So, what do I do now?

Go to the lobby? I'm not sure how the whole 'accepting quests' thing goes. As you know my jobs were usually of the less reputable sort.

That wasn't very helpful.

Let me remind you: Libraries-

Hold it! I'm not going to the library for that. I'll just ask somebody else.

"Hey Alvon, where do I need to go to..."

Goldie twisted his head around and saw him talking to Rhona.

Goldie gritted teeth and joined the two. It shouldn't have been making him as angry as it did, but Alvon was the first person who Goldie would call a friend.

"Pardon my intrusion", Goldie started. "but I have a rather important question to ask."

Rhona shut him down: "If you want to join, I'm afraid any requests we take are far above your paygrade."

"Don't just instantly turn him down! We haven't even heard what he wanted to say", Al complained. "And Xandon, there's no need for you to speak so formally to me, we're friends after all."

"I just wanted to know where I should go to start. I assumed you guys know your way around."

Alvon gave Rhona a meaningful look.

"Ah, my apologies for making assumptions. Sadly, I'm not the best person to ask about the locale", she explained.

Al shrugged. "I think the newbie dungeon is always an option for beginners. We could go check out the quest board together. I was planning on starting with an easy one before turning in for the night."

The two men were about to walk down the stairs when they got interrupted.

"Wait, you both!" Rhona interrupted and turned to Goldie. "I've been to your room, which means you probably still need to collect your personal items. Unless you want the guild to keep them, that is."

"Of course, how could I forget."

"I'll join you if you want", Al offered.

Goldie gave Al the go ahead and they wandered to his room.

"She's been in here with you ey? Anything interesting happen between you two?", Al teased.

"Not you too!"

"Too? Who else said something?"

"Argh, nevermind. One of my friend's is a huge pervert, that's all."

"I was just teasing, don't worry. I don't suspect either of you are like that." Alvon assured. "But, why was she here?"

"She simply mistook it as being empty."

"That's lame, I was hoping there'd be more to it than that."

Goldie coughed. "Y-yeah, nothing interesting."

Goldie quickly picked up his bag and stuffed the mounted clock inside, which Al shrugged off with a comment about everybody having their quirks. Afterwards they made their way back to the guild's entrance.

This time, instead of walking to the left, they would finally enter the building's right wing. The corridor led to a spacious room bustling with activity. There were a few tables with groups of adventurers huddled around them, fiddling with glowing orbs. More of these Orbs were stacked in shelves on the side of the room. On closer inspection they were actually locked in glass display cases. On the far end of the room sat three receptionists with lines of adventurers in front of them.

Surveying his fellow adventurers, he took note of their gear. Most of the adventurers wore mixes of cheap-looking leather and chain armor. Of course, any set of armor was expensive, but it was quite clear these people were newcomers. One of the lines, however, likely reserved for the higher tiered fighters, had more exotic outfits. They were dressed in full plate, scale, chitin, and even bone.

"Alright to pick a quest you should go over to one of these research globes", Alvon mentioned, as he motioned Goldie over to one of the display cases.

"Your adventurer's signet should allow you to unlock the case."

Goldie walked over and pressed the ring against one of the glass panes. The case popped open and Goldie took out the fist-sized sphere.

"Alrighty, power the orb and let's have a look!", Alvon chimed.

The crystalline orb began glowing and warping. It seemed like the space inside the sphere was expanding and folding outward.

Welcome, Xandon Jefferite. You have [0] personal quests. There are [9] quests you are eligible for.

"Among those nine, there should be an unlimited monster hunting quest. It usually entails patrolling around the Lîngva forest to exterminate mutated creatures. Most of them aren't very dangerous, but from time to time an elite monster appears. Those are quite deadly, especially for lower levels, but they also fetch quite the hefty reward.", Alvon explained.

Goldie looked over the list during Alvon's explanation. There were a few quests wherein one had to gather specific materials from the forest or deliver monster materials to various outposts at the edge of town. Goldie figured it would synergize well with the hunting quest Alvon mentioned. He also noticed two boring sounding delivery requests and finally there was another permanent quest to 'dungeon delve'.

