71 Alex’s Adventure Time Part-2

"Finally!"

I exclaimed as I saw a circularly stretching tall wall in the distance. It wasn't nearly as tall and sturdy looking as the one I had seen in my city, but it was still quite impressive.

'That must be Southford, a simple barony-ruled town that's adjacent to the city where I came from.'

"Good to know I wasn't lost."

[Welcome to your (not really) starting town. Your adventure begins! How about a quest to go with the adventuring mood?]

'A quest? Man, it's been a while since I got a good one.'

I stopped using them a while back after the daily training quests since it wasn't that fun to get basic quests for things like eating, sleeping, talking, etc. The rewards were nonexistent for them as well.

'Sure, I guess it won't hurt. It'll be more entertaining, I suppose. The journey so far sure as hell wasn't.'

[Alright. Here goes!]

[A new Side Quest has been created!]

[Quest title: Adventure time!

Description: After a series of life-turning events and near misses with the evil of the society, you've finally decided— after 2 freaking years— to work on your Main Quest and to grow strong and also travel to various places to find the things and people you need before the storyline from the game begins.

But the journey so far has been… underwhelming.

So, to spice things up and to earn some travel funds(since the "loot" you got as a "donation" will eventually run out), you have to find a way to earn money quickly.

And while doing all this, you can't let anyone know who you are or you can say goodbye to your incognito "Adventure Time."

Objective 1: Find a way to earn quick money. Earn at least 500,000 Arendal(The currency of the Empire and its Allied nations in the Northern continent of Criotopia) for your future endeavors. (23,580/500,000A acquired)

Objective 2: Keep your 'Noble' identity a secret from others.

Bonus Objective: Find a job that helps you in progressing your Main Quest(s).

Rewards: You'll get the required funds, You can travel around freely and your identity will remain hidden, Unknown adventurers, +1 in LUC.

Bonus Rewards: You might unlock the rewards for your Main Quest(s), +5 in LUC.

Failure: You'll soon run out of funds, Your true identity will be known to everyone, Unknown dangers.]

[Accept: Yes/No]

'This is… sure. I guess it's okay. Though, most of the rewards are just things I'll already get when I finish it.'

[What were you expecting? This isn't the main quest or something important like that. Just a side quest. You of all people should understand the point of it.]

'*Sigh* Fair enough. Accept. I would take any increase in my LUC stat. It's the lowest of the bunch and I shouldn't neglect it. Can you raise the rewards a little though? Maybe a few more points in LUC—'

[No.]

'Okay.'

Some point in LUC didn't hurt, I supposed.

Somewhat underwhelmed but also in somewhat high spirits for what was to come, I started walking towards the town gate visible in front of me.

I could clearly see the small crowd of people, tamed beasts, and carts going in and out of the town. Most of the people were either traveling merchants or adventurers, with a few rare exceptions. I was still a fair distance away from the gates.

'Alright, just a few moments and I—Oh, wait.'

I suddenly realized, noticing the guards lazily checking the ID of the merchants and travelers.

'I don't have an ID. Fuck.'

An annoyed groan leaked from my mouth.

'Okay, a slight change of plans. The town and food can wait for now.'

My stomach didn't like that decision. At all. It grumbled in annoyance and rebellion. But I knew better than to eat now when I was about to go do 'that.'

'Let's go hunt some monsters first.'

The only way to enter the town without necessarily showing an ID that I could think of— and which helped me in my upcoming job as well, which I already had a plan for— was by keeping monster materials with me as I entered the gates. Since adventurers were so common, more often than not, they were let inside without checking, especially in such normal towns like this one.

So, I hoped to get some basic materials in the wilderness and by wearing the sword on my hips, I could probably pass off as a newbie.

***

30 minutes later, I was roaming in the forest I had just exited a little while ago. Sword in my hand, I traveled deeper inside, away from the paved road.

Looking around, I tried to see any signs of monster activity.

Normally, a newbie wouldn't have risked doing something like this alone without guidance, but I was fairly strong(for the most basic monsters anyway) and the area was still very close to the town and my acquired knowledge told me only weaker monsters spawned in these areas close to settlements. There was no way a human town will be built too close to some super dangerous monster spawning grounds… Actually, scratch that, there were a few such cases, but for most parts, it was as I described.

