Chapter 6: First Quest

By the time Eizo finished going through the book, it was already late in the afternoon.

(I completely forgot the time. Now it’s too late to start a quest today. I guess I have to leave that for tomorrow. Like I always say, why do today what you can leave for tomorrow. Wait? Is that how it goes?)

Sergius Bellator, the guildmaster, walked out of his office and found the youngman he met earlier that day still in the library.

“Youngman, um… Eizo, right? You were reading here all this time? Don’t you have a quest to do? hahaha. I did tell you to be careful, but, aren’t you taking it too easy?” -Sergius

“Hehe. Does it look like that? I did plan to go on my first quest today, but, I got carried away in my reading.” -Eizo

“Oh? There can’t be any books here that’s that interesting. What’s this you’re reading? History?” -Sergius

“Oh yeah, I happen to read an interesting topic in the book. You know the last archmage, Rufus Silvanus?” -Eizo

“The archmage? That is indeed interesting. Are you an admirer? Haha. Although a lot of people believe that the archmage is only a legend, saying, there is no way a human mage can be that powerful, here in Frostfield, we are avid fans of the archmage. Good timing, why don’t you join me for dinner and we can talk about the great archmage over a meal.” -Sergius

“Okay, I was getting hungry anyway.” -Eizo

Both of them went down to the dinner hall for some food. Since Sergius was in a good mood, he decided to treat Eizo for dinner. They sat on a table for four on the far corner of the hall. Most of the tables were filled with other group of adventurers. There was a lively atmosphere as they share their meals after a successful quest. After a while, their food arrived and they started eating heartily.

“Thanks, guildmaster!” -Eizo

“Don’t worry about it. Sometimes, I can be generous.” -Segius

“So, by the way, what is the connection of Archmage Silvanus to the town?” -Eizo

They continued their talk as they ate.

“Don’t you know? Our town is named after him. Well, not him exactly, but, one of his greatest feat. This is the land where it is said that he defeated the demons using a sage rank water spell that froze the entire demon army, hence Frostfield.” -Sergius

(Froze an entire demon army? Grandpa you’re a monster.)

“Surely that is an exaggeration. A whole army?” -Eizo

“It is unbelievable. And, since almost five hundred years has passed, more and more people believes it is only a legend.” -Sergius

(I see. Even if it’s recorded in history books, since most people are illiterate, many things are lost from the common knowledge.)

“I guess, I can understand how they’d think that way. It’s been too long since it happened.”-Eizo

“That’s true, however, in my years as an adventurer, I have travelled this wide continent and reached the Elven lands. There, the older elves can tell you first hand story of that age. That’s how I know for sure that archmage Silvanus was definitely real.” -Sergius

“So, you’re a believer too, guildmaster?” -Eizo

“Ha! That’s right, hahaha! I remember when I was a young boy, I wanted to be a mage just like him. But, you know mages are born not made. Even so, I dreamed of having adventures just like him in the legends, before he became an archmage. Having a legendary figure like him to look up to is necessary for any aspiring adventurer.” -Sergius.

“Is that how it is?  hehehe…” -Eizo

He was blushing as he talked, embarrassed as if he himself was being complimented.

“That’s right! That’s right! Archmage Silvanus is the greatest!!” -???

A drunk middle aged adventurer chimed in from the next table.

“Here is to Archmage Silvanus!!” -Sergius

All adventurers raised their drink and the whole tavern erupted in a cheer. All of them idolizes the archmage in one form or another. Eizo joined them in their cheer. He was happy since it’s his grandfather their cheering for.

The evening ended on a happy note for Eizo. After getting back to the inn, he took a bath right away, then went to bed after. The next morning, he got himself ready in a hurry, ate his breakfast in as few bites as he could, and went out the door in big strides. He hadn’t been in this great of a mood on a morning for a long time. He was wearing one of his brand new trouser, tunic, belt, and over it all, his cloak as always.

(Except for the boots, all I’m wearing are from this world. This should make it easier to fit in. Now it’s time to take a quest.)

He went to the Adventurers Guild right a way, greeted Anna at the reception desk, and looked at the available quests posted on the bulletin board.

(Hmm. What do we have here?... ...Herb gathering and Goblin subjugation in the forest west of town… Can I do those at the same time? I’m going to be in the forest anyway, so, might as well hunt the goblins I find there.)

