A young man already in his early twenties hurriedly made his way to his next job. The young man was not handsome in any way and was a little on the heavier side but the muscles to his frame balanced it out, if only slightly. On the other hand, that also made others assume him as one that works with their strength which indulges in food and drink afterwards.

His raven black hair stuck to his forehead and ended just short of reaching his deep brown eyes. He arrived panting as he readied himself, wiping his brow and fixing his shirt and hair and with a small gesture and a barely noticeable swirl of wind, he was fresh and set. Once he was done, he took a breath and entered the door to the small building.

A few hours later, he exited said building as he made his way to the yard beside it and took something out from his pack. It was a bundle of leaves made slick and glossy as it had been held over coals, only long enough to make the oily surface like that of waxy paper but not too much that would cause it to blacken and burn. He unfurled the bundle and there was a block of cooked white grain with a line of finely chop meat and bits of steamed vegetables ran the middle of it.

He happily held the bundle which was as thick as a bar soap and made a gesture of thanks before biting into it. A content him escaped his lips as he slowly took his time to eat the contents even discreetly licking it clean before he neatly folded the leaves together and returning it into his pack.

He stood and strode back into the the building, to the room he was in earlier that day and made his way behind a table in the front of the room. Behind him was a slab of smooth dark slate covering the wall behind him and several smaller tables and chairs arranged before him.

A dozen youths dressed in similar garb made their way to the chairs in a familiar manner and settled upon seeing the man at his station. The group was divided equal parts male and female and they all wore rough spun white shirts with sleeves ending at the wrist, loose brown pants wide at the thighs and tapering on the calves and simple leathers shoes with an added toughened leather sole. The similarities ended there as some wore sleeveless vests over their shirts, others wore leather doublets, another group wore a kind of harness of leather straps, while a pair had a kind of cloth vestments and a last one having a "decorated" form of vest with a crystal on a point right on the throat area between the collarbones.

"Now everyone let's all get back to the topic before the break?" The young man, a decade senior to all the students, asked as he pointed to one in a leather harness.

The blond female student, wearing a leather doublet which had her hair in a ponytail shot her hand straight and quickly responded, "It was about solo survival scenarios days away from any civilization, Sir."

"Thank you Lainey. " as the answer was followed by another question. "Now how about the common wild environments found around the Rothram Kingdom?"

Another student, this time in a harness of leather straps, with a head of brown shortly cropped hair and pale brown eyes with hints of gold raised an arm strong with lean muscles responded, "Most of the east are planes of long green grasses that stretches to the sea, while the west are covered by forests and a few mountains up to the border with the Free City of Trask and goes on to partly covering the northwest, the north and northeast has evergreen forest and a snow peaked mountains of the Elves of the Crag, and the whole of the south is covered by a scattering of sparse forests and farmlands until the border swamps of the Khar, and with us at the center in the capital city Rothram, with a smaller city in each cardinal direction, namely Greyrock, Daybreak, Fullfields, and Greens End, respectively , each about 3 days ride with open roads and some more farmlands between all of these areas.

"A good answer Norman. So from that we can find at least 3 kinds of wooded areas, light forest, older forests and evergreens respectively, the sea of grass, mountains and the transitions between them." the instructor had stated.

The discussion continued with the recounting of some confirmed and well known adventuring missions for the next couple of hours. Afterwards the students were dismissed and tasked with preparing their answers for more survival scenarios. And as such the classes went on for another two whole weeks before moving on to practical application of solo skills evaluation and team dynamics, a set of exercises and training that wasn't as rigorous as say full military standard but was comparable to that for city militia, lless the organized marching formations and patrol though replaced with the addition of bushcraft, threat assessment and the procedural works of an adventurer.

"Good work to all of you. Thank you for submitting to the novice program of the guild. This goes without saying that you are all now less likely to die out there in the wilds from a lack of knowledge and skills but never forget that the threat is always there." The instructor was stern as he praised their efforts and improvements those past three months and the students were congratulating one another while in their seats.

"Okay now after this you will receive your adventurer's badges and the choice to participate in a mission, said mission being a caravan escort to the border town of Split Timbers in the west. This is about a month's hike of forest crossing from here to there even counting on the maintained thoroughfare that is the King's road. And mind you all, this doesn't take into account any possible encounters with wildlife and other creatures. Now any of you that choose to take this on, you are to report to the Administration building up until tomorrow afternoon to confirm and prepare the necessary gear for the caravan departs at daybreak 2 days after this." The instructor ended with another round of congratulations before gathering his things and setting for home.

On the day of the travel, he went through the list of adventure groups that are part of the caravan escort. His eyes went through it a few times noting the names and compositions of the groups, mulling around the reputation and specialties of those groups. Then his eyes settled on the group named Grindstone, named as such being made up of an instructor and freshly trained adventures which are up for "honing" and finding half a dozen names of his former students.

"Well this lineup seems more balanced from the last. Lainey Fairweather, Brent Crags, Norman Holdfast, Cedric Strong, Elharin Melvas, and Orna Erand, a good mix of a fencer, two vanguards, a rouge, a ranger and mage. Hmmm... That leaves a hole in the supporting role, well that's fine." He was quietly speaking to himself while waiting at the rearmost of the caravan, where their group had been assigned to along with a senior group called the Blood Hounds, a collection of 7 individuals with just the rogue profession but specialized in different skills that made them a self sustained and balanced unit that is known for their tracking and perimeter security skills in addition to their standard scouting, hunting, infiltration, and information gathering repertoire.

