The sudden whispers among the surrounding adventurers pulled Gary's attention away from the task board. He looked up, following the gaze of a longbow-wielding human adventurer nearby, and saw what had caught everyone's attention - a four-person team led by a wandering mage.
This team didn't linger after entering, heading straight into the nearby blue light curtain. As a result, the surrounding adventurers let out a mixture of envy, sarcasm, and admiration.
Only adventurer teams with high levels and extraordinary strength could enter that blue curtain to select tasks. Inside, it was said the tasks truly exemplified high risk and high reward. Gary recognized the adventurer team that went in - they seemed to be called 'Vulgar Novel'.
Perhaps someday I can walk into that curtain amidst the complex gazes of others, sipping on delicious fine wine brought by the attendants while leisurely selecting suitable tasks, thought the goblin adventurer.
However, there were more pressing concerns at the moment. If the next task did not bring in abundant rewards, even Rye might be too pricey, let alone Arbor Island's Golden Fine Wine.
The goblin shook his head, prepared to resume his previous task, when he suddenly noticed the entire Adventurer Association was plunged into darkness for a brief moment. A deep purple lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere, accompanied by an ear-piercing roar. It coursed through every task board and then inexplicably vanished into nothingness.
The entire event lasted only an instant, making Gary question whether the aftereffects of the wine he drank at noon had led to dizziness and hallucinations.
However, the low murmurs from the surrounding adventurers quickly dispelled Gary's doubts. That strange sight was not just witnessed by him alone, he thought.
Not only that, but the construct golems behind each task registrar also activated simultaneously: their Mana Furnaces in their chests started to spin rapidly, providing enormous energy to the cold constructed entities. Pairs of Crystal Eyeballs flickered with crimson light as they scanned every adventurer in the hall.
This scene prompted adventurers to halt their actions, standing still and not even daring to breathe, including our good goblin - Gary.
He had seen more than once how provocative new adventurers threatened the task registrars or disrupted the guild's order. Invariably, those rule-breaking "novices" had their heads crushed by the powerful construct golems, which was quite nauseating to witness.
These metal behemoths with crystal sheen exteriors were strong, agile, and impervious to swords, making them the purest killing machines.
Mages always created dangerous things, and they themselves were all the more dangerous.
The tense atmosphere didn't last long. Moments later, a mage suddenly appeared in mid-air within the hall. He was wearing a deep red mage robe, seemingly with molten lava flowing within its fabric, causing the surrounding air to twist and ripple from the heat.
This mage cast a glance around him, furrowing his brow as if pondering something. After two breaths, he waved his hand nonchalantly, and with this gesture, all the construct golems returned to their original positions. The crimson light in their eyes dimmed, making them appear like decorative statues once more.
The mage's departure was as abrupt as his appearance, but adventurers thought nothing of it. After all, strange behavior from a mage would seem reasonable.
When the mage left, everything seemed to return to normal as if nothing had happened.
However, Gary, who had seen his share of "big scenes," thought otherwise. Judging from the number of septagrams on the left cuff of the mage's robe, Gary could tell that he was a high-ranking mage. And the expression on this high-ranking mage's face revealed some confusion.
Within Gary's understanding, an event that could confuse a high-ranking mage was not only rare in the Prime Material World, but scarce throughout the Multiverse.
What exactly happened just now? The curious, knowledgeable goblin wondered.
...