"Eh?!" Naturally, Valyr wasn't expecting to obtain something like this, thinking that the rewards from the quest was more than enough. With that in mind, he looked at Damian directly in the eye, telling the latter through his gaze that he wanted to know the reason behind the great amount of contribution points he had just received.
In response to the gaze he received, Damian could only shrug his shoulders. "Although the village guards have been made for the purpose of defending against the monster tides, not everyone joined the guards with that in mind. Because of that, less than half of the guards in our ranks volunteered to help out in defending against the monster tide. To show my gratitude to those who've decided to volunteer, I've decided to give contribution points for them to spend however they like."
"Now, you might be wondering at this point if the others got the same amount of contribution points as you." As he those words, Damian shook his head. "The answer to that is no. Unlike you, they've grown up in the village and became village guards for the reason of protecting the village. You, on the other hand, might have joined the village guards for other reasons. Nevertheless, you still opted to help the village out in a time of need, which is why I gave you that much."
"Is there anything else you want to ask me? If not, I'll be leaving. I still have to recruit more people," he asked not long after, to which Valyr nodded in response.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could get a map of the general area around Astarto Village," replied Valyr. "It doesn't have to be incredibly detailed. It just needs to have information of nearby villages and other places I should keep in mind."
Hearing those words, Damian quickly brought out his screen, interacting with it once more for a bit before closing it not long after. "There you go. Normally, information like what you requested would have cost you around 50 contribution points. But as I've mentioned before, since you're helping the village out in a time of need, think of it as a gift from me."
Ding!
[You have received geographical information of Astarto Village and its surroundings.]
[A minimum threshold has been surpassed. The World Map has been unlocked.]
As Damian waved farewell at Valyr as he gradually moved farther away from him, Valyr could not help but look at the notifications he had received for a bit before closing his screen sometime later. Just as he was about to wave back at Damian, he noticed that Damian was already long gone, making him scratch his head before deciding to continue heading back to the dormitory.
…
Once he was back at his room, he placed everything he had brought along with him on the floor before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. Coming out of the shower after changing into a new set of clothes, he then went ahead and laid down on his bed, letting his body bask in the warm rays of the sun peering through the window.
Letting out a yawn, he then opened up the contribution point shop, his mind already set on where he was going to spend a great portion of the contribution points he received.
Ding!
[You have bought 2 vials of Lizard Dragon Blood.]
[You have bought 2 pieces of Mountain Bull Hoof.]
…
[You have bought 2 vials of Wise Rabbit Essence.]
In less than an instant, a great number of items fell beside where he laid, prompting him to sit up and grab the bag he had placed on the floor. Removing the empty vials that were inside, he then placed all of the materials he had bought into it before setting the bag aside.
"Hopefully this is enough for her to concoct enough vials of elixir for me to get that skill," he muttered before returning his attention to the screen in front of him. "I still have 230 contribution points left. Hmm… what should I buy?"
"Oh, right. I should buy some skills," Valyr said to himself, recalling the main reason why he had asked Damian for a map of the general surroundings.
Back when he was still killing monsters for a week straight, the time it took for him to find a monster at the same level as him gradually increased the higher his level went. By the time he had reached Level 5, the time it took to find 20 similarly leveled monsters had gotten so long that he only finished once the sun had already gone past its peak.
Although he had a feeling that he would still be able to find monsters at Level 6 roaming around the village outskirts, he was certain that it would take him at least 10 times as long to find one compared to killing one. With that, he thought about getting a map, wanting to find a new area where he could kill monsters without having to worry about searching for one.
Opening up another screen beside the contribution point shop, a stylized map of the village and its surroundings soon appeared on the newly opened screen, prompting Valyr to zoom out of the map to gain a general idea of where he currently was and how far a certain place was.
"The nearest town from this village is Zasmol Town, located about 200 kilometers to the north. Considering how much distance a carriage can trek in a day, it would take me about 3 to 4 days to go one way, so a week if it was a round trip." As Valyr was voicing out his thoughts, he could not help but inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "It's a good thing I trusted my guts and had Vera concoct those elixirs. If not, the rewards from that quest wouldn't have been doubled."
"No, wait. I was supposed to be looking for a new leveling area." Refocusing his thoughts, Valyr searched through the map once more, reducing his scope to places that were near Astarto Village and the other villages. Fortunately, it did not take long for him to find a place that suited his needs.
"Found it. A leveling area that houses monsters around Level 8 to 15 and is only about 10 kilometers away from this village," Valyr muttered, nodding in satisfaction at what he had found. "Although it wouldn't be much of a problem for me to head to the area and return at night, it'll be easier for me to just stay at the nearest village. After all, the nearest village is just a couple kilometers away from the area."
"Mak'aroni Forest, huh… guess I'll be staying there for a while until I reach Level 10," Valyr muttered to himself as he closed up the screen with the map, returning his attention back to the contribution point shop he had left open.
"Since I want to maximize the speed at which I kill monsters, I should really get some active skills," he murmured, heading to the shop's skill tab. "I should also probably get a movement skill if I still have points left over."
"Nope… not that one… not that either…"
"Aha. Found it."
