CHAPTER 214: QUEST COMPLETION!

Hours passed and the students walked through the large forest. The vigor and enthusiasm they had at first was now replaced by exhaustion.

The forest seemed to stretch for eternity, and it felt as if no matter how much they walked, they would never reach the end.

Currently, in a clearing, one of the eight groups could be seen battling a pack of furious horned rabbits. These rabbits were protecting the herb the students were tasked to gather.

From their few encounters, the students had come to discover that the herbs were very important to the beasts here, and the creatures wouldn’t just sit by and watch humans take them.

"Is it only me, or the deeper we go into this forest the more powerful the beasts are?" a bald student commented, barely dodging the sharp claws of a super-fast rabbit that would have split his stomach apart.

"It’s not only you, baldy. Stop yapping and just focus on getting rid of the monsters," the leader of the group growled angrily.

After a few back-and-forth exchanges, the group dealt with the monsters and took the herb, placing it inside a sack.

Gabriel watched the scuffle from a large tree. This particular group was very close to his location, so he could see them perfectly without needing to watch from the live feed.

"Their leader is too irrational and lacks the ability to detect traps beforehand... furthermore, he’s too careless," Gabriel deduced.

So far, no student had caught his attention like the mysterious Samantha, whom he felt had a good head on her shoulders. All the other leaders were immature and simply seeking thrill.

To seek thrill wasn’t exactly wrong... but when you’re weak, it was pure foolishness.

Gabriel was about to take his gaze off the group of students when he suddenly paused.

On the ground, just beyond the clearing, the group halted before a narrow rope bridge across a ravine. Gabriel adjusted his position, leaping lightly across branches until he had a clear vantage point.

"Alright, let’s move! It’s just a bridge, don’t be cowards!" the leader shouted as he stepped onto the planks. The bridge swayed violently. He laughed to cover his own nerves and beckoned to the others.

But halfway across, the rope started to groan, and the leader froze—his face pale, arms trembling. "Uh..."

Before he could react, the side rope snapped, and the bridge tilted sideways. He lost balance, his body falling toward the rocks below.

"Fuck! Fuck!" His eyes widened in shock as he felt death staring right at him.

When his teammates saw this, they were too stupefied to even shout for help, simply watching with wide eyes.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thick branch fell from above, landing perfectly across the slanted bridge. The boy slammed into it, clutching desperately.

It felt odd how a branch had appeared out of nowhere to save him, but the leader didn’t have time to think about it. Instead, he roared at his teammates, "Help me up, you dumbasses!"

The others, still shaken, finally snapped out of their trance and quickly dragged their leader to the safer side.

"How... where did this come from?"

"It’s odd... it can’t be coincidence, can it?"

"Does that matter now? Let’s return or find another way to leave this place," said the leader, fear in his eyes.

Sometime later, the group retraced their steps, abandoning the crossing entirely.

As they left, no one noticed the faint shadow moving back into the canopy.

Gabriel’s expression didn’t change as he adjusted his footing on the large branch.

That kid had been seconds away from splattering. He didn’t like wasting effort on fools, but the job was the job. He leaned back against the trunk, scanning ahead again.

’That makes two near-deaths already. Let’s see how long they last.’

His eyes shifted back to Samantha’s group. This time he didn’t watch from the feed. Instead, he cut down a sturdy vine and used it to swing from tree to tree until he reached their location.

Just like the others, they had reached a clearing where a wooden bridge arched over a slow-moving stream. At first glance, it looked safer than the previous one—sturdier planks, and the ropes seemed just as strong.

But Samantha frowned. She picked up a pebble and tossed it onto one of the middle planks. The moment it landed, the board flipped over like a trapdoor, leaving only an empty gap.

The students’ eyes went wide.

"That’s not a bridge," Samantha muttered. "That’s bait."

"Then how do we cross?" a girl asked nervously.

Samantha’s eyes moved to the trees. She seemed to be deep in thought. After pondering for some moments, she pointed ahead.

