Chapter 190 Combat Technique Catalog

As a massive neutral organization on the Aifala Continent, the Adventurers' Association used its branches—situated in monster-gathering areas—as hubs to gather countless adventurers.

On one hand, this supplied the market with a large quantity of scarce and useful monster materials. On the other, it provided massive employment, offering many commoners who might otherwise never leave their villages a path forward—winding, but bright enough.

Driven by the Association's straightforward system of "posting commissions, accepting quests, and earning rewards," alongside circulating myths of adventurer wealth, wave after wave of fresh blood was drawn into the trade every year.

For the bottom-tier adventurers forming the massive foundation of this pyramid, the Association was less a factional organization and more a simple service agency—a platform for accepting quests.

It provided few active benefits; instead, it used quests of varying difficulties as a funnel, sifting through the massive population to pick out unpolished gems hidden in the dust.

Obtaining a Class Level was the first and most difficult threshold of this process.

Only after one became a Class Holder would the Adventurers' Association—a veritable behemoth—truly act like a proper organization and provide benefits for its members.

"Points" were one such benefit.

Or rather, they were the metric quantifying how many benefits a member could receive.

As an internal currency and consumable exclusive to the Association, points could be spent on almost anything requiring payment.

They could be converted into gold coins at a set ratio, exchanged for Rare materials and premium potions, or even used to redeem class combat techniques completely unavailable on the outside.

As for where these so-called points came from—

Under normal circumstances, for the vast majority of adventurers in the Association, there was really only one way.

[Quest Number]: B-7168

[Type]: Bounty

[Reward]:

250,000 gold / 8,300 points (Or please contact Duke Morton of Sticky-Tree Territory for a face-to-face discussion)

[Quest Summary]:

An adult red dragon named "Kraugbari" attacked the ducal castle in the core region of Sticky-Tree Territory and stole Mr. Morton's family heirloom.

For detailed information, please contact the Association's front desk staff.

[Additional Information]:

"Whoever can bring back the Morton Family's Legacy Secret Treasure and the head of that beast shall become my lovely daughter's husband, as well as the heir to the territory."

"Duke of Sticky-Tree" Morton

[Quest Number]: E-20279

[Type]: Investigation

[Reward]:

30-300 gold / 1-10 points / 200g Bone-Eroded Patterned Steel

[Quest Summary]:

Based on adventurer reports, suspected traces of Lycanthrope activity have appeared near the inner region of the eastern Misty Forest.

Interested adventurers are requested to investigate. Upon verification, the Association will issue the quest reward based on the completeness and accuracy of the obtained information.

(Limited to parties of four or more)

[Time Limit]: 180 days

Xia Nan stood before the second-floor quest wall, his gaze sweeping across it. Unlike the Association's first-floor hall—packed with adventurers at all hours, where picking up a suitable quest meant standing on tiptoe and enduring the awful stench of sweat and blood to search for ages—the area around the second-floor quest board was exceptionally quiet. Only a few veteran-looking adventurers were gathered in twos and threes, discussing in low voices.

The commissions on this quest wall were also vastly different from those downstairs.

Most obviously, quests like clearing out Goblin Lairs or gathering common herbs were still present, but their numbers had drastically decreased.

In their place were Class Grade commissions that looked much more dangerous, with several extra zeros tacked onto their reward figures.

Clearly, the Association had adjusted the quest types to cater to adventurers who had obtained a Class Level and seen a massive increase in both strength and expenses.

On the other hand, the top few commissions overlapped with those downstairs.

For example, the bounty on the "Spore Druid"—which had been at the very top of the first-floor quest wall right after he transmigrated—and the tracking quest for the blonde elf "Windstring" that he had just seen earlier were both posted on the board right in front of him.

However, compared to downstairs, some of their details had slightly changed, with additions made to the [Quest Number] and [Reward] sections.

Beside him, Molly offered a timely explanation.

"The commissions posted on the quest wall are all suitable in terms of timeframe and region. We update them every week," she explained.

