Neil awoke to a stray beam of light shining in his eyes. He quickly shut them and rolled over before blinking a few times. The surprisingly comfortable bed called for him to stay in its embrace, but now that he was awake, it was unlikely that he would be able to fall asleep. Shifting his head slightly, he noticed a bit of light peeking through the curtains in front of the room’s window.

I guess we didn’t close it all the way last night…

Neil yawned and stretched as he lay in bed, then sat up and gently sweapt off covers. Rolling out of bed, he stood up and stretched a little more. A few pops later, Neil walked over to the curtains and peered out of the window through the crack on the curtains. As he had seen the day before, people of the city tended to get up bright and early to open their shops or grab some breakfast before going to work.

Following a few minutes of people watching, Neil’s stomach growled, and he immediately felt the familiar pangs of hunger. He glanced over at James in his own single bed behind him, still asleep.

I feel guilty having to wake him up, but we have to get used to waking up at this time at some point. Might as well start now.

With a sigh, Neil walked over to James’ bed.

“Hey…James…it’s time to wake up,” he said, shaking him a little.

After a moment, James stirred and groaned as he opened his eyes.

“Wha…?”

“Hey. It’s morning. Time to get up.”

James turned his head and glanced over at the window, seeing the beam of light shining through. He looked back at Neil, still groggy.

“We can’t sleep in?”

“I wish,” Neil chuckled. “We need to get used to waking up this early from now on. We’ll miss breakfast otherwise. Plus, this will become the norm as adventurers and as we travel around. The sooner we get used to it, the better.”

James paused and groaned to himself, then threw off the covers and got out of bed. He quickly stretched, then the two of them changed and went downstairs, walking into the tavern on the first floor. The reason they settled on the inn, aside from the recommendation, was because it included breakfast in the cost.

The smell of soup and meat quickly filled the hungry noses of the two teens, who eagerly sat down at one of the few open tables. A waitress came over and took their orders. Both opted for the soup, a bit of bread, and a single slice of bacon, along with some water. They spent the rest of their time discussing what kind of quest to take when they visited the adventurer’s guild after breakfast. After they finished eating, they paid for the bacon they each ordered, tipped the waitress, and returned to their room. After struggling to, the pair went downstairs and returned their room key before heading over to the adventurer’s guild.

As they entered the adventurer’s guild, they noticed a small crowd gathered in front of the Job Board. Neil and James approached and began looking over the various papers pinned to the large wooden board. The two immediately saw that lower-ranked quests were located lower on the board compared to the higher-ranked ones and focused on the former. As per their discussion over breakfast, it had been decided that they would look for basic combat and gathering quests. Despite their Two-Star Adventurer rankings, their status as new adventurers made them wary from accepting higher ranking quests so soon. They acknowledged that it would be best to learn the ropes like everyone else before moving on to the more appropriately challenging quests.

Their search was over in less than a minute, as both happened to read the same posting and reached out to it at the same time. With a chuckle, Neil unpinned it from the board, and they walked over to the reception counter. There was a different woman there this morning.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning. We’d like to accept this quest,” said Neil, who handed the brown-haired woman the listing.

The woman, who appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties, took the paper and briefly skimmed over it.

“I see. A One-Star quest to slay three Lesser Boars and bring back their bodies in good condition. You also have the option of only returning with cuts of their meat, their horn and tusks, and their hides, although you will be rewarded slightly less. The reward for the former is two silvers, whereas the reward for the latter is one silver and two coppers. You have two days to complete the quest, and you may turn in what you’ve collected as needed until you complete the quest. Do you have any questions?”

“Who should we be delivering the boars to?”

“You can drop them off here or deliver them to the client yourselves. The client is a local butcher, named Thomas, who operates out of the market. You’ll make him really happy if you bring the boars back in one piece. The more he has to work with, the bigger and better the cuts he’ll have to sell so he can get away with charging more. That said, don’t feel obligated to do so. Most people don’t because of how much boars weigh and how long it’ll take to drag one back to the city, so he’s probably used to not getting the full thing. Just make sure you’re quick about returning to the city though. You don’t want the meat spoiling.”

“Wow! Thank you for the information. We really appreciate it,” said Neil.

