Fei was standing in front of the city gates. She glances at each and every person coming towards the gate, as if careful not to miss someone passing by.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she asked herself, questioning her decisions made so far leading her to this point in time.
The day before, the guild master of Ancdam offered her an honorary adventurer status to bypass the City Guard's jurisdiction, in exchange for fulfilling one simple request of his.
"Still, after this, I can finally make trips to other areas without making a request anymore,".
For her, her research takes precedence over other matters. As long as it improves her research on monsters, she would be more than willing to accept any quests.
"Are you Ms. Fei Guillard?" a voice suddenly asked her.
"Eh. Ah, yes!" she was confused at the sudden question but was able to correct herself. Still, she didn't expect the quest she was given would involve the girl in front of her.
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Yesterday at the guild master's office.
"The quest I'll be giving you is a simple escort quest," the guild master said.
"An escort quest?" she asked.
"Yes. I would like you to escort one of the rookie adventures in the guild. She just had her rank assessed yesterday, but she appeared to be a promising new recruit. I want you to teach her the basics of adventuring," he said.
"Me? Teach someone the basics of adventuring. Am I even qualified to do that?", she responded.
Surely enough, the basics of adventuring would usually be thought by the guild employees during the examinations. However, her case is a peculiar one.
"Well, you see, due to certain reasons, none of the guild employees would like to take upon the role of mentoring her. I am stumped as well, so if you can do this then it would surely take some load off my shoulders. And, she also happened to graduate from the same university you came from, so she's like a junior to you," he replied.
"A fresh graduate? Now that sounds familiar, where have I met someone like - wait! It couldn't possibly be the mage I just witnessed at the guild hall earlier, right? Right!?" she said as she slammed her palm on the table, leaning forward towards the guild master.
"Haha! So you two are already acquainted. That makes things easier," the guild master laughed as he the expression on Fei's face.
"You must be kidding me! She is strong enough to defeat an experienced warrior in less than a minute, you know!" she exclaimed.
"Exactly. That's the reason why she holds considerable promise. Her name is-"
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"Sofia Cheele, Mage, B-rank," the girl, Sofia, introduced herself to Fei.
"I see. I'm Fei, Fei Guillard, a mage as well as a monster scholar. I'll be your temporary party member for today's quest," she introduced herself.
Fei took out a piece of paper to read the details of their quest. Quests, like adventurers, are ranked according to difficulty level. Moreover, a quest rank dictates which adventurers are capable of completing them. For example, D-ranked quests can only be taken by adventurers ranked D and above, never lower, unless someone of the same rank is a part of the group taking the quest.
"Our quest for today is a C-ranked quest, the eradication of a camp of Imp Devils. The quest reward is 50 silver coins per Imp Devil defeated. Fangs of the Imp Devils will be sufficient enough as proof of their subjugation. It says here that their makeshift camp is located twenty kilometers northwest of Ancdam, in a dried-up river. Any questions?" she asked the girl, Sofia, just in case she had something she didn't understand.
Sofia raised her hand.
"I'm B-ranked, so I should be more than capable of completing quests of the same rank. Why do I have to get stuck with C-ranked quests?" she asked Fei.
"Well, for starters, you are a rookie adventurer, and this is your first quest, so you have to complete one first before being officially recognized as one. Besides, ranks aren't always a clear indicator of one's strength. You may be B-ranked, but dangers are unpredictable in the north. It isn't farfetched if a dragon suddenly showed up in one of your quests, so you should always be prepared. But don't worry, just think of this as an initiation of sorts by the guild. If things go smoothly, we may be able to make it back by sunset today." she told Sofia.
Sofia pondered for a bit as if analyzing the details of what Fei said earlier. Fei looked at her, hoping that her explanation was enough to convince her. After a few moments, Sofia nodded her head and looked toward Fei.
"I understand. I'll be in your care for today, Ms. Fei," she said, then bowed her head as a form of respect. Fei herself bowed in response to her courtesy.
"OK, let's go then," she said as she officially declared the start of their quest.
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Buffed with Haste and Endure, the duo set off toward the quest location. While on their way, Fei asked Sofia a couple of questions such as what magic she specializes in, what her favorite food is, and other random things. Sofia entertained her questions, perhaps because she didn't have anything else to do, but also because she found out that Fei was a graduate of the same academy as she was.
In less than an hour, they arrived at the quest location. They are now standing on a cliff's edge, overlooking the several dried-up river beds below.
"Farsight"
Fei used a spell, reinforcing her eyesight to several levels higher than normal. She scoured the surrounding area, looking for something resembling a makeshift camp, before focusing her attention on one spot.
"There," she pointed towards the middle of the gorge. Sofia followed her line of sight, and sure enough, she could see the camp overrun by Imp Devils.
"They number less than a hundred," Sofia said, as she took a closer look with her [Farsight] skill.
"Yeah, but we never know. A group of this many would mean that something is leading them. First off, we devise a strategy on how to deal with them. We wouldn't want to carelessly - Sofia!?" Fei was midsentence when she suddenly realized that Sofia wasn't beside her anymore.
She stood up, looking for her in every direction, and that's when she saw her descending the gorge.
"Sofia!" she shouted towards the rookie adventurer.
"Don't worry, Senior. I'll take care of this quickly," she declared.
"This girl!", Fei exclaimed as she saw the figure of Sofia getting smaller as she descended the gorge.
(I should have known that this isn't going to be an easy quest!)