I Know the Secret to Surpass Level 100

The woman trembled as he watched the young boy glare at her with flaring eyes. The hair throughout her body stood as she bent down slowly, picking the pouch of money and dashing out the door.

Instantly, Elliot's mood changed. He turned to Josephine and smiled. "Well, I best be off. Wait, how many sheeps do I need to hunt for a piece of cloth?"

"Young man, w-why?" Josephine couldn't help but fall on her knees. "Y-You spent that much money for us and you're acting like nothing's happened. Was that money fake? Or perhaps a-are you rich?"

Elliot bent down and smiled at the elderly woman, helping her get up and sit on a chair. "Ma'am, you don't have to worry about anything. I know what it feels like being looked down upon just because I don't have money and all."

"B-But 500 gold coins… I don't know how to repay that," Josephine cried. "And I'm too old for such a debt. I don't want Viper to owe such huge of a debt. I–"

"Ma'am," Elliot cut her off and chuckled. "You don't have to worry about a thing. All I want from you now is to help me sew. That's all I really need. And the money, well, I'm an Adventurer, see. I have loads of money."

No, I don't. I'm so broke right now. Elliot cried in his mind.

"Oh," Josephine let out a breath of relief. Elliot could see that her shoulders started to relax. "Okay, good sir. I will do my best."

Viper, her grandson, ran up to her with shining hopeful eyes. "Grandma, I wanna become an Adventurer too! I want to be rich and then I'll help you live a comfortable life."

This made Elliot smile and laugh lightly. Somehow, he could see himself in the younger boy. That was why he was furious after the woman insulted them

He ruffled Viper's hair like how Lance would ruffle his. "That's the spirit! Anyway, I have to go hunt the sheep. How many do I need?"

–

Elliot walked to the hills beyond a small farming village called Spranty Village. He placed his hands in his pocket and felt its emptiness. For the first time in these past few months, he was broke.

"The Manual seems to know what I need in the future though," Elliot thought. "This always happens everytime there's a weird reward the Manual has. What a dope."

He continued walking for a few more hours until he reached the village where he asked an elder about the sheep.

"So, over that hill, there's an abundance of Great Gallant Sheep?" Elliot asked the elder.

"Yes, but those beasts are Voracious, young one. Even a group of Adventurers would have a hard time fighting those," the elder replied.

"Elder," a younger man ran up to them. "The sheep had attacked again. This time it's the fields."

"So, they're attacking you?" Elliot asked. The village elder was about to ignore him when he repeated. "I'll handle it."

"Young man, the village does not have funds to pay you," the elder said.

Elliot pursed his lips but chuckled. "Don't worry, this is free of charge. The sheep are the real intention as to why I came here anyway."

"Really?" the younger man who came up to them asked hopefully.

"Of course! Plus, I really feel helpful today. Everything seems fine," Elliot chuckled. "Now, lead me to the beasts."

"They're huge!" Elliot gasped after seeing the herd or sheep. There were about 12 of them, more than what Elliot needed. It was even a marvel how he needed two sheep for a button-down shirt.

Josephine, and even the elder, mentioned that Gallant Wool would compress so much when sewn, it would convert itself into fortification of the cloth it will be made into. This was why they needed a spinning wheel that works with mana to sew the Gallant Wool.

"Hasty Aspire!"

Elliot launched himself into one of the sheep that instantly avoided him. Even with their large size, about the size of a horse, they could still move quickly. The boy slashed behind him after feeling an ominous aura. The sheep dodged him even when his movements were still affected by the Hasty Aspire skill.

"Young man! The sheep senses those who attack them and would gang up on him!"

Elliot looked at the elder with wide eyes. "You're telling me that now?"

"They're quick, agile and quite fluffy. But there must be a weakness somehow," Elliot thought while avoiding the sheep's attacks. He could do well avoiding them but it could somehow predict his next step when he was on the offensive side.

"Whatever. I just need to get faster."

"Hasty Aspire! Lotus Blast!"

Elliot fired the first petal to a sheep, successfully hitting it. The sheep looked like it got dizzy after being hit by the attack, slowing down to which Elliot took as an opportunity to continue his attacks.

