Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

Chapter 145 Misjudgment

Three weeks later, their team's rank was raised to D.

It's quite fast.

Rudius then conducted an investigation and learned that the conditions for upgrading were as follows:

F→E: Complete ten F-level tasks, or achieve five consecutive E-level tasks.

E→D: Complete fifty F-level tasks, or complete twenty-five E-level tasks, or achieve ten consecutive D-level tasks.

Although the number of repetitions increases significantly in later levels, the content remains similar and quite simple.

In addition, consecutive failures will result in demotion. Five consecutive failures in a job at a lower level or ten consecutive failures in a job at the same level will lead to demotion.

While failing to complete tasks at a higher level won't lead to demotion, failing five times in a row will prevent you from accepting tasks at a higher level.

Thanks to Jalil and Weskel (the team that exchanges commissions with them) and the Yue people who help complete F and E level commissions every day, the team is able to climb up easily.

Now that they've been promoted to D rank, it means they can accept missions up to C rank, and it also means they can stop their risky schemes of secretly exchanging commissions.

Although nothing has gone wrong so far, given the obvious hidden dangers and the near loss of profits, it's best to end it as soon as possible.

Moreover, the two young demons who swapped teams with them had also changed significantly during their interactions with Rudy and the others. They had solemnly sworn to Rijerud that they would never do evil again.

The two of them had their own areas of expertise that allowed them to make money, and the reason they went down this wrong path was because of someone's temptation. Now that they have learned their lesson, and with Rudy giving them a share of the earnings, they can live a relatively comfortable life as long as they behave themselves.

Moreover, during this time, through their interactions with Rudeus and the others, their fear of the "noble" warrior Rigellud has turned into reverence. Even if it's just to avoid disappointing their idol, they will no longer commit evil.

The team currently possesses two green ore coins, seven iron coins, fourteen scrap iron coins, and thirty-five stone coins. Converted to stone coins, this amounts to 2875 coins.

Two thousand eight hundred and seventy-five yen... Even if I gave up all my possessions, I couldn't get two Asura copper coins.

Although this is a considerable sum for a small adventurer team, it is still too little. You have to understand that they are currently on the other side of the continent. In this era where transportation is not well developed, it is absolutely impossible to go home with such a small amount of money.

And there was nothing around this town that could make them "get rich quick."

Therefore, Rudeus plans to say goodbye to Jalil and the others and leave the town as soon as he reaches C-rank, and move on to a new direction.

In this state, he discovered the commission.

· Grade: B

• Job: Search for and defeat mysterious monsters • Reward: Five Iron Coins (the reward for defeating a monster is two Iron Coins)

• Job duties: Searching for and defeating monsters • Location: Southern Forest (Petrified Forest)

• Period: Until the end of next month • Deadline: As soon as possible • Client's name: Merchant Belbero • Notes: A restless shadow has been discovered deep in the forest. Adventurers are requested to investigate the shadow's true nature and eliminate any danger posed by this mysterious monster. This is quite a vague request.

Perhaps the monster doesn't exist at all. And even if it does, how can we prove that the monster we found is the one the client was looking for?

However, two iron coins are a very good reward, and even the five scrap iron coins reward for searching are not bad.

Ultimately, Rudius, as the team leader, decided to take on the task, and the others had no objections.

The Petrified Forest.

It takes a whole day to get to the town of Licaris.

It is actually a forest located next to the road, with a large number of trees that look like sharp bones, so it looks like the entire forest has been petrified.

The route through the forest is a quick way to reach the neighboring town; however, it is inhabited by dangerous monsters classified as Rank B, such as the "Almond Python" and the "Executioner," so it is probably only used by traveling merchants who hire multiple powerful guards.

Although every forest in this world is dangerous, without exception, the forests of the Demon Continent are especially dangerous.

However, at this very entrance to the forest, three teams were unusually gathered.

The B-rank team "SuperBlaze" is an all-demon team, led by a pig-headed demon.

