Level 40 and the Demon's Token
You have defeated the low demon Croal.
Bonus points have been awarded.
You have reached level 40. As a reward, you have received a beginner skill.
You have reached level 40. You can receive a gift box from the NPC related to your class.
You have satisfied one of the conditions for Room upgrade.
You can start a class scenario quest from the NPC related to your class.
“……Man, that's a ton of notifications.”
Reaching level 40 triggered a barrage of alerts like they'd been waiting for it, enough to make his vision spin for a moment.
Carpe checked each one carefully before nodding.
“Finally hit level 40. Way faster than I thought.”
-Indeed. I figured it'd take at least another day... That Croal demon must've been a walking experience piñata.
“Kuh. This is why you raise minions, huh.”
Honestly, Carpe had always wondered what the appeal was for jobs like necromancer or tamer—you just sit back and watch. But experiencing it firsthand? There was definitely something to it.
While he lounged in comfort, his minions handed him items and experience on a silver platter.
Freebies.
Overwhelmingly delicious freebies!
The kind so sweet it made his lips curl up involuntarily.
And on top of that, watching his minions grow gave him this weird sense of pride and accomplishment deep in his chest.
Popular jobs were popular for a reason.
“My liege. The enemy has been vanquished. Thank you for entrusting me with this duty.”
The triumphant general's noble return!
Maybe it was the heat of battle, but unlike her usual porcelain-pale skin, her cheeks were faintly flushed, adding even more life to Tina's face.
-Hey, isn't this weird when you think about it? She's a homunculus doll, right? Flushed cheeks mean blood flow, but dolls don't have blood...
‘Ah, this guy's killing the vibe again. Please don't shove science into my fantasy.’
Ignoring Cheonma's buzzkill commentary, Carpe celebrated Tina's victory.
“As expected of Tina. Good work.”
“Tina... so cool. Amazing. Didn't get hit once.”
“Kyuu kyuu!”
Tina's cheeks seemed to flush a bit more at the praise from Carpe and the others.
She cleared her throat with a dignified hem! before approaching Carpe and dropping to one knee.
“I am relieved I did not tarnish my liege's honor. My liege, this is the trophy from the defeated foe.”
With that, she held out a round medal-like object to Carpe.
Ding.
◈ Proof obtained by defeating a demon. Demons pose a grave threat to humanity. Show this to a high-ranking official to claim credit and receive a reward.
“Oh? Special item?”
-I mentioned it before, right? There's a demon-hunting event in the future. The rewards depend on how many of these tokens you collect.
“Ah.”
-You're the only one with it right now, so like it says, you should get a pretty good reward.
“Got it. Guess I should swing by the village first.”
Unfortunately, that was the only drop the demon Croal left behind.
Probably a monster with insane experience but no loot to compensate.
“It was a formidable opponent. If it had appeared with its full power intact, even I might not have prevailed.”
“Oh yeah, it came over in a nerfed state, right.”
Since the Magic Core hadn't fully taken root yet, the demon had suffered massive stat penalties.
Carpe looked up at the sky.
The ominous, pitch-black glowing Magic Core.
“Fire Arrow.”
Boom!
Carpe's flaming arrow shattered the Magic Core clean through.
Whether it wasn't that durable to begin with or Carpe's attack power was just broken, it crumbled effortlessly.
The Magic Core has been destroyed.
The dungeon has been cleared. You will be returned to the original location in 5 seconds.
After those 5 seconds, Carpe was back in Wind Cave.
[Ah! You've returned safely!]
And the mid-level wind spirit Silphiruaene was waiting for him.
[The demonic energy leaking from the rift has vanished. Thank you so much. How can I ever repay this kindness...]
“No big deal. Wasn't that hard.”
Not hard—Carpe had basically just spectated.
[This should prevent any further deterioration. Of course, recovery will take a long time.]
If only banishing the demon and destroying the core restored everything, but the leaked demonic energy couldn't just be scooped back up.
[I purified all the children I could with my power, but those deeply corrupted by the demonic energy were beyond saving.]
And the thick demonic energy would continue affecting any new wind spirits born here.
[Restoring nature once it's been tainted takes a great deal of time. Only the years can heal it.]
“So... not much changes from before, then.”
[Not at all. Preventing further corruption is achievement enough. Thank you truly.]
“I see……”
Carpe felt it was a bit of a letdown, but game-wise, it was unavoidable.
