The leaves of the trees blew gently as the morning sun came up.
The forest which had been cold, was warmed by the welcoming heat of spring.
Nova made his move at that moment. He threw one of his daggers towards an unsuspecting prey.
He chose to attack this time of the day because this was the time when most of the monsters would be relaxing since they usually hunt at night. Few monsters hunted in daytime.
His prey—a Hobgoblin—screeched ferociously, alerting its fellow tribe members.
It took out the dagger that was lodged in its thigh and stood up shakily.
The three other hobgoblins, as well as the dozen or so goblins surrounding them, grabbed their weapons.
Arnold was standing on one of the branches of the trees near them.
He wasn't a ranger or archer so he had no means of attacking using long range attacks except for throwing knives and daggers. Those weren't really meant for long range since they were midrange weapons. The power behind his throw would decrease per meter no matter how hard he threw.
Because of this dilemma, he had to physically kill the goblins.
Arnold didn't come here on a whim. No, he came here to hunt some goblins to make his mark in the capital as Nova. As they say, it's better to start small.
Many have heard his name. They called him other things like "Dragon slayer", "Sword of the South", and "Strongest swordsman on the continent". The last name was controversial since there were currently two people who held that title.
No one knew who really was the strongest swordsman between Justice and Vance, the Sword Master. The two have never fought so they couldn't tell.
Nova calling himself that title was equal to him arrogantly announcing that he was at the same level as them. This upset many people, even the S-rankers.
Of course, Arnold didn't bother to listen what they had to say. His goal for joining the Guild was to use his status as an adventurer to find out about important things going on around the world.
Arnold probably had five to seven years of knowledge at best. Knowledge that he was sure of at least. After that it was just a lot of disarranged and confusing points.
He knew about the epilogue but didn't know everything that led to it. He couldn't quite trust everything he heard over the internet in the past. There was one rule to being on the internet and that was to never trust a stranger.
Knowing that he would be as clueless as the rest of the people from this world, Arnold had to make up for that lack of knowledge. To do this he decided to increase his rank at the Guild.
At first it was just a way of blowing off some steam but his decision to become an adventurer became much bigger.
Arnold unsheathed his steel sword. It wasn't as powerful as his Aura Sword but it was good enough to use for an A-ranker.
It was hard enough for adventurers—except for S-rankers—to buy equipment for themselves with their profession alone. Killing random monsters wasn't a steady job but it had its merits.
You could go around the entire world with your license and get discounts, be allowed in any establishment affiliated with a guild, or be allowed entry into any city or nation of your choosing.
Many don't get to live this luxury since some of them work payslip to payslip. Getting three meals a day was challenging enough for novice adventurers.
Thinking about how fortunate he was, Arnold jumped down the tree and confronted the monsters.
Their heads instantly shot towards him.
The hobgoblin that he injured earlier charged at him with its club raised high.
Arnold thought about activating aura for a moment but decided not to. He decided to instead use his martial arts prowess.
Using [Dash], he appeared at the flank of the hobgoblin. Its club struck the ground, where he stood before, immediately after.
Confused by its prey vanishing before its eyes, it looked left and right.
Arnold punched it in the ribs before it could even make a sound.
The sound of ribs breaking echoed. It spurted blood before collapsing.
The goblins that had been chanting in gurgles and screeches went silent. They then grabbed their weapons after seeing the big guy fall down with foam at its mouth.
Arnold could've gone to a monster zone where he could find stronger monsters but he decided to visit a goblin den. This was because there were—on average—at least over a hundred goblins per tribe.
It was an ocean of XP for him.
He was still on his way to levelling up at the moment. He hoped to gain levels past 50 so that he could start farming once he went to the Sky God Mountain.
He would only have time to farm after getting the martial skill book—wherever it may be. His first priority was getting it, after all.
Of course, he had to be careful since the dungeon was unranked. Who knows? Maybe an S-class monster was the weakest monster one could find in that abysmal nightmare.
Well, maybe that was jumping to conclusions but his point was that none of the monsters there would be weak since they could survive in such a dungeon all this time.
Arnold crushed the head of the first goblin to reach him. He punched the head of another one, causing its eyes to pop out as its skull exploded.
'I never expected them to be so damn weak.'
All those transmigration webnovels he used to read started out with the protagonist fighting against monsters the second they open their eyes. Goblins are usually the first monster they encounter.
To be honest, he was expecting a challenge when fighting barehanded. Goblins didn't pose a threat at all.
