Lost Light

In a quiet and solemn forest

A pale, white-haired man appeared, completely unconscious in a strange suit that looked extremely peculiar. The man gradually regained consciousness slowly.

"Uh... ugh...where... where am I? And who am I?"

He noticed that in one of his hands, there was a crumpled note. He unfolded it and found a message that read, "Find the key to unlock what's lost."

"something lost?"

He remained confused for a while before deciding to explore the surrounding forest. He found the forest eerily quiet and solemn, discovering numerous animal skeletons and remains scattered around.

He continued exploring the forest for another half an hour but couldn't find any signs of life, not even small ants. Moreover, he had a growing sense that the deeper he walked into the forest, the more foul and unsettling odors filled the air.

But suddenly, as he passed through a large bush, a snake lunged and bit him on the leg. Startled, he shook it off, and the snake slithered away. It turned out to be a venomous snake. Realizing this, he tried every means to survive, from constriction leg to sucking out the poison, but his condition did not improve.

After struggling to drag himself for some time, he encountered a group of people dressed in armor and armed. He quickly approached them to ask for help.

But before he could say anything, he collapsed and fell unconscious.

He jolted awake.

"Oh, you're awake now, huh?" Said the middle-aged, burly man with a beard.

"Was it you who helped me to extract the venom?" The young man asked.

"Venom? What venom was it?"

"the snake venom! I lost consciousness because of the snake venom, right?"

"But I checked, and there's no venom in your body. You must have assumed it yourself. I think you passed out because you went too deep into that forest. Haha. Yet you seem just as tough. Going into the nightmare forest without any protective gear, wearing that strange suit, and still managing to survive—quite impressive."

"The nightmare forest?"

"Seems like you know absolutely nothing, right? That forest is extremely dangerous. The atmosphere is filled with a stench of blood, making it dizzying. The living creatures there are mostly just a few venomous animals. Moreover, in the deep forest, there are even 5-star monsters. People also whisper about demon tribes residing in that forest."

The young man's face was filled with confusion, shock, and agitation before he attempted to compose himself.

"So, that's what happened, huh? Anyway, thank you for helping me earlier. What's your name, sir?"

"Call me Dunstan, that's fine. And how about you?"

"I... I don't know either. I think I've lost my memory."

"Oh, i see i see, that's tough. Hmmm. Alright, I'll call you Alban based on your skin and hair color. Do you remember how you ended up there?"

"Whatever suits you, sir"

"You can stay here for a day or two. What's your plan after that?"

"I'm still not sure at all, sir, about what to do next. I'm very confused, but I want to find clues of my own identity."

"Why don't you try going to the Adventurer's Guild? It's quite vast there, and sometimes you might find some clues or leads. I'm an adventurer myself, Rank B. If there's anything that comes up, I can help you out."

One day later, after recovering, Alban bid farewell to Dunstan and headed towards the Adventurer's Guild, following the advice he had received.

"Thank you for everything, Dunstan!" Alban waved and ran off.

"He recovers much faster than the average person who gets lost in the nightmare forest without protective gear like him. They usually would be out for at least a week." Dunstan thought to himself.

After walking for a while, Alban finally arrived at the Adventurer's Guild, the building was well-constructed from sturdy wood, adorned with cannons and a large clock on the exterior.

"huh? cannons, so weird."

After stepping into the guild, the atmosphere was vastly different from what he had anticipated—gloomy, somber, filled with warriors marked with wounds. Unfriendly gazes from several pairs of eyes were fixed upon him. The air was thick with the smell of blood, nearly making him feel nauseous.

Alban hurriedly approached one of the guild's staff members.

"Can I help you?" The staff member asked.

"I want to become an adventurer."

"Sure thing. Please fill in your details here, and place your hand over this crystal to measure your mana."

"Mana?"

"Mana is something that every human has, and it indicates the amount of magical power one possesses."

"Registration complete, sir."

"Now you can place your hand on the crystal."

Alban placed his hand on the crystal but nothing happened, regardless of how long he kept it there. There was no response.

"Huh...uh... i think it might be broken. Let me get a new one for you."

However, it was still the same. Nothing happened.

Suddenly, there was laughter and mocking comments from around. "Haha, measuring mana and nothing happens? Go back home, kid. This isn't a place for playing around!"

"Apologies for the inconvenience. There might have been an error. We'll contact you again shortly. Here's your Adventurer's Card. It allows you to communicate and confirm your identity. Everyone starts at Rank F."

Alban continued to be looked down upon, feeling a little disheartened, but he didn't care much about those people.

"This is the quest board, where various quests are posted. Each rank can only take quests at their own rank or lower; you can't take quests from higher ranks. You can find Rank F quests here as well."

"hmm... let me see, nothing interesting."

Clean The Church / Reward 10 Bronze Coins

"This might be a good start for finding my own identity, i gonna take this quest."

"That quest might be fit to you, noob." 

A loud rumbling sound emanated behind Alban.

They attempted to push Alban, causing him to stumble, but he barely budged, they shock for a sec.

Then another woman's voice emerged. "Come on, Bjorn, don't waste time with this kid."

"Boss, but..."

"No but, come."

"Got it, Boss!"

They walked away without anything happening.

"They're just...whatever. Let's stick to our own path."

Having finished speaking, Alban set off towards the church, following the quest paper's directions, which was a short ten-minute walk from the Adventurer's Guild."

As Alban entered the church, he was astonished and awestruck by its beauty. The multicolored light reflecting through the stained glass windows illuminated a grand statue at the center of the church.

"I'm waiting for you." Someone spoke with a holy voice.