"Arlo..." Vielle whispered, a smile playing on her lips as she walked down the moonlit streets. "To think I'd encounter him again... What a coincidence."
Her steps were light, her mood cheerful as she made her way through the night.
"Those unusual clothes, the strange source of energy flowing inside him that isn't mana... He's a unique existence," she mused, her mind wandering back to their conversation. "Even after I told him I was a Vampire, he didn't look at me with disgust... To think there are people like him in this world."
As she walked further away from the guild, Vielle came to a stop, her gaze drawn to the moon above. Its silvery light seemed to caress her delicate features, as her silver hair shimmered under the moonlight.
"The world really is a big place..."
With those words, Vielle tapped the bottom end of her staff on the ground, and a purple magic circle formed beneath her feet. In the blink of an eye, she ascended into the air, her figure growing smaller and smaller until she disappeared from view.
-
"Hmm... So this is my Adventurer's card," Arlo mused, his eyes fixed on the card in his hands as he walked.
The rectangular card displayed his name, class, the adventurer's guild mark, and his rank, which was currently set at F. Arlo had chosen to write down only his first name and had listed his class as "mage."
Shifting his gaze from the card, Arlo focused on the map he held in his other hand. True to Miro's word, he had received the map upon completing his registration at the guild.
The map provided a detailed view of the city, but Arlo had hoped for one that encompassed the entire continent or kingdom. However, it seemed that those maps were not given out freely.
"It appears that money remains a common necessity, regardless of the world you find yourself in," Arlo sighed, before examining the map more closely. "That being said, this is one big city... But I suppose that's to be expected from the capital."
According to the map, Arlo had only explored a small portion of Lithra during his time there. The city was encircled by a formidable stone wall.
Countless streets radiated outwards from the central plaza, a bustling hub of commerce and activity. At the very heart of Lithra stood the majestic royal castle.
As he had made his way through the city earlier, Arlo couldn't help but steal countless glances at the castle, wondering what it would be like to set foot inside such a magnificent place.
The map also revealed the various districts within the city, each dedicated to a different facet of urban life. Arlo, who hadn't had the chance to explore many of these districts, made a mental note to do so upon his return to Lithra.
For now, however, his attention was focused on the terrain surrounding the capital, as this would be his next destination. The map indicated that there were four main entrances to the city, located at the north, east, south, and west borders.
The city was bordered by a dense canopy of trees that stretched out as far as the map showed on its north end. To the west, rugged mountains loomed, their steep cliffs and narrow passageways rich in minerals and ore, as indicated by the "Mines" label on the map.
The south and east ends of the city were surrounded by vast plains, open fields covered in undulating waves of grass. Small villages and farmsteads dotted the landscape, scattered across the gentle terrain.
These southern and eastern regions seemed to be the preferred routes for most carriages and merchants, as they harbored the least risk compared to the other directions.
Unfortunately for Arlo, the map revealed that he was currently on the north end of the city, heading straight for the forest. A small annotation on the map mentioned "danger," causing Arlo to frown.
"Great, so I'm actually heading somewhere dangerous," he muttered to himself. "Isn't a forest where people gather herbs too? I should've taken a quest to collect some... actually, maybe not. It's not like I'd know what to look for anyway, and I don't have time to waste searching for herbs only to get paid a few copper in return."
With that conclusion, Arlo continued walking down the road, making his way towards the gate at the northern border of the city. Having already been near the border, it only took a few more minutes of walking to finally arrive.
Before him stood a large, closed wooden gate, safeguarded by armored guards on standby. The guards appeared far larger than Arlo and wore helmets that concealed their faces, while gripping long steel spears.
"Um... the gate is closed. What am I supposed to do now?" Arlo muttered as he approached the guards.
The guard who noticed and overheard him quickly turned to face Arlo before responding, "You there, would you like to head outside the gate?"
"Yeah, would that be possible?" Arlo asked, nodding.
"Yes, there's a postern gate over there for adventurers," the guard replied, pointing at a small gate by the wall, adjacent to the large gate.
Arlo turned to where he pointed and noticed another guard safeguarding a different entrance. People, whom Arlo assumed to be adventurers based on their equipment, walked in and out of the gate.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
"Oh, sorry, I hadn't noticed that. Thank you," Arlo said, giving a polite bow before making his way over to the postern gate.
After a few steps, the guard he had spoken to earlier called out to him. "Hey, you! Are you planning on heading out there alone?"
Arlo tilted his head to the side, a confused look on his face. "Yeah, is there a problem with that?"
"Isn't that obvious?" the guard replied, his tone serious. "It's nighttime, the worst time of day to head into the woods alone. The monsters in the woods have been very active lately because of the dungeon. That's why the northern gate is the only one that's closed."
Arlo raised a brow, his mind racing with thoughts. 'Dungeon? There are dungeons in this world? That wasn't shown on the map. Maybe it's further up north? Damn this cheap map… that being said, I wonder how they're similar to the 'Labyrinths' of my old world…'
Shaking his head, Arlo focused on the more important part of what the guard had said.
