Richard looked at Astoria for a moment, his eyes glowing slightly as he put pressure on her. She averted her gaze as the sweat on her back turned cold.

Back then, in the heat of the moment, she had forgotten the reason why she went to see Gilly when she left the banquet. He sighed, looking stressed. His daughter had always been like that after all, taking after his wife, who too was like that, always butting heads with Elna and Mizin.

He took in a deep breath, as explained. Mizin had sent him a letter a few weeks ago stating that she wanted Gilly to experience the world on her own. And she did not know how to set the route for her to follow so she left the entire planning to Richard.

Experience was key to survival; power alone was not enough. Gilly nodded to every word Richard spoke as Astoria looked at the stream in the garden.

“So instead of planning a route for you, I will give you just one mission and one destination; whatever you do in between and after is left to you.”

His voice was solemn as he raised his hand. Moments later, Aroelan was seen approaching through the bridge.

“He will be your guide and leader. Make sure to listen to his words.”

Astoria was about to protest, but her father’s gaze made her swallow her words.

“Now, the mission I am giving you is on the Feather Islands, the one closest to Salamander Ridge. They have been experiencing ambushs from the monsters of the sea known as Toad Face, and they requested a mission directly to me since their army is south guarding against the thirteen tribes in Noir, which will be your final destination.”

"Your mission is to rescue the village from its current state.”

The Feather Islands were a group of islands located south of Euynia, and it was one of the provinces in Euynia. Though it was another country, it still had a strong alliance with Asram.

“Oh, one more thing. You will only receive a limited amount of resources and money, and your seals will be in my custody.”

Astoria was upset at this statement; she knew voicing her complaint would only make her father increase her restrictions. She had no choice but to sit like a mouse in front of a cat about to be eaten.

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"Whatever identification you need, I believe your adventurer's badge would suffice.”.

Gilly did not really like the idea of her seal being taken away but resigned since they had no choice. Astoria was now visibly shaken, looking slightly furious, her unhappiness creeping onto her face in the form of a scowl.

She was born with a silver spoon, and now her father was telling her to fend for herself . Objection was futile . In the end, the only people who liked the idea were Henry and Aroelan.

Gilly stayed two more days in Asramus, exploring the city and getting familiar with almost any race she came by. For one, it shocked Astoria that she could speak many languages. Henry, meanwhile, explored the royal library looking for books he would carry on his journey. They were duplicated, and a special magic was cast on them. This purpose was that if the book was a certain distance from him, he could summon it.

With the preparations done, each of them was given sixty silver, one mana potion, and one healing potion. All the potions were of average quality, so Gilly did not pay mind to it. Astoria could not help but frown, feeling indignant as to her; her father just wanted to punish her.

They left upon a medium vessel, scheduled to deliver grain to Feather Island. The boarding fee was five silver per person, which was on the high side, giving the little amount they had to make do with.

Onboard, the male and female each shared a small room.

Henry had it easy because Aroelan was hardly in, always meditating on the deck.

Gilly, on the other hand, could barely control herself; Astoria had a habit of rolling when she slept, kicking Gilly off the bed. As the journey progressed, eyebags became the norm for her, evidence of the little sleep she was getting

The journey to The Feather Islands took three weeks because of how the vessel traveled. They only traveled along the coastline, shying away from the open sea due to the many dangerous monsters in it, with some of them at the divine level. They even came across the Navy battling a giant crab not too far from the coast.

As they approached Feather Island, the dangers became more serious as they had to fend off some toad-face creatures to save their vessels.

The captain was thankful that he had some group of adventurers onboard. It was the last day of the night cycle when they approached the shipyard on the last island in Feather Island province.

The island was quite smaller than Elior, with most of the island being occupied by fishermen and explorers. There were a lot of boats at the dock, so it took them a while to find a spot.

When they arrived midway into the city, the crowd was bustling, but there were a lot of people with injuries having bandages on one part of their body or another. Some were even missing a limb or an eye, and others had various scars. They walked a while, asking for direction on the way, till they arrived at the regional adventurer’s office. Inside was fairly empty, and the expressions of those within were grim.

The group approached the counter on the ground floor. Beside it was a staircase leading to the next floor.

An old woman was seated at the counter, a strange blue aura surrounding her. This was Monica, the fifth circle mage and the strongest person currently on the island. She looked up at Aroelan, who in turn presented a letter from Gideon, who was assigned the task originally.

“Hmm, so Asram is short on staff to send young ones into battle, ” she said, her stern gaze sweeping over the.

She sighed before signing the letter in hand. Next, she brought out a book and a crystal ball. Aroelan signed the book and used his badge to touch the crystal ball.

A faint glow appeared. She was surprised that Aroelan was a Calamity class adventurer.

Next, Astoria followed, having a smug expression as she brought out her Apex predator badge. The woman's shock grew, and when she looked at the name she had written, her face became even more bright. Next was Henry; he poured his mana into the ball, and six dots lit up within.

At this point, Monica’s heart was racing when Gilly stepped up. She paused to look at Monica as if reading her mind; she said,

“I am not as impressive as them.”