Ian noticed a group of four adventurers walking towards the outskirts of the city. They all had weapons on their backs, and they were talking to one another.

"Let's go there!"

The two began following the adventurers until they arrived at their destination: an open field with grasses everywhere.

"Whoa!" Ian exclaimed. "This is amazing! Look at all those monsters running around!"

"I wonder if we can kill all of them."

"Let's try. We should be able to do it if we work together."

Ian and Asuna walked through the grass. On the other side, they saw a huge number of monsters, and they were all fighting each other. A lot of blood spurted out, and some of the monsters died in the middle of the fight.

"Looks like a battlefield," Asuna said. "But there's still a lot of enemies left."

"Yeah, we can't kill them all. That would take forever."

"Then let's pick off the weakest ones first."

"You're right. How about you kill the lizardmen while I take care of the goblins?"

"Sounds good."

"Okay, I got 'em!"

Asuna immediately started killing one of the lizardman. It was a tough opponent, but she was able to defeat it. Then the goblin rushed at her.

It was a fast creature, and its teeth were sharp and strong. Using her sword, she easily cut off its head.

"How's that?" Ian shouted from afar. "I'm sure there are more monsters over there."

"I killed those two already, and there's still more coming," Asuna responded. "I'll keep going."

She jumped into the fray and killed a few more monsters. Her rapier was glowing, and the blade was red hot. Ian was impressed by what he saw.

"Wow, you are really strong!" He raised both hands. "Let's level up together!"

"Sure, let's do that."

***

Ian and Asuna were at the Adventurer's Guild again. They were sitting at the same table as before.

"Can I ask how much money you have so far?" Ben asked.

"About 10 gold coins," Asuna replied.

"Just ten?"

"Well, we haven't hunted much yet. I don't know if we will be able to reach 100 gold coins."

"No problem. That amount of money should last quite a while." Ben nodded.

"Is there anything else we should do first?" Ian asked.

"Not really. You can start hunting monsters whenever you feel ready."

"Where should we hunt?"

Ben took out a map, unfolded it, and pinned it on the table. "Here is Fallbay, and here are all the areas surrounding it."

Ian looked at the map: "Do you need to hunt monsters outside of Fallbay?"

"Nope. Once you become an adventurer, you can enter any area in the world. If you like, you can stay in Fallbay for a bit longer. You can explore the nearby lands. Most of the monsters that live there are weak, and you can complete quests without much effort. While you're there, you can also practice your skills and gain some experience. When you've gained enough experience, you can move to another place."

"That is our plan," Ian said.

"Okay, then let's go."

They went to the hunting grounds. The adventurers were already present. Some of them were hunting alone; others were forming groups. There were even people who were training their skills.

"Hey guys! Let's form a party!" one of the adventurers yelled loudly. "Anyone interested?"

Ian and Asuna looked at each other.

"What are you thinking?" Asuna asked.

"Should we go?"

"I want to, but… I'm not sure."

"We're already here."

"True. We can always come back later."

"Let's go."

"Okay."

The two adventurers approached the adventurer who had spoken.

"Hello there. My name is Ian." He put his hand forward. "And you are?"

"I'm Asuna."

After introducing themselves, Ian and Asuna decided to join the group. The leader was a man named Gavin, and the other members were two women, and three men. In total, there were seven people. Gavin explained to them what they were supposed to do: "We will split into smaller teams to cover more ground. Each team will have a leader. The rest of us will be on standby."

Gavin pointed to a nearby field: "Everyone else, go there. We will start hunting after the sun sets."

The group headed to the field.

Ian was standing next to a tall tree when he heard a voice: "Excuse me."

He turned around, and found a boy with red hair and green eyes. His face was pale, and his shoulders were thin. He was wearing a black robe.

"Huh? Hello?"

"Are you Ian?"

"My name is Ian."

"I am called Saya."

"Nice to meet you."

"And you are?"

"Asuna."

"Very nice to meet you too."

"I guess we should get going now."

The two of them started walking towards the field. Not long after, they met a bunch of goblins. They were small monsters with pointy ears, tails, and sharp teeth. These creatures usually lived in caves, but they would occasionally wander out into the open.

While they were fighting, one of the goblins tried to attack Asuna with its tail. Before it could cause any damage, she sliced the tail off with her rapier. The goblin fell down with a loud thud.

"Good work, Asuna!" Gavin praised.

"Thank you."

Ian knew that goblins were weak opponents, but he wasn't sure how to fight against the monsters. He was looking forward to learning new things during their adventure.

"That was a good job by the way," Ian said. "I got some goblins too"

Asuna smiled: "I'm glad to hear that."

Gavin nodded: "There are plenty of opportunities to learn new abilities and skills while you are leveling up. However, you must keep in mind that the more points you spend on skills, the fewer points you will have for leveling up."

Ian nodded as well. He felt like he was just starting out, and couldn't imagine being an experienced adventurer.

"Don't worry too much, though," Gavin said. "Those who start off with little skill, or no ability, can still achieve great feats if they work hard enough."

"That sounds good," Ian said. "I'll do my best."

They traveled deeper into the woods.

A large number of monsters were scattered throughout the area. Some of these creatures were even bigger than goblins, and fought with swords or axes instead of their tusks.