Aron was disappointed; all the quests in the Bronze section are… Well, let's just say, they are not fit for him.

'Do they actually expect me, a Fucking Dragon, to go out and pick up herbs? And what's this? Finding a missing pet, helping in the construction site, looking for someone to pick up my shopping bags?'

Aron passed after reading the last quest. The image of him being dragged around by a woman from one shop to another while carrying her shopping bags filled him with unimaginable anger.

Aron was tempted to pick this quest just to beat up the person who had the audacity to give this quest.

'Sigh... I need to ascend in rank swiftly.'

The majority of Bronze quests fell under a monotonous pattern—small and simple quests that anyone, no matter how weak they are, could accomplish. Plus, the risk of dying is low since most of the bronze quests are located inside the town.

Aron's gaze shifted to the Iron section, his current rank restricting him to quests of his rank and one above. So Aron can't pick up a gold quest, for example, even if he could complete it. The guild won't allow it, and it can cause problems for him, not that Aron cares about any of this.

'Wait a second! Why bother with quests? I just need Monster Cores. I could just go out and kill monsters.'

This idea was tempting for Aron. All of this ranking bullshit is only giving him a headache; however, he promptly dismissed the idea

'No, arrogance might lead to my demise. Guild rankings offer valuable insights into monsters' strength.'

His eyes darted over the Iron quests, seeing that there was a plethora of killing-kind quests brought a flicker of joy to Aron.

Aron picked a quest with the biggest number of possible monsters to kill; the quest was simple: the extermination of a goblin nest near a village in the east.

However, this quest stands out from the rest. Aron could see two numbers on the quest's paper. One on the top, a golden star with the number 9. And on the bottom, a red skull with the number 15.

This was strange for Aron; he didn't see any other quest having these numbers and symbols. Intrigued, he took the Goblin quest and glanced at the guild counter; his eyes caught a familiar red-haired and emerald-eyed beauty.

"!!!" Cila was caught off guard. Ever since she came back from the changing room, she kept staring at Aron; she was fascinated by how someone could be at this level of handsomeness. Everything about Aron's physical appearance was near perfect, and that didn't get into her head; it seemed off somehow.

'Like he's not human?'

But Cila shook her head, throwing away this nonsense; in her opinion, it was just her mind trying to find excuses as to why she kept thinking about Aron these past days. And the teasing from her friends helped her thoughts take a slight turn into… well, something spicy.

But then, out of nowhere, Aron suddenly turned his face, and their eyes met, causing Cila's professional mask to crack.

She displayed a genuine smile and waved to him, earning Aron a massive amount of death stares from the men in the guild hall.

Like always, Aron didn't care and approached the counter.

"How are you, Aron? Doing fine? I hope you didn't cause trouble."

'DAMNIT! Why can't I control my mouth when I'm near him?' Cila panicked internally.

Aron, rubbing his chin, thought for a moment then replied, "Nope, zero problems, I absolutely guarantee."

"That's good, now… Cough, what can I do for you today?" She tried to shift the topic quickly before the conversation turned into something else.

"Yes, actually." Aron showed her the Goblin quest. "I want to take this quest, but I noticed these numbers and symbols, can you explain them to me?"

"Oh!... That's an easy one," she pointed to the golden star. "The number next to the star shows how many times this quest was completed. There are quests that happen regularly; the common type is monster seasons."

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Then she pointed at the red skull; she glanced for a moment at the number next to it with a grim face. "The number next to the red skull shows how many mercenaries died during the quest."

Aron raised an eyebrow. "I see," he glanced at the number.

'15 mercenaries got killed by goblins?' He was surprised that Goblins could kill that much; however, when Aron read the quest details again, he understood why.

'A Goblin nest, being swarmed by a horde of goblins, is no joke. Hmm… maybe there is also a goblin champion in their horde, like the one I killed in the cave could easily wipe a group of Bronze and Iron mercenaries.'

"I'll take this quest, Cila," he made his decision.

Cila seemed unhappy hearing his decision; she took the quest paper from his hands and read the details. "I can't recommend this quest, Aron. Clearing a goblin nest is difficult alone; you need a group of at least four people."

"That won't be a problem, I have group members, although I don't know if they are registered in the mercenary guild; is that going to create an issue?"

"Not at all. However, the guild only gives its quests and rewards to members; participating in a quest for non-guild members is acceptable." Cila paused, rearranging her thoughts. "The mercenary guild needs members; the guild master allowed many things just for the sake of attracting new members."

