance from the reception area when several people approached from the hallway and directly blocked his path.
He stopped.
There were five of them in total. Their equipment was mismatched, but all of them wore the same metal insignia over their left chests: three serpents coiled around one another to form a closed circle.
Ethan recognized the emblem.
Three Serpents Guild.
One of the major dungeon-exploration guilds operating in Chicago.
“What can I do for you?” Ethan asked.
The leader was a burly, bald man with a greatsword strapped to his back. He looked Ethan over several times before speaking. “You know Three Serpents, right?”
“I’ve heard of it.”
“Then this’ll be quicker.”
The bald man took half a step forward. “We just saw the quest you accepted. An Abyssal Apostle isn’t something a Level 10 Life Priest should handle alone.”
Ethan didn’t answer right away.
Three Serpents was a fairly large dungeon-exploration guild in Chicago. Besides its official expedition teams, it also operated numerous groups that took escort contracts, hunted monsters, gathered materials, and provided dungeon support. Several private training facilities, monster-material trading networks, and team-formation services throughout the city were also connected to the guild.
During major incidents, qualified teams could even participate in emergency support under contract with the city or the organizations overseeing the gates.
In other words, Three Serpents truly had a reputation.
But being famous was one thing. Whether the five people in front of him could represent the entire guild was another.
Seeing Ethan remain silent, the bald man assumed he was considering the offer, and his tone immediately grew more confident. “We can go with you. You handle the support, and we’ll take care of the fighting. That’ll greatly increase your chances of completing the quest.”
He lightly patted the hilt of the greatsword on his back. “I’m a Level 26 Warrior. The others have all advanced as well. With this lineup, at least you won’t have to worry about being torn apart the moment you enter the dungeon.”
The people behind him all broke into smiles.
Judging by their public profiles, their confidence wasn’t entirely unfounded. Even the lowest-level member of the group had already passed his first advancement. Compared with a Level 10 Life Priest, they were obviously much stronger.
But Ethan only needed to hear a few sentences to understand their true intentions.
A dungeon-exploration team with manpower like this had no reason to proactively help a stranger complete an Advancement Quest without mentioning compensation.
Unless what they wanted was already part of the quest.
The Abyssal Heart.
Each Abyssal Apostle had only one heart valuable as a quest item. According to the current data, the dungeon designated by the quest also had only one confirmed suitable target. If this group went with him and took the Abyssal Heart, whether Ethan could kill the Boss or not would be meaningless.
The bald man was still talking. “We take contracts like this all the time. You just awakened, so it’s normal that you’re not used to everything yet. You’ll be safer with a professional team.”
Ethan looked at him. “Do you have a contract that requires the Abyssal Heart?”
The smiles on several faces stiffened slightly.
That tiny reaction was enough.
Ethan knew he had guessed correctly.
This group had already taken a contract involving the Abyssal Heart. Their client probably needed the item to fulfill some kind of profession requirement as well. When they arrived, they discovered that Ethan had accepted a quest to hunt the exact Abyssal Apostle they needed, so they changed plans and tried to bring him along.
Once the target was dead, whoever obtained the heart would decide everything.
Ethan had gone all the way to Stormtide Reach, reached Level 10, and obtained both Fire Origin and Wind Origin. Now he was only one final step away from advancing.
They wanted him to give up the quest item?
Not a chance.
“Sorry.” Ethan spoke bluntly. “I don’t need a team.”
The bald man frowned. “You should think carefully.”
“I already have.”
Ethan stepped to the side, intending to walk around the group.
The bald man immediately shifted to block him again. “You just entered the profession system, so you may not understand how many teams Three Serpents has operating around Chicago. Dungeon access, team composition, the materials market, exploration contracts—you’ll have to deal with all kinds of things in the future. It’s not worth making your own path harder over a single item.”
Ethan stopped again.
“Are you threatening me?”
The bald man hadn’t expected Ethan to ask so directly and was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
Normally, newly awakened people would become wary upon hearing the name Three Serpents. Young people unfamiliar with the guild system and the dungeon market were even more likely to panic after a few suggestive remarks.
But Ethan showed none of the reaction he had expected.
Ethan glanced at the insignia on the other man’s chest and said calmly, “How big Three Serpents is has nothing to do with what the five of you are doing right now. I don’t believe the guild’s leadership would send a Level 20 team to the Advancement Center to pressure a newcomer into handing over a quest item.”
The bald man’s expression darkened.
Ethan continued, “Besides, this is the Advancement Center. The cameras, security staff, and transaction records are all right here. If you plan to make a move, go ahead and try.”
The people behind the bald man exchanged glances.
No one stepped forward.
Ethan wasn’t wrong. They could apply pressure with words, but if they actually attacked someone inside a public facility, it would no longer be a dispute between dungeon-exploration teams. The cameras had recorded everything, and the guild records couldn’t cover up a public assault.
The bald man stared at Ethan for several seconds before letting out a dry laugh. “All right. You’ve surprised me.”
Ethan didn’t respond.
“But don’t think this ends here.” His voice dropped. “Some decisions are easy to make. You only realize what they’re worth when it’s time to pay the price.”
“Move.”
Those two simple words made the bald man’s expression even uglier.
He still wanted to say more, but in the end, he only tilted his head and gave a signal. The others spread to either side, leaving enough room for Ethan to pass.
Ethan didn’t bother looking at them again. He walked straight out of the Advancement Center.
One member of the group waited until Ethan’s figure disappeared beyond the doors before turning around. “Boss, are we really just letting him go?”
The bald man stared toward the entrance, his hand clenched so tightly that his knuckles stood out.
“Letting him go?”
He turned around, his expression completely cold. “We’ve already accepted a contract to obtain the Abyssal Heart. If we let a Level 10 kid take the target right out from under our noses, it won’t just ruin this contract—the reputation of our entire team will take a hit. Who’ll hire us for jobs like this in the future?”
Someone else asked quietly, “But we can’t do anything here.”
“I know.”
The bald man glanced at the cameras mounted on the ceiling, then looked away.
“If we can’t do it here, we’ll use another method.”
He looked in the direction Ethan had left, his voice growing colder by the second.
“He’ll understand soon enough just how stupid it was to refuse us.”