Chapter 12.
***
Since Jake was unable to give a proper explanation with his words, he just decided to rank out the difficulty on them with his own words.
"Blank is the lowest difficulty. These are probably quests containing creatures with no existing traits in common with the others. This is a monster that is just bigger than its actual size, for example, a meter-sized sewer rat."
"From monsters whose size is just abnormally big the next one would be the horn. A monster with a horn on it that used this as a weapon in its attack."
From here on out, Jake would start discussing the so-called monster traits he had been referring to.
"A stronger monster beyond a horn one will be the scale. Monsters who have a stronger defense and power compared to the horned ones."
"Above it is the blood. Monsters with a healing factor on them. After that are the winged monsters that can fly in the air. Griffin, wyvern, and other monsters with wings on them."
"Finally halo. Monsters that are considered a threat level of a God or Divine being."
"So the ranking is like this. Rank 1: Blank. Rank 2: Horn. Rank 3: Scale. Rank 4: Blood. Rank 5: Wings. Rank 6: Halo. Each design shows a different monster trait, the stronger the trait the stronger the monster is, the harder the quest should be—"
"Jake let's go! I already talked to my supervisor about it." Before Jake could even finish his words, Amber suddenly appeared and started dragging him out of the main hall, leaving the man alone.
The man looking at Jake leaves with Amber, plucks out a paper with a horn design on it. "So this is a rank 2 quest? Thank you." He said leaving the guild building.
— — —
The third floor of the guild had fewer people, unlike the first and second floors, which were filled with adventurers walking in and out of the rooms.
Jake wondered who he was gonna meet with. "Hey, Amber, who is this person you talk to?" He asked.
"She's my supervisor or senior. She's been working here for a decade at best. She's used to working as an adventurer herself, but after some betrayal on her team, she decided to stop and work as a guild worker."
'Hmmm. A woman huh? That's a problem.' Jake quickly grasped what he was about to face in this private room he was being dragged to.
Once they were right in front of the room, Amber pulled him by the collar and said: "Whatever you do. Do not fall for her seduction, she'll do it in there. Just get the money in and out."
Jake nodded to her words making sure he was not letting himself be tricked like that. With that, Jake opened the door of the room and entered alone.
"Good luck!" Amber said at the last second before the door closed.
….
Once the door behind him closed, Jake smelled something in the air, "A perfume… but this smell… It's like that one I met in the forest."
Jake recalled back to his time in the forest before finding this place. In those weeks, Jake had to deal with many monsters among them were the seven succubus that chased him for over a week straight.
"No wonder Amber warned me about her."
At the far end of the room, he spotted a woman in her 40s with vibrant red hair waiting for him. She had a curvy figure, accentuated by her notable bust.
Anyone who caught a glimpse of her would be captivated by her beauty, as she possessed a strikingly attractive face.
'So this is the person who found the Glass worm?' She thought, assessing Jake figured.
Grinning inwardly. 'Well, I just need to show a bit of my womanly figure and this guy will be heels over me.'
Amelia originally worked as an adventurer from the day after her baptism until she reached her mid-twenties.
After experiencing a betrayal by her team, she decided to leave that life behind and work at the guild to help newcomers.
She took pride in her appearance. Standing around 6 feet 2 inches tall with a large chest that could captivate any man, she saw herself as the dream of many.
Not only did she have an impressive upper body, but her lower body was equally remarkable. Over the years, men have often praised her looks and her chest in their attempts to win her over.
Though she never allowed anyone to spend the night with her, she appreciated the compliments.
One rule she had made for herself was not to share her bed with anyone unless she believed that person could be the one she would spend her life with.
However, she occasionally found herself swayed by the admiration men expressed for her figure, from her toes to her waist. Hearing them speak of her beautiful thighs and belly sometimes caused her resolve to waver.
Simply, though she does not think of herself as one, she knew she was a woman who could have any man alive with her body alone. Making Jake in front of her as nothing but one of those men.
The moment Jake was a few meters from her table, she raised her chest in the air and rested it on the table surface.
A few buttons came undone on their own, showing a crack between her chest. Seeing Jake's gaze shift to the sight, she knew he was gonna be an easy target.
When she learned Amber knew a person that has a glass worm, she went and put on her tight uniform that would unbutton itself if she moved a bit carelessly.
'In the end, men are still men no matter the age.' She thought before starting the conversation with Jake.
"Mr Jake, I heard you found something rare in the forest of West Gate." Her voice was gentle as an angel whispering to one's ear, but even with the voice of an angel her tone carried a seductive tone.
Jake simply nodded to her words and pulled out the three Glass worms in his pocket and placed them on the table before sitting down in the prepared chair for him.
Once he sat he locked eyes with her, showing he was not interested in her body.
'This woman really knows a man, huh? Too bad for you, I don't like women with large breasts. I like small ones, like Am—' Stopping his thoughts, he realized that Amelia before him had a wide expression on her face.
Getting rid of her plan to win him over, using her figure, Amelia said to Jake: "100 gold coins…per each of them." Even stopping her seductive voice to him.
"I want a partnership with you. I'll buy all your herbs at twice the price. If you make a contract with me."
She expected the quality to be just gonna be low, but to think the one in him was a high-quality one. Not only was it high-quality but the size of it was abnormal.
The typical size of a glass worm was only one or half an inch and even if they were the lowest quality, their worth is still 10 gold coins at least.
Seducing Jake was off the table. What she wants right now is to make a contract with him, to be his business partner. Having someone like him would definitely be a better choice than making a one exchange.
"Sorry, I can't do so. I already made a contract with someone that I would only sell my herbs to him." Hearing his response, Amelia felt the surge of happiness within her disappearing…
'If he already had one, why would he even be in here then!?' Unable to face the rejection of his, her mind was falling apart.
"But I'm willing to exchange this for a…." Hearing his words, she wondered if he was being serious.
"Didn't you already make a contract with someone?" Amelia asked.
"I did, but the deal I made with him is to (only sell) the herbs I have to him. I didn't say I couldn't exchange with someone else. So how about it? Give me this ...., and I'll exchange this glass worm for you?"
Seeing how Jake still had his eyes locked with her, while waiting for her hand to shake hands with him, she agreed.
Standing up, her shirt suddenly unbuttoned itself to the last, revealing the red innerwear she was wearing. There, before Jake, her bare stomach skin was shown fully to him.
Embarrassed, she closed her shirt back with her hands, looking over to Jake, expecting that look on men who lust after her body, yet instead she found him holding up his hand to his eyes shut.
"Why don't you change into another one before we do this?" Jake said, still keeping his hand to his eyes.
"Yeah… I really should." Keeping the last bit of pride in her, she ran into the closet of the room to change back to her actual size uniform.