Aron nodded in understanding. "Fear not, Cila, I'll have my group register as guild members. Climbing the ranks is a good way to keep track of their progress and have them compete against each other."

Cila smiled hearing this; new members are always welcomed. She was about to thank Aron, but he quickly interrupted.

"One more thing before I go; why has this quest been completed so many times?"

Hearing that this quest was completed nine times sounded a bit odd to Aron; if it were up to him, he would just blow the damn nest and be done with it.

'Wait, that's actually a great idea, gather them all in one spot and blow them into oblivion.'

While Aron was lost in his imagination on who to blow the poor green-skinned creatures, Cila took the quest paper, reading it one more time; her face showed sadness when her eye laid on the quest giver.

"Ahhh! This quest…" She stared at Aron before explaining. "The owner of this quest is the village elder; he's a good man, but his tale is a quite tragic one." She paused, taking a breath.

"Three years ago, the elder lost his only son to a goblin raid; his son was born in the twilight of the elder's years, and you can imagine how devastating he can be after losing a son who came to this life after he gave up on having a descendant."

"Revenge."

Cila nodded. "Yes, he lost his mind to hatred for Goblins; however, being an old man, he can't take revenge on his own, so he spent all of his wealth as a reward for these quests."

"Of course, he will do that; it's obvious. The only sad thing about it is that he can't have his vengeance by his own hands."

Just from this piece of information alone, Aron was ready to bet that the village elder had a crazy insane idea or a goal about wiping out all the goblins from the face of this earth.

Cila kept silent, having a different opinion on the idea of revenge; she didn't want to share it and kept only listening to Aron. She values every conversation she has with the man; it serves as an excellent way to understand Aron more.

Aron asked for more information about the village location, and the duration of the travel, as Aron is planning to leave immediately; the village is located in the east with 7-8 hours of travel time by carriage.

"Be careful, stay safe, and return."

With Cila's last words, Aron left the mercenary guild, heading back to the mansion; he didn't waste any more time wandering here and there, as he planned to leave today for the village as quickly as he could.

Half an hour later, Aron was standing in front of the mansion gate; two giant Lion statues on each side standing as protectors and gatekeepers of the mansion. Aron was pleased with the choice of the Lion by the previous owner; the Lion represents Strength and Pride, two things that exist deeply in Aron's soul.

Stepping inside the mansion, Aron felt something descending from the sky with remarkable speed. He chuckled slightly and opened his arms wide, welcoming whatever was coming.

BOOM!

Aron was thrown to the ground, rolling until he collided with the mansion wall. The impact was hard and unexpected, but Aron couldn't help but grin as he looked at the source of the collision.

"Hehehe~ What are you doing, Freya?"

Yes, it was Freya, the werewolf immediately jumped from the roof when she sensed Aron entering the mansion; she couldn't withstand him being away from her any longer. Now Freya was holding him tight, wrapping arms around his neck and legs on his waist. If Aron was a normal man, his bones would be broken by now.

"Sniff… Sniff… Grrr! Good, no new scents." Freya kept burying her head in Aron's chest, feeling his warmth and watering her thirst from his existence.

Aron chuckled and gently began stroking her silver hair, calming her chaotic emotions; they lay there on the ground for a few minutes until Aron decided to break the happy mood.

"Can you let me go, Freya? I have things to do."

Freya didn't respond and chose to stay silent, clearly telling him that she won't let him go. Aron let out a sigh and called Nightfall.

Since he was lying on his back with Freya clinging tightly to him, he couldn't get on his feet. But using Nightfall's powers, Aron pushed himself up, rising from the ground like a vampire floating out from his coffin.

He made his way inside the mansion with Freya still holding him; as soon as he entered, he found Scarlett at the door with a sly smile on her face.

"Don't torch-head." Freya turned to face Scarlett.

"What?... Heheh~ I didn't say anything."

"Exactly; don't."

"Hehehe~" Scarlett chuckled; she was enjoying seeing this soft side of Freya; however, Scarlett stood relatively far from Aron and didn't approach; she knew that despite Freya showing a soft side now, the moment someone gets near Aron, this person will understand why female werewolves are the most terrifying of their race.

"Scarlett, are the girls training?" Aron asked, seeing no sign of the girls anywhere.

"Yes, they are; in fact, we found something interesting." Scarlett turned and began walking to the main hall. "Follow me."