The Veinbor Kingdom's architecture has remained largely unchanged since the time of the game, which supposedly took place two hundred years ago. Despite its small size compared to neighboring powers, Veinbor managed to hold its own due to its advantageous terrain. The kingdom is situated on a small mountain with a gradual slope leading down toward the great Koit River, which spans across the entirety of the human territories.

The architecture of Veinbor was built to emphasize defense. The buildings are constructed using stone bricks and slabs to withstand bombardment and cannon fire. Thick stone walls encircle the kingdom, providing protection against frontal assaults and sieges. The natural mountain cliff face at the rear of the kingdom adds an additional layer of defense. All in all, the kingdom is well-fortified.

However, the only problem is the city roads. They wind their way up the mountain, which can be pretty steep and tiring to traverse.

"Are you getting tired, Ciel? It must've been quite a while since you last climbed these roads."

Noticing my exertion, Phen asked with concern. Taking a moment to catch my breath, I replied,

"No, huff, I'm fine. Just need to adjust to the uphill climb again."

As we continued walking along the main street, I couldn't help but reflect on my body's lack of stamina. In the game, I had enough endurance to run up the main road of Veinbor at least once before running out of stamina. It's likely because I don't have my gear, specifically the stat enhancements, to compensate for my terrible physical attributes. I wanted to make a pure support character, so I focused on acquiring thaumaturgical skills. It wasn't the game's most popular approach, but it worked out for me until now. Maybe I should have invested some skill points into stamina.

"Most people who first come to Veinbor need some time to adjust to the incline of the roads. Give it time, and you'll get used to it. Before you know it, you'll have strong legs!"

He said reassuringly as his laughter echoed through the street while he walked on confidently, leaving me to catch up. Despite the fatigue, I continued onward. I'm no stranger to good workout sessions.

As we navigated through the bustling crowds, a majestic building came into view along the main road. Like the others, it was constructed from sturdy stone, standing three stories tall. The roof appeared solid, finished with black tiles. I stood in awe, marveling at its size and design. The building boasted glass windows on both the upper and lower floors, but the most striking feature was a large oculus window at the center, positioned above double doors, drawing attention to the entrance.

"Intimidating, isn't it?"

Phen said, his eyes filled with pride.

"When it was built, they wanted it to show strength. The black tiles were originally white, crafted from the scales of young drakes. Their scales possess a unique trait, growing stronger and darker over time. The best craftsmen of the time adorned the building with these scales, symbolizing the ever-growing strength of the guild and, by extension, the Veinbor Kingdom."

"By the looks of it now, I'd say the Veinbor Kingdom is undoubtedly strong," I commented, admiring the symbolism.

"Aye, that we are, Ciel,"

Phen affirmed with a smile. He ascended the stairs, and I followed closely behind. Pushing open the sturdy double doors, we entered the guild hall. Eyes turned towards us, with most gazes fixated on Phen. Undeterred, Phen strolled further inside the hall. The room was spacious, filled with tables where adventurers sat, and engaged in conversation. It was difficult to estimate the exact number, but I guessed there were around fifty or more adventurers present. On the far end of the hall, opposite the entrance, a crowd gathered in front of a large board adorned with sheets of paper. While too far to read the contents, I assumed it was a request board, unlike the game's simple menu system.

The second floor was visible from the first, occupying about half the space. A staircase on the left side of the room led to the upper level. This design allowed the oculus window to brighten up the lower floor.

Phen greeted the various adventurers we passed, and although it wasn't exactly quiet, the murmurs and stares made me increasingly self-conscious. It was clear that Phen was well-known here, and the attention directed toward me made me feel uncomfortable. Being the center of attention wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. I'm not exactly an introvert, but I'm also not an extrovert either.

