NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Mission
The ship was about four kilometers away from Enzo, but the speed of the water he was controlling was much faster than the fastest car he was riding in.
He estimated the speed to be almost 300 km per hour.
With that kind of speed, it didn't take long before he approached the ship and finally saw the people on it who looked different from humans on earth, like the difference between westerners and Asians but they weren't one of them.
Although the ship was small, he saw that there were at least 15 people on it, consisting of children to the elderly.
They seemed to be carrying a lot of clothes and foodstuffs, rather like people who were migrating.
When they saw him, they seemed to be waiting for him to come, led by a hunched old man.
They even looked like they were asking for help.
Splash!
He landed beside their ship.
Seeing him standing on the swamp water, they were surprised and amazed.
"Mr. Adventure, do you wish to go to Fogmira City?" asked the old man leading them.
Enzo raised his eyebrows at the question because he didn't even know Fogmira City.
However, since hearing that, he decided on that city as his destination.
"Do you guys need an escort? I can help, but I don't know the way there," Enzo replied.
He was being honest like someone who was ready to accept a mission if there was one.
"According to this compass, Fogmira City is that way," said the old man, showing his old wooden compass while pointing in the direction his ship was heading.
"We've gotten separated from our group," he continued, "and with just us, it'll be difficult to move as we'll probably run into Swamp Zombies and and other monsters. We need your escort, but we're just poor villagers, so we can't pay you much."
While saying that he couldn't pay much, he showed a cloth bag containing several Life Cores that were probably only at Level 2 and 3.
If added up, there were twenty of them at most.
Before Enzo could react, the old man suddenly gave a special sign to the young man beside him and the young man then picked up something inside the ship's bridge.
It was a wooden box that wasn't too big, probably about the size of a watch box, having a padlock that was already open.
The young man handed the wooden box to the old man.
"Mr. Adventure, we have an ancient artifact that you may find useful. If you don't mind, we'll add this artifact as payment," said the old man as he opened the wooden box in front of Enzo.
The latter could not help but stare at the wooden box with serious eyes that did not blink at all.
When accepting a mission, the best reward one could receive was the ancient heritage owned by the locals.
Those who were poor often used them as payment for the Awakeners.
It might be artifacts, weapons, skills, or anything else that could not be used by the locals but was of great value to the Awakeners who could use their power.
Usually, the higher the status of the locals, the more valuable the inheritance they had.
When the wooden box was finally opened, Enzo narrowed his eyes.
Inside, there was an iron bracelet that had a crocodile carved on it.
DING!
(Crocodile Morph Bangle; is one of the Transformation Bangles, an artifact that allows the user to transform into the animal carved on it!)
(Warning: since you found the Crocodile Morph Bangle because you were offered a mission by the locals, you are forbidden from robbing them. You must complete the mission from them if you want to get it. An offense will be punished!)
Two notices came to Enzo when he saw the bangle in the wooden box.
This was not the first time he had heard of an artifact like this. Even before he became an Awakener, he had heard of it because it was not that rare and its unique ability made it famous.
Only, he wondered why it had to be a crocodile.