'But more importantly, the monster part sounds bad… if it's bad to the point where they have to close the gates, then he's probably right when he says that I shouldn't head out there on my own. But… I'll be dealing with monsters when I return to my old world anyway, so I might as well use this opportunity to see what I'm capable of. I have my barrier active, so I should be fine, right?'
"Thank you, guard, but I'll be fine on my own. Even if it's just F-Rank, I'm still a Hunter," Arlo said confidently.
The guard looked at him, slightly confused. "Hunter? Don't you mean Adventurer?"
"Ah, right, that," Arlo replied, realizing his mistake. "Also, before I go, I had one last question. You mentioned that this is the only gate that's closed. Does that mean that the others are open all day?"
"Well, of course. This is the capital city, after all," the guard explained. "We have travelers, traders, and all sorts of carriages entering and leaving the city all day. Although those gates have far more guards guarding them than this one."
"I see… that makes sense," Arlo replied, nodding in understanding. "Alright, thank you, sir. Goodbye."
With those final words, Arlo walked off, heading straight for the postern gate. The guard at the gate asked Arlo for a pass or permit, but Arlo didn't have one. Fortunately, his Adventurer's card worked as a pass, and all he needed to do was state his intentions whenever he left or entered the city.
"Looks like getting this adventurer's card was a good idea," Arlo sighed with relief as he walked through the small gate.
The passageway was small, dark, and narrow, but after a few seconds of walking, Arlo finally emerged outside the city walls. Before him, a vast wooden forest stretched as far as the eye could see.
"So this is what it's like outside the walls…" Arlo muttered, his gaze fixed on the path leading into the woods.
The path seemed to be designed for incoming and outgoing carriages, but with the gates closed, there were no signs of any passing by.
Arlo confirmed that his barrier was still active and working as intended before beginning his journey down the pathway. Since he was on his own, he wanted to ensure that if any monster snuck up on him, he'd be safe. However, he didn't know how durable the barrier was, so all he could do was wait until the opportunity to test it arose.
"Man… I know I should be scared, but right now, for some reason… I can't stop smiling," Arlo muttered to himself, grinning joyfully.
His heart raced, not because of fear, but because the opportunity to test the power of the intermediate and advanced class spells was approaching. Filled with joy, Arlo walked down the path on his own, clutching the grimoire tightly in his arms as he ventured into the unknown.
Arlo walked along the well-maintained path, free of any trees growing on it. After about twenty minutes, he noticed the surrounding trees growing denser, their towering heights blocking the moonlight and casting the area into darkness.
Reacting quickly, Arlo began chanting a spell to brighten his surroundings.
"Elementary-Class Light Magic: Illuminate," He said.
[MP: 69% -> 69%]
The once pitch-black surroundings suddenly lit up as an orb of light manifested in the air before him. The ability to see clearly made the situation far more manageable.
As Arlo continued down the path, he spotted a group of adventurers approaching from ahead. They appeared battered and worn, with some sporting injuries and damaged armor. The adventurers carried torches to light their way.
When the group passed Arlo, they made eye contact. Without exchanging words, Arlo bowed his head respectfully and continued walking. Although it seemed like the adventurers wanted to say something to him, Arlo carried on without turning back.
Once all signs of the group had disappeared, Arlo looked ahead and then back down the path he had walked.
"I've traveled quite a bit… no one should have any complaints if I were to unleash my magic here, right? I should finally be able to practice my intermediate and advanced class spells in peace, right?" he asked himself, blushing and grinning. "Is what I'd like to say, but…"
His grin faded, replaced by a nervous expression as he began to tremble, looking around. Countless pairs of red eyes stared at him from the darkness of the surrounding trees.
"Looks like I'm surrounded," he muttered, his voice tense.
The sound of growling resonated around him as large, furry beasts emerged from the shadows, walking on all fours towards him.
At first glance, the creatures resembled wolves, but Arlo quickly realized that was far from the case. These beasts were at least triple the size of normal wolves, their fur pitch-black like shadows. Most unsettling of all, each possessed three eyes, with the third situated on their forehead.
[New Quest Unlocked]
[Quest Title: Shadow Wolf Slayer.]
[Objective: Slay all the wolves standing in your path.]
Approximately six of these monstrous wolves slowly approached Arlo, their movements calculated and menacing.
"So I finally got a quest… that being said, I didn't think they'd look so scary… these look way scarier than the types of monsters you find in an F-Rank gate back in my wor—" Arlo's words were cut short as the nearest wolf lunged directly at him, its mouth wide open, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
Arlo's eyes widened, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest as he instinctively stepped back, staring into the beast's gaping maw. Fortunately, just before the monster could tear through him, it crashed into an invisible forcefield, stopping its attack.
The impact caused the barrier to reveal itself, a bright yellow sphere surrounding Arlo. He let out a sigh of relief as he examined the barrier, which showed no signs of damage or shattering from the single attack.
"Ah… thank god. I-It's not like I was scared or anything. I was just worried the barrier might've deactivated on its own or something—" Arlo's words were interrupted once more as the other wolves began to lunge at him one by one, slamming into the barrier, attempting to wear it down with their relentless attacks.