That said, since he was already out in the Eastern areas, he wondered if he could clear that last time-bound mission. It was a flexible mission like the brootrat one and he didn't know when it'd suddenly change again.

He shouldn't expect that he'd be as lucky as he was with the brootrats, right?

Not to mention, the thing with the brootrat was hastened, and he almost failed! He was definitely not planning to procrastinate and do it when the deadline was near.

It was better to take advantage that he had a strong party!

At this, he took a peek at his [Mission] tab to check his missions. He had three left. One was a Hearth Mission of receiving 50 Good Reviews from customers, another was to pay his debts (damned countdown for when it would start charging interest, making his eyes twitch), and then there was the vine clearing mission.

[Active Mission (Flexible): Kill Thornspawn Creepers]

[Information: A large infestation of Thornspawn creepers has grown less than a hundred kilometers from the Eastern Dungeon. They are poisonous by nature and have been rapidly spreading through various areas, slowly smothering native flora, which can prove detrimental to the area's biodiversity. Please complete the quest within 5 months.

Time Limit: 4 months

Progress: 0/1000

Completion Requirement: Kill 1000 Thornspawn Creepers

Reward: 10,000 Hearth Points ]

After they dealt with another mob of monsters, Finn looked at the rest of them. "Does anyone know where I can find a lot of Thornspawns?"

This made them look up, and recognition lit up in quite a few eyes. He decided to get straight to the point.

"My master sent me a letter to kill 1000 of such things," he said, looking down in melancholy. "Otherwise, he… could remove the barrier…"

"WHAT!?"

"HUH?! WHY!?"

"NOOO!"

Finn's lips twitched. The reaction was a bit more passionate than he thought.

That said, he wasn't one to get favors, especially when it could get dangerous. Kindness was one thing, but they shouldn't be abused. It could make people tired.

"I'll give everyone here a 3-day free stay voucher if you help me finish this within the next few days. Including all three meals~"

The offer made everyone sparkle. "DEAL!"

And like this, he managed to get a dozen people with him to finish the mission~

...

Fortunately, the area sprawling with Thornspawns wasn't too far away from where they were training. It was just about half a day's trek northeast from where the Inn was built, and a couple of hours from where they were right now.

Well, technically, it could've been longer, but who told his team to be strong enough to barrage through mobs of awakened and toughened monsters? He had a fortified-level person in his team, Victor, so he really didn't have much to worry about in this area now that they weren't slowing down to match his pace.

The thornspawns were fairly common near the dungeon and in Level 2 areas, but there were places farther away where they could be seen so they didn't have to go that far, nor did they have the strength to do so.

According to Miya, the Lian team nerd (she coined this herself), thornspawns could be found in places with acidic soil, and it happened that part of the mountain they were near was karst, and they settled down on the bottom. It was not too far from where he met the Traniels (Marcus' group), in fact.

Since the two missions were set in those areas, it could be said that the area was bad news. He could not imagine what it was like, actually, near the dungeons!

It did not take long for them to find the so-called monsters, and they were creepy as heck.

The vine monsters covered a lower portion of the mountains. They were elongated vines that moved, squirmed, and squiggled on their own and in large groups. It was much like watching thousands of snakes cluster together, except it was vertically on a steep slope instead.

They were incredibly chilling, especially with the occasional skull that'd peek amidst the vines. Worse was when another bone from another body part would be found elsewhere, meters away.

Urgh

The group did not recklessly approach it and stayed at the side for a while, planning on how to handle it well. Although it was counted as an awakened monster, if one considered how many there were, even their team would have trouble.

Finn looked and saw a few more skeletons. Some even had sinews, still stretching around it.

"This is so gross. How do they kill people like that?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Miya answered him literally. "If a living thing enters their scope, they can grab them and trap them there, slowly consuming them from the outside.

"Their fluids are also slightly acidic, making the death slow and incredibly painful."

Finn's eyes twitched, and so did the others. "Damn… this is more serious than I thought."

Nona looked over, and with that straight face of hers, mumbled in curiosity. "I wonder how long it takes to consume a body."

"..."

Finn shook his head, pulling the topic back in a less morbid direction. "How far is their reach?" he asked.

"It depends on their level and nutrition… but I heard they could grab people more than ten meters away."

"Damn."

Fortunately, the monster was only an awakened plant-type monster and was actually physically weaker than an animal-type beast. However, it tended to cluster in massive groups, so it appeared and functioned as a larger organism that could take down toughened. Fortified-level might be fun, just hassled, but the thing about the mission was that he had to kill these things himself if he wanted them to count.

As for the rest, even the toughened ones could be in danger if they didn't handle this properly.

This was his mission, which was pursued with a bit of spontaneity. Finn wouldn't be able to live it down if someone died because of it.

Finn stretched his arms, staring at the snake-line monsters with determination in his hazel eyes.

What should he do this time?

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