Evan departed straight from Talin and headed toward Valles.
Alan and the others followed behind on horseback, escorting the carriage.
Since Evan was using the carriage alone, there was something he could do only at this moment.
He opened his inventory and used a Soul Stone.
There were still quests left to complete.
‘And my level has increased quite a bit.’
Thanks to dealing with the Monster Legion, it seemed possible to unlock the next stage of the shop.
‘Level is 98. If I get the quest rewards as experience, I should be able to reach level 100 easily.’
Moments later, Evan’s entire body was enveloped in a glow.
At the same time, the scenery before his eyes shifted, and he was transported to the Celestial Realm where the Mediator resided.
The Mediator was standing at the castle entrance.
Evan approached the Mediator.
“Already completed the quest? That was faster than I expected.”
The Mediator began to process the quest completion.
At that moment, Evan asked the Mediator, “Wait, I have a question.”
The Mediator stopped and looked at Evan.
Evan carefully considered how to phrase his question so that the Mediator could answer as fully as possible.
‘I’m not sure if this guy will even respond, though.’
But this was a matter he had to address.
“I want to ask about the system first. You should have an obligation to answer this.”
“…That’s for me to decide.”
Evan nodded and continued, “Recently, I found a certain hidden piece in some ruins. But the system arbitrarily blocked it, saying it would affect the main quest. If that were true, it could have been a huge problem. Why didn’t you warn me in advance?”
He figured the Mediator would just brush it off without any explanation.
But it was completely the opposite.
At that moment, the Mediator’s brow furrowed.
Catching that, Evan looked at him with surprise.
‘…What’s this?’
A look he had never seen before.
An expression devoid of emotion up until now.
This time, it seemed disturbed.
***
After a moment, the Mediator smiled and replied, “Haha, is that so?”
Though it was a smile, strong murderous intent could be felt from his expression.
This was the first time Evan had ever seen the Mediator react like this.
‘What could have provoked such a response?’
‘Because it affected the main quest? Looks like even he didn’t expect that.’
That the Mediator couldn’t predict this variable was a shocking discovery for Evan.
And it wasn’t good news.
If the Mediator can’t grasp this variable, it could be a huge threat to Evan as well.
The Mediator slowly spoke.
“I don’t really know either. If you find the cause, tell me. The reward will be generous.”
“…What?”
Though he had just shown murderous intent and acted like he knew, the answer that followed was that he didn’t.
Evan frowned and glared at him.
“Seems like you know something but are hiding it? Or do you really not know?”
“Technically, both. That knowledge is beyond what you can handle right now.”
The Mediator evaded the question and held back.
‘So the conclusion is I have to find out on my own.’
Evan wanted to press further, but since he had more questions, he decided not to provoke the Mediator.
“Then, are there other Mediators responsible for the current world?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“If it’s about a previous world, it doesn’t matter, but here, the influence of beings called ‘gods’ is strong. They actually intervene in the world through oracles, which seems strange. Isn’t there another Mediator?”
“I’m the only Mediator for this jurisdiction. Don’t bother with useless things like that, just focus on progressing your quests.”
The Mediator frowned again as if annoyed.
From his firm attitude, it was clear there were no other Mediators.
Dismissively calling the oracles useless made it certain they had nothing to do with the Mediators.
“That’s enough. Give me my quest rewards.”
With no more information to gain, Evan demanded his rewards.
The Mediator gestured lightly.
[Hidden Quest ‘Suspicious Ruins’ completed.]
[Branch Quest ‘Investigation of Talin’ completed].
[Main Quest ‘Kerthen County Crisis II’ completed.]
[Advanced Chest has been added to your inventory.]
With the quests completed, various rewards were granted.
At the same time, a huge amount of experience poured in and Evan’s level rose.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 100!]
[Shop Level 5 has been unlocked.]
Evan first opened his inventory and examined the items received as quest rewards.
There were skillbooks and an advanced chest, things that could only be confirmed by direct inspection.
He picked up a skillbook and checked its details.
[Grade: B]
[Type: Consumable]
[Effect: Grants a random skill upon use.]
[Note: A skillbook designed so anyone can learn the skill.]
‘A random skillbook, huh?’
It was basically leaving it up to luck.
Evan used the skillbook without hesitation.
Pa-bat!
The skillbook flowed into Evan’s body.
[You have acquired the ‘Marksman’ skill.]
Evan had never seen this skill before.
It seemed related to archery somehow.
He checked the detailed skill information.
[Type: Active]
[Mana Cost: 3,000]
[Cooldown: 10 seconds]
[Effect: Grants 100% accuracy for ranged attacks on targets within sight.]
From a sword user’s perspective, it didn’t seem very helpful.
It wasn’t impossible to use, but it was a bit disappointing.
‘It’s definitely a good skill, but it’s meant for bows or magic… Wait a second?’
But Evan shook his head soon after, focusing on the ‘ranged attack’ part.
