"Ahh, that felt good..."
Hal wiped his face with a towel, satisfied after his first workout session.
It had been a bit rough in the beginning, and it took him three and a half hours to finish because he didn't know what he was doing.
Fortunately, the other members proved to be friendly and eager to help, guiding him through the basics and introducing him to proper training routines.
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Hal chose one where he could obtain an Arcroot Vine and complete the first act of his initial system quest.
His mind inevitably wandered as he sauntered along, and the usual question popped up:
"How did I earn those ten Chaos Points the other night, then?"
Hal still had no idea why he was gaining points from some creatures but not from others.
For example, the Blue-hide boars and the Garbirds didn't give him any, but the Mischievous Housesprites and the Reptilian did...
'There's got to be some differences...'
The creature's rank was the first thing he thought of, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
Blue-hide Boars and Garbirds were F-ranked, but so were the Mischievous Housesprites.
Hal continued pondering.
Unfortunately, before he could pinpoint the reason, he had already arrived at the Mission Hall.
He quickly headed to the Mission Board and was about to pick a random F-ranked mission that required venturing into a forest, but he stopped.
'Hmm... maybe I should run some tests?'
If he wanted to win, or at least have a good run in the Arcana Primis Cup, he needed to solve the mystery of how to gain points effectively from hunting, as it was the most straightforward way for him to grow stronger.
Just like how regular wizards with decent mana affinity absorbed the mana inside arcane cores, Hal had to benefit from his kills in more than just a monetary sense.
And so, he decided to select a slightly harder mission this time: the extermination of an entire Goblin Settlement.
The task only seemed difficult on paper, though, as the targets were not red goblins or hobgoblins, only the smaller, dim-witted, yet still vicious green goblins.
Hal chose this mission for two main reasons.
First, it was similar to the Mischievous Housesprite mission.
Both involved monsters instead of beasts, and both types had the potential to work together to bring him down.
Although individually weak, green goblins could still be extremely dangerous to regular people, which was the second similarity.
Blue-hide Boars, on the other hand, could still be hunted by ordinary hunters using traps, arrows, and spears, even though they were physically stronger than his current chosen targets.
Hal expected to gain a few Chaos Points from killing the green goblins.
Registering the mission under his name, he left the hall, unknowingly under the narrowed gaze of the same young man who observed him the other day.
Just like the first time, the strange three-star student stopped following him once he left the academy grounds.
Three hours later, Hal arrived at the Donkey Exchange Terminal near Pabru Village, a growing human settlement that was steadily progressing toward becoming a town.
It was a village unlike Poporo, which was not only out in the sticks but also barely surviving.
His home village had no hope of ever becoming an official town.
"As per the mission details, the settlement is somewhere deep in the outskirts of the Pabru Forest, south of the village..."
Hal immediately sprang into action, asking someone from the village for directions.
He then left the settlement as swiftly as he arrived.
Arriving at the forest's outskirts, Hal looked for a safe spot among the thick bushes and summoned his Spirit Sparrow, controlling it to search for the small green goblin settlement.
The tiny avian worked and diligently flapped its wings...
It didn't take long for Hal to locate the scrawny, green-skinned arcane monsters, each less than half his height, as smoke billowed from their tiny camp.
The spirit summon hovered above the settlement, Hal's eyes widening at what he saw.
Two children, a young man and a young woman, were caged in a crude structure made of vines and sticks.
A few meters away from them, a roaring campfire crackled, with makeshift spits fashioned from branches nearby.
Putting the pieces together, Hal realized the children were about to become a meal.
He immediately dismissed the Spirit Sparrow and furiously bolted toward the green goblin camp without hesitation.
The settlement was a fair distance away, and by the time he arrived, the children had already been tied to a thick branch.
Four goblins were carrying them toward the fire, their cries filled with terror and despair.
This would certainly be a traumatizing childhood experience...
He raised both hands, aiming one at the two goblins at the rear of the thick branch and the other at the pair in front.
Nearby, three goblins who had been watching the scene with gleeful anticipation suddenly spotted him.
They hissed in fury and charged over.
Before they could reach the human intruder, however, a translucent blue blast and a lethal shard of ice shot forth, tearing through the air with furious intent.
Not towards the charging trio but to those carrying their small tribe's lunch and dinner.
The [Glacial Shard] pierced clean through the two goblins at the rear, killing them instantly, while the [Weak Mana Blast] struck one of the goblins at the front, dropping him on the spot and sending the last one tumbling to the ground with the weight of the branch.
[Congratulations! You earned 1 Chaos Point!]
[Congratulations! You earned 1 Chaos Point!]
[Congratulations! You earned 1 Chaos Point!]
Fortunately, the two children had been carried facing upward, so while the fall left them with a few minor bruises, they were otherwise unharmed.
Hal had already defeated a Reptilian—handling a group of dim-witted goblins was hardly a challenge by comparison.
Keeping his distance and calmly firing off [Weak Mana Blasts], he quickly dispatched the remaining goblins.
There wasn't even a need to use any of his limited-use spells
... [Congratulations! You earned 1 Chaos Point!]
Hal let out a sigh of relief and smiled briefly, pleased that his guess had been correct.
Killing the goblins had indeed rewarded him with points.
"Maybe it only works on arcane monsters, not beasts," he murmured as he walked toward the now-unconscious children, their strength fading as the relief of being saved took hold.
To his surprise, a new notification appeared.
[Congratulations! You've earned 5 Chaos Points!]
He had also earned points for saving the children...