The Assesssor From Drethia

The Kingdom of Drethia.

The Kingdom of Drethia is known for its military might and the one that holds jurisdiction over humanity's frontier city of Ancdam, while at the same time boasting the largest territory of all the remaining domains in the continent.

Thanks to the Frontier City of Ancdam, Drethia has the monopoly on almost all monster-related resources, as well as all matters related to magical and technical advancements. Several artisans, craftsmen, and even merchants treated the city as a land with the most opportunity to strike fame.

During the sudden emergence of the Northern Province a hundred years ago, the kingdom of Drethia was the very first to mobilize its troops to face this unknown threat. Being the first ones to encounter the strange beasts, the King of Drethia at the time was hard-pressed to halt the monster's advance. The number of soldiers who died during this first encounter was enormous. Looking at the number of men he lost, the King decided that he needed a better way to assess threats posed by these invaders. If he only had a way of gauging the threat the monsters possessed, then he could surely send the appropriate person for the job.

With that in mind, The King gathered the most elite of the elite and formed a group who would be under his direct command. This group came to be known as the Risk Assessors. These Risk Assessors are a group of specialists in charge of assigning and designating Ranks to monsters, dungeons, and places that were previously unbeknownst to humanity. They are also the ones that the King turns to for secret missions and other tasks.

Since their founding, whenever a new area has been located, or a new monster has been identified, the king issues an order to the group to conduct immediate assessments.

Recently, the city of Ancdam requested to assess a newly discovered area called the Presling Grove, a forested area near the border that supposedly had ruined structures and an unknown monster.

With this, the current King of Drethia issued an emergency summons to the nearest assessor in the area. The summons dictates that assessors who are nearby should immediately respond to the call and gain an audience with the king. Shortly after the message was sent, the king received word that an assessor arrived. He immediately ordered the person to come and present himself in the audience chamber, where the King conducted his meetings and other official tasks.

Sitting on his throne, the King waited silently for the assessor to arrive. Soon after, the doors to the audience chamber slowly opened, revealing a young man in grey and black robes. His somewhat long, black hair swayed slightly, revealing his obsidian-colored eyes. In his waist, you could see a sword of Eastern design, an unusual sight within the Kingdom. Judging from the way he looks and carries himself, he specializes in agile and precise movements, prioritizing offense over defense. A pure combat-type of an assessor.

Without uttering a single word, the man quickly got on his knees and prostrated in the presence of the King. In response, the king raised his hand, prompting the young man to stand up. No matter how many times his subjects do this gesture, the King could not get used to this overly formal way of greeting.

After receiving permission to stand, the young man rose from his kneeling position and then faced the king. His eyes, as dark as the night sky, seem to pierce through the entirety of the King's soul, or that's what he felt it to be. The king smiled.

This man, although younger compared to the other assessors, has been a familiar face to him as of late. He was always the one to immediately respond to his calls. And most of all does not care for anything other than the mission at hand.

"Have you read the contents of the request?", the king asked the man, his left arm supporting his tilted head, seemingly assessing the young man in front of him.

"Yes", a quick and short response escaped from the assessors' lips.

"Good. You are now to head to Ancdam City and ask for the specific details from the guild master there", the King declared.

"The verification of the unknown monster and the supposed ruins comes first. Bring back any valuable information that you may find. You are free to act however you like as long as it doesn't jeopardize your mission", he added.

The young man nodded his head. "As you wish".

Without as much as a question, he turned around and was about to leave the hall when the King spoke a few words, making him stop in his tracks.

"By the way, is there any progress on the 72nd?", he asked him. "I know that it wasn't that long, but still, is there any progress?" he asked the man.

The man replied with his back still turned towards the King, "Negative. I'm still working on it," before he turned and then left the audience chamber.

Closing the door behind him, his footsteps can be heard getting smaller and smaller, before finally disappearing altogether. Now left alone in his throne room, the King waved his hands as if to beckon someone to come over.

"What do you think?", he spoke to no one in particular.

Silence. There is neither a sound that could be heard inside the room aside from the King himself. Despite that, he continued his monologue.

"You think he's ready?" his question directed to no one.

Suddenly emerging from the shadows, a man appeared beside him. With a hood covering his face, the man's appearance can only be described to resemble those of an assassin. His face, hair, and body are all covered in black materials. If it was nighttime, he would surely be hard to spot. The man walked a few inches closer to the King before speaking.

"I am impressed," he said in a deep, monotonous voice. "He detected my presence the entire time, even though I deliberately hid my presence ", were his words.

Hearing his opinion, the King smiled.

"Well, well, well, isn't he something!"

~~~

A few days later, the young assessor arrived at the Frontier City. The city was surrounded by towering walls built to withstand monster attacks. Upon closer inspection, there are remains of what can only be described as remnants of the monster's attacks as they've tried to conquer the city's defenses. Seeing that the walls of the city aren't just for show, the man couldn't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of the city's protectors.

"Not bad", he thought to himself.

At the end of the road, he could see a line of people waiting to be allowed entry into the city. Oblivious to the line, he went straight toward the gate but was blocked by two guards, their spears blocking his path in an X pattern.

"Halt! Stop right there! We're sorry, but you can't cut in line, mister", said one of the guards.

The young man was quiet. He neither answered nor moved. Instead, he went ahead and took something out of his pocket. The guards were carefully watching his every move as he scoured his clothes, looking for something.

"Take me to the Guildmaster", were the man's only words while holding the thing in front of him. The guards looked at what he was holding and were soon surprised when they figured out what it was.

"The Royal Crest! So you must be the Risk Assessor the kingdom sent. Please, follow me. I'll lead you directly to the Guild master", said one of the guards as he lead the way toward the city.

Although he was only forced to bring this item by his master, he was surprised by the convenience of having one. Now that he has a guide, he wouldn't have to waste valuable time looking for the Guild master.

After a few minutes, he arrived at a building that stands out from the rest of its neighboring structures.

~~~

"And that's all the details that I can give you", the Guildmaster told the young man as he blew a cloud of smoke from his pipe. The smoke rose into the air, before slowly disappearing, like mists in the early morning when the sun's rays started to shine on them.

The young man nodded in response after receiving all the necessary information that the Guild master can give. However, he has to make sure of one thing before he proceeds. Pointing at the place indicated on the map, he asked the guild master.

"Has the area been closed off from the public?", he asked.

Surprised by the rather sudden question, the guild master answered.

"Yeah. We declared the area to be off-limits for the time being, as well as rejecting all requests to the area. The only ones left outside are those that were out during the announcement, but last I checked, they are not in the area near Presling Grove," was his reply.

Satisfied with the answer, the young man rolled up the piece of paper serving as a map and left for the door.

With his pipe still in his mouth, the guild master peers through his office window to the street below where the young man could be seen heading through the gates.

Being a guild master, he has his own share of adventures and several brush-offs with death, but even through his vast experience, he never felt anything that compares to what he felt while speaking with the young man. It's like cold steel is pressing against his throat the entire time.

"Just what are they, the Risk Assessors?", he said as he puffed out one final smoke before placing his pipe down.