Guild

"Wow, this room is spacious!" Kiyomi remarked as she flopped onto the queen-sized bed.

"It sure is…"

I knew there would be a high-class inn in one of these towns. A personal bath, large comfortable beds, and even room service but I tend not to use room service. If there weren't a high-class inn around, then I'd rather sleep on the street.

There are low-class inns but that's like saying you want to be robbed. That is the problem with low-class inns, they just want to steal your money. They drug you with sleeping pills and take your stuff while you are unconscious. If you're a female, well, let's just say things aren't going to be good for you.

I think the inn we stayed at in the last town was alright. It was a middle-class inn, after all.

Of course, since it is high class, it's much more expensive than other inns but it's worth it.

Now about the mist business, it seems that some kind of witch has been terrorizing this place with that fog. That is what the guy told me.

It was weird because I didn't actually feel anything strange from that mist.

"Kiyomi, was there anything off about that mist to you?"

"The mist? Umm, I don't think so."

"Don't think so?"

"Well, it didn't really feel like how mist would feel like, except the cold feeling. It was almost as if I felt pressurized mana."

"Pressurized? What does pressurized mana feel like?"

"Well, it makes it so that you'd walk harder and sometimes even make you puke if you aren't strong enough. But there was something different about this one."

"How so?"

"I could smell poison, but very lightly. It almost made me dizzy but we managed to walk out of it just in time."

Is that so? It's a good thing she lives in this world. I'm gonna have to get some lessons about mana when we have the time. One thing Yukie told me is even though I may be able to use mana to perform spells and skills, I still don't know how mana works as I'm still a newbie on it. Even after spending three weeks in the library, I still didn't understand. I should've really focused on my studies. But I'm the kind of guy to learn as I do things.

Anyway, at least I know that mist wasn't just some ordinary phenomenon in this world. Who knows? The blizzards can rain fire and ashes instead of snow or they can shower sub-ze- oh wait a minute, that's literally what a blizzard is. Strange things do happen in this world, just not in this part of the world.

Tomorrow, I'm planning on applying as an adventurer, and maybe Kiyomi as well. But if I do have the time, I might help out with whatever this mist problem is.

I managed to get a quick peek at that guy's stats from earlier, and it was not really impressive as I thought it would be.

[Level 219; Class: Berserker; Level Cap: 219]

{Abilities}

Passive Skills: Sprint, Invincibility, Great Sword Proficiency, Extreme Might, Berserker Arts

Active Skills: Unbreakable

Skills: Wolf's Blood(Lvl.2), Fallen Descent(Lvl.3), Beastly Warcry(Lvl.4), Heavy Gash(Lvl.9), Heavy Tackle(Lvl.6)

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Though he did have some skills that were new to me, his level had already reached its limit. The bad thing about reaching your limit is that it hinders your growth. Well, I don't think I actually needed to point that out. Once this guy maxes out his skills, it'll take him a long time to learn a new one. Also, his talent rate is really low. It was at 7 percent.

I also checked the levels of every adventurer in this town and none of them were even near his level. Only a few were higher levels than him, by on 6 to 14 though.

So in other words, I am technically the strongest person in this town, well if you ignore whoever created this deadly mist.

Hmm, I'm interested in this "hex." Whoever she is must be terrifying if she was able to scare everyone in this town.

…

I like that.

That means she's strong, and the stronger she is, the more skills I can get off of her when I consume her blood.

I'll be looking forward to that.

However, I should do that when I have the time to. I should get more information about this woman before I meet her.

As for now, I should get some rest.

"Master, catch!"

I turned around and I caught Kiyomi's shirt. My eyes then slowly focused on her. My vision traced from her feet to her face and she was in black lingerie. The weird part is, I don't think I ever bought those for her… unless she got them when I wasn't around her.

…

Hmph.

"Naughty girl, you need to be taught a lesson."

A mischievous smile appeared on her face as I joined her in bed.

***

The next day we went to the adventurer's guild.

It was a rather large establishment, both far away and up close. I could hear many individuals inside chatting remarkably loudly.

I opened the doors and there was a crowd bunched below an old man standing over the balcony. Wonder what's going on here?

"Old man, what the hell are we going to do? The longer we leave this witch alone, the more the mist will spread!"

"What should we do?"

"Come on! We've already lost a few lives and we can't lose anymore."

A few people in the crowd seemed to be complaining about the mist. This mist already took a few lives it seems. Moreover, they seem to be complaining to this old man. He must be the master of this town's adventurer's guild.

"Oh hey, it's you from yesterday."

I turned and the same dude from yesterday walked up to me. He was now clad in full leather armor. Being a berserker class, I'd expect him to wear metal armor. Well, I guess if he wants to wear leather and he can go for it.

