[You've slain a Steelhorn Skink Lv.46]

[You've obtained 40 Experience Points.]

[You've obtained 37 Swordcoins.]

[You've obtained (1) Steel Horn.]

Daru smiled at the notifications before dismissing them.

He then pulled out a pink sigil, the one given to him by the rich aspirant smith, and activated it with a double tap.

A window appeared:

==

Contacting [Sethlans]...

Connecting…

Sethlans: What is it? Did you encounter a problem?

Sigil072118: No, I'm done gathering your materials.

Sethlans: Already? Alright, I'll send a courier to your location.

Sigil072118: I'll be leveling at the level fifty zone in the Crystal Hollows. Tell the courier to meet me there.

Sethlans: Okay, but can you change your Sigil's name? It's a bit annoying.

Sigil072118: Oh, you can do that? Alright. I'll do it later.

==

Fritz was about to teach Daru how to do it, but before he could…

[The connection with Sigil072118 has been severed.]

The gray-haired young man could only scoff, not noticing he was smiling slightly as he shook his head and got back to hammering.

He muttered: "If I'd known she would finish the task this quickly, I would've asked for more…"

***

**

[You have slain an (Elite) [Field] Swordspawn [5] levels higher than you! Calculating experience point rewards…]

[You've obtained 5,000 Experience Points!]

[You've obtained 1,047 Swordcoins.]

[You've obtained 50 Actualizer Crystals.]

To Daru's surprise, the boost granted to him by the new armor set was tremendous enough to make even hunting the elite level fifties a cake-walk.

===

Bladeborn: Daru Finnley

Level 45 (74,315 to level up)

Titles: Bob's Sworn Brother [Active(Display)], Strongest Novice [Active (Effect)]

Secondary Titles: [Soul Eater] [Novice Tanner]

Blessings: [???????'s Minor Blessing (???? ????'s ???)]

Curses: [Yama's Discontent (Soulbound Sword)] [Goddess Fortuna's Frown] [Tainted Soul (Pride)]

Strength: 77 (+34)

Dexterity: 78 (+25)

Agility: 77 (+25)

Stamina: 55(+35)

Vitality: 55 (+65)

Perception: 95 (+20)

Luck: 0 (+55)

===

'Oh, right…'

Checking his status window, he remembered he still had five Demon Essences waiting in his messy, almost-full inventory.

His tachi was once again feeling a bit too light now, thanks to the larger strength attribute bonus from the level forty-five Reinforced Steel Armor Set.

Daru retrieved and cut them one by one, red streaks infusing and increasing the weight of his weapon.

==

Status: Dormant - 26 / 500 Oni or Demon Essence (First Awakening)

==

It was now a little bit heavier than he preferred.

However, the minuscule discomfort was negligible and would probably go with one or two more points in Strength.

Daru was about to go and look for another elite, as doing so was the fastest way to level up, when, suddenly, he heard the clacking of hooves.

It was about time for the courier to arrive, so he turned to look in the direction of the approaching mount.

A middle-aged man donning an impressive black armor emerged from behind the blue walls, halting for a moment after spotting him, then approaching.

"Miss Otsuna," the courier greeted, jumping down from the back of his mount and transitioning into a bow with practiced grace. "I'm Grover, the one responsible for bringing back the crafting materials you gathered. I shall deliver them to Sir Sethlans."

Fritz had contacted him again half an hour earlier and told them that the courier's name was Grover.

[Grover has sent you a trade request. Accept? Y/N]

Daru tapped on [Y] without hesitation.

The courier was very professional indeed, immediately placing the rewards to further lessen the client's worries.

It worked wonders on Daru, who began to trust Grover even more upon seeing the five units of [20% Experience Boost Tonic (2h)].

So, in return, he placed the seventy-unit stacks of Steel Horn, Raw Hide, and Bronze Chitin, pondering whether it would be safe to ask the guy to deliver something else to Fritz.

He had further studied how to make connections yesterday night, and the article said that a show of sincerity almost always closes the deal.

Fritz was the only blacksmith he knew, and if he wanted to ensure that he would always have an armor set of appropriate levels in the future, then he would have to rely on the guy.

Daru would never take on manual forging himself.

While Auto-forging was very satisfying — addictive, even — he knew that he only had the chance to use the feature because he somehow lucked out and obtained a treasure of a mold.

How could he be sure that he would obtain another?

Maybe he would, but would it be as good as the one he currently had?

The smarter path was clearly to strike while the iron is hot and solidify his connection with Fritz, and to do that, he needed to show sincerity as the article advised.

Daru had thought of the matter long and hard yesterday night, even struggling to sleep because of it.

But he has decided.

"Hey, Sir Grover, is there an option to have you deliver something, but you won't know what it is?" he asked, forming the sentence as best as his meagre mastery allowed.

The middle-aged courier's brows rose, and a friendly smile appeared on his face.

Aside from the pleasant feeling of being treated by an A-ranker young miss with respect, he would also earn more this way.

"Ah, yes, Miss Otsuna! In fact, this is one of the services our Courier Guild offers…"

Grover proceeded to explain how [Parceling Papers] worked, and that only the intended receiver can unwrap it, but that it would set him back twenty Neo-dollars per unit.

Daru agreed without hesitation, purchasing one from the courier and charging it to Fritz.

He then sent Grover another trade request after completing the first one and receiving his tonic rewards, placing the wrapped [Novice Equipment Mold (S)] in one of the slots.

This was his show of sincerity.

However, he also put a note on the [Parceling Paper], which can only be read and unlocked by [Sethlans], telling him that he was only lending the item to him and would come to retrieve it before graduation.

Daru then placed fifteen pieces of low-tier equipment on the other trade slots — all level forty — before tapping on the [Lock Items for Trade] button, having already thought of how he would receive the Neo-dollars from Fritz without exposing his identity.

The transaction soon concluded.

Daru followed Grover with his gaze as the middle-aged courier left, going back to grinding levels a few moments later.

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