Chapter 2

With light steps, Marvin left the Wild Horse Inn. Despite the slightly oppressive atmosphere of Riverbank City in the evening, he still felt as if he were in his element.

When he turned into a small alley and stepped into the shadows, he instinctively made a stealthy movement.

These were good habits that helped a thief move more silently while sneaking.

However, Marvin, who was currently weak and not a professional, naturally couldn't activate the stealth skill.

Turning a corner, two young faces were handing over today's earnings to a burly man—Marvin recognized one of them, a second-level thief. These young thieves stole in the city, but they had to hand over all their earnings to the gang that managed them.

The burly man glanced at Marvin, seemingly noticing the noble emblem on his sleeve, and muttered something.

Marvin lowered his head and quickly left.

He wasn't in a position to cause trouble right now.

...

Riverbank City, under the rule of the Southern Wizards' Alliance, was no different from other cities in that the development of the churches of various gods was difficult. However, in recent years, the Silver Church had become an exception, not only firmly establishing itself in Riverbank City but also becoming the third largest power. This was related to the domain of the Silver God. Although the proud wizards always only revered the greatest Wizard God Lance and never paid attention to other deities, even the proudest wizards needed money.

Since the God of Wealth fell, the Silver God, a deity with minor divine power, was also highly favored by merchants, and the wizards who ruled Feran for an era were no exception.

Marvin knew the nature of the priests of the Silver God well. These guys were money-grubbing; as long as you paid enough, they would use their limited daily divine spells on you.

The priests of this church were also one of the few who could buy divine healing with just silver coins.

The original young man wasn't unaware of these channels; he just wanted to save some money, which ultimately cost him his life. Marvin didn't want to repeat the same mistake.

Deep in the alley was a pawnshop, located in a rather secluded spot, but it had a good reputation in his memory.

The owner of the pawnshop was an old goblin wearing a pince-nez, with a cunning and sly appearance. Seeing Marvin, he grinned, clearly recognizing a regular customer.

A fine pearl necklace, after Marvin's efforts, was exchanged for 150 silver coins. In fact, according to his accounting skills, the necklace was worth at least 300 silver coins on the market, and if Marvin wanted to redeem it, he would need at least 330 silver coins.

Pawnshops were a business of high profit, but Marvin had no objections. He was currently weak, and his negotiation skill was only a pitiful 19 points, unable to activate additional effects to get more silver coins from the old goblin.

He carefully hid a small money bag. The silver coins in this world were about the size of a thumbnail, and 150 coins, though sounding like a lot, could fit in a small pouch.

Leaving the pawnshop, before his fever worsened, Marvin found the on-duty priest of the Silver Temple.

After paying 80 silver coins, the seemingly kind middle-aged priest finally agreed to show Marvin the "Radiance of the Silver God."

A simple [Disease Removal] and [Minor Healing] made Marvin's fever disappear, and his health was fully restored.

"Your body has recovered from the disease under the effect of the divine spell [Disease Removal]!"

"The 70% reduction in all attributes due to the weakness penalty has been lifted!"

"Health restored: 26/26!"

With the divine heat flowing through him and the data scrolling before his eyes, Marvin couldn't help but feel excited.

The damned weakness penalty was finally gone!

His health restored to 26, he felt much stronger.

"You look very healthy now, young man," the priest of the Silver God said with a hint of fatigue, dismissing Marvin.

He was currently the lowest-level priest, able to cast only three divine spells a day, and each use greatly drained his mental energy.

Marvin quickly left, but he didn't return to the Wild Horse Inn. Instead, he began his plan!

To survive in this world!

He needed to have his own strength. The invasion of the gods and the Abyss was imminent, but the more pressing issue was the territory.

Without the intervention of the Riverbank City lord's guard, it would be impossible to eliminate over a hundred hyenas. In this mysterious hyena attack, Marvin sensed a conspiracy.

Especially in his mission panel, there was a soul-bound mission clearly recorded:

[Reclaim the Territory - Hyena Invasion]

[Mission Description: In the summer of 297, the fourth century of the Wizard Calendar, your territory was invaded by hyenas. You barely escaped with your life and sought help from the mayor of Riverbank City, but the officials' evasive attitude was suspicious. Perhaps your experiences in the city should make you more alert. You can't rely on others; you can only rely on yourself.]