‘Ranged attacks don’t necessarily mean you have to use bows or magic.’
There were times he used a bow, but there were certainly ways to perform ranged attacks with a sword.
A smile spread across Evan’s lips.
‘It’s usable in its own way.’
In battle, you never know what unexpected situations might arise.
This would be good for improvisation in such moments.
‘I’ll have to test it out separately.’
Next, Evan opened the advanced chest from his inventory.
Advanced chests generally contain guaranteed S-rank items suited to the user’s level.
‘To think I’d get this as a reward.’
Evan opened the chest and slowly examined its contents.
A sleek leather outfit caught his eye.
‘Clothes?’
Looking more closely, there were gloves, boots, and pants along with the leather armor.
Evan first took out the armor.
[Grade: S]
[Type: Armor]
[Defense: 700]
[Durability: 550/550]
[Level Requirement: 95 or higher]
[Set Effect (when full Drakan Set is worn): When HP falls below 10%, HP does not decrease for 10 seconds. Additionally, all damage is reduced by 80% for 10 minutes.]
[Note: Made from Drakan leather, it is light, boasts excellent durability, and offers outstanding defense.]
Though it looked like clothing, it was actually a full armor set.
The set effect was quite significant.
The activation condition triggered when HP dropped to 10%.
‘So it means I absolutely can’t die for 10 seconds? Plus a damage reduction buff?’
The defense was on par with top-tier armor.
It was a set item worthy of the level 100 range.
Satisfied, Evan took out the entire Drakan Leather Set from the chest and equipped it.
Then, something hidden at the very bottom of the chest was revealed.
‘What’s this?’
It looked like a small jewel box.
Evan carefully took it out and opened it.
Inside was a golden-hued crystal.
[Grade: S]
[Type: Jewel]
[Cooldown: 300 days]
[Effect: Allows you to change an item’s attribute.]
[Note: A jewel that does not exist in this world. Contains the power of oblivion.]
Evan stared at it with a puzzled expression.
‘What is this?’
It said it could change item attributes, but he couldn’t grasp what that meant.
The cooldown was extremely long, making it difficult to use.
‘I guess I’ll have to try it out later.’
Evan placed the Jewel of Oblivion back into his inventory.
With all rewards sorted,
‘Finally…’
He opened the newly unlocked Shop Level 5 window.
[Purchased Evasion Skillbook.]
[9,200,000 Merit Points spent.]
[Purchased Leap Skillbook.]
[12,200,000 Merit Points spent.]
He bought two skills necessary for combat.
With everything done, Evan spoke to the Mediator again.
“What’s the next quest?”
As if waiting for this, the Mediator immediately displayed the quest list.
[Searching for quests.]
[Other quests cannot be progressed due to the main quest.]
[The main quest will proceed immediately.]
<County Crisis II>
[Description: You discovered clues about the Nervan Cult and successfully thwarted their plan. However, suspicious signs have appeared in Valles. Eliminate the remaining Nervan Cultists and stop their plans.]
[Type: Main Quest]
[Difficulty: B]
[Objective: Defeat Nervan Cultists 0/3]
[Recommended Level: 120]
[Recommended Players: Solo]
[Reward: Large Experience]
*Upon completion, the next quest will proceed immediately.
Everything was focused on the main quest.
As a result, other quests could not be progressed.
‘Is it about to start?’
This kind of situation happened often.
When the main quest took priority, it was emphasized as the highest priority.
Especially for quests that would impact the entire continent.
There were definitely signs that something was about to happen.
In these cases, upon clearing the quest, the quest updates right then and there without needing to visit the Mediator.
‘Looks like I won’t be able to come back to the Celestial Realm for a while.’
Evan accepted the main quest.
***
Several days had passed since Evan set out for Valles.
He was almost there.
‘I hope nothing goes wrong.’
The Nervan Cultists were unpredictable.
Thinking about all the things they had done before, there was no room for error.
‘I heard it used to be a legitimate cult… What happened to turn it into a heresy?’
Evan compiled the information he had gathered from the Archive and what he had heard from the Mediator.
No matter how he thought about it, it was hard to understand how such a vast religion had become a heretical cult.
‘Those gods who grant oracles… I need to look deeper into history. I should visit the library as well.’
Besides that, he had to meet Darwen and get information from Hilton about the Nervan Cult.
Once he arrived in Valles, he’d have to go everywhere and wouldn’t have a moment to rest.
“M-Master! You need to look outside for a moment!”
At that moment, Alan’s voice came from outside the carriage, sounding flustered.
Evan opened the carriage window and asked Alan,
“What’s going on? Why the commotion?”
“Look over there!”
Alan pointed ahead.
Evan’s gaze shifted to where Alan was indicating.
Valles was visible in the distance.
The problem was that thick black smoke was rising from all over Valles.
“…Damn it.”
Evan frowned.
“Speed up! Hurry and get there!”