I woke up with that feeling when you try to not forget the dream you just had. I was... home. And I had to care... It was gone. My mouth felt like a Baker had fermented their goods in it, so I had to take extra care with my morning ablutions. Once freshened up, the dream kept nagging at the edges of my mind. The dream was something important. But I couldn't remember it. The more frustrated I grew, the cloudier it became.

Glancing outside the window, I checked the hour on the planetary ring. It was around ten in the morning. Good. I still had about eight hours until noon. The improved Endurance reduced slightly my need for sleep. Back to the living room, I removed all my equipment and went through the routine of checking everything, including my armor. I was glad that, differently from what some novels said, people didn't grow bulkier as they gained Attributes.

It was the opposite.

People with high Endurance could exercise longer. Since the physical Attributes' effects are based on the creature's physicality, it made sense to train and bulk up. After all, a strong man will be stronger than a scrawny man with the same Strength score, no matter the score. It made sense to take advantage of this fact to get the best benefits from one's Attributes. And that was what I did after checking and cleaning my gear. Exercise. Before that I set a note to myself to hit Fizzlewhisper's shop, use my landlord discount, and buy at least six sheafs of arrows. Then I took the weights and worked on my arm and back muscles for five hours. Leg day was scheduled for tomorrow.

One bother of exercising after improving one's Attributes was to adjust the weights. As my Strength score increased, so did the weights I had to work with. It was a simple calculation. But one advice I always heard from the Guild veterans was to get my exercise and bodybuilding earlier in my career. Once my Strength score hit the high hundreds or even a thousand points, I'd need enchanted workout material or a Gnomish exercise rig to provide the weights I needed. Not to mention speed and agility training. At least I had a program and knew what weights I used. Since the increase in Strength was linear, I just needed to adjust them with the same proportion as my Strength Attribute.

I did a full routine, exercising the arms, back, and pectoral muscles. After that, I stopped to let my muscles rest. If a high Strength score was a deterrent, a high Endurance was the opposite. It helped the body recover faster, which meant less rest time between exercise sessions and better results from regular exercise. One benchmark was at 600 points of Endurance, when a person could cram a week worth of exercise in a single day.

At around seventeen hours, I put the exercise gear away and went to have a bath. A good warm soak made a bit hotter now that I could endure the heat better. Once out of the bath, I donned my gear and did some stretches. On the way out, I went into Fizzlewhisper's. An archer with an empty quiver was nothing but a liability.

*

*

Fizzlewhisper wasn't at the shop. I only replenished my supplies, placed a wholesale order for arrows, and went to work. As I crossed the busy street, dodging one hurried bicycle delivery rider, I pondered on the last couple of days. Boy, did I feel stupid for my breakdown and attempted escape. The anger and the wish to avenge my father had split in so many directions that I found it hard to pinpoint who the real culprit was.

Liliane Fade was defending her child, or so she claimed. The Demon King was... being evil. Clotilde just wanted to spite Alice. The frustration I saw on the Guild Master's face told me that neither of the three was even close to considering her dangerous. They were so above Alice in levels that it wasn't even funny. If I had to rank the three culprits in order of power, it would be the Demon King, Liliane Fade, and then Clotilde.

All above my pay grade, I dismissed said worries as I pushed the doors to the Guild Hall open. The usual smell of beer, frying oil and sweat greeted me. I scanned the room and saw the usual suspects, loitering and carousing without a care in the world. The quest board was rather empty, with only those quests nobody wanted to take ever pinned to it. On the other side, the receptionists were busy doing clerical work on behalf of our members. No lines of Adventurers waiting for their turn with a receptionist. It seemed today was going to be a slow day.

"Hey, George, good afternoon," Dahlia, a Human Receptionist with traces of elvish ancestry greeted him, drawling the last word.

"Greetings, Dahlia. I'm not late, if that's what you're hinting," I replied with a blank expression.

The sassy Receptionist giggled and pointed at the stairs. "Boss is waiting for you."

"Thank you."

With that, I made my way up the stairs with haste, noticing how light my body felt as I climbed the stairs. I heard once that our planet was too heavy and it made climbing difficulty. Only with an innate kind of body strengthening magic everyone used from birth was that we were able to live here. I reached Alice's door and knocked.

"Come in," she called.

Alice was behind her desk, a pile of paper on one side, held in place by a flat disk of granite. As I made my way inside, I received some notifications about a lot of Al-Mi'raj dying, granting me five extra Attribute points. I stalled and stopped.

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

"What is the matter?" The Guild Master asked.

"A big Al-Mi'raj warren was just cleared. Twenty-seven individuals, levels in the single digits."

She smirked briefly, then schooled her expression. "Thanks for the heads up. Did the bunnycorns die all at once?" I nodded. "They probably used explosives to kill the whole warren. I hope they brought shovels to dig the horns, or we won't consider their quest done. Any way, it's irrelevant. Did you rest well?"

"Yes, I even got some exercise in the morning."

"Good. You need to improve your physicality now that it's easy," Alice said as she stood up. "I got some things for you. Here."

She took a leather trunk out of a drawer and brought it to the coffee table. Laying it there, she opened the lid. Inside, I could see a Guild tabard, three arrows carefully wrapped in runic-inscribed vellum, an iron-bound potion case, and a Guild badge nestled in a wooden box. The elf took the latter item out.