"Hello," I greeted.

"So what brings you guys here?"

"Nothing much, just came to get us a job. We are… running out of funds."

"Oh I see. We do have some tasks on the quest board, just not that much but they are enough to pay the bills. You should go to the registration desk first. I assume you…"

His attention was focused on Kiyomi. Kiyomi opened her mouth.

"H-hello, I'm Kiyomi. I'm his s-"

"Lover," I calmly interrupted, and Kiyomi's face turned bright red. Heh, that was the exact reaction I was looking for.

"Oh… so you guys are a couple. I see, I see. Try not to get all lovey-dovey around here. People tend to get… jealous," He whispered with a smirk.

"Oh, that reminds me, we never really introduced ourselves. My name is Tyid Jaeger, I run a blacksmith but I'm also an adventurer. I already know the lady's name, so it's just you."

"Nero. Akuma."

"Nero, huh? Pretty cool name I must say. Anyway, I'll stop bothering you guys. If you ever need help, just call me. I'll be right at that board." He said pointing at the quest board.

"See ya."

And then he ran away.

I must say, he's nice. Though I'm just gonna keep my guard up just in case.

"Master..."

Kiyomi was putting on an embarrassed face and I patted her head.

"We don't need to pretend anymore. And are we not?"

"Right..." Kiyomi responded as her face became brighter.

***

After filling out the guild form which required name, birth date, and identification to verify that information, and lastly a bit of our mana placed into the card.

Soon we got our guild cards which black and had a white gemstone in the middle. The lady at the counter told me it was to show our rank and we were at the bottom right now. The guild card was also enchanted to be indestructible and to always return to the owner using mana tracing, some kind of technique that traces one mana back to the caster, etc.

After that was done, we'd walk towards the quest board and inspected the quests.

The quests were specifically organized for each rank. There are 10 ranks and each rank has a different color. From order is white, brown, blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, orange, red, and lastly black & white. That last one is pretty weird and I don't know how it would fit for a black card, but it must work out. I also received a title after getting the card.

[Title Obtained: White Rank Adventurer]

[White Rank Adventurer: None besides displaying your rank]

Anyway, inspecting the board, we didn't find a single interesting quest. Not even one including wolf hunting which I thought would be common since there are so many wolves. Did I mention that there are more wolves than slimes in this world? Well, there is.

Honestly, I just need a quest that can get me to level 300. I think that's when I'm able to unlock "class routes" so I can get a class effect.

"Attention!"

A voice shouted. When I turned to see who it was, it was that same old man on the balcony. Seems like he's gonna say something important.

"As this witch is causing trouble; causing deaths, disease, and fear, we will have to resort to confronting her up close. To confront this witch and disperse the mist, I will need volunteers willing to sacrifice their lives to take her out. Is there anyone in this room right now willing to risk their lives for everyone in this town?"

Then there was an uproar.

"Is he crazy? How the hell are we going to confront her if the mist is in the way?"

"If we kill the witch, then the mist will go away."

"But how are we GOING to kill the witch if the mist is IN the way?"

Everyone seemed to be complaining about what the old man said. Wow, even after the old man had the balls to say all that, they are still complaining. Idiots.

"Hey, why don't you go volunteer?"

I turned around and Tyid was behind me.

"Hmm?"

"I mean, you guys did somehow resist against the mist so you guys should volunteer! But I mean, that's if you guys want to."

Volunteer… should I though? I mean what will be in it for me? I'm not gonna do something for free you know. I want a reward.

"What will be in it for us if we manage to defeat the witch?" I rose my hand and said to the old man.

"Yeah, what is in it for us, huh?!"

"Yeah!"

"Tell us, old man!"

Everyone began joining in and eventually the whole guild joined in. The old man closed his eyes for a few seconds before slamming the ground with a stick.

"Simmer down. If you manage to defeat the witch and come back alive, then you will be rewarded with 100 platinum coins and a promotion to the next rank for each person, and I may throw in a transfer to Maroon. However, I will only be picking 10 of you. We can't have everyone rushing in."

With that, everyone began raising their hands, wanting to volunteer.

100 platinum coins and a promotion to the next rank? Well, I guess that isn't such a bad price. This is even counted as an official quest. But what is that last part he said? I didn't seem to hear it correctly. But anyway-

"Kiyomi, you want to volunteer?"

"Of course."

"Well then, that is settled."

We rose our hands and waited for us to be picked. And guess what happened next?

We were part of the group that was going to defeat the witch inside the mist. We were scheduled to meet up in front of the mist tomorrow.

Guess this'll be my first official quest. Or my last...

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