Finally, we reached a long counter that extended along the walls, just below where the second floor of the guild began. Phen waved at a familiar face, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be in her thirties. She had a confident and mature aura, despite her slightly irritated expression. Her brown skin and long, curly dark hair tied behind her head added to her distinctive appearance. Her light green eyes had a piercing quality to them, and she exuded professionalism. She wore a uniform that matched the others behind the counter, consisting of a brown vest that accentuated her figure and a white long-sleeved button shirt. Underneath, she wore a green dress with a light green pattern stitched into it.

"Why the hell are you back here? Didn't I tell you to quit already, old man?"

The woman exclaimed, directing her gaze at Phen with a hint of annoyance.

"Now, now, Lisa. We've discussed this before. I can't quit just yet; you know the reasons," Phen responded, laughing cheerfully.

"Excuses! You're better off staying with poor Melda, who works herself silly," Lisa retorted.

"She's a grown woman now. I'm sure she'll find a way to solve her own without me poking my nose in her business," Phen countered, smiling.

As the two bantered, I observed the scene, noticing that the attention had shifted away from me. It seemed that their lively and open conversations were commonplace here, easily ignored by the others. Suddenly, I felt the receptionist's gaze as I silently stood beside Phen.

"So, Phen, who might this cute girly be?" Lisa inquired, her eyes fixed on me.

Phen leaned on the counter, facing both Lisa and me, gesturing for me to step forward.

"Ah, yes, about that, let me introduce you. This is Ciel," he said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," I said, mustering a greeting.

"Oh? You don't see that every day." Lisa said, wide-eyed in surprise.

"See what?"

I replied, feeling slightly awkward under Lisa's scrutiny. I was confused by her statement. Was there something about my race or appearance that caught her attention?

"Well, a dark elf who speaks the human tongue is rare. Let alone one so deep in the human territories." She replied her curiosity seemingly piqued.

"Oh."

I responded, unsure of how to explain.

"Well, let's leave it at that for now. Lisa, can you register Ciel as an adventurer here and provide her with an overview of things?" Phen requested.

"Hm, before I do that, the guild master is looking for you," Lisa informed him.

"Now, what would the guild master want with little old me?" Phen responded with a playful tone.

"Shut it, you fool, and go on up. The master doesn't need to be notified that you're here. I'm pretty sure she already knows." Lisa instructed him.

"Thanks, Lisa. Much appreciated. I'll see you later, Ciel," Phen said, giving me a nod.

"Don't thank me yet. And you, come closer, girly," Lisa directed her attention towards me, drawing me closer to the counter.

As I approached the counter, Lisa momentarily ducked behind it, seemingly gathering some items. I couldn't see her since my shoulders barely came above the counter. When she came back up, she brought with her an old book and a few papers. The book appeared worn and fragile as if it could fall apart at any moment.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"To register as an adventurer here in the human territories, you'll need to fill out this paper with the relevant information," Lisa explained, sliding the papers toward me with an ink pen placed on top.

To get a better view of the paper, I had to stand on my toes and rest my arms on the counter. I could faintly hear snickering from behind me, but I decided to ignore it, assuming it was just my imagination. The paper asked for basic information such as my name, class, and place of origin. My name was straightforward, but when it came to my class, I identified as an Arcane Thaumaturgist, at least according to the game. However, the challenge arose when it came to my place of origin.

"Do you perhaps not know how to read, Ciel?" Lisa asked.

"No, I can understand it just fine, but..." I hesitated.

"What seems to be the problem?" Lisa inquired.

"Do I have to put down my place of origin?" I questioned.

"No, it is only optional if you want us to inform your family in case of your demise on a quest," Lisa clarified.

"I see, then I'll leave it blank," I replied, sliding the paper back to her.

Lisa quickly skimmed over the information and placed a wooden card on the table. She then positioned the sheet of paper on a flat metal surface slightly larger than the paper, emitting a dull blue glow. From the right side, she retrieved what appeared to be a stamp press, which she used to imprint the wooden card. As the press made contact with the card, it emitted the same dull blue light as the metal surface. She then slid the wooden card back across the table to me, with a white sheet fixed within it displaying my name and class.