[Mission Reward: 1000 General Experience Points]

[Mission Deadline: 29 days remaining]

...

Soul-bound meant that unless you deleted your account and started over, this mission would always accompany you. Marvin clearly couldn't delete his account and commit suicide.

He had to admit that the mission reward was generous, offering 1000 General Experience Points. General Experience was the highest level of experience, on par with Slaying Experience, and could be allocated to any profession. 1000 General Experience Points could take a basic adventurer from level 1 to level 3, which was a rocket-like advancement in a world where gaining experience was extremely difficult.

The mission description made it clear that this mission could only be completed with his own strength. If Marvin were still the weak and powerless noble he used to be, he would ultimately fail. As he told Anna, he needed to change.

First, he couldn't rely on the common profession of a noble to survive; he needed a combat profession.

As a legendary player, Marvin had a plan even before he left the Wild Horse Inn.

...

Riverbank City, Commercial District, back door of the Succubus Tavern.

A homeless man pitifully curled up in a sleeping bag, begging passersby, "Give me some alcohol, even diluted..."

He strained his neck, sniffing frantically, as if the mere scent of alcohol from passersby was a great satisfaction.

"Get lost, old drunkard!"

An irritable thug kicked the homeless man, who rolled several steps while clutching his sleeping bag.

People passing by the back door laughed heartily.

They had no sympathy. This was the grimmest part of the commercial district, just two streets away from the slums, where various gang forces fought incessantly, and all kinds of money-making businesses operated underground: prostitution, slavery, military weapons trading, and so on. Few good people gathered here.

The homeless man, clutching his stomach, sadly pulled his head back into the sleeping bag.

After a group of people passed, the alley became slightly quieter.

However, when the pure aroma of rum wafted over, he couldn't resist sticking his head out of the tattered sleeping bag, seemingly oblivious to the vicious kick he had just received.

His eyes were fixed on the bottle of freshly opened rum.

"Ten silver coins a bottle, golden rum," a young voice said.

The homeless man couldn't take his eyes off the bottle of golden rum and could only judge from the voice that it was a young person.

"Sir, please, give me some..." The homeless man suddenly sprang up, trying to grab the bottle of rum.

But Marvin had anticipated his reaction, taking a big step back and looking at the red-eyed homeless man, he said,

"To gain something, you must first give something."

The homeless man crawled out of the sleeping bag, a foul smell spreading. He swallowed repeatedly, his voice trembling, "What do you want?"

Marvin smiled and handed over a written letter and a block of fresh red ink. This was the prop he had prepared in advance.

To be honest, he wasn't sure if this would work, but it was the fastest way to get a job. He had learned this shortcut from a close friend in the game.

In "Feran Continent," getting a job wasn't easy. First, you had to be well-trained (meaning you had to have at least five levels in the basic profession [Commoner]), and then you had to complete a job task to take on a related profession.

Given Marvin's current situation, if he followed the normal process like an ordinary person, it would be too slow.

He had to try some shortcuts.

To take this shortcut, he even gave up his most beloved and familiar first-level profession [Thief] and chose another similar profession. Fortunately, this profession's final advancement included the ultimate profession [Master of the Night], or Marvin would never have given up his most skilled profession.

The homeless man took the letter, read it for a long time, and then pulled out a black, dirty object.

"Got it! This guy was indeed a high-level adventurer, at least a second-level adventurer!"

Seeing the profession badge, Marvin knew his observation was correct. Although the homeless man looked down and out, many of his unintentional actions revealed his past profession.

For example, the way he curled up in the sleeping bag was very similar to a useful skill—[Hide].

"I can't do this, my conscience won't allow it!" The homeless man struggled.

Marvin smiled and said, "Of course you can."

Saying that, he handed the bottle of golden rum to the homeless man.

The homeless man's breathing suddenly became heavy. He grabbed the dirty profession badge, pressed it into the red ink, and finally left an imprint on the letter.

It was a circle of holly leaves, with a name in the middle: Mark Shuwen.

Marvin took the letter with great joy, and the homeless man drank the bottle of golden rum greedily. Before he finished, Marvin quickly left the alley.

The recommendation letter was in hand.

The job task was completed.

Half an hour later, when Marvin walked out of the Ranger Guild, he had a new badge on his chest.

This marked his successful acquisition of the first-level profession—[Ranger].

At the same time, he also received a title with a special effect.

[Newborn Ranger]

...

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