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*Bang**Bang**Bang*

“Excuse me, breakfast ready!”

I woke up to the sound of someone knocking loudly on the door. Perhaps waking up on the wrong side of the bed, I am feeling really irritated by the loud banging.

“Alright! I am up. Will be down in a few minutes!”

Feeling nostalgic at the words I said as I remembered how my mother always wakes me up like that.

I got up and washed myself before opening the storage and took out clothing for the journey.

I wore a short sleeved, cloth jacket covers to just below my knees and was tightly tied with string slightly off-centre. The sleeves of my jacket were incredibly wide and reach down to well above my hands; they were decorated with several thread linings at the sleeve ends.

My jacket has a wide V-neck which reveals part of the white shirt worn under it and was worn with a large leather belt, which held together by an ornate pin. The leather belt was plain and dull to make it look common.

My pants were simple and reached down to my hide boots. The boots were made from a rare hide with an ordinary design and a simple, dull looking sword hanged onto my hips. And not forgetting the necklace I ‘borrowed’ it from the old man. All in all, I looked common and way ordinary. I hope.

All ready for my first quest!

I went down the stairs to the first storey of the inn. It was already hustling and rowdy that made the dining area almost occupied.

Without a word, the young lady with a beaming smile, lead me to an empty chair and served the breakfast.

Breakfast was simple; there was barley bread, beef pottage, and a glass of milk. I peeled the bread bit by bit, soak in inside the pottage, and then savor the flavor of the beef before gulping down the pottage. Fantasy’s medieval food, simply delicious.

“Thank you for the wonderful meal!”

“No problem! Please come back again!”

She said, waving her hands high in the air, giving a joyful smile before I went out to the meeting place.

Passing a few streets in town, I realized the people in this world wakes up way early, perhaps earlier than a chicken?!

There were three distinguished groups of people in front of the town’s gate; the first group resembled mercenary, wielding weapons such as spears and sword. Second and last were probably the adventurers. These people wore simple, light leather armor for mobility purposes, except for a few who wore robes, maybe a magician?

Hopefully I am not the last one to arrive; after all, I do not want a bad impression on me. (It’s not that I care though, I am just going with the flow of this world.)

A fat man with a short sleeved jacket looked too out of place among the crowd, wearing gold rings and a few luxurious clothing, definitely is filthy rich.

Approaching them, I said,

“I’m Zeig, a C ranked adventurer; I registered just yesterday for this quest.”

“Ahhhh, Yes, I have been informed. Welcome, Zeig, I am Kold Crosnier, A merchant. This is Zean, my personal guard captain. He will supervise the defense for this trip.”

He displayed a disbelieved look before a man with blonde short hair, gentle face and strong build standing beside Kold, walked towards me and held out his hand.

Giving him a firm handshake, I once again repeat myself.

“Pleased to meet you, I’m Zeig, a C ranked adventurer.”

“Likewise. I’m Zean , Guard captain of Hollowlight, a mercenary hired personally by Sir Kold. Behind are my men. Those two parties are Raven Cry and Twin Blade. You should probably introduce yourself to them.”

He said as he pointed to the four people near the gates.

Surprising, there was a female elf in the party of four which I guess is the party called Raven Cry? From what I knew, the relationship between humans and other races were always bad. Perhaps that was already history?

Once again, repeated myself for the third time,

“Pleased to meet you, I am Zeig, a C ranked adventurer.”

“W-what!? You’re a C rank adventure?!”

Exclaimed a gray haired middle aged man with average build. A long sword was holster on his hips.

“Y-yes…”

“*Ahem* .. My apology, I am Oshan, the leader of Raven Cry, the guy with Orange shaggy hair is Wolfe. Both the ladies behind us are Thalia the elf and Sally. We are a party of C ranked adventurers too, except for Sally.”

“Woah! A young man with a C rank?! What’s wrong with the guild?! Hey kid, go back to your mama, this trip is not for k…Ouch ! What was that for?!”

“Don’t be rude, Wolfe! He probably proves himself to the guild master. Pleased to meet you Zeig, I am Sally.”

Sally, A young lady with chestnut hair, small size, wearing a robe and wielding a staff which indicates herself as a magician and has shining green eyes.

