Chapter 51
#51. Epic Quest
I’m the type who doesn’t use items that are too good, but that doesn’t mean I plan to turn down whatever comes my way.
When I gladly accepted the quest, the blacksmith wore a proud smile and promised to make me an amazing sword.
The blacksmith did warn me it wasn’t free, though, and that if I didn’t learn diligently, I wouldn’t get so much as a drop.
Judging by how most of the quest completion conditions are optional and there aren’t any special restrictions, it was probably just talk.
The blacksmith would probably make the sword even if I only pretended to learn.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I plan to half-ass it. I felt the power of systematic swordsmanship painfully in my fight with the High Elf knight.
A combat method with a depth on a completely different level from the makeshift swordsmanship I picked up fighting Lizardmen—I’m already looking forward to it.
After receiving the quest and item from Blacksmith Erwen, I went around visiting the other shop-type places one by one.
But the only places I could actually visit were two: a general store that sold potions, and a grocery store.
“Oh my, what’s a human doing in a place like this? Were you invited or something?”
The shop’s owner showed interest the moment she saw me buying potions, and gave me a mysterious pill as a freebie.
[Green Spirit Pill]
A secret elixir passed down among the elves.
Rumor has it that it’s the secret to their species’ longevity, but that has never been verified.
In elven society, it’s treated like a nutritional supplement made at home.
When consumed, one random stat permanently increases, once only.
I thought it was nothing special since they were handing it out like vitamins at a pharmacy, but it was actually an incredible item that permanently boosts a stat.
After looking it up, it seemed to be an item you could get by choosing the elf faction, regardless of whether you went Dark Elf or High Elf.
If you follow either faction’s quest line, you’re guaranteed to get at least one.
[Those fucking assholes are acting all smug just for handing out one supplement lol]
Of course, in the High Elf faction, where the deeper you dig the more horror stories come out, they don’t seem to hand it out easily.
And the NPCs at the grocery store were a Dark Elf couple who looked like tanned delinquents, and they were also quite friendly toward me.
“Huh, it’s been a while since we saw a human……Honey, we still have some of those snacks we made last time, right? Bring some over.”
By now, it was getting to the point where I wondered if Dark Elves saw humans as something like stray cats.
“Hey, aren’t you thirsty? Want some milk?”
Of course, I didn’t really mind. And while I was being delayed like this at the grocery store, Eleanor came looking for me.
“Sorry, it took a bit of time, didn’t it? Finding you a good room and all.”
“It’s fine.”
“Good, then. This way, follow me.”
Eleanor led me into the massive tree residence. The room I’d be using was three or four floors up.
Even for a Dark Elf residence, it wasn’t much different from any other inn. They said it was a good room, but it didn’t seem especially good to me.
Well, either way, I’d ended up with free lodging, so I had no intention of complaining.
“You have an Item Box too, right? Then you shouldn’t have much to unpack.”
Come to think of it, NPCs seem to perceive challengers’ inventories as some kind of magical thing called an Item Box.
“Then come with me, and I’ll show you the communal bath. You should wash up first.”
Eleanor said that and grabbed my arm. I was already pretty dusty from fighting the High Elf knight.
“You reek of blood.”
But that wasn’t the problem.
**
Maybe the blood and poison from spending so long on the 6th floor still hadn’t worn off yet.
I scrubbed myself clean before the festival, but I never imagined it would still have soaked in.
Elves do have a better sense of smell than humans, though even so, they probably wouldn’t particularly mind it.
Hearing that, I could understand why that High Elf prince freaked out and came at me like that.
An outsider carrying a jet-black greatsword with an ominous design, with the smell of blood and poison soaked into their whole body.
And if you consider the conflict between the Kingdom Army and the High Elves over the Great Forest, it would be stranger not to be wary.
Especially since I’d cut down the Rune Bear he was hunting with that greatsword, I probably looked even more dangerous.
Of course, that has nothing to do with those High Elf bastards’ rotten personalities.
“Anyway, let’s go inside. This way.”
