Second World Chapter 146 - 146. Another Mysterious Quest

He decided to still feed the current level 26 Jade Longsword to his Storm Breaker.
Storm Breaker, level 26 (rare one-handed sword, bound weapon)
Physical damage 104
Attack speed 3
Cannot be destroyed
Bound to Storm Wind
Dexterity +3
Parry skill +2
Overlimit: Release the weapon's hidden power that adds an additional 150% damage as chaos damage, increases weapon range by 2 feet, and decreases the target's defense by 65%. Duration 85 seconds. Cooldown 8 hours
Amazing! Jack thought. His weapon's damage now had reached three digits. This would boost his damage further.
Since he could just equip until level 26, might as well not waste the current workshop entry and upgrade all his current equipped gears to level 26. But since his supply of ores was limited, he prioritized the rare Blood Guard Scale Armor and Shadow Bear Tasset.
The Blood Guard Scale Armor was already level 25, so he just needed to level it one more level. While the Shadow Bear Tasset was level 21. He failed thrice in the process, spending 16 iron ores and 8 steel ores. Before he ran out of his iron ores, he managed to upgrade Blood Guard Scale Armor to level 26 and his Shadow Bear Tasset to level 25.
Coming out from the Blacksmith Workshop, he continued with his original intention of going to the Adventurers Association. He went directly to the Silver Hall after entering the association building. He observed the list of quests on the notice board. Most were rank C and B quests.
With his prowess, he should have no problem in tackling any rank C quest. But for rank B, he might need to choose the ones that were meant for a solo player, as rank B quests had suggestions for adventurers mostly at level 25 or above. A solo player quest typically had lower difficulty than one that required a party, he would also have more freedom in utilizing his second class' skills in a solo quest.
He continued to browse through the quests. He would prefer a quest that took him outside the city, so he could try to complete his hunting quests at the same time. There were some quests like that, but he kept on reading the entire quest list out of curiosity.
While he continued reading, one quest stole his attention.
Investigate a Duke's missing painting
Difficulty: ??? (recommended: ???)
Rewards: 80 silver coins, 5000 Experience points, 45 Adventurer Points (subject to change)
Another mysterious quest?
"Don't tell me you are going to take that mysterious quest?" Peniel asked after sensing his interest in that quest.
"Why not?" Jack asked back.
"Didn't you already learn from last time how unpredictable this kind of quests is? It could be too dangerous for your level."
"But I ended up all right, didn't I? And also, there is a chance that it will end up easier than expected, ain't it? If the difficulty turns out to be lower, will the reward get adjusted to less as well?"
"No, the reward will only be adjusted if it is higher. If the quest ends up having lower difficulty, then you will still get the amount indicated originally. So in other words, the listed reward will be the minimum you will receive if you take on this quest."
"Now ain't that sweet? Look at the quest's title, it is to investigate a painting, how dangerous could it be. I don't even have to go out from the city."
"I thought you want quests that take you outside the city, so you can work on the hunting quests at the same time?"
"Yeah, but look at this quest title. It's from a Duke. Doesn't that mean we get to enter the Noble District if we take this quest?"
"You are interested in the Noble District?"
"I'm interested to have a look, before other outworlders like me get access to it."
"Fine, do whatever you like."
After making up his mind, he went up to the counter to accept the quest. He took a look at the quest description afterward.
Investigate a Duke's missing painting
Difficulty: ??? (recommended: ???)
Rewards: 80 silver coins, 5000 Experience points, 45 Adventurer Points (subject to change)
Go to the Noble district. Report to Duke Alfredo's manor.
Time limit: 3 days
He had guessed correctly, he did get access to the Noble District for this quest. Without further ado, he departed to said District. When he arrived at the gateway into the noble district, he was stopped by the two guards guarding the gateway.
Jack explained about his purpose of visit and showed them his silver Adventurer Badge, which the guard inspected. The quest had been recorded inside the badge so the guards could verify his statement by checking out his Adventurer Badge.
After making sure Jack was telling the truth, the guards gave him back his badge and moved aside to let him pass. Jack went in and came out to a gorgeous landscape, filled with lavish gardens and imposing estates. The gardens were filled with flowers of multitude color, their sweet fragrance filled the air. There was also an extravagant waterway that went around the neighborhood, the sound of water flowing soothed the scant pedestrians garbed in fancy and expensive clothing.
Jack observed his surroundings. There was no indication about where the manor of Duke Alfredo was, so he approached a couple of the nobles in the fancy clothing to ask for a direction.
"Excuse me, may I know where I can find Duke Alfredo?" He asked politely.
The noble couple just took a short glance at Jack before snorting disdainfully and walked away.
What the… Did the NPC nobles here have to act like those pompous rich jackasses in real-life? He complained in his mind.
He looked around, there was a guard who stood in attention not far from where he was. He went and hoped the guard would act differently from those nobles.
He made the same inquiry as he had given before to the noble couple. The guard looked sternly at Jack and asked, "what is your business with Duke Alfredo?"
Jack presented his Adventurer Badge and explained as he had done to the guards at the gateway. The guard made the same inspection, not long after, he told Jack the direction. Jack followed the instruction, the location of the Duke's manor was actually pretty far. He saw some horse carriages occasionally, but he doubted those were for public transportation.
After traveling for more than half an hour, he came up to a gated estate. The weird thing was, he could see some runic light along the walls encircling the whole estate.
"What is that?" Jack asked Peniel who was flying freely by his side.
"It's a rune diagram," she answered.
"What's it for?"
"For many applications. Different rune diagrams provide different functions. They were large collections of magic runes arranged in a systematic position to produce an effect. Mostly only big factions possessed knowledge of them and the resources required to construct them. This one here looks like it functions as a barrier that prevents travel."
Listening to Peniel's explanation, Jack couldn't help but clicked his tongue, "nobles are indeed different, even their lands are protected by magic."
"Actually, I doubt this is standard. Something unusual is likely going on inside," Peniel said. "A magic formation requires a large amount of energy to operate. Even a noble cannot afford to activate them indefinitely, especially one of this size. Furthermore, there is no need for a barrier magic formation here since the neighborhood is safe enough."
Jack looked to the other estates. Peniel was right, he didn't see such rune diagram on the other estates, nor did he notice any of it when he was on his way here. Could this be related to the quest he was on?
Mulling over it won't solve anything, so he just came to the gate. There was another guard stationed there. He made the same explanation and went through the same procedure as before. He was getting tired of these repeated procedures.
After the guard verified his words, he was let through the gate. The guard made some complicated hand movements, a ripple appeared at the rune diagram covering the entrance gate, and then it ripped open creating a hole large enough to cover the gate. Jack was instructed to go through that hole. Looked like it was set so that people can only enter and exit from here, even with the right clearance.
When he passed through, he saw a squad of ten armored guards stood near the entrance gate. One of them came near and asked, "I am Captain Salem, are you the adventurer who comes to help solve the Duke's problem?"
"Um, if by problem you mean the missing painting, then yes…," Jack answered uncertainly. Wasn't this a bit too exaggerated for a missing painting?
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