Having clarified his goal for now, Kyle stood up from his bed and stretched. He patted his stomach, feeling famished.
“It seems that quite a while has passed since I woke up.” Kyle noticed that the sun’s position had clearly changed since he woke up. It seemed that several hours had passed as he processed his memories and clarified his goal.
He picked up a short towel and walked out of his room and to the inn’s bathroom. After a quick wash, Kyle walked back to his room, donned his leather armor and sword, locked the room, and went down the stairs.
On the first floor was a counter and several tables. It seems that because it’s long past dawn, most of the tables were empty. Apart from several merchants eating and talking at one of the tables, there are only a few adventurers.
The most conspicuous person was the beautiful red-haired lady at the counter, Marielle Hearth, the inn’s proprietress.
“Good morning, young Kyle, had a good night of sleep?” Marielle greeted with a faint smile.
“Good morning, Ms. Marielle. Yes, the bed was very comfortable,” Kyle calmly replied, a bit uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to small talk.
“Hmm, glad to hear that. Well, would you like something?” Marielle suppressed her amusement and asked, clearly noticing his discomfort.
“Just the usual breakfast set.”
Kyle replied before walking to one of the wooden tables at the back. After taking his seat, he looked around silently. The first floor of this inn wasn’t so different, wooden floor and furniture, but it was unexpectedly very clean.
After looking around for a bit, Kyle leaned on his palm. A bit bored, he eavesdropped on the merchants eating not far away.
“...I almost lost everything, if I hadn’t paid a lot of money and gathered enough adventurers to escort my caravan during my last trip, those green midgets would have taken my life!”
“Speaking of which, hasn't the number of monsters, especially goblins, increased too much recently?”
“Doesn’t the number of monsters increase periodically like this? The adventure guild will clear them up after a while.”
“It’s true, but the number of monsters has increased too much…”
Kyle snapped from his daze as Marielle placed a tray in front of him, containing brown bread and mushroom soup.
“Thanks,” Kyle said.
Marielle smiled and placed a cup of orange juice in front of him.
“Here, this one is on the house, because you’re a handsome and polite fella.” She winked and said, before walking back to the counter.
Kyle looked at the proprietress’s seductive back for a moment before looking back at his tray.
He picked up the brown bread, dipped it into the soup, and chewed it.
‘It’s certainly not outstanding by my past life’s standards, but it’s better than expected. The bread is a bit hard, though.’ Kyle thought as he dug into the food.
Brown bread certainly isn’t as soft and delicious as white bread, but it’s certainly better than the brick-like black bread. This is already the best meal within his financial constraints, so he can’t really complain.
It didn’t take long to finish the meal. He picked up his sword and belongings and slowly walked to the exit.
Passing by the inn’s counter, Marielle waved at him and said, “Have a nice day and be careful.”
“You too, Ms. Marielle, and I will.” Kyle waved back as he walked out of the inn.
He walked through the bustling streets, curiously looking at the various shops, armored adventurers, and the different races. His eyes couldn’t help but land on the furry tail of a cat girl, following it as it swung back and forth.
Feeling a stare, he raised his head to meet the amused gaze of the cat girl. Kyle smiled apologetically and quickly walked away, a bit embarrassed.
‘That was so embarrassing! I have to stop acting like a country bumpkin.’ Kyle thought as he headed towards his objective, no longer looking around.
After asking around a bit, it didn’t take long before he arrived in front of one of the most magnificent buildings in Mirevale town, the adventure guild.
Looking at the pristine 4-story marble building, Kyle was amazed.
“At least 2000 square meters? Maybe even 3000, I didn’t expect the adventure guild to have such influence.” Kyle muttered, feeling secretly astonished.
He looked at the flow of adventurers for a moment before following them into the guild.
The first sight he faced once inside was a massive hall. On the right side were several counters and a line of adventurers in front of them, and on the extreme right was a wide flight of stairs.
Well-equipped adventurers with an aura of confidence occasionally walked up the stairs amidst the envious or admiring glances of other adventurers.
On the left side was a large hall with many tables. Many boisterous adventurers were chatting loudly, occasionally bursting into laughter while either eating or drinking.
Finally, between the counters and the hall was a large wooden board, filled with various quests. Kyle keenly noticed several straight lines dividing the board into segments and the letters F to S inscribed in their center from the bottom to the top of the board.
Taking all of this in, Kyle took a deep breath and walked to the end of the line of one of the counters.
“Hey! Look again, there are 12 goblin ears here! Why did you give me just 5 silver coins! Can’t you count?! It’s 50 copper coins per ear!” A disgruntled muscular adventurer shouted at the counter lady.
“Mr. Tom, I’m sure you know that only ears from different goblins are qualified as tokens for the quest; these two ears correspond to two of the other ten ears, thus they aren’t qualified tokens.” The counter lady’s hazel eyes narrowed as she calmly countered.
“So did we work for nothing?! My teammates were injured during the quest! And besides! In the quest, it was said that the guild would pay 50 copper coins for each goblin ear!” The agitated adventurer thumped the counter and said, his spittle nearly splashing on the counter lady’s face.
The counter lady’s eyelids twitched as she reigned in her irritation and explained.
“Adventurer Tom, if you have carefully read the quest’s details, you would have noticed that the guild will pay for an ear from each goblin. That’s to say that each goblin is worth 50 copper coins. Now, please stop shouting and leave. There are other adventurers behind you.”
