Chapter 72: Submitting the Commission

Chapter 72: Chapter 72: Submitting the Commission

’This guy is my ticket... I have to stick close to him!’

"Galen?" Hulk’s voice interrupted his thoughts. "What are you thinking about? Did what I just said give you a more direct sense of the power gap between different Races?"

"Ah... yes, yes," Hesia replied hastily.

Hulk seemed to enjoy sharing his experiences. He continued, "Actually, this also involves the Adventurer Guild’s Attribute calculation system. You know about that system, right?"

Hesia nodded.

"When I was adventuring in the Northern Territory, I had a Dwarf on my team. The Adventurer Guild’s assessment report showed that his ’Strength’ Attribute Points were about the same as mine. But when we actually sparred, his power was clearly a cut above mine. I later found out that the Attribute calculation system was created by human scholars, so it uses humans as the baseline."

"Therefore, when this system is applied to other Races, a ’discrepancy’ occurs. To measure strength more accurately, the Guild internally uses a ’racial coefficient’ for conversion. For example, when evaluating a Dwarf’s Strength Attribute, the value is often multiplied by a coefficient of around 1.2. It’s a similar principle for other Races, just with different coefficients."

Hearing this, Hesia finally understood the world’s Attribute Logic completely!

Attribute Point values were calculated with the "human baseline" as 1.0. Other Races were naturally born with different "base coefficients." And becoming a "Professional" could be seen as gaining a powerful "Profession multiplier" on top of that!

This also made many things clear to him:

First, why the orbs of light in his mind required such vastly different amounts of Decryption Points to extract racial entries!

Humans: 10 Points. Dwarves: 20 Points. Moon-eyed Elves: 200 Points. Earth Bears: 520 Points...

It was a ranking of racial potential.

Of course, the more powerful the Race, the higher the value of its root entry.

Second, the demon named Salamakis was far more calculating than he had ever imagined.

She chose to extract their bloodline on the day the members of the Atmesia Clan came of age, all to reap the maximum benefit.

No, it was more than that...

The change in humans at this stage of life wasn’t significant enough.

But many other Races would undergo their most important awakening at this critical life juncture.

Therefore, she must have signed similar contracts with many Races.

He thought of the demon’s meticulous scheming and her condescending attitude, toying with all living beings.

Revenge?

One day, he would personally drag her down from her throne on whatever plane she resided.

He would drain her of her precious Bloodline Power, just as she had done to others.

Turn her into a cripple.

And before leaving, he would mimic her lazy tone and tell her:

"I’ll be back when I have time..."

’Then, while she’s still processing it, I’ll stab her.’

And then tell her: "What did you expect?"

’That’s how you deal with a demon.’

...

After rushing back, the sky had completely darkened by the time the group returned to Rose Town.

Although the client was Oliver, the village chief of Shixi Village, the official mission submission and reward collection still had to be done back at the Adventurer Guild.

This was the rule. The quest payment was held in escrow by the Guild to protect the interests of both parties, and of course, the Guild’s own interests as well.

They walked through the oak doors of the Adventurer Guild.

Though it was long past dinnertime, the place was still bustling with activity, even more clamorous than during the day.

Long lines had formed in front of both reception counters, mostly filled with Adventurers who had just finished their day’s work and were turning in quests or accepting new ones for the night.

Hulk didn’t get in line. Instead, he walked straight to one of the counters and flashed his gleaming silver Adventurer’s Badge at the busy receptionist.

The young receptionist froze for a moment. Upon seeing the badge’s rank, she immediately turned to the Adventurer she was helping and said apologetically, "Sir, please wait just a moment."

Then, she scurried into a room behind the counter.

A short while later, an older, more capable-looking receptionist emerged with her.

This new receptionist sat down at a relatively separate seat at the side of the oak counter and made a "please" gesture to Hulk.

Only then did Hulk signal for the others to follow.

"Good evening, esteemed Adventurers. I am Kalin, a senior receptionist. It’s a pleasure to serve you."

Her voice was clear, and her every movement conveyed a sense of professionalism.