"What dungeon does this refer to?" Goldie asked.

"Most people call it the newbie dungeon. It's a decent place to level for lower ranks, but it barely gives any money since the corpses dissolve back into energy. You'll make the most money by delivering materials, and you'd gain the most levels by grinding monsters", Alvon explained. "I suggest you wait until tomorrow before entering. It takes a while to get anything done in there since as far as I know it is quite overpopulated."

Goldie wasn't completely oblivious to the nature of dungeons, though anything he knew was hearsay from his life as a merchant. There were a few instances in which some of the materials or items he sold originated from a far-off.

Which raised the question...

"Haven't some people gotten treasure from dungeon delves before?"

"It depends on the dungeon's nature. Sometimes people discover long forgotten ruins within them. Some dungeons supposedly even summon items for the people who clear a certain condition. Every dungeon is unique. "

Some people are convinced the gods created dungeons to reward brave heroes who dare enter. Like a 'hero recruitment program' or something.

What do you believe?

I think that's a bunch of nonsense! I think the gods are simply taking credit for a natural occurrence! It's not like those old bastards have ever done anything for anyone.

How did one explain the loot generation then? Goldie sensed he'd struck a nerve and decided to refrain from mentioning that to Xander.

What quest do you suggest I start off with?

I was never the adventuring type. Seems like hunting until evening and going to the dungeon tomorrow would be smartest.

"Alright, I guess I'll go patrol the forest for now.", he said as he tapped against the permanent quest. After reading the other descriptions he decided to add the gleamgrass and dire puma fang gathering quests. They seemed easy to do in conjunction with patrolling and upped his money-making efficiency.

Quest selection has been noted. Please proceed to receptionist [2] to receive the required authentication.

"You seem to have things figured out. I'll leave you to it then" Alvon said. "Actually before I go, do you have a place to sleep?"

"Uhh, I was planning pay for a room at the guild for the time being."

"I see. Tell you what, if you want something nicer, then come over to my house in the evening", Al offered.

He then scribbled his address on a small sheet of paper and handed it to Goldie, before walking towards the newly arrived Rhona. He must have realized that Goldie didn't feel very comfortable around her.

It was a tad strange of him to be so welcoming, but it warmed Goldie's heart to have met such a kind person.

At the front of the line, the receptionist took the orb off Goldie's hands and placed it on a circular depression on her desk. There was a slight humming while a part of the desk lit up.

"Please place your signet ring on the glowing pad", the receptionist requested.

After having done so, the ring dimly shone for a few moments and was then returned to him.

"Your quests have been logged, have you any need for additional services?"

"None today, thank you."

He couldn't afford to burn daylight. As soon as he left he telepathically asked Xander for directions and strode off to the forest.

It took a while to arrive at the city's boundary, especially because Xander's telepathic direction-giving skills left to be desired. Once they finally arrived a guardsman asked for confirmation of his status as an adventurer. After inspecting Goldie's ring, he bode them safe passage and let them enter the forest.

Of course, the city wasn't right next to the forest. It took a quarter of an hour to reach the woodland's edge. According to his quest descriptions, which could be displayed with his ring, gleamgrass grew deeper into the forest, where the clustering of the trees no longer let as much light enter. Naturally that was also where the most creatures appeared which meant it was the perfect place for him to go.

He glanced at his watch and took out his booklet. It was already 1:25, which meant he had around five hours to complete his tasks, if he wanted to eat dinner at an adequate time. Especially because he planned on accepting Alvon's offer and didn't want to be a bother by arriving at his doorstep late at night.

One would think so, however, after scouting around for more than an hour Goldie still hadn't found a single enemy. He did uncover a few patches of gleamgrass, but it only amounted to around a fifth of what he needed.

"Where is everything?"

Of course, as irony would have it, a snake chose that moment to leap off a tree branch and bite Goldie in the shoulder.