The D-rank team "Dokurabu Village Fools Team" is the same group of demon youths they stayed with during their first stay. The boy who tried to build a house on the mountain but was stopped is their captain.

There is another D-rank team called "DeadEnd," which is Rudeus and his team.

Now, the team captains are facing each other.

It is said that this is common sense among adventurers: if you unexpectedly encounter another team at the entrance to a place like a forest, you should basically have a meeting with them first.

"Hey... what's going on with you guys?"

The person who spoke such words with an angry expression right from the start was Blaze, the pig-headed captain of "SuperBlaze".

Their team consisted of six people from various races.

To reach C-rank in the Demon Continent, one must possess the ability to hunt surrounding monsters, so they must all be seasoned veterans whose strength is guaranteed.

"What's going on...? We came here to make a request!"

Kurt, the captain of the "Dokulab Village Fools' Team," replied with an unhappy expression.

"So are we."

Rudius gave the same answer.

Upon hearing the statements of the two D-class captains, Blaze clicked his tongue.

"Is there a booking issue? I have a bad feeling about this..." Blaze scratched his neck in frustration.

"What is 'b...booking'?"

"What?"

Kurt asked the question timidly, but the pig suddenly turned hostile.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Please, kind sir, teach us newbies a thing or two."

Rudius rubbed his hands together in a fawning manner, so Blaze spat on the ground.

"It's a situation where different people make similar requests at the same time, but the guild doesn't manage it well and posts them all out for solicitation."

Oh, I see. Does that mean doublebooking? There are three clients and three cases.

I initially thought these requests would be different, but they're actually the same. It seems like this situation is indeed possible.

Blaze's request: "Defeat the White Fang Serpent that appeared in the Petrified Forest."

Kurt's request: "Retrieve the mysterious egg that has been spotted in the Petrified Forest."

Rudeus's commission: "Search for the mysterious monster."

"So, what should we do in this situation?"

"Nothing to do, first come, first served."

Upon hearing Blaze's words, Kurt immediately exclaimed in surprise, "What! If you defeat the monster first, what about our request?"

"What? You're going to collect the Mysterious Eggs? If we find them first, of course we'll smash them. It would be a real problem if the White Fang Serpent reproduces."

7

'

""

Ultimately, the three teams parted on bad terms because they couldn't reach a good agreement on their interests.

Rudius returned to his teammates.

"What's wrong?"

Alice immediately asked a question, as if she couldn't wait any longer, and Rudius gave a wry smile.

Now she spends every day screaming and fighting monsters, just to find the kind of fighting feeling that Brother Yue Ren showed her. You could only say she's full of energy.

"It seems that the requests from each other have overlapped."

What happens if we repeat? Should we let someone else have it?

"How could that be? Of course, the first to grab it wins."

"Since that's the case, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Alice was full of energy. She seemed to be tired of the recent hunting activities that didn't feel like adventurers, because they were more like "homework". Moreover, this time it was a rare opportunity for everyone to participate, and she had to perform well in front of the Yue people and try to get this "Brother Duobao" to pull out some good stuff if he was in a good mood.

Meanwhile, it seems that Blaze and Kurt have also finished their talks.

After exchanging a few words with his two teammates, Kurt set off into the forest, while the members of "SuperBlaze" also began their journey from different directions.

"As for us... as usual, please trouble Mr. Rigdl to search for the enemy and find that mysterious monster."

Rudius made this proposal, but Rijkaard shook his head.

"etc."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about those three children."

Ah, I forgot he's the kind of person who can't leave children unattended once he sees them.

"With their strength, they can't survive in this forest. Let's go help them."

"However, if we stay together for too long, they'll find out you're really a Speylude."

"It doesn't matter."

"6

""

Seeing that he couldn't persuade him, Rudius sighed.

"Let's compromise and follow them from behind, then help them if things get dangerous."

The group finally nodded, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He saw the approval on Brother Yue's face, which filled him with joy.

I did learn something from Brother Yue, didn't I?

With the help of Rigd's magic eye, the group quickly caught up with the group of teenagers.

