Materials

The darkness of the forest was a comfort to Adam.

It eased his worries.

He was starting to understand that being a hero didn't mean he could take things lightly.

If he didn't take action, other people could get hurt.

While not one for justice, he wasn't one for being a passerby either.

The cost of his stay at the castle was that he helped out.

He didn't mind helping out.

Adam definitely understood the necessity of it.

However, it reflects who he is, no matter who or what is killed.

The goblins had lives.

The wolves, the bear, the ogre.

They all had purpose.

Even if he disagreed, they had meaning.

His gaze sweeping to the moon, whose light scattered through the canopy of the forest.

He wasn't going to take things so easily anymore.

Their meaning was deprived for the purpose that Adam wanted to give to his life.

His goals were not so easily accomplished.

Thrusting the halberd on the ground, embedding it, blood splattered to the ground.

Adam took a breath.

His lip quivered as he watched his surroundings, waiting for a stirring shadow.

His former fears would not keep him still.

Adam rolled his shoulders, before picking back up the halberd.

A grimacing silhouette, harshly illuminated by the creeping moonlight, that was pressing over a trunk of a nearby tree.

Adam noted: 'There's another goblin.'

Doing a few small jumps, he accelerated towards it.

Lunging forth, he threw his halberd and it pierced through the goblin.

The goblin wordlessly fell back.

Their pupils stilled.

Leaning over it, he pulled out his halberd.

To live his life, and not stay stagnant, it required him to be committed.

Complaints could be had later.

Adam strutted forth, and continued to seek out goblins.

...

He laid against a tree, as he stared at the sky.

The moon dipping from the sky, over it's shoulders climbed the dawn.

Adam's halberd overlapped with green and crimson laid by him.

He did not know what he would be doing in the future.

Did he want to be strong?

Did he absolutely need to be a hero?

Such questions left his mouth dry.

Adam's head pressed against a tree, he drifted to sleep.

He awoke to the sun which caressed his cheeks.

Adam sat up, and set out to look for herbs, and find and take out goblins if he found any.

If goblins allowed him to learn anything, he learned of their cunning, and their keen lack of mercy.

If he wasn't given mercy, he would not give any back.

The day went by quickly.

The night stayed a while.

Adam found himself resting beneath the moonlit sky again.

His halberd dirtier.

A notification greeting him, that he had just earned.

[Ding! For slaying the same monsters consistently, for a while, you have earned the title: [Hunter] ]

Adam immediately checked it's description.

[Hunter: For people who find a target and wont let go. Slightly improves tracking abilities, moderately strengthens ability to detect enemy weaknesses.]

This title was decent, for quests and tasks that needed him to seek out enemies that hid more expertly, he would make great use of this.

He had found and slain several goblins.

It even caused him to level up to level 21.

With the 25 stat points that he held onto before, now possessed 30.

Adam was tempted to improve his agility.

Running after the goblins was fairly tedious. If he was faster, he would more than likely have been more productive.

Shaking off the urge, he went to sleep.

Goblins did not demand greater strength from him.

Once he had a class, he would have a better idea of how he should be allocating his points.

Perhaps, when Adam had a few more quests under his belt, he would be eligible for a suitable class.

His first class, from the novels he read would set him apart from others by the versatility and power of skills and their growth rate.

This was one of the few moments where holding off on making a choice was the best option.

Although, how exactly classes worked was not something he had clarity about yet.

When Adam woke up the next day, after consuming his remaining rations, he returned to Walcon.

The trip went smoothly.

He entered the adventurer's guild and walked up to the desk which Velna stood behind.

Greeting her, Adam said: "Hi, I am here to submit materials for a completed quest."

Her finger on her chin, she replied: "Welcome back. You may place quest materials on this desk if its limited, however for larger quest material submissions, there is a room in the back."

"I see..." Adam responded, pulling out the satchel, he started to pull clumps of herbs from it.

A small mountain of herbs quickly was produced, brightening Velna's eyes.

She exclaimed: "That's a crazy amount!

Gesturing with her hand, she faced Adam, and asked: "May I see the quest sheet?"

"Sure." Adam replied, pulling out the sheet and handing it over.

Velna examined the sheet for a moment, before putting it down and scrutinized the herbs.

She noted: "The herbs are in okay condition, and as there is such excess, how does 20 silver sound?"

Nodding, Adam said: "That's more than fair. Thank you."

A smile growing, she handed over the 20 silver that she got from the back room.

Which he deposited into the satchel, before putting it back on.

She asked, "With your first quest done, have plans to undertake another?"

Smirking, as he heard a notification ring in his ears, Adam replied: "Yeah, that's the idea."

"Best of luck, Adam." Velna stated.

Nodding to her, Adam headed over to the quest board.

A cheerful smile on his face, as he read the system's message as he moved.

[Ding! You have crossed another milestone, in completing your first quest, you have earned the skill: [Heroic Yield] ]

Reading its effects, his smile grew a bit wider.

[Heroic Yield: Get twice the coin completing quests and twice the experience when slaying enemies (applies after other buffs.) ]

Adam looked back at the quest board and plucked off three quests.

One for slaying goblins in the Marshlin forest, another for slaying ogres, and the third for slaying wolves.

This time he would be staying there for a while.

Backtracking so much would only slow his growth.

If he wanted to grow faster, he had to spend his time effectively.

After stocking up on his dwindling supplies, he looped back around to Marshlin Forest.

He wanted to achieve by taking the quests two things, to light a fire in himself, and to test himself.

By killing what had caused his heart to falter, if only slightly, he could move forward.

The constant doubts helped nobody.

Clenching his halberd's haft, Adam's greaves met the grass, the cool air brushing his face through his helm.

It was time to put to use his new skill.

It was time for Adam to hunt.