If one player clearing a quest purified and erased a dungeon, it'd confuse everyone else.
Though there were exceptions, Wind Cave wasn't one.
-Yeah, the darkened spirits have to stick around. Imagine the uproar if people couldn't farm Wind Set anymore—Ruana's big draw.
‘……Come to think of it, I didn't get any either.’
Considering Carpe's usual luck, that was shocking.
Since entering the dungeon, he hadn't gotten a single piece of Wind Set!
He'd killed plenty of wind spirits and even more KD guildies wearing Wind Set, but zero drops.
Sure, the KD guys dropped higher-grade hero stuff, but no Wind Set pieces.
‘I wanted at least three pieces... Not a single one? Is this even a game?!’
-Luck-forsaken games are like that. Lucky bastards get it off one mob; the rest grind thousands and get zilch.
‘Didn't get many Wind Essences either... Tsk. What now? Grind more?’
As Carpe pondered, Silphiruaene approached again to express her thanks.
[Thank you once more. Please, accept this.]
'Silphiruaene's Request'
🎁 Reward:Wind Essence x100
“……Huh?”
-……Insane. That's enough for five full sets with leftovers. And a level up? It's been less than five minutes!
Struck by a wind essence jackpot and experience thunderbolt instead of money, Carpe's eyes went wide.
[I'm sorry if it's not to your liking—it's all I can offer...]
“N-no, it's more than enough.”
[Then I'm glad. I hope we meet again.]
* * *
Silphiruaene bid Carpe farewell and departed.
As a mid-level spirit, she could handle some exposure, but to be safe, she was leaving Wind Cave.
“Hmm. So this dungeon's bossless now?”
-Doubt it. Probably some mutated darkened low spirit becomes the new boss or something. It'll keep going somehow.
“I see.”
Carpe nodded.
With level 40 achieved, he could head back—but he decided to poke around the cave a bit more instead of rushing to Ruana.
The hostility with KD wasn't cleared yet.
System-wise, Carpe and KD were still at war, and since KD struck first, they dropped items on death to him.
“Gotta milk every last drop.”
Carpe resumed hunting KD. Planning to stir infighting again, but...
“Heh heh. This time, way higher quality.”
“……Master? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Mirage. You're my only hope.”
About 30 minutes later.
“Die!”
“Graaak! Carlson, you bastard—why me?!”
“I've hated you for ages!”
The man called Carlson felled the last KD guildie in the dungeon. The victim died with eyes wide in disbelief at the betrayal.
“Phew. That do it?”
“Yeah. Good work.”
And naturally, “Carlson” was Mirage in doppelganger form.
She reverted and glomped onto Carpe.
“Tired.”
“Yeah. Time for a real break. Wanna go in the pocket?”
“Yeah... okay.”
She shifted to doll mode and burrowed into his robe pocket.
“Phew. Now it's really over. No way they regroup after this.”
-……You're ruthless. Was this necessary?
“Justice executed! The great evil is gone. Peace returns to the world once more!”
“My liege. A most righteous path. I shall follow with utmost loyalty.”
-……Master and servant both nuts. Sheesh.
Cheonma shook his head.
Carpe exited the cave regardless.
“Huh?”
-Hm?
At the entrance, two factions were locked in fierce combat, divided and oblivious to his exit.
“Die, you cowards!”
“Look who's talking! We won't be slaves! Wind Cave belongs to all RaSe players!”
“Feel the difference in power!”
They were too engrossed to notice Carpe, who figured this must be prime PK territory and activated his return scroll.
Returning to Ruana.
The scroll whisked him to Ruana's central district.
-Not a bad trip. So, what's next?
“Priorities are set. Just the order.”
With Wind Essences in hand, visit blacksmith Zeke to complete the quest; level 40 meant updating the class quest too.
And show off the Demon Token from Wind Cave.
-Conclusion?
“Demon Token first.”
No big reason—just that Ruana's lord's castle was right nearby.
The castle sat in the central district, unaccompanied by other facilities.
As Carpe approached, the gate guard blocked him.
“Halt. This is no place for casual entry. Stranger, what business?”
“I have business with the lord.”
“Nonsense. The lord is far too busy. You don't just waltz in.”
“Then take a look at this?”
The moment Carpe pulled out the Demon Token, the suspicious guard's face paled dramatically.
“M-my apologies! Please wait. I'll fetch someone at once!”