Ocelio woke up just in time to watch the light brown crystals turn a vivid brown.

He went to the bathroom to take a shower, his water tank had already been filled by the Association workers during the night using a gap in his wall. Plugging the hole in the wall and locking it, he began to pour water over his head to relax his tense muscles.

The bed he had slept on was made from a springy fur he had never seen. Rather than a bed, it looked more like a sofa.

It did not seem to have been an uncomfortable experience but it was the first night he had slept on a bed that wasn’t his.

He went downstairs to have a light meal, which consisted of a couple of fruits and an aromatic tea.

He still hadn’t converted all the blood he had absorbed last night and even though blood could be used as an alternate food source if ingested instead of converted, he didn’t seem interested in doing so.

He rubbed his stomach, letting out a short sigh. While walking between the two buildings of the Warrior Association, he inhaled the scent of the yellow grass with yearning reflected on his face.

Just like the day before, Eucliedes sat behind the counter with a pile of leather parchments on his desk.

[Good morning.]

The brown-haired man looked up in surprise when he heard Ocelio’s voice. An amiable smile appeared on his face as he greeted him back.

[Good day to you sir. I am afraid it is no longer morning sir, the magic crystals just changed colour. Did you have a good night?]

His eyebrow made a slight jump at the mention of the magic crystal.

He seemed to be remembering the brown crystals changing colour, realising it also seemed to serve as a way to tell time.

Since they lived underground, they had no access to the sun and moon, their society didn’t appear advanced enough to create machines capable of calculating time, so it looked like the colours of the crystals was what they relied on.

[Could be better.]

[I’m sorry to hear that, if sir has any request, I will make sure to arrange everything to your convenience.]

Ocelio looked pensive for a moment, glancing around the hall.

[I saw the other Bloodrainists yesterday bringing back some magical beasts from outside. Is there a large demand for magical beasts in the city?]

[I forgot. Sir must have arrived in Terrouine in recent days. In short, yes, the demand for magical beast corpses is large, but it’s not only corpses that are in demand. Every product from the wilderness is lacking in supply since most of our citizens rely on leather, fur, fruits, vegetables and grass to make clothes and sustain themselves. Only the middle and upper-class citizens have the wealth to buy magical plants and be self-sufficient in regard to food. In particular, the meat, bones, wood and stone are high in demand among the upper class, this is where our Bloodrainists can get the highest income from.]

Eucliedes brought a stack or parchments from his desk, spreading them on the counter for Ocelio to see.

On each parchment was a number of requests for buying resources. Most of them were magical beast corpses or magical plants. However, the requests offering the highest amount of money were those asking for raw materials such as wood, white stones, brown sand…

[I see. Most of those involve fighting, is there any easy request that won’t take long? I’m still unfamiliar with the area after all.]

The receptionist appeared suspicious but did not comment. His polite smile never left his face as he presented a request to him.

Request: A Warrior to escort the gatherers outside the city

Information: The city gatherers are preparing to leave the city to forage in the wilderness. We seek a Warrior to scout the surroundings and protect the gatherers from the threats they may encounter.

The gathering party will leave the city at noon on the 8th Chaos.

Reward: 1 silver coin if all of the gatherers make it back alive. 15 dark iron coins if there are less than 5 deaths, 10 dark iron if less than half of the group returns.

Source: City treasurer Asophus.

[This request comes back every 2 weeks, it arrived just this morning. It is sought by the resident Bloodrainists due to the ease of completion and the low risk of encountering magical beasts in the vicinity of the city entrance. If sir wishes to get familiar with the area, this is the best request I have.]

[Alright, I’ll take it.]

Eucliedes recorded something on his desk before handing him the parchment of the request.

[Please come to the city’s gate, in the poorman’s district at noon tomorrow. Be sure to carry the Bloodrainist Insignia with you and just in case, it may be better to bring the parchment of the request to prove you’re the one who has received the mission.]

Eucliedes glanced around with a wary look on his face.

