"Tia, be honest with me. What's really going on with you?" Kenley asked patiently.
"Tia is just Tia, Master! Are you feeling unwell? Should Tia get you some ice?" Tia asked anxiously.
"Uh... no need for ice." Kenley paused, reconsidered for a moment, and asked,"Tia, do you have a skill called 'Dark Veil'?"
The reason Kenley asked was that he couldn't see the specific attributes of 'Dark Veil'—only a series of question marks. Unknown attributes, unknown effects—an utter mystery.
"Ah! Master, how did you know?" Tia's expression was clearly one of surprise.
Kenley was thrilled and quickly asked,"Then can you tell me what its specific effect is?"
"I don't know."
"Huh?" Kenley was stunned.
He hadn't expected Tia to respond so bluntly. But her tone didn't seem like she was lying—Tia probably genuinely didn't know.
"Have you felt anything off? Or perhaps something about your own behavior?" Kenley gestured to his own head. He didn't dare put it too bluntly, worried about hurting Tia's feelings.
However, Tia just tilted her little head, thought about it seriously, and said,"Nothing seems off, Master. Maybe you're overthinking it."
Kenley was silent for a moment before saying,"Alright, maybe I really am overthinking it."
"Tia, get dressed. We're heading to the Adventurers' Guild," Kenley said, turning to the wardrobe to get some clothes.
But at that moment…
"Master, Tia will drain you dry every single day."
It was like a cold wind whispering past his ear. The voice was faint, low, and didn't sound at all like normal speech. If not for the silence of the room, Kenley might've thought he was just hearing things.
"Tia!"
Startled, Kenley whipped around to look at Tia, only to see her standing there gracefully, a gentle smile on her face—yet there was an inexplicable eeriness about it.
"Yes, Master! Tia is here!"
She looked adorable, her smile sweet, completely devoid of the previous eerie feeling.
"N-Never mind." Kenley wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, hoping it was just his imagination.
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Kenley had been stuck at level 10 for a few days now. If this were a game, he'd have grinded his way to level 50 by now, no doubt.
Now that everything was ready, it was time to start leveling up.
In the Adventurers' Guild, there were many quests meant for first-tier adventurers, but Kenley had no interest in those.
One could choose cross-tier quests that required a higher rank. Though challenging for ordinary players, for Kenley, they weren't a big deal.
High risk, high reward.
In the game, such quests naturally offered higher rewards without penalizing players for level differences. Many veteran players would help newcomers power-level by taking them to high-risk areas, provided the newcomers didn't do anything reckless.
Perhaps this was also the developers' way of subtly imposing an experience penalty.
But Kenley didn't need to worry about that now. This was the real world—if he died here, he might really die for good, with no respawn.
Though resurrection magic existed in the game (players could use scrolls), within the world of Aude Continent, resurrection was an extremely advanced magic that couldn't be performed without a Golden Body.
Or perhaps with divine artifacts, like the Pope's Staff or the Golden Saint Eyes of the Elven King.
Each use could only revive one person, and the cooldown time was excessively long—not just anyone could ask the Pope or the Elven King to revive someone.
So, considering the reality of the situation, Kenley decided to accept second-tier quests to rapidly gain experience.
First-tier monsters were out of the question—low rewards, long distances, and not worth the effort. Meanwhile, second-tier quests offered much richer rewards and higher experience points.
"I'll take this quest," Kenley declared, slapping a quest notice onto the counter.
"Mr. Kenley, this is a second-tier quest. Your current strength isn't suited for this task," the receptionist said with a worried frown.
At that moment, a low chuckle came from nearby—it was from other adventurers.
"Look at that—another young fool who doesn't know his limits. Rushing off to become monster chow at such a young age—what a waste."
"What's wrong with being monster chow? It's just a pity about that pretty girl following him. If the master dies, the slave dies too. Better to sell her to me."
"Hey! You there! You're about to become monster fodder anyway—why not sell me your slave before you go? I'll give you ten gold coins!"
"Wow! Ten gold coins? That peasant's probably never seen that much money in his life!"
Indeed, by usual standards, a farmer would have to save for ten years without spending a single coin just to amass eight gold coins. Ten gold coins were truly a fortune a farmer might never see.
Kenley glanced at the lavishly dressed man who was only level 23, second-tier. Big words for someone so low-level.
Kenley ignored him and continued,"Don't hesitate, my friend—I'll take the quest."
"Are you certain?" the receptionist still seemed doubtful.
"I'm certain."
Seeing Kenley's determination, the receptionist couldn't say more and finally stamped the quest notice.
Kenley grabbed it and strode out of the guild without looking back.
"Kate! That guy's got guts. Should we follow him? If he dies, all his gear will be ours," a tall, lanky adventurer suggested to a burly man beside him.
"Hmm, I can't wait to see him get torn to pieces by monsters—like a human pi?ata," the man called Kate grinned.
"Haha! A fresh lamb to the slaughter and a pretty girl to boot. Kate's right—it'd be a shame not to watch!" the others jeered.
"Let's go!" Kate waved a hand, leading four others to follow Kenley closely.
For a moment, the guild hall buzzed with murmurs, adventurers gossiping about the day's amusing scene.
"Master, you're the bravest person Tia has ever seen."
"Why's that?" Kenley asked, patting Tia's head.
"Because your sword is really thick, heihei."