“And this is Thalia the elf. She may not look like it, but she’s friendly yet shy in making friends.”

"P-pleased to meet you."

Thalia the elf has blonde hair, blue eyes which were common among the previous elves I have seen. She’s tall, just below the level of my nose (forgot to mention that I was tall too) and petite in size. Both were the only women in the caravan.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

After the short introduction, we parted ways doing our last inspection before leaving for the journey.

Finally, there was a group of two people with spiral tattoos on their left and right face respectively covering their entire eye, twins perhaps?

Frost and Bite

I almost burst out laughing when I heard their names. Who the hell named them?! Or perhaps there was something wrong with the language translator (Necklace)?

Just like their names, they were cold, unsociable. I have a feeling that they will bite if I speak to them.

All in all, there was the HollowLight, which probably consists of 20 people, the adventurer’s parties, including me, 7, in protecting the wagons.

After the introduction, the guard captain does a last inspection before raising his hand and shouted as a signal for us to leave.

“Let’s us depart!”

There were 5 wagons of goods pulled by horses and a carriage for Kole needed to be protected. All were in good qualities which probably cost more than the goods.

Along the way, Sally shared some information with me. Basically, to move up a rank, one has to pass the tests set by the guild master and displayed your set of skills. She has yet to see someone as young as me (other than her) gotten a C rank. It’s possible, but rare. Though, I was really surprised that she was a B ranked adventurer which was considered a genius.

And here I thought being a C rank wouldn’t stand out too much. Damn! I should have ‘requested’ for an E instead.

On the road, there were wild beasts that came unexpectedly to assault the wagons. However, they chose the wrong opponent to deal with. Considering both parties and the mercenary were strong; Twin Blade handled the front and Raven Cry as support and the mercenary, which likely consists of a mixture equivalent of C and D adventurers, protecting the rear. At some point of time, I really do pity those wild beasts. Certainly, overkill. Or perhaps, the wild beasts were weak?

And … well, as for me, I positioned myself in the middle to observe and done literally nothing. They were starting to doubt my ability of a C rank and I really wondered if Kole will dock my reward for the quest….

After hours of travelling east on the road that lead to the domain of kingdom of Ocerissa, we finally reached the end of the road, just before the entrance of the forest. The next set of journey was to go through the forest.

That was when Zean(Guard Captain), signal us to cease advancing due to the nightfall.

“STOP! We will camp here for the night. Hollowlight will collect firewood, start a campfire and pitch some tents. Zeig and Twin blade will guard the caravan, Raven Cry can you cook something for us?”

Everyone adhere to the words of Zean. He was truly a charismatic figure with great appeal to them. It is wise to stop before sunset and not advance in the forest to camp. After all, an open concept battle held better advantages than a close concept battle.

A few moments later, without any hinder, the tents were pitched and Raven Cry has prepared to cook dinner for us. Of course, the ingredients were sponsored by Kole.

The sun has gone to rest; the moon took his place as the darkness begins to surround us. Probably due to my racial trait, my blood was pumping faster than the day as darkness excites me. This proved that I am in reality and no longer in a game. Though I really wondered to what extend my racial trait can go.

In the center of the tent, there was a big campfire blazing and illuminating the scene with Thalia and Sally busy grilling the wild beast meat they previously caught for our dinner. There was also a big pot of pottage which was considered the staple food for commoners.

“Dinners ready!”

Raven Cry was busy giving out bowls of pottage with few slices of roasted beast meat to the crowd and lastly, me.

Night duties were mostly assigned to HollowLight and the adventurers’ parties (including me) were to rest for a long day tomorrow.

Throughout the journey today, there was always a pair of beautiful, lovely eyes watching me. I wondered why?...

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In the middle of the night where the night beasts were active and men were either asleep or doing guard duty, a man was flying silently at high speed towards the north, the well hidden fortress few miles away from his camp.

The man slaughtered the leader, cut off his head, warped inside a cloth and placed it into his storage as a prove of annihilated of the bandit fortress before burning the fortress down to ashes. The man returned to the camp stealthy feigning not to notice there was a pair of curious eyes watching his return.

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Stay tuned ~