… Unfortunately for me, that also meant that any close-by monsters here were likely culled fairly quickly by local adventurers and occasionally knight patrols. That's why I couldn't find any in the last half an hour.

'Come on, slimes, goblins, and other basic monsters. Where are you? Come out~ Let me poke you with my sword—uh, wait, that sounds weird. Nevermind.'

I roamed around some more before I finally found what I was looking for.

'Gotcha!'

One of the beginner monsters from the game I was looking for. Goblins.

[Time to grind some XP. At long last!]

Why was Iris more excited than I, though? I had no idea. She had been quite cheery since a while back. Maybe she liked adventures. I didn't think much of it as I slowly moved closer to deliver a sneak slash.

***

"Gakhh! Kerr!"

The goblin groaned as it fell down, a pool of dull green blood flowing down its cleaved neck and diagonally cut hands and spreading around.

"It's still gross."

[That's the last one of the three you needed. Seems like you can kill things just fine. Also, congratulations. :) ]

'I'm not sure I should be celebrating something like tha—'

[You've defeated a Tier-1 Goblin!]

[You've gained EXP!]

[Level 1-> 2]

[+5 Unallocated stats]

"Ooh! Hell yeah! Finally!"

'Level up! That's what I'm talking about! So that's what the congratulations were for. Wow, this is how it feels to "level up"? It's… kinda underwelhming.'

[I feel like I should take offense to that, but whatever.]

'Ah, no. What I meant was, it's a lot easier to earn stat points this way than, say, training. I can see why people get addicted to the idea, myself included. I feel like going on an XP grind and leveling up as fast as I can.'

[Wow, is this the same person who was nervous about killing a few hours ago? XD]

'Oh, come on. You know that's not it. Killing a person and killing a mindless monster are two different things.'

[Fair enough. But then, what would you do about sentient monsters.]

'I won't kill them unless they tried to first. Man, I still don't understand how all those protagonists did it with so much ease. Maybe I'm not cold-hearted enough. Eh, forget about it. Let's finally get this over with.'

[…]

"… This is the worse part about killing monsters."

Truth be told, killing the goblins had been a breeze.

It didn't feel as mentally—let alone physically— taxing as I had thought. Though, just looking at the vile green things in real life made me wanna puke. They reeked so bad.

Interestingly, there was an unproved hypothesis in this world about monsters that I learned not long ago, that— they supposedly radiated an aura that made people want to either kill them or run away. Though it wasn't a very good hypothesis since monster tamers existed in this world and there were quite a few cases of exceptions.

But quite a few people believed in it and so in many places monster tamers were looked down upon. Pity. I loved the monster tamer job. It was one of the best if you could get your hands on some good monster companions. But that's beside the point.

I had to disembowel the corpse to find the only thing of value in a goblin and that was definitely a bit too much for me to do. Especially for my nose and stomach. So sad that it wasn't something simple like cutting a goblin's ear or thumb as proof. Why did it have to be their liver of all things?!

"Oof, I won't be able to eat something for a while now. This smell will make me hurl my stomach. This is why you don't go monster hunting on a full stomach."

[Come on now, Alex. You've been through worse. :D ]

"Don't remind me, damn it! … I'm gonna puke!"

[Oh. Sorry then. ;p Stay strong, buddy.]

It felt like she was doing this intentionally. I had to wonder if she was getting kicks out of my suffering. The conclusion?

'She totally is getting kicks out of it! Damn her!'

Finally getting the liver out, I quickly shoved it in a far corner of my Inventory, far far away from the rest of the items inside it.

Then, I cast a small fireball on the remaining and frankly useless corpse. Making sure to burn it so it doesn't attract any monsters that fed on Goblins and also making sure the fire doesn't spread to nearby bushes or trees causing a wildfire. There was a very low chance of that happening through a mana-induced fire, but it doesn't hurt to be careful.

Of course, I did it as a public service and not because I wanted to use magic. Not because I was so grossed out by it.

"Geh, now the air here stinks of golbin. That was a bad decision. Fuck!"

Moving a fair distance away from the spot, I pulled the plainest-looking cloth that I had and tore it to make a rough square sheet. Then, I retrieved the 3 goblin livers that I had collected so far, and placed them on it, binding the cloth carefully to not crush them. The remaining blood coming out of them dirtied the cloth, making it unrecognizable from the fancy fabric it used to be.

