"This... this is Dorian? That Blood Wolf bandit chief Dorian with a hundred-gold bounty?!"
After a brief moment of shock, Lila instantly collected her emotions and immediately recovered her professional composure.
She carefully placed the bag containing Dorian's head into the designated slot on the workstation. The brass cover clicked shut with a snap.
Beyond Orum's view, at the back end of the workstation, Lila's slender fingers danced rapidly like butterflies, and she whispered incantations to communicate with the magical device.
The next instant, directly above the workstation, a magical spotlight connected to brass pipes suddenly emitted soft green light. The glow flickered for a moment, then slowly dimmed.
"That's right! This is indeed Dorian's head. You've successfully completed the bounty!"
Lila confirmed joyfully to Orum.
"Please give me your adventurer's badge, and I'll immediately process the reward collection procedures for you."
"Alright."
Orum responded.
He had just reissued his adventurer's badge at the black workstation and now directly handed over this brass-cast badge engraved with sword and shield runes.
As Lila operated the workstation again, the slot soon popped open automatically.
The previously bloody and horrifying head had vanished into thin air, replaced by a brand new money pouch bearing the mark of the Kingdom Bank.
The pouch was bulging, as if about to burst from the gold coins inside.
Orum opened the pouch's seal and counted once. Sure enough, there were one hundred gold coins!
After securing the money pouch, Orum couldn't help but marvel at how generous the kingdom's investment in adventurers truly was.
A full hundred gold coins, with no taxes or fees, delivered solidly into his hands just like that.
"I have two more tasks. I'll submit them together now." Orum added calmly.
"Certainly! An adventurer as formidable as you always has extra surprise gains!"
Meeting Lila's fervent and envious gaze, Orum produced two more small cloth bags.
One contained the right ears of ten goblins, worth two gold coins.
The other contained a purple crystal from a mutated withered treant, fist-sized, worth at least forty gold coins or more.
One minute later, the green light atop the workstation lit up again.
Orum held the two money pouches and counted them unhurriedly.
One rather deflated pouch contained two gold coins, obviously the reward exchanged for the goblin ears.
The other heavy pouch actually contained eighty gold coins, which once again exceeded Orum's expectations.
He hadn't expected this single purple crystal to be so valuable, a full two times his initial estimate!
Come to think of it, this made sense. After all, this crystal had condensed from a huge withered treant.
Its size should be in the largest category, so naturally the profit would be much higher.
"Adventurer sir, for the [Investigate Misty Forest's Mutated Plants] task you submitted, besides these eighty gold coins as the base reward, you also need to go to Blackwater Town's monitoring station and submit detailed plant intelligence to Scholar Hal.
There will be an additional ten gold coin reward."
Lila's sweet voice rang out, pulling Orum back from his thoughts.
"I understand." Orum nodded. He had anticipated such "extra tasks."
After all, mutated plants were a new species appearing in Misty Forest.
Not just the purple crystal itself, but various intelligence related to growth habits, mutation principles, and such were also extremely valuable.
Naturally, the kingdom was willing to pay a high price to acquire this information.
"By the way... adventurer sir," Lila suddenly changed the subject, looking seriously at Orum. "Have you already mastered a combat technique?"
"Yes." Orum nodded. He didn't plan to hide his abilities. After all, he'd be taking on various tasks going forward, and his strength would eventually be exposed.
Rather than being evasive, better to demonstrate part of his strength to gain greater respect and bargaining power.
"In that case, you have the qualifications to become a professional. You can register as a 'quasi-professional.'" Lila explained.
"After becoming a 'quasi-professional,' you can obtain higher access privileges and browse a richer task list!"
"To become a professional, one must first master combat techniques?" Hearing this, Orum's heart stirred, and he asked curiously.
He had previously known nothing about professionals in this world, only that there were many types of professionals, but the difficulty of becoming one was very high.
Only when Lila mentioned professionals did Orum suddenly understand that there was a connection between professionals and combat techniques.
"You don't know?" Lila's small mouth opened slightly, revealing a surprised expression.
Orum really couldn't bring himself to say this was his first time out on a mission.
After a moment of silence, he said, "I can't remember at the moment. Please explain it in detail."
"So you're an adventurer sir with poor memory." Lila blinked her eyes, seeming to believe Orum's explanation.
She organized her thoughts and explained patiently, "I remember... to truly become a professional, you must learn the prerequisite 'combat techniques' or 'spells' of the corresponding profession."
"For example, the 'Warrior' profession requires proficient mastery of three combat techniques: 'Whirlwind Slash,' 'Charge,' and 'Battle Cry.'"
