The herd of goats fled, allowing Axton some minutes of respite.
Now that he was done and had managed to secure 100 horns and the ore that the blacksmith wanted, he was going to exchange them for the three items from Iron Buck.
He was filled with joy and turned around to head back to the village.
It was at this time that the other players seemed to have realised what had just happened and began to express their feelings, opinions and thoughts.
"H-H-How…?"
"How did he do that?!"
"Are you sure he's also level 1 like all of us?"
"Which level 1 player can slay a hundred goats so easily?"
"There's no way… he must have an A or S rank talent to be capable of this at this stage."
Axton had proven himself and made them swallow their demeaning words.
Even some of the players who had cursed him and called him pompous started to lobby for his attention as they approached him for one thing or the other.
"Forgive me. I was wrong," the random player from earlier came again. "Let us join your team."
His request this time around was different. Instead of trying to recruit Axton, he wanted the latter to recruit him.
Axton glanced at him and continued to walk away, much to the player's disappointment.
"Tch!" the player gritted his teeth in embarrassment.
Axton rejected his proposal, along with many others.
He was not a fool.
Now that he had witnessed his power, they suddenly want to ally with him.
Axton already knew they did this so they can have a smooth sailing ride in New Eden while he does all the work.
As Axton walked away, a ding drew his attention.
*Ding*
[For killing a Horned Mountain Goat, you have earned +1 Exp and +1 copper coin]
[Congratulations!]
*Ding*
[Critical hit effect initiated!]
[You have gained 100 Exp and 100 copper coins (equivalent to 1 silver coin)]
*Ding*
[+1 Level up]
[You have leveled up to level 2]
[Congratulations!]
Axton stopped, his body slightly shaking as he laughed lowly with excitement while reading all of these prompts.
He was now level 2 and it was a reason to be happy.
Nevertheless, Axton was still surprised that experience points could be multiplied by the critical hit bonus.
Leveling up in New Eden was difficult.
While others would need to kill more goats to get to level 2, Axton only needed to kill one of the goats.
Axton was so happy.
[You have gained +5 stat points]
[Stat points can be shared as you wish]
The stat points were necessary for leveling up in the game and there was no other way of gaining them apart from actually doing quests or killing monsters.
These points could be shared across the different parameters, primarily increasing a person's character and how powerful they would be in the game.
Axton quickly distributed the 5 points he gained into attack and defense stat.
For now, he was not considering agility.
'If an opponent's attack cannot penetrate your defense, it doesn't matter how fast the opponent is,' Axton thought as he justified to himself the reason he didn't want to boost his agility just yet.
However, he did consider the fact that he would run into a stronger enemy at some point, then he would have to boost other parameters. After all, one-on-one situations were the bane of his talent's existence.
Axton pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He hoped to rely on items he would get at this stage, as well as his critical hit bonus, for survival and back up for his deficiencies.
******
Axton's heart was filled with excitement as he arrived at Iron Buck's store to turn in the 100 horns he collected as well as the ore.
"Three common grade items might not be so bad after all," Axton muttered to himself.
"You are back already?" Iron Buck asked with surprise glaring on his face.
He was shocked that the player who left his shop a while ago was already back as he was expecting him to take a few days like the rest normally would.
"Did you find the Horned Mountain Goats?" the blacksmith asked.
Axton looked around and noticed several other players who were present and going about their respective businesses.
Not wanting to draw any unusual attention to himself, Axton requested some privacy with Iron Buck.
"Can we talk inside?" he asked.
Iron Buck nodded and obliged him. "Yeah sure."
As he followed Iron Buck's lead into another room in the store, Axton couldn't shake off how realistic the game was.
Even the NPCs, like Iron Buck, were not rigid and mechanical like most games where they offered a defined set of responses.
NPCs in New Eden were intelligent and flexible, reacting to different situations in different ways as well.
To Axton, it felt as if he was talking to another player, only that it was being controlled by the game system.
******
As they entered the room, Iron Buck went over to a table and rested his buttocks on it while crossing his arms over his chest to listen to what Axton had to say.
Iron Buck was indeed impressed with Axton's record time for completing the quest, if he did do so, since the blacksmith was yet to confirm it himself.
"I'm pleased with your efforts and the speed with which you completed the task," Iron Buck commended Axton.
"To think it was easy for you."
Axton smiled and shrugged like it was nothing.
Well, he did not break a sweat while doing the quest, all he did was swing his axe a number of times.
"Let's see what you brought then."
Axton approached Iron Buck and stood beside him and close to the table while releasing the specific items from his inventory.
100 horns of the Horned Mountain Goats.
The ore wanted by the blacksmith.
Iron Buck's eyes grew a little bit wider now that he had confirmed that Axton was indeed successful at carrying out the quest.
'Impressive,' the blacksmith thought. 'Really impressive. He really did—'
"What! A hundred horns!"
Iron Buck came out of his mind and shouted in shock.
He wasn't expecting Axton to have completed the quest while also achieving the maximum requirement for the highest tier of rewards.
He looked at Axton with a curious expression and the latter once again, shrugged and smiled.