"But space is limited, after all. Posting too many at once would look cluttered and be hard to read."

"So, if you don't find a suitable quest on the wall, or if you want to travel far, or perhaps look at 'old quests' that have been around for years and remain uncompleted to this day—"

"—you can come to me, or any receptionist on the second floor. We all have detailed commission lists on hand."

Xia Nan pondered for a moment before asking, "So I won't be able to take those commissions on the first floor anymore?"

Seemingly not expecting this cold and stern Class Holder to ask such a question, Molly was taken aback before reacting, shaking her head repeatedly. "No, of course not!"

"You've already obtained a Class Level and completed an Advancement Quest. So whether it's upstairs or downstairs, you can come to me to register for any commission that has no restrictive conditions."

"But—" Molly hesitated, carefully sneaking a peek at Xia Nan's expression before saying in a low voice, "I mean no offense, but you should know this."

"While the vast majority of the quests on the first floor are relatively simple, the rewards are correspondingly meager."

"After one trip, the gold coins you earn might not even be enough to maintain your equipment."

Nodding slightly, Xia Nan said nothing, his face showing no extra emotion.

Inwardly, however, he felt a bit relieved.

It wasn't that he feared danger, or had an obsession with certain low-tier monsters like "Greenblood" Adeline did.

The main reason Xia Nan asked was from the perspective of training his combat technique proficiency.

Having transmigrated so long ago, he had more or less figured out the general rules of his golden finger.

Simply put, if he wanted to raise the proficiency of a certain combat technique—especially when it was still at lv1 or lv2—actual combat was many times faster than daily training.

Under these circumstances, he naturally wanted to fight as much as possible to max out the proficiency of each combat technique and boost his actual combat strength.

But if the quest intensity was too high, the extremely dangerous environments and high psychological pressure would make it impossible to spare the attention to practice combat techniques.

Moreover, after every high-intensity quest, he would need to rest for a while to relax his body and mind. Training against the air in town would only hurt his efficiency.

Therefore, the method he came up with was to slightly widen the interval between quests.

He would use this time to go into the forest and find the green-skinned Goblins to practice his combat techniques and raise his proficiency.

On one hand, normal goblins posed little threat to his current self. Even in large numbers, he could easily escape with his mobility and endurance.

Even if he encountered their elite individuals, the "Bugbears," they were merely good, moderate-intensity training targets for the current Xia Nan.

On the other hand, although he never thought he had any psychological issues, he had to admit it: during the nearly two months he spent traveling to and from Nym City, he actually somewhat missed the wonderful, halting sensation traveling up the hilt of his sword when the blade tore through a goblin's paper-thin skin, chopped through its fragile, firewood-like bones, and cleaved it in half.

With this in mind, the relevant Association quests could not only provide the general location of Goblin Lairs but also yield a substantial gold coin reward upon clearing them out—at least for a solo traveler.

Of course he had to ask if he could still accept those first-floor quests.

Standing in place, he examined the quest board in front of him, his gaze sweeping over commission after commission.

Noticing something puzzling, Xia Nan frowned slightly.

He briefly organized his words in his mind and asked straightforwardly, "Two questions."

"First, regarding quest rewards, the concept of points has now been added compared to the first floor."

"But looking at the quest listings, gold coins still exist as rewards, and there are also options for other materials and items. I need you to explain the detailed rules regarding this."

"Second, the numbers for these quests upstairs seem to have been altered into a fixed format of a letter plus numbers. What does this represent?"

Hearing this, Molly—already somewhat nervous due to Xia Nan's identity as a Class Holder and his fierce, serious demeanor—subconsciously tensed.

She stood up perfectly straight, trying her best to recall the knowledge she had accumulated over the years, and replied meticulously, "Understood. First, regarding your question about the details of quest rewards."

"After you complete a quest, you can freely choose from the rewards listed on the commission."

