"The Guildmaster will be with you soon, please wait in this room." A middle-aged woman with a voluptous body, dark blonde hair and green eyes said to an adventurerer that looked troubled and asked to meet with the Guildmaster.

It was a small room with two luxurious couches standing opposite of each other. On hte wall was a mirror and paintings and plants on the other walls.

"T-Thank you very much, Heretta." The adventurer said to the woman before she walked out of the room.

He still wasn't over the things he saw in that village. 'What kind of monster would do such a thing...' He thought to himself as he held his head and closed his eyes.

After a bit of waiting he stood up and looked at himself in the mirror of the small meeting room.

He was just a normal C-Rank Adventurer. His looks were average. He was of normal height, around 1.84m (6'0), had short brown hair and wore a cheap looking leather and chainmail armor.

He was clearly very tired, as he couldn't sleep since then, which is the reason for his rough appearance and the bags under his eyes.

Suddenly, a door opened, opposite from the one he had entered. From the door came a tall man, around 1.98m (6'5), He had short black hair and a slight beard. He wore expensive clothes and had an intimidating aura around him.

"Thank your for arranging some time for me, Guildmaster Hexan." He said while bowing before sitting down on the couch.

"It's not a problem, Kegan. You've been a loyal adventurer and have helped a lot, so the least I can do is take some time for you. Now, tell me what's on your mind." The guildmaster said and sat down on the couch opposite to Kegan.

"Alright. While we were out on the hunting quest for the Querar, we wanted to stop by a village where we had been very often to replenish some food and other stuff. But when we got there, everything was quiet and no one was on the streets nor in their houses. When we investigated, we found a gruesome sight." As he thought about it again, he had to stop himself from throwing up.

The guildmaster looked at him quietly, waiting for him to continue

"When we got to the end of the village, we found... We found a small girl, her limbs cut off and stuck to her body with wooden spikes. All of- All of her bones were removed from her body and layed out before her. And then, some of the smaller bones were- were needled to her face to look like a smiling face..." Kegan looked down while holding his head.

The guildmaster looked horrified. "What monster would do such a thing... Lord... Did you find anyone else from the village... like that?"

"N-No. My companions had already searched the entire village, so we had left as fast as we could to report this matter."

"I see,,, I must report this to his majesty. You said you went there a few times, did you know what kind of manpower they had, so we can maybe assess the power of the threat at hand?" Hexan asked before taking out a small notebook.

Kegan looked up again and said- "Of course, we have met the people guarding the village. They had a powerful warrior, his battle prowess would be about B-Rank, close to A-Rank. Then they also had two mages, one battle mage, I've never really seen him fight, but what I've heard from the villagers, he should have been about A-Rank and a scholar mage. And then they had some of the villagers as guards."

"Lord... We don't know if it was group or a single individual, maybe a monster. Either way, I must report this to his majesty. Thank you for telling me this, Kegan." The guildmaster looked baffled as he stood up and wanted to leave.

"It- It could've been a monster. The village was close to the forest..." As Kegan said this, the guildmaster frowned heavily and walked out of the room.

The castle was a giant, magnificient palace that was occupied by the royal family of the kingdom of Falania. It was the most defended place in the entire country, royal guards in nearly every corner.

The throne room was currently used by the king that had held an audience with one of the people that had the most influence in the kingdom, the guildmaster Hexan. He was once an SS-Rank adventurer, some of the strongest people in the world. In fact, you could probably count them with two hands. After he retired, he took over the role of the guildmaster of the capital.

He didn't kneel before the king, because he did not need to. All the nobles that were there as witnesses, were kneeling before the king that sat proudly on his throne.

"Tell me, old friend. What is troubling you, to come to me directly." The king loudly asked. He was in his late 50s, and already had gray hair. He was around 1.81m (5'9) tall and wore a magnificent golden crown on the top of his head. He also had a golden scepter that was passed down in the royal family.

"I came here to report something of the highest importance. A loyal and trustworthy adventurer has reported to me, that he had found an empty village." Hexan began recounting the report Kegan had given him.

"We don't know who or what did it, but I assume that it was a dangerous being. The village was close to Forest of Darkness." The king frowned deeply upon hearing the story of the village and then those news, that were even worse.

"Out of that place? Nothing has come out of there since the guardian sealed it and watched over it... But if there really came something out of there, it would mean the doom of our nation..."

The nobles looked terrified thinking about the possibility of a being coming out of that forest. Soon the throne room was filled with noise that was caused by the nobles throwing an uproar.

The hall became quiet as the king slammed his cepter on the floor. "Quiet! We don't have proof that it came out of the forest, it is merely an assumption. Either way, we cannot let such a being roam around free. I shall send a priest and some guards there to bless that village and let the people rest in peace. Maybe the priest will also find a clue with his magic. We shall continue this conversation after that is done. You are all free to go now." The king declared and walked away.