Bang!
"I want to register as an adventurer!" a child around the age of nine or ten exclaimed, slamming fifteen copper coins onto a guild receptionist's desk.
Sigh~
"Very well, sir. Please state your name and age," the receptionist replied a little reluctantly while looking at the child before her; yet she still took out a book and quill to record his information.
"Adrian, no last name. Ten years of age," Adrian said with a smile, gazing at the mature blonde receptionist in front of him.
....
(half an hour later)
Inside a small inn that could accommodate only thirteen people per room, Adrian was hard at work washing dishes.
"You really do know how to wash dishes, boy," a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair remarked as she added more wooden plates to the sink for Adrian to clean.
"By the way, I heard from the drunks up front that you got yourself registered at the Adventurer's Guild. Is that true, boy?" she asked in a slightly saddened tone, like a mother who discovered her son was throwing his life away but felt powerless to stop it.
"Hahaha, yeah, I was going to tell you after work," Adrian said with a genuine smile. But he knew that was a lie, just like the smile on his face.
Pfft-
"Hahaha. Really now, boy? Given your memory, I doubt that; hell, I'd even bet this old, dusty inn on the fifty percent chance that you'll forget you registered as an adventurer by evening. Not to mention telling me after your shift is over, hahaha!"
"My memory isn't that bad, you old hag!" Adrian thought internally, but he wouldn't voice those words aloud; he still needed to stop this woman from slandering him.
"Give me a bit of a break, Madam Rose. I am a growing boy, after all, so of course I'd forget or mispronounce a few words here and there. But that doesn't mean there's something wrong with my memory."
The madam of the inn, for whom Adrian was washing dishes, simply rolled her eyes and slapped him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah. 'Growing boy.' It's time for me to get back up front, so let's continue this conversation after your lunchtime shift is over."
Adrian simply nodded and returned to washing the dishes that Madam Rose had brought.
....
(Three hours later)
Adrian was seen walking through the streets of "Mudfall," apparently having ditched his conversation with Madam Rose.
'At times like these, I can't help but really marvel at the fact that I have transmigrated into a world of swords and magic,' Adrian thought as he watched what he assumed to be a lizardman walk past him.
"What an ugly piece—"
"Oops! I almost said that out loud," Adrian chuckled for a bit and continued walking through the streets of Mudfall, though this time he wore a smile on his face.
(twenty minutes later)
In the middle of Mudfall stood a proud building made of stone and iron. Some would call it unremarkable, but here in Mudfall, it's important to note that there are only three buildings known to be made of stone and iron: the first being the Adventurers' Guild, the second being the town mayor's fortress, and as for the third and final known building, that would be:
{THE DARK HEARTS SMITHERY}
At this moment, within its sacred walls, a child of barely ten years of age was trying to bargain with a clerk for the purchase of a warhammer.
"You're making this hard on me, kid. The lowest I can sell it to you for is thirty copper," a middle-aged man said as he looked at the brown-haired, dark-skinned boy in front of him.
"That old thing's already falling apart, so how about lowering the price down to twelve copper coins?" Adrian asked the store clerk, hoping to reduce the price even more than he already had.
"Kid, if I lower it to twelve copper coins, how will we be able to pay the smiths who made it?" the middle-aged clerk replied after taking a puff of his cigar.
"Twenty-five copper coins! That's my final offer!" Adrian said firmly as he reached into his pouch and pulled out twenty-five copper coins.
"Twenty-seven copper coins and a promise to go to a different clerk the next time you come here," the middle-aged man replied in an irritated tone before continuing to puff on his cigar.
"Twenty-seven copper it is then, mister." Adrian then handed over the coins he had taken out of his pouch before reaching back in and handing over two more copper coins.
"Tsk. Here's your hammer, dear customer." The middle-aged man put on a fake smile and handed Adrian a thin, old warhammer with a length of 1.4 meters and a spiked metal hammerhead.
"Why, thank you, kind sir," Adrian said with an equally fake smile as he took his newly acquired warhammer from the clerk.
....
Nightfall (5 hours later)
In Mudfall, there was a saying that almost all adventurers knew by heart: Wolves walk by day, and beasts rule by evening. But after sunset, demons roam with treasures around their necks.
And so within the deepest part of the "Whispering Forest," located near the town of Mudfall, a group of five adventurers traveled together in search of those "demons" that roam the night.
Ha. Ha.
Ha.
"I really underestimated this adventurer stuff," Adrian said between pants as he walked through the "Whispering Forest" of Mudfall.
"Me... too..." a blond teenager said as he struggled to keep up with Adrian and the group.
Tsk.
"I knew we shouldn't have brought those two," a red-haired woman dressed in a witch's outfit said in annoyance as she stared back at Adrian and the blond teenager behind him.
Sigh.
"There's nothing that can be done about that now," a brown-haired man in his late twenties said as he pulled out a flask and drank from it.
"Let's take a short break. Since the night is still young, I doubt any demon beast has left its nest," the brown-haired man said before passing his flask to a person who looked almost identical to him.
"That's a good idea..." The almost identical man briefly shared his opinion before gulping down some liquor from the flask he had been given.
"I cOulD ReSt.." : said a dog-like creature with a human face and seven bloody crystal shards protruding from its neck.
!!!! (x5)
Although the group was initially startled by the creature's sudden arrival, it wasn't enough to prevent the most experienced among them from acting.
Swiss.
The first to act was the brown-haired man with the flask as he decisively threw the flask at the creature before grabbing the crossbow at his side and began shooting.
Swiss. Swiss.
Pierce. *Arck*
Swiss. Pierce.
*Arr*
The creature whimpered as two arrows pierced its body after being hit by the flask.
"PaINn. StOp!!!!" the creature screamed with its broken voice before it ferociously ran and lunged at the crossbow-wielding man.
Swiss. Pierce.
*Arck*
Swiss.
The creature instantly regretted its decision to lunge at the crossbow-wielding man as it received an arrow to the chest the moment it leaped toward him.
Pierce. *Ark!*
Tump!
"Witch! Quick! Light it up!" a brown-haired man in his late twenties ordered after he saw that his brother had pierced the beast's chest with an arrow.
Boom! Boom!
Boom!
*ArrRrrr*
The dog-like creature, although heavily injured by the witch's and crossbow wielders' attacks, didn't stand idly by waiting for death.
*ArRrAAarRrr!!!!*: The creature let out a loud, demonic sound that resembled a mix between a wolf's howl and a man's scream, which seemed to have a stunning effect, as both the witch and the crossbowman stood in place, conscious yet frozen.
The creature used the brief pause from the witch's and crossbowman's attacks to decisively make a break for the woods.
"Disgusting!" Adrian couldn't help but exclaim as he looked at the frozen adventurers before him.
*Raaaa*: A slightly demonic whisper then slipped from Adrian's mouth, which sounded similar to the demon beast's previous howl, and just like the demonic beast's roar, Adrian's whisper also had a strange effect that caused the escaping demon to detour slightly in its escape and subconsciously move towards Adrian.
"Die!" Adrian shouted before he swung his warhammer with all his might at the quickly approaching demon, delivering a critical blow to the demonic beast's head.
*Ar-*
"MOVE!!!" the red-haired woman in a witch's outfit said ferociously after regaining control of her body.
Boom! Boom!
Boom!
Deep within the "Whispering Forest," a demon was slain in mere minutes, transforming what would have been a terrifying encounter for many into a unique opportunity for wealth. On February 1st of the holy calendar, a witch, a crossbowman, and a child wielding a thin spiked warhammer had killed a seven-sharded demon.