The Adventurer Guild was louder than Rei remembered.
Voices overlapped in waves of conversation, laughter, and arguments over missions. The scent of alcohol, metal, and leather filled the air while groups of adventurers gathered around the large request board near the center of the hall.
Rei stepped inside quietly.
For a moment, nothing changed.
Then someone noticed him.
"Hey… that kid from last week."
A few heads turned.
The whispers followed quickly.
"The unmarked one."
Rei ignored them and walked straight toward the reception desk.
Behind it stood the same woman from before.
The guild receptionist looked up from a stack of papers. For a brief second, her eyes widened in recognition.
Then she smiled.
Not the exaggerated excitement she showed most new adventurers.
Something softer.
"You came back."
Rei stopped at the desk.
"Yes."
She rested her chin lightly on her hand while looking at him, studying his face like she was making sure he was actually standing there.
"Most people who walk out after hearing the rules never return."
Rei tilted his head slightly.
"I said I would."
Behind him, several men sitting at a nearby table were already watching the exchange.
One of them muttered under his breath.
"Why does she look happier than when we bring back monster cores…"
The receptionist ignored them.
"Alright," she said, straightening a few papers. "Then we'll continue your registration."
She pulled a small crystal device from beneath the desk and placed it between them.
"To officially register as an adventurer, you must first complete a provisional mission."
Rei listened silently.
She continued.
"One successful D-rank mission. Once you return with proof of completion, the guild will issue your official adventurer mark."
Her eyes drifted toward his empty forearm for a moment.
There was still no Divine Mark.
"…Normally the system records a person's elemental resonance through their mark," she added quietly. "But exceptions exist."
Rei nodded once.
"That is acceptable."
She slid a wooden tablet toward him.
"Then choose a mission."
Rei turned toward the request board.
Most of the available D-rank tasks were simple.
Gather forest herbs.
Deliver trade letters.
Escort merchant carts along safe roads.
None of them required combat.
He ignored those.
Near the lower section of the board was a darker set of requests.
Monster control missions.
Rei scanned them briefly before removing one from the board.
Wolf extermination.
Location: Southern Greenwood Zone
Target: 3 Ironback Wolves
Difficulty: Upper D-Rank
Behind the desk, the receptionist noticed immediately.
Her smile faded slightly.
"That one is… not the easiest mission available."
Rei handed her the request tablet.
"Is it acceptable?"
She hesitated.
Technically there was no rule against it.
Ironback Wolves weren't powerful monsters, but they were fast and aggressive. Most beginners avoided them until they had at least one or two successful missions.
"You could take something simpler," she suggested gently.
"Flower gathering missions are also D-rank."
Rei considered that for about half a second.
Then shook his head.
"This one is faster."
The receptionist stared at him for a moment.
Then she sighed softly and stamped the request tablet.
"Fine."
She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice.
"Just… be careful."
Rei nodded.
"I will return."
He turned and began walking toward the exit.
Behind him, the room remained quiet for several seconds.
Then the whispers started again.
One adventurer leaned against the counter beside the receptionist.
"You seriously accepted that request for him?"
She shrugged.
"He chose it."
"He's an unmarked kid."
"He's also the calmest person who's walked into this building all week."
The man crossed his arms.
"You're too soft."
The receptionist rested her chin on her hand again, watching the guild doors where Rei had just disappeared.
"Maybe."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"But he seems capable."
The man rolled his eyes.
"And?"
She shrugged again.
"…and he's cute."
The adventurer groaned.
"Hopeless as usual."
Outside the guild, Rei stepped onto the stone street.
The city gates were visible in the distance.
Beyond them stretched the outer wilderness of the Eastern Region.
The true monster lands existed far beyond the frontier wall where the military fought constant battles.
But within the region itself there were still pockets of danger.
Untamed forests.
Abandoned valleys.
Ancient ruins.
Places where monsters occasionally slipped through or managed to breed undetected.
The Southern Greenwood Zone was one of those places.
Controlled wilderness.
Dangerous enough for adventurers.
Not dangerous enough to justify sending the army.
Rei adjusted the strap of his pack and began walking toward the city gate.
