The Gourmet Innkeeper: Cooking Monsters in a Fantasy World-Chapter 326: Adventurer Mission

There were too many uncertainties, and there was little they could do without any more information.

For now, the best way to spend their time was to focus on their strength. It so happened that it was that time of the month when he had to take a mission, as agreed upon with the Elders.

The mission hall had a tool similar to the one in town.

There was the rune in the middle and then they’d just have to ’scan’ their status gems and a list of the missions and their details would appear. It felt both magical and advanced.

He honestly didn’t expect it when he took his first missions back then, thinking the mission board would just be paper on, well, a board.

He also didn’t expect they would invest in using the same system in the branches they built here!

He heard that the mercenary hall heard that the adventurer’s team invested more in their infrastructure, too. Soon enough, they’d probably have the same, just to be petty.

That said, even if they didn’t, it would’ve been normal. Most missions for the mercenaries were held in the safe zone, after all. There really was no need to spend so much money for it here.

Anyway, as a toughened-level adventurer, he was now allowed to take C-Class missions, and the mission he chose was monster culling in level 2 (which was a relatively common type in this rank).

The entirety of the next day, it could be said that he was twice as productive as he usually was. The team comprised him and two fortified-level people, Syl and Gideon. They were handling the monsters of their level and then weakening the others, while he was focused on monsters of his rank.

The mission required them to go against a horde of a quadrepedal beasts with gorilla-like forelimbs, armored backs, and raw muscle. They were mostly toughened level, so it was just right for him.

They were called Cliffside Maulers and preferred to roam on the side of the mountains. Syl volunteered to guard the path there, so they could focus on the mission without having to worry about new monsters coming in.

While they scouted the place, the three maulers dropped from an overhang.

Gideon quickly waved his massive sword to block an attack and pushed the other while Finn used his [Assessment] skill immediately.

[Used! Assessment]

[Cliffside Maulers. Weak Points: Underbelly, throat. Resistant to blunt damage]

This was really useful; a lot of people would be saved knowing these. He wondered if he could send out information. Paper was expensive and the printing press technology they had was limited to Cities, but perhaps he could make a book and profit from it.

The adventurer guild shouldn’t mind, since monsters were the common enemies. Still, the guild would definitely get a few copies for free and get the rest for a discounted price...

"Are you daydreaming right now, Finn?"

He saw that Gideon was busy defending against three maulers in front of him. Fortunately, their level was just about Tier 3, so during a challenge, he could manage to defend for several moments without gaining any injuries despite being outnumbered.

He also attacked a bit to lower their levels, but he made no attempt to make lethal shots for now.

They had the agreement of making Finn fight most battles with Gideon, only protecting him as needed, as part of his training. They’d keep this up until one of Finn’s stats got reduced to about 30%, and if they had no more potions, in which case they’d be heading straight back to the Inn.

"Oops, sorry."

He jumped up and used the skill [Gravity Spike], attacking the monster at the center. The attack pulled the mauler down a bit, which disrupted one of its attacks that had targeted Gideon.

Syl was tens of meters away from them, maintaining ice walls along with an ice platform she was standing on. With her there, even if it was just them, they would not be overwhelmed by the mobs, and Finn could focus on handling the mission targets.

From the ground, Finn then lifted his weapon up and swiped right to left, targeting the enemy’s weaknesses.

He had already somehow gotten used to his growth-type weapon, which was currently akin to a superior C-Class weapon.

He was still careful when changing its forms, though. It had once been stuck when he got tired, and he almost had to fight a toughened beast with a cooking pan.

ROARR!

He deftly avoided its arm, giving him a clear view of its arm. He then used another new skill [Venom Slash], making sure to swipe more than one. It worked per swipe, so to maximize the effect, he can hit more than one with it.

He smiled when he saw them wounded. On top of Gideon’s earlier attacks and his succeeding ones, as well as the effects of the poison, the monsters started to slow down.

Gideon continued to guard while Finn went on an attack, slowly mastering how to deal with this specific monster. Even Gideon was surprised by his progress, nodding appreciatively.

Sadly, Finn was too busy to see this. Otherwise, he would’ve celebrated.

In this battle, Finn used every part of the halberd. He swiped with the axe, pulled with the hook, blocked with the shaft, and stabbed with the tip. He also made sure to practice his new skills well, so that they could become more and more instinctive when he was using them. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Soon, only one remained, and he knew this one had a core. The ones with cores tended to be much stronger in attack and defense than others of the same rank, naturally so.

So while the other two already died, this one was still going berserk and attacking relentlessly, and it was only because Gideon was there that Finn had yet to break a bone.

SLASH!

BAM!

Finally, with a precise thrust, he stabbed at the neck of the last one, finally taking it down.

...

Huff...hufff

"Finally over!" he yelled, and Gideon nodded appreciatively again. Syl appeared next to him with a smile, handing him a snack as if rewarding his hard work.

However, while they were having a breather, their upper peripheral vision was triggered by a vision. They saw flying monsters at a distance, heading deep into Level 2.

This flying monster was the same one he saw Frago use back then, and also the same species that those men they encountered were riding before.

His eyebrows furrowed. What were they planning this time?