Armipotent

Tang Shaoyang split the team into four teams. Three teams took the subjugation quests, and the fourth team took the gathering quests. Goldien the Golden Gator led the two moonlight Rabbit for the subjugation quest, Liang Suyin took the two from the intelligence division for the second subjugation quests, Ava led the two elves for the gathering quest, and Tang Shaoyang took the last subjugation by himself.

They prioritized efficiency since it was just a goblin subjugation, and Tang Shaoyang took the quest from the furthest village because he could fly. It was just a few minutes flights with his speed until he spotted the village.

"Is this the village?" He was not good at reading a map, but he followed the directions correctly, yet he was unsure if the one below him was the village he was looking for. He cut the hesitation and landed right in front of the village's entrance. Wooden fence circled the village with people on guard with the farming tool. Two guards at the entrance wore lousy leather armor, one held a sickle, and the second held a hoe. His arrival startled the two guards as they jerked away from Tang Shaoyang.

"W-Who are you!?" The nervousness was visible in the tone of the guard. Despite the fear, they held their weapon up, facing the man who had just landed from the sky.

"Is this Murial Village?" Tang Shaoyang replied with his question instead of answering the two alerted villagers.

Both questions remained unanswered, but Tang Shaoyang found his reply. Above the village entrance, he saw the board with the words, "Murial Village. It seems I have come to the right place."

After confirming he had come to the right place, his attention returned to the cautious village, "Hello. I am an adventurer from Murika Town. I came here to complete the quest issued by your village." He took out the adventurer badge with the quest paper and showed it to the two guards.

The two villagers looked at the badge and exchanged looks. One of them braced himself and stepped up, "We don't know much about the adventurer and the quest. I will call the chief for confirmation. Can you please wait for a moment, Sir?"

Tang Shaoyang nodded, "I will wait, but please hurry up."

One of the guards ran into the villager, leaving the other one at the entrance. The lone guard still held his hoe up with his trembling hand. The trembling was visible to the eye, but he did not cower. The guard stared at Tang Shaoyang intensely but looked away when their gazes met.

The other guard was quick with his call as a group of people came out from the village two minutes later. A man in his mid-forties led the group, looking somber and weary. They hurried up to the entrance, and the guard introduced the chief of the village, "This is our Chief." Then the guard ran to the back of the group after that.

"Good Morning, Sir Adventurer. I am The Chief of Murial Village, Unai," The man in his mid-forties was the chief. He smiled as he introduced himself to Tang Shaoyang, "I heard from the guard that you take the quest issued by our village."

"Mnn," Tang Shaoyang nodded before showing the wooden badge and the quest paper to the chief.

Unai furrowed his brow at the sight of the wooden badge, but his hand still moved to take it from the adventurer. The wooden signified the man in front of him was the lowest rank adventurer. He said nothing as he read the quest paper, confirming it was the same quest he issued to the Adventurer Guild. He could understand why only wooden rank adventurers wanted to take the quest. His village could not afford the big reward, so he could only accept it even if the lowest rank adventurer took the quest.

"I will need one guide to lead me to the goblin nest. Can you arrange that one person for me, Chief Unai?" Tang Shaoyang made a request. He could just ask for directions where the goblin nest was, but it would be faster with a guide, "I would like to finish the quest right away."

"I can arrange…. I will be the guide," Chief Unai changed his mind as he did not want one of his villagers to be the guide. Once the subjugation failed, the guide would mostly like to die, and he did not want his people to die. He was the chief, so he would take the responsibility, "Don't we need to wait for your party before we depart, Sir?"

"Party? No, I am alone. Get ready as soon as possible. I will give you five minutes to prepare yourself," Tang Shaoyang scanned the chief, who wore linen clothes and sandals. The chief was clearly not ready to guide him.

Chief Unai's eyes widened in shock. He thought it was a party who took the quest since it was a subjugation quest, but alone and a wooden rank adventurer at that. He could not believe that the Adventurer Guild allowed one lowest rank adventurer to take the quest. The guild should be aware of what would happen if the subjugation failed; the people would be in danger. Unai's mind spun around, thinking about how to send the adventurer back, mixed with dizziness in his head. He wanted to do it politely without offending the adventurer.

