Another week had passed at Miraden Academy, Aria has been adjusting well to her classes and a friendship has begun to sprout between her and Eric. She found him annoying at times, but still they spent a lot more time together between classes.
It was currently the weekend, so Aria didn't have any classes. Deciding to make use of her free time, she went apartment hunting with her brother.
The two siblings went to see a few different apartments that were within walking distance of the Academy. Ben had been fairly successful in his job, and the recent transfer even led to an unexpected promotion.
He worked for a government agency that tracked the formation of portals and assigned awakened to clear them. The agency was called the Federal Bureau of Awakened. They worked alongside Guilds to make sure portals didn't break open and endanger public safety. He was essentially a dispatcher for the awakened. Ben took this job so that he could prevent tragedies like what happened to their parents.
With a decent budget, Aria and her brother looked at a few apartments before deciding on the last one. It was a three bedroom apartment in a nice high-rise building close to Ben's work as well as the Academy.
While Ben was working through a few details about the apartment with the real estate agent, he suddenly got a phone call. Picking up the phone, he had a worried expression after talking for a few minutes.
"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." Ben said before he hung up the phone. "Aria, I'm sorry but I have to go to work for an emergency."
"Oh I see, it's alright but is everything okay?" Aria wondered if a portal had appeared somewhere due to the nature of his job.
"Yeah, it should turn out okay but I just need to go organize a few things. A low rank portal suddenly appeared not too far from here, but all awakened agents are currently busy with other calls."
Hearing this Aria was intrigued. Perhaps I could take care of it, he said it was just a low rank and I was looking for a way to get Exp. "Where about did you say the portal was?" She asked him innocently.
"I think it was on Jubilee Street, but it's a few streets over in a restaurant, so you should be safe if you head straight back to the Academy." Ben sent Aria off as he worked out a quick meeting with the realtor for a different time. Then he went off to his work to take care of the situation.
Aria pretended to head back to school before turning back around once she knew Ben would be gone. She searched Jubilee Street on her GPS and ran there right away. Sweet Exp, here I come!
Arriving at Jubilee Street, she saw an Italian restaurant down the road with law enforcement sectioning off the area. A few people wearing black suits stood nearby, likely FBA agents. Aria knew it was a little risky but with her Celestial Cloak, she should be fine to slip in and out unnoticed.
Getting close, she went into a nearby alleyway and activated her Celestial Cloak Skill as she dissappeared completely from view. She quickly and quietly approached the scene and entered the restaurant. Right in the dinning area was the blue portal.
While she stood in front of the portal, she got a quest notification from her system.
[ New Quest Received ]
[ Opportunist? - You have encountered a portal which is ripe for the taking. Clear the D-rank blue portal. Rewards: 500 Exp, and 3 free stat points. ]
Right on time, the system never disappoints. Grinning from ear to ear, Aria jumped into the portal.
An agent nearby saw the portal distort as though someone walked through. They didn't see anything go in or out, so they quickly put it out of their mind.
Coming out the other end of the portal, Aria was greeted by a thick lush forest. An open sky lay above the trees and plant life was all around. Aria had not seen any of these types of plants before, they were almost alien. There were odd colour's mixed in with the green, and some plants seemed to even glow. She then released her Celestial Cloak Skill to save on AP.
In awe of the vegetation around her, Aria wasn't paying attention. A creature lay in hiding nearby, camouflaged within its surroundings.
Aria bent over to stare at a bush with large purple fruit growing on its branches. She then looked at the tree beside it. A mighty tree with black bark and lime green leaves stood. Plants and tree's are alive right? Maybe my scan skill will work on them as well?
[ Target Scanned Successfully]
- D-rank Monster Chamelin
- A type of lizard man that specializes in camouflage. Known to travel alone, these monsters are quite rare.
- Weakness: Difficult to detect but is overall a weak monster. Beware their tongue.
Aria was confused for a second but she quickly figured out what happened. There is a monster hiding right by that tree. Before Aria could react to defend herself, a scaly bipedal monster materialized halfway up the trunk. Its scales were a pale and sickly green, and it's yellow eyes were like a reptiles. It clung to the tree with its sharp claws.
Trying to access her daggers, the beast reacted first. It's tongue flew out of its mouth striking Aria across her upper chest. She felt the blow but she only slid back by a few inches. Her solid body resisted the force of impact. She still felt a sting from the wound and a little blood seeped from the light scratch. Why is its tongue sharp!
[ HP: 300/300 -> 288/300 ]
Aria grabbed one of her daggers and threw it as hard as she could towards the creatures head. With a bullseye, the dagger landed between the creatures eyes. Its grip loosened from the tree and it fell to the ground with a thud.
[ D-rank Monster Chamelin defeated, 70 Exp earned. ]
[ Exp: 1430/2000 -> 1500/2000 ]
"That was easier than I expected, maybe I have gotten a lot stonger."