The Adventurer's Mission Log

Chapter 2 Humanity Has Limits

Ternor observed the water's surface as he pondered—

If the intention was simply to collect money from the water ghost's corpse, with so many people lurking around, they could just turn back and go home.

But Tenor was going to finish them off, while these people planned to kill and rob others after they had succeeded.

The task panel's settlement is separate from the port authority's commissions, and no one knows that he has an extra way to obtain rewards.

He can lure out and weaken the water ghosts with the first wave of troops, finish them off, and then ignore the loot, escape to a quiet place to collect the awakening potion and become a superhuman.

If they want to line their own pockets, they only need to turn back and use their professional skills to seize the spoils.

He has a crossbow, and this position is suitable for a sneak attack. If you seize the opportunity, it shouldn't be difficult to get a kill.

After all, no one else was going to fight him for the last hit; people were fighting over the water ghost's corpse so they could claim their reward from the port authority. Who cared who killed the water ghost?

Tenor applied the "blessed" olive oil he bought from the church to the tips of the arrows. Although he suspected that this so-called holy oil was just a ploy by the priests to make money, at least it gave him some psychological comfort.

And it really is oil.

Then all you need to do is ignite it with a flint and steel, and the crossbow will fire a fire arrow.

The water ghost has skin of copper and bones of iron, but it is afraid of fire. Once the water ghost is worn down by the mercenaries, he can complete the mission with a single arrow.

After doing all that, he patiently waited for the water ghost to appear.

As night fell, numerous small stone towers and makeshift braziers along the riverbank provided basic lighting, while the wind carried the scent and chill from the opposite bank, signaling the time when monsters were active.

No one would be foolish enough to stay on the shore; even the most reckless mercenaries were hiding behind cover, ready for battle.

One minute...one hour...time slowly passed, and as Tenor drifted off to sleep, he vaguely realized that something was wrong.

It's too quiet.

Earlier, there was the hushed noise of mercenaries' suppressed discussions and the faint voices from the inn in the distance, but from a certain moment on, not only were there no voices, but even the music from the choir of the Laghetti Cathedral disappeared.

The surging waves of the Liujin River, where the friction between water and stone never ceases at the port, have now stopped.

"A monster has appeared?" Tenor mustered his strength, but there was nothing on the shore except for the waves crashing against the shore. Strangely, he couldn't hear the sound of water.

Was this an anomaly that occurred before the water ghost appeared?

Tenor glanced quietly at the group of mercenaries behind the wooden crates in the open space ahead, but they remained motionless, lying in wait, as quiet as if they were dead, as if they hadn't noticed anything unusual, or perhaps Tenor was overreacting—this was normal.

A short, sharp scream from the breakwater broke Tenor's hesitation.

"Demon!" The piercing cry filled with fear abruptly ceased, leaving all those still alive feeling as if they had fallen into an abyss of cold.

It turns out that those guys who suddenly became as quiet as death were indeed dead, dead without a sound.

Tenor knew that demons were immortal beings of Hell, and they could only appear in the material world through summoning, possession, or magical tides caused by large-scale spellcasting by mages. Killing them in the material world would only banish them back to Hell.

Ordinary professionals face a near-certain death when encountering demons. Even among the mercenaries present, there were extraordinary individuals who would perish in the previous attack due to the enemy's cover being obscured.

He then recalled Gaius's mention of "demons," noting that the nights had been unsettling lately, with heretics frequently appearing.

Perhaps the water ghosts in the harbor are related to the secret cult, and were probably set up by some demon sorcerer, but we don't know what their purpose was.

While he was still in shock and doubt, a commotion came from the rooftop ten meters to his left. Tenor glanced over and saw three mercenaries who had heard screams and were trying to escape in a panic.

In the darkness of their escape route, a pair of eerie purple eyes flashed by.

The mercenaries suddenly froze in place, as if in a daze, and then walked blankly into the darkness. As soon as their bodies disappeared into the darkness, only deathly silence remained.

Cold sweat soaked through Ternor's robe. Seeing the group's predicament, he abandoned any thought of acting rashly, his mind racing—

Abandon the mission, stop thinking about killing the water ghosts and collecting potions, and run away?

But he certainly couldn't outrun the demon, and acting rashly would only expose himself.

Fight? This demon kills people like stepping on an ant!