“No big deal,” the woman responded, closing her eyes and looking away pridefully with a tint of red on her cheeks. “It’s just part of the job.”

“Three by tomorrow, huh? Sounds pretty doable,” Neil said, turning to James.

“Maybe. They might be pretty fast and run away though. Plus, we have to find them in the first place and force them into a fight.”

“Ah…that makes sense.”

Sensing his hesitation, the woman placed the listing on the counter.

“If you two are having second thoughts, you can always put it back on the board and pick out a new quest.”

Maybe this is a little more than we can handle for our first quest…

Neil looked at James, who shrugged and smiled a little.

“I’m up for the challenge if you are.”

Neil grinned in response and turned back to the receptionist.

“We’ll do it.”

“Great! Before that though, I need to see both of your I.D.s.”

Neil and James fished through their bags for their I.D.s and presented them to the woman. Taking their I.D.s, she quickly wrote down their names and rankings at the bottom of the listing before returning the cards to them.

“And with that, you’re all set! Good luck!”

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“Where are all of the boars?!” Neil yelled.

Neil let himself fall on his back, sprawling himself on the grassy floor of the forest while James opted to lean against a tree. It had been two hours since they had entered the forest, three since they left the Hia Adventurer’s Guild, and neither of them had spotted any boars as they wandered aimlessly through the forest.

“Maybe there aren’t any here,” suggested James, who proceeded to casually bite into an apple he plucked from the tree branch above him.

“There has to be! Why else would they assign the quest?”

James shrugged. “Should we try another forest?”

Neil sighed and looked over at James.

“Yeah…let’s go,” he said, getting up. “There has to be some around here,” he mumbled to himself.

James finished eating the apple and flicked the untouched core to the ground as he followed Neil back the way they came. The bushes behind them suddenly rustled, and the two immediately stopped in their tracks, slowly turning around and quietly unsheathing their swords. The bushes rustled some more, and a red snout appeared, followed by a plump, reddish-brown body. The beast, about three feet height of the boys, cautiously stepped out into the clearing that they had just been resting in. It sniffed for a moment, then took a few steps forward and sniffed at the apple core resting in the grass. It paused, then raised its head in the direction of Neil and James, the small tuft of black hair on its head shaking from the swift movement.

Neil and James held their swords out in front of them, taking on battle stances in preparation for a charge. The Lesser Boar stared them down. Five seconds. Ten seconds. The boar finally broke eye contact, snorted as if brushing them off, and began walking back into the bushes.

Neil was livid.

“You little…get back here!”

Neil darted forwards, running after the boar at full tilt. James quickly snapped out of his state of shock and hurried after him.

“Wait! Your High—Neil!”

Neil barely registered James’ shouting, feeling too much anger from the insult by the boar and adrenaline pumping through his veins. The boar quickly realized that it was being targeted and bolted away from the scene. Neil gave chase, who was in turn chased by James, who gave up on trying to reach him by ear and focused his energy into staying close and watching their surroundings. Neil bounded after the boar, but, unfortunately, its speed and stamina were its strengths, easily outclassing that of most humans in general, as well as other animals in the region. Neil eventually had to stop running and gave up the chase after about a minute, placing his hands on a tree as he gasped for breath. James caught up a moment later and joined him.

“Your—Neil, please…don’t do that…again.”

“I’ll try…not to. But I have to say…that was fun!”

The two sheathed their swords and sat down in front of the tree, resting their backs against its truck as they tried to catch their breath.

“So…now what?” asked James.

Neil panted for a few moments as he collected his thoughts, then turned to James.

“Now…we catch our breath. Then…we hunt.”

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It was mid-afternoon when the boar returned to the clearing. Its trusty nose had informed it that there was food nearby, and it ended up finding it in this familiar place. The Lesser Boar examined its surroundings, sniffing the air. It homed in on the pile of untouched apples, which were sitting conspicuously in the middle of the clearing. It lazed its way over and stopped in front of it.

The boar looked around and sniffed the air once more, then bent its bulky head down and began to eat one of the apples on top of the pile. Its large, upward-curving tusks protruding from either side of its mouth brushed up against a few of the apples, knocking them off the pile and sending them rolling away. James quietly stepped over one of the apples as it came to a stop in front of him as he carefully inched his way towards the boar. He and Neil were slowly approaching it from behind on either side, making sure to stay as silent as they possibly could until they could get close enough to attack it before it could escape.

