It was nearly dark by the time that all the heroes from the Kalkan fleet had finished hunting the Magma Corrupted monsters and collected piles of firewood. They weren’t certain what to do with it, as they didn’t have storage for it on the ships, and they didn’t burn firewood.

But Kalli would be happy to take it.

"Coordinator, would you like to accompany us in the helicopter to the shore? We can ensure you are safely returned to Marimgar after granting the quest completion."

Kalli nodded. "That works for me. It wouldn’t be practical for you to bring all your heroes to one vessel for the quest completions today, though you’ll have to do it in the future when you’re not near Marimgar.

Now, we might as well go, I don’t like being outside the perimeter after dark."

"Does something happen at dark? If there is a monster influx, we can assist with it."

Behind her, Yara chuckled. "What the Coordinator means is that she’s used to going to bed early because she takes morning watch shifts. She doesn’t like going out after dark because it messes up her sleep schedule."

Kalli winked at her friend, who had just outed her real reason before she could even think of an excuse.

"Where’s your sense of drama, of feminine mystique?

Yes, Fleet Admiral, I was intending to go out and hurry back so that I didn’t miss my usual bedtime."

"Well, as a lifelong military man, I am not going to argue against everything being scheduled and structured. I will get you there and back. How long do you need to do the quest turn ins?"

"No more than ten seconds per hero, if you get them organized. I just need to be close enough to them to complete the mission. I often use a handshake, but we don’t have to actually touch, being across the counter from me works fine too."

"Oh, that should be easy enough. We can have them stand in rows if you would prefer. Then you can walk by them, and we will load them all into a landing craft to return them to their vessels."

Kalli nodded. "That works for me. The sooner we get there, the sooner we finish."

Kalli waved to Yara as she got up out of her seat, and the healer gave her a concerned look.

"Relax. They’ll have me back in no time at all. With a whole fleet of heroes nearby, there isn’t anything for me to worry about. None of the Magma Corrupted are going to make it through the lines."

That was not her concern, but Kalli and the Fleet Admiral were already headed out to the helicopters. They took off as soon as the VIP group was inside, and Kalli watched the ground race by beneath them.

"You seem like a trusting sort. I didn’t expect that, given your first reaction to the Fleet."

Kalli laughed. "Oh, Admiral, it’s not a matter of trust, but confidence. You see, I know that if I blow up this helicopter, I resurrect. But that’s not necessarily true for everyone else."

Well, in theory.

Technically, she wasn’t a hero, so she might not resurrect at the pod.

But they didn’t need to know that.

The helicopter landed on the beach only a minute later, coming in fast to avoid pulling more of the magma corrupted monsters to them with the noise and movement.

With much shouting and running, the Heroes of the Kalkan Fleet were arranged into rows. They had clearly been trained in at least the basics of military discipline, and that made things much more organized than her own heroes.

"Good evening, heroes. You have done well today, and now I will grant you rewards for completing today’s quests in the Marimgar region."

Kalli walked between the rows, and a trio of Mystery Boxes appeared in front of each of the heroes, while a few of them got a fourth. Kalli didn’t know whether it was for fishing or for the four hours of skilled labour, but there were no fish in sight, so she couldn’t be sure which of the missions the others hadn’t completed.

The heroes were simply staring at the boxes as Kalli walked back and forth through the rows.

"You know, you have to touch them to claim them. They’re random, but if you pray for a certain item, there is some likelihood that you might get it."

The hero next to her laughed. "Pray to what god? Isn’t Marimgar just as secular as Kalka?"

"The System? It’s a new superstition, just go with whatever feels right."

The hero laughed it off, but Kalli could see that a few people were offering quiet prayers to the System before they touched the boxes.

A wave of cheering flowed through the heroes as they were rewarded for their day’s work, and for the first time the Kalkan Fleet got to properly enjoy the benefits of the Mystery Boxes.

Realistically, most of the items weren’t all that valuable.

The common grade boxes mostly awarded simple weapons, armour pieces, and food. But those were all things that the Kalkan heroes were short on.

Then, the uncommon grade boxes from hard mode quests awarded them even better items, and Kalli saw that there were at least a few upgraded weapons swapped to the holsters and scabbards of the heroes.

"Alright, that should be most of the points that everyone needs to get a new skill from the first section of your skill tree.

These quests reset every day, so you can return here and do them again tomorrow.

Either have your leadership send for me at the end of the day, or you can go to the one ship in your fleet that has a turn in point. The Fleet Admiral has the details."

The Fleet Admiral frowned.

He had forgotten about that particular problem. With so many of the people having received level 0 commoner status, and a quest to do skilled labour, he was going to have tens of thousands of people looking to turn in the quest, but only one available point for them to do it at.

"Coordinator Kalli. I will send a team to return tomorrow and speak with you. I believe that establishing a partnership between the Fleet and the town of Marimgar would be in both of our interests."

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