As darkness still mirrored in the sky, engulfing the entire earth, the sun's radiant blade cut through the gloom and emerged from the eastern horizon. The morning had dawned in the city of Lulin, as evident from the loud chime of the city's church bell and the pigeons taking flight from its tower.
Gradually, people emerged from their homes, each engaged in their own activities: shopkeepers opened their stores, merchants were busy buying and selling, children played in various neighborhoods, and most notably, the city of Lulin's only adventurers' guild, the Golden Shadow Guild, began its day.
Adventurers, primarily from the three large inns in the city, would come to the guild to find missions and requests suited to their abilities and carry them out. Some did this in groups, while others preferred to go solo. When several adventurers came together to complete missions, they were called a "party," and those who explored and fought monsters alone were known as "loners."
New adventurers often teamed up in parties, but high-ranking ones explored individually and were known as "loners," although there were exceptions.
Groups of adventurers, from wizards and swordsmen to healers and paladins, would enter the guild upon seeing the black sign with "Golden Shadow Guild" written in gold in the middle, to secure the best missions at 9 AM, when new requests were posted on the request board.
The Golden Shadow Guild was a large, ancient stone building located next to the city's only square, making it easily accessible. In total, excluding the two basements, the guild building had three floors: the first or ground floor, which was the gathering hall for adventurers and where missions were selected; the second floor, which was a cabaret and a place for adventurers to rest and relax; and the third floor, which belonged to the guild manager and staff. Behind the main building, there was also a covered training ground and evaluation area where everyone had to go through certain stages to become an adventurer and receive a badge and have their information registered.
The adventurers' guilds operated directly under the government. The Kingdom of Perunia, with its vast borders bordering unexplored territories, placed greater importance on adventurers than the other four human kingdoms of the Ibris region. Although this kingdom had the most conflicts with monsters and consequently suffered heavy casualties, it always managed to stay afloat due to the wealth it acquired from this.
As adventurers entered the guild, a large, tall man with brown skin and black eyes entered the guild. As soon as he entered, the bustling guild hall fell silent. The adventurers who had been talking and chatting a moment ago fell silent at the sight of him and his wide, long sword strapped to his back.
The man approached the request board with a calm and casual demeanor, and the adventurers in his way quietly stepped aside. None of them even dared to breathe. The only thing they thought was prudent to do, to avoid a confrontation with him, was to not obstruct his path.
The strong, burly man thoughtfully stroked his chin and began examining the new missions for the day. His penetrating and deep gaze quickly scanned all the papers pasted on the board, and his powerful mind analyzed them all. His behavior was entirely consistent with that of a seasoned and experienced adventurer.
The other adventurers stood at a distance, waiting for him to finish sooner; after all, he was only going to choose one, so there would certainly be an opportunity left for them. However, contrary to expectations, the man raised his hand towards the woman sitting behind the counter and said, "I'll do all of these today..."
"What?!"
All the adventurers in the hall were surprised by his words; indeed, their stunned expressions and open mouths were evidence of this. None of them could believe that anyone would want to do all the guild's missions in one day.
The woman sitting behind the wide wooden counter of the guild sighed and placed her hand on her forehead upon hearing what the man had said. The huge man, seeing her reaction, walked towards her with heavy steps and ran his hand through his dark brown hair, then smiled and said, "Don't take it seriously, I was just joking!"
The woman sighed again and sat down on her chair. Then, in a dry and cold tone, she said, "I never took you seriously, Master Simon."
The woman sitting across from Simon was beautiful, with a captivating aura surrounding her. Few could take their eyes off her cascading, silvery hair and her radiant, fair skin at first glance. The depth of her turquoise eyes was so captivating that it could charm any creature. Even her relatively short stature did not diminish her attractiveness.
Simon leaned most of his weight on the counter and looked directly at the woman who was busy dealing with some papers and documents.
"Don't be so stiff, Vanessa," he said. "Sometimes you need to relax and enjoy life."
Vanessa pointed to the guild's special uniform she was wearing and said, "That's true, but not when you're working."
The uniform she was wearing consisted of a long, slightly tight black skirt and a white open-front shirt with black collars that somewhat exposed the specific curves of her body.
Simon assumed a seemingly sad expression and said, "Oh, come on! Why are you all like this? There's Aisa, who constantly embarrasses me, and now you."
Vanessa looked up from the papers and, ignoring the main point Simon was trying to make, asked, "By the way, how is Aisa? I haven't seen her in a few days."
"Last night she went to gather some medicinal herbs. Actually, she's having some problems at the infirmary. Plus, she has to host a large number of wounded soldiers in a few days. She has tough days ahead of her."
Vanessa paused for a moment and murmured, "I should probably go see her."
When Vanessa was busy examining the papers, Simon turned and said loudly to the adventurers who were still afraid to approach the request board, "Relax. I have work to do today, otherwise I wouldn't leave anything for you." And as he walked towards the stairs, he laughed.
Before stepping onto the first step, Simon turned back and asked Vanessa, "Is Mark upstairs or is he reading books as usual?"
Vanessa looked at him and replied calmly, "Master Mark is in their room."
Simon smiled at her and without saying another word, went up the stairs."
[Tyrannous; The first book; The end of the first chapter: "Chaos and Escape"]