The wind blew softly, the leaves gently fluttering as Ravel sat with his legs crossed in a clearing not far from town. With his eyes closed, he focused on receiving as much information as he could from his other senses. His ears followed the movements of the small animals and insects around him. The smell of trees, earth and old leaves surrounded him as he slowly breathed in and out.

He had made it a habit of coming to this clearing a few times every week. There was ample space for him to practice freely with his sword and it was close enough to town that travelling wasn’t a hassle, yet far enough away that no one would disturb him; or he them.

A few minutes of this meditative exercise was enough for him to fully recover his energy. He stood up, brushing the dirt and grass off himself and started making his way back to town. He moved through the woods with ease, at a quick pace and soon the walls around the town came into view.

Duran was a small town, with a population under 15,000 people, though as far as Ravel was concerned it was a bustling metropolis. With streets paved with stones, houses made of bricks, a central marketplace that occupied more real estate than his whole village and most wonderful of all a fully functional sewage system, Duran was everything Ravel had hoped for.

Before long he was at one of the gates, giving the guards a nod as he walked past. He ambled into town, his head swiveling about as he observed the people and shops around him. He was still a bit unaccustomed to such large crowds. His mouth watered every time he walked past a restaurant, the smells entering his nose and rocketing straight up into his brain. On many an occasion he had found himself losing control of all reason, before pulling himself back by sheer force of will. With moist eyes he would forcefully remind himself that splurging now would mean slower accumulation of wealth in the future. Be patient, invest in yourself and then…... We’re on a highway to hedonism baby!

Distracted by these thoughts, he didn’t notice a carriage coming towards him at some speed from the road to his right until it was almost upon him.

“Hey! Watch out!” yelled the driver as he flicked the reins in panic, trying to get the horse to turn away before it squashed the pedestrian in front of him. He was already on thin ice from his boss, he couldn’t bear another mishap.

The horse turned to the left and quickly skid to a halt. The driver sat in his seat with a wince on his face and his eyes closed. Slowly he began to open his eyes wondering, worst comes to worst, if he should just make a gallop for it. As he widened his eyes, he was pleasantly surprised to see the lack of a mangled carcass in front of him. His joy at having avoided committing manslaughter however, was soon replaced by confusion. He looked right and left, but there was no one near the place where he had seen that man standing. Could he have been hallucinating? But he wasn’t high. It was too early in the day for that. Just as he sat there bewildered, moving his head from one place to another, he heard a light cough coming from behind him.

“You okay there bud?”

The driver turned around, only to see that same man standing behind him on the edge of the carriage roof. The chap stood with a hand rubbing through his hair and a weird look on his face. If he was forced to guess, the driver might have said he looked a bit embarrassed.

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“Huh. You. How?” incoherently uttered the driver.

Ravel lightly jumped off and landed noiselessly onto the road.

“Haha, sorry about that. I really should’ve been paying more attention,” he said abashedly, “Hope none of your merchandise was damaged.”

“What? Umm, oh that. Wait let me check,” he replied getting off his seat and inspecting his cargo, before dazedly looking back at Ravel, “Ahh yeah, no. It’s all fine.”

“Great, great,” said Ravel, “That’s good. Again, really sorry about that whole mishap. I’ll be leaving then, you take care of yourself.”

Ravel left the scene, with the baffled driver still staring at his back, and moved towards his destination. This time with a little less internal debate. Soon he reached a two-storey building with a wide open door and a constant stream of people moving in and out. He headed in and walked to the end of one of the lines in front of a reception desk. As he stood waiting for his turn he habitually began observing the people standing about or moving around the busy floor.

Many had some light leather armor on and were carrying weapons, one fellow had even brought in a spear nearly seven feet long. The majority were young and more or less in decent shape. Many, in fact most, were bunched together in groups, and it was relatively rare seeing people acting on their own — a fact Ravel had picked up on in his first week here. After a few minutes of waiting, his turn finally arrived.

“Yes, how may I help you?” patiently asked the thin, young receptionist as he adjusted his glasses.

Without a word Ravel handed the man a small card the size of his hand. The receptionist took the card and looked it over, he was about to turn back and repeat his question when something caught his eye.

“Oh I see,” he said with a smile, “Congratulations on officially becoming a D-Rank adventurer.”

“Yep, finally escaped the dreaded land of rookies with nothing but crappy quests and no money.”

“And it took you less than two months to do it. Not bad, yours is pretty close to the fastest I’ve personally handled. Please wait a minute, I’ll be back with your new card,” he said as he stood up and left through a door in the back.

Ravel leaned against the desk, waiting with bated breath to receive his shiny, new Adventurer ID. It had been a pain in the ass getting this far. As the lowest rank, E-Rank adventurers were basically considered glorified handymen. The only quests fit for rookies were ones like gathering herbs from outside town or taking care of wild animals trampling some farmers fields.

What was worse was while D-Rank adventurers were able to accept C-Rank quests, C-Rank adventurers B-Rank quests and so on, E-Rankers could officially only accept E-Rank quests. And since the only way to increase your rank was to do a certain number of quests, E-Rankers had to be prepared to live hand to mouth until they ranked up. To get by Ravel had unofficially taken on higher ranked quests — it didn’t count against his quota but at least he got paid for it.

The receptionist came out carrying an envelope and a small purse. He handed them over to Ravel before sitting down. Ravel quickly tore it open and took out the new card.

Ravel Thorn

D-Rank

Quests: 0/50

“Damn, that’s a lot of quests, but right now I don’t even care. Moneyville here I come,” said Ravel.

“Haha, well here’s a little something to get you started on your journey,” smiled the receptionist as he pointed towards the purse on the desk, “The guilds reward to welcome you to your new rank.”

Ravel opened up the purse and quickly counted the coins. 200 ceors! Ha, could this day get any better.

“If you’re interested in some work, we’ve got a few quests lined up.”

“No thanks,” said Ravel pocketing the purse and his new ID, “I’ve already got something in mind.”

Leaving the building Ravel stretched his arms contentedly and began making his way further into town. He had only walked a few hundred meters when his eyes fell on the storefront of a bakery shop with pastries and cakes on display behind large, floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Well...... I suppose there isn’t any harm in a little pleasure before business.”