The City of Merfelen, Wrapped in the Darkness of Night

  Silva finally arrived at his initial destination, Merfelen, after finishing his hunt. It was already past 7 p.m. Normally, the journey from the Imperial Capital to Merfelen would take about three hours on foot a distance of roughly 11 kilometers. However, since Silva had been hunting along the way, he arrived late.

  "Phew, I finally made it."

  Without anyone familiar around, Silva felt a twinge of loneliness, and he found himself speaking aloud. Though it had only been a day, being transported to a completely different world from the one he was born and raised in made Silva feel isolated.

  The border was about 100 kilometers away from here. On horseback, he could cover the distance in about four hours, but at an average walking speed of 3 to 4 kilometers per hour, it would take three to four days of walking ten hours each day. If he moved slower, it could take as long as seven to eight days.

  Silva's backpack was filled with materials obtained from his hunt.

  (First, I need to report to the guild.)

  Ignoring his hunger and with his heavy backpack on his back, Silva made his way to the guild.

  At the Guild

  "Please handle this," Silva said, handing over a card and a letter of request.

  "Certainly. Please wait a moment while I check... Yes, everything seems fine. The seal hasn't been broken," the receptionist replied, examining both sides of the letter and the wax seal.

  "Alright. There are no issues. I will add 5 achievement points for completing this task. What would you like to do with the extermination quests? Would you like to settle them now?"

  "Yes, please," Silva nodded.

  "Understood. Let's see... You've defeated 54 Wild Dogs, 91 Wild Bees, and 22 Wild Rabbits... Well done! That's quite a number of creatures you've hunted."

  "Yes, but the sharpness of the weapon I bought yesterday has dulled from all the blood and fat... I need to get it sharpened."

  The receptionist looked surprised at Silva's casual comment.

  (This person... Did he hunt all these with a sword? And in just one day? I thought he was a spellcaster who used area of effect magic... An adventurer of Single I rank isn't usually at this level...)

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  All the quests on Silva's card were dated yesterday. Unaware of her gaze, Silva continued.

  "Is there a blacksmith in this town where I can have my sword sharpened?"

  "Yes, if you leave the guild and go straight to the left down the main street, you'll find one."

  "Alright, I'll check it out later. By the way, have you finished the settlement?"

  The receptionist, reminded of her job by Silva's question, quickly returned to her duties.

  "Oh! I'm sorry. For the Wild Dogs, 54 defeated multiplied by 3 is 162 barts. For the Wild Bees, 91 defeated multiplied by 3 is 273 barts. For the Wild Rabbits, 22 defeated multiplied by 3 is 66 barts. The total is 501 barts. The achievement points match the number of creatures defeated, so you receive 167 achievement points. Congratulations, Mr. Schneizel, you've been promoted to Double I rank."

  (He registered just yesterday and is already moving up to the next rank...)

  Silva was not particularly thrilled. It was a natural reaction, given he hadn't struggled much.

  "You don't seem very pleased, do you?" the receptionist asked, noticing the lack of enthusiasm on his face.

  "It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just that I didn't struggle much. To be honest…"

  "That's understandable. There are generally two types of people. Those who have had some training before registering usually reach around G rank in about a week."

  "Is that so?"

  "Yes. On the other hand, for those who start from scratch, reaching Double I rank can be a significant hurdle."

  "Hmm, I see..."

  Silva hadn't realized it, but the biggest challenge for beginners is dealing with groups. Most of the monsters in the forest live in packs. When hunting, one naturally has to deal with multiple enemies at once. The guild recommends forming parties, but not everyone can do this. Some people's skills differ too much, some don't get along, or their objectives don't align, so many end up taking on quests alone.

  Beginners who have received no training are particularly disliked because having a weak person in a life and death situation puts the experienced ones at risk. As a result, most newly registered adventurers who can't find a party end up taking quests alone.

  Those who can only fight one on one spend their time searching for isolated monsters, which are rare. Meanwhile, those who can handle multiple opponents at once, like Silva, quickly rank up. Incidentally, it's also possible to rank up by doing only delivery jobs, but this is not recommended. Without gaining combat skills, advancing in rank only leads to death.

  "By the way, Mr. Schneizel, considering how much you've hunted, you must have accumulated a significant amount of hides and fangs, right?"

  "Yes, although it took a lot of effort to skin them. I plan to take them to a magic item shop next."

  "In that case, wouldn't it be better to take on some supply quests first?"

  "Supply quests...?" Silva asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

  "Yes. You won't get as much money as selling to a magic item shop, but ranking up now will be beneficial in the long run."

  "Is that so?"

  Silva, always mindful of his profits, became interested.

  "Yes. You know you can only take quests that are of the same rank or lower than your own, right?"

  He remembered this from his registration at the guild.

  "Yes, I know. And?"

  "Well, if you take a quest below your rank, you won't earn achievement points, but the reward will be doubled."

  This was new information not mentioned in the "Guild Beginner's Guide."

  "What!?"

  "So, those with the ability rank up quickly and complete a lot of extermination quests below their rank, which earns them more money."