The moment of truth was upon them a few seconds later, as the boar lifted its head and noticed movement out of the corner of its eye. A quick sniff confirmed another creature was very close. Two creatures. Its head jolted as it turned to face James, who was only a few feet away. The Lesser Boar let out a loud squeal as it stumbled back in shock and began to turn to run away.

“Now!” shouted James.

Neil and James surged forward towards the boar, who had ended up face-to-face with Neil as he rushed it from the other side. He grunted as he collided with the boar’s side, his sword sinking into its flesh with a bit of effort. The boar shrieked and squealed louder as excruciating pain flooded its senses. The creature began thrashing its horns around as it shook its body and tried to flee.

“Oh no you don’t!” shouted Neil, who twisted his sword, eliciting more screams of pain from the boar.

James lunged forward and stabbed his sword into its other side, leaving the beast skewered by the two swords. The Lesser Boar struggled, but it quickly began to lose its strength, and eventually collapsed on the bloody grass below. About a minute after it stopped moving and breathing, the pair of rookie adventurers gently removed their swords from its body and wiped them on its hide and the grass before sheathing them.

“Well…” said James, “that went…better than expected.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Yeah. Who would have expected us to get one on the second try? Also, is it just me, or is this the one from before?”

James looked over the boar for a moment before nodding.

“I think you’re right. I could swear the one from before looked just like this. The cut on its ear looks familiar too.”

Neil grinned and let out a cheer, then pulled a water pouch out of his bag and chugged it for a second before capping it.

“Now then, time to bring it back.”

“You think we can carry this back all on our own.”

“Maybe. Should we just take what we need and leave the rest here? It is starting to get close to dinner.”

“That would probably be a good idea. Now that we have a plan that works, we can do the same thing again tomorrow.”

They stopped by the Guild to drop off everything, then got dinner at the inn and turned in for the night. As they fell asleep, a certain group of people arrived in Hia to look for them.

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The following morning, Neil woke up as the sun began to rise and shook James awake.

“Hey…James…it’s time to wake up.”

James groaned and pulled his pillow over his head.

“Can’t we sleep a little longer?”

“Didn’t I tell you yesterday? We need get used to waking up this early. We’ll miss breakfast if we sleep in, plus we’ll look bad and end up being lazier than we should be. We need to go catch two more boars by the end of the day. If we want to drag them back before dinner, we need to get going.”

James sighed, then got out of bed. After changing their clothes, they headed downstairs to eat breakfast. Once they were finished, they came back upstairs and put on their gear, struggling noticeably less than the previous morning. Grabbing their weapons and supplies, they left the inn and began their trek to the nearby forest.

The two young adventurers arrived a little under an hour after leaving the city. By then, the sun was high in the sky, with the occasional cloud floating overhead. The sound of birds chirping echoed throughout the forest and Neil and James entered it.

It’s only the second day, but I’m still shocked by how this feels…freedom. It’s almost surreal, not having any attendants at my beck and call. I mean, technically James could count as one, but he’s more of a companion or bodyguard more than anything. He’s honestly not that bad once you take away all—no, most of the formalities. It’s refreshing…but also a little overwhelming at times. It’s different, but in a good way. Mostly.

They immediately headed for the remains of the boar they had killed the day before, but unfortunately, little remained of the Lesser Boar’s carcass. Gnaw marks dotted the leftover meat, which was crawling with flies, ants, and other bugs. Neil felt his stomach tighten in disgust.

“Gross…looks like we can’t take any more of that back with us.”

“Indeed. Let’s gather up some apples again and set up somewhere away from here.”

Neil and James walked around the clearing and picked apples from the lower-hanging branches. Once they had enough to fill their satchels, they left in search of another clearing. They found one ten minutes later and organized the apples from Neil’s satchel in a pile in the middle. Once they finished, they split up like before and hid behind two trees on opposite sides of one end of the clearing.

