1 Praying to the Gods! (Introduction 1)

"Hey, Jacob! Long time no see! How did the hunt turn out?" A man in full armor inquired at the city's gate.

As usual, Jacob White ignored his remark and continued walking toward the town, only pausing briefly to show him a bag full of goblins ears.

Actually, he was only gone for two days, but this guard was well-known in town for his terrible memory and his good mood.

There was a time when a group of ogres once tried to raid the town, and he even forgot to call the city's army! It was the talk of the town for months.

Because Xie City has always been a small city, he was the only one patrolling at that time. The guard was happily walking through walls when he noticed a few gigantic greenish figures running toward the city's walls.

When the guard realized they were under attack by a monster, he rushed to the town hall, only to wonder what he was doing there the next second. It took him a whole ten minutes to remember about the ogres.

Fortunately, the city's army acted quickly, and the monsters were exterminated after a short battle. Jacob found it odd that despite everything, he still kept his guard post. But well, nevermind that, he got better things to care about.

As soon as he stepped into the city, he could feel the city's magic scanning him. Actually, the magic was not scanning him, but the card he always carried with him. After a few seconds, a clear image appeared in his mind.

[IDENTITY]

[Name: Jacob White]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 25 years old]

[Level: 49]

[Class: Swordsman (Intermediate)]

In this world, after reaching the age of sixteen, everyone is given a card by a priest. The cards were useful for verifying your identity when entering a city, proving your level and class if you were looking for work, and tracking smugglers in some cases.

The card he carried was a square-shaped metallic stone engraved with runes. A card could only be activated by an Identity Check spell, and it was customary for a city's guard to learn the spell until recently.

Nowadays, every city was using a more advanced version of the spell which allowed the spell to cover large areas. One would think that this was very mana expensive, and it was, which is why every city required a large number of mana crystals to function normally.

After his card was scanned, Jacob went straight to the town's center, intending to pay a quick visit to the Adventurer's Guild.

He was an adventurer, a commonly sought job if during your childhood you dreamed of slaying dragons and becoming a hero. And this was the dream of each single adventurer in the Adventurer's Guild.

One could say that an adventurer's motivation was to slay dragons, but in reality, their jobs involved scouting, killing dangerous beasts and monsters, and occasionally escorting caravans.

Nonetheless, dragons were absolutes and terrific existences which were said to even be capable of killing gods. One could spend all his entire life traveling around the world and never see a single dragon. It was all a matter of luck.

Opening the doors to the Adventurer's Guild, Jacob stepped inside and, without delay, proceeded straight to the receptionist.

"Oh? Jacob? Welcome back to the Adventurer's Guild~" A blonde and alluring woman with a pair of big eyes greeted him. "Are you here to take a quest or submit one that has already been taken?"

He replied by placing a bag full of goblins ears and blood on the desk. "Is it just me, or are you even more beautiful than usual?" He spoke while looking at her with interest.

"Wait, do not say anything. Hmmm… I know, It is your hair. You changed your hairstyle. It looks great on you."

"Actually, my hair is still the same as it was the last time you saw me. For the Gods's sake, at least ask Olivia to teach you how to make compliments." The receptionist grumbled while emptying the content of the bag into a wooden box next to her desk.

After carefully counting the number of ears, the receptionist handed him three silver coins and returned to her work, which meant attending to the next adventurer in line.

Jacob took the quest's reward and left the Adventurer's Guild, pretending to not hear the laughter of the few other adventurers who heard his attempt to flirt with the receptionist number 69.

He was so famous in the Adventurer's Guild that the adventurers made up a game based on him.

The game consisted of them writing down what they thought that he would try to flirt with the receptionist, and the person who guessed right would get all the drinks paid for the day. To his surprise, this silly game was gaining popularity even among new adventurers.

After leaving the Adventurer's Guild, he decided to go to drink some beer in his favorite place. After all, he had spent two days in the wilderness. He yearned for the taste of beer and the sight of attractive women.

When he finally arrived, Jacob could see the sign of his favorite tavern. He did not hesitate for a second and stepped inside.

Find your Beer was a tavern commonly frequented by adventurers. It was not expensive, the food was tasty, and they usually had rooms available for the night.

All of these were good reasons for him to visit the tavern, but Olivia was his main reason. A tall brown-skinned beauty with nice curves showing that she only had fat in the right places.

Olivia was the owner's daughter, therefore, she had to work as a bartender since she was a child to support her family.

"Hey Olivia, long time no see!" Jacob immediately regretted the effusive and happy greeting he gave to his friend. "Wait, what is wrong?"

Olivia, one of his friends and a crush, was sobbing in front of him. Her tears were falling to the floor, but she was not making a single sound, crying quietly.

When Olivia heard the voice of his friend, she ran toward the door and wrapped him in a tight hug. Jacob could feel a soft pressure in his chest, but he knew it was not the time for flirting.

"Olivia, what is wrong? What happened? Just tell me who has done this to you and I will make them pay."

"The Blue Flag… *sob sob* They… *sob sob* My little sister was outside the walls with my mother and… *sob sob* And they… *sob sob*" Olivia was completely broken, she could not even form a sentence without crying out loud.

The Blue Flag was an old bandit group made up of veteran soldiers and mercenaries. They were spending their entire lives stealing, raping and selling women to nauseating, sadistic nobles.

In other words, making innocent people's lives miserable in order to get rich and satisfy their instincts.

Although it was strange that they were operating so close to a city, he did not care. His future wife, or that is what he dreams of, was crying in front of him. He had no choice but to act.

He stepped away from Olivia's comfortable body and walked out without saying anything. He knew they did not have much time before her younger sister was sold, and he had discovered one of their dwellings during one of his hunts.

At that time, Jacob considered reporting them when he returned, but he could not believe that before reporting them, they would go and kidnap Oliva's mother and younger sister first.

After leaving a note in the city's town hall, he used almost all his money to rent a horse and rushed out of the city.

"Please. Please. Be okay. I am coming." The dwelling was a day's ride away. He begged the Gods to let him arrive on time.