Now that I have made up my mind, I come up with a strategy to handle the situation as quick as possible.

First of all, lets see if I can settle this the easy way by just injuring the wolf and make a run for it. I take a rock out and [Throw] it at the [Dire Wolf] while they are sniffing around trying to find me. Unfortunately the rider notices the rock and deflects it with his sword. Though that was not the end of it, as I also used [Throw] on the [Iron Axe] right after with my other hand. Unfortunately the [Dire Wolf] was already aware of the situation and dodged to the side...

I guess so much for the easy way… Left with no choice, I use [Plunge] and shoot myself straight at him. Now normally I’d be pretty darn scared about pulling something like this off, but I have full confidence in the equipment that I made as I activate the magical options on all of my equipment. I also activate [All-Observing-Eyes] and time begins to slow down.

I can clearly see that the rider is slowly recovering his balance from deflecting my rock, and begins to swing his sword at me horizontally. To which I respond by adjusting my [Holy-steel Healing Dagger] in my left hand and using [Parry] to block his assault. As I continue to close in mid-air, I activate the wind blade on my katar, while imbuing my favorite triple combo plus adding [Punch] as well to the mix!

Due to feeling resistance of his blade either intentionally or subconsciously, the goblin rider tilts to my left by pushing against his blade and my dagger. Thus instead of me hitting him straight in the neck, I end up shredding right through his shoulder, completely dissecting off his left arm.

Only then did I realize I was too impatient trying to finish him off as quick as possible by chaining skills. If only I waited a bit more before deciding, I may have been able to simply [Slice] his neck instead. But it was unfortunately too late for regrets.

“Gauh!!” screamed the goblin rider as he fell off his wolf.

Though I had no time to worry about that as I also plummeting towards the ground. In a last ditch effort, I decided to [Throw] my Holy-steel dagger at the wolf behind me, but I did not verify the results, as both my hands prepare for impact. As I came right at the ground, I made sure to align my katar at an angle to create a slight air cushion from the wind. Of course overall that was mostly negligible, but it bought me a fraction of a second to better align my body as I crashed into the earth rolling.

Luckily my equipment did a good job at absorbing most of the damage, so I quickly get up and assess the situation. To my surprise, the first thing I saw was a face of a [Dire Wolf] jaws heading straight at me! By reflex, I try to jump back in fright and without even thinking I used [Punch] with my right hand smashing my katar and fist right at its upper face!

“Hewgh!” cried the wolf as my wind blade katar penetrated it’s skull.

I successfully manage to avoid being mawed to death, but still get pushed back due to the momentum of the wolf’s large body. As much as I would like to keep lying down, I force myself up as quickly as I can and see the [Dire Wolf] pretty much going crazy biting and clawing everywhere. Since I am too close I strafe to the right and get some distance.

At that point I notice the goblin rider has already gotten up and was within 3 meters distance, charging at me with his blade. Normally I probably would have panicked and acted foolishly, but luckily due to my [All-Observing-Eyes] still in effect, I had much more time to think things through as my body reacted slower. With that in mind I activate [Charge] going straight at the goblin.

My actions must have surprised him because he took a fraction of a second pause. During that time I close the distance slightly to his left making it hard for him to swing his blade or defend. I then activate [Slice] right at his head. The goblin though seems to be somewhat experienced, as he turned his body and dodged the metal of the blade which passed by just a millimeter above his nose as he swung his blade at my exposed back!

“Gauh!!!!!!!” yelled the goblin from shrieking pain as his sword fell out of his hand and he grabbed his face.

While the goblin definitely had plenty of combat experience as far as fighting with normal weapons go. Magic weapons seemed to be outside his battle expertise, as my wind blade extended slightly beyond my katar slicing right through his eyes!

Not giving him a chance to recover, I turn around and [Plunge] straight at him with a [Thrust] of my katar stabbing him straight in the neck, thus finishing him off.

I then turn my attention back to the [Dire Wolf], who still seems to be enraged and thrashing a random tree. Using this opportunity, I deactivate my Unique Skill and use [Presence Sense] and [Smell Sense] to figure out the situation.

