Chapter 9: The First Story (5)
[Congratulations! Quest has been completed!]
[You have gained a Bookmark!]
[Bookmark: 'Rise of the Nobody Soldier' - Upon activation of this bookmark, the user shall receive a 100% boost in 'Physique' and 'Strength' stats till the user's mana is depleted or the user deactivates the bookmark. Upon reduction of buffs, intense physical exhaustion will fall upon the user. The exhaustion can be lessened by increasing the 'Physique' stat.]
[You have gained a new skill: C Rank Skill: 'Sword Qi']
['Physique' has increased 26 >>> 36]
['Strength' has increased 26 >>> 36]
['Mana' has increased 0 >>> 10]
[Unique Item brought back: Black Dragon Egg]
Arthur stared at the notifications on his status panel, before they disappeared a few seconds later. His gaze then fell back on the heavy black coloured egg in his hands. The warmth radiated by the egg warmed his whole body. He first checked the time and date on his wrist watch, seeing that only 12 days had passed, a third of the time spent inside the book.
'This is crazy. I actually have a dragon egg on me and my boons! I really lucked out on my first Quest. This class is overpowered. No wonder the top Hunters in the world all have unique classes.' Arthur didn't know whether to be happy or confused about his situation. He sighed, putting the egg down on his desk.
After the meeting with the dragon, Arthur had returned to the woods. A large scar was left from the detonation of the mother dragon's body.
He managed to find Morgen and Ruben and headed towards the kingdom walls, earning the medal from the Queen, and ultimately ending the Quest.
Arthur rubbed his chin in deep thought, he brushed the matter of the dragon aside thinking about his Bookmark stat. 'So bookmarks are given to me after I complete the story, and upon activation of them I get temporary buffs. Isn't that way too overpowered?'
[Bookmark Activate: 'Rise of the Nobody Soldier']
Immediately, a surge of mana erupted from his abdomen, where his mana core was, and spread around his body. A blue hue outlined his body, as every cell in Arthur's body felt rejuvenated and reborn. He felt like a recharged battery.
'This could become addicting.' Arthur smiled in glee, throwing a punch. a nice swish rung in the air. He was satisfied by the increase in his physical capabilities.
'Status Menu Open.'
[Name: Arthur Grimm]
[Class: Peerless Librarian]
[Physique - 36 (+36)]
[Mana - 10 (Tier 1-)]
[Strength - 36 (+36)]
[Bookmarks - 1]
[Skill(s) - Mental Library (D), Sword Qi (C), Librarian's Gift (S)]
[Cultivation Method:
None]
[Martial Arts:
Quick Flash Sword Art ★★★★☆]
[Movement Technique:
None]
[Artifacts: None]
[Unique Items: Black Dragon Egg]
Arthur identified the new additions to his status panel. It seemed that awakening his redundant mana core brought new features to his system. This system was present in all awakened across the world. Arthur's eyes narrowed as he saw the Quick Flash Sword Art under the martial arts section. This was a basic martial art that was taught to him by gramps, when he was still in training. He sighed deeply, avoiding reminiscing any memories.
He then executed a series of moves, punching and kicking, getting a feel for the changes in his body, provided by the buff of the bookmark. The assessment he had come to was that this was an immense boost!
'All my physical stats doubled and my body feels super light! I should have physical stats equivalent to a D or C rank Hunter right now; even my mana core tier is shown; that's new. I need to research what the highest is and how to increase the tier. I need info on how to take care of the dragon egg too and how to nurture it.
'I need to procure a cultivation method to nourish my mana core, now that it's awakened fully as well. So much to do.' Arthur stroked his chin, deactivating the bookmark.
A wave of fatigue spread across his body immediately, causing him to grimace and fall to his knees. It seemed that the drawbacks were just as big as the huge buff he received.
He should definitely avoid using this buff, till his body was stronger. Arthur's chest heaved up and down, till he regained his composure. He quickly grabbed his water bottle, taking a few sips and feeling better.
He pulled out his chair from his desk with vigor, cracking his neck left and right. His fingers began typing away at his keyboard as he surfed the worldnet for further information.
**
Arthur slouched back on his chair, yawning. He had been researching all night.
He had concluded that bookmarks and his 'Peerless Librarian' unique class wasn't known to the world, then again, it was extremely rare for many people to have the same unique class. He was also happy to realise that his S rank skill was special in many ways.
He was even able to bring back the Dragon Egg as a unique item. This brought new ideas into his head regarding how he could gain even bigger boons next time.
Next the first issue he determined was of his cultivation method. Now that his mana core had awakened, and he was able to store mana in it, he required a cultivation method to help nourish the core with more mana; only with a decent cultivation method would he be able to increase the tier of his mana core.
The Tiers of mana cores increased from 1 to 9, the top 3 Hunters in the world only having reached the pinnacle. Arthur worried that the rich noble kids would already have been spoiled with cultivation methods and cultivation pills, to forcefully help them excel their Tiers.
Whilst he already had a martial art and it was a 4 star martial art at that, he required a weapon to even use it, preferably a katana, this was the second issue. He needed a good weapon, artifacts were out of the question. Artifacts were special creations that were enchanted with special abilities, found in dungeons. They could either be created or procured from raiding dungeons.
So he had to procure a weapon before the military academy enrollment tests. Arthur had been nurtured from young till he was disowned, so he was well versed in the arts of combat, he just needed a weapon and that should be more than enough for him to qualify for the academy, despite his low mana core tier.
He had also researched about anything regarding the black dragon egg sitting on his desk recently. He had found a few stories on hunters stealing the young of certain powerful beasts, nurturing them and creating a master and servant bond with them. This field of study was still being worked on and not all of the secrets of familiars had surfaced yet.
To begin this they'd will their mana into the egg, or young one, to make them accustomed to the Hunter's mana. That's exactly what Arthur tried after he had read the story and somehow it worked. The black warm egg had ravenously sucked all of his mana.
He just had to make sure his egg was hidden from prying eyes. If he could hatch this egg, he'd have a valiant companion by his side.
The final and largest problem was definitely money! He was broke! A peasant! How was he going to get himself a decent cultivation method and a decent weapon without money?!
He had spent 80% of the money he had saved up over the years on the awakening process, leaving him with a mere $3000 in his bank account. He brainstormed ways to raise income and the fastest and easiest way he had arrived to was amusingly also the most dangerous.
He had to become a registered Hunter.
Arthur breathed out deeply, making a mental list of what he needed. He also had to prepare for the academy enrollment, from what he knew the young lords all from the rich families had a huge head start over him, although most awakened between 12-16 years old, the rich families had enough funds to invest in their young with cultivation methods, weapons, artifacts, potions, and martial arts techniques.
This boosted the rich kids' progress by a lot. Thankfully, Arthur could compete with them using his experience, despite his weak mana core tier.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TofSpades
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