Behind him, the guild continued its usual chaos.
Ahead of him, the forest waited.
And somewhere inside it, three wolves were about to become his first mission.
Rei entered the Greenwood forest alone.
For most beginners, that would have been strongly discouraged. New adventurers usually formed small parties before attempting monster hunts. Wolves were not considered especially dangerous, but packs could easily overwhelm inexperienced fighters.
Still, the guild had not stopped him.
The receptionist had simply watched him leave with a quiet look of concern rather than panic.
Rei walked deeper into the forest.
The city sounds faded behind him until only the rustling of leaves and distant animal calls remained.
He continued for nearly an hour.
Nothing happened.
Birds moved through the branches overhead. Small animals scattered through the brush when they heard his footsteps. Once he saw a deer watching him cautiously before disappearing into the trees.
But there were no wolves.
Eventually Rei stopped near a cluster of plants growing beside a fallen log.
He crouched slightly.
The leaves matched one of the drawings he had seen on the guild board earlier that morning.
Forest Bitterleaf.
A common medicinal herb.
Rei pulled a small knife from his bag and cut several stems.
"…So herbs were actually easier to find."
He had assumed the opposite.
Killing wolves seemed simpler than searching for tiny plants hidden in a forest the size of a small town.
Apparently the world disagreed.
Still, the forest itself explained something important.
These wilderness zones existed inside the region walls because the creatures here were manageable. Dangerous animals and low-tier monsters occasionally appeared, but nothing strong enough to threaten nearby settlements.
That was why the military did not bother clearing the area completely.
It was dangerous.
But not catastrophic.
Rei continued walking.
The attack came without warning.
A grey shape burst from the bushes to his left.
Ironback Wolf.
The creature's body was nearly as long as Rei was tall, with thick fur and a hardened ridge of bone plating running along its spine. Its jaws snapped toward his shoulder as it lunged.
Rei stepped sideways.
The wolf's teeth closed on empty air.
Before it could recover, Rei grabbed its front leg mid-stride.
Then he lifted.
The wolf's body rose off the ground in a sudden arc.
And a moment later—
BOOM.
The entire creature slammed into the forest floor hard enough to shake loose dirt and leaves.
The impact cracked loudly.
For a moment the wolf twitched weakly.
Then it stopped moving.
Rei looked down at it.
The hardened ridge along its back had shattered from the impact. Several pieces of bone plating had broken completely.
"…That worked."
He knelt beside the corpse.
Then paused.
A thought occurred to him.
He slowly looked at the wolf again.
"…What part was I supposed to bring back?"
The receptionist had definitely explained it.
Probably.
Rei could not remember.
Teeth?
Eyes?
Fur?
Claws?
After a few seconds of consideration, he solved the problem the simplest way possible.
He collected everything that seemed important.
Teeth.
Eyes.
Several claws.
And part of the wolf's leg.
If the guild needed something specific, at least one of these would probably qualify.
Rei finished packing the materials into his bag and stood up again.
The forest was quiet.
Then a distant growl echoed through the trees.
Rei looked toward the sound.
Roughly thirty meters away, a small clearing opened between the trees.
Seven wolves sat scattered across the grass.
Their heads lifted slowly as they noticed him.
A pack.
Rei studied them for a moment.
This time he did not reach for his knife.
Instead, a faint dark flame flickered across his right hand.
The black fire spread slowly across his palm like liquid shadow.
Personal mana.
Dense.
Unstable.
And far more concentrated than the atmospheric mana used by normal mages.
log mini bible
Rei stepped forward.
The wolves reacted instantly.
Two of them lunged.
Rei moved first.
His body shot forward across the clearing, black flame trailing from his hand like smoke.
The nearest wolf barely had time to react before Rei's hand passed through its neck.
There was almost no resistance.
The black flame sliced through the creature's body like a blade through water.
The wolf collapsed before it even understood what had happened.
The rest of the pack attacked immediately.
Three wolves jumped toward him from different directions.
Rei pivoted between them.
Another slash.
Another body fell.
The black flame devoured the structure of their bodies wherever it touched.
