The Summoner And Contractor System 19 Investigating The Strange Anomaly

Rentaro had only just returned to the tents that Ichi and Shin had pitched, when a system notification resounded in his mind.

[System Notification] [New Mission]

[Hey, Lil' Bro! I told you, just wait and a mission will appear soon enough! Hahaha!]

'Yeah, yeah! Just open the [Missions] function already!' Rentaro couldn't be bothered with Wilhelm's budding narcissism, his eyes burning with eagerness to see what mission he has been given.

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[Missions]

[First Hunt] [Intermediate] - [Incomplete] Hunt a Foundation Establishment Sub-Stage 1 Beast.

[Rewards] [1,000 credits of one credit type or 500 of each] [Sub-Shop Function - Trade-In]

[Investigate the Strange Anomaly] [Intermediate] - [Incomplete] [Chain-Quest: Step 1] Investigate the cause behind the animal's evolved intelligence.

[Rewards] [1,000 credits of on credit type or 500 of each] [Sub-Function - Research and Investigations]

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'Aside from the credit reward, it's just another sub-function reward. Will there ever be a mission with interesting rewards? And, what's a "Chain-Quest"?' Rentaro couldn't help but pout as his newfound revelation.

[Ah, don't be such a baby, Lil' Bro! For the system creator to have set such a mission reward, it surely must be helpful to you! Also, a Chain-Quest requires multiple steps before the quest is considered complete. Simply put, after you complete the first step, another step will appear. As for how many steps until the mission is completed, that's determined by the system's concept of completion and sufficiency, not mine.]

'Hah, I guess there's nothing I can do. Welp, I have nothing to do right now and I'm rather curious about this village of small animals myself, but you better help me investigation this! If you try to act as if you're asleep or anything, don't expect me to get anything done!"

[Alright! I'm still processing data on the five statues and the Krose ancestral hall though. I have yet to find any knowledge in the system database on this subject. Furthermore, there weren't any system notifications about it which is awfully strange. The only possible explanation is that you don't meet the system's requirements for the investigation yet.]

[For instance, you might lack something to spark an interaction between you and the statues like a specific cultivation stage, a specific character trait, or you might need to be of the Krose bloodline. If you need to be of the Krose bloodline, you'll have to give up getting such a mission unless you use a way to mutate your bloodline, though I don't recommend mutating your bloodline. Other reasons I though of, you might need to start the investigation yourself or a specific event needs to take place before any correlated mission pops up.]

'Bloodline mutation?' Rentaro listened wholeheartedly to Wilhelm, but couldn't help to ponder over the idea of mutating his bloodline.

[Uh-hm. It is possible to mutate your bloodline yourself, but many dangers are present in order to do so. Naturally, the shop has several types of refined bloodlines along with methods to merge them with your bloodline. Aside from that, there are different ways to mutate and refine your own bloodline without the use of another's bloodline, if you want a more "natural" way.]

'I'm not sure... I'll ponder over this some other time. Wilhelm, let's go investigate this mission awhile!'

Rentaro questioned the idea of mutating his body and bloodline, as such a topic seemed rather interesting when thinking about gaining some newfound powers, but he felt it taboo to change the body he was born with.

Instead of taking time to train, Rentaro's curiosity got the best of him and he decided to look around the village and investigate. Naturally, Roy had no desire to sulk in his boredom and Icrin pulled himself into the group as this was his first time in the small animal village.

The clearing's area wasn't too large and the trio decided to travel to the center of the village, which should theoretically be the location with the most interesting characteristics. Walking casually, the three took in the sight of the beautiful surroundings, when the atmosphere seemed to suddenly thicken around them. Their breathing became heavy, as if they were climbing a mountain of extremely high alt.i.tude, each breath required more oxygen than the last.

Luckily, the three weren't ordinary mortals and had the ability to cultivate. Otherwise, the three wouldn't even dare to try approaching any further with the suffocating atmosphere surrounding them. Before they realized it, they had arrived at a small crystal pillar.

The crystal pillar emanated a dim purple color and with the sun high up in the sky, the color wouldn't have been visible to the trio without the surrounding trees casting their shadows over it.

Closely examining the crystal pillar, they noticed that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny runes imprinted into the pillar. Aside from the runic imprints, there seemed to be strange carvings of animals around the pillar, though the carvings didn't seem to resemble the small animals in any way.

"Ohh~, so strange!" Icrin's hand crept forward, gently touching the surface of the crystal pillar.

A humming sound resounded from the crystal pillar and a sudden repelling force was generated, launching Icrin backwards. He tumbled around six meters back, before catching his balance.

"Icrin!" Rentaro and Roy were shocked at the sudden turn of events, the crystal pillar was giving off a peaceful and gentle aura, but it now gave off a strong repulsive force.

"Phew, I'm fine. I was unprepared for such a situation to occur, that's all."

