68 First Mission
[Active mission #3245: Required a set of six tusks and six trunks from Rank 1 Iron Trunk Honey Mammoth.
Ideal Region: Steelfield prairie. 250 miles from the City of Ludan.
Completion timeframe: 2 days.
Mission difficulty: 1-star]
Eren studied the mission details that were displayed on his spectral screen. Apart from the main details, the display also had descriptions of the mana beast known as Iron Trunk Honey Mammoth and ways with which a ranker could slay or capture them.
He was currently traveling on a colt with Reece and one other ranker from his guild.
He had selected this mission from a long list of 1-star missions nearby to the city of Ludan. Reece and Miranda had helped him narrow down this mission after considering all the options.
“Eren, shouldn’t you have waited to take a mission? Maybe watch how the captain fights and deals with her mission before deciding on anything?”
Reece enquired while riding on her colt effortlessly. The other ranker was right behind her. It was Eren and his colt that were making things a bit difficult for the group by going off the path every once in a while.
The guy couldn’t be blamed. He had never ridden a horse in his whole life. He had thought that they had gone extinct back on earth.
However, the colts here in Gilaahan were different. They were mana beasts who were more powerful and capable than their mortal counterparts.
“The problem with that is I’ll remain on the sidelines, Reece. I have come to observe that I learn well and fast when I’m under pressure.”
Eren said and smiled after looking at Reece’s face.
“Don’t worry. I’m not some sort of adrenaline junkie. I know my limits. However, I’ll only be doing minimum group missions that are expected from me. I plan to go on solo missions when I get enough experience with Gilaahan.
That’s why I don’t want to depend too much on captain Miranda or you for that matter.”
Eren said and readjusted his mana beast to follow the duo once more after veering off the road once again.
The mana beasts the trio was riding on were collectively called Noble Feet. This was the most used mana beast in all the rankers here. It had a mild temperament and exceptional speed. It could carry rankers for hours on end without getting tired.
Plus, it was used to eating grass and leaves that were practically everywhere outside Gilaahan’s cities. So there was no need to worry about the beast’s well-being. These beasts were well adapted to Gilaahan’s environment. Sometimes the rankers that had been on missions would be missing but the colts they had rented would find their way back to the cities.
The mana beast also progressed from Rank 1 and upwards on Gilaahan. Some were extremely ferocious while some can be tamed and used, like the Noble Feet.
The mana beast looked like a horse on steroids. It had very prominent muscle definitions, enabling it to traverse any uneven terrain with ease. The earth-element nature of the beast also made it aware of incoming dangers by sensing the vibrations coming from the ground.
Each city had colt rental services the rankers could use to reach their mission sites. The services would charge a fixed amount price for rental depending upon the mana beast, the number of days it was being rented for, and so on.
The world of Gilaahan had various local currencies depending upon the kingdom as well as one uniform currency that was mana quartz. That meant the mana quartz that is earned here could be used back on earth.
“That… that also makes sense, I guess.”
Reece sounded disheartened by the fact that Eren was planning to take up solo missions more. She had thought that he would spend more time with her Gilaahan. But it looked like the guy had his plans.
Eren needed to use his infinite mana core to its fullest in the world of Gilaahan. He could only do that when he was alone on missions. He was planning to keep the use of his infinite mana core to a minimum while participating in group missions.
Eren heard Reece’s voice and knew what she was thinking. By this point, he had gotten used to handling the beast. Or the beast had gotten used to being with him. Now it had stopped following his instructions and started following his peers that were running ahead.
The Noble Feet sensed his rider’s intentions and ran beside Reece’s beast, enabling him to address her better.
“It’s fine Reece. I won’t be doing solo missions all the time. After all, we have all the time in Gilaahan. We can use that time to duel and practice. I don’t want you to stay stagnant while I overtake you. That won’t be fun. Hahaha.”
The world of Gilaahan processed the passage of time differently than back on Earth. About 7 days would pass in Gilaahan when the rankers’ natal bodies observed the time in hours.
As a result, every day the rankers were inside Gilaahan, it was like spending seven days in Gilaahan. Almost all the Numbered Oasis worlds observed different passages of time than Earth. Some worked in Rankers’ favor, some against them.
Reece smiled when she heard Eren’s words. In the next moment, her mood was uplifted as she spoke.
“Heh! You just entered Meta rank and are already thinking of overtaking me? I’ll be breaking into the fourth stage soon, you know.”
Reece guided her demon beast at a quicker pace than Eren, a gesture that showed how she would leave him behind if he didn’t catch up.
“Go follow her, you stupid beast.”
Eren said to his colt with a frown when he saw Reece pulling away from him. However, Eren almost fell over the mana beast when it suddenly stopped. The beast snorted loudly and did not move a muscle from the spot.
Eren was made aware earlier that the Noble Feet could roughly decipher rankers’ emotions and thoughts based on the fluctuations of their mana signatures. These fluctuations were naturally generated by rankers’ bodies. Something told him the beast didn’t like being called stupid.
‘Noble indeed.’
Eren said to himself and sighed before addressing his mana beast.
“I… I am sorry, bud. Please follow that girl to the best of your abilities.”
The mana beast snorted once again before increasing its speed all of a sudden. It seemed that it also had an inherent spell at its disposal. It covered its limbs with earth element mana and started gaining on Reece with incredible speed.
Eren had to strengthen his natural mana defense to fight off the wind pressure and stay straight onto the beast’s back. Reece and the other ranker who was with them saw Eren’s condition and laughed.
They both sped up their colts as well, adding more misery to Eren’s existing condition. Thanks to this sudden speeding up, the trio was on course to reach their mission site earlier than predicted.