Unlike officially posted extermination quests that required specific parts of a monster, like ears or tails, as proof of completion,

the quest from Shixi Village was a private commission guaranteed by the Guild. All that was needed was to submit the quest report, signed by the client to confirm its completion.

"Thank you for your hard work on the quest."

Kalin took the quest report and Hulk’s Silver Badge with both hands. She first carefully verified the badge’s authenticity and information before quickly scanning the contents of the report.

After a moment, she looked up and confirmed, "The report states that the number of Thorny Wild Boars you actually encountered and eliminated is... twelve?"

Hulk nodded. "That’s right. There were originally seven occupying the water source at Shixi Village, but during the extermination, another six charged in from nearby and joined the fight. The client confirmed this and noted it on the report with his signature."

"Alright, I understand. I do apologize that you Adventurers encountered unplanned risks during your mission." Kalin’s tone carried a hint of formulaic apology, but she processed everything with extreme speed. "According to the Guild’s ’Unexpected Risk Response Protocol,’ Chapter Three, Article Seventeen, for an increase in combat difficulty due to unforeseen reinforcements of the same type of monster, the reward can be raised at our discretion. This quest’s reward will be increased from the originally agreed-upon 80 Silver Scales to 120 Silver Scales."

As she spoke, she was already making adjustments in a faintly glowing, leather-bound ledger on the desk.

"Since you are a Silver Level Adventurer, Mr. Hulk, the additional compensation can be paid out immediately. However, a Guild Investigator may later visit Shixi Village to verify the situation. I trust you and your team members are aware of this and understand."

Hulk said, "No problem."

"Very well." Kalin’s finger tapped and swiped lightly across the ledger. "Then the reward and mission contribution will be distributed equally among the five members of the Dragon Fang Squad, including yourself, as requested in the report, correct?"

Hulk confirmed again, "Yes."

"Then please wait a moment." Kalin lowered her head, focusing on the distribution process.

Hearing that the reward was finalized at 120 Silver Scales and had been approved, Belte, who was standing to the side, let out a visible sigh of relief. A pleased look appeared on his face as he said to his teammates, "Hey! I can’t believe we actually got extra pay for an unexpected situation like that. I thought we’d worked our butts off for nothing but the original 80 Silver Scales."

Watching Kalin work, Hulk explained in a low voice, "I just tried applying based on the regulations. The line for this kind of extra monster encounter is actually very blurry, and the Guild is always strict with approvals."

"This time it worked mainly because the extra monsters were also Thorny Wild Boars, making the target clear, and the client also vouched for it. If we had run into a completely different type of monster, it would’ve been much harder to get approved."

Hesia understood.

’If a pack of wolves or something else had charged out of the forest, it would have been difficult to prove a direct connection to the ’Boar Clearing’ quest,’ he thought. ’They could have easily been suspected of killing other monsters just to get more pay.’

Soon, the receptionist, Kalin, neatly placed five Money Bags on the counter, each containing 24 Silver Scales.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Hulk turned his head and said to Hesia, "Galen, look, there’s no line right now. Why not get your badge rank updated while you’re at it?"

Hesia nodded, took out the brand-new badge he had received only a few days ago, and handed it over.

’In truth, within the Black Iron Stage, there was no substantial difference in privileges between Black Iron V and Black Iron III. Both could only accept Black Iron-level quests.’

’According to the Guild’s promotion system, only after reaching Black Iron I and accumulating over 50 Silver Scales in rewards would one be eligible to accept official Bronze-level quests from the Guild.’

’Only after completing a Bronze-level quest could one be promoted to Bronze V.’

’But the Guild probably designed such a detailed system to provide a clearer path of progression for New Adventurers. Every time a certain number of quests were completed, their badge rank would increase a little. This kind of immediate "positive feedback" was a better motivator for newcomers to persevere.’

Hesia took the badge engraved with the words "Black Iron III" from Kalin, thinking, ’Even though my privileges haven’t changed, at least I don’t look like a complete rookie anymore.’