Metal Mushroom bounced into the chest of a Wild Frenzied Bear. The bear cried out in pain as it fell to the ground in defeat. Its corpse disappeared as it dropped multiple items that also disappeared soon after. The Metal Mushroom felt an unstoppable rise of energy welling up inside him and felt that he had a choice to make. There were three choices for him to head down—one that specialized in Body, the second specializing in Mind, and the last specializing in Magic.

As a monster that prided itself on its newly founded toughness, there was only one option for Metal Mushroom. He focused that unstoppable energy on improving his tough metallic body. His body began to physically change in the blink of an eye. What was previously a small monster that could barely reach the ankles of any humanoid was now shinier than any humanoid around! Four stub-like appendages extended out from its torso that mimicked arms and legs. Its mushroom cap was twice as large as its new body. For the finish, its previous shiny silver body was now a pristine shiny black.

Metal Mushroom turned into Black Metal Mushroom Fighter. If its pride in its strength reached the sky before, it was now piercing past the clouds. Metal Mushroom turned his head in a certain direction and began to walk. If one could watch from the skies above, they would realize that the newly evolved monster was heading straight toward Aipolis!

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“Aren’t you glad that all these adventurers suddenly fell from the skies to make our job easier?” Aipolis Guard, Max, chatted while leaning on the wall.

“If you relax too much, they’ll take your job.” Aipolis Guard, Richard, responded with a straight posture.

“They’re like little chicks! How could that ever happen?” Max laughed.

“They grow quickly for chicks. I wouldn’t be so relaxed.” Richard advised.

“I could grow quickly, too, if I wasn’t punished with guard duty!” Max complained. “I should be protecting nobles, training with the army, or getting drunk. Not wasting my time at this wall being bothered by little chicks at all hours of the day.”

“...” Richard realized Max just wanted to vent and stopped indulging him. They weren’t friends, just co-workers.

“Sir Guard! Do you have a quest for me!?” A player asked.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“No! Stop asking me if I have a task or quest for you, little annoying brats!” Max yelled.

“Tch. Like a trash guard could have a useful quest in the first place.” The player replied as he went off to hunt monsters.

Max let out a breath of annoyance as the adventurer rushed out of the city gates and into the forest. It was only when a few seconds later that the adventurer’s body returned right next to Max and Richard. The two guards saw as the adventurer’s body came flying past them straight into the city. Max turned his head to look at the corpse of the adventurer being taken into their goddess's embrace before his eyes while Richard got into a fighting stance with his spear. Richard’s eyes locked on the distant figure slowly walking toward the entrance of the city.

“A monster...” Richard identified. “Go get back up while I distract it. This is the only job I need you to do.” Richard told Max as he rushed at the monster.

“What? Why don’t you...” Max’s words fell on empty ears as Richard was already gone.

Max grumbled at being forced to run for backup. Did that bastard think he was a weakling or something? The two of them could handle any monster, couldn’t they? There wasn’t any monster strong enough willing to come near the city. It was most likely just some lost monster that smelt opportunity from those adventurers. Max sighed as he dragged his feet.

“Guh!” Richard came flying past Max just like the previous adventurer.

Max turned his head to see the monster grinning at him with Richard’s blood staining its body. Max would never admit that Richard was his better in any capacity. He’s seen the bastard fight multiple knights in succession and come out on top and still refused to admit Richard was better than him. This time though... Maybe, just maybe, he should put away his stubbornness.

Max turned to rush into the city to call for backup. The monster struck when it saw an opportunity. As soon as Max turned his back on it, the monster bounced forward and struck him in his back with its fist. Max crashed into a store building and didn’t get up afterward.

The citizens of Aipolis were speechless as they saw the Black Metal Mushroom Fighter enter the city. When it looked at them with a mad grin, they shrieked in terror as they began to panic and flee. The players of Aipolis were met with a sudden raid quest and reacted to this disastrous situation with joy and eagerness. They rushed toward the source of trouble without hesitation to hoard the rewards for themselves.

[Sudden Raid Quest!]

[Aipolis City is under attack by a mutated monster! It has a craving for fighting and skin harder than the densest steel! Do your best to thwart this threat before it deals unrepairable damage to the city!]

[Rewards: Potentially Squiredom, Potentially Knighthood, Potentially Nobility, increased reputation, gold, and experience]