"Bam!" Maxwell's hand came down hard with a slap on the desk Drake sat behind. " What quests are you giving to me today?"
"No, no..."
"Bam!" Another slap came hard on the desk. "Why would you not have a quest for me? There's walking the horse, cleaning the stables, and getting grass for the horses. Something, anything?"
"The other servants will take care of those tasks. There's no need to burden you with such jobs." Drake responded, his voice steady but full of fear.
Maxwell was already running out of patience with Drake as he slammed his palm again against the desk. "Bam!"
"I'll do them all, just assign them to me."
"I... I... wouldn't dare. The other servants will take care of it." Drake's face could tell otherwise from the colours. His eyes were already swollen and black, and he had lost some teeth. His hair was also a mess. Maxwell had continued to give him some doses of beating throughout the night till he could no longer recognise himself in front of a mirror.
"Bam!"
That was all it took. He tried to raise his gaze to meet Maxwell but the fear... "Fine, you can take all the quests as you wish."
"Crackle!"
"Quest Obtained: Clean the stables. Reward: 30 XP"
"Quest Obtained: Walk the horses. Reward: 20 XP"
"Quest Obtained: Feed horses. Reward: 10 XP"
Maxwell wore a smile of satisfaction immediately he finished receiving all the quests. "Just had to apply enough pressure for you to finally give me today's quests."
Maxwell was a bit happy he didn't deliver a killing blow to Drake last night. Even if the XP he got from the quests was little, it was still very important to him.
"Sir... Sir Maxwell!" Constantine called out as he ran quickly to where Maxwell stood with a small sack in his arm. "I checked everywhere I could find and this is all."
Constantine opened up the sack, stretching it over to Maxwell. Inside were different insects.
Maxwell smiled as he collected the sack from Constantine. "Once I start earning money, we'll go out for a meat treat.
Constantine gave a childish smile, saliva almost dripping from his mouth after hearing Maxwell's promise. He had always loved to eat meat and since it had been years since he had one in his mouth, he had slowly forgotten how it tasted.
Maxwell threw the bag on the ground as he began stepping on it like a dancer. Constantine just watched him as he continued, he didn't ask too many questions. His thoughts were now lost on Maxwell's offer.
"Crackle!"
"Congratulations, Player Maxwell Gillette, for killing an Insect. Reward: 1 XP. 0: Mana..."
The notification sound kept going off till Maxwell heard nothing again. He just picked up the sack as he handed it back to Constantine. "Go get more. If you can get up to 100, I'll get you a gift."
Constantine's grin grew wide. "Really?"
"Yes! Cross my heart."
Constantine left immediately.
Maxwell too, left immediately to complete his quest.
---
Days went by in a flash and Drake no longer gave Maxwell quests. Even when he received a beating. The quests he now gave out were like regular tasks he had to do without any rewards. Maxwell just continued to beat up Drake.
"Where's my Quests?"
He had not made another level up since that night he first beat Drake. It was only proper if he used all his anger on Drake since he was the one person who inflicted pain on Maxwell the most.
Without his daily quests, he could not level up, and the XP he got from killing insects was too low. Maxwell decided to take a break from beating up Drake, resting at a corner. "I have to get another means to level up. Staying here would not get me anywhere."
"Constantine, is there anywhere we could see Spawned Beasts within the city?" Maxwell asked Constantine. "Just a normal type." He reminded Constantine of the type he needed.
Spawned Beasts had different types and were of different levels. There were the normal Spawned Beasts and the Wild Spawned Beasts which had different categories. Maxwell could only take on a normal Beast at his current level.
"I don't think so, Sir Maxwell. Are you planning on killing a normal Beast for us to feast on?" Constantine asked, and he was surprised that Maxwell asked.
Constantine had completed his quest of getting a hundred insects and was now thinking of the reward Maxwell had promised him.
He was currently broke and didn't have a source of money, even the meat was a problem, like the way he struggled to eat thrice daily.
Just then, members of the Gillette Household came into the stables compound as they began to chatter like monkeys.
"The Annual Academy Entrance Competition is coming up soon and we're qualified to enter."
"We'll surely get to pass the test this time as long as we stick together."