To my relief, with the exception of the two heading this way, it does not seem to be that any more reinforcements are coming for now. Since that is the case, I take a deep breath and go pick up my dagger and axe as I think of the best way to approach things and recover some of my stamina.

Since they will be here in about 2 - 3 minutes, I decide for the time being to ignore the [Dire Wolf] who seems to have gone mad, and I climb up a tree closest to the route they are coming from, then activate [Blend Stealth] as I wait while using the healing option on my dagger to recover a few HP.

My inner scaredy cat screams to urge me to run away and not take any extra risks, but my logic says I should make the best of the situation. Frankly speaking, my [Smell Sense] is higher level than a [Dire Wolf], as long as I am careful, I should easily notice any reinforcements that may come before they notice me. While the goblins do cover their smell, the [Dire Wolves] do not, so it should pose minimum risk.

Looking on with [Eagle Eyes], I notice that the 2 that were approaching was a level 17 [Forest Goblin: Wolf Rider] and a level 11 [Forest Goblin: Scout]. I wait for them to come closer and when they are pretty much right under me distracted by the scene in front of them of a berserk [Dire Wolf] and dead goblin. I reactivate [All-Observing-Eyes] and jump down at them!

Aiming my wind katar, I strike right in the back of the [Goblin Scout]'s head, killing him instantly. The reason I aimed for the scout first is because unlike the riders, according to the information I read the scouts tend to run away on contact. To prevent that I get rid of him first.

I then look up and see a pretty pissed off goblin, as he grabs his sword and strikes right at me!

Your skill [NA][Slash] has become Level 2

I use [Evasion] to dodge to the side and [Throw] the Holy-steel dagger right at him. This rider who seems to be missing a [Dire Wolf] was clearly lacking experience, or was too enraged to react because he fails to dodge the attack and it ends up stabbing him right in the upper part of his chest.

“Huck!” tried to scream the goblin but could not make a proper sound due to the dagger jamming his wind pipe.

As he looks down to confirm the source of the pain, I [Charge] straight at him and [Slice] off his head with my katar.

After taking a short pause to calm down, I walk to the ravaging [Dire Wolf] and using [Jump], landing right on its back and [Thrust] the Holy-steel dagger into the back of its neck. The wolf tries to resist to the best of its ability, but surprisingly or not the [Wolf Riding] skill helps me retain my balance as I continue to stab it to death.

After I confirm that it has died, I then make sure there is no enemies in the vicinity using my senses.

With no enemies detected, I sigh in relief and collapse on the floor from both physical and mental fatigue.

Level up!

Creationist: +2 to all unlocked attributes +5 MP +5 Mental +2 PER

“5 more levels...” I mutter to myself.

After getting about 2 minutes of rest and catching my breath, I went on to collect the loot. For the 3 goblins, I cut off their ears which acts as proof of subjugation, and then proceed to disassemble the wolf. Though I chose to do a more basic disassembly then usual since I don’t exactly feel comfortable staying here for long...

When I am done, I quickly head back towards town while at same time conserving my stamina. Once I confirm I am closer to town, I decide to cook some [Dire Wolf Meat Skewers] as a celebration for my victory. Now that I had more experience cooking things, my ability has improved a decent amount.

Dire Wolf Meat Skewers

An average quality dire wolf meat skewers. Used to sedate hunger and temporarily raise stats

+2 STR +2 AGI +1 DEX +20 Stamina for 24 hours

[Made by Shiro]

Quality 5.0249/10.0000

To be honest, I kind of regret not bringing more [Dire Wolf Meat] due to the lack of space storing all the stuff. Regardless, I still had enough to fill up my stomach and save a few for the next few days.

With my mini-celebration complete, I head back to the Adventurers Guild.

When I arrive there, I stand by the material exchange counter and wait for my turn. It took about half an hour but I made it to the material counter. There I cashed in [Collection: Dire Wolf Pelts] and [Collection: Dire Fox Pelts] receiving 10 silver and 75 iron coins for those quests. I also cashed in the 10 [Dire Wolf Fangs] which sold for 1 silver and 25 iron coins. Thus earning a total of 12 silver coins.

