Dust kicked up as the crab dug its claws into the sand as it arrived in front of the village.

Compared to past villages Kayd used to walk by, it was far larger, like a small city rather than a common village.

Just from the open wooden gate, large makeshift wooden structures of different uses, from commercial to residential use lay within.

Crowds of civilians donning modest clothing, their designs unknown to him, walked around and went about their daily lives.

A group of guards in leather armor rushed to see them, with Ishmael quickly heading down to talk.

“Much larger than the ones in my forest, hell it even looks more organized and clean than them, impressive.” Ikari gazed at the place, it was beautiful, but still modest and simplistic with little to no extra decorations.

Purely built with safety in mind rather than extravagance like the common walled kingdoms Kayd would see.

“Look I think there’s people in that large tower over there-” She abruptly stopped, realizing she tried to point using her still injured arm.

“Don’t stress it too much! The wound will take about three days to heal with the medicine, I may need to clean it more though.” Lia spoke with a soft and low voice.

“You seem very knowledgeable with common medicine. Thought healers only dealt with magic healing.” kayd muttered. Lia turned to him, taking a second to think.

“They do, we give the non-magic job to medics and herbalists. I just wanted to try using it as well, glad it came in handy.” She responded with a slight hint of pride in her voice.

“Branching out from magic huh? Rarely saw that before.” Kayd recalled from his past studies of the Purple Rose. That they were mostly made up of healers rather than medics, and were one of the more closed-off ones, and preferred combat support missions rather than common traveling around different villages.

Since she’s Purple Rose, she should have some experience in joining wars, but judging from what i just saw earlier, she’s either new or really isn’t cut out for it.

After a few minutes, Ishmael climbed back up, and the team of soldiers ran back into the village.

“Turns out I did not handle ALL of the horde rats, let’s go. The village overseer wishes to speak to us.” She ordered. Everyone dismounted the crab, and the creature retreated into its shell, taking a rest after its long walk.

The smell of leaves and smoke from the nearby kitchens and forges filled the air, along with the smell of dirt, but like what Ikari said, it was relatively clean.

As they walked by, nobody seemed to bat an eye or care about the team, or the fact their clothes were not of this world. Like none of them even existed.

Ishmael stopped in front of a tall wooden structure, standing a few stories high with guards standing by the door. They looked at her before opening the door.

Yeah, definitely a place for a leader.

Inside, the guards escorted them to the overseer, passing by a dozen rooms and a few floors before finally reaching him.

The room was just as simple and modest as the rest of the village, with only a large table, a chair, and a few windows. The overseer, a humble older man with a short sword on his waist.

“Ah, the mercenary captain, glad you arrived!” He spoke to her with a cordial tone, quickly chatting up the storm like two close friends.

“So who are these?” The man asked, finally noticing them after a few minutes.

“Just some new hires, we came here for a job and about the rat problem,” Ishmael replied. Kayd looked on as the two approached the table and the man took out a stack of papers from beneath, setting it on the table.

“You can see a list of witness reports and scouting reports, most of these were just a week or two old but suddenly grew two days ago!” The man explained.

“In two weeks!?” Ikari exclaimed, staring at the large stack of papers that lay before her.

“At least they are organized,” Kayd commented, Quellin nodded alongside him.

Lia remained behind them, barely keeping up with what was going on and instead staring at the papers and the sparse decor of the room.

The man grabbed a few of the topmost papers and laid it in front of them.

Large horde of rats was reported near the major river, in a nearby cave, and the sinkhole. Along with smaller groups spotted scouring around the village. This is an infestation!

Kayd read the contents of the papers, quickly taking in what he needed to.

So just an extermination task, done that a few times. Shouldn’t be that hard right?

Ishmael and the man stopped talking, shaking hands and turning to the team.

“Well, your first target will be a nearby settlement of rats, they made a home for themselves in a nearby camp. After that, you will take out any major horde rat settlement near us.” After he spoke, Kayd heard that same windchime and checked his pocket.

Wipe out the horde rat infestation [X]

Reward: Rat slayer title, Savior title, and new ability of the world of splendor

Same titles Ishmael had, and an ability?

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

The others checked theirs and saw the same thing. The old man and Ishmael were oblivious to what was going on. Oddly, the paper didn’t burn away like the rest.

“Ah, so just some extermination and we get two titles? As long as I get skulls with it.” Ikari laughed.

Kayd looked at the other two, both seemed content with the task, but Lia wasn’t with them.

Turning around, he quickly found her, staring blankly at an herb growing in a pot in the corner of the room, sitting next to a window.

“It’s just an herb.” Kayd approached her, startling the little healer.

“It’s- it’s unique.” She replied.

“How so?” Lia meticulously examined the plant, carefully rubbing her fingers on the leaves and staring at the stem.

“Doesn’t look like an herb I saw in the books either.” Kayd joined her in thought, scanning the herb.

