“Good, make sure to keep your vigilance about you when you skin those bunny-foxes. Just because you’re in an empty area near the town gates does not warrant a moment of complacence. Ambushes can come at any time and you should be prepared to drop what you are doing to defend yourself.”

Despite the stern words, Dashurie had gone through shock after shock. There was no lack of precaution on Braiten’s part. Every action was calculated properly and his demeanor was exactly like that of a seasoned beginner adventurer. All that Dashurie could say was something along the lines of “keep up the good work” as everything after the basics came from experience.

Dashurie was also stunned by the proficiency that he completed his tasks. Every attack with his dagger was simple, sharp, clean and seemed like they came out of a martial scroll. All his opponents were either knocked out or killed in one blow. Braiten had also outdone himself when he gathered herbs for one of his tasks. The herbs were perfectly extracted from the ground and no damage was done to any part of the plants. Even the most seasoned adventurer had trouble extracting herbs as one or two portions of the roots would be damaged in the process.

Dashurie rubbed her temples as she gazed into the distance and helped Braiten with looking out for any possible dangers. She was not even sure why Braiten had requested a mentorship despite his skills. Seeing the perfectly skinned bunny-foxes beside him, she sighed once again.

What Dashurie did not know was that Braiten would have had almost no clue of what precautions to ensure post-battle had he decided not to acquire a mentor even though he was proficient in skinning and the likes. Coming from a VR world previously, monsters had set territories and looting could be done on the spot way before monsters respawned. Therefore, people back there would be safe as long as they cleared the monsters in the area quick enough. Furthermore, after coming to this world, Braiten utilized magic to camouflage and protect himself as he skinned and gathered the items. Ultimately, he was only mimicking the behavior of other adventurers that he had observed as he scouted the area together with Dashurie prior to the hunts.

With smooth motions, Braiten tied his gains on the large basket that he carried. He looked up at the sky and asked Dashurie if they could head back to town to rest as it was just about time for lunch.

Dashurie nodded and just as they were about to make their way for the town gate, they heard two strange shouts.

“Wah! Help! Somebody!”

“Quick! Throw stones at them. Maybe we’ll get lucky and slow them down!”

The desperate voices of a male and female were heard nearby. Braiten and Dashurie turned to look over just in case danger was headed their way. They were greeted by the sight of a young man and woman in worn-out leather armor running away from three enraged bunny-foxes in the direction of the town gates.

Bunny-foxes should never to be underestimated. They looked cute and seemed to make great pets with their adorable bunny bodies and ears along with their fox head and fluffy tail. However, they were known to be highly aggressive creatures. They were fast and had sharp claws and teeth that could shred through even light-plate armor. Most adventurers would make sure that they had equipment strong enough to tangle these buggers or make baited traps to avoid confrontation entirely. They either used those strategies, or they were martial sect adventurers that tackled them with martial skills that focused on speed.

These two greenies were clearly unprepared for the ferocity and speed of the bunny-foxes. Braiten’s brow wrinkled. He definitely wanted to help them, but knew from reading the “do’s and don’ts” that helping them outright now would be detrimental for their future. If Braiten helped out directly now, the two may have expectations of receiving help from other adventurers and tackle other missions that were beyond them whilst unprepared. This may also put other adventurers at risk.

Braiten soon calmed himself down and quickly made a decision. He squinted his eyes in concentration and mana extracted from the earth formed a rune in front of him. The rune was injected into the ground in front of Braiten and it emitted an almost imperceptible pulse as the earth shifted. The earth below the foremost bunny-fox dipped ever so slightly, causing it to trip. The bunny-fox stumbled and collided into the second which skidded across the ground, obstructing the third.

As this happened, Dashurie whipped her head around and looked at Braiten with a dumbfounded expression on her face. The pulse should have been nearly undetectable, and she had almost missed it. It was only due to her being attuned so closely to earth-attributed qi and her role as mentor and scout in the guild that enabled her to be barely sensitive enough to feel the pulse. If it were any old earth attribute martial artist, they would surely miss the pulse or at most have thought they had imagined it. Another large factor that contributed to her notice was the events that played out in front of her very eyes.

Braiten knew that he had been found out when he felt Dashurie’s sharp gaze lock onto him. He did not bother explaining his ability as he shrugged and walked towards the town gates. Knowing that each kept secrets of their own, Dashurie did not bother questioning and quietly followed Braiten to the gates.

