Astral Online: Cursed by the Demon Lord to Become the Strongest Beautiful Girl, I Rapidly Grow and Dominate with Cheat Skills Despite Being the Weakest Profession - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Unique Quest
Unique Quest
According to the support system, it seems that this is a ?Limited Quest? given to players upon clearing certain conditions.
The higher the difficulty, the more experience points you receive from the start, and if you complete it, you can obtain rare items as well.
If you press ?NO?, the quest will disappear at that point.
In this situation, the support system kindly explained to me, the ignorant one, that if we leave the forest with Aria, the path to the next map will be opened.
So, whether to proceed or to take a detour to obtain rare items.
There’s no need to even choose.
“Do you want to start the quest?”
?YES/NO?
In response to this question, Sora immediately chose ?YES?, and the quest was accepted.
A gamer would definitely choose the more interesting option!
…Plus, I want rare items too.
Then, due to the immense experience points gained, my level jumped from ?18? to ?22?.
How much experience did I gain?
As I wondered, I heard the familiar cool female voice.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
Your proficiency with the one-handed sword has increased from ?22? to ?28?.
Your strength has increased from ?18? to ?22?.
You have acquired the attack skill ?Guard Break II?.
You have acquired the attack skill ?Dual Nail II?.
You have acquired the defensive skill ?Sword Guard II?.
You have acquired the attack skill ?Quad Slash?.
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
Wow, I’ve even gotten the four-hit skill!
And on top of that, ?Quad Slash?—the name is just too cool.
Feeling impressed, I allocated all skill points to ?Enchanter? and raised the level to ?22?.
Then, with the level ?20? bonus, I acquired the following new skills:
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
Support Skill ?Speed Increase Enhancement?
Support Skill ?Enchantment Magic Reduction?
—– —– —– —– —– —– —– —–
…Hmm, what are these?
Upon checking, ?Speed Increase Enhancement? literally increases foot speed, while ?Enchantment Magic Reduction? reduces the MP cost of all used enchantment skills by 10.
Hmm, excellent!
The speed increase is great, but the reduction in MP consumption is even better.
This makes using enchantment skills significantly easier.
Could it be that ?Enchanter? is a late-blooming profession?
If I keep developing it this way, I might truly aim to be the strongest among all professions.
I recalled the other players who had been surprised when they mentioned the “least popular profession” and how I was determined to prove them wrong.
Heh, hehehe… I’ll overturn all of that by reaching even greater heights in enchantment magic!
As I burned with enthusiasm, thinking of what Shiori would say if she were here, I noticed Aria smiling and watching me.
“Is there something on my face?”
“No, I just thought you looked like a cheerful……young person.”
Did she almost say “child” just now?
‘Maybe it’s just my imagination,’ Sora muttered to herself, her voice trembling as she hesitantly asked.
“……Did I, by any chance, say that out loud?”
“Yes, I couldn’t be sure, but Sora-sama wishes to prove something to someone?”
“Wait, did you hear all of that!?”
Darn it, how could I be so foolish?
Getting so excited about the skills I acquired that I spoke out loud—it’s so immature.
If Shin and Rou were here, they’d probably have smirked and said things like “You had such a silly expression” or “Sora is so entertaining to watch.”
Embarrassed and blushing furiously, Aria chuckled softly.
…Wait, she’s an NPC, right?
I had felt the same way with Verdandi and the gatekeeper soldiers at the temple—this game’s NPCs have such human-like reactions.
In most games I’ve played, NPCs are either mechanical or can only respond in predetermined ways. So the high quality of this game’s NPCs really surprises me.
For instance, in most games, NPCs only laugh when the player performs a specific action.
But right now, Aria was smiling subtly at my flushed face.
Was this something NPCs are capable of?
Perhaps it’s possible if they try, but it really felt like she was reacting to my appearance and changes in expression.
Just like a normal person would.
As I pondered this, Aria took my right hand happily and said:
“The wind spirits that guard this forest will only open the path to the village for those they acknowledge, so please hold onto my hand and follow me.”
“Got it. By the way, what happens if I let go?”
“At that point, you would be attacked by the golems guarding the village, so you must not let go of my hand under any circumstances.”
“Oh, so there are golems.”
Golems, huh? They might drop ore or something, so I feel a bit of an impulse to fight them.
Noticing my reaction, Aria looked a bit exasperated and came to give me a warning.
“Sora-sama, you’re very strong, but please do not attempt to fight. The golems are level 100, so you absolutely cannot win.”
“H-Hundred…!?”
“Moreover, golems are adept at wide-area attacks, and even if 100 skeleton soldiers were to charge at once, they would be obliterated in an instant.”
“Golems have wide-area attacks…”
That’s definitely impossible.
In terms of levels, they’re over four times stronger than me.
If they were slow, I might be able to use hit-and-run tactics, but if what Aria says is true, I’d be turned to ashes by a wide-area attack the moment I’m detected.
Moreover, having level 100 golems to protect a single village seems like overkill.
It’s like deploying giant humanoid robots to defend a single city.
As I thought about this, Aria led me by the hand, and after a while, a gate-like structure came into view.
“The village is surrounded by walls, and the only entrance is through that gate.”
“Hmm, it’s not a wooden fence. It seems quite solid.”
As usual, I activated my ?Insight? Skill.
From the information I could gather, the wall appears to be a special construction made with “ancient magic,” capable of reflecting any attack back at the attacker.
Ancient magic, huh? That sounds pretty cool.
Additionally, the wall is made with a mixture of adamantite powder, making its defense and durability an astonishing ?S?.
I believe the walls around the royal capital Yggdrasil had defense and durability rated ?A?.
So the village’s defense is higher than that of a nation.
With level 100 golems stationed here, it’s unlikely anyone would dare to attack such an impregnable fortress.
As I was thinking this, Aria placed her right hand on the firmly closed gate.
“This is Aria. Please open the gate.”
At her command, a magic circle appeared on the gate.
There was a clinking sound, and the heavy left and right doors slowly opened.
Beyond the doors was a simple, classic village with many log cabins.
The residents were all women.
Unlike Aria, they had golden hair and wore minimalistic traditional clothing.
On either side of the gate were armed female soldiers in their late teens, who bowed deeply upon seeing Aria.
“Welcome back, Princess!”
“Princess, is that person…”
“This person is the lifesaver who rescued me from the skeleton soldiers.”
“Oh, they appear to be a fledgling adventurer!?”
“To defeat the sturdy skeleton soldiers with such equipment, they must be a truly brave individual!”
“Please inform the villagers to treat this person with the utmost respect.”
““Understood!””
As Aria led me inside, the gate slowly closed behind us.
Once inside, she released my hand and spread her arms with a beaming smile.
“Welcome to our village today. As the daughter of the ?Fairy King?, I warmly welcome you, Sora-sama.”
“…Fairy King? Could it be that you are—”
“Yes, I am the ‘child born of the Fairy King and the Wind Spirit Queen’.”
“E-Eeeeeeeeeeeee!?”
My heartfelt shout drew the attention of the entire village, and people began to gather, wondering what had happened.