"And the reward for passing this year's competition as the top winner is too great to let go. An Upgrade Element."
"An Upgrade Element? An Upgrade Element, this was a treasure among cultivators. Just a single Upgrade Element could skyrocket one's leveling up at top speed to Silver Rank."
"I'll be sure to emerge the winner so I can move to the next level."
"Dreams! The acting Lord only put this as the reward because his son, Sir Gregory was already at Level 3, Bronze Rank and there's nobody that can challenge him. The Lord of the Gillette Household is just here to favor his son."
"There's no one among us that can compete against Sir Gregory since no one among our age rank in the Gillette Household is up to his level."
"Maybe, Maxwell... Before he was crippled."
"That bastard that lost to a beggar. Hearing his name is bad enough but comparing him to Sir Gregory was an insult to the Gillette Household."
"Enough already. We're here to get ourselves a ride to go out of town. We're doing this in preparation for..."
The boys soon entered the stables. All four of them with their leader in front of them as they went to the front desk. "Where's the steward, steward. Go get for us, four of your finest breeds of horses today. We are headed out of town and we need elegance." He spoke with arrogance.
Drake limped as he got up from the seat, finally showing his face. "Over there." He said pointing at the horse shed. "All the horses there are well taken care of and healthy. You may go and make your choices, Sir."
"Will you look at that face?"
"Hahaha..." All four boys laughed in unison.
His face had different colors with swollen lumps all over. His eyes also suffered from black surrounding color his missing tooth had its unique features in giving him his weird face.
Tears slowly gathered in his eyes. He was about to say some words when Maxwell came in, patting him on the shoulder.
"Sirs, what services will we be providing for you today?" Maxwell asked.
The words Drake was about to say remained stuck in his throat as he felt the tap on his shoulder.
The expression on the faces of the four boys changed to contempt after seeing Maxwell.
"You bastard! Still alive hmmm. Vincent didn't do enough damage I see." One of the boys scoffed at Maxwell.
Constantine's face suddenly changed to an angry expression as his eyebrows began to form a knot. Maxwell was their saving grace since he acted as a barricade, stopping Constantine from rushing at them.
The outcome could already be decided if Constantine had attacked. He would be beaten properly.
All members of the Gillette Household were already at Level 7, Bronze Rank and two of the boys were already at Level 6, Bronze Rank. So even if a fight broke, Maxwell would have a tough time against the other two.
Maxwell immediately made a suggestion. "Why don't you go make your selections for the horses?"
The four boys immediately took long strides as they arrived at the shed. Quickly making their selections, Maxwell and Constantine brought out the selected horses, handing over the reins.
"We'll stay longer than a day at the training field so, we'll need someone to look after the horses while we train."
"Huh!"
Constantine replied grumpily. "We're assigned horse duty for the stables, not escorts outside the stables. You could look for another person if it's important."
"It should be an honor that we're asking you bastards to look after our horses. We could easily beat you for rejecting our generous offer."
"That's it!" Constantine's temper was now at its limits as he planned to rush at them.
"An honor it is, we'll surely join you to take care of your horses." Maxwell said, blocking Constantine from making any rash decisions.
When the boys requested Maxwell and Constantine to accompany them, Maxwell received a notification.
"Crackle!"
"Quest Obtained: Take care of horses. Reward: 80 XP."
"Accept/Decline."
Maxwell would never reject an offer as good as this since he would be gaining XP. He had also been paying attention to the four conversations. Since they were going to train and from their current levels, they would not be entering Eden. It must be a different location with normal Spawned Beasts.
Maxwell quickly rushed back into the shed to get two extra horses.
"And what do you think you're doing?"
"Cheap bastards want to saddle a horse along with us?"
"If we don't use a horse, how would we catch up with you?" Maxwell asked helplessly.
"Your legs fool, are they fancy?"
Maxwell walked out of the shed defeated.
"So humble, the high and mighty Sir Maxwell." One of the boys mocked him.
"Hahaha!"
The boys climbed onto their horses as they galloped out of the stables with Maxwell and Constantine following behind.
"Try to catch up with us." With that, a whip was used on the horses as they began to run.
"You'd better be ready for what comes next after I complete my quest," Maxwell muttered to himself.