The large wolf snarled, standing at five foot tall, its growl reverberating through the bones of the adventurers facing it.
The wolf lunged, and they were quick to scatter in different directions, all except for one. One of the men who had chosen the sword, was a little too slow and the wolf came down on him, jaws snapping.
He raised his sword horizontally, using the flat end to block the sharp set of teeth flashing close to his face.
Drool covered his face as he struggled under the wolf. Suddenly, the wolf flew off him for a considerable distance.
One of the women, had slammed her mace into the monster's side, sending it flying. She spun her mace looking smug. "One of you should get its attention, then while it's distracted, we kill it."
The woman's words were met with a chorus of nods, but before anyone could react, the wolf sprang to its feet, its eyes fixed on her. It charged, its jaws wide open, revealing razor-sharp teeth.
The woman swung her mace, but the wolf dodged, its agility surprising. It counterattacked, its claws swiping at her chest. She raised her mace to block, but the force of the blow sent her stumbling back.
One of the men, who had chosen the spear, tried to intervene, but his attack was clumsy, and the wolf easily sidestepped it. The woman took advantage of the distraction to strike again, but her blow was awkward, and the wolf countered with a bite that tore through her sleeve, barely missing her arm.
The participants exchanged panicked glances, their movements becoming more frantic. The wolf sensed their fear and pressed its attack, its jaws snapping wildly.
The man with the sword, who had blocked the wolf's initial attack, tried to strike from behind, but his blow was hesitant, and the wolf turned to face him, its eyes blazing with fury.
The battle was chaotic, with the participants stumbling over each other in their desperation to escape the wolf's deadly claws and teeth. Sally and Maple watched from their platform, their faces expressionless, as the participants struggled to survive.
The woman with the mace stumbled back, her arm bleeding from the wolf's bite. She swung her mace wildly, trying to keep the wolf at bay, but her movements were clumsy and awkward.
The man with the spear tried to pin the wolf down, but it dodged and weaved, avoiding his clumsy attacks. The wolf countered with a swipe of its claws, sending the man crashing to the ground.
The participants were in disarray, their attacks uncoordinated and ineffective. The wolf took advantage of their confusion, striking again and again, its jaws snapping wildly.
Sally's expression remained neutral, but Maple's eyes sparkled with excitement. "This is so interesting to watch," she whispered to Sally. "They're not working together at all."
Sally nodded, her eyes fixed on the battle. "We're not trying to create a party Maple. Although, with the enemy stronger than they are, their only chance is working together. What we want us strong adventurers that can handle themselves, just like when we started out. Unlike Mai and Yui, the rest of us were strong even on our own. Besides, while we may be a strong team, we're not really all that coordinated."
Maple gasped. "What? We're plenty coordinated." Sally shook her head. "No. Our set up was basically you defend while we attack. I'm good at strategies but apart from when it was just us, I'm not sure how coordinated I am in a party."
The wolf suddenly lunged at the man with the sword, who raised his weapon in a desperate bid to defend himself. But just as the wolf's jaws were about to snap shut, the woman with the daggers intervened, striking the wolf's flank with a precise and deadly blow. Sally eyes narrowed at this.
The wolf yelped in pain, stumbling back, and the two bowmen took advantage, launching arrow after arrow. Of the twelve arrows fired, only three landed a hit, with two piercing through its left hind leg, and one puncturing its neck.
The swordmen wasted no time in tearing into the monster's side, the swordwomen stabbing it continuously.
Tye spear man finally found his spear in the wolf's eyes, killing it.
Cheers of victory rang out as the trainees celebrated the monster's death. The woman with the dagger glanced at the guild master and the mayor of the city and faltered, their expression were impassive as they looked down on the battlefield.
A howl pierced through the forest, and her heart sank, then another howl followed the first one, and her hands trembled, gripping her daggers till they turned white.
The others now alert gripped their weapons and faced the forest. This time two large brown furred wolves strutted out.
Hearts sank, and hands trembled.
////
Gin was tired, incredibly tired. "We...we won?" He staggered, while leaning on his sword. The others glanced at him, Dana, not even bothering to pick up her sword, was leaning on him while gasping for air.
Six rounds. That was how long they could last. Guild master Sally hadn't held back at all, after defeating the two wolves, four more walked out. After that, it was eight wolves, then sixteen wolves, the final round was a whopping amount of thirty two wolves.
Of course, they had gotten stronger, or at least better at fighting the wolves. They found faster ways to wound the monsters, small tells of the monster's behaviors and gradually began to overwhelm them.
It didn't come without a price though, Dana had lost her eyes at one point, and Duuke, the spearman had one of his legs bitten off. Violet, had her hand broken more than once, unable to swing her mace.
Luckily, after each rounds, the guild master would heal any fatal wounds, leaving the rest of the injuries the same. She also mentioned that once the training was over, they'd have to pay for healing or get a healer.