"Alright, here you are. You'll use this as identification while on quests or at any guild. Your adventurer rank is porcelain, which is the beginner rank. As you complete quests of varying difficulty, you'll gradually rank up to Iron, Steel, and so on. Does that make sense?" Lisa explained.

"Yes, I understand so far," I replied.

"Wonderful. I'll explain the various privileges that come with each rank in a moment, but first, let me go over the ins and outs of adventuring," Lisa continued.

She then went on for another ten minutes. Couldn't they have made a book for all of that? Well, actually, that would have been difficult, considering not everyone would be literate. After Lisa explained how adventurers operate in Veinbor, she directed me toward the questing board to the side of the reception counter.

As I approached the quest board, the adventurers standing around it parted, allowing me to get a closer look at the posted quests. There were approximately a dozen adventurers gathered there, some attentively studying the quests while others engaged in discussions about their next adventure. Curiosity piqued, I decided to listen in on an ongoing argument between a man wielding a spear, another wielding a large axe, and a woman who appeared to be a thaumaturgist.

The argument centered around whether they should take on a more challenging quest, with the thaumaturgist expressing reluctance. The Spearman and Axeman tried to reassure her, but she pointed out their past mistakes on a previous quest, which seemed to strike a nerve with the spearman and escalated the argument further.

"You idiots didn't even think to clear the goblins before attacking the chieftain! You left them for me to clean up!" the thaumaturgist exclaimed, clearly frustrated.

"I've told you before, ignoring the scrubs and going straight for the chief was the best move! We would have exhausted ourselves fighting goblin fodder!" countered the spearman.

"No, you fool! That's not the point! They would have surrounded us by the time you defeated the chieftain! Ugh, how did I end up with dimwits like you?" the thaumaturgist retorted, exasperated by the situation.

I understand where the thaumaturgist is coming from. Since supporters, or in other words, backline fighters, have a chance to observe how a battle is progressing, they're able to make decisions that best suit the party's needs within a fight. It's the typical tri-class setup. Tanks are the frontline, assaults midline, and supports backline. Of course, there are more complicated formations, but this is the most basic of them. The frontline tank is supposed to distract the boss while the assaults and supports clear out the weaker enemies. The fact that the spearman completely ignored that put the entire party in danger, especially the thaumaturgist. It only makes sense for her to be upset over something like that. The party continued to argue as they walked out of the hall.

The party continued their argument as they walked out of the hall. I shifted my attention to the quest board in front of me. It was a large board, approximately two meters tall and four meters long, with quests tacked onto it in a somewhat orderly fashion. The quests were arranged in columns based on difficulty, corresponding to different adventurer ranks. I was standing on the left end of the board, where the porcelain-ranked quests were posted.

As I scanned the quests, I noticed a variety of jobs, ranging from herb gathering, searching for lost animals to delivering messages within the kingdom or to nearby towns. Some quests seemed mundane and simple, even for children. The sheer number of quests had caused them to pile up a bit, and honestly, I didn't want to do either of them.

However, amidst the assortment of quests, one caught my eye near the top of the board.

"Horned Hound Hunting."

I said, whispering the name of the quest to myself. I reached up to pull it down to read the finer details of the quest, but my hand fell short. I tried standing on my tiptoes, but even then, I couldn't reach the blasted paper. It was just above my fingertips! I stretched as much as I could, but I barely touched the bottom of the paper. I'll have to jump to get it, or at least that was what I was about to do when someone nabbed the quest before I could.

As I looked up, I noticed a tall and muscular man standing beside me. He was almost as tall as Phen, if not slightly taller. The man appeared to be well-armored, with black shin guards covering his boots and a thick leather skirt over dark grey pants that wrapped around his waist. He wore black and silver plated armor on his chest, shoulders, and forearms, all designed with a striking black and silver pattern. The most eye-catching feature was the massive sword hanging from his back, dwarfing me in comparison. His face carried an intimidating aura, with black hair, dark eyes, and a prominent scar that ran from his right jaw over his cheek to the bridge of his nose. His whole black is my soul theme definitely doesn't ring any bells of a familiar black swordsman, nope, none at all.

