Chapter 9
The Orc Camp
A system notification rang out.
"Quest detected. The player has accepted the random mission Lily Rowan's Black Truffles. Please travel to the Orc Camp to collect the required items."
Hearing the familiar system tone, Ethan Quinn smiled slightly.
"Come with me," he said. "I know a place where there are plenty of black truffles. No one has harvested them yet."
The thought of the rewards made him even more satisfied with this encounter.
Without thinking, Ethan reached out and gently patted Lily Rowan on the head.
The small gesture surprised her. The fear that had gripped her earlier slowly faded. Her instincts told her the player standing in front of her might actually be someone she could trust.
"Okay," she said quietly.
She reached out and grabbed the sleeve of Ethan's armor.
Together they began walking deeper into the river valley.
While they still had some distance to travel, Ethan opened his inventory and inspected the bronze equipment he had just obtained.
Cloak of the Hidden One
Level 9
Grade Bronze
Durability 100 out of 100
Effect. Allows the user to enter stealth mode when activated.
Restriction. Assassin class only.
Description. A cloak designed to conceal the wearer's presence. As long as enemies do not approach too closely, the user will remain hidden.
Ethan glanced at the class restriction and closed the item window.
"Useless to me."
He tossed the cloak back into his inventory and opened the quest panel instead.
Lily Rowan's Black Truffles
Rank A
Objective. Help Lily Rowan collect Black Truffles.
Rewards.
• 1000 experience points for each truffle collected. No upper limit.
• Lily Rowan favorability plus 50.
• Professor Elara Snow favorability plus 50.
Restrictions. None.
Description. A kind player is asked to help a determined girl gathering rare truffles for someone important to her.
Ethan closed the panel slowly.
In Divine Realm, killing monsters provided very little experience compared to story quests. Only players who could clear monsters in massive groups could level efficiently through combat alone.
For most players, quest chains were the real source of rapid growth.
This mission was one of them.
In his previous life, a player had discovered Lily Rowan and her mentor, Professor Elara Snow, living in a small cabin hidden within the river valley. After completing this quest, the player received an enormous experience reward and later posted a guide on the game forums explaining how to trigger it.
Ethan had followed that guide.
That encounter led him to discover something far more valuable. This quest was only the beginning of a hidden chain connected to Professor Elara Snow.
And those missions unlocked rare high level resources.
Originally, Ethan planned to find Lily after finishing the demon wolves in the valley. Instead fate brought her directly to him today while she searched for truffles.
The random quest trigger saved him hours of searching.
A few minutes later the trees opened and the destination appeared.
The Orc Camp.
Another system notification sounded.
"Exploration achievement unlocked. Orc Camp discovered. Reputation plus 1000."
Ethan looked ahead.
A series of crude tents formed a defensive perimeter around the camp. Dozens of armored orc warriors patrolled the outer ring with swords and axes.
Ethan activated his scouting ability.
His eyes locked onto one of the guards.
Orc Swordsman
Elite Unit
Level 10
Grade Bronze
Health 6000
Attack 163 to 188
Defense 100
Skills. Orc Bloodline. Orc Swordsmanship. Orc Combat Instinct.
Description. Frontline warriors of the Orc Tribes. They fight for the glory of their clan.
Ethan calculated the numbers quickly.
Two hits per enemy.
That would be enough.
He turned toward Lily.
"Stay here. Don't move."
Before she could respond, Ethan moved.
His body shot forward like an arrow.
The Dragon Slayer Blade flashed.
One strike.
Two strikes.
4720
4728
An orc collapsed instantly.
Ethan continued forward through the camp entrance. Each swing of his blade produced another massive critical strike. The elite guards fell one after another without even landing a hit.
Within seconds the entire outer patrol had been wiped out.
After confirming no enemies remained nearby, Ethan turned and waved.
"Come over."
Lily looked around nervously before sprinting toward him.
Standing beside him felt far safer than hiding alone.
"Same rule as before," Ethan said calmly. "Help me collect the loot."
"Okay."
Lily had already accepted her role as Ethan's assistant. She obediently gathered the materials and coins scattered across the battlefield.
After a short while they finished collecting everything.
Ethan checked his inventory.
Another bronze item had dropped, but it also had a class restriction that made it useless to him.
He closed the inventory and began walking toward the center of the camp.
Lily followed closely behind.
Every few steps she would glance around nervously. Occasionally she even darted into an empty orc tent for cover before rushing back to Ethan's side.
Ethan could not help shaking his head slightly at the sight.
The central section of the camp was only a short distance away.
Half a minute later they reached it.
Dozens of additional orc warriors filled the area around the command tents.
Lily's face turned pale.
"Maybe… we should leave," she whispered.
Ethan looked at the tightly packed enemies.
In his eyes they were nothing more than walking experience points.
He smiled and gently patted Lily on the head again.
"Hide here," he said calmly.
"I'll go cut off a few more orc heads."