Cain heads straight for the Quest Hall, making good time until he realizes that this place is even more crowded than the last one he visited. They seem to only have two beastkin working the counters, while there are hundreds of adventurers waiting around for their turn to pick up quests or turn in the ones they have already finished.
It's a nightmare of mismanagement but there isn't anything that Cain can do about it, so he simply takes his place in line and inspects the transfers around him, looking for powerful or interesting forms that he might want to use as Summons later.
What he finds is that the people of the awakened areas don't put great stock into class advancements. Once they find one they like, they don't worry too much about changing it. Instead, they look for Mythic skills that are compatible with their class and supplement themselves that way.
While a level 85 with a single Mythic skill might technically be awakened, and get the benefit of the damage reduction buff, they are laughably weak in front of an actual experienced and skilled fighter. Comparing it to his past life, it is like playing a DPS class with a seriously overpowered Ultimate ability, but not really putting points into anything else.
Of course, for everyone else, getting levels is not nearly as easy as it is for Cain, so the logical route is to get a mythic attack ability and go out to face mythic beasts. They are often much higher level, giving very good experience per kill, and Awakened skills don't suffer the high rate of damage reduction due to levels that unawakened skills do.
In practice, this leads to a large number of hopeful young hunters picking the wrong target and becoming a food product, but that's just the way things go here in the Awakened zone.
"You new to town friend?" The Youkai in front of Cain asks, looking back over his shoulder, revealing a white Oni Mask mostly hidden under his hood.
"Yeah, I came through to inquire about some ancient books. It's a quest I'm on, an elf left a bunch of them over the continent, but I don't know where." Cain explains and the creature in front of him gives off an aura of curiosity.
"That sounds like quite the quest. Doing the same thing every day gets too boring, so once in a while, I will take missions to other cities, but I've only heard of the one relic book."
That's what Cain expected. Having them so close together was a long shot, but if he doesn't ask as he travels, how will he know if he missed one?
"If you get to the far east, there is one in my hometown of Eda. It's just east of the barrier mountains, in the deep mist. There is a monastery there with an incredible library that is said to have existed for over a thousand years." One of the other men in line mentions.
"Eda, you say? Thank you, that sounds like a very good lead to me. It might take me a while to get there though if it's on the other side of the mountains." Cain smiles, making both men laugh.
"A bit of luck too. The guardians don't let just anyone through the barrier mountains, or the name would lose its meaning. But for someone like yourself, I think they might make an exception. They have a soft spot for people with potential, and I've never seen that class before." The transfer agrees with a smile, while the man closer to Cain nods, his expressions hidden behind the mask.
There seems to be a bit of excitement going on in front of them, which distracts their conversation for a short time, while they watch a man get brutally beaten by a woman with a torn shirt. They are at least fifty people away, and those closest to them are laughing at the man's misfortune, so Cain decides that he most likely deserves whatever is happening to him. The man has fortitude on his side though, and when the woman gives him a moment's reprieve, he immediately holds up a coffee cup and makes a milking motion in her direction.
He might be brave, but it seems he isn't particularly bright because she has started beating him again.
Soon after the companions of the two troublemakers break up the fight, pulling them both off in different directions, while the crowd mostly ignores the fight that just occurred.
With the humor finished, the wait for the teller goes pretty quickly. The beastkin on duty hands Cain a pamphlet with today's quests on it to look through, but Cain is more interested in answers about the books. They don't have any idea what he's talking about, making Cain glad the guys in line were feeling chatty.
"Thanks for the help. If you can sign me up for the bandit control mission, I will see if I can get that cleared up this afternoon." Cain informs him, pointing at the relevant mission.
"Um, are you sure, sir? That group is over twenty members strong, all Awakened. If you fall into their ambush it will be over in an instant." The beastkin points out, frowning at the Transfer in front of him.
"Relax Pup. Let him go play, there's more to this one than his status." The Youkai in the mask, who is still collecting rewards for past quests at the next counter laughs.
"I'll take your word for it then. But if they turn up dead, you'd better fork over the extra reward." The worker grumbles, holding up the quest for Cain to accept.
Since they're both finished now, Cain and the masked Youkai both walk away and let the next in line take their places.
"I take if you can see through the disguise?" Cain asks curiously.
"I can see through almost anything, including fate. I can even see your skill trees." The man says quietly but casually.
That is a seriously overpowered detection skill. Being able to see the skills available to an unknown opponent is a huge advantage in combat. Even Cain would have a hard time dealing with an opponent like that without duplicating his skill to be able to strategize at the same level, especially if the man also has a way to counter the skills he sees. Cain has already recorded his form, so he will have to inspect it later to see what this man is fully capable of.