"Coristam dammit!"

He quickly grabbed the snake and pulled it off his body. After it landed it raised its head and waited. This passive behavior confused Goldie somewhat, but he decided to attack nevertheless.

He then realized what it had been waiting for. The venom inside his body made him sluggish. He almost fell on his face before the snake jumped at his again, going for his neck.

Goldie activated a Telekinetic Push and knocked the snake off course. It landed on its back and he jumped atop it, stabbing it in the head with his dagger. It spasmed lightly before going completely still. Goldie could feel a bit of its life force enter his body.

Something with such a miniscule amount of strength nearly managed to cut his first adventure short. He needed to be far more cautious in the future. Yet at simultaneously he needed to speed up his patrol or else he'd never finish his objectives in time.

I'm in a real pinch here, Xander.

Did that tiny snake sap your will to continue? You handled yourself just fine, there's no use in moping around on the forest floor.

That's actually a side-effect of the paralyzing venom inside my bloodstream.

Oh... whoops.

At this point the muscles inside his body had ceased responding to any input. Goldie had activated Targeted Invigoration to try counteracting its effects, but even then it took a few minutes for the effect to wear off.

[Standard skill Acquired: Poison Resistance]

He thanked Yan’gekâl that nothing attacked him while he was lying motionless on the ground, and continued his search for gleamgrass. Thanks to sticking to the shaded areas of the woods, he was able to find nearly enough to complete his quest.

I'd have originally expected adventuring to be more interesting than this. Even standing inside a store all day without a single customer beats walking through a forest to gather herbs.

You're gonna have to pull through the tedious parts of adventuring before getting to the interesting bits.

But aren't there supposed to be monsters here as well?

Of course, he had been attacked by a few more snakes on his journey, but they weren't much of a challenge once he figured out he could use telekinesis to shoot them off course. At least the encounters gained him another Lvl in the skill, even if the snakes were practically worthless anima-wise.

Eventually, Goldie came across something that interrupted the tedium.

FINALLY!

Hang on, that's just a large field of gleamgrass what's so special about that? Oh, there's a boar standing on it, and not just any boar, it was a mutant. Instead of the usual two tusks, it sported four. It had red fur and two crystalline horns on its head. Its eyes were emitting a dim yellow glow and it was a massive six feet tall. The best part, however, was that it had not yet noticed Goldie's presence.

He got in as close as he could while remaining outside the grass' glow. He energized his cloak to become nearly invisible to inch a little bit closer. He needed a perfect strike to take it down. Its nose suddenly twitched and it looked straight in Goldie's direction.

He held his breath and activated Essence Concealment.

Goldie held his breath and did his best to calm his nerves. He simply needed to think happy, calming thoughts.

Heh, isn't this kinda like the situation in your room?

For a moment Goldie imagined Rhona glaring at him with an icy cold stare and was overtaken by primal fear.

You just had to mention that.

Essence Concealment has risen to Lvl 11!

Sneak has risen to Lvl 4!

The mutant boar's nose twitched again and it moved slightly forward. Goldie only had a few second before running out of Energy and his fight or flight instinct took hold.

Through the aid of his augmentation spell and Xander's wealth of knowledge, he managed to plunge the dagger straight through the boar's eye and into its brain. It let out a harrowing squeal before keeling over and dying.

He observed the corpse for another few minutes before calming down... and vomiting.

Oh come on, it wasn't that bad!

I killed the poor creature!

How is this any different from the snakes? That thing was a bloodthirsty monster and would have done the same to you.

It hadn't attacked me yet and boars are herbivores. It wasn't even part of my mission and I killed it out of panic. I'm a terrible person...

Get off it man! You eat meat, don't you?

It's not the same as killing something yourself! I'm not even doing it to survive.

You killed me for Ayal's sake, stop being hypocritical!

But you stuck around afterwards. The boar is dead forever.

Listen, these things are monsters. Anima-tainted creatures are universally aggressive and need to be culled so they don't overrun our cities. That beast would have killed you had it gotten the chance.

