Chapter 92.2 - The Second Year at the Academy - Another Craftsman (2)
The next day, I prepared myself at home and headed to the Adventurer's Guild.
I had promised Narban that I would learn [Magic Tool Creation] as soon as possible.
To do that, acquiring magic stones was urgent.
It was already past early morning, and there were only a few adventurers around.
The receptionist was leisurely organizing documents.
One of them, the familiar Rebecca, noticed me keenly and signaled for me to come over.
"Good morning."
"Good morning. Are you here to retrieve stored items?"
"No, I came to look for a request."
"You're here late. There are only always-on requests available."
Always-on requests were requests that didn't have a set number of participants.
They often involved gathering materials, especially potions, which were always in demand.
I also frequently sold surplus materials.
However, I rarely took regular requests.
With my exploration skills and [Appraisal], collecting materials was easy, so I could earn a stable income without competing with other adventurers for requests.
The last proper request I took was back with Battle Axe of Destruction.
"For always-on requests, is there anything like a Bornis subjugation?"
"Your information is outdated."
Rebecca pointed to the bulletin board.
There was a brand-new parchment attached to it.
"Orcs? Are they increasing?"
"Last year, goblins significantly decreased, right? It seems that orcs have taken their place. Travelers and caravans have been attacked, so they're requesting adventurers to subjugate them. Recommended rank is D."
Not long ago, I had reached D-rank.
F-rank was for beginners, E-rank meant you finally got recognized as an adventurer, and from D-rank onwards, you were expected to be a competent force.
According to Rebecca, I had risen through the ranks quite quickly, but in Selene, there weren't many advantages to ranking up.
Even if you reached C-rank, the variety of escort requests increased, but the benefits were limited.
Moreover, the number of adventurers followed a pyramid structure, narrowing down to a thin point from C-rank onwards, and at the S-rank, it had long been vacant for a while.
The last mixed-race party that had made a name for themselves in the Mez Riies region about three hundred years ago was the last, and no human had emerged since the god of war Slayas 1000 years ago. It was mostly an honorary title.
I approached the bulletin board and glanced at the parchment.
There was no specified number of subjugations, but for each orc defeated, you would receive twenty silver coins, surpassing the minimum reward for D-rank with just two kills.
Orcs often traveled in groups, so it could add up quickly.
I returned to Rebecca and accepted the request.
"Understood. I'll go after the orcs."
"Please do. Oh, and there's something you should be aware of. Bolnis has been appearing since last year, right? Because of that, Dreppen has gathered around them."
"Are Dreppen monsters?"
"They're dragonflies. They're somewhat special monsters. They specialize in speed and attack suddenly from the air. But they're cautious and don't usually attack adults or groups. Their attacks are rare, and they've been designated as E-rank."
Rebecca cut her words short and burst into laughter.
"Tenko, you're small."
That was rude. Even if you lined us up by height, I was only slightly shorter than the average height of eleven-year-olds.
Please don't compare me to Rise, who was excessively tall, or Lambert and Felix, who were unusually tall.
"We can discuss that another time. What about Dreppen? What should I do if they attack? Bornis is the target, right?"
Rebecca's face tensed up a bit. But she returned to her receptionist mode.
"It's okay to defeat them; Bornis has decreased quite a bit. And when you defeat Dreppen, don't forget to collect their wings. They're sturdy and have many uses."
"Understood."
I left the Adventurer's Guild and headed straight through the west gate.
I passed through the refugee district and headed for the forest.
The spring meadow was covered in green as far as the eye could see.
I could spot adventurers here and there.
Some were heading for the forest, while others stayed in the meadow. The latter seemed to be collecting something.
They still had a youthful look about them, so they were probably rookie adventurers.
Ignoring the older juniors, I continued through the meadow.
For this expedition, I wore a sky-blue cloak and leather armor, and my weapon of choice wasShamshir.
If I wanted efficiency, I should have chosen Kousai Sword, but I had become quite accustomed to handling the Shamshir, and I felt like I could learn [Dual Wield 2] and [Two-handed Sword 2] with it.
This way, I could reach [Sword Flash] faster than [Sword Dance]. Regardless, I couldn't neglect my training for intermediate levels.
"Now, targeting orcs is a done deal— Is that Dreppen up there?"
I stopped at the forest's entrance and looked up at the sky. A small shadow was flying high above. It was difficult to gauge the distance and size—maybe around one meter.
I couldn't use [Penetrate Gale] to take it down.
It was too far away. That magic could be pinpoint-accurate, but if the target was vague, the accuracy dropped significantly.
And [Appraisal] also required visual confirmation.
So it wouldn't work either.
Well, I didn't have to worry too much.
If it had any peculiar skills besides speed, Rebecca would have warned me, and it didn't seem like it was about to attack.
I turned and looked at the adventurers who were busy collecting.
They seemed fine too, moving in groups.
They were quite cautious creatures, but I should still be vigilant.
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