Vala and Nemu are the first to return, shaking their heads in defeat. Laura isn't far behind, but her happy smile has more to do with pilfering the Farmer's market than any luck she had at the bookstore, though she did get a few childcare books of the more mundane variety. That way Cain couldn't accuse her of slacking on the task he set her. Even though Companions can't directly disobey him, they are smart enough to find loopholes in all but the most carefully worded directions if they wish.
"Well, it has been a pleasure meeting you, but now that we're all together and our search of the city has given a hint on the location of the hidden books, we should take care of the bandit quest and get on our way," Cain says his goodbyes to the Youkai, who waves and turns to head back to whatever he was planning for the day.
"They are set up only twenty kilometers east of town, but the guard patrol isn't willing to attack again after the last few ambushes. So we will go clear out the bandits and turn in the quest before we head to our next destination." Cain informs them with a grin.
Vala is a battle maniac, Evangeline loves attacking evildoers and none of them have seen the baby Leviathan in action. It should be an interesting excursion to kill a bit of time.
They walk out of the city gates and Cain calls a flight of Mythic Divine Fire Dragons, then transforms into the Golden Proto Dragon himself and triples their numbers. That makes Moana laugh in joy.
"Oh, they are so screwed. This is going to be awesome." Her shout breaks the guards from their reverie. They aren't quite sure what it is that they just saw, but they know for sure that whoever these people are hunting is in for a very bad time when they are caught.
The dragons take to the air, with the Companions riding on the back of Cain. At the speed that Mythic Dragons can hold, the flight is only a few minutes long, and the Dragons' enhanced eyesight detects the bandit camp a full thirty seconds before that. They have set up an ambush to attack a group traveling down the road with heavily laden wagons.
As the Hall indicated, they are all Mythic awakened, and all Demons of various sorts, but better dressed than any bandits that Cain has seen before.
[Does that look suspicious to anyone else? They look like nobles playing at being bandits.] Cain sends the thought to the others as he watches them set up for the attack from his position in the clouds.
[Those are no bandits. They have an evil aura, but my senses detect large amounts of precious metals in their outfits.] The Divine Fire Dragons agree.
One thing bandits would never do is wear valuables. If they are forced back, they wouldn't want to lose treasures because they had to ditch a damaged coat. These must be nobles from a nearby city that are staging attacks for some political reason Cain couldn't be bothered to learn.
[Take them out, but keep as many alive for ransom as possible.] Cain directs. The mission is dead or alive after all, so there is no loss if he brings them in, and it would let the Quest Hall or the city guards interrogate them.
Seven enormous dragons descend from the clouds in a rush, their shadows on the ground scattering every form of magical beast in the area. They instinctively fear the dragons, who treat them as food, and six Dragons that size aren't something any of the local Beasts can take on.
Divine Fire burns down most of the bamboo forest near the road, sending burning bandits running for the relative safety of the road, where Laura is waiting to envelop them in [Ice Breath].
"Do we have a paralysis skill? It's been a while since I tried to keep an enemy alive." Cain ponders out loud, making the Companions chuckle.
"You have a Paralysis rune in your debuffs. It came just before the [Sunder Armor] one you had so much trouble with." Vala points out and Cain sighs. This is the difference between academic and combat learning. He spent days learning them, and then totally forgot about them when he got into combat.
Making proper use of his new skills from Spell Crafting is going to take not only time but a bit of creativity to break free from the rigid thought patterns he is currently stuck in.
"Who are you and what was that?" One of the merchants shouts, the damp trousers he is wearing informing everyone of the terror that a dragon attack can inspire, even when you aren't the target.
"The next city over has a mission for these bandits, and we thought we would take them alive. Well most of them, I can smell that some of them roasted before we had time to freeze them." Cain informs them, his voice a deep rumble thanks to the draconic body.
"Um, carry on then?" The man says, still in shock, and Cain nods, asking Moana to put out the last of the fires and ensure there are no survivors while he considers a good way to carry these prisoners.
He has a large chunk of sailcloth on him, which he has forgotten the original reason for having. It's the same color as the sails on Queen Rose though, and that reminds Cain that he was once intending to make uniforms for the crew that matched the ship. That's not a big deal, especially now that he doesn't need it to travel anymore.
Cain creates a paralysis rune on the forehead of every survivor, then tosses them onto the cloth and bundles it up into a sack. That should hold until they get back to the city.
"Enjoy your trip gentlemen."