"The 'Mage' profession requires proficient mastery of three spells: 'Mage Hand,' 'Magic Missile,' and 'Identify.'"
"Additionally, there are some extremely special professions that require a mixed combination of spells and combat techniques.
These professions are extremely difficult to obtain, but their combat power is said to be extremely formidable, far exceeding ordinary professions."
"When all three combat techniques are proficiently mastered, you'll receive recognition from the world's laws.
At that point, accepting the profession will allow you to advance to become a level 1 professional."
"I see." A flash of insight crossed Orum's mind.
He remembered that the combat technique manual treasured in Dorian's pocket had the full name:
Combat Codex: The Way of the Sword
"Could it be that the three combat techniques recorded in the manual are the prerequisites for the 'Way of the Sword' profession?!"
"Learning these three combat techniques would grant the 'Way of the Sword' profession!"
Although he didn't know what the combat power of the Way of the Sword profession was like, Orum had already formulated a plan in his mind to learn all of the "Thrust," "Sword Dance," and "Jade Slash" recorded in this combat manual and practice them to proficiency.
"Speaking of which, what are the prerequisite spells for the Necromancer profession?"
Orum's thoughts drifted, and he couldn't help but think of Skeleton Sis he'd just met today.
In life, she must have been a powerful necromancer. Even if she couldn't teach Orum to become a mage, he could still gain much profound understanding of spells and the Weave from her.
"Then let me register as a quasi-professional first." Orum gathered his thoughts and said with a smile to Lila before him.
"Certainly, adventurer sir!"
Lila responded enthusiastically, then took out a form resembling a parchment scroll and handed it to Orum with both hands.
"On this form, you can select the profession type you wish to register.
This will help you team up with other adventurers in the future and participate more conveniently in various Adventurer's Hall activities."
The form was densely packed with all kinds of professions. Orum scanned roughly and found there were as many as two hundred types.
Not only were there major categories like mage, warrior, and rogue, but each also had dozens of branch professions, all neatly arranged.
"So many?" Orum couldn't help but marvel at the historical depth of this world's adventuring tradition.
After pondering over the list for a moment, Orum placed a checkmark next to "Sprite Knight."
With this excuse as cover, even if the magical beast organs displayed increasingly powerful abilities in the future, others could only sigh at what an incredibly powerful noblewoman stood behind Orum, what a powerful and favorably biased Sprite patron.
Before leaving, Orum asked Lila, "Lila, do you know of any reliable blacksmith shops? I want to sell some equipment."
"Also, are there any inns that provide delicious meals? I just came back from the forest and don't have a place to stay yet."
Hearing Orum's words, Lila's eyes suddenly brightened. "For blacksmith shops, I've heard adventurers mention that Rawn's Forge on Central Street has very fair buyback prices."
Lila's tone shifted, her cheeks flushing slightly with a hint of obvious pride.
"As for inns, I highly recommend the 'Oak Inn'! It's very close to the Adventurer's Hall, and... I work part-time as a chef there in the evenings. My cooking is first-rate!"
"You're also a chef?" Hearing Lila's words, Orum was taken aback.
"Of course! I work three jobs a day. Being a receptionist at the hall is just one of them."
Lila counted on her fingers one by one. "Morning shift delivering newspapers, midday shift as receptionist, evening shift as chef."
"Three jobs a day? A working warrior?"
Orum was stunned. He hadn't expected that this girl before him, who appeared no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, would have such a grueling lifestyle.
Only now did he carefully observe the girl before him for the first time, noticing that besides her unusually fair skin, Lila also had a pair of small, inconspicuous demon horns growing on her forehead.
These demon horns growing on her forehead indicated that Lila's blood contained a partial tiefling heritage, with atavistic features appearing.
Because Lila's appearance was so exceptionally outstanding, people meeting her for the first time were often attracted by her beauty, making it hard to notice these demon horns.
Neither pure human nor truly tiefling, this kind of anomaly often suffered exclusion from childhood.
However, what Orum was thinking about at this moment was something else. Since Lila could work three jobs simultaneously, her information channels must be very well-connected.
Assuming in the future he had anything he didn't understand, he could directly seek answers from Lila.
"I'll remember this inn. I'll come taste your cooking tonight." Orum bid farewell to Lila.
"My cooking will definitely satisfy you!" Lila looked at Orum with solemn eyes and clenched her fist super hard.
Seeing Lila like this, Orum couldn't help but laugh, because she really looked like an adorable squirrel.
After packing up the three money pouches, Orum left the Adventurer's Hall and headed straight for Rawn's Forge that Lila had mentioned.
The clanging sounds of metalworking were already clearly audible.