Upon opening the map, a nearby location immediately caught his attention, Yiersa Village, the Beginner Village. If he wanted quests, supplies, and access to proper NPCs, that was the place to go.
Along the way, Don kept his eyes open. He made a point of greeting every NPC he passed, not simply out of politeness, but out of habit born from experience. Many quests in Realms Online began with seemingly random conversations, and quest rewards were often far more valuable than anything simple monster grinding could offer.
Soon the environment began to change. The dense forest gradually gave way to open farmland, golden fields stretching out on both sides of the dirt path. But something was wrong. The crops had been devastated. Wheat stalks lay broken across the ground, half-eaten plants scattered everywhere, and moving among the wreckage were large, bright green creatures, grasshoppers, each one nearly the size of a human torso. Their massive hind legs bent and flexed as they hopped from stalk to stalk, jagged mandibles chewing aggressively through whatever remained. The sound of crunching wheat filled the air.
Don narrowed his eyes and pulled up their attributes.
[Field Grasshopper]
[Grade: Common Monster]
[Level: 3]
[HP: 350]
[Physical Attack: 12–15]
[Physical Defense: 25]
[Magic Defense: 20]
[Skill: Combo]
Stronger than the Bruggs, but still manageable.
Just then, he noticed someone standing at the edge of the field, an old man with a white, unkempt beard and deep wrinkles carved into a weathered face. His clothes were dusty, his shoulders slumped beneath the weight of exhaustion, and he stared helplessly at the destroyed farmland. Above his head floated a line of green text:
[Farmer Arnon]
Don walked over. "Hello, old man. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Arnon turned slowly. When he saw Don's equipment and confident posture, a faint spark of hope appeared in his tired eyes. "Young man…" His voice was hoarse. "Please, go and help me kill those pests that keep devouring my crops."
A chime sounded in Don's ears, and a prompt materialized before him.
[Quest: Eliminate Field Pests]
[Due to this year's locust outbreak, vast northern farmlands of the Saino Kingdom have been devastated. As a warrior about to step onto the battlefield, eliminate 15 Field Grasshoppers. Return to Farmer Arnon for your reward.]
[Difficulty: Common Level 8]
Quest difficulty ranged from:
Common → D → C → B → A → S.
Each tier was further divided from Level 9 to Level 1.
Common Level 8 was nothing intimidating, it's definitely doable.
Don accepted without hesitation.
Before the system window had even fully faded, he was already moving. His eyes locked onto the nearest Field Grasshopper, a massive insect perched on a bent stalk of wheat, mandibles chewing loudly as it tore through the crop. He sprinted forward, his speed kicking up dust along the dirt path as he closed the distance in seconds.
The grasshopper finally noticed him. Its massive legs flexed, preparing to leap, but Don was faster. He jumped, his body twisting mid-air, and brought his leg crashing down in a powerful flying kick aimed straight at the creature's head.
The locust's reaction speed was far from slow. The moment Don launched his attack, the creature responded with startling sharpness, its jagged mandibles snapping shut, the half-chewed stalk falling from its mouth as its entire body tensed. In a single fluid motion, its two blade-like forelimbs lashed upward, slicing through the air toward Don's chest.
The exchange happened in the span of a heartbeat. A dull impact echoed as Don's kick connected, his full strength transferring into the creature's body. At the same time, the locust's claws struck him.
[128!]
[14!]
[17!]
The numbers flashed almost simultaneously. The locust's health bar dropped by more than a third in an instant, but Don's own HP dipped just as sharply. A clean trade, fair and dangerous.
His eyes narrowed, a flicker of deeper focus sharpening within them. 'So this is Level 3 damage.'
It was noticeably different from the Bruggs. These weren't passive targets that crumbled in one or two hits. These creatures fought back, and they hit hard.
But Don wasn't some beginner who stood still and exchanged blows blindly. The moment the locust completed its attack, its body entered a brief window of recovery, and Don seized it instantly. He twisted sharply, feet gliding across the ground in a tight, controlled pivot as he slipped past the creature's frontal range. In one smooth motion, he repositioned himself at its side-rear, completely outside the arc of its next strike.
His leg snapped out again.
[149!]
The kick landed cleanly against the locust's abdomen. A shrill screech tore from its throat as its body spun violently from the force. Its limbs flailed mid-turn, and in retaliation it unleashed a sharp, piercing strike, its forelimb snapping forward in a mantis punch aimed directly at Don's torso.
But Don had already moved. His footwork was light and precise. He slipped past the attack by a hair's breadth, the blade-like limb grazing the air where he had stood a fraction of a second earlier.
Then he countered instantly. His body shifted forward, both legs moving in rapid succession, a clean, explosive double-kick.
[129!]
The impact was brutal. The locust's entire body lifted off the ground before being hurled backward, crashing heavily into the dirt several meters away. It twitched once, then went still.
Don exhaled slowly, the tension leaving his body as a faint smile formed on his lips. "Not bad."
The first Field Grasshopper had gone down cleanly, and as expected of a Level 3 monster, the experience reward was far more generous. He could feel it immediately, his progress bar jumped forward noticeably. Ten percent per kill, which meant ten kills to level up.
He crouched and picked up the drops left behind. Nine copper coins, a clear improvement over the Bruggs. As he straightened, his mind was already calculating.