He took both postings and walked over to the reception desk. There were other receptionist there, but, since he already knew Anna, he decided to wait in line to talk to her.

“Hi, Anna. Is it okay to take multiple quest at the same time?” -Eizo

“It should be okay, if they can be done while meeting their deadline. What quests did you pick?” -Anna

“I’m thinking of these; a herb gathering one and a goblin subjugation one. The objectives are in the same forest, so, I was thinking of doing them both.” -Eizo

“Let’s see here. Herb gathering is fine, but, goblin subjugation, even though it’s an E rank quest, is usually taken by a party of at least three adventurers. Are you sure you want to take it?” -Anna

“That should be fine.” -Eizo

“Okay, just give me a moment here.” -Anna

Anna took the quest postings and register the quest to his name. She was reluctant to let him take the subjugation quest, but, she had a feeling that he was not one to overestimate his strength and take more than he could handle.

“It’s  all set. The deadline for both of these quest is in three days. Please take care.” -Anna

“Thank you, Anna.” -Eizo

Eizo went around the commercial area to buy some things he might need on his journey. He bought a small knife, some cheap cloth for packing, a rope, and glass vials in case he found some collectible precious liquid that he could sell later. Everything cost 320 Gil in total, so, his remaining funds as of that moment was 275 Gil. It was getting really low for comfort.

He exited the south gate and he was greeted there by the guards.

“You an adventurer?” -Guard

“Yes.” -Eizo

“There has been more news of stray goblins on the road. Keep a lookout.” -Guard

“Thanks, I’ll be careful.” -Eizo

He pressed on his way toward the forest to the west. It would take him the best part of the day to get there, but, since he didn’t have his own mount, he had no choice but to walk. While walking through the farmlands outside town, he observed other people travelling from Frostfield.

(Those in armors must be adventurers. Those in the carriage must be merchants. Having a horse and a carriage sounds nice, I should plan on having one. Hmmm… I guess, this is what the morning rush is in this world. Travelling the open plains like this, risking being attacked by monsters or bandits everyday. It takes some getting used to. Even the merchants must brave through monsters to conduct their business.)

He finally entered the forest in the afternoon. He came across several adventurers on their way back to the city. But all in all, the journey there was uneventful just like how he wanted.

(There is only about two hours of daylight left. I wonder if I can get enough herbs by sunset. I’ll have to camp somewhere here tonight. Let’s see what we can do until then.)

He maintained a 50 meters range in his ‘Air Perception’ and activated ‘Shadow Veil’. This way, he can sense anything coming close to him while making himself harder to detect. He detected no animals or monsters within his sensor.

On several spots, he detected some plants that had noticeable mana within them. These were the herbs that he was looking for. With ‘Air Perception’ sustained, finding the herbs was easier than expected. He gathered as much as he could, cutting them as he saw in the book with a small knife, tied them in bundles using a simple string, then put them in his rucksack. It

(I should be able to come back to the town before tomorrow evening. Now, where can I find some goblins?”)

He went deeper into the woods to look for goblins while he continued picking up herbs on his way. But, he didn’t find any goblins or other monsters and night time has come before he realized it. He decided to camp by a big tree for the night. He set up a small campfire, then sat down leaning on the tree with his cloak covering his body.

-----------

“Hold up guys, We should agree here what to report to the client. I think we should leave out any information about Eizo.” -Julian

“Agreed.” -Luke

“Yes. I don’t want the words about his magic to come from us. It will surely complicate things for him in the future.” -Rose

The trio has reached the citygate of Tovaria that night. Unknown to Eizo, these three were actually among the leading adventurers of the city of Tovaria. They were actually members of the clan ‘Titans Fell’ which was a group of adventurers famous for successfully hunting a Frost Giant in the beastmen territory. Now, their clan has a total of 62 members with Julian as clan leader. All member of Titans Fell were at least C rank adventurers. The three of them were all A ranked.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

They finally returned to the city after a confidential quest from one of the merchant council of the City-state of Tovaria to deliver a message to the king of the Arken Kingdom about the stabilizing situation in the Beastmen Hegemony.