Within moments the clearing was silent again.
Seven wolves lay scattered across the grass.
Rei stood in the center, breathing slightly heavier than before.
Personal mana always exhausted him quickly.
Still, the fight had ended fast.
He looked down at the corpses.
"…I should probably take parts from these too."
By the time Rei returned to the Adventurer Guild, the sun was already beginning to set.
The guild hall was busy.
Conversations filled the room as adventurers returned from their own missions.
The doors opened.
Rei stepped inside.
He was completely covered in blood.
Not injured.
Just… extremely red.
The entire guild went quiet.
Rei walked to the reception desk and placed his large bag onto the counter.
THUD.
The receptionist looked up.
Her eyes widened instantly.
"Are you hurt?!"
She leaned forward across the desk, scanning him quickly for injuries.
"You shouldn't have gone alone," she said, clearly worried. "I could have assigned you to a party—"
Rei opened the bag.
Inside were the collected parts of eight wolves.
Eyes.
Teeth.
Claws.
Several chunks of bone plating.
"…I brought everything that looked important."
The receptionist stared.
Then she looked back at him.
"…How many wolves did you kill?"
"Eight."
"The mission required three."
"Yes."
She leaned back in her chair slowly.
"…Are you trying to impress me?"
Rei tilted his head slightly.
"No."
For several seconds she simply stared at the bag again.
Then she shook her head with a small smile.
"Sit on the bench over there."
She pointed toward the waiting area.
"I'll calculate your reward."
Rei nodded and walked toward the benches along the wall.
A group of four adventurers sat nearby.
Two men.
Two women.
They watched him quietly as he sat down.
One of the men leaned slightly toward the others.
"Who's the kid?"
"No idea."
"Maybe waiting for his party?"
One of the women studied Rei curiously.
"…He's cute."
The second woman nodded.
"Agreed."
Rei sat silently.
After a moment one of the men spoke directly to him.
"First mission?"
"Yes."
"What were you hunting?"
"Ironback wolves."
The group blinked.
"How many?"
"Eight."
The four adventurers stared at him.
"…You're joking."
Rei shook his head.
"No."
The group exchanged looks.
One of the men finally laughed.
"Well… welcome to the guild."
The woman beside him leaned forward slightly.
"For a beginner?"
She smiled.
"That's impressive."
Rei simply sat quietly on the bench.
Waiting for his reward.
Covered in wolf blood.
And completely unaware that half the guild was now staring at him.
Rei sat quietly on the wooden bench while the four adventurers beside him continued asking questions.
Mostly about where he came from.
Which town.
How long he had been training.
Did he belong to a guild family.
Rei answered when necessary.
Short answers.
Nothing more.
He never asked anything back.
After a while the conversation died naturally. Not from awkwardness. Just because Rei clearly had no interest in extending it.
Eventually a familiar voice called from across the hall.
"Rei."
He stood immediately and walked back to the reception desk.
The receptionist was already counting coins when he arrived.
She pushed a small stack across the counter.
"Your reward."
Rei looked down.
Fifteen bronze coins.
The currency system was simple enough that even children understood it.
Ten bronze coins equaled one silver coin.
One hundred silver coins equaled one gold coin.
Above that were platinum coins.
But most ordinary people would never see one in their lifetime.
A hundred gold coins were required to equal a single platinum.
Rei picked up the coins and dropped them into his pouch.
"The guild is generous."
The receptionist raised an eyebrow.
"Generous?"
"Yes."
She folded her arms slightly.
"That mission is usually considered difficult for beginners."
Rei thought about the wolves for a moment.
"…It seemed manageable."
She stared at him for a few seconds.
Then she sighed.
"Well, either way, your mission results were… unusual."
She pulled a small metal plate from beneath the desk.
"This is your adventurer badge."
The badge was simple.
A small bronze plate with the guild crest engraved into its surface.
At the center was a single letter.
D.
Rei looked at it.
"I thought beginners started at F rank."
"They do."
She tapped the badge lightly.
"Normally."
Rei waited.
"You completed an upper D-rank monster hunt alone and returned with proof for eight kills instead of three."
