With the Class selection done, Mark stood up and headed for a routine training session in the yard. He had a lot to do this week so he must take on as many tasks as possible in this short amount of time. But that didn’t mean he would skip training.

When he went out he found the red-haired girl from yesterday already training, working up a sweat. He nodded appreciatively, hard work was the foundation of all power. And from her movements, he could tell, that she was very well-trained with her blades. She seemed to be hiding a lot of power in her almost dainty body. He could tell that he could have trouble fighting her head-on, but if he used stealth and sneak attacks, he should be able to deal with her much easier.

There were also some minuscule discrepancies between her swings, and after a more thorough analysis, he noticed she had a very bad habit of leaving her parry dagger a little too far behind during her lunges, leaving her slightly vulnerable if they came to clash head-on.

After ascertaining the girl's danger level he went a little further made himself a little space and started his training. When he started he could tell that the girl started paying him more attention than her own, but it wasn’t like he was training something secret, nor was he using all his skill and power, the girl would never ascertain his real skill.

He would never allow anyone to find out his real combat potential unless it was a fight to the death and he had to use everything to survive. Otherwise he was always limiting himself to training his muscle memory and improving his body.

After an hour the girl was already gone when Mark finished with his exercise. Washing away his sweat he dressed and walked over to the Association to look at the mission board. He saw that the mission for the Shatanks was still up, but decided against taking it again.

He needed to gather some fame if he wanted to catch the caravan so he needed to take up some more difficult tasks. Missions bearing higher risks paid better and what came with it more people would know and be possibly grateful for finishing them.

He looked a little more and he saw a couple of tasks that could be potentially lucrative. The quest for killing the Wolf Leader was still up and the estimated danger has increased so he guessed some poor adventurer already lost his life trying to accomplish it.

There was the task to investigate the new cave, and now that he needed a little more reputation, the little danger it posed wasn’t that significant to him, but he knew that the Redhead's Group has already set out to investigate it. That’s when he saw a mission that would be exactly what he needed right now.

[Find the base of the Stranglers]

Threat

Recommended for Adventurers LVL 10-20

Reward

50 SC

Warning

Recommended Class – Ranger, Rogue

The Stranglers are a group of bandits that have recently started harassing the farms and households on the outskirts of Pharia, as well as robbing and killing people traveling to and from the town. Find their base and be rewarded

Pharia’s Mayor Dunwall Treah

Right under it was another quest related to the Stranglers.

[Kill the Stranglers and Vesthia]

Threat

Recommended for Adventurers LVL 19-20

Reward

100 GC/Leader, 20SC/Bandit

Warning

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Recommended party size of at least 10

The Stranglers are a group of bandits that have recently started harassing the farms and households on the outskirts of Pharia, as well as robbing and killing people traveling to and from the town. Kill their leader Vesthia and as many of her cronies as possible.

Pharia’s Mayor Dunwall Treah

Those taske were very eye-catching with their golden lettering and bigger more pronounced letters, you could see how big the importance of the task was to the town. Not even mentioning the reward that would have anyone scrambling to get them, yet surprisingly no one paid them any attention.

If he could find the base and clear it for Pharia, it would be an immense achievement, maybe even the town’s Mayor would congratulate him in person. That way when the association was asked for Mark’s credentials, he would have that behind him. Also exterminating bandits is of help to the caravan by itself.

Deciding to take both the missions on, he walked up to the counter. This time a young man sat behind it. “What can I do for you?”

“I wish to take on those missions” With that Mark pointed at the Stranglers posters. The boy blanched a little. “Sir are you sure? The Stranglers have many people already and their leader is said to be at the peak of the Apprentice Rank.”

“Yeah I am sure just register them already. I know what I am doing” Mark smiled lightly.

“As you wish sir. Your AT please.”

Passing the receptionist his Adventurers Token, Mark saw him swipe it over the token on top of the desk, the boy looked into space for a while and then gave the Token back.

“The tasks have been registered sir. I also noticed that a Class has appeared in the Token. Meaning that you managed to step into the Apprentice stage. Congratulations are in order, at the same time I will remind that from the Apprentice tier every adventurer is eligible for a Combat Test and Evaluation leading to becoming an official member of the Association.