Not too bad, considering how long it took me to earn that much just a few weeks ago. Though best of all, it ain’t over yet!

From the material counter, I then head over to the receptionist counter. Subjugation quests must be turned over there instead. I wait shortly for an elf receptionist, and come over to the counter.

“Hello, I would like to cash in the Rank E quest [Subjugation: Forest Goblins] and Rank D quest [Subjugation: Forest Goblin Wolf Riders]” I said as I put the 6 ears I collected onto the counter.

“Let me see, please place your hand on the orb for processing” the receptionist requested.

I did as I was told and the orb glowed as the receptionist processed my request.

“Just to inform you, for the [Subjugation: Forest Goblin Riders], I can only process one request per day, so I can only credit you 38 silver coins and 6 Guild Points” informed the receptionist.

“Hmm… so can I cash one in now and cash the second one tomorrow?” I inquired.

“I am sorry, but that is not possible. We do a scan of the monster material and your guild tattoo and match the signatures. If the monster was killed during a certain day, we match it with that data and confirm your credit. So there isn’t much I can do” explained the receptionist.

“Is that so…” I dejectedly responded.

“Though... I wonder... did you really kill 2 [Forest Goblin Wolf Riders] all by yourself?” questioned the receptionist.

“Uhm… yes… why?” I asked with slight hesitation.

“Well… here is that thing, would you be interested in taking the Rank D exam?” offered the receptionist.

“Rank D exam? But I am only Rank F...” I replied.

“Well actually, as of this quest completion, you have a total of 20 Guild Points. So you are now a Rank E adventurer. The moment you became a Rank E adventurer, you are able to take the Rank D exam.” responded the receptionist.

I see… I am already at Rank E ha? Though...

“Isn’t it a bit early to take the Rank D exam right after getting Rank E?” I queried while being somewhat confused.

“I think I know where you might be misunderstanding. To get Rank D you still need to get 20 Guild Points. The only thing is, unlike previous ranks, where you can get more points doing higher rank quests. That is not officially an option at Rank E, because to do Rank D quests, you need to pass the exam. There are of course exceptions like in this case, where you brought in a Rank D monster that pose a threat to the town. Otherwise, even if you kill a Rank D monster on the list, we will not offer credit for it.

That said, it goes without saying you need to pass the Rank D exam to actually get Rank D as well.” informed the receptionist.

“I see… but I still have some time till I get to Rank D, so not sure if I am ready...” I timidly replied.

“There is no problem on that front, in terms of actual difficulty, the Rank D exam is only at a level of a Rank E quest. For someone who can defeat [Goblin Wolf Riders], it should be little issue. If you are willing to take the exam now, I’ll even wave the 1 gold coin entry fee normally required” insisted the receptionist.

That sounds quite generous of her… what is the catch?

“It sounds tempting… but why is the Rank D exam so simple? And is there a reason for the special treatment?” I inquired.

“Well… here is the thing. To conduct the exam there are a few things that we need. The first thing we need is the availability of a Rank B or above adventurer. The second thing we need is an even amount of people to take exam that fits its criteria. In this case the amount of people we need is 10. The problem is that currently where we stand, we only have 9 people. So we need one more person to proceed with the exam. We tried to get more people into the exam, but most people prefer to take the exam with their party members. So finding individual adventurers to fill that number is a bit troublesome.

Of course if we give it a few days, we will probably get someone, the issue is the Rank B adventurer will not be available then. There can also be changes in the mission parameters if we let things go for too long as well.

The current Rank D exam is effectively to take down a group of bandits. Most of these bandits are below level 20. The only ones to watch out for are the core members of the bandit group, and those will be handled by the Rank B adventurer.

Though like all quests and exams, I can’t exactly guarantee your safety, that said, the Rank B adventurer will do his best to insure no one gets hurt. The goal of the Rank D exam is not really to measure strength. At Rank D, there are things as escort quests and large group quests. In such quests, you will often be required to kill people or cooperate with strangers.

