Glancing through all the quests on the board, it looked to be categorized from the tier levels. Each board had quests for each sub-level. Seeing this Xenos thought back to Orion, who said he was around the C+ to B- tier, he went to the board displaying the C- quests. He didn't want to challenge himself from the get-go, as that would probably be too time consuming, and he's never done a quest, so he might as well pick something he'd be able to carry out.

One by one, he looked through the many papers posted up on the board.

Harvest a Manticore.

Find the eggs of a Basilisk.

Kill 10 Orcs.

Harvest the face of an Asura Clan member.

Steal the eyes of a Lamia.

Collect 50 Yarrow flowers.

Arrest or kill Atha, rogue Valkyrie.

Harvest the skin of a Swan Maiden.

Arrest or kill the rapist Mylo.

Guard Zane.

Collect 100 Calendula flowers.

The list went on and on; the missions seemed more diverse than he thought for the tier. From killing monsters to collecting herbs, everything was there. The rewards on the papers were modest. Some ranging from a few coppers to several golds.

"Now which should I do..." Xenos said to himself quietly.

"You should pick that one!" said a boy beside him, pointing to a quest paper.

Looking to where the boy was pointing he saw the quest.

Arrest Vise who escaped after killing a nobleman's daughter, now heavily injured.

"Hmmm" Xenos hummed while reading the paper.

"The quest is easy because the guy called Vise is still in the city. After getting injured, he wasn't able to leave due to the city getting locked in. No one can easily leave without getting thoroughly checked. Well, according to rumors, that's why. The reward is pretty hefty too, look fifty gold coins. You could buy a house with that!"

Seeing this stranger made Xenos suspicious. The boy had messy, jet-black hair that sweeps down on his pale skin and soft hazel eyes, he looked around 15 years old. Wearing light armor that was brown and covered up by a long black robe, held in place with a red jewel at the center with a shoulder plate on his left arm side. A magnificent smile was plastered on his face.

"Why are you telling me this," Xenos said with a stony-faced look.

"Because I feel that you're strong and if you catch him, you might give me some of that reward."

Xenos felt that he was somewhat right. He didn't care about a reward, so it might happen.

"Sure... but you feel that I'm strong? How does that work?"

"It's..."

Before the boy could answer him, a man fitted in armor bumped into Xenos. After knocking into Xenos, he glared at him.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Don't you think you're supposed to say something?" The armored guy said glaring at Xenos, while his group surrounded Xenos.

"I have nothing to say."

"You'd better apologize and give some compensation, rich kid. Who knows what would happen later."

The guy said with him and his group smiling.

'Huh, rich kid? Is it the robes under my baggy clothes? How could he tell, maybe he has an X-ray type ability?'

While thinking about this, the armored man grew angrier seeing that Xenos was ignoring him. He sent a punch towards Xenos.

Xenos felt an intent towards him and was about to dodge, however, before he dodged, the boy from before stood in front of him. The man's fist collided with the boy's face. This sent him flying back and onto the ground.

Xenos seeing this felt pity for the very peculiar boy. Defending him a total stranger, he wondered what the motive behind this was. It just felt off.

After punching the boy, the man in armor had a smile on his face. However, soon a voice was heard and his smile turned into a frown.

"What is going on here?" A female voice said aloud.

"Ah, shit" the armored man whispered.

Instantly appearing in the middle was a slender girl with long purple hair, purple eyes, and an hourglass figure. She was donning a fur coat over a black catsuit with a rapier held to her side. Looking at the boy on the ground, she turned her head towards the man.

With everyone looking towards them, the armored man began stammering.

"Ha-ha... nothing too bad happened, just a little arguing guild manager."

"Is that so?"

Soon she had her eyes on Xenos, who was behind the boy who had fallen.

"What happened here?"

"He threw a punch at me, but hit this kid," Xenos replied stoically.

"Why did he send a punch to you?"

"He bumped into me while walking and wanted me to apologize. I did not."

"Oh, and here I thought something interesting happened." She said with a sigh.

Then she looked back at the man who began all this.

"You shall compensate those two and the guild, three gold coins each."

"That's too...."

"Is that understood?" She said with a temper.

"Yes..." As he sifted through his bag, picking out nine gold coins. With his hand shaking, he gave the money to her and left with his group behind him.

With three coins going into her ring, she gave the rest of the coins to Xenos.

"Give three coins to the kid with you."

"Sure," Xenos answered.

With that, the woman disappeared. Xenos looking at where she was just standing whispered.

"Short-range teleportation, interesting."

Soon a guild employee came over and healed the boy who was on the ground unconscious. With a glow from his hands, the boy was soon healed and was waking up.

"Thank you!" said the boy.

"No problem." Said the employee who then went behind the desk.

Seeing that the incident was now over, Xenos gave the boy three gold coins and headed for the exit.

"Wait up!" the boy yelled, running towards Xenos.

"Seriously." Xenos thought while rolling his eyes.

The boy had then caught up to him.

"Hey, thanks."

"I did nothing."

"Still thanks, I received free coins and was healed too. So it's all good."

"All right, well I need to search for that guy called Vise."

"Wait, I can help you."

"And how would you do that?"

"I know people around the city, they might have seen him. That could help you."

Thinking about it for a second, Xenos agreed. The boy then told him to follow.

While walking to a destination they had an awkward conversation. The boy told him his name, Nictis Everbleed, and that he was an orphan. Nictis had traveled through the CeriseLand Kingdom for a few years and decided to stay in this city, becoming a local.

"So Xenos where are you from?"

"I came from a village south from here. I wanted to gain some money through the quest rewards."

"Oh, but the guy who picked on us called you a rich kid?" Nictis questioned thinking back to the fight.

"Yeah, I got no idea why he would think that," Xenos replied.

"Well anyway, we're here."