The two of them stood hidden for about an hour, waiting in relative silence as the sounds of the forest reverberated around them. Just as Neil was ready to give up and walk over to James to suggest trying somewhere else, a Lesser Boar lumbered out of some bushes on the other end of the clearing. It sniffed the air and noticed the pile of red apples. This boar appeared less cautious than the one they faced before, as it approached without checking for danger and immediately began eating.

Neil looked over to James and nodded, then the two of them began to sneak along the tree line to get in position behind the boar, which was facing their direction as it ate the apples. Neil kept his eyes on his feet and legs as he tiptoed through the forest, taking care not to accidentally step on leaves and twigs or brush up against any bushes. Once he and James were in position, they quietly stepped into the clearing and made a beeline for the boar from both sides. As the pair approached their prey, they slowly unsheathed their swords.

It was at that moment that the Lesser Boar looked up and detected movement to its left. Its head swiveled left and caught Neil as his sword left its metal sheath. Both of their eyes went wide as the boar squealed. Its head snapped forwards as it turned to its right, where it noticed James dart towards it. The boar, shocked at the sudden appearance of a second predator, stepped back and attempted to start retreating backwards. Unfortunately for the beast, it backed into Neil’s sword as it buried itself in its left flank. The Lesser Boar shrieked and tried to run forward but found itself trapped between two swords as James stabbed it near its neck on its right side. The boar let out a final squeal as the two swordsmen twisted their swords slightly and stepped forwards, preventing the animal from escaping. James grunted as he held his ground as the boar struggled to charge forward. Fortunately for him, it quickly lost its strength and collapsed to the grass below it. The two kept in position as they waited for the boar to stop breathing, before finally relaxing and pulling out their swords.

“Damn…” panted James.

“I knew it would be tough holding it off…but I wasn’t expecting to almost be beat by it,” said Neil with a grin.

“Thank goodness we caught it before it could start running, then,” James replied.

The two of them wiped their bloody swords on the green grass next to them.

“We should probably get this back to the city as soon as possible if we want to deliver it to the butcher,” Neil said. “I can’t wait to see the look on his face when we haul an entire boar to him.”

“The extra reward money will also be nice,” added James.

The two looked over at the boar for a moment.

“So, how do we want to carry this thing back?”

“The easiest way would probably be to skewer it with a big tree branch and carry it over our shoulders, but I’d worry about it breaking,” James said, raising a hand to his chin.

“We could just carry it by its legs or something, right?”

“Sure, but it’ll kill our backs and we’ll end up taking frequent breaks to catch our breath and rest our arms.”

“Ugh…not what I was hoping to hear, but if it can’t be helped…”

Neil sighed and walked around to the front of the boar, grabbing its legs by the hoofs. James grabbed its hind legs and the two began to hobble back through the forest toward where they entered. It took them around thirty minutes, including a few mini-breaks, to reach the edge of the forest. They took another break before heading over to the road and following it up a small hill. As they reached the top of it, they noticed a single horse and cart parked along the road ahead of them. At the front of it sat a middle-aged man with a hat on his head, his skin slightly tanned from the sun and a straw of wheat in his mouth.

“Mornin’! On your way back to the city?”

“Yes,” grunted Neil as he and James began to pass the cart, swaying as they struggled to carry the boar’s carcass.

“I can take you back if you like. Pretty cheap too.”

Neil stopped and exhaled as he and James lowered the boar to the ground.

“Really?”

“Yessir! You two new around here?”

“…We are.”

“That explains it. See, it’s m’job to drive folks like you back to Hia. That includes anything ya catch and want to bring back with ya. For a small fee, of course,” the man replied with a grin.

“How much is this ‘small fee’ of yours?” asked Neil.

“Five copper a person. Ten for the boar.”

Neil grimaced. That would certainly eat into their profits.

I’m not happy about it, but…

Neil glanced over at James, who nodded with a small sigh as he continued catching his breath.

“Deal.”

“Pleasure doin’ business.”

“Before we head back though, would you mind if we left this boar here and got one more? We only need one more for the quest we’re on.”

The man frowned as he glanced around.

“Normally I’d say no, but if you can be quick and nobody comes by asking for a ride, I’d be willing to wait a bit. Just don’t take too long, okay?”

“We’ll try.”