The two duos had reached the gates at the same time. Braiten and Dashurie looked calm and composed while the other two were gasping for breath and sprawled on the ground as they managed to scramble to the safe vicinity of the gates.

“Damn it, Eron! I shouldn’t have listened to your crazy ideas about gaining ‘experience’ in real combat! We nearly got killed!” The young woman spouted out in anger as soon as she gained her breath.

“Bu-…”

“But nothing! That was dangerous, and a waste of time. Every single second we spend out there risking ourselves is a second of cultivation wasted. It’s better to reliably increase our cultivation for next month’s competition instead of playing around in dangerous places! I’m going back to the inn to cultivate. Don’t bother saying another word.”

With that off her chest, the red head stomped towards a shabby looking inn near the town gates. The young man, Eron, hung his head as he started to drag his feet in the direction the woman had gone towards.

“You know, you could hire a mentor from the United Guild just for this month,” Braiten directed that comment towards the dejected man.

“Huh? What does that have to do with improving my martial arts?” Eron blushed at realizing that he was shouted at in a public location as he turned to face Braiten.

“Martial arts is not just about cultivation and martial skills. It shares a lot of similarities with daily affairs. Things like positioning, preparation and forethought. Martial arts were derived from the observation of the natural way,” Braiten said all of this offhandedly and motioned to Dashurie that they should make their way back.

As Eron processed what he had just been told, his eyes suddenly glinted with new light. He felt he had just learned of something very important that would affect the future of his martial journey.

“I will consider it seriously!” Eron called out to Braiten as he rushed towards his inn to contemplate over what Braiten had just said.

***

A short walk later and Braiten found himself near the United Guild building with Dashurie in tow.

Dashurie threw a suspicious gaze at Braiten and stated, “You sure know a lot about the martial way considering your common background.”

Braiten just shrugged as he replied, “It’s just a way of life. I spent a lot of time observing people.”

Braiten’s reply immediately made Dashurie swallow the words that she was about to say. She remembered the time when she saw Braiten staring excitedly at his next few tasks. Then, she imagined a young and ragtag Braiten, with his parents missing, sitting in the corner of a street staring at people working while yearning to earn a living.

“We’re here. Go ahead and rest inside. I’ll be heading off to submit the materials to their respective employers. I should be back by the time lunch has ended,” with that said, Braiten left with a skip in his step.

That happy gait of his made Dashurie look on at his disappearing figure pitifully as she made her way into the guild.

***

Along the way to the employers, Braiten had covertly used a small-scale water magic to wash the materials. This resulted in a lot of commotion when he brought the materials to the employers.

The clean, high quality materials brought over was more than enough to earn him an A rank, but he went beyond by helping each employer to store the materials. With his friendly and jovial interaction, it was enough to earn Braiten a generous bonus on top of the normal rewards.

***

Back at the guild, Braiten brought the reports over to Wiatt and Dashurie both of which, upon reading the reports, ended up with twitching eyebrows as they tried to calm themselves down.

‘To think that he can still earn A ranks with these tasks!’ Dashurie practically screamed in her mind.

Wiatt was just staring at the reports without moving a muscle besides the twitching eyebrows. His thoughts just whirling about in his head without focus.

After nearly a minute of pretending to read the reports and staying frozen, the two nodded as Wiatt began filing the reports in Braiten’s file.

***

Time passed quickly as Braiten completed more tasks efficiently and carefully. It ended with him completing three days-worth of tasks by the time evening hit. Dashurie had run of advice by the time half the day had passed and she just oversaw Braiten’s work.

Dashurie was seriously considering just grabbing Braiten and shoving him into a dungeon to be able to properly teach him something.

Night passed as quickly as day and soon the sun was rising. Braiten made his way over to the guild and saw Dashurie waiting there with a familiar young man next to her.

When Braiten approached the duo, the familiar young man smiled and stretched his hand out for a handshake as he said, “Hello, my name’s Eron Aylward. I’ll be learning under Miss Dashurie alongside you. Thanks for the advice yesterday, comrade.”

===

Author’s notes:

A new character! Slowly adapting to a lighter atmosphere for the story and a slightly different style of writing with decent amounts of dialogue. Bits of action will slowly increase as things come by and I get used to writing.

I will try to add depth to the story as it progresses as well. Hopefully it would be enough to satisfy you readers later on. I'm trying to build the initial cast and get to the nitty gritty.

Edit (07/06/2016): Lightly edited to have things make more sense. Did not know how much I could change to make the story better. :/