"This is your badge. Channel some MP into it to show you are a Guild Officer. The badge can also stamp documents to make it easy to authenticate."

I winced in shock. A guild officer? Was Alice—

"No, I'm not out of my mind," she interrupted my silent ramble with the exact thing I was thinking about. "You are this branch new Head of Surveying and Cartography. Not the same position as your father as I don't want you handling Intelligence straight away. Your duties are to go outside and survey the region around the city. Keep our maps up to date, identify threats, and locate resources. What you find will become quests for our members. Take the badge and activate it now."

She pressed the metal badge to my hand. I injected some MP into it and the badge shone with a soft light.

"There you go. Next, are these. Enchanted Signal Arrows. They go in your quiver, wrapped in the vellum. The bundle will not fall or be picked up by mistake. Unless you truly wish to draw one of them, of course. Think of a word sequence with a length up to twenty words, and then toss or fire the arrow upward. I will immediately sense the arrow and learn the word sequence you created. Any guild employee in a broad range will also sense the arrow's location but not the word. The arrows are consumables, you only get to use each of them once. You should use one of them if you find a dangerous threat to the city or if you are in danger."

"Are they expensive to make?" I asked after receiving the bundle.

"That's inconsequential. If a single arrow saves a life, it's worth it. If it saves your life..." Alice looked away as she refused to finish the sentence. She could be stubborn sometimes.

"Thank you," I said. The arrow bundle went into my quiver.

"Finally, this is a potion case with a small space enlargement and a strong protection enchantment. The vials inside won't break unless titanic force is exerted on this case. it goes on the back your belt," she showed straps on the back of the case.

I opened the case. it had twelve large potions vials inside but was sized for only three on the outside. The multi-dose potions shone with magical energy. The corks had the potions symbol carved on the top. A staff with two snakes for healing, a skull with a cross over them for antidotes, A diagonal lightning bolt for MP potions, and a sunburst for the stamina ones. If I was correct about the potency of these potions, the whole kit cost more than twice my share of the loot from yesterday.

"No questions, right?" Alice taunted me. Her eyes were daring me to say something about the expensive gift. "It's not a gift," she said, reading my thoughts again. "And no, I'm not reading your thoughts. I've known you longer than you do yourself."

"Okay, I won't complain."

"Good. Now, your task. I want you to scout the region all around the city, up to a distance of twenty kilometers. Locate monster lairs, herbs, and other resource nodes. Come back to town only when you're done. Use an arrow if you find yourself in trouble. Show your Guild badge if anyone bothers you. Go."

Scouting twenty kilometers out of the city wall in all directions would require me to cover way over... twelve hundred square kilometers.

"Alice, it might take me weeks to do that!" I protested.

"All the more reasons to not delay the start of your task," her tone was imperious. For a moment, she sounded like a Queen who would harbor no dissent. "And no, it won't take weeks. Your Guild badge does not grant you the right to enter private property. The farms, pastures, and outlying mage towers are off-limits so far, your task is concerned. Only the wilderness."

I nodded. After adding the potion case to my belt and donning the tabard, I affixed the badge to the front of my belt on the left side where it would be covered by the tabard but easy to display by just pulling the cloth to the side.

"Then, I guess I should go."

*

*

Away from the Guild Hall, I finally noticed I was still dazed by everything Alice shoved my way. I didn't even realize I was drawing a lot of attention, with my fancy tabard. It was green and brown, perfect for woodland camouflage. The guild emblem, a dragon's head holding an apple between its teeth but without biting it, was embroidered over the heart.

I moved out of the foot traffic and got my bearings. Instead of going to the nearest gate, my feet brought me to the upper commercial district. Why was I coming here? Oh. To check for recent updates to the city map. I went to the Cartographer's Guild and paid the fee to have my own map updated. It was much cheaper than buying a brand-new map.

After waiting for a quarter of hour, a Cartographer called me to their studio. There, he stretched my map on an easel and then started to use his Class magic. They could move the ink over the map even though it was dry, erasing what was no longer relevant and writing down the latest information. He also marked the perimeter of private property, at least what the Guild had in record. Since they also handled land survey, the data was the most accurate among the public available.

I also asked about the area I had to scout. It was less than twelve hundred square kilometers, with the restriction of not needing to survey private property. Still, I believed it would take me more than two weeks to finish the survey.

It proved a conundrum. Monster dens could shift in two weeks as the creatures moved and relocated around. What was Alice up to? What was the reason for this specific "do not come back until finished..."

Oh.

She said I should come back to town only when finished. She never forbade me from using couriers to deliver information. The badge could stamp documents with my Mana signature. I stared at the map and counted the small villages and hamlets around the city. These rural communities were vital as they grew the food the city consumed. Each of them should have a courier that could bring reports to the Guild. So, I needed to plan my survey in a way that each day ended near one such place so I could have my reports reach the Guild Hall first thing in the morning.

And since it was official Guild business, I didn't have to pay the courier. He could get his fee from the Guild.

With a game plan in place, I left the Cartographer's Guild and then out of the city through the nearest gate. It was time to scout for monsters.