The gap between him and each individual goblin was exceedingly high so it made sense.
Still though, Arnold von Berkley wasn't that strong when it came to fighting barehanded without any of his martial skills, Sword Intent or aura helping him fight. Maybe it was just because the low-rank monsters were weak of this world.
A goblin was at least a D-class monster. 2nd star adventurers are usually enough for them. But that didn't apply to an entire horde of them.
"It just doesn't stop!" Arnold jumped back, his back hitting a tree.
He had killed twenty of them already but even more were coming out of that cave behind them.
Arnold's eyes glowed bright blue and blue flames engulfed his silver hair.
A small shadow appeared next to him, with a dark blue sword appearing from within. Its blade was oozing with dark blue aura.
Sensing the sudden increase of power, the goblins stopped charging and waited for his next move from a distance.
Arnold decided to end this quick since he could see an Orc Chief standing at the entrance of the cave.
'Did it kill the reining Goblin Lord and make this tribe its own?'
Unlike regular orcs, an average Orc Chief was estimated to be level 30. They were a much bigger challenge considering the fact that their hides were thick so any normal sword wouldn't puncture them. Their thick skin could also absorb shockwaves so punching repeatedly at close-range was asking to be bear-hugged.
Several smaller orcs were standing next to it and observing the fight.
"Gigigigi!"
"Ooaoaoa!"
The goblins, probably gaining vigour from seeing their leaders, started charging again.
However, countless wet thuds resonated when Arnold swung his sword horizontally.
Countless bodies dropped to the ground from a single aura strike.
Arnold looked at his hands with surprise on his face, "I feel stronger from levelling up 5 times after killing James Caervil. I wonder if my Aura Attack increased?"
Arnold heard a roar that reverberated throughout the forest.
He could definitely feel a buff.
'An orc capable of using fencing skills. Never would I have imagined to find one here. Hahahah.'
They had far more experience points than the average Orc Chief.
Arnold felt like he hit the imperial lottery on this one.
"Come on!!"
He charged at them like a bullet.
◇◇◇
"Phew. That took a lot out of me." Arnold caught his breath after killing so many monsters.
It was tiring even for him to fight so long without break.
He collected all the right ears of the monsters and cut off the Orc Chief's head. It wasn't for a special quest or anything. Just that it would serge as a trophy and would give him some extra money to put into Misteltein.
"Let's check my status card."
He took out his hologram card.
As expected.
· Level up!
· Level up!
· Player is now level 42.
"Hahaha…. HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
The emptiness he felt before faded away after he felt a burst of power from levelling up.
Each level up gave about 10 points on average for all stats.
Arnold's physical power was now comparable to an average level 50-55 monk.
'As expected. The traditional method is better than training.'
People started hunting monsters even before levels and statuses were discovered by the creators of ranking systems. One of these ranking systems was the hologram card he had which was made by that rune tabloid. The other one was the newer method that allowed the Academy to print stats and levels on stats for a student.
The rune tabloid at the Adventurer Guilds had a similar function. However, only the first level check is free. You were only allowed to check your level again once you rise in rank.
For example, an E-class adventurer could only check their status once they reach rank D.
This system was implemented to impede people from faking their levels by bribing guild receptionists into changing their levels on the document. Some dungeons had level requirements which frustrated some adventurers who had trouble levelling up.
It all came down to money.
"I started with level 32… Now I'm level 42…"
That was only in a span of a few months. Arnold's growth was terrifying even by a genius' standards.
If one went by levels alone then Arnold was on the level of an S-rank adventurer. Of course, that wasn't how the ranking system of the Guild worked for adventurer ranks.
But this was a start.
◇◇◇
At the Adventurer Guild Headquarters in Toril City, Sofilith Main Street.
The second floor, at the Guild Reception and Reward Section.
A thumping sound echoed as a heavy bag was dropped onto the front register.
"Uhm, are these from all the goblins in the area?" the receptionist lady was dumbfounded when she opened up the bag.
It seemed that she wasn't expecting that many.
"Not just goblins but orcs too. You can verify whether those are all right ears."
In order to get a "completed" stamp on his quest sheet, he had to kill goblins and bring a piece of their right ears as proof. It was rather difficult to forge the goblin ears using illusion magic but that didn't mean that it was impossible. But it was also easy for a Guild to find forgeries.
Arnold had slain four hobgoblins, fifteen goblins and half a dozen orcs with the Orc Chief being an added bonus. From a rookie adventurer's point of view, that was something they would never be able to do anytime soon.