“Finally home. Walking all the way to the capital city of Arken Kingdom was definitely something I’m not gonna do again. Why did we ever accept this quest.” -Julian

“Because the pay was good?” -Rose

“The pay was ridiculous, right? But, I still don’t understand why did we have to travel on foot with these cheap equipments.” -Luke

“Well, what we just did was very close to espionage. It’s better we are unrecognized. That’s why.” -Rose

“I guess I understand that. Even I know that relations is not great right now between the Beast Hegemony and the Arken Kingdom. But, what really puzzling me was the message we delivered. Why did they need us to relay that everything is fine in the Hegemony?” -Luke

“It is because, as the countries that are in the western front of the continent, fastest reached by demons, Arken Kingdom and Tovaria needs to continue coordinating their information in the near future. They need to know if whether the Hegemony is vulnerable if ever a demon invasion happens.” -Julian

“A demon invasion… That’s right, isn’t it? Even if only one territory fell to the demons, it will affect all of Aria Continent. ” -Rose

“You think an invasion will really happen soon?” -Luke

“That’s what every country leaders seemed to be thinking. I can’t really say for certain, but, it is also true that the past demon invasion have happened in the intervals of around 500 years, even though, there has been only four. Well, I guess in this case, it is four too many.” -Julian

“I see.” -Luke

Luke was silent for a moment. He was thinking what he would do in the event of a demon invasion.

“Anyway, what about Eizo? Shouldn’t we recruit him to our clan? Having one more mage will make our clan stronger.” -Rose

“hehehe… you miss him already?” -Luke

He never miss a chance.

“Shut up! Idiot! So, are we not going to recruit him.” -Rose

“No, I have a feeling he’d hate the idea of joining a clan. He has only begun adventuring and he needs to see if it is really the life he wants to live. Either way, I feel like he’s gonna be big soon. I don’t want to annoy him unnecessarily.” -Julian

----------

It was in the middle of the night when Eizo awoke as he sensed a presence within the range of his detection magic. First a single entity, then six more at once, coming from different directions. It seemed the goblins had him surrounded and were closing in on him from all sides.

(They’re finally here. It took them long enough to see the campfire. But, actually surrounding me for a surprise attack, it seems these goblins are not all that stupid.)

As the goblins closed on him, Eizo kicked poured a sack of dirt he had prepared on the fire. It went out with a hiss and was extinguished immediately as trace amount of smoke continued to rise from it. Turning his ‘Shadow Veil’ to the strongest at 90% less detectability, he sprinted to a nearby shrubbery. He was well hidden within it and, from there, he had a good vantage point on his previous location.

The goblins finally reached the campfire. They were confused and were looking all around to find the prey they thought would be there. One of the goblins was the obvious leader of the pack. It was bigger than the rest and seemed to be commanding the search for their prey. Other than that, it was an ordinary goblin.

(7 goblins. There aren’t any more nearby. This is my chance.)

Eizo jumped out of the shrub and alerted some of the goblins nearest to him. With ‘Shadow Veil’ on, even the noise of the shrub as he moved through it was barely noticeable by the whole goblin pack. As every goblin reacted to the alertness of their fellow goblins, they all looked at the direction of Eizo. However, what they saw was just a haze of a shadowy figure standing in front of them.

With his staff on his right hand, he pulled his staff back and swung it horizontally from left to right as if slashing with a sword. A blade of high pressured water shot out from the staff with a shape following the arc of the swing. It was the expert ranked spell, ‘Water Blade’, that was casted chantlessly.

Unlike the ‘Water Blade’ that he caster before, there was only a singular blade. However, it was much bigger and it caught a cluster of six of the goblins in one swoop. The monsters were cut in halves in an instant on their abdomen or on their chest. Six goblin torso fell on the ground unceremoniously along with a number of their arms as their lower body toppled to the ground.

The remaining goblin screamed in terror as it saw its packmates got killed in a matter seconds. After finally realizing what has transpired before its eyes, it dropped the spear it was carrying, turned back and started to flee. But, Eizo was not gonna let it. He already had the required number of goblins ears to bring back to complete his second quest, but, he didn’t want to take the chance that the goblin might come back with even more of its kind if he let it escape.

Eizo thrust his staff toward the fleeing goblin as if stabbing it with a rapier 20 meters away. An ‘Ice Spear’ was fired from the tip of the staff flying as fast as an arrow. Even in the dark, with his ‘Air Perception’ activated, he knew the exact location of the goblin and where it was running to. Fortunately for Eizo, the goblin didn’t think about running into a cover and just run straight in panic as quick as he could get farther away from Eizo.

