“How long are you going to keep staring at that page?” Said the soft voice of an eighteen-year-old girl by the name of Nale. The question was directed to a nineteen-year boy with blonde hair and a slim but steady frame by the name of Callen as he sat under a tree reading a book titled the “The Adventurer’s Guide”. Callen’s dream was for him and his friends to become renowned adventurer’s and put their backwater village not only on the map but improve the lives of the villagers as a whole. To achieve this dream, he had to have some understanding of how to be a renowned adventurer and what it would take hence the book he was reading which was an essential to all upcoming adventurers. The page he had been pondering over was the rank list which separated the average adventurers from the truly legendary ones. There were six ranks used to make this distinction Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Obsidian which was the apex of the adventurer world although there had not been any adventurers of this level in over a century. These were further broken down into three tiers under each rank to separate even the exceptional among the average at each rank. To climb these rankings an adventure had to reach level fifty in combat ability in each tier until they were promoted to the maximum their potential would allow. The reason why Callen was lost in thought as he read this information was because he and his friends had been dealt a cruel hand been born lowest among peasants they were not only in the Bronze rank but in tier III the lowest of the low. This alone would have been enough to discourage most peasants from seeking the glory of adventurer world but for Callen and his friends they were not even able to level up as if whatever potential they had been brought into the world was nonexistent. Callen knew this was their reality and yet it did not break him into giving up their dream something in his heart would not allow it and it found its way into the hearts of his five companions. He stood up from under the tree and finally addressed the girl. Nale was a beautiful silver haired girl had she been born a noble would have had princes far and wide asking for her hand in marriage. She was very polite yet bold a quality which her companions admired in her. “As long as it takes till I get a sign that there’s a way we can level up” he said with a smile on his face. She looked at him with adoring eyes recalling since they had declared that they would be adventures four years ago they had been unable to even level up once and had been stuck at Lv.1 and yet he had never for a moment given up hope. She smiled back at him and said “I know you will; now can we please get going the others are probably all sick of waiting for us by now”. He nodded and they proceeded to make their way meet with the other four members of their party. “Man, I figured Callen would be late after all that effort I spent telling him not be late what a waste” said a black spikey haired boy hanging upside down on one of the branches of the big Ward tree. Ayro was an eighteen-year-old boy he was of average height and a modest build but what he lacked in muscle he more than made up for in speed and agility. These qualities made him perfect for his warrior class type the hunter. Hunters were a branch of the warrior class that dealt in tracking, trap setting and monster identification. While Ayro knew little about trap setting and tracking he was gifted at monster identification having memorized every bestiary he could get his hands on able to recall their weaknesses and strengths flawlessly. Impressive as this was he felt it was wasted in their village as it was only surrounded by the weakest monsters which fell under the lowest rank for such creatures, Rank E. Their village Haysworth was one of the many small villages scattered on the outskirts of the vast kingdom of Vania. Ayro was smart and intelligent without question however this was coupled with impatience and childlike stubbornness. Another boy came up to the tree and looked up at him with a look of worried concern. “Would you please get down from there before the mayor sees you and sends us to patrol duty again? The Ward tree is not your play thing and should be treated with more respect”. This young man was Dak he was a dark blued haired seventeen-year-old with glasses. He had the body that looked like it was constantly fighting ailments continuously however what he lacked in muscle he made up for with vast knowledge of the magic arts. He had exhausted every source on the topic in Haysworth and dreamed of doing the same to the grand libraries found in the glamourous cities. “Alright get off my back before you have a stroke Dak” Ayro said as he unhooked his legs from the branch and fell towards the ground only to land gracefully by flipping midair. The reason why Dak was concerned about the ward tree was because unlike the big cities which had high walls and advanced protection spells as well as elite guards to protect them against monster