"Ah, all of them are legit. Thank you for your hard work… Um, may I know your name?" the receptionist girl looked at Arnold as she asked.
"Nova, of Misteltein. I was centred in Lockinge city for a short while. Well, it's more like I became an adventurer there."
"Y-You're Nova!? I apologize for not recognizing you, sir!" the woman bowed profusely with a flustered expression on her face, "W-We heard of your great deeds in the duke's city and we admire your achievements! All of us have heard how you saved a village from demons!"
"Ahaha, I see…"
'Admire? It seems like all the adventurers are looking at me like I'm their worst enemy.'
Only the guild staff reacted positively to what the woman said. The adventurers only frowned in distaste.
The ones who were sitting at the pub downstairs were sharpening their blades for some reason while looking at Arnold.
Arnold could even feel killing intent too.
'They must be worried that I'll hunt in the areas they usually hunt. Well, I'd rather go to a monster zone than hunt monsters in the forest randomly.'
A monster zone was a hotspot where monsters would definitely spawn. These areas were much more dangerous than usual hunting areas since monsters are almost definitely in the same spot and the area can attract other monsters of the same species.
In gaming terms they would respawn there endlessly.
Adventurers tended to avoid this area unless they were very confident in their skills to fight hordes of monsters. The good thing was that the monsters weren't that high-level.
The receptionist lady returned with Arnold's payment. There was a blush on her face as she put the pouch in Arnold's hand. She tried to hide her blush by adjusting her glasses and clearing her throat.
"U-Uhm, will you be joining the headquarters as a transfer?"
'This again. Why is every woman interested once they hear what my name is?'
Along with his name came the rumours that surrounded him—of him being a Transcendent and slaying a wild dragon. Although wild dragons were the weakest subspecies of dragons after ground dragons, they were considered one of the hardest monsters to fight.
The one they fought was considerably well aged and developed. It took thirty of them to even push it back. It just goes to show the limits of humans in this world even against weak monsters.
"I am." He answered the woman's question.
"I see! Then I'll set aside the harder quests for sir Nova!"
"Ah, that's not necessary…" he scratched his head awkwardly, "Can I ask you something though," Arnold looked at her nametag, "Josephine?"
"Of course!"
Josephine answered happily.
"Can I get a list of all the dungeons that are available?"
"You want to enter one? I'm sorry but the Academy doesn't allow adventurers to enter the dungeons this time of year…"
'Fuck, I should've known that this was the case. I'm glad I didn't choose to enter one before the exam. I would've lost my license for trespassing.'
"What about the people who have already entered dungeons?"
"They are pardoned until they clear the dungeons they entered completely. If they choose to leave the dungeon even if it was to resupply then they aren't allowed back in. The Guild can't do anything about this since the Academy would put pressure on our future business."
"I see…"
"Oh right, where is sir Nova's party member? A party is only considered a party if there are two people. I can't submit your official document without their signature as well."
"About that… I'm not even sure where he is at the moment. We separated in the capital a few months ago."
"Should I contact the branches and send a letter to him?"
"That would be great, thanks."
The receptionist gave Arnold a piece of paper and quill pen with a bottle of ink.
"You can ask for more pages if you're thinking of sending a long letter. There's an open booth over there," she pointed at the table sitting by the window. He could perfectly see the street from that window.
This was the second floor of the guild where adventurers receive quest rewards and turn in their bounty. There were quite a lot of them waiting for their payments.
Downstairs was filled to the brim with adventurers. Mostly people who came to renew their licenses or join the Guild. The reception desks downstairs were solely used for registration and quest receiving.
Arnold didn't mind the adventurers who bumped into his shoulders "accidentally". He chose to ignore them completely since their behaviours were childish.
They basically hated them just because he was stronger and better than them.
Arnold sat down on the chair and began scribbling as soon as he thought of what to say.
He couldn't just say "Hey, how've you been?" or "I'm permanently staying in the capital for now". He chose to instead explain why he couldn't make it back sooner that day they came to the capital. He also wrote that he thought that being stationed in the capital was more profitable. They might've had a lot of adventurer funds at the moment but that wouldn't last.
They would also get the chance to spot a potential third member or even fourth as well.
'Please let it be a girl so that I won't feel awkward around Elora again.'
As Arnold was writing the letter to Elora, he overheard a conversation downstairs. It was a party directly below him.
"—All of them?"
"Yeah."
"You're saying giant serpents were laying on the lake bank with their guts sprawling about?"