After loading the boar onto the cart, Neil and James hurried back into the forest and searched for another clearing to set up in. They soon found one and set up a pile of apples once more as they hid themselves in the shadows of the trees on either side of it. Fortunately for them, a boar arrived faster than expected, allowing them to finish sooner. They dragged the new boar back to the man and his cart and loaded it onto the back. Once they finished, they climbed onboard, paid the man, and began their journey back to the city.

The ride to Hia’s gates lasted no more than thirty minutes. The trio paid their toll and entered the city within the hour, then headed toward the butcher. The cart was unable to take them the full way there due to the narrower streets and being close to the marketplace. Neil and James took the two boars off the cart, thanked the man, and began half-dragging, half-carrying the boars over their backs. The sight attracted the eyes of everyone they passed, whose reactions ranged from disgusted or horrified to downright impressed. They finally reached the butcher around ten minutes later, who proceeded to gape in shock before recovering himself and helping them mount the boars on hooks. He thanked them for bringing the final two boars in person and stamped a copy of the quest listing he had with him. The butcher grinned as he handed Neil the listing and thanked him and James once again before getting started on the boars.

Quest complete! It was harder than expected, but definitely rewarding! It was a good idea to start off on an easier quest. Now we have a better idea of what we’ll be getting into and be able to gauge quests more accurately.

Neil and James, now finished with their quest earlier than planned, decided to head back to the Hia Adventurer’s Guild. The pair walked through the city’s streets until they reached the building, its sign gently blowing in the faint breeze. The two of them stepped inside and approached the counter, submitting their quest and collecting each of their rewards. They then walked over to the tavern and ordered lunch. As they relaxed and started eating, one of the guild’s receptionists came over to them from the guild side of the building.

“Hello, gentlemen. I apologize for interrupting your meal. May I speak with you for a moment?”

Neil and James finished chewing and nodded, suddenly nervous.

This definitely doesn’t seem normal.

“This is standard guild procedure, so please don’t worry too much,” said the young woman, “but we had some knights come in earlier asking about two people who matched your description.”

“…What?”

Neil’s face went pale and his mind immediately began to race as he started panicking.

This is way too soon! They shouldn’t have caught up to us this quickly! How did they find us?! We have to get out of here!

“Rest assured, we denied knowing anyone who matched your description, though it did cause some issues. The knights demanded to see our list of recently registered members, and we refused like we normally do. Unfortunately, they only became more demanding and pushier. It got so bad that the Guildmaster had to come out and chase them off. More like threaten them, really, but that’s beside the point.”

They threatened them? They threatened royal knights?!

“Anyways, we wanted to let you know in case you needed to skip town or hide. In case you hadn’t heard about it yet, the guild, especially here in Hia, values the privacy and well-being of both its clients and its members. If we didn’t, nobody would trust us the way they do. Even if that means we have to sometimes protect potentially bad people, it’s simply a matter of principle.”

“I see…” replied Neil, who was thinking about what to do next.

“That’s all I needed to tell you. Enjoy your meal, you two, and stay safe.”

With that, the woman left them to their lunches, which had started to get cold.

“I can’t believe they found us so quickly,” said Neil, who stared at his food in shock.

“I can’t either, but this means that we need to leave as soon as we can. Staying here any longer than we need to will only make it more likely that they’ll find us. We have to leave immediately.”

“I know, I know…Should we run or try and sneak out on a carriage?”

“Do you think they’ve alerted the city guard by now? We could be trapped here for all we know.”

“We won’t know until we try. We got in and out just fine earlier, so maybe we’ll be alright.”

“I hope so. Let’s finish eating and go find a ride out of the city.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, the two of them had cleared their plates and paid for their meals. They started to walk to the front door when it suddenly opened, revealing a pair of men in shining armor. Neil and James immediately turned back around, heading toward the Job Board to blend in with the small crowd of adventurers mingling around it. Unfortunately, the two knights recognized them immediately, and shouted at them as they began to run over to them. Neil swore as he and James darted toward the back of the large room to the receptionist’s counter.

The receptionist from before saw what was happening and pulled a lever to her right. Metal grates thundered down onto the counters as the woman disappeared behind the wall and opened a door to the boys’ left ahead of them.

