The afternoon sun hung lower in the sky by the time Instructor Fadeyi’s whistle echoed across the hunting grounds.
Three sharp blasts.
One after another.
The pairs emerged from different directions, each carrying small leather pouches containing their slime cores.
Fadeyi waited until all ten novices stood before him.
He glanced over the group.
"No injuries."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"Good."
One by one, the pairs stepped forward and emptied their pouches onto a large cloth spread across the ground.
Blue slime cores rolled across the fabric, catching the sunlight.
"Twelve."
"Nine."
"Eleven."
"Ten."
Fadeyi counted each pile without comment before placing the cores into a larger guild satchel.
"You’ve all done well."
"The objective was never to collect the most."
"It was to return."
Several novices exchanged puzzled looks.
He noticed.
"A dead adventurer earns nothing."
Silence settled over the group.
Fadeyi reached into his backpack and withdrew a thick, weathered book.
Its leather cover was faded from years of use.
Across the front, in worn golden letters, were the words:
Field Guide to Common Flora of Aramode.
He flipped through several pages before stopping.
"This..."
He turned the book so everyone could see the illustration.
"...is Greenleaf Mint."
The drawing showed a short green plant with narrow leaves edged in silver.
"It grows in shaded areas, usually close to streams."
"It has a refreshing scent."
"If it smells bitter..."
"...it isn’t Greenleaf Mint."
He looked across the novices.
"Every time an adventurer leaves the safety of the city walls, they accept risk."
"So ask yourselves..."
"How can you gain the most from that risk?"
No one answered.
"Monster cores are one source of income."
He tapped the page.
"Medicinal herbs are another."
"The guild purchases them."
"So do healers."
"So do alchemists."
He closed the book.
"Today’s final assignment is simple."
"Each pair will gather one kilogram of Greenleaf Mint."
He paused before adding,
"If you are uncertain whether a plant is correct..."
"Leave it."
"A mistaken harvest can be worthless."
"Some mistakes can be poisonous."
The novices nodded seriously.
"Move out."
The search proved more difficult than hunting slimes.
Twice, Tolu confidently pointed at a patch of herbs.
Twice, Ore shook her head.
"Wrong leaf shape."
A few minutes later...
"What about these?"
She knelt beside a cluster growing near the stream.
"The silver edges..."
She rubbed one leaf gently between her fingers before smelling it.
"A fresh scent."
She smiled.
"This is it."
Together they carefully harvested the plants, making sure not to uproot them completely.
"We’re leaving some behind?" Tolu asked.
Ore nodded.
"If we take everything..."
"There’ll be nothing left next season."
Tolu smiled.
"I hadn’t thought about that."
"My grandmother used to say the forest remembers greedy hands."
He chuckled.
"I think your grandmother was wiser than most adventurers."
After nearly half an hour, they finally tied off a cloth sack filled with Greenleaf Mint.
"One kilogram."
"Exactly."
"You measured it by eye."
"I’ve helped in gardens before."
"I’m impressed."
"You should be."
As the afternoon drew to a close, the novices gathered once more.
Each pair carried a bundle of herbs.
Instructor Fadeyi inspected them one by one.
"Good."
"No poisonous substitutions."
"I was expecting at least one."
Several novices laughed nervously.
Fadeyi secured the bundles to his pack before looking toward the distant walls of Aramode.
The city stood proudly against the horizon, its towering gates glowing gold beneath the setting sun.
He adjusted his staff.
"Today’s lesson is complete."
The novices turned toward home.
Their feet were tired.
Their clothes carried dust and bits of crushed grass.
Yet their conversations were livelier than they had been that morning.
Some compared the number of slimes they had defeated.
Others argued over who had found the largest patch of herbs.
For the first time...
They no longer felt like children dreaming of becoming adventurers.
They had taken their first steps beyond the safety of the city.
And though the day had been ordinary by a veteran’s standards...
It was a day none of them would ever forget.
The familiar sight of Aramode’s towering walls welcomed the novices home.
By the time they returned to the Adventurers’ Guild, the sun had begun its slow descent toward the horizon.
Inside, the guild bustled as usual.
Veteran adventurers glanced briefly at the dusty group before returning to their conversations.
Instructor Fadeyi led the ten novices to a wooden counter near the rear of the hall.
A middle-aged guild clerk smiled as he accepted the satchel of slime cores and bundles of Greenleaf Mint.
"First field training?"
Fadeyi nodded.
"They did well."
The clerk carefully counted each slime core before weighing every bundle of herbs on a brass scale.
He scribbled several figures into a ledger.
"Everything checks out."
The novices watched with quiet anticipation.
The clerk reached beneath the counter and produced ten small leather pouches.
"As beginners, today’s payment includes your field training allowance, the value of your collected slime cores, and payment for the Greenleaf Mint."
He began calling names.
"Kunle."
A pouch changed hands.
"Sade."
Another.
"Kemi."
One by one, the novices stepped forward.
"Tolu."
He accepted the pouch with both hands.
"It contains..." the clerk checked the ledger.
"...sixty-three bronze coins."
Tolu blinked.
"Sixty-three?"
The clerk smiled.
"A fair day’s work."
Ore stepped forward next.
"Ore."
"Sixty-five bronze."
She smiled as she accepted her payment.
Several novices quietly opened their pouches, the soft clinking of bronze filling the air.
"It feels heavier than I expected," Tolu said.
Ore peeked into his pouch.
"You know..."
"...it’s not bad."
He nodded.
"It’ll help Uncle."
The guild clerk overheard their conversation.
"Don’t get too excited."
Both looked up.
"The money’s honest."
"But remember..."
He gestured toward the busy hall, where scarred veterans laughed over mugs and studied commission boards.
"Most adventurers don’t become wealthy overnight."
He picked up another ledger.
"Some spend weeks without a profitable commission."
"Others earn several silver in a single day..."
"...because they survived a job that almost killed them."
His smile faded slightly.
"And many believed the next dangerous commission would make them rich."
He looked around the hall.
"Some never came back to collect their reward."
The lively chatter of the guild suddenly seemed quieter.
Tolu closed the pouch in his hand.
The bronze coins felt heavier than before.
Not because of their weight...
But because he now understood what they truly represented.
They weren’t simply money.
They were the price of stepping beyond the city walls.