"I'm not lying, I swear," a female voice said, "I saw it a few days ago when I came back from my village. Excluding the water serpents which are apex predators in the snowy region, there were many other big animals near our mountain village that were just laying there on the road. This is south of the empire. Ever hear about mammoths? They were probably trying to put up a fight since the entire road was damaged but they failed to defend themselves in the end."
'What?'
Arnold put down the pen and cupped his ears.
"Maybe some bear-like monster that had been sleeping for the past year is killing for sport to get rid of its boredom?"
"No, idiot. I'm sure not any species of bear can rip apart even the scales of a wyvern."
"W-What? Are you serious?"
"Yeah. I took the route through that city where they breed wyverns. Many of the merchants who use the wyverns for transport were making long cues in front of the city lord's mansion to complain."
"…."
"…"
"…."
"I think the monster or monsters are moving in a straight line towards somewhere. Most likely the empire. We can finally get back on our feet if we solve this."
Her five party members looked shocked. Arnold couldn't see the young woman who started the conversation yet since he wasn't leaning over the top-floor balcony that much.
'Hm, they have silver plates. They are either a C or B-rank party…'
E-rankers were copper.
D-rankers were bronze.
C and B-rankers were silver.
A-rankers were gold.
And both S and SS rankers were white gold—one of the rarest minerals in this world. It was a kind of fossil variant of gold.
'Is this mysterious monster the Wyrm boss?'
Although the Wyrm wasn't that strong that it could take down multiple wyverns at once or even kill a water serpent—an A-rank monster—alone.
Besides, the Wyrm wasn't a deviant monster that could simply leave the dungeon.
Then it had to be something else.
"I found a lead," the young woman leaned forward to whisper but Arnold—with his aura activated—could hear all of what they were saying now.
"Is it a single monster?"
"Apparently, yes."
'What the hell? A single monster? Taking into account how it could slaughter cattle and wyverns for sport, it must be level 45 at least.'
He couldn't picture it as being a dragon since dragons usually love to use their breath when fighting other monsters. From what the girl said, the monster only ripped the animals apart and didn't burn them.
Almost like demons would.
"I heard from the citizens in the outer district of Nuaria city that they had spotted strange creatures in the night too. Isn't it weird how all of this happened in a single week?"
'Don't tell me Vetis is moving without waiting for my orders…'
Although he never met the guy, Arnold was beginning to hate him already. His order to Lunaria was strictly to tell Vetis that they shouldn't act without his permission.
'Well, the monsters aren't attacking any people so I guess it's fine.'
Maybe Vetis wanted to alert people of the danger by starting small before the big disaster struck. Hundreds of high level monsters would spawn randomly in a line that leads to the Fair Province.
Arnold remembered that he told Lunaria to summon the strongest monsters they had. Maybe that was a mistake.
"Should we tell an SS-ranker?" one of the girl's companions asked.
"I don't think they'll even listen… Aren't there any S-rankers on duty today? Maybe we can tell them?"
"No," the young woman denied her teammate's suggestion, "We don't have time to look for the top adventurers. Not even the Guild Master will listen to what I wrote in my report. Maybe it's because I'm a lowly B-ranker that she doesn't concern herself."
'That woman must be so full of herself.' Arnold pictured a woman with equally red hair as Flord—she was his elder sister and one of the strongest adventurers to ever live. In fact, she was even stronger now than she was when she was active.
'She probably doesn't care because these monster sightings aren't a threat to her at all. But that might change soon.'
Like many situations involving powerful monsters that not even her SS-rankers can handle, she would step in and help them. There were no incidents like this ever since she became guild master but that wasn't to say that there couldn't be one in the future.
"Really, what a bitch," the woman said in annoyance.
"Well, there's nothing we can do… Should we go check it out?"
The young woman seemed to realize something, "Ah! Then we can gather evidence and witnesses!"
"Ooh! The guild master would have to listen to us if we do that! Great idea, Galadriel!"
"Humph!"
Arnold looked down when he heard the clanking of armour.
'Oh, she's a knight. But…' he looked at her chest. 'There isn't any insignia on her chest which means she isn't affiliated with any House. So why is she wearing full plate armour?'
He was partially interested in why a knight with no affiliations with a household would become an adventurer. People dreaming to become knights without affiliations would become squires and serve people in the military.
But it seems that it was different with that female knight.
'Oh well.' He shrugged. He had lost interest in their party's discussions after they changed the subject of the monster sightings.
'I guess I'll go back to the academy since I'm done here.'