"Those roots. We’ll climb and use them to swing across. One at a time."

When they heard this, the others stared at her as though she had gone mad, and murmurs spread within their midst.

"Swing across? Are those even sturdy?"

"I say we go back! It’s not worth it. Besides, we’ve gathered enough herbs!"

But before anyone could argue, Samantha leapt, catching a thick branch overhead.

FWOOOSH! She swung once and dropped neatly onto the far side. She then turned and gestured for the next person.

They were stunned, but finally, the girl who had spoken earlier awkwardly tried the same. She almost slipped halfway, her sweaty palms sliding off the bark. Her body dangled above the rigged bridge. Panic spread across her face.

"Don’t look down!" Samantha shouted anxiously. "Use your legs!"

But the girl was losing her grip.

"I don’t want to die! Someone save me!" she cried, her legs swinging wildly in the air.

High above, Gabriel clicked his tongue. He dropped the coil of vine he had cut earlier. It swung down right in front of the girl’s chest. She seized it instinctively and hauled herself across, crashing onto the far side.

Samantha helped the girl stand up.

"That just now..." she muttered under her breath, narrowing her eyes at the vine, then at the trees above. For a moment, she seemed to sense something—or someone—was helping. But she said nothing and turned back to guide the next student across.

In another part of the range, Miss Clair followed the movement of all groups from her tab.

So far, she had not interfered in any group—not because she didn’t want to, but because someone always beat her to it.

’He’s very, very efficient,’ she muttered, replaying the footage of Gabriel’s sneaky interference. Because of the advanced surveillance, she was able to see his movements.

Though he was too fast for the camera at times, with the slowing function she was able to catch him.

"Well, at this point I can confidently relax," she thought, retrieving a stool from her inventory. She crossed her legs elegantly while observing.

...

Similarly, the general was also watching the ongoing missions of the students—or at least, that was what anyone would think. In reality, his sole focus was on Gabriel.

Thus far, he was impressed with everything he had seen.

The general leaned back, stroking his chin as he said with amazement, "This brat’s perception and speed are on a whole different level, far surpassing that of a normal Level 50 adventurer... if anything, it’s comparable to a hero rank."

Earlier, the general had asked one of his subordinates to conduct research on Gabriel. That subordinate returned and, after a salute, reported:

"Sir, it appears his name is Gabriel Reyes. He’s pretty popular back in the kingdom, especially Stellar City, from dominating the Inter-Guild Display Event. Some say he’s the main reason the Adventurer Guild won."

"I see." The general stroked his chin, and a brief look of sadness flashed across his eyes.

"Such a pity," he said moments later. "Someone like him wouldn’t want to be stuck here."

The general’s initial plan was to offer Gabriel a job here, but now that he had learned of his identity—and with such monstrous strength—he doubted Gabriel would accept the offer.

But little did he know, he was right. Gabriel wasn’t one to work for others!

Back in the forest.

By midday, the groups had spread deeper into the range. The trees here were massive, roots like walls, their branches forming a ceiling that blocked out much of the light.

The groups had covered half of the areas indicated on their maps and were now exhausted. None of them lost their lives or were fatally injured. At worst, they sustained injuries, which were quickly taken care of by the healers amongst them.

Of course, Gabriel continued to intervene whenever things got too messy. Meanwhile, he kept an eye out for Samantha. However, she seemed to have realized that someone was helping them, or perhaps she knew about the surveillance. In the end, she actually started to hold back. Gabriel eventually gave up.

If she was ready, she would find him.

Just like that, the first day passed with many near-death encounters.

The second day was even more intense, and even Miss Clair had no choice but to interfere at times, though she wasn’t as swift or sneaky as Gabriel.

By the time the second day came to an end, the students let out breaths of relief, and the following day they quickly made their way back to Stellar City.

And just like that, Gabriel completed his quest. But not only this... he also completed the territory control quest as well.

Which meant there was just one more quest left to officially announce his guild.