[Also, since this request is sought after by the other Bloodrainists, they may not like the appearance of a new competitor, please don’t take it as something personal, they rely on these requests to sustain their livelihood.]

He whispered these words with an anxious face as if he was afraid they would hear what he had said.

[Thank you.]

Ocelio was about to leave the building when Eucliedes ran to catch up to him.

[Sir, one last thing. I don’t know if it’s proper to speak of this to you, but if you manage to obtain magical ingredients: flowers, insects, magical plants during your mission, I may be able to give you an extra income as I happen to know a member of the Crafting Association who is in constant lack of supply.]

Ocelio nodded his head before leaving.

After following the road out of the area, he stopped a pedestrian to ask for direction.

[Do you know where the Crafting Association is located?]

***

The next day, Ocelio stood near the shacks in the poorman’s district. Just as its name indicated, this appeared to be the slum where the destitute resided. The constructions appeared to be made only as a shelter to sleep in, it seemed too cramped to even stand inside.

Glancing at the sky, the light blue crystals still showed no change. They radiated with more energy in the morning compared to the afternoon; Ocelio creased his eyes as if bothered by the amount of light shining down on him.

By the side of the city entrance, a dozen city guards were examining the identification cards of the people gathered here for the mission.

It was called a card but it was more like a shard of white stone with their personal information carved on.

There were already 20 gatherers present but a few latecomers were still running to get to the gate in time.

Ocelio had seen a familiar face in the crowd of gatherers, a woman with long silver hair stained by dirt was being led to the side after having her identity confirmed.

What seemed strange to him was that most of the humans who arrived carried a pile of items in their hands as if they did not want to leave their possessions behind.

A guard would take their items away and hand them a small piece of parchment, then they proceeded to have their identity confirmed.

When most of the gatherers had finished the identification process, a crowd of 30 adults stood by the side of the gate. At this moment, the crystal above his head went through a gradual change in its hue.

Ocelio walked to the guards, presenting his Warrior Insignia and his request letter.

The guards had already noticed his appearance earlier, now seeing him up close, they didn’t dare look at his face as if unsure of how to treat him.

So far, all the people he had seen had a brown skin colour, some lighter than others. The only exceptions were the two ladies he met in the magical plant store.

[Sir, this way, please. I thank you for accepting our request.]

A middle-aged man with brown coloured hair mixed with grey tufts bowed to him, indicating for him to follow his lead.

When they arrived outside of the guards hearing range, the man took a white stone with the word “Liosphere” drawn in dark brown letters.

[Please, forgive my lack of manners. My name is Militades Fabilitas, I am a city official and a 6th class citizen. I was informed of your attendance for today’s request. On the city’s behalf, I wish to express our utmost gratitude for your benevolence toward this city. If you have any wish or need, please do not hesitate to let me know, our entire city will make sure to satisfy you.]

The man showed absolute reverence and even though Ocelio was used to seeing people bootlick him, this man seemed different. The fervour in his eyes appeared genuine.

[Is that so. Then, that’s good.]

Ocelio looked confused but still maintained an emotionless face that did not reveal his inner feelings.

[Those guards do not know anything about sir’s status. I’ll take charge of everything, sir only need to accompany our group, I promise, we won’t take long to return. But if we meet a magical beast, sir doesn’t need to sacrifice his important life for these useless beggars, we will be fine as long as sir remain unharmed.]

Ocelio nodded his head, showing no reaction to the man’s words.

They returned to the city’s entrance while the guards pushed the round gate sideway using the protrusions that were embedded in the stone gate.

When the gate rolled on the ground and created an opening wide enough for two men to pass through, it stopped.

A team of 6 guards went out through the entrance. A few minutes later, they returned and allowed the gatherers to leave one by one.

Ocelio and the city official walked in last. Behind them, the gate rolled back until hitting the wall, closing the entrance.

The cave was in complete darkness, the gatherers formed a long queue, each of them advanced at a slow pace, they touched the wall on the right to direct their steps, unsure of what laid in front of them.

