After spending a good twenty minutes reading through community postings for hunting groups and other such things, I wasn't able to find any that looked like they would accept a level 0 Stone Ranker.
I guess the first step really is going to be the hardest, maybe I should try-
BAM!
The double doors to the Guild Post flew open, as a figure I recognized flew in. It was the guard that had hit on me earlier!
Many people inside the post watched as he ran up towards one of the guild clerks and took them aside for a minute, the clerk then disappeared into a backroom and didn't reemerge.
I decided after a moment that I should try and ask Brad the guard what was up, when two messengers burst out of the same door the clerk had went through and left the building in a burst of speed.
The noise in the guild that had died down started to simmer up again.
"This might be good," I heard someone behind me muttering to their party.
"Think it's that time again?" another responded.
At this point I noticed quite a few parties were standing up together staring at the door the clerk had gone through, seemingly waiting for something to happen.
Approaching Brad, I couldn't hold back my curiosity and asked him a question while tapping on his shoulder.
"Hey, um... Brad? You know what's going on?"
Brad spun around quickly, and to my surprise the urgency in his demeanor was already gone. It was as if he was worried about the situation but now that his part was over he was calmly waiting for something to happen.
"Hi... I never did get your name, you kind of left in a hurry."
"Sorry, I was really surprised and kind of nervous too, my name is Einer."
"That's okay, nice to meet you again Einer. Anyways it's probably fine to tell you this since most people here already know what's up... it looks like a Monster Horde is on its way."
...
"On its way... here?"
"Yeah, I guess if you're new to the town you might not know, but monsters will sometimes group up and charge a town or city for one of a variety of different reasons. Anyways we don't know why this horde happened but a scout who was surveying the forest reported an approximate 80~120 strong group of Geode Rank Monsters, followed by a trail of Stone Rank Monsters that at least number above 1000 according to his estimate."
...!
Einer was astounded by what he was hearing.
"Wait can the people at this post even handle that?!"
"Actually... no, hahahaha," Brad laughed it off, "That's what those messengers who left are for, they are going to the two nearest posts in either direction to notify them that the entrance this post is at needs immediate reinforcements."
"Honestly the situation is kind of bad right now, since we only have so many Geode Rankers, and not all of them are even around right now."
Brad was preparing to explain further as the clerk from before quickly threw open the door, her long dark brown hair and clerk uniform fluttering, and shouted to the entire open space of the Guild Post.
"EMERGENCY QUEST!!! A HORDE OF GEODE AND STONE RANK MONSTERS IS INCOMING TO OUR GATE AND WILL BE ARRIVING IN APPROXIMATELY 10 MINUTES! PLEASE SEE THE REPORT FOR MORE INFORMATION."
The clerk briskly walked over to the Guild Post's announcement board, a completely separate and absolutely huge board to which she tacked a large poster, while two other clerks handed out smaller quest sized papers to those who were furthest away from the bulletin boards over in the tavern space.
The massive font on the poster was easily readable from where I was, and although I was slightly unsure of how to read some parts of it due to my lack of reading experience, I was able to infer the meaning of anything I hadn't seen before.
EMERGENCY QUEST:|
A HOARD OF MONSTERS HAS BEEN SIGHTED HEADING TOWARDS BREEZY MEADOW TOWN'S 14TH GATE|
THE ESTIMATED SIZE IS AS FOLLOWS|
80~120 GEODE RANK MONSTERS|
1000+ STONE RANK MONSTERS|
DUE TO REINFORCEMENTS BEING UNABLE TO ARRIVE BEFORE THE HORDE, THE GUILD KINDLY ASKS ALL PRESENT ADVENTURERS TO PARTICIPATE IN HOLDING IT OFF AND DEFEATING IT|
HORDE ARRIVES IN: 10~12 MINUTES|
REINFORCEMENTS IN: 15~20 MINUTES|
STONE RANK KILL: 12 Dali|
GEODE RANK KILL: 125 Dali|
With some quick scanning, I realized I two things, one that we could be holding off the horde anywhere from three to ten minutes, which was a scary thought, and two was that I was basically required to participate. Because I kind of got the impression that the guild would kick me out if I bailed on an emergency quest.
As Brad was prepping a small unit of Stone Rankers to fight together with him as its leader, he invited me to join him, which I accepted and I also asked him how the bounty worked.
It turned out that the average Stone rank monster's corpse was worth about 10 Dali, while the average butcher or business would only buy for about 8 Dali due to profit margin. The guild would purchase at the actual value, 10 Dali, as a perk for being a guild member. Meanwhile, the 12 Dali price tag was compensation for being forced into an emergency quest, and the majority of the adventurers at the Guild Post seemed to be a combination of anxious and excitement due to the danger and potential rewards.
Dali was the coin currency used in this empire, and it was enchanted using a secret technique to prevent forgery and prove authenticity. To my knowledge the coins themselves weren't made of anything expensive, but I knew they were a light-green metal of some kind.
3 Dali could purchase a full and hearty meal, and that was the only real metric by which I understood the potential wealth to be gained. AND GOD DAMN IF I DON'T MAKE SOME CASH TODAY.
I had only come here with 8 Dali, and I was already halfway through the snack bars I had brought with me. Which were just some oats, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds all packed together. I had never had any of the tasty foods that the town had to offer, and was looking forward to being able to afford a room to sleep in as well!
If I could actually defeat any monsters...
Anyways... apparently the general rule was if the monster dropped a rare material or a skill book, then the guild wouldn't take that and you could keep it or sell it to them by choice, but the monster corpses would be all theirs and you had no option but to accept their compensation.
Luckily, and obviously, that stipulation only applied to the emergency quest in front of me.
I was kind of curious for the reason behind the forced selling of all kills in the emergency quest, but it didn't really bother me anyways since it seemed like a benefit to the adventurers.
Brad got my attention again, saying, "alright we have eight minutes left at most, lets get out there as soon as possible, Einer do you not have a weapon yet? I know you're new to town."
"uh... I have a small knife, and I'm a mage now anyways so its fine."
"Good, lets hurry... GO GO GO!"
And so our group of eight Stone Rankers headed out of the Guild Post and towards the town entrance situated only two hundred meters away. Brad, with his blonde top knot hairstyle, now felt to me like a reliable leader I could trust. My initial impression of him as slightly creepy nowhere to be found as I took a liking to this amiable guard.
I'm still straight though... I swear.