She shrugged.
"The guild decided to skip the lower ranks."
Rei took the badge.
"So I am D rank."
"Correct."
She continued explaining.
"Adventurers increase rank by completing missions at their current level. Usually ten successful missions are required before promotion is considered."
She pointed toward a large board mounted on the wall behind the desk.
The ranks were listed clearly.
F
E
D
C
B
A
S
SS
"The higher the rank, the more dangerous the missions become."
Rei studied the list.
"The highest rank?"
"SS."
Her expression shifted slightly.
"In the Eastern Region, only one adventurer currently holds that rank."
Rei nodded once.
"Understood."
He attached the badge to the strap of his bag.
The receptionist watched him for a moment before speaking again.
"You know…"
Rei looked up.
"For your first day, most people would be celebrating."
Rei tilted his head slightly.
"Why?"
"You jumped two ranks and killed eight wolves."
Rei thought about it.
"…I needed three."
The receptionist stared at him.
Then laughed quietly.
"You're strange."
Rei didn't respond.
He simply turned toward the guild doors.
As he walked away, several adventurers watched him pass.
The four-person party from earlier was still sitting on the bench.
One of the men leaned toward the others.
"Did you hear that?"
"D-rank already."
One of the women smiled.
"Not bad for a beginner."
The other nodded.
"…And still cute."
Across the hall, the receptionist rested her chin in her hand and watched Rei leave the guild.
The hopeless look returned to the man standing beside the counter.
"You're doing it again."
She didn't look away from the door.
"Doing what?"
"Looking at adventurers like lost puppies."
She smiled slightly.
"…He'll be back."
Outside, Rei stepped into the evening air.
The bronze badge hung quietly from his bag.
His first day as an adventurer had ended.
Eight wolves.
Fifteen bronze coins.
And a rank most beginners would need weeks to reach.
For Rei, it had taken a single afternoon.
The evening air had grown cooler by the time Rei left the guild.
The city streets were still busy, but most of the adventurers had already settled into taverns or inns after returning from their missions.
Rei walked calmly through the streets.
The bronze D-rank badge hung from his bag.
His clothes, however, were still covered in dried wolf blood.
He had not noticed.
Or perhaps he simply did not care.
After several minutes of walking, Rei reached the same inn he had visited earlier that morning.
It had been cheap.
Clean.
And quiet.
Those were the only three qualities he needed.
Rei pushed the door open.
The reaction was immediate.
A flash of steel shot across the room.
Rei tilted his head slightly.
The knife passed beside his face and embedded itself into the wooden wall behind him with a loud thunk.
For a moment the room went completely silent.
Rei slowly turned his head.
Behind the counter stood the young woman who managed the inn.
She was holding another knife.
Her eyes were wide.
"…You're not a monster."
Rei looked down at himself.
His clothes were soaked in dark red blood.
"…No."
The girl lowered the knife slowly.
"I thought something had broken into the inn."
Rei reached behind him and pulled the thrown knife from the wall.
He walked to the counter and placed it in front of her.
"I would like a room."
She blinked.
"…A room?"
"For one week."
The girl stared at him for a few seconds longer.
Then she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Right. Sorry about the knife."
Rei shook his head slightly.
"It was avoidable."
That somehow made the apology feel worse.
She sighed.
"Still… sorry."
She opened the register book on the counter and began flipping through the pages.
"Same room as earlier?"
"Yes."
"Seven nights will be seven silver coins."
Rei pulled several coins from his pouch and placed them on the counter.
The girl glanced at the blood on his sleeves again.
"…You might want to wash before sleeping."
Rei nodded.
"That is reasonable."
She slid the room key toward him.
"Bath's down the hall."
Rei took the key.
Then quietly walked toward the staircase.
Behind the counter, the innkeeper watched him disappear upstairs.
After a moment she muttered to herself.
"…Adventurers are weird."
Upstairs, Rei entered the room he had used earlier that morning.
Rei placed his bag on the floor.
Eight wolf hunts.
A completed mission.
A new adventurer rank.
Outside the window, the city slowly settled into night.
Rei Takeda's first day as an adventurer was over.