Due to the amount of people wanting to be taught by Shale, the competition lasted for a few days.
In the meantime, those who weren't interested in it immediately picked up their pace in training.
Noel also stepped up on his training. After the incident, Noel knew if he wanted to shut people up, he needed strength powerful enough to scare them. So, he trained his body to the limit.
He even asked Anna to increase the pace of their training by a whole different level. Instead of running around the training ground, he proposed to run around the town. They could use the people as the obstacles, allowing them to have a greater return when facing a forest terrain.
Anna, of course, agreed and asked for the permission from Shale. After agreeing to his condition in not bothering too much people, Shale let them go.
With this kind of training, Noel could fulfill two missions at the same time. He could do "Training: Running" and "Helping Townspeople Medal," allowing him to progress by leaps and bounds.
Of course, there was no restriction to where they could train anymore. Hence, Noel asked Anna to have a spar before and after the training, progressing his "Training: Rivalry" and "Rivalry medal."
With this advantage, Noel could shift his time to do "Training: Push Up" and "Training: Sword Swinging" in his nighttime exercise. And before he slept, he could study about Rune Strokes.
Noel utilized this schedule to improve everything that he could.
In the meantime, the person that became Shale's mentee was the last of the three people that didn't bother Noel when he started training here, the bald muscular guy.
Even so, Noel didn't bother to look at everyone because his mind was filled with training. And it seemed that everyone was scared of him as well.
It couldn't be helped, considering Noel beat Azgar half-dead and the next morning, Azgar somehow died due to his relation with the Supreme Devil Organization.
They didn't want to provoke Noel anymore because they might end up dead.
With such a peaceful environment, Noel progressed by leaps and bounds.
And finally, two weeks had passed. Noel and Anna came to Shale to accept their missions.
"Hoh? You are the first pair to come to me for a mission." Shale widened his eyes because he expected some fools to go to him first. It seemed that the duo were impatient. "A group mission is it? Alright."
"No. We'd like to have one group mission and one individual mission."
"Can you even handle two missions? And what are you doing with the individual mission?"
"You don't state any rules that we can't cooperate in our individual mission." Noel shook his head.
"Tsk." Shale clicked his tongue, knowing that a noble should be smart if they wanted to govern the territory. "Alright. I have a total of one hundred missions for each here. So, you can choose from them."
Shale handed them some thin books.
"Can you show us a mission related to the Dark Demon Forest?" Noel asked.
"Well…" Shale flipped a few pages and pointed at five missions. "These are the missions."
"I'm going to take this then." Noel pointed at a mission without hesitation.
Mission: Low Level Demon Exterminations (0/25)
Reward: 100 Contribution Points
"By the way, what is this contribution points?" Noel asked, frowning.
"Contribution Points can be used for two things: Rank Up and Exchange for benefits. Your current status is Junior Soldier or people know it more with "Apprentice Knight," so you can become a full fledged knight after accumulating 5,000 points. The points can be exchanged for many things in the fort. You can get magic books, magic weapons, and so on."
"I see. The more points you have, the better the stuff gets?"
"That's convenient." Noel nodded in agreement. "I can see that there are a few requests involving people. Won't people pay the fort to solve their problems?"
"Exactly. I mean, the fort can't run without money. So, the fort will get the money from the requests while rewarding you with points. You can even exchange important stuff you got from your missions for some points."
"With that, the fort can run without any problems." Noel nodded with a serious expression.
"Thank you for your explanation."
"Then, which mission do you want, young lady?" Shale asked, turning to Anna.
"I'll take this then." Anna chose a mission.
Mission: Kill a Mid Level Demon and retrieve the Mid Level Crystal
Reward: 75 Contribution Points.
"I see." Shale nodded and recorded it in a book. "How about the group mission?"
"This." Both Noel and Anna pointed at the same mission.
Mission: Kill 25 Mid Level Demons and retrieve their Mid Level Crystals
Reward: 500 Contribution Points.
"Hoh?" Shale was impressed that they were aiming for the deepest region of the Demon Forest, but it was clear that both of them had that ability. If it was anyone else, he would deny their request due to the danger, but Shale accepted it because it was Anna and Noel. "Alright."
After recording their mission, Shale said, "Don't forget about the time limit, alright?"
"We understand." Noel and Anna nodded their heads.
"In that case…" Shale took out two wooden tokens from his pockets. He then poured his Spiritual Energy into the tokens.
Suddenly, a few words appeared on the token along with a symbol. The symbol was two swords crossing against each other with a demon's head in the middle. This was the Demon Banner Army insignia.
"This shall be your proof of your identity." Shale then turned the token around and showed them a few more words and a number.
"This is a magical token where we can record your rank and contribution point. Of course, we're using a special technique from the fort. Without our special technique, it'll be impossible to alter it. I hope that you two don't misuse this token." Shale handed them the tokens.
Anna and Noel nodded with a solemn face while receiving the tokens.
"Thank you, Sir Shale."
"Alright. You are free to go right now or tomorrow. The basic survival kits are there, so you can get them by yourself."
After thanking Shale, they walked away as Anna asked, "So, when are we leaving?"
"Yeah. Only need to get the tent and some stuff."
"Alright. We'll meet at the gate?"