I could use my storage ring, but that stuff normally cost a ton and was not something an average noob adventurer would possess. Plus, I needed to show this.

'Hopefully, this will do. I'm pretty sure that shirt cost much more than three mere goblin livers. What a waste.'

I wiped my hands thoroughly with the remaining fabric that I stored back in the same corner as the goblin livers previously were. And then I cast a 'Cleanse' on myself only to realize I had to still hold on to the foul-smelling thing in my hand for it to work.

"Ugh."

With a groan, I found my way back towards the town gate deciding to promptly wash my hands clean once I found a source of water.

It was finally time to enter the town.

***

'Phew, that did work. I'm glad they didn't bother asking for ID.'

It was indeed as I had predicted. Only the merchants and travelers needed to show IDs. They didn't care about me.

I found a water pump not far from the main gates and immediately went to wash my hands and feet. There was no blood on my hands, but the smell still lingered.

I cleaned my hands thoroughly and grimaced that I didn't have normal soap with me.

"Here."

I turned to look at the lump of what looked like dull green soap and the brownish hand that carried it.

Looking in the direction of its source, I found a guy in his late teens smiling at me.

"Uh, thanks."

Hesitating a little, in the end, I accepted it and used it to properly wash my hands. It was better than pulling out the super expensive-looking(for normal people) soap I had stored in my inventory.

It felt so much better when there was no remaining stench on my hands. Though, the soap didn't leave any residual fragrance like the ones I used before did.

Still, it was pretty good at doing what I wanted it to do.

'I need one of these.'

"You didn't buy one of these from the stores?"

The same guy asked, waving the lump of soap in his hand that I had handed him back.

While I answered, I used a quick 'Observe' on him.

[Name: Roy Balwin

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Race: Human

---

Tier: 1(Foundation grade: Bronze)

Talent: None

---

Obedience/Reputation: 0/0

---

Remark: Interested in you.

---

Status: Mildly Tired, Curious, Excited.]

"Uh, no. I didn't. Where do you buy them?"

'Why is this dude interested in me? Should I tell him I don't swing that way?'

"So you ARE a total newbie. No wonder. Did you register recently? Did you really not buy the basic adventuring items? It's common sense to buy such things when you go on adventurers."

'Ah, crap. I guess that's true.'

"Well, I didn't know. I'm a total noob at this. Also, I'm not yet registered as an adventurer. Yet. I just hunted these as proof for when I registered. Speaking of, you know where the guild is?"

"What?! Wait, seriously? I see, I see. That's a great idea! I wish I had realized that back when I registered. I went there like a total dork without anything on me and everyone laughed at me for being a scrawny kid who didn't know anything! Well, they weren't wrong, hahaha."

The guy laughed as he nodded repeatedly. He seemed energetic and easygoing. And his status seemed normal too.

I was still not sure about that remark, though.

I simply nodded back in response.

"So, you're going to the Adventurer's Guild. Me too! Here's my haul."

He turned to show a medium-sized bag on his back and shook it gently. From the foul smell, I could guess the contents inside.

'Some of it is definitely Goblin liver. Not sure about the others, but they're gross smelling too. How is he carrying that stuff on his back?'

"I can tell you hunted goblins. How many?"

"Three."

"Three? Hmm, not bad. Not bad for a newbie, anyways. I hunted 12 today. Huhuhu."

He had a smug grin as he once again shook his haul.

'Stop doing that!'

"… Uh, good for you. So, where's the guild? I'm kinda tired and wanna get this over with quickly."

The sun had already started to set by the time I came inside the town. I wanted to register by today and quickly find an inn to spend the night.

"Oh, of course! Follow me! But let me wash first."

"Right, go ahead."

Once he was done, we made our way to our destination.

…

"So, where are you from?"

He asked.

"Castera."

I replied plainly.

"Oh, never heard of it. You must be from far away. Why are you here?"

"To adventure, I guess."

It was an honest answer. Rather than making a complicated lie for him, I decided with a straightforward approach.

"Ooh! I like that! I wanna do something like that too. That sounds so much fun! How old are you? By the way, the name's Roy. What's yours?"

"Theodore. Hans Theodore."

Not the greatest of fake names, but it was simple enough for him to accept. Not sure why I decided to say it awkwardly like that. The reference would have certainly gone over his— or anyone else's, really— head.