I was invading its territory so aren't I to blame? If we invaded the Suudari territories wouldn't we be to blame for retaliation?

What would your excuse be the very corrupted beast you refused to kill broke into a Gemeen home and permanently killed someone!?

I... I guess I wouldn't have one.

Exactly! Being an adventurer isn't only about becoming stronger, it's about protecting the people who can't protect themselves.

Weren't you the one who suggested this because of the monetary gain? I didn't realize you were such an idealist.

I used to be. Before...

Before what?

Before it all went to shit. It doesn't concern you. Now, stop bitching and get to looting!

He looked over the corpse once more and shuddered. He slapped himself on both cheeks and forced down his unease.

'Killing creatures wasn't a big deal, it was part of nature.' 'There is no reason to feel bad for it.' 'They aren't sapient and they would injure others if left unchecked.'

He wrote those phrases into his booklet, in case he ever second-guessed himself. Really, a merchant of his caliber should be far more pragmatic about it. Not only did he gain power and valuable materials, but also helped protect society from their evil. Slaying monsters was a total win-win, especially for the more powerful ones. The amount he gained from the boar's corpse was higher than that of all the snakes combined. A few more of these and he would hopefully get to level 11. He spent some time filling up his pouch before pondering something about the boar's corpse.

How do we prove we killed it? Are we supposed to bring them the corpse?

Generally bringing the body isn't a bad idea since they are quite valuable. However, since you don't have a spatial storage ring or bag that would pose a bit of a challenge. You don't worry about getting rewarded for your quest though, the adventurer's ring logs all your fights and gains.

It does? I guess that makes sense. How else would they prove you did your-

His thoughts were interrupted by a telepathic yell of warning from Xander. Goldie reflexively ducked and activated Essence Concealment, while slowly walking out of the light. That's when he noticed the spot he was wandering to had a giant black cat in it.

Do you think it sees me?

Before Xander could answer, the puma pounced at Goldie, who quickly rolled out of the way.

"Oh cut me some slack, Coristam!"

Surprisingly, the cat didn't attack him again. Instead it walked backwards towards the Boar's body and hissed in Goldie's direction. Seems like it just wanted something to eat. Goldie sighed in relief. He wasn't sure he could beat that thing with his Energy being as low as it was.

Although his instincts shouted at him to retreat, he stuck around. Attacking it while it feasted might be the best opportunity he had at gathering its fangs. He channeled his increased regeneration for about two minutes before hearing a loud bunch of squeals. There were three smaller boars that had encircled the feasting puma.

Those little guys are pretty adorable...

Don't get sentimental!

The puma hissed and puffed its fur, but the hogs remained calm. At least until they collectively charged forward. The puma lashed out, swiping one of the boars across its neck, slamming it backward. The other two, however, were not deterred and rammed against the puma. It kicked one of them with its hind legs, ramming it against a tree. The third dug its tusks into the puma's side and knocked it on its back. The puma was bleeding profusely from the hole's the tusks had caused. It lunged forward and bit into the attacker's snout. The poor creature was slaughtered in seconds. Both remaining boars were back on their feet and charged once more.

As the beasts continued their fight, Goldie struggled to climb one of the nearby trees.

[Standard skill Acquired: Climbing]

By the time he reached his desired position, the battle below had already ended. The puma had gotten a few scratches, but other than the two tusk-sized holes the first boar caused it wasn't seriously injured. Or that is to say, it wasn't seriously injured yet.

Goldie empowered his arms and legs and jumped down the branch, crashing onto the puma and slamming his dagger through its skull.

Dagger Mastery has risen to Lvl 22!

Assassination has risen to Lvl 16!

Acrobatics has risen to Lvl 4!

He was flooded by anima from the surrounding beast corpses. Sadly, it still wasn't quite enough to push him to the next level.

He picked up his bag and tore the puma's fangs from its body. While he was at it he also removed the boars' tusks and stuffed all the items in his bag.