Seeing Kurt and his group strut confidently into the depths of the forest, Rajirud frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Is this the first time those little ones have entered the forest?"

"Hmm, I don't know either."

"Too careless."

Rijerud's fears came true; Kurt and his companions failed in their attempt to investigate the monster's movements and ended up encountering the executioner.

The executioner is a humanoid monster whose physical form is a zombie transformed from dead adventurers.

For some reason, this zombie was equipped with a huge sword and heavy full-body armor. Because the armor was so heavy, it wasn't very fast, but it was very tenacious and possessed sword skills.

Despite being a single-unit creature and not particularly large in size, it is a formidable opponent of the B-class.

After you die, the sword and armor will disappear, so you can't exchange them for money... When he saw this, he couldn't help but wonder what an outrageous setting this was. Were the armor and sword created by magic?

However, in any case, young demons who encounter such monsters must immediately flee at all costs, for they are not enemies they can handle.

"Let's make our move now!"

No, not yet.

Rudy stops Rachel Rudd from rushing out.

"Why!"

"It's not a crisis yet."

Although the executioner's speed was quite fast, judging from his armor, he wasn't fast enough to catch up with Kurt and the others who were fleeing at full speed.

The distance between them gradually increased, and just when they were about to completely get rid of each other, Kurt and his companions ran out of luck.

The direction they fled in led to the appearance of the almond python.

Almond pythons are monsters that appear in groups of three to five, and their bodies have almond-like patterns.

It is approximately three meters long, has highly venomous teeth, and is very agile. Because it is difficult to defeat and there are many of them, it is rated B.

They are also formidable opponents.

The rookie demon youth group was caught in the crossfire of these two monsters, who were practically synonymous with the Petrifying Forest and the monsters they least wanted to encounter, and their faces showed an expression of extreme discomfort.

This situation arose because they hadn't considered things thoroughly enough. Since their strength wasn't sufficient to challenge this place, they should have stopped.

"Make your move now!"

'

"no longer...

""

Rudius wanted to stop it; he wanted to create a tense, close-quarters scene.

The more critical the situation, the greater the favor one can do for them.

But before he could finish speaking, the Yue man smacked him on the head.

"Jade Dog"

Almost simultaneously, two large wolves, one black and one white, rushed out, and Rijerud and Alice also made their move in response.

The next moment—

The executioner chasing the bird boy was driven back by the white wolf, while the other black wolf bit the almond python that was attacking from both sides, thus preventing the boy from being trapped in the middle and devoured alive.

Rudius's smile froze, and he realized he had misjudged the situation.

They were already in a critical situation, and the one who truly failed to think things through was him. Fortunately, Brother Yue prevented a tragedy from happening.

The other two also began to fight off other enemies, helping the other two escape.

"A fatal mistake, Rudius. You and Alice are both geniuses," he said, "your strength already surpasses that of many adults, but you haven't realized this. Those teenagers, they haven't reached your expectations yet."

"6

""

So that's how it is? So I and Alice are special; they're very strong.

He subconsciously looked up, a surge of fear rising within him. He was afraid to see the reproachful and angry expression on Yue Ren's face, afraid to disappoint the brother who had helped him from beginning to end. But the next moment, he froze.

The older brother's face didn't show any of the fear he was looking for; all he showed was seriousness.

"Blindly making subjective judgments can be deadly; remember this and don't let it happen again!"

"clear!"

Rudius suddenly felt like he had been saved!

Is this what it feels like to have someone there to back you up, and to not be blamed after making a mistake?

He suddenly felt his body getting very hot, and a strong desire to make amends welled up inside him, making him start to take the situation seriously.

Magic formed in his hands, and he began to officially help his teammates.

Calmly create a soft swamp around the executioner's feet, causing one foot to sink deep into it and fall forward. Then, create a huge rock directly above him and smash it to pieces.

By this time, Rajirud and his companions had also eliminated all the almond pythons.

The crisis is now over.

Afterwards, although Kurt was so frightened that his face turned pale and he kept trembling, he still made sure to thank them sincerely.