The only option is to hide.

He lay quietly behind the low wall of the flat-roofed house, as steady as an old dog.

Since the demon didn't drag him out directly, it means that the demon's actions or perception are limited, and it can't even see Tenor, who is ten meters away.

As long as you don't die, you won't die.

After a while, nothing more happened; perhaps the demon had already left.

Tenor remained still. If any mercenaries were still alive, it would be safer to let them react first—if anything went wrong, at least he wouldn't be the one to die.

At worst, he can stay in bed until dawn; it's better than losing his life.

Sure enough, the devil was lying in wait.

As a group of people poured out of the warehouse's colonnade, they suddenly seemed possessed, heading towards the corner and disappearing into the shadows.

After a long silence, the sound of the surging waves and wind of the Golden River reappeared, and Tenor remained huddled in his bunker.

He was certain the demon was gone only when another group of mercenaries emerged trembling from the docked cargo ship, and unlike the previous mercenaries, they did not die tragically for no reason.

...Maybe.

Just then, bubbles began to rise from the water, and a swollen, dark shape surfaced.

A water ghost appeared.

After what seemed like a devil's interruption, everything returned to the original plan.

He quietly aimed at the water ghost, coldly watching as the mercenaries used spears, raw meat, and torches to lure it ashore while fighting and retreating.

It was a body that had been soaked to the point of being unrecognizable, but when the knife struck it, it only made a crisp "clang" sound, and even the combined efforts of the four spearmen could not stop it from moving.

In the end, they managed to cut off its escape route with kerosene, and someone successfully poured the oil on the water ghost.

Seeing that the mercenaries were pouring another bucket of oil, intending to close the fire ring and burn the water ghost to death, Tenor used a flint and steel to ignite the arrows and pulled the trigger.

The sound of the fire was not obvious, but the twang of the bowstring startled the mercenaries, and two swordsmen immediately came over with their shields raised.

As Tenor turned to retreat, he caught a glimpse of an arrow striking a water ghost, igniting the oil on its body and instantly turning it into a fireball. He then focused intently on the mission panel.

[Mission: Eliminate the water monsters in the port of Lagetia]

[Reward: Awakening Potion]

Status: Completed

Finally! The gangsters' debt collection is no longer a problem.

The port's civilian district has an extremely high building density and very small spacing, so Tenor was able to move freely on the rooftops. By the time the two swordsmen reached their previous positions, Tenor had already disappeared.

Everything was going according to plan. Tenor took refuge in the side of a nearby shed and chose to complete the mission.

Suddenly, the surrounding noise disappeared, and this terrifying silence was clearly a sign that the demon had reappeared.

Did the demon notice the water ghost's death? In any case, times have changed!

A bottle of pale green potion appeared in Tenor's hand, and he drank it down without any hesitation.

Drinking the Awakening Potion will allow you to skip the apprenticeship stage and become a full-fledged professional directly. Once you become half-human, you will have a chance to escape from the demons!

It was cool to the touch, but the taste was indescribable. Then came a burning pain, and his internal organs churned as if he had just swallowed several live snakes.

The clothes creaked under the strain, as if they were about to burst.

With no time to worry about being exposed, the strange sensation inside her body made Tenor curl up in an attempt to relieve the pain, but her eyes caught sight of a different texture in the shadows, and her intuition told her that there was something there.

A strange urge to kill was aroused, and his body demanded that he fight that thing immediately and destroy that blasphemous creature, but his thoughts overwhelmed his instincts.

Ignoring the pain from the awakening potion's body-modifying effects, he got up to escape, only to hear a loud bang as his violent movement accidentally knocked down the wooden wall of the shed.

Perhaps due to the effects of the drug, he was frighteningly rational; any initial surprise was quickly suppressed by his cold will.

A faint musky scent wafted into Ternor's nostrils, and his subconscious told him not to inhale the gas.

He held his breath, trying to run to the next room, and found his movements slightly sluggish, but he could burst into a speed far greater than before.

The next moment, he darted out like a crocodile pouncing on its prey.

He heard the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air behind him, and it struck him hard in the back.

"Clang!" It was a metallic clanging sound. Tenor felt as if he had been slapped hard, not struck by a sharp weapon.

When he landed on the opposite rooftop, the impact was as heavy as a lead ball hitting the ground, and the house groaned under the weight.