“Quickly, in here! MR. WILL!”

A crashing sound echoed from behind the counter, followed by a rumbling series of footsteps that rapidly approached the men running toward it. Neil saw a tall shadow rushing in their direction from behind the receptionist before bursting through the doorway. Before them stood a towering, bulky man carrying a giant wooden club.

A Giant?! No, a Half-Giant!

The man identified the two parties, one being chased and the other doing the chasing. He grunted as he stepped forward, swinging his club in a wide arc as Neil and James ran past him. The two knights came to a halt and jumped back as the club sliced through the air in front of their faces. The two knights paled for a moment before drawing their swords.

“You are interfering with our duties as royal knights! Stand down immediately and hand over those boys!”

“You know the adventurer’s guild does not answer to any nation. Leave this place, now!”

“We are here on the orders of King Edward of Elysia himself! Does that mean nothing to you?!”

Mr. Will, Guildmaster of Hia’s Adventurer’s Guild, paused and glanced behind him at Neil and James, who stared back at him through the doorway next to the receptionist.

“Why does the King demand their capture?”

“That is not for you to know!”

“Are they criminals? Have they hurt anyone?”

“We aren’t!” shouted Neil. “We haven’t done anything wrong!”

The two knights grimaced, unable to refute his words, yet sworn to secrecy.

“Very well then. Ellen, see to it that those two make it outside safely.”

“Yes, sir!”

Ellen turned around and began ushering Neil and James down a hallway leading towards the back of the building.

“You dare to defy royal knights? The King of Elysia?!”

“You dare to pick a fight with the Adventurer’s Guild? Do you not remember the pact made among the kingdoms? The Adventurer’s Guild bows to no one! We retain our independence and respect the privacy and safety of our clients and guild members! Unless you provide a strong, valid reason for us to make an exception, I shall not let you lay a hand on them here!”

The leader of the two knights ground his teeth in frustration, then turned to the other knight.

“Go get the rest of our team! I’ll circle around back!”

“Sir!”

The two knights hurried out the front entrance. The Guildmaster frowned and then sighed as he lowered his club and turned to look behind him. He whispered to the empty hallway, “Good luck…”

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“Through here, quickly!” urged Ellen as she opened the back door.

Neil and James hurried through the door and turned to look back. They could hear shouting behind them but didn’t see anyone headed their way from inside the building.

“This is all we can do for you. Good luck and stay safe.”

The woman shut the door and locked it. Neil looked at James.

“Let’s go! The merchant’s guild is nearby.”

“Right!”

The two took off running, their satchels and sheathed swords bouncing off their sides as they raced down the back alley and exited onto the nearest city street. They weaved through the crowd of people as they made their way to the merchant’s guild. They arrived a few minutes later and spotted a merchant getting ready to leave.

“Let’s ask him if we can travel with him,” suggested Neil.

They jogged over to the merchant.

“Good afternoon, sir!” said Neil.

“Oh, good afternoon. What can I do for you?”

“We’re in need of transportation out of the city. We saw you were about to leave.”

“Ah, yes. I’m about to leave for a city close to the border. Where are you two headed?”

“Somewhere around there.”

“I see…” said the merchant, warily.

“We’re adventurers. Two-Star. We can provide protection for you along the way if you want. You don’t even need to pay us.”

James glanced over at Neil in shock.

Look, we’re desperate, okay? We have to do what we can here! thought Neil as he briefly returned James’ look with a look of his own.

The merchant stared at the two of them for a moment before sighing.

“Fine, fine. You can ride along as my bodyguards. I could use some anyways…”

Neil’s expression brightened at the man’s words.

“Thank you! We won’t let you down!”

“Yeah, yeah. Climb on.”

Neil and James climbed on the merchant’s carriage, when departed the merchant’s guild a few moments later. The carriage stopped at the gates leading out of the city from the opposite side they were used to. The guards inspected the carriage, then allowed them to pass without issue.

“We’re safe…” whispered Neil.

He laid back on the cool, hard wooden planks of the carriage as it bumped along the road leading away from Hia. Their journey continued until they reached its destination in the city of Plat near the northeastern border of Elysia. However, the search party, now aware of their former presence in Hia, was closing in on them.