I'm going to have to clean the cutlery later.

No kidding. Do you see why it's idiotic to carry all this junk around?

It's not idiotic!

He let out a huff of annoyance and proceeded to grumpily harvest all of the gleamgrass in sight, which filled his bag to the absolute brim.

Okay, maybe it was a bit foolish to carry all this stuff around with me on adventures.

Plus you harvested a lot more than was needed!

If they don't accept extra, I could always just sell it myself. Extra money never hurt anyone after all.

Almost four hours had passed when he finally finished his gathering quests. He could still afford to hunt for a bit more than an hour, if he wished. However, considering how long it took to get out of the forest from his current position and how heavy his bag was, that time was reduced by around half an hour.

Realistically those results would not have been very accurate, since Goldie had made absolute certain not to miss any patches of gleamgrass.

In the end Goldie chose to slowly make his way back, while scouting out any sounds he heard. Not that it mattered, as he got all the way into visual range of the clearing without finding any prey.

"That's too bad."

Shortly after uttering those words he heard a loud growl behind him.

"You really have it out for me Coristam," he grumbled.

At first he expected another puma to be standing behind him. Instead he was met by a behemoth. This feline seemed like a puma at first glance, but was in fact twice as tall as the one before and its fur had a blue-grey tinge to it. The eyes glowed an icy blue.

So, this is the real 'dire' puma, eh?

This is no time for idle musings!

The dire puma barreled towards Goldie and slashed its claws across his torso and knocked him off his feet. As it tried biting at his neck, Goldie telekinetically pushed against it, thereby launching himself backwards and away. He quickly jumped up and ran to the clearing. This course of action proved futile as the puma caught up with him in no time and pounced on his back fracturing his ribs. Goldie howled in pain as he rolled out of the way of another swipe. Fueled by anger, and augmenting his attack a whole lot of Energy, he sunk his dagger into the puma's gaping maw as it tried to chomp down on him. The puma growled and jumped backwards. As it clawed out the dagger stuck in its mouth, Goldie frantically searched his bag for a possible weapon.

"Ah shit, I'm so dead"

DON'T JUST GIVE UP YOU BIG OAF!

He needed to think, and fast! Recalling his quest information, the gleamgrass he gathered was required to create certain potions. Hoping that it may help mend his wounds he quickly swallowed a fistful of the stuff before grabbing a number of boar tusks.

He once again activated Empower and tried infusing the tusks with Energy. The bones hummed lightly and crackled with power. He then threw the bunch towards the puma just as it had finally removed the pesky dagger from its mouth. He pushed against the flying tusks with all his Will, doing his best to increase their force through his telekinetic ability. One of the tusks behaved as expected and deeply embedded itself in the puma's flank. The Energy within the other tusks exploded outward and the increased speed of the bone shards turned them into dangerous shrapnel.

[Complex skill Acquired: Energy Infusion] [Complex skill Acquired: Telekinetic Projectile] [Complex skill set Acquired: Telekinesis]

Inexhaustible Will has risen to Lvl 4!

Even after all that, the monster wouldn't let up. It barreled at Goldie and was once again atop him. Acting on instinct, Goldie grabbed the tusk that was still lodged in the creature's side and infused as much energy as he could. The object violently exploded, the shards piercing not only the Puma's inner organs, but also Goldie's hand, torso and neck. The creature flung backward, and Goldie stomped on its head a few times to make sure it wouldn't get up, before toppling over thanks to his blood loss.

He lied on the ground and his vision blurred. He tried his best to keep still and to focus on healing. However, it was unlikely he would heal rapidly enough not to die of internal bleeding first.

He felt the dire puma's anima flowing into him and the interface greeted him with shiny golden letters of salvation.

Level up!

You have earned 1 Universal attribute point.

Soul strengthened. Maximum attribute points have increased.

He was enveloped in a soft white glow and his wounds partially healed.

"Seems like the extra stats aren't the only bonus to leveling," he croaked.

Thank Yan'gekâl for that.