บท 4: The scam quest and the angry blacksmith!

Even though it was dawn and the sun had just risen, the guild still had some adventurers going in and out! The reason is that nobody knew when their quest will finish or if an urgent call will come! The guild was open 24/7.

As soon as they entered, Mary headed toward her desk while Cain started checking the quest wall. He has enough money so he was looking for a quest that will give him ample Exp.

All the F-rank quests seemed to be non-fighting ones, also he can't just grab an E-rank quest.

If he could reach level 2 today, he might be able to request a rank-up from the guild!

The guild ranking was simple, you finish 10 quests, the guild sends you rank-up permission! Accepting it will give you a rank-up.

There was another way, one that seemed impossible as it was put by the guild to stop newbies from killing themselves!

Usually, when new adventurer reaches level two, they get a weird feeling, the sense of being invincible! It's understandable as it's their first time leveling up!

So to sum it up, when a newbie reaches level two, they get reckless and the guild has to put them in place! That is done by giving them a fake rank-up exam, a fight against a stronger adventurer. This was to show them they still aren't ready to rank up!

After reaching level two I will take that exam, of course, I intend to win and force the guild to rank me up! This might attract unwanted attention but I can play it off as luck!

Today's guest is going to be...Cain's eyes strolled around the posters, seeing if there were any new quests.

There were no new quests, it was only a single night! Cain was unsatisfied, he wished to never take a certain quest that was in front of him.

"I don't see anything new, is this my only choice?" Cain looked in fear, disgust showing on his face.

{Quest: Clear the rats in the sewer! Reward 1 silver coin}

This quest was a literal nightmare, no matter where you saw it, nobody will take this quest willingly!

The sewers were always the dirtiest, a literal shit hole, riddled with filth and diseases! The rats were vicious and attacked in groups.

A single silver coin is, without a doubt, a scam! they could put the quest with 5 gold coins and still, nobody will take it!

Tch, Cain clicked his tongue as he ripped the quest from the wall.

Mary would not allow him to take this quest, Instead will give him an hour-long lecture about why he shouldn't take it! With that in mind, he headed toward another desk, the one who was the furthest for Mary's!

Thwack!

He slammed the quest poster on the desk, scaring the woman who was sitting there.

"Violence is..." Before she could finish, Cain interrupted her.

"The scam quest, I'm going to take care of it for you, register it before I change my mind!" As soon as she saw the poster, she put on a fake smile.

"Sorry for having you go through this, It's done!" She said, swiftly stamping the poster.

Cain immediately turned around, he wanted to finish this job as fast as he could! The Exp was the only reason he took this quest!

Just as he was leaving, the woman called him back.

Signaling for him to get closer, she whispered in his ears, "Try to bring some parts of the rats you kill, I will try to haggle a higher price for you!"

This was a sweet bonus for Cain, he might get money with Exp. A mad smile covered his face, a slight chuckle escaped from his mouth.

"I'm going to cause a rat's extinction!" he replied. Riled up to clear the quest!

Cain was in a hurry now, not that he just wanted to get over with it, he had a handsome reward waiting for him!

Even though he was in a hurry his first stop was not the sewer entrance, it was the blacksmith!

Dolrig lunar, the most infamous blacksmith in Forberg. He was avoided because of his temper and harsh words. His workshop was only open due to regular high-ranked adventurers.

New adventurers are the main customers of every blacksmith. That was because they break their weapons a lot, get injured a lot so their armors always need repair! They all ignored Dolrig's workshop like the plague.

Cain was now in front of that workshop, there was a reason was seasoned adventurers kept coming back to this shop.

Cain knocked at the door, "Excuse me, is the shop open?" He knew very well the shop was open at down from his past life, but since it didn't make sense he would know that he decided to pretend it wasn't the case! The man inside was just that sharp! it was silent for a moment.

"Who is this dog barking at my door!!!!" A voice raged from inside the shop, and the windows almost cracked.

"I need my weapon repaired!" Cain knew that Dolrig hated beating around the bush, just tell him what you want!

"Scram! Someone like you should never carry a weapon!" The angry voice replied, it seemed to have gotten even louder!

"Sorry, I can't!" Cain looked at the cracks in the window frame, "My life depends on that!" he add while smiling.

What Cain did was intentional, he knew Dolrig well from his past life. That man was staring at him throughout the cracks in the window frame.

Despite his harsh manners, Dolrig had a heart of gold. This was what Cain knew of him! The only reason he lashed at new adventures was that he got sick from it! He got sick from forging their blades, just for them to never return!

Dolrig slowly opened the door, the man wasn't that tall, almost the same height as Cain. His frowning face was decorated with a long majestic beard. The muscles on his arms spoke volumes about his work.

"You sneaky bastard!" Dolrig sneered, "You saw me?" Dolrig asked

"Well, of course, I'm expected to fight monsters!" Cain replied, stating it as a fact of him being an adventurer.

Saying that Cain took his sword and handed it to Dolrig.

"What is this junk?" Dolrig inspected the sword with bored eyes, "It's useless, throw it in the trash!" Dolrig chucked the sword to the corner of the room. The sword made a loud noise as it hit the wall.

Cain knew that his sword was trash, it was rusted, cracked in every corner, the cross-guard was loose, and the blade was bent to the side.

"As worthless he may be!" Cain glanced at his sword and then looked at Dolrig in the eyes with a sad smile, "My life is hanging on it, please handle it gently!"

Upon seeing Cain's face, Dolrig's expressions changed completely, he walked slowly then picked up the sword.

"Sorry, could you just wait a few minutes?" Dolrig said calmly, It was as if he was a different person.

"I don't mind, take as much time as you want!" Cain replied as he sat on one of the chairs inside the workshop.

Dolrig's biggest fear was that people might die because he made a mistake! What if a weapon that he made snapped mid-fight? The adventurer will die and the reason is Dolrig's shabby work!

When Dolrig heard Cain's words, this was probably what he thought.

'This kid is taking that rusted thing to battle?'

'What if it snapped? Would that be my fault?'

'I did throw it to the wall, it didn't crack did it?'

'This kid looks like a newbie, was that sword all he could afford?'

'Oh no, did I step on his last lifeline?'

... The thoughts kept escalating until they reached the last line, 'Is he going to die because of me?' It was then that Dolrig decided to take the work.

As he waited, Cain was smiling inside. 'It's nice to know how some people think!'