Chapter 29：Scarlet Monastery

The first thing he had to do in the town was to find lodgings. Xiao Ling quickly located an inn and made it his Town Portal point. He intended to return here to rest at night. Next, he had to accept a quest at the Mercenary Guild. The Mercenary Guild frequently released quests that players cold accept, rewarding them with gold and experience. Also, players could level up by killing monsters during quests, which was an efficient means to do so.

The Mercenary Guild was filled with traveling players and NPCs. The NPCs would issue quests to the players via the Mercenary Guild.

Xiao Ling browsed through the quest list. They were hundreds of them, all about purging the Scarlet Monastery. None of the quests overlapped. Xiao Ling gave it some thought and accepted two killing quests.

Quest 1: Kill 30 Scarlet Warriors. Rewards: 30 gold coins, 3,000 experience.

Quest 2: Kill 20 Scarlet Mages. Rewards: 30 gold coins, 3,000 experience.

There was not much of the day left. Finishing these quests and the experience he gained from killing monsters should be sufficient for him to get to level 9. If everything went smoothly, he might even reach level 10.

Xiao Ling looked up at the quest with the highest rewards on the list.

Quest: Kill Oslinland. Rewards: 30,000 gold coins, 300,000 experience, level 30 SSS Epic Magic Leggings or level 30 SSS Defensive Melee Leggings. Time limit: three days.

The handsome rewards made Xiao Ling's heart stir. If he could get his hands on the 30,000 gold coins, it would mean that he was one step closer to having his own mechanical gargoyle.

That quest could only be accepted by players around level 30. With Xiao Ling's level, he would just be sending himself on a suicide mission by charging at Oslinland.

He accepted his quest and obtained a quest record card. Every Scarlet Mage or Scarlet Warrior Xiao Ling killed would be recorded on this card.

He went out from the western door and headed southwest. This was a majestic and unsophisticated mountain, towering over Tilia's southwest like a giant. It had an intense pressure. The scarlet building halfway up the mountain became Tilia's nightmare. The Scarlet Monastery would frequently loot the riches of the towns and abduct little girls.

Even though Brakada often sent dedicated troops to purge this place, the Scarlet Monastery persisted like weed. Once winter was over, they would emerge once more and wreak havoc.

Many players were currently making their way toward the Scarlet Monastery. Xiao Ling avoided them as much as possible.

He climbed the narrow mountain path with slow but determined footsteps. When he looked over his shoulder, the town of Tilia was already an insignificant spot in the distance.

Scarlet Warriors frequently spawned here. Xiao Ling dared not let his guard down. He carefully took notice of any signs of movement around himself.

A Warrior in standard red battle armor gave a battle cry and leapt out of the bushes toward Xiao Ling. The scarlet broadsword shone with a bloodthirsty radiance.

Scarlet Warrior, level 10.

Xiao Ling's lips curled up in a sneer. He had noticed the Scarlet Warrior before it appeared. He waited until the Scarlet Warrior was about five paces from him.

Force Blast!

More than 100 damage points. Due to the Force Blast's effect, the Scarlet Warrior's movements slowed and became sluggish. It moved closer to Xiao Ling with difficulty.

Corruption!

Shadow Bolt!

Searing Pain!

He unleashed a series of skills and landed a critical hit. The three spells inflicted more than 700 damage points on the Scarlet Warrior. When he saw that the Scarlet Warrior was only left with 11% of its health bar, an Arcane Spell drew a beautiful arc in the air toward it.

With a bang, the Scarlet Warrior fell to the ground. Xiao Ling gained more than 30 EXP.

'Is this a level 10 monster? Why's it so fragile? I've killed it too quickly... so quickly, in fact, that it's unimaginable.'

Xiao Ling picked up the silver coins the Scarlet Warrior dropped. He continued onward toward the Scarlet Monastery. He ran into many Scarlet Warriors along the way and killed them without fail. Xiao Ling was becoming more familiar with his skills, and his reflexes sharpened. When he ran into a monster, he did not have to think much before unleashing a magic spell. It was almost reflexive.

Xiao Ling's combat reflexes, sense, and calculative abilities were quite formidable. After such a long time, he gained more combat experience and his strength improved quickly.

Even Xiao Ling found it strange. These battle instincts seemed to have been rooted within himself. Everything felt so natural to him. Xiao Ling suspected that he had hot blood with a lust for battle flowing through his veins. Perhaps one of his ancestors had been a battle maniac.

Xiao Ling observed the Scarlet Monastery's terrain as he loitered outside its buildings. Standing here, Xiao Ling managed to catch glimpses of the outer corridors of the Scarlet Monastery. They seemed to be cordoned off by rows of bald columns, like in a Parthenon of the ancient Greeks.

There were shadows moving about. Many Scarlet Mages were walking up and down the outer corridors. These level 30 Scarlet Mages could unleash Fireballs with shocking spell damage. Every hit could take 200 points off Xiao Ling's health. He had a few close calls during his encounters with them. Xiao Ling now understood why fire-resistant equipment was so valuable in Tilia. Without fire-resistant equipment, fighting against that many Scarlet Mages would be nothing short of looking for death.

With Xiao Ling's current level, it was too dangerous for him to attempt exploring the outer corridors. He was better off killing some scattered monsters outside the Scarlet Monastery's walls to level up.

However, Xiao Ling had also understood the Scarlet Monastery's layout after spending so much time here. He had learned engineering before, after all. Although engineering was divided into two main branches of architectural mechanisms and mechanical alchemy, and Xiao Ling majored in mechanical alchemy, he had dabbled slightly in architectural mechanisms as well. He was quite knowledgeable when it came to buildings.

The popular architectural style on the Endace Continent was ancient European style. Strict adherence to symmetry was the unique feature of this style. Compared to other buildings, it was much easier to locate the central hall.

The Scarlet Monastery covered a wide area of several thousand miles[1. Probably square, or the author confused units… There's no city proper this big on Earth (unless you count the urban area in). For example, New York City is around 300 miles square. Well, if you count the urban area, it'll be over 8k miles square.]. Rows upon rows of churches and towers were built in the monastery in complicated arrangements. However, even from the outside, Xiao Ling could roughly deduce the internal architectural structure of the Scarlet Monastery.

However, Xiao Ling did not currently possess the strength to venture into the Scarlet Monastery.

The last blood-colored rays of the setting sun made the skies appear like a solemn and stirring painting.

It was rumored that the Scarlet Monastery's Sister Oslinland would sacrifice a little girl for the bloodthirsty Evil God Reernard in exchange for eternal life.

A day passed. This meant another young life would be lost amidst wails.