Chương 87: Silver-Rank Adventurers

Marcus stepped forward. Ignoring the disgusting stench, he used his battle knife to cut open the Earth Lizard's abdomen. After searching around with the tip of his blade, he quickly found the earthy-yellow Magic Core. Because Earth Lizards rarely bothered chewing their food before swallowing, Marcus inevitably caught sight of some half-digested chunks of humanoid flesh scattered inside its stomach... He didn't even know what words could properly describe the sight. In short— It was absolutely revolting.

"This fight was basically won by you two," Marcus said.

"The bounty and the Magic Core reward should be split between you and Vaelis."

"That won't do." Zeliel waved his hand.

"After all, I came here with you guys. Without your help, I wouldn't have dared hunt an Earth Lizard alone." He thought for a moment before continuing.

"You three can each take ten percent."

"Zeliel really is the best." Grey immediately grinned from ear to ear.

"I'll take ten percent as well. The rest goes to you." Vaelis spoke calmly.

"Alright." Zeliel didn't argue and simply accepted Vaelis' suggestion.... The group returned to Blackstone Town as dusk approached. Adventurer Association. Marcus walked up to the counter and placed two bags of quest proof on the table.

"Quest completion report. These are the Magic Cores from the Treant extermination request, along with one Earth Lizard Magic Core."

"An Earth Lizard?" Ella blinked in surprise.

"Mr. Marcus, your team didn't actually accept an Earth Lizard extermination request, did you? You're only submitting it for recovery?" Before Marcus could explain, Kaden stepped forward. He told Ella about what had happened to his teammates, and how Marcus' party had killed the Earth Lizard. When Ella heard that the Earth Lizard had been cut in half by a single Severing Water spell from Zeliel, she quietly glanced toward him. He's really... that powerful? Then Ella's expression softened with sympathy.

"I see. Understood." She looked at Kaden.

"Mr. Kaden, please accept my condolences... In that case, this can indeed be counted as a completed request by Marcus' team." Ella began sorting through the loot and handling the paperwork for the rewards. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Not long after, the results were finalized.

"Sixteen Treant Minions. Each one rewards twenty silver coins, for a total of three gold and twenty silver."

"Sixteen Treant Minion Magic Cores. Each one is worth ten silver coins, totaling one gold and sixty silver."

"One Treant Lord. The bounty reward is six gold coins, and the Magic Core is worth eight gold coins."

"The Treant extermination request gives a total reward of eighteen gold and eighty silver."

"The Earth Lizard bounty reward is seven gold coins, and its Magic Core is worth five gold coins."

"Therefore, Marcus' team has earned a total of thirty gold and eighty silver coins this time." The reward given to Zeliel alone amounted to fourteen gold and seventy-two silver coins. His total wealth had now reached fifty-five gold coins. After everything was settled, Ella spoke again.

"Also, congratulations, Mr. Marcus and Mr. Vaelis."

"You have officially advanced to Silver-Rank Adventurers!"

"Silver-Rank Adventurers?" Zeliel looked surprised. If he remembered correctly, Vaelis had explained this before. An iron badge was obtained when registering as an adventurer. After completing ten ordinary requests, an adventurer could advance to Bronze Rank. A Bronze-Rank Adventurer then needed to complete another ten Lower-Tier requests before becoming Silver Rank.

"That's right." Ella nodded confidently.

"Mr. Marcus and Mr. Vaelis already had several completed Lower-Tier requests recorded before joining this team."

"Furthermore, ever since you joined their party, the completion efficiency has become incredibly high. Every single request has had a 100% success rate, so the required number of completions accumulated very quickly." Ella counted on her fingers as she explained.

"First was the Wild Wolf extermination request. Although it was only an ordinary request, you encountered and killed a juvenile Mistwraith on your way back."

"After reviewing the details, the association upgraded that request's rating from Ordinary to Lower-Tier."

"Then there was the Slime request. You also killed a Giant Slime rated as [Hard], so that request was later classified as Lower-Tier as well."

"After that came the Giant Wing Bat request, the Goblin settlement revenge request, the cemetery Skeleton cleanup, and the Kobold extermination request."

"Adding today's Treant Lord request and Earth Lizard request..."

"All of these were genuine Lower-Tier requests, so Mr. Marcus and Mr. Vaelis have successfully advanced!"

"So... if that's the case..." Zeliel pointed at himself.

"Have I completed eight Lower-Tier requests too?"

"Yes!" Ella smiled brightly.

"As long as your next two requests are both Lower-Tier requests, you can skip Bronze Rank entirely and directly advance to Silver Rank!"

"Honestly, for a newly registered adventurer to participate in defeating [Hard]-rated monsters on every single request..."

"That's an extremely impressive achievement."

"Oh..." Zeliel nodded thoughtfully. After hearing Ella's summary, he suddenly realized something. Without noticing, he had already accomplished so much. A sense of pride quietly rose in his chest. Could I actually achieve the fastest Silver-Rank advancement record? Marcus, however, didn't feel particularly excited. Without Zeliel and Vaelis in the team, he would never have been able to complete Lower-Tier requests with such efficiency. Strength was everything.

Even if someone obtained Silver-Rank certification without the ability to back it up, it wouldn't mean much. Once he started operating alone again, he would still have to take ordinary requests when necessary.

"Wait, why haven't you advanced?" Zeliel suddenly turned toward Grey.

"Don't tell me you haven't even completed three Lower-Tier requests before?"

"W-What's that supposed to mean?!" Grey glared.

"Can't a man just take it easy and enjoy retirement? Ordinary requests are difficult too, you know."

"You're way too lazy." Zeliel laughed.

"Mr. Grey has only participated in one Lower-Tier request involving the killing of Giant Wing Bats," Ella added at the perfect moment, exposing him without hesitation.

"Other than that, he has no completed Lower-Tier requests recorded." Grey's old face instantly turned red.

"Are there any benefits to becoming a Silver-Rank Adventurer?" Zeliel asked.

"Of course." Ella pointed toward the independent passage on the right side of the hall that Grey had mentioned before.

"After becoming a Silver-Rank Adventurer, you can enter that area and accept higher-difficulty, higher-reward Mid-Tier requests."

"However, Mid-Tier requests usually involve many troublesome [Hard]-rated monsters. Even [Challenge]-rated monsters may appear, so please be careful."

"Additionally, Silver-Rank Adventurers receive higher prices when selling monster materials."

"The internal section of the Association's shop will also become available. There are more types of equipment and items inside, and their quality is much better." Zeliel followed Ella's gesture and looked over. Sure enough, there was another corridor on the left side of the hall leading somewhere else. Standing on his tiptoes, he could just barely see rows of shelves filled with various goods. The area was bustling with people coming and going.

However, Zeliel had always focused on the Mage Guild's trading facilities, so he had never paid much attention to the Adventurer Association's shop. Still... He could probably take a look there when he had time.