'Gallant Sheep killed. +1,000XP'

'First Gentle Voracious Beast killed. +2,500XP'

Elliot swiped all the notifications aside and continued on his hunt. He chased the sheep and also discovered that he only need the first 5 petal attacks from the Lotus Blast to kill one sheep, the three for another, and the lotus flower for another.

Not long after, Elliot had finished his hunt. Josephine said he needed one sheep for the top, two for the bottom, and two for the coat. Now, he's wondering what to do with so much sheep.

"Young man, a group of Adventurers came here before and were annihilated with just 5 sheep. But you… you're spectacular!"

"I am?"

The villager started to gather around him. Elliot was amazed by how amazed the villagers were at him.

He maneuvered his way out of the crowd and started collecting the carcasses without using his Creator's Sloth skill. Although the villagers did not look like the ones who would rat him to the king after seeing the variety of magic he uses, he still needed to he careful.

"I'll go take my leave now," Elliot bowed to the elder and the villagers. They all bowes to him and thanked him.

When he got back to Josephine's shop, it was already mid-afternoon.

"Y-You really did it," Josephine gasped.

"I told you I would do it, didn't I?" Elliot chuckled. "By the way, I have a question."

"What is it, young sir?"

Elliot flinched at the honorific but dropped it. "The sheep seemed to have very low magic resistance. But you said their wool would provide a great magic resistance. Why is that?"

"That's because the Gallant Sheep has what we call an Aptitude."

Elliot and Josephine glanced at the direction the voice came from. On the further side of the shop, just by the dressing room, a man with pink hair leaned on the wall. "That was quite a fight you put up, Mr. April."

Elliot quirked his brow. "What?"

"My name's Theodore Gwinsace, the Adventurers' Commisioner," he said and offered his hand. "You have great potential in you Mr. April."

"I–" Elliot was about to stop Theodore from calling him April, completely forgetting that it was the Adventuring name the Manual chose for him. "I don't think I am following you, Mr. Commissioner."

"The Royal Family would like to invite you and your team to Solaguer to discuss, a possible partnership with you."

"The Royal–"

Before he could finish, Lance had called Elliot. He excused himself and took the call. Lance would never call if it was nothing important.

"Hey," Elliot greeted.

"Hope is missing," Lance said. "No one had seen him since this morning. He never told anyone where he's going."

"Maybe he just went to the market?"

"Lance!" Connor came running towards Lance. "Kian…" Connor panted. "They saw Hope going into Isabelle's shop with Kian."

–

"Where are we going?" Hope asked as they walked inside the portal door. Kian looked distressed and exhausted. "Mr. Kian, you're scaring me."

"Morph," Kian instructed.

"Mr. Kian–"

"Morph," Kian repeated. He looked at Hope who had fear in his eyes. He sighed and apologized. "Sorry for dragging you into this, Hope but the White Dragon Emperor needs you."

"The White…"

"Your race needs you. The Supreme Dragon Emperor had betrayed us. He was the one who turned the Water and Flame Dragon Emperors into villains. Hope, he's going to come after all of us, that is why we need you."

Hope gulped but nodded. "Okay. I'll come."

They morphed and launched themselves in the air. Since they were of the race even in their dragon forms, they could still communicate.

"Where are we going, Mr. Kian?" Hope asked.

"You'll see. Just keep up," Kian replied. "It's easy to get there because of the current but it's hard to come down."

"What curr– ahh!" Hope could only growl after feeling himself being blown upwards. There was a strong force that was blowing him away and he was roaring as he was spinning and flipping mid-air.

"Calm down!" Kian yelled.

The current led them to a vortex and Hope was trying to get away from it when Kian eased him. "Calm down, Hope. This is only the entrance. You don't have to panic."

"The entrance? To where?"

The vortex sucked them inside. There was a very bright light at the end of it to which it was blinding Hope. He felt the light pass through him and the strong forces stopped.

When he opened his eyes, he could only gasp at the sight.

Hundreds of floating islands were suspended in the air, water flowing from some of them. The sun seemed to shine even brighter there, crowning over everything it could reach. And what Hope looked up to the most was the flying creatures that looked like him.

He looked at Kian who was watching him in amusement.

"Welcome to Dracon."