"I understand your concern, but the guild must have the reason why they allow me to take the quest, no? You can trust me with the quest," Tang Shaoyang read Chief Unai's mind right on point.

Of course, those words were not enough to convince the chief. The man still did not believe Tang Shaoyang. The stake was too big for him to trust a wooden rank adventurer.

"Damn, I am just not good with words," Tang Shaoyang said in a small voice. He tried to do his way with words, but it quickly reminded him why action was much better than mere words. He stopped trying to convince Chief Unai with his words and showed these people what he was capable of.

Maldros the Black Storm Dragonewt, Feera the Chimera, and Ronan, the Helion Wolf, appeared right behind him. The appearance of the three figures shocked the villagers as they subconsciously stepped away from Tang Shaoyang. The imposing figures of the monsters scared them all.

Tang Shaoyang told the three not to hold their aura back, but at the same time, he told them to control their aura. This was just a show, so he did not want to hurt these people.

"How is it, Chief Unai? Do you think I am alone enough for the subjugation?"

The chief opened his mouth, but he closed it again. He wanted to say something, but he did not know what to say. His mind was blank at the sight of three imposing figures. His eyes moved around between the three figures, but his eyes fixated on Maldros in the end. The dragonewt had obvious characteristics of a dragon; maybe that was why.

There was a reason why Unai was the Village Chief. He immediately snapped out of his shock and collected himself.

"I apologize for underestimating you, Sir. I don't mean it. I am truly sorry for my rudeness. I will accept any punishment for my wrongdoing but please spare the villagers. They are innocent."

The first thing he did was an apology, realizing the wooden rank did not reflect the adventurer's true ability. He did not understand and did not know why someone who could summon these strong creatures was a wooden rank, but that was not his concern right now. His mind was thinking about how to appease the adventurer because the adventurer might be offended by what he had done.

"I don't care about that. Let's skip that and get to the main business. Have someone to guide me to the nest and let me complete my quest. I am in a hurry, so you better hurry up," Tang Shaoyang waved his hand. He did not care and was not bothered by whatever Chief Unai was concerned about.

"I will be the guide, sir," Chief Unai immediately volunteered himself to be the guide, "Do you need me to fight too, Sir? If so, I need to get my equipment at home."

"No! You just need to guide me and stay next to me all the time," Then Tang Shaoyang pointed at the three spirits behind him with his thumb, "My summons will stay around the village. They will protect the village while we are away."

"Thank you for your kindness, Sir." Chief Unai bowed toward Tang Shaoyang, "I am ready to leave right away."

Chief Unai spoke to the villagers, and the group of two departed into the forest.

However, it took them just ten minutes to return to the village. Chief Unai returned to the village with a shock on his face. As if he had seen a ghost, and his thoughts had not returned yet by the time he returned to the village. He stood next to Tang Shaoyang with his unfocused eyes.

Tang Shaoyang snapped his finger close to Chief Unai's left ear, and the man woke up from his trance.

"I have completed the quest. Can I have your signature for the quest?"

The quest paper was right before him the moment he woke up from his trance. Different from the gathering quest, where the adventurer had to give the guild the item, the subjugation quest needed the signature of the quester.

"Ah, right. My signature…." Chief Unai was still shaken by what he had just witnessed. His hand reached a stamp under the clothes and stamped the quest paper. The stamp glowed in red for a second before dimming down, leaving an intricate symbol. That was how the adventurer completed the subjugation quest. The paper was proof that the adventurer had completed the quest.

The Emperor furrowed his brow as curiosity struck him. The stamp was not something ordinary for sure, and he wanted to know how the stamp worked. The first thing that came to his mind was whether he could use the stamp for the empire. 'We will gain access to the third floor anyway, so it can wait for later. Focus on the mission for now.'

Tang Shaoyang took away the quest paper from Chief Unai and left the village with no words. He did not really care about the reward, so he just left without inquiring about the reward. As soon as he recalled the three spirits, he flew away.

*** ***

Adventurer Guild

The female attendant behind the counter looked at the party in front of her in shock. She looked down at the counter, five different herbs, and three quest papers with a stamp. The indication that the party had finished the quest. She kept looking back and forth between the party and the stuff on the counter.

"No way," The female attendant blurted out.