Thousand Valley Town was bustling with activity. Especially near the town hall and central plaza, where both new players and killed players spawned.

Jack knew what she was doing and didn't bother herself with the players bartering with each other or requesting to party up. Instead, she headed directly to the Forge Station where weapons and equipment were forged, repaired, bought, or sold.

There was a fee of 10 bronze an hour to use a forge room which Jack immediately paid before being led to her room by an apprentice blacksmith. When she entered the room, a sound barrier was activated, so no matter how loud it was, it wouldn't bother the other guests or staff.

[Notice: Do you wish to reforge Wooden Dagger (Common)?]

"Yes."

Reforge stations allowed the player to change the quality of a weapon or equipment by fusing it with various materials. The success rate was higher if the materials used were of the same type or at least similar in nature, likewise, using materials that were opposite in nature would result in a significantly lower success rate.

However, there was still a chance that the reforging process would succeed. In most cases, the finished product would have additional stats and a guaranteed increase in rank/grade.

Almost an hour later, Jack finally managed to reforge the wooden dagger with the materials she used.

[You have successfully reforged the Wooden Dagger (Common) using the materials "Hard Bark", "Vitality Seed", and "Iron Ore".]

[Ancient Forest Needle (Bronze, Growth)]

Equipment Level 5

Requires Strength 15 Agility 20 Endurance 15

Attack Damage +95

Durability 180/180

Additional Skill 1 — Self-repair (Passive) Repairs durability by consuming nature-type materials.

Additional Skill 2 — Trigger Seed (Active) Your recent two attacks leave a flower mark behind. Upon triggering the skill, all flower marks will explode dealing base AD (+60% Bonus Magic Damage) Cost — 50 MP. Cooldown — 16 seconds.

Her reforged weapon was more than she had expected. Just the ability to repair itself was extremely rare among equipment and weapons, not to mention its ability to grow.

Growth-type equipment and weapons only required certain materials or experience to grow, increasing its stats and a small chance to unlock additional skills.

She recalled that in her past life a player called Death Blossom had a skill very similar to trigger seed, and even its appearance was almost the same as Jack's Ancient Forest Needle. They were most likely the same weapon.

Jack was notified that her time in the forge was almost over so she quickly stored away her gear before exiting the room. On her way down the stairs, she heard someone exclaiming in surprise, calling for her.

"Hey, expert! Do you remember me? I'm the one you gave the coordinates to a good hunting spot in the forest!" A familiar "good guy" hurriedly walked towards Jack with a wide grin on his face and stars sparkling in his eyes. Following behind him was the slightly embarrassed black-haired guy and the two youths who looked up to Jack with admiration.

"Who...?"

Jack tilted her head slightly with a frown as she completely forgot about their encounter. She hadn't expected anything out of their brief exchange and only told the guy about the place on a whim.

"Hey, Akira, didn't you say you would bow to the expert the next time you met them? Quickly offer her your knees in worship, hahaha!" The good guy joked about Akira's earlier statement while nudging him with his elbow.

Akira who was already embarrassed blushed even more as he scratched the back of his head.

Jack glanced at the four of them before it finally clicked in her head who they were.

"Ah, I remember now."

Just as she was about to step aside to leave, a tall robust man blocked her way. On his two sides were his lackeys who glared at Jack and the four-man party. They obviously came with bad intentions.

"So you're the expert this trash has been talking about. Who's bed did you have to crawl into to get such valuable information? Well, it doesn't matter, give us all the information you have that might be of value." The player who spoke had a boorish appearance and spoke arrogantly as if she owed him.

"What? You're not going to? Then we of the Soaring Dragon Gang will have no choice but to cripple your account!"

"Er, boss, she's gone..."

From the moment he opened his mouth demanding things from her, Jack had already activated her concealment skill and casually walked away. She had more important things to do than to squabble with some monkey. She also didn't really care about those four players and simply nodded to them before she left.

Unbeknownst to her, the Soaring Dragon Gang which was a 3rd rate guild posted a bounty with her appearance and name on it.

Jack navigated her way through the shadier parts of town for a while until she finally found the person she was looking for.

"Excuse me, sir, I've heard you needed some 'help' with a certain task."

"You want to help me? At your level?"

"Yes sir. I believe my skills are enough to help with whatever tasks you have."

"Hoh? If you can pass this small test of mine, then I can give you this chance."

The old and frail man covered from head to toe in a black robe extended his hand towards her. His nails were long and sharp, colored black, and emitted a faint smell of blood. The veins along his wrist upwards his forearm pulsated in a deep purple color.

Jack firmly gripped his hand with her own when a sharp pain shot through her arm and stabbed her heart.

[Alert! Your body has been corroded by shadow energy. You have been marked by a member of the Shadow Clan and your alignment has shifted to Chaotic Neutral.]

[Alert! You have triggered a hidden Epic Quest "Call of the Night"]

Quest Details: Aid the last member of the Shadow Clan in his quest to revive his clan to its former glory. Restricted to players with the Assassin's job.

Quest Mission I: Fill the Mark of the Night with the shadows of a hundred living creatures.

Mark of the Night — Shadows Obtained: 0/100