Heavy footsteps approached from the distance, they noticed that Haz and the rest of his squad were rushing over with haste as they wielded their weapons. Rentaro and Icrin shared bitter smiles, as they awaited Haz's lectures.

"Hey, you three! What the h.e.l.l is going on here? d.a.m.n, I'm in charge of you guys, you know? If anything happens to any of you, I'll be a dead man when I return!"

"Hah, Calm down, Haz. They seem to have done the same thing we did when we first arrived here." Phu spoke out as he approached the pillar.

"Oh? Haz, you also did the same thing I did? Ahahaha!"

"Shut it, Icrin! Phu, some things don't need to be spoken in front of others! And Icrin, I'll make sure to let Elder Astrona know about how you endangered yourself when we return."

"No-no-no! Please, no! That's too far, Elder Brother Haz!"

While Haz and Icrin were embroiled in their bickering, Rentaro decided to get some clarification with the others.

"Phu, what is this thing, exactly?"

"We don't have any definitive answers. We have already brought this topic up with the grand elders at our village and they seem to lack any definitive answers as well. In fact, we can't even be sure that this has any connection with our village. Our only guess is that it is the cause behind the animal's intellectual evolution, you probably thought the same, huh? All-in-all, we decided to leave it here and befriend the small animals in order to maintain tranquility and peace. Well, that about sums up this topic. Let's return to our tents and have something to eat. Ichi will be cooking tonight, so you know the food is going to be good!"

"d.a.m.n, you four always take advantage of my skill! You think I'll cook just because you want a good meal?" Ichi's voice was filled with distraught, though one could still make out a strong sense of pride in his words.

"Aw, come one, Ichi! Think of the newbies, not us." Shin patted his back, speaking with a tone of justice.

"Alright, alright! I'll cook a nice meal for my new Junior Brothers!"

"Good, haha! And while you cook for the newbies, just make a little extra for us! Easy solution to a simple problem." Shin's tone still contained a sense of justice, though it was rather contradicting with his words.

The group returned to where they pitched their tents, Ichi suddenly walked over to his tent and grabbed his bag, prompting glints of expectation to appear on his four friends' faces as if they were waiting for something.

He opened his bag and revealed that it was filled with ingredients, making Rentaro wonder if he had been learning to cook under Elder Astrona. There were different spices and crops that he brought with him from the village and a few strange plants that he had collected as they traveled through the forest.

Phu set up a small campfire for Ichi to cook with. Tsyun, quiet as always, made an appearance with a dead wolf in hand. Rentaro wasn't affected by the dead wolf very much, as he recalled incidents of road-kill that looked much worse than the wolf that seemed to die in one clean hit and he hadn't been there to kill the wolf himself, or see it die in general.

There was still a slight aura lingering around the wolf's corpse, showing that it was at foundation establishment stage 1, which would've completed Rentaro's quest, had he been hunting with Tsyun. Rentaro wasn't the only one disgruntled about not being able to join Tsyun on his hunt, as an unresolved voice rang out.

"Ahhh! Tsyun, why didn't you tell me when you were leaving?!"

"Shin, any beast would have fled as soon as they noticed you. I wanted a swift hunt, simple?" His long grayish-blue hair still covered the majority of his face, only revealing a minuscule smile on his face.

"Psh! I would've scared the animal into shock, the hunt would've been even swifter."

"Wrong, Ichi! You're too slow, Tsyun would've needed to walk really slow in comparison to your fastest speed."

The hunters fooled around with one another, as Ichi prepared the food. A savory aroma a.s.saulted everyone's noses as Ichi finished up the food. The aroma was top-tier with the addition of all the spices, but it was still below that of Elder Astrona's cooking, an old man who seemed to instill his emotions into his cooking.

Ichi served out plates of meat, full of seasonings, along with different crops on the side. Some of which Rentaro had never seen before, but the scent from them implored him to eat without a care.

The group enjoyed the meal and the experienced hunters told stories of their past hunts and made fun of one another about their past rookie mistakes. It was a happy atmosphere, paired with the setting being a village filled with small animals, it was dream-like for Rentaro.

Naturally, the hunters had remained alert at all times, but being alert was instilled in them as an instinct by now, so it didn't downplay their mood in any manner.

Night fell, the squeaking of small animals quieted and the group put out their fire. They all returned to their own tents, except Roy who returned to the system's spatial pocket.

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It was in the middle of the night, a weak aura suddenly elapsed the entire animal village.

[Lil' Bro, wake up! Quick, we have a lead!]

Rentaro shifted his body, he desired a little bit more rest like anyone, though he forced himself up as Wilhelm's voice stressed importance.

'Hah? Lead for what?'

[For your investigation mission! There was a very weak aura just now, no matter how weak it is, it definitely came from a spirit that cast his senses across the village! Putting two and two together, it all makes sense now! Go towards the pillar, I'll explain my thoughts on the way. Make sure you're quiet though and just go alone to prevent any complications from arising, it shouldn't be anything dangerous based off of the aura I sensed.]