The point of the exam is to insure that when someone hires an escort through the guild, the escort will not chicken out or refuse to cooperate with others. During the exam, you will be required to fulfill a simple assignment in a 2 man team. If you complete that assignment, you pass. Most people who are interested in becoming Rank D take the exam soon after becoming Rank E anyways” explained the receptionist.

Hmmm… difficulty level of a Rank E… while at same time I can get a bunch of skills from Rank E or soon to be D adventurers and then there is that Rank B adventurer… Oh and I may be able to get some skills from the bandits as well…

Personally I don’t exactly have an issue killing bandits. If it were innocent people, that would be one thing. But I know better than to feel sorry for those low life scum who would readily take my life given the chance. From my perspective they are no different than pink skinned goblins!

I am also curious about what happened back then when I killed that middle aged man… so it would be an opportunity to test the waters as well… The fact that I did not feel anything at all was a bit too... odd...

Either way, I don’t think killing human bandits will be a problem… and as far as coordination go, while I can’t exactly say I am that great is socializing, at same time I have little problem working with others...

There is also that 1 gold coin I would be saving...

The temptation is strong with this one, but at same time it is like screaming “flag”. But then again the skill galore…

And I’ll be able to take up Rank D quests, which can pay up to half a gold coin each… that might not sound much since it is about what I get paid to make a steel item in terms of profit. But my luck selling items has been abysmal… I wonder if I could interest some of those adventurers taking the test into buying something... * evil grin *

Anyways… lets not get too distracted! From a risk perspective, I am wearing some pretty good Holy-steel gear specialized in defense. Considering my high speed, in worst case I can just run to the Rank B adventurer no? And since the guild scouted this mission in advanced, the probability of something happening should be low right? Or am I just jinxing myself? Ugh! So hard to decide… a part of me is screaming run away and don’t take any unnecessary risks, but at same time isn’t not becoming stronger faster a risk in itself as well?

What I need is a balance of safety and risk. Aka, minimum risk with maximum rewards. Isn’t a situation where I can get a bunch of skills, especially from a Rank B adventurer in a controlled environment not an example of such? Lets first ask a bit more information before deciding…

“Can you tell me a bit more information about what a typical mission entails, who the Rank B adventurer is and is there a deadline for deciding?.. oh and also what is the typical fatality rate?” I inquired.

“Sure, no problem. In a typical mission like a bandit subjugation test. You will be divided into groups of 2. These groups can not be with your own party members, and have to be with a stranger.

Each of the groups will then be in charge of securing a room or section. If you secure the part you are responsible for, you pass regardless of how the others do. In the end, the mission is guaranteed to be a success due to the presence of the Rank B adventurer. The difference mostly lies in how many bandits might run away or if some treasure would be taken by said bandits during their escape.

In this case, the Rank B adventurer is Daron Valse. He is a [Shadow Rogue] and is pretty well known adventurer.

As for fatality rates, I don’t exactly have those numbers, but giving a wild guess I would say about 1% if not less? In terms of difficulty it is Rank E after all… and typically taken by Rank E adventurers confident enough to aim for Rank D. Most fatality rates mostly come when people hesitate or fail to cooperate. But even then, once the boss is taken care of, most bandits choose to run away rather than fight.

As far as deadlines go, I prefer if I could get an answer today… We still have to give a 24 hour advance notice to all parties involved. So if I can get an okay today, the exam would be set for the day after tomorrow.” informed the receptionist.

Shadow Rogue?...Does that mean what I think it means?!?! I can actually get real stealth!

“Count me in!” I exclaimed.

“Great! Then please come by the guild after tomorrow at 6” said the receptionist.

From then on we discussed a few details here and there, got the process for being promoted to Rank E out of the way and with all that done, I left the guild.

Since I have some time tomorrow, I should make preparations just in case…

With my plans made up, I headed back to the Blacksmithing Guild for a nights rest.