invasion small villagers especially those on the outskirts had no such protection. All they had to rely on was the Ward tree a magical tree able to repel low level monsters in the E rank which fortunately for them were the most common. The seed for this tree had been planted long ago by the villagers founder an ex captain of a city guard who had fled to the outskirts after an altercation with a noble the details of which had been long forgotten. Dak seemed to relax a bit after Ayro had listened to his plea now there was the matter of the other party members arriving soon if at all. As he was pondering their whereabouts he suddenly felt a large presence behind him. “What took you guys so long? I expected Frey to be late but not you Garl” said Ayro in an annoyed tone. Dak turned around to look up to the towering nineteen-year-old red hair known as Garl. He had a large frame with height to match his abundance of muscle. Garl was the more physically gifted of the group he even started helping out the men in the village with their farm work from as early as thirteen. While he was big enough to intimidate men twice his age he was a gentle soul with a delicate touch and generally soft spoken. He couldn’t bare the thought of causing anyone the slightest inconvenience. “Sorry for the delay Ayro, my sister took too long to get ready”. As soon as he said this a red-haired girl with a mischievous look on her face stepped out from behind him. Ayro’s face seldomly showed any emotion but this particular sixteen-year-old girl had the gift of drawing out some emotion out of him and soon as he saw her the annoyance he instantly felt was clear as day. “I should have known she’d be the reason” Ayro said with an irritated tone. Freya was considered to be her brother’s polar opposite where she didn’t mind causing anyone an inconvenience and never afraid to speak her mind as well as stand up for her friends especially her brother a trait which they all secretly admired about her. Dak hypothesized she was the reason Garl was as timid as he was as she had enough guts and flare for the both of them. “Don’t look at me like that it was his fault he saw some wandering sheep just outside the village and had to bring them in to safety” She said with her hand waving off Ayro with her head turned the other way. Ayro simply frowned despite her tendency to regularly lie to him knowing Garl as long as he did he knew this might just be the case. Garl instantly went to a panic having been outed by his sister and instantly began to apologize to Ayro. “I’m sorry Ayro they looked so helpless and I was worried they would get ambushed and eaten by some monsters”. Ayro quickly told him to stop and assure him that it was ok but he couldn’t help wonder there was something off about the scenario he had been told why would there be wandering sheep outside the village since all the livestock were kept in pens in the area of influence expelled by the Ward tree. They couldn’t have come from another village as the closest one was more than a week’s journey and they couldn’t have made it that far without being eaten by monsters especially goblins as they loved to devour livestock. He was about to ask the siblings for further information when he heard a familiar voice. “Sorry guys we lost track of time well I did Nale was late cause she came to get to me”. Ayro turned around to see the guilty smile of his best friend and party leader Callen. Seeing him instantly derailed his previous train of thought as he remembered why he had assembled them and was filled with excitement. “I brought him like you asked Ayro now can you tell us what the big fuss is all about?” said Nale as she stood next to Callen. Ayro was almost smiling but failing to hide it as he normally does as the news was simply too big. “Alright then gathered companions after four long years since we decided to become adventurers our time has come” he paused for effect which everyone except Frey seemed to appreciate. “Spit it out already we don’t have to delay we’re already late as it for whatever you gathered us here for” she finally snapped. Ayro simply gave her the same annoyed look from before and continued. “Yours truly has secured our first ever quest” he said so with brimming pride that he also failed to hide where it any other day. “Alright good going Ayro how’d you do it?” said Callen as he grabbed him by the head and gave his spikey hair a friendly rub down with his knuckles. Seeing Callen excited put a smile on Nale’s face but being the usual voice of reason to Callen couldn’t help but speak up “Good job Ayro but Callen could you calm down we don’t even know what is yet” Callen instantly calmed down a bit and let go of Ayro so he could finish up his announcement an act which Ayro greatly appreciated. “Well to answer your questions in order it happened two days ago when I bumped into this weird old man who said he was merchant but was unfortunately running out of evasion charms and needed to get to the nearest town and restock as well as sell his