“And how long would it take to finish the tests?”

“Not that long the Combat tests is only a sparring session with an Apprentice stage employee, and the Evaluation only requires one to pass the token over the Evaluation crystal. The more accomplishments, the better initial rank of the official token. The better the rank the better the benefits assigned to the Token.”

“Ah, in that case, I won’t be taking it yet”

“Very well sir. I wish you happy and successful hunting.”

With all that done the young man left the association making his way over to the shops around the guild building. He had to make proper preparations if he wanted to make a hunt on those bandits. Hunting people was different than hunting animals.

Usually, people were lacking in alertness but made up in preparations, if he were to bet he would say the Stranglers are in some hidden, well-fortified clearing in the Forest, or hiding in some Cave. Both of those options required a lot of expertise to walk into unseen. It was almost impossible, if the guards were to be anywhere close to decent.

He did not expect medieval bandits to compare with the people he trained for guard duty, but this world had magic, skills. Who knew what skill were out there. What if they had a detection ability? It wasn’t that far-fetched, he had Stealth, who is to say there isn’t a skill like Alert or Perception.

So he had to be extra ready, get a couple of potions, some dark clothes, charcoal, ropes and hooks. Anything could be useful.

When he was done with the shopping it was nearing noon. He would do his scouting now, when it was still bright. It would be hard to catch any trails during the night, so he hoped to get some idea where they could be traversing the most. If he had their routs he could easily track them to the base or even better find some bandits and follow them

The only problem was finding the first clue. The rest would be self-explanatory. He got some information that they were suspected to be stationed somewhere in the forest south of Pharia. That’s where most raids and robberies took place.

With that he started to travel south. When he saw the forest on the horizon he went off road, took a detour and walked into the forest from an angle no one would expect.

Keeping to the shadows, he refrained from using stealth to not drain himself. Also he was competent enough that he didn’t need it in a place of so many shadows like a forest. Watching his steps to not walk over dry leaves or broken branches, he listened to the breath of the forest.

Around him birds were singing, he saw a couple squirrels darting around, a couple horned rabbits hopping about. Slowly he made his way over to the road. That’s where he would expect the bandits. He was planning to walk along the road and search for any signs of camping. If the bandits were robbing passing people they had to have a place of rest.

They wouldn’t just sit in one place always ready to jump out on unsuspecting victims. Going along the road he did indeed find one or two burned out campfires. Unfortunately they were old, the ashes long cold and any footsteps already faded.

At least he knew the general area of their activities, with that he could look around and would eventually find a fresh camp.

………………………………………………………………….

“Donny, come on the dinner’s ready!” the voice of his mom called from inside the house.

“I‘m coming mom!” Chopping the last log of firewood Donny stacked the wood neatly, took it in his arms, and went home. Inside he placed it next to the furnace, washed his hands in a bowl placed just next to it to keep the water warm and sat to the table. His little sister Tilly was already sitting down hopping up and down on her stool with a little brat's impatience.

Donny could only smile and ruffle her hair. She was only fourteen so she couldn’t help much but she was trying to help where she could with the little things. Helping with laundry, feeding the dogs and helping mom with caring for the house. At that time his mother finished setting the table.

She was a tall woman fairly well build for a woman with medium wavy blond hair and striking hazel eyes. She was already forty years old but still retained her youthful glamour. Even though after the death of her husband she died down a little. She still had her children so she gave her all in raising them.

Placing the bowl with a chicken ragout inside on the table she started to fill her sons plate, then she gave a plateful to her little sunshine Tilly only getting the leftovers on her plate. They were managing and there were others with worse conditions around, but still meat was a rarity in their house, so she wanted her children to get their full.

When they were eating the dogs outside started frantically barking. They usually bark only when a monster is nearby so she immediately stood up and grabbed a sword laying near the kitchen counter ready to check what was outside.

Seeing that Donny also stood up and grabbed a bow from the wall, it was his fathers, he was thought by him how to shoot so if it came down to it he could help his mother.

The dogs’ barking was becoming louder and louder warning their owners of the incoming danger.