Chapter 5: It Starts Here

Archer walked down the road. He was amazed by the different kinds of shops: blacksmiths, alchemists, Enchanters, and Beast Shops. There were some he didn't know or want to know by the look of them. Not even ten minutes later, he arrived outside a well-designed building.

It was made of green-colored stone with wooden features here and there. Walking up to it, he approached the massive doors, pushing them open with his little body. When inside, he looked around. As you walked in, it was a massive hall with a reception on the right side.

On the left side, a row of wooden boards held loads of paper pinned to them. Four beautiful women stood behind the counter, serving adventurers. There was a spot at the end free, so he walked over.

Behind the counter, a woman with brown hair, green eyes, and loads of cute freckles sat looking at some papers. She didn't look very tall, but she was still slightly taller than him. As he approached, she looked up and smiled before speaking. ''Hello, young man. How can I help you today?''

Archer answered as he looked at the woman. ''I want to register as an adventurer, please.''

She looks closely and asks. ''How old are you?''

''Thirteen.''

She cocked an eyebrow and asked a question that came to her mind. ''Is there a reason a boy your age wants to become an adventurer? It's dangerous, you know?''

Archer looked at her like she was an idiot. ''Coins and leveling up, what else?''

The woman sighs; the kid strangely makes sense, so she carries on with the registration.

She shuffled some papers and brought out a form with a pen-looking thing while passing it to him. ''Here, fill this out and return it when you're done.''

He looked at the forms and found them pretty basic; luckily, he could read and write the language thanks to the memories he received.

So he filled out the form before handing it back to the woman. She looked at it while nodding with a smile.

''Thank you. You'll be assigned F rank, but if you complete ten quests, you can rank up to E, which repeats until you reach rank D, where you must take a personalized test by the guild.''

''There are some rules. The guild will reprimand you for any crime you commit and suspend your adventurer card.

There will be no fighting inside any guild buildings; you can't take quests with other adventurers unless you're in the same group, unless it's an emergency quest from the guild, and lastly, no threatening guild staff.''

She looked at him. ''Do you understand Archer?''

He nodded his head. ''Yes, I understand.''

The woman smiled before introducing herself. ''I'm Sarah, and I'll be your receptionist. Now, wait for a bit while your card is processed. Let me explain what quests you can take at your rank. You can take any F or E-ranked quests but none higher than E. If you are in a group, you will be allowed to take D-ranked quests, understand?''

''Yes.''

She nods and starts walking off to sort out the card. While he was waiting, he overheard the adventurers talking about him.

''Look at the little elf. He's pretty cute.''

''What is the pretty boy doing in here?''

''I love his white hair and those pretty violet eyes!''

''Look at those ears, though. They aren't elf ears!''

Ignoring all the gossip he heard, Archer blocked it out while waiting for Sarah to return.

She returned ten minutes later, passing Archer an amber-colored card. ''Here you go. It has your name, rank, and the quests you've completed on it.''

Archer took the card and started to look at it. His name was printed across it, and the guild symbol was also on it.

He threw it into his Item Box before speaking. ''Thank you. I'm about to begin to take quests now; it was nice meeting you, Sarah.''

After speaking, he walked off as he said bye to her; he made his way to the quest boards—three huge boards with loads of paper stuck to them.

He was walking over to look for a mission that caught his attention. After reading through most of the F or E rank quests, I realized they are to help people around the city.

Archer noticed one that caught his eye. He picked it up and started reading it.

[Smith's dog hunt: Wild dogs are causing havoc outside my farm. If any adventurer could come and help us, we would be eternally grateful if someone could deal with them]

[Reward: 80 Copper coins]

''I'm curious. I'll take this for now.'' He ripped the paper off the board and walked towards the counters while all the adventurers watched him.

''The little guy is heading on a quest. I bet he will fail Haha.''

''Leave him alone. We know nothing about him.''

Even though Archer overheard them again, he still ignored them. Reaching the counter, he gave Sarah the quest slip. ''Here, I want to take this quest, please.''

As Sarah read the quest, she got worried and asked in a concerned tone. ''Are you sure you want to take this Archer? They are deadly, and even worse, they roam in packs.''

''It will be fine; don't worry. They won't be able to get the jump on me, '' he said with a smile.

She sighed. ''Give me your guild card so I can assign you the quest.''

He handed her the card. She used it to do something on the counter, which he couldn't see. ''It's ready now. It's been assigned to you, Archer. You have seven days to complete it, or you will face a penalty.''

He nodded in response. He asked her where the quests were located. ''So, where is this farm?''

Looking at the information, she turned her attention back to Archer before telling him.

''To reach the Smith's farm, you must travel approximately two hours on foot from the eastern gate. Once you've exited the gate, head north, and the farm should be visible.''

''Okay, thank you for your help,'' He thanked her.

Archer turned on his heels and headed towards the exit, excited to go on his first hunt. Exiting the guild, he turned towards the eastern gate and started walking. Ten minutes later, he arrived at the gate.

It was very tall, at least twenty meters tall, made of solid green marble-like stone, just like some of the buildings inside the city. Guards patrolled the wall above, watching out over the grasslands. He approached the entrance and passed through without any guards looking at him.

After exiting the city, he looked around and started walking north, marveling at the landscape he saw. A rolling plain ended in a forest that bordered the city. It was only a mile away from here.

He felt his stomach growl. ''Fuck I don't have any food; well, hopefully, I can hunt for something to eat.''

That's when he looked up and saw a farm in the distance. He decided to walk towards it and saw a single-story wooden building. It looked a bit worn out but still functional. Archer approached it and knocked on the door when he got outside.

He heard footsteps heading towards the door, and an older-looking man soon opened it with a fed-up expression.

''Oh, a little boy, what do you want? Where are your parents?'' Archer looked at the man with a blank expression

''....''

Archer shook his head and took out his guild card. ''Look''

The old man saw the Amber card in the boy's hand, and his eyes widened. ''Emm sorry young man, you're the adventurer who will deal with the dogs?''

Archer nods. ''Where are they?''

The man stepped out of his house while answering. ''Well, they are at the back of the farm, where it borders the forest. They've been getting closer to the house every day.''

He sighed before finishing. ''Thank you for coming to help us, young man. My name is Evarius.''

Looking at the middle-aged man. ''Nice to meet you, Evarius. I'm Archer, I'll deal with them now.''

After speaking, he turned around and started to walk to the back of the farm. After a brief walk, he arrived at the forest's edge but saw no wild dogs.

''Where are the...'' That's when an alarm feeling washed over him, making his whole body shiver as he started to panic.

Glancing behind him just in time, he saw a wild dog quickly lunging at him. He quickly cast Cosmic Shield. A purple-colored barrier appeared and blocked the dog's surprise lunge. Aiming his hand at the beast, he fired a Void Blast at it.

A strong force shot out and hit the dog square in the face, crushing its head.

[100 experience gained]

The notification annoyed him, so he wished to turn it off, which happened not long after. There were three other growling dogs staring at Archer. He brought his hands up and cast four Void Blasts inwardly.

The spells sped forward, piercing into the remaining wild dogs and sending them flying, landing not far away.

Archer looked around and spotted a wild dog's body lying there. That's when he suddenly heard a thumping noise.