Gin stood with a proud look on his face, Dana had stopped leaning on him at some point. The guild master walked up to them. "Well done. You survived day one. Maple, if you would." The mayor right next to her again and they were all surrounded by a white light.
The light faded, and they were back in the training area. The guild master stepped forward. "For the next three hours, you'll follow this training exercises while thinking back to your training today. What could you have done better, what could you have done faster. Replay today's battles in your head and learn from them while you train."
The next three hours were a different kind of hell, with them pushing their already tired bodies through unrealistic training, like running for thirty minutes on a moving floor without stopping, and lifting large rocks over and over, sometimes they just dragged the rocks with a rope while running.
By the end of the day, Gin felt thirty years older. When the time came for rest, none of them even had the strength to resist the sweet call of sleep.
The next morning was a new kind of hell. Waking up with your body so sore, you might as well be dying and it would feel no different. The guild master however would have none of that and they were back in the hunting grounds, this time their opponents were birds. Massive, fast, with a taste for human flesh, a blue bladed hawk was no joke.
It took them a good thirty minutes to defeat the hawk, with Warren getting one if his eyes clawed out. With no time to celebrate however, two blue bladed hawks appeared and their fight resumed.
This time they could only survive five rounds, with their bodies giving up at the sixth round. They were returned back to the training area, where they had to through their training exercises while thinking back to the fights and replaying it in their head to see what could have gone better.
The third day had them fighting giant mushrooms that released paralyzing spores. They managed up to seven rounds this time before going home.
The fourth day had them fighting massive centipedes and spiders. This time they lasted seven rounds before going home.
The fifth day brought them back to the wolves, perhaps to show them that they had indeed improved, after all they lasted eight rounds after fighting a hundred and twenty eight brown furred wolves.
The sixth day and them running through a forest trying to find the guild master, while fighting the tree jumping Goraths. Gin never wanted to see another banana again. They were able to complete the test four times.
The seventh and final day had them raiding a bandit camp. This proved to be quite harder than just fighting monsters as they needed more complicated plans to succeed. They managed only two rounds before the day was over.
The day had come, the training was over and soon they could call themselves adventurers. Gin stood side by side with the others as they faced the guild master.
Her little form stood opposite them, looking as fragile as ever but Gin knew, after constantly fighting for seven days, he knew he wouldn't last a single second against her.
"As of today, you're Maple Tree's first adventurers. You've gone through quite a lot this past week, and although I don't believe it was enough, it will have to do. Please step forward and receive your panel." The guild master spoke.
Gin watched as the others walked forward one after another to collect their panels. Eventually it reached his turn and he stepped forward.
The guild master held a black wooden box in her hands. "Place your hands on the box." Gin did as told and he immediately he placed his hand, his body froze, it reminded him of the mushroom spores that paralyzed him back in training. After a while the feeling was gone, and he felt different. Stronger wasn't the right word, more like free, like his restraints were removed. "So this is mana." He whispered.
The guild master then handed him a small brown plate made into a necklace. "This is your adventurers plate, it holds your panel."
He collected it and went back to the others to wait while the rest collected theirs.
"Now," The guild master began. " All you have to do is slide your finger over your plate and you should 'see' your panel."
Gin and the others did as they were told, sliding their index finger over the surface of their guild plate.
There was a ding sound and Gin felt an information pop up in his head, he couldn't really see it, but he could sense it. The numbers were weird but he understood.
_______________
GIN
LEVEL 9 [ 45% ]
ATK : 460
DEF : 350
AGI : 390
_______________
"I take it you all can now see your information? sort of?" The guild master asked.
Gin and the others nodded.
"Good, you guys are our first adventurers, hence I'm doing personally. The ones who come after you won't have that luxury. Congratulations." The guild master gave them a smile. The smile was contagious as they all smiled along.
The guild master then led them to a massive tree that looked like the one in the middle of the city, only much smaller. It was still massive however, with Gin barely seeing any further than the leaves.
The guild master pushed the surface of the tree and suddenly, two massive doors opened and they all walked into a large hall. "This is the Maple Tree Adventurers guild." The guild master declared as they took in their surroundings. A few feet from the door was a large desk, with a young lady seated there. There was a fire place, there were over a dozen chairs and round tables.
The guild master pointed at a side of the hall, Gin saw a flat board with papers on them. "That's the quest board, it contains missions for all of you. You can choose whichever ever one you want to do and then hand it over to Mildred over there. She'll record it down and approve the mission. When you complete the mission, you show her the proof of completion and she records that, as well as giving you, your reward."
Gin and the others ooh and ahh in understanding. The guild master nods. "Good, now I should let you know that the weapons you've all been using are not free, you've basically bought it, so I suggest you start taking missions so you can pay for them. Dismissed."
////
Sally watches with a smirk as the adventurers rush to the mission board. "Things are finally rolling. Now I have to find a chef, so I can turn this place into a tavern. Maybe I can ask Yslaine, we'll need to commission alcohol too. This place will look like a classic adventurers guild is n no time. Hehehehe."