Ocelio’s red eyes glanced at each of them, despite the complete darkness, he could see their silhouettes. His ears and nose had their perception increased in this enclosed space, he could pick up their individual smell and detect their emotional state based on the odour their body emitted.

Just like what the city official had said, these did not appear to be city employees or adventurers.

Even if he didn’t want to know, their smell made it outright impossible to ignore their identity. He could almost taste the layers of grime stacked on their legs and arms; the sweat, both dry and wet that stained their clothes and glistened on their contaminated skin was making his gastric acid rise to his throat.

Not able to take any more stimulation, Ocelio used the three steps to rush to the front of the queue, distancing himself from the group.

He had no trouble making his way through the long tunnel, from time to time the path would take a sharp turn to the right, forcing him to make high-speed manoeuvres.

When he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, he reduced his speed and stopped his movement technique.

His heartbeat made his chest pulsate, the expectation of seeing the outside world for the first time was reflected on his pale face.

When he made it to the end of the tunnel, he raised his head to stare in amazement at the sky.

A blue sky and countless white clouds extended beyond his sight.

He stood on the border of a cliff, a hill stood in front of him, below, a deep ravine made him realise the danger he was in, making step back as if by reflex.

It seemed the experience of that night above a roof still left some remnant feelings in his mind. Despite being able to walk on air, he did not get close to the cliff again. He sat on the ground, watching the scenery outside in a daze.

He appeared to have been so absorbed by what he saw, he did not notice the group of gatherers approaching until the first person made it close enough to see him.

He stood up with a frown and waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

When the city official noticed him, he released a deep sigh of relief.

[Sir, I’m sorry for making you wait, one second, I’ll open the way.]

The man brought a few men to carry a thick plank of wood, large enough to allow a wagon to pass over it.

When they put it above the ravine, it created a bridge that reached the hill.

[Let’s go, quick, do not make this kind sir wait on you. Go, run.]

The official seemed in a rush to complete this request and return to the city. He would hit anyone who was too slow with a wood stick he had picked near the cliff.

Despite the official’s briskness, Ocelio took his time to observe his surroundings. The grass on the valley seemed to have been picked clean, the trees had been felled and any natural resources had disappeared from the vicinity of the valley.

Walking down the valley, they had to walk for more than an hour to find a location where there was still vegetation growing.

However, the city official indicated that there wasn’t much to pick here so they continued a little bit further, arriving at the border of a forest.

By this time, the gatherers were exhausted. Their bodies were weak from malnutrition and lack of exercise. The only thing positive was that the fresh air had attenuated the stench coming from their bodies.

[This is the outermost layer of the Silverpine Forest. Do not enter the forest unless you wish to die. Only pick what you see growing on the outskirt. Now go and don’t return before your basket is full.]

After ordering the gatherers, he ran to Ocelio with an amiable smile on his face. His body seemed to be in better condition compared to the other gatherers but it was evident that he was also out of shape as shown by his rough breathing.

[Sir, it is done. I will also join them unless you wish for me to stay. According to the regular reports by the city’s Bloodrainists, there are no magical beasts in the extreme border of the forest. If we don’t enter inside we shouldn’t attract their attention. However, if anything happens, please don’t mind us. We will escape on our own, those beasts will not chase us too far.]

[Just go.]

Ocelio made a gesture with his hand as if he was chasing him.

The man bowed with a polite smile before running in the direction of the dense trees.

Ocelio stood in silence, he stared at the grey trees extending to the sky, their large green leaves seemed to want to shield the earth from the clouds. A distinctive fragrance coming from the forest made him smile.

It was a scent similar to the one he had smelled from his tea back in the Warrior Association canteen.

He glanced at the humans foraging outside the forest, not entering deeper than the second tree growing in.

[A pity this world is so beautiful yet dangerous. I can only walk with my eyes on my feet, the sun too hot for me to touch.]