"Oh, nice to meetcha, Theo."

And he didn't care. I even got a nickname. The guy sure was friendly.

"Same, Roy."

"So, what are you…"

…

The guy was a bit too talkative. The whole way he kept asking me questions. I had to keep using Observe to see if he was actually suspicious of me or something by any chance. But no, he was just very curious. And talkative.

Well, at least that made the journey down to the guild somewhat entertaining. Though, I certainly wouldn't have minded just looking around the new town quietly.

…

"Alright, that's the place."

Roy pointed at one of the taller buildings.

"I see."

I wish I could say it looked exactly like the guilds I had seen in anime and novels, but it was a bit too narrow and tall. I wondered if it was part-inn.

"Do they provide an inn service too?"

"Oh, yeah. But don't get a room there if you're planning to. Find an inn nearby or something. There are quite a few around. The ones on top of the guild are super expensive. They overcharge their customers from what I've heard. But it's kind of better than the other inns too, so I guess it's whatever. Still, I wouldn't recommend it. Unless you're rich, but that's ridiculous. What kind of rich person would want to do this kind of job? Hahaha."

"Noted."

I nodded. I now had a place to stay. Great.

Entering the guild through the open door, I was greeted with the sight of a standard-looking reception hall with clean(for most parts) wooden panels and wooden booths fitted with glass panels. The decorations and the kind of people here were the ones that gave it the feel of what it was. A hub for adventurers. There was a waiting area close to the door we entered and what looked like a separate reception near the stairs to the left of the big room.

'So this is an adventurer's guild.'

I noted, mildly amused and somewhat curious. I had seen a little bit of it in the game, but seeing it in real life was a novelty.

"To register, you have to go to that counter where the sleepy-looking guy is."

"Alright, thanks for guiding me, Roy. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it, bro. Alright then, I'm gonna go sell my haul in the back. They don't like it when we bring it to the reception. Ah, but you're fine. I think. Anyways, I'll see you around then."

"Sure, thanks again."

We both separated and I made my way to the place he mentioned.

During the short walk, I was able to hear a little bit of what adventuers normally talked about.

"Hey, Bernie! How was the haul today?"

"Eh, it was whatever. Ya know how it is. There's nothing great to hunt near the town. You have to go deep in the forest to find anything."

"Yeah. Man, I wish there was a dungeon in this town too."

"That would be great. I'm thinking of moving to another town for a while. They have a dungeon in Loureld."

"Ooh, that sounds nice. When are you leaving…."

…

"…That'll be 1500A."

"What?! Come on! Make it 1700A at least. I brought so many of them!"

"Sorry, but a few of them are not in good shape. I can only give 1500A for all of this."

"Damn it. Fine..."

…

"… and I told him to dodge the Bullowl's attack, but the idiot went straight ahead, thinking he could kill a Tier-3 with his Tier-2 strength. The moron ended up with a broken and bruised arm and had to pay a whole week of his earning worth to the healer. He was lucky that we were there to save his sorry ass."

"Hah! That's what you get for overestimating yourself. He deserved it."

"He sure did…"

…

And it was nothing that interested me. So, I quickly found the place and spoke to the one standing behind the desk.

"Excuse me."

Hearing my voice, a sleepy man glanced at me and yawned. His eyes looked disinterested and tired.

"Yes."

He replied in a monotone.

"I want to register as an adventurer."

He stared at me for a moment, then at the sheathed short sword hanging on my hips with a hip holder also kindly donated by Garl(it was a little loose on me), and then finally at the smelling pouch of Goblin livers.

He groaned.

He brought out a parchment with a form and an ink pen.

"Name?"

"Theo."

It was convenient that they didn't check for people's identification when they registered them. At least, not unless you were high rank enough for them to care about you.

…

"Here's your card. Take that to the back of the guild. That's where we buy monster materials."

"Got it."

Deciding to follow through with it till the end, I went where he told me and sold my meager 'haul' for a meager dozen or so bronze coins. It was honestly a loss for me. I had to pay 500 Arendal for the registration fee.

Adventuring wasn't as fun and productive if you weren't strong and capable enough to make a great haul. But I wasn't here for getting rich by adventuring anyway. I had better means to earn money than do this. At least in the future. For now, though, I was an adventurer.

***

A/N: Vote Power Stones, please! :)