The man towered over me as he inspected the quest, which seemed to be well below his abilities. I was about to comment on that when he handed the quest to me, his faint smile giving me pause.

"Um, thanks."

I said, taken aback. Did he grab it for me? He nodded before walking toward the other end of the quest board.

"No need to be intimidated," Someone said from behind me. I turned to find a stunningly beautiful woman."He's actually a cuddle bear when you get to know him."

She said, nodding toward the tall man who had handed me the quest. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her comment.

"A cuddle bear?"

I repeated, trying to wrap my head around the contrast between his intimidating appearance and the concept of him being a gentle person. I suppose it's not that out of the ordinary. I shouldn't go judging people based on their appearance.

The beautiful woman who spoke up had shoulder-length red hair, captivating blue eyes, and wore red lipstick that accentuated her features. Her attire consisted of a white blouse underneath a black leather corset, complemented by brown leather boots over tight black leather pants. She had a brown leather baldric around her waist, holding two swords within scabbards. Her allure was undeniable, but there was something ethereal about her, almost ghostly, which caught me off guard in addition to how alluring she was.

"I've been getting that reaction a lot lately. That scary-looking man over there and I just returned from a dungeon, so we haven't had much sunlight lately,"

She said, nodding toward the big guy again. Now that she mentioned it, I noticed he also looked a bit pale. So they must be part of the same party. Perhaps that explains the black theme here.

"It's okay, I didn't mean to react like that," I apologized, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"It's all right. I'm used to it by now. My name is Victoria, by the way, and that big guy is Bladden. He doesn't usually talk much." Victoria reassured me.

"Nice to meet you, Victoria. I'm Ciel," I replied politely.

"Same here, Ciel. I see that you've chosen to collect horned hound horns. That's not the easiest task for beginners, especially for… Are you a thaumaturgist?"

Victoria asked, observing the quest in my hands. The quest required me to collect seven horns from the wild hounds in the Eastern section of the Wrenfell Forest within a seven-day timeframe. I hadn't realized it was a collection quest rather than an extermination quest, but there was no turning back now.

"Yes, I'm an arcane thaumaturgist, to be specific," I confirmed.

"Well, now, are you also looking to be the guild master's disciple?"

She said, sounding slightly annoyed as she asked. Not very hard to mist that she doesn't like the guild master very much. They must be a thaumaturgist if she thinks I want to be their disciple. She also makes it sound like other thaumaturgists came here to learn from the guild master. Well, since they're guild master, I imagine they must be skilled.

"No, I don't know much about the guild master. I haven't been to Veinbor in a long time," I replied, half honest.

"Really?! Well, that's good news for once,"

Victoria said, with a pleasant smile that unintentionally appeared seductive. Her red lipstick really added to her allure.

"Shoot, there he goes again, leaving without me. It was nice talking to you, Ciel. I'd love to chat more later," Victoria said hurriedly.

"Same here."

I nodded, feeling a desire to continue the conversation with her. If only to keep admiring her... style.

"Oh, before I go, take this. You don't have much equipment, and it might come in handy for collecting those pesky hound horns. Be careful out there!"

Before she left, Victoria handed me a curved, sheathed dagger. With that, she ran off towards the exit, following Bladden, who had already left the building. I hadn't even noticed that the crowd of adventurers around me had dispersed. It was true what they said. Talking to a beautiful woman tends to make you forget everything else. I found myself awkwardly standing alone.

"I didn't get a chance to thank her for giving me this dagger," I said.

Well, I'll probably see her again. For now, I should focus on starting this quest. I don't know how long it will take me, so it's best to get started while there's still daylight. I don't think Phen will mind if I leave him here. It seems unlikely he'll be coming down anytime soon.