The counter lady’s patience was withering as she said. It was apparent that she was barely tolerating the adventurer's stupid claim. She was on the verge of calling the guards.
The muscular adventurer was clearly aware of that as he took his payment and left, muttering something under his breath.
As the line slowly moved forward amidst the noisy chatter and loud arguments between adventurers, it was soon his turn.
Looking at the counter lady’s smiling face as she tried to rein in her irritation, Kyle walked forward.
“Hello, I would like to register as an adventurer.”
“Hi, please fill in this form.” The counter lady said and handed him a piece of parchment and a pen.
“Please fill these segments; they are mandatory. The others are optional.” The counter lady said as she pointed to the two sections about name and class.
“If you don’t have a professional or apprentice class, please write none. The other sections about age, region, previous job, and experiences are not mandatory, but it’s recommended to fill in as much as you can.” The counter lady pointed at the different sections and said.
“I see, thank you.”
Kyle nodded, then picked up the pen and filled in the sections about his name, class, and age. He left the others empty.
“Please wait a moment.” The counter lady said as she picked the parchment and walked toward an instrument not far behind her.
She carefully placed the parchment paper inside the instrument and input a few instructions. After a few seconds, she picked up a rectangular metal piece and walked back to the counter.
“Here’s your adventurer tag. All newly registered adventurers start as iron-class adventurers. To upgrade your adventurer class, please complete at least 3 E class quests and prove that you have acquired a professional class.”
Kyle thanked her and paid the 1 silver coin registration fee. However, before he could walk away, the counter lady stopped him and said.
“Mr. Kyle, according to the new policy, the adventure guild can provide new adventurers with apprentice classes with basic supplies and equipment as an interest-free loan. You have a year to repay the loan. This is an investment from the guild into individuals we believe possess potential.” The counter lady said seriously.
Kyle had a look of surprise on his face as he listened. He had never heard of such a thing, but on reflection, it’s a new policy, so it’s not surprising.
After pondering for a moment, he looked at the counter lady and said,
“Can you tell me more about the basic supplies and equipment first?”
“Of course! The guild can provide you with basic leather armor, a basic weapon of your choice, basic wilderness supplies, and two newbie guides. One for common monsters and magic beasts, and one for common herbs and mana-infused materials.” The counter lady enthusiastically said.
“I see, then can I only take the basic wilderness supplies, and two newbie guides? As you can see, I don’t need basic armor and weapons.” Kyle pointed at his polished leather armor and sword.
“That’s not an issue, Mr. Kyle. Please wait a moment.” The counter lady said as she pulled something from under her desk.
“Here they are. The wilderness supplies and the guides cost 2 silver coins; you have a period of 1 year to repay them, and please be sure to read the two newbie guides before you take a quest. Many new adventurers have lost their lives due to laziness and carelessness.”
The counter lady said as she pushed two thin guides and a small bag on the counter.
“Thank you for your concern, beautiful counter lady.” Kyle nodded gratefully as he took the guides and bag.
“Hehe, my name is Celia, Mr. Kyle, you’re welcome anytime.” Celia chuckled and said.
Holding the two newbie guides, Kyle walked to an empty table and sat down.
“Hey Dylan, hear this out, Ron was actually brought down to his knees by a slime! Hahahah!”
“For real?! Was he defeated by a slime? Is that even possible?”
“I was just a bit careless, okay?! And I wasn’t defeated, I quickly got up and killed it!” A brown-haired young man quickly retorted, his face flushed.
“Hahahaha!! But you were still brought to your knees by a slime, that, in itself, is impressive.” A burly man roared with laughter.
Kyle glanced at the red-faced young man, then looked away. Ignoring the boisterous laughter and boasting next to him, he opened the common monsters and magic beasts guide and started reading.
‘Nice! It has illustrations.’ Kyle thought as he looked at the image of the first monster in the guide, the goblin.
Looking at the short, pot-bellied, hideous creature in the guide, Kyle could feel its greed and malice just from the illustration.
Further down was its description.
[Goblins are small, green-skinned humanoid monsters about the size of a child, 4 to 5 feet tall, with sharp ears, yellow eyes, and crude weapons like clubs or sticks. Individually, they are weak enough that even a farmer with a pitchfork can kill them, but they become extremely dangerous due to their numbers, cunning nature, and brutality. Goblins often live in caves, ruins, or underground nests and can set traps, ambush travelers, and coordinate attacks despite their limited intelligence.]
[When a large enough number of them accumulate, they can establish an open settlement under the leadership of mutated individuals. Their mutations are varied and differ greatly in terms of power and influence. A few of the mutations are hobgoblins, goblin shamans, goblin archers, goblin assassins, or goblin champions. In very rare circumstances, goblin lords can appear, causing B-class disasters. It’s recommended to regularly clear out goblins so that such disasters don’t occur.]
[Goblins don’t have reproductive isolation with any species; thus, they can theoretically reproduce with any female creature. Female adventurers beware!]
Kyle read through the introduction with interest.
‘It’s quite detailed, it seems that quite a few adventurers fell victim to goblins, hence they’re the first monster type on the guide.’
He closed the guide, intending to read the rest tonight.
‘Now, I have to try something very important, my cheat, [Trancendence].’