wares. Naturally I told him I was in an adventurer party and would offer him protection for a small fee. Naturally he agreed and now he’s at the village hall waiting for us.” There was a small pause as the group took their time processing this news. They could hardly believe this news as the only experience they had was the years they spent fighting green goblins which because they could never level up and an average goblin was at least Lv.4 but it was not in vain as they fought with the efficiency of an elite team almost like one Lv.6 warrior. Slaying goblins was more about training for them so never really constituted a quest. Callen was the most excited as this was, granted a small step but a step none the less to being true adventurers and maybe they’d finally level up after completing a real quest so he could hardly stop himself getting fired up at this idea. He instantly wanted to grab his companions and run towards the village hall and start their first ever quest. Ayro who measured he had given them enough time to digest the news couldn’t help but smile as he was about to tell them the second part of this good news. “Well if that’s not exciting enough for you then maybe this is” He said as he went into a nearby bush and dragged a huge chest from behind it. He stooped in front of the others and swung it open. There were sets of leather armor robes and entry level weapons. Callen’s face lit up and his eyes sparkled like the stars with sheer glee. Before he knew it, he was scrummaging through the contents of the chest. While he did this Frey who for the first time since she could remember was actually impressed with Ayro. “How’d a runt like you manage hauling this much loot?” she said as she nudged him annoyingly. “Well if you must know I been selling all the game I’ve managed to hunt for the last two years and saving the money when the mayor found out he said he knew an old friend who would gladly sell me some old adventure equipment so naturally I gave him and on his last trip to town he got the loot for me” he said finishing with triumphant smirk. Callen who had now helped himself to one set of leather armor was now examining a sword that he had stumbled upon in the chest. It wasn’t in the best shape from prior battles and was bronze tier equipment without any guess but compared to the makeshift sword from spare steel he used to use to fight goblins this was a step up. The armor was marginally better and clearly the previous owner had done a decent job repairing and maintaining it. However, what made this gear special was the effort his best friend put into acquiring it for them so they could realize their dream. Callen suddenly had a serious expression on his face and walked up to Ayro before he could say anything he hugged him. Ever since their parents who were also adventurers believed to have died on their last quest the companions who where infants at the time found themselves orphans but where luckily raised by the mayor and his wife they had a bond stronger than family. Ayro who was now embarrassed playfully shoved him of before Frey could make fun of him for turning red. “Alright quit wasting more time and gear up we have a quest to complete” he said as he began putting on his own set of armor. As soon as he finished he looked back at the others and saw them smiling at him he knew then how much it meant to them without even uttering a word. After a few minutes they were all geared up and ready to head out to the village hall. Callen, Garl, Frey and Ayro all dawned the same leather armor with the only difference being their weapons of choice. Callen had his sword and Ayro had upgraded to huntsman bow from his previous bow it was not only stronger but longer and allowed for a wider range than he was used to. Frey had two axes which she strapped to her sides, she was naturally gifted in both hands and duel wielding was natural to her as breathing. Garl had a basic dwarven hammer which he could swing as if It was weightless and with his massive strength a two-handed weapon would do twice the damage. Dak and Nale being the only two among the group who could use magic equipped the magical robes. Dak who’s glasses were magical could see the stats of items and was good at appraising equipment gathered that the armor would add +2 defense to his companions their weapons averaged +5 attack’ The robe he had put on was a blue enchanted scholar robe and gave him +6 mana which he would allow him to cast one extra spell than he normally would be able. He also branded a basic staff which granted him +3 magic skill while Nale equipped the white and blue maidens robe she effectively had +8 mana and +2 magic skill. They looked at each other with admiration they weren’t as impressive as the all renowned and powerful obsidian ranked guilds who only wore the rarest and powerful equipment attainable but this was a start they head dreamed of for four years. They gave Callen gave a nod and he knew they were ready and without saying a word they made their way to the village hall.