Chapter Seventeen: Hunters of Hardship

Congratulations on completing the triggered quest “Bringing Peace to the Children.” Rewards: 10 Mist Points, 100ml of Common Tainted Blood, 10 pieces of Stale Black Bread, and a Stat Title Gift Box.

“Quest rewards have been sent to your Inventory. Please check them.”

Colin immediately poured the 100ml of Common Tainted Blood into the lantern that was nearly dry.

In an instant, the dim light flared up, and the surrounding mist, which had pressed in to within five meters, now rolled back to a ten-meter radius.

Suddenly, his field of vision widened considerably!

“Besides the burn time increasing to three hours, the range of the lantern also changed.”

Colin paused, realizing his available space had just doubled. For a moment, he found it hard to adjust!

Thinking carefully, he recalled that the system prompt had mentioned the range would expand, but not by how much, so he’d ignored it.

Just as Colin was about to use Mist Points to “heal” his wounds, a new system notification popped up before his eyes.

Quest completion rating: S (sss being the highest).

Due to your outstanding performance and near-perfect completion of quest conditions, the system will grant you an additional reward.

Congratulations, you have received: 1 Recovery Card (added to inventory)!

Congratulations, you have received: 1 Level 1 Bag Expansion Card! As your inventory slots were insufficient, it has been automatically used!

Congratulations, you have received: 10 Mist Points (added to inventory)!

Congratulations, you have received: 1 Treasure Map Fragment (added to inventory)!

Four rewards flashed by one after another, and Colin stared in surprise before a smile broke across his face.

He hurriedly opened his Inventory, and indeed, it had now expanded to thirty-six slots!

Recovery Card (Lord Use Only): Fully restores all body functions and clears all negative effects afflicting the user.

Note: As long as you’re still breathing, you won’t die. Not even the Grim Reaper himself can do anything—trust me!

“Tch, that note is quite cheeky.”

Colin chuckled, then, without hesitation, used the Recovery Card.

The next moment, he felt a surge of strange energy sweep over him. In less than a second, the pain in his body vanished entirely!

“Wahoo!”

Colin let out a long breath.

The feeling of being fully restored was simply exhilarating!

“Congratulations, my lord!” The two servants immediately offered their well wishes when they saw his reaction.

Colin waved them off, then turned to the Stat Title Gift Box and opened it without delay. A black iron badge appeared where the box had been.

Name: Hunter of Hardship.

Type: Level 1 Title.

Usage: Equip on any part of the body.

Attribute: While equipped, all personal stats are increased by 30% (not less than 0.3; increments below 0.1 are not calculated).

Special Effect 1: “Huntress’ Hour”—When actively used, your Strength, Agility, and Endurance double, and you enter a hyper-focused hunter mode (lasts three minutes, can be extended up to ten minutes but will result in temporary fatigue based on duration; cooldown 1–3 hours).

Note 1: Weakness may set in after excessive exertion...

Special Effect 2: “Aberrant Scholar”—Having slain 100 Aberrants, you now gain innate “Weakness Perception” against Aberrant enemies (perception speed slows against powerful foes).

Note 2: Practice makes perfect.

Notice: This title can grow in power. Next upgrade requirements: Slay one Lord-level Aberrant, three Elite Aberrants, and one hundred common Aberrants.

Seeing these familiar words, Colin’s eyes lit up. The benefits of an all-stats boost were self-explanatory.

Although its effect at the moment was less than the priest’s wheel, this percentage increase would grow with him.

Even now, a 0.3 boost to all attributes was nothing to scoff at.

As for the first special effect—now that was a godsend!

Strength, agility, endurance—simply put, more power, faster speed, greater resilience.

Used wisely, Colin could turn the tables and survive even the direst of situations.

Its value needed no further explanation.

“But this note is a bit cheeky...” Colin scoffed inwardly, “A real man only needs three minutes.”

Aside from the active skill, the second special effect was nothing to underestimate.

Most of the enemies in the Grey Mist were Aberrants.

With this skill, he held a natural advantage over all Aberrants.

He could swiftly strike at their weak spots, landing deadly blows.

That said, this overlapped somewhat with his golden finger, as the prompts also revealed enemy weaknesses.

One was a passive, instinctive sense; the other required active deduction—different in function.

“No, the two can be used together. Against stronger monsters, I can use the prompts and this passive in tandem. Even high-level foes will have their vulnerabilities exposed…”

The only shortcoming was that this skill was limited to Aberrants.

Still, as far as he could tell, nearly all monsters in the mist were Aberrants. Things might change later, but for now, the effect was perfect.

Most importantly, this title could grow!

He didn’t know how many times it could evolve, but the current attributes were already formidable in his eyes. Who could imagine what the next level held?

Colin pinned the Hunter of Hardship badge to the inside of his coat pocket, immediately feeling a wave of comfort sweep through his body.

The first and most obvious change was that his vision became much clearer, followed by his physical strength and mental acuity.

He felt as though he could take on ten opponents at once!

Treasure Map Fragment x3: Collect seven fragments to assemble a complete treasure map and embark on a treasure hunt for rich rewards!

Note: Obtained via quests or slaying monsters.

You sense that there may be a fragment ahead of your house. Embarking on a treasure hunt soon will be crucial to your growth.

“Three pieces... the other two came from that female survivor. It seems she did make some gains.”

After a cursory glance, Colin withdrew his gaze, not intending to review his spoils here.

After all, he was still outdoors—hardly the ideal spot.

So far, he hadn’t lingered more than three minutes.

“Let’s head back.”

With that, Colin glanced at the benches.