“Closest I think this could be is a Juliper plant, meant for pain.” She took out a small journal, opening it, each page was filled to the brim with writings and small drawings of different plants.

“You like plants, huh?” Kayd asked.

“Yeah, sorry. This isn’t something useful to do at the moment.” She replied

“Useful?”

“Hey, healer girl and sword man, we have to go!” Before she could reply, Ikari called out to them. The man was already on his desk and Ishmael, with the others, were starting to head downstairs.

The two rushed down the stairs and joined up with the team, heading back outside.

“They say a small villager camp was attacked by one of those horde rat groups, let’s deal with it,” Ishmael ordered.

They left the village and returned to Pip, prompting it to move once more to their next destination.

Kayd prepared his sword alongside Quellin.

On the move, a wind chime rang in Kayd’s ear.

From his pocket, a smaller scrap of paper lay in his hand.

With the splendor seekers on the move, their first step to fame and fortune shall either stifle their path or bring them further onward. A victory here shall grant one of them a power once lost.

Why does it speak like an aristocrat? Hated learning about that kind of language.

After scanning it, he was left with another question and an empty palm.

A power? Wonder what it could be.

The trip was taking much longer than Kayd anticipated, now done with routine tasks like sword cleaning and scouting the area, he was left idle. A fate he always dreaded.

He looked around, catching Lia sitting in the corner, writing down in the same journal.

“Noting down that herb from the building already?” He asked.

“It’s a stupid pastime, it helps me calm down.” She flashed a nervous smile.

What’s up with her? She lacks the normal traits of a Purple Rose. I guess that’s why she’s here as well.

In front, Quellin and Ishmael talked with one another for a while, showing no signs of stopping.

Next to the two, Ikari was busy sightseeing, spotting any passing animal and glancing at her necklace of skulls.

Odd for a huntress to be here, especially with those trophies.

“Feels kind of like home, minus the giant rats that can bite a chunk of your arm off” Ikari chuckled, glancing at Kayd who stood next to her.

“Ah sword man, never seen that clothing, or that kind of sword” She grabbed the sheath of Kayd’s sword, prompting him to push it off and move away in fear.

“Woah, sorry. Just don’t know about this whole privacy thing.” She giggled.

Kayd regained his composure and leaned next to Ikari, looking out at the sun-covered forest.

“Got here from the scroll, and saw what was written on it too huh?” He asked.

“Yeah, I thought why not. And now I'm here.”

“Are you not scared? Or even worried that this place is different?” Ikari laughed at his response.

“Not a single bit.”

Nothing to lose huh? What would she gain from this anyway?

Kayd cleared his throat, taking a deep breath.

“So, why did you agree to the scroll and enter this world?” Her aloof expression vanished after he asked. She took a moment to think, looking down at the necklace again.

“To be honest, I just came here for fun and experience.” She laughed again.

That was easier than I thought

“That’s it?”

“Well, I wanted to grow my trophies. And to make some friends. The forest gets lonely you know..” She explained.

No wonder

The crab came to a stop, and with it, they arrived.

“Everyone, get down from the crab now,” Quellin ordered. With Ishmael, they hopped down the large crab and began looking around.

In front of them was a sand path, the route was covered with dead tree branches, and the sand itself was almost fully swept away.

I need more information on these things if I want to survive and attain that achievement

Lia was already busy kneeling near the grass, breathing deeply while jotting down again in her journal.

Ikari looked around, in her uninjured hand was a dagger.

“Can’t use the bow for now, that’s a big problem,” Kayd remarked.

“Relax, if I relied so much on the bow, I would have been dead in the forest a long time ago.” She laughed.

Ishmael took a step forward with a hatchet in hand.

“The abandoned camp is down this path, we need to be careful, just seeing one means there’s ten or more just a few steps away,” Ishmael warned.

Without delay, they marched down the path, weapons drawn. Lia was at the very back, her eyes paced around the trees and nearby bushes

Kayd drew his sword, just behind Quellin and Ishmael, both glancing around but keeping their heads straight.

Lia though was confident, strutting by quietly with a dagger in hand.

“This forest is scary, I wish those escorts were here too.” Without a word, Ikari took off her cloak, placing it on top of Lia.

“That should make you more safe, you’re practically invisible to them now!” She laughed before Ishmael shushed her.

Kayd tensed up, holding onto his sword tighter than before as the wind became colder, and the ambient noise of forest life died out, leaving eerie silence.

“We’re getting close,” Ishmael warned. Kayd noticed that the trees in front of them were covered in claw and bite marks, with prints littering the floor.

Just how many are there?

Kayd’s worry slowly grew upon seeing that the marks he saw only grew in frequency and amount as they walked further down, with the path behind them covered in black.

“We’re getting closer. Once we arrive, we’ll see the damages and make a plan.” Ishmael explained with a confident expression.

Kayd looked back at the faces of his team, a mix of stoic expressions to failed attempts to hide worry.

We’re walking into a death trap, I need more information on these things.