The expert ranked ‘Water Element’ spell, ‘Ice Spear’,  hit the goblin center on its back and came out from its chest going through its spine and ribs with minimal resistance. The goblin fell on the ground as if a puppet got its string cut, blood pool was quickly forming on the ground.

(Maybe that was a little too much for these guys, but, I can’t be careless just because they’re just goblins. It was good that there was no one around, so, I can cast chantless without anyone finding out. But, I can’t rely on that always. I will have to use better strategies in the future.)

Eizo was always looking for ways to improve his performance, but, he also realized his accomplishment at the moment. He just killed seven goblins alone, something even an A ranked adventurer would find hard to do.

Eizo cut off the right ears of the seven goblins. Four ears were required for completing the subjugation request.

(I wonder if Anna will be surprised.)

After he finished collecting the ears of the last goblin, he sensed a creature coming closer to his location. Eizo hid under the shrub once again. As the creature was getting closer he determined that this creature was much bigger than the goblins.

It was a stray Forest Troll. A feared monster of this forest. It probably smelled the blood of the goblins and came to feed on their remains. Eizo finally saw the silhouette of the monster. It was twice the height of a person even as it walked hunching its back. It’s arms were long enough to reach its knees. The whole body of the monster was covered in long brown hair. With each loud step the troll took, Eizo could feel the ferocity of the monster.

Eizo was thinking whether he should engage the monster or keep hiding in the shrub, but, the troll made his decision for him. It head turned toward Eizo after it caught his scent even amidst the strong smell of fresh goblin blood.

(Sh*t!!)

Eizo quickly whispered an incantation, pointed his staff at the troll, and shouted “Fireball!!!”. A ball of fire was shot from within the shrub as Eizo run out of it to the opposite direction of the monster. The shrub was also set ablaze. The troll was pushed back by the impact of the ‘Fireball’ on its right chest. It let out a growl in pain as the fire burned the flesh on its chest and spread along its fur on its front torso.

Eizo ran to a distance of at least 20 meters from the troll. When he turned his head back, he saw that the troll was still burning from the fire spell. However, it wasn’t going down. The burned flesh on its chest was already healing due to its ability, that made any troll a monster to be feared, regeneration.

Eizo was hidden in the dark beyond the range of the light from the burning shrub. He was moving around the troll with his ‘Shadow Veil’ on, making sure the troll couldn’t pinpoint his location by scent again. In the meantime, the troll was standing in place in front of the light as it looked around looking for its assailant while still in pain from his slowly burning flames.

(I need to kill it in one strike. Even if it has regeneration, it will still die if its heart was pierced or its head cut-off, right?)

Ezio held his staff with both arms and aimed it to the troll. The monster turned its body to face him as if sensing the danger coming from that direction. It started to growl louder as if challenging whatever it may be that may come out of the dark.

With mana flowing from his arm into his staff, an ‘Ice Spear’ shot out from the staff and flew straight to the same spot that was hit by the ‘Fireball’. The troll’s growl was cut short as the ‘Ice Spear’ pierced through its heart. It stood there motionless as an ‘Ice Spear’ was stuck halfway through its torso. It fell face first on the ground.

Eizo was breathing heavily after the battle. He walked toward the body of the troll to check to make sure it really was dead.

(Good, it’s dead. Hmm. What’s the proof of subjugation for ‘Forest Trolls’? Anna said, any part of the monster can be used as long as you can tell what monster in came from. Hmmm. Can I just bring its head? I’m cringing just at the thought of it, but, I guess I have to do it.)

Eizo cast ‘Water Blade’ twice to cut the head of the troll. He took three glass vials that he brought with him and filled them with blood from the trolls severed neck. He then took the head and wrapped it with a cheap cloth, tied off with a short rope, and stuffed it in his rucksack. He then dragged the bodies of the goblins and stacked it with the headless corpse of the troll. Then, he casted an ‘Incinerate’ fire spell and burned the corpses to ashes.

He camped far from the scene of carnage that night.

The next morning, he walked out the forest to head back to the town.

-End of Chapter-

AN: I keep misspelling Eizo to Ezio.