The Dark Elf bath Eleanor guided me to was huge and luxurious.
Perhaps influenced by the elves’ naturalism, it had the feel of a well-kept hot spring. Maybe it really was a hot spring.
But this bath had one big problem.
You can probably infer what it was from the fact that Eleanor casually dragged me here.
“Damn, it’s mixed bathing.”
That’s right. This communal bath has no separation between men and women.
“Humans don’t have that kind of culture? If it’s uncomfortable, I can step out.”
“No, there’s no need for that. I’m just not used to it.”
Of course, it wasn’t especially bad, so I didn’t make Eleanor leave.
Still, that’s odd. I don’t think the community ever mentioned this kind of Dark Elf custom.
Maybe it only happens once your affinity reaches a certain point. Or maybe challengers deliberately didn’t mention it.
Since the Open Community displays real names as-is, maybe they were a little hesitant to talk openly about something that explicit.
“Should I search it?”
Curious, I searched the community for ‘mixed bathing’ as a keyword. There definitely weren’t many posts mentioning it.
And even looking through the posts, they only mentioned that such a custom existed; hardly any said they’d experienced it firsthand.
It seemed there were differences depending on affinity, or else the system blocked challengers from actually bathing with them.
Maybe it was a unique event only first-generation hunters experienced, or one of the hidden elements I’d uncovered.
Or maybe it was because of this thing registered in my quest window.
[Epic: Dark Elf's Book - Invitation]
An Epic quest registered after I accepted Eleanor’s invitation.
**
Quests in the Tower of Trials are broadly divided into three types.
Normal quests that can’t be undertaken again once cleared, and repeat quests that can be done many times.
And finally, limited-quantity unique quests that were all used up back in the first and second generations.
But this isn’t an official system classification; it’s just something challengers categorized on their own.
“I’ve never heard of anything like an Epic quest……”
And of course, I’d never heard that Epic quests existed either. Even after searching, there was almost no related information.
It seemed some challengers who found hidden elements had reported that Epic quests existed, though.
But almost nobody had actually received one, so it only surfaced in the occasional rumor.
Still, after several rounds of cross-checking, it seemed confirmed that such a thing did exist.
-Bubbling.
Soaking in the hot bath, I slowly read over the information registered in the quest window as if etching it into my mind.
The quest description itself wasn’t much different from any other quest. It was just the usual stuff about the Dark Elves’ history and purpose.
What was different was only the unfamiliar message in the section below, where the quest objectives and rewards were listed.
[The rewards and objectives of an Epic quest vary depending on your challenge record.]
The final reward for the Dark Elf faction quest line known to the community is an item bestowed by the Dark Elf Queen.
I heard you can choose from several kinds, and the especially popular one is a weapon called [Queen Knight’s Sword].
I don’t know how I ended up entering it, but if I clear this Epic quest route, I should get a reward even better than that, right?
-Splash.
While I was mulling it over, Eleanor came right up to me, the water parting around her.
Damn, seeing it like this, Dark Elves really aren’t normal.
Back when the Tower of Trials was still a savage place, there were guys who tried to do terrible things to NPCs.
The moment they made inappropriate contact, they became hostile with every NPC in the village, and a few apparently got killed by the guard NPCs.
But apparently it’s no problem if the NPC side is the one making the first move like this. It fucking startled me.
“What are you staring at so blankly?”
Did she realize I was staring at the quest window?
But can an NPC even do that?
“Nothing.”
I gave a vague answer. More than that, I wanted the quest to move on to the next stage already.
“Ah, you said you wanted to talk to me about something, right?”
I looked away from the particular body part that kept drawing my gaze and casually spoke to Eleanor.
Some quests won’t progress unless you interact directly with the NPC like this.
Most of the time it’ll flow along on its own even if you just sit still, but since she’s an elite NPC, I’d probably need to actively talk to her.
“Ah, that.”
But what came out of Eleanor’s mouth was utterly bewildering.
“That prince you broke the arm of? He’s my fiancé.”
No, what the fuck are you talking about?