A few moments later the 6 six former students arrived and gave him a quick salute which he waived down after reciprocating theirs.

"Good to see you all and thank you for participating on this mission. As this is your first quest may I ask for you complete attention and full cooperation as it isn't the fiercest beasts that kill the most adventurers but the underestimated ones that do" he said as he gained the nods of his former students.

"Haloo there Clain!" Waved a man with a light brown main of hair with a sharp face full of hard and weathered features, and dark brown almost black eyes with a glint of careful analysis as they scanned over the party.

"Well it's good to see a fresh batch in Grindstone. You always have let out a competent bunch ever since you started with the mentoring course." The other man now shaking hands with the instructor named Clain Crispin, said instructor was known for his methodical methods in teaching and the eccentricities in the gear he uncannily has at times when out in the field.

"It is always great to be working with you again Geren. Thank you and yes these are from my last set of students, for a few years anyways. Though I would say it isn't all to my credit for my students' performance, all I do is look for what they lack and help them make it less of a problem and drilling cooperation while being self sufficient into all of them." Clain said, gaining a rolling of eyes from Geren.

"No need to go into you explanations friend. Introduce me to your party, we will be on this trip for the next month or so." Geren warmly telling Clain as he looked over each member of Grindstone.

Words of greetings and some handshaking were exchanged and Geren moved back to his group as the caravan was about to set off as a horn was sounded.

The respective groups broke apart and moved to their assigned stations. There were a few seats in the some of the wagons which allowed all of the walking security to ride most of the way, only getting off for the occasional clearing away of obstructions such as aggressive animals or the more difficult uphill portions.

For now the caravan proceeded out of the city at a steady pace with the guards and escort mostly on foot though at a brisk pace as to not disrupt the ever-present foot traffic of Rothram.

They quickly reached the city's border farming village by mid day after mounting up right outside the city gates. They didn't encounter the usual refuse found outside of large cities all through their trek though Rothram was blessed with neither a large flowing water source nor a strict refuse collection, but an intricate system of sewage and fresh water treatment by way of magic and slime monster cultivation. Yes, there were times where the slimes escaped and ate things with actual value and the odd pet or so but these were quickly resolved by the ‘Cleaners’ and rules for communal lavatories and waste disposal were made, enforced and ingrained into the citizens for over a hundred years now. Myths of ‘disposing’ people by slime were also common but hardly practical or even possible as these ‘flesh eaters’ and ‘metal melters’ are kept specially under strict control by a group directly overseen by the Royal Capital’s Administrators and answer only to the Royal Family. The secret of creating the specialized slimes were lost to time making the humble balls of runny goop were a commodity more precious than its weight in gold. Many more tales of these special slimes are best left for the expert handlers officially known as the Waste Disposal Officers or simply called the ‘Cleaners’.

The only other city known to employ the “Slime Sewers” was the Free City of Trask from which Rothram based its system upon. To a different extent some of the Dwarven and Elven cities have their own refuse-eating/eliminating creatures.

They had a quick break and then picked up their pace, and at day’s end they had reached a large traveller's tavern with a barn and stable. Afterwards they set aside their carriages and made camp some paces away from the structures as some merchants took rooms while others slept along with guards and escorts in the camp surrounding the carriages.

The travel went smoothly along the King’s Road as the occasional patrol of soldiers roved through the length between every garrison. It was an uneventful week after leaving Green's End as they took on more carriages which were an advance part of their employers carriage train bringing the total up to 10 carriages, 8 merchants, 20 attendants, servants and assistants, 20 personal guards, and 30 adventurers. The considerably large column of armed individuals was both imposing but necessary as beyond the border was an almost ancient forest full of wonderful and dangerous creatures and plants.

Finally at the western end of the Kingdom's border, they reached the fortified keep, aptly named, Ironbark though not because its wooden walls, palisade and keep were made from the mythical lumber but more along the lines of the amount of weapons and armor it had in contrast to the wooden structure.

Looking towards his former students, “This is where things go from scrapes and bruises to possible death.” Clain sternly meeting each pair of eyes in the group. “Beyond this fort is the Deepgreen where the innocuous could be fatal. Remember your lessons and be vigilant. Keep to the road and watch out for each other. Along with the risk is the probability of great reward as the same abundant ambient mana that twist flora and fauna into these terribly effective bringers of death also transforms them it sources of valuable raw materials for almost any trade.”

“Do listen, young men and young ladies. The things your party leader says are true and the way things spiral from a pleasant stroll into a perilous march can and will happen on the way and the best advice this old dog can give is that you be alert and ready to act at a moment’s notice.” Geren added to Clain’s words as the fledgling adventurers nodded thoughtfully.

“Now stock up, ready your tools and get some rest. We leave the fort town tomorrow mid-morning. Dismissed.” Clain turned to Geren. “Hope we don't meet the crazy shit on this trip”

“I second that. Now let's get a drink before we set off into that green mess.” Geren slinging an arm over Clain’s shoulders.