"Take the bounty with the [Quest Number] 'B-7168' as an example. After helping Duke Morton recover his family heirloom, you can choose either the 250,000 gold coins or the 8,300 points."

"However, considering that the vast majority of adventurers have a massive demand for both, the Association also allows for flexible adjustments to the ratio of gold and points, as long as the total value remains unchanged."

"For instance, you could exchange the 8,300 points from the quest reward for 4,000 points and 129,000 gold coins."

"If you are in urgent need of money, you can also exchange points for gold coins within the Association at a 1:30 ratio."

"Please note that this process is one-way. Points can be exchanged for gold coins, but the reverse is not possible."

"Furthermore, the exchange ratio fluctuates based on the geographical locations of the branches."

"As for the quest numbers—"

No one had ever asked her this kind of question before.

Molly's lips moved and her eyes darted about, as if she were desperately trying to recall something.

But she seemingly couldn't remember, and a look of embarrassment immediately appeared on her face.

Even though Xia Nan had no intention of urging or blaming her, under the gaze of his calm eyes, a layer of fine sweat beaded on the young girl's forehead.

"P-please wait a moment," she stammered.

Perhaps it was the influence of his Charm having increased by 1, or perhaps Xia Nan's aura was simply too icy, but it made Molly's voice tremble as she spoke. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was undergoing an interrogation.

She pulled a small booklet filled with densely packed text from her pocket and flipped through it hastily, her eyes sweeping over line after line.

After finally finding the relevant content she had recorded during her past training, she hurriedly read it out without even taking a moment to sigh in relief. "Regarding the [Quest Number], temporary commissions posted in the first-floor hall for all adventurers are compiled by the branch itself with no strict requirements."

"Once they receive approval from the headquarters and are registered as official quests, they must be assigned a formal number consisting of the quest difficulty plus a number, and are displayed on the second floor for Class Holders."

"Among them, the quest difficulty is represented by letters ranging from 'F' to 'S', from lowest to highest—"

"N-no, I'm sorry, Mr. Xia Nan. This is all I know. The instructor responsible for explaining this didn't go into detail with us."

Xia Nan had only noticed the pattern of characters after the [Quest Number] and asked casually.

He hadn't expected there to actually be an explanation for it.

'In that case...'

His gaze turned toward the quest board, looking at the two high-level commissions he had seen earlier—their targets were the Spore Druid and the blonde elf, respectively.

These two bounties had surprisingly already passed the Association headquarters' approval and obtained formal numbers.

Both started with the letter "B."

'They belong to the same difficulty tier as that adult red dragon that attacked human territory?' Xia Nan mused.

Seemingly noticing his gaze, Molly—who had visibly breathed a sigh of relief and had just stuffed the booklet back into her pocket—hurriedly added, "Sir, according to my understanding, the letter at the front of the number is not always fixed. It can sometimes change."

"For instance, if an investigation reveals that the target's strength far exceeds expectations, or if research indicates that the target is in poor condition."

He understood.

Xia Nan nodded.

His gaze swept over the quest wall twice more. Once he had a slight impression of the various quests in his mind, he retracted his gaze.

Having just returned to Rivervale Town, let alone needing a day or two of rest, he still had many affairs to handle, so he wasn't in a hurry to set out again.

He turned his head and looked at the blonde girl, Molly, who was keeping a constant eye on him from the side.

"I've heard many people say that combat techniques can be redeemed on the second floor. Is that also done using points?"

"Yes, Mr. Xia Nan."

"Take me there."

She didn't take Xia Nan to some heavily guarded, imaginary little room filled with all sorts of combat techniques.

Molly simply led him to a quiet corner in the hall to sit down.

Then she asked the front desk receptionist on the other side of the hall for a moderately thick book.

Taking quick, small steps, she hurried back and handed it to Xia Nan.

A rough, thick texture met his fingertips. Entering his line of sight were a few lines of small text printed on the book's cover:

Adventurers' Association Combat Technique Catalog (Rivervale Town Branch)

—Arcane Calendar 1018 Updated Edition