[Year: X957]
Thirteen-year-old Arthur Bright, hummed with a pep in his step, steel colored pupils filled with anticipation and excitement. sword in hand, breast plate, shin guard, and heavy boots on his person as he moved with gusto.
Three years of apprenticeship with the [Sleepless Swordsman] as his mentor and he was now finally on his solo Quest to slay his first monster.
He was fueled with nothing but the hopes and dreams of a black anime nerd and the eagerness to experience a fantasy world.
He knew himself to be different from his fellow apprentices, although he never met many of them aside from a few in the guild. Arthur still knew he was unique on the count that he had the mind of someone much older than thirteen.
Having died while barely having reached actual adulthood, the young man carried with him a childishness that wasn't out of place for a thirteen-year-old.
The Explorer's guild, was located in the ruins of an old Dwarven kingdom, in the south, closer to Essonia, directly south of it actually and Arthur Bright was tasked with journeying to the northern border of the country, where the Northern Republic bordered Essonia.
On his person, was light leather armor, with a silver breast plate, leather boots, and leather vambraces. The breastplate was a high-tier Damage reduction item.
On his left hand was a silver mid-tier stamina ring, plus a gold low-tier strength ring.
In terms of items, he was no fortress on two legs, but since this was his first mission on his own, He didn't exactly have the capital to afford as many as he could.
It was quite the journey, that had forced him to cross through an entire country however as a former apprentice Explorer on his way to his first official Quest, he had been given enough money to make the journey easy enough and it was.
Unfortunately, money for the trip was all the guild would allow him, luckily his former mentor had given him some money for food and a few potions, which Arthur appreciated.
The journey wasn't strenuous and he had arrived at the border and should reach the last village on his way in a few hours or less.
Strangely enough, he hadn't been told if this Quest was an emergency or anything of the sort, sometimes there's usually a monster tearing up a village or a town.
"A Spotter must've gotten ahead of things"
He surmised, a Spotter was probably able to spot the monster early and quickly reported.
Spotters, are individuals who were not Explorers however they were paid to look out for monsters in various places, they had their own Quest log in which they reported monster sightings and movements.
After all the Explorer's guild couldn't really depend on Explorers only for finding monsters, that would be inefficient, Spotters also served as sort of delivery boys, sending items and among other things to Explorers.
"Noice, I don't have to worry about civilians"
He made a click sound with his mouth as he said "noice"
He also wasn't given details on what kind of monster he'd need to slay however that was typical sometimes you don't get to know the kind of monsters you'll run into so it made sense in his head.
After a few minutes surrounded by bushes and trees, he reached a clearing and from a distance, he could see an assortment of houses. The village was in his sights, looking around he also saw a barn as well as what he assumed was farmland.
"I should ask around"
The few villages he'd seen showed no sign of monsters, He saw some that were abandoned but there were no signs of a struggle, the houses were dilapidated and falling apart more from weathering and age rather than a monster attack.
So clearly whatever monster he was meant to slay hadn't reached that far south of the border. In any case, he hoped to get some information regarding his prey from this final village.
It didn't take too long before the dirt path led him to the village gates, and he was halted by two men, who stood on guard, one of them carrying a club and the other carrying what looked to be a machete.
"Halt, What brings you to our village, sir?"
The taller and older of the two men, spoke first, despite giving him a confused look the man was gripping the club in his hand as tightly as he could.
"Just an Explorer looking to slay a monster"
The older gentleman gave him a once-over and began raising a brow of doubt.
"Aren't you a little young to be an Explorer?"
"Yes, yes I am"
Arthur answered with an amused grin but the look on their faces seemed to carry more skepticism forcing him to fish his Explorer's guild card and toss it at the older man.
The card was made of silver, with black runes around its edges, at the top left corner was a blood-stained thumb print, followed by Arthur's name and occupation as an Explorer.
"On Sol, you really are an Explorer!! I didn't know they could be so young"
The shorter and younger of the two men, seemed to beam at Arthur, having seen the confirmation of his identity.
"What did you expect?"
"I don't know someone with a beard and scars?"
Arthur couldn't help but let out a chuckle, that description fit his mentor almost perfectly, the only thing missing was the sleep deprivation.
"You'd be right but unless an Explorer runs out of healing potions, they'll rarely get any scars."
The young man let out a curious hum, wondering how that worked, as he believed a healing potion could heal anything.
"Jason, escort him to the chief's house"
The older man, tossed Arthur's card back at him as he addressed the young man known as Jason. The man kept a stern face, displaying zero enthusiasm unlike Jason beside him.
"I haven't heard anything about monsters nearby but I won't turn away an Explorer"
He readily stepped aside and gestured to go ahead and enter. Arthur walked through and gave him an appreciative nod as he walked.
Jason placed his machete to the side and began following, there was a bit of excitement in his step.
"So, can you tell me what kind of monsters you've faced so far?"
The question practically oozed every ounce of curiosity the man had, and Arthur couldn't help but wish to laugh, although Jason was the youngest of the two men he met, he should still be around his late twenties, yet his attitude didn't convey that.
"Not many, since I was an apprentice until yesterday, if I find a monster nearby, it will be my first"
Arthur saw the way his shoulders deflated at that answer however the disappointment didn't last long as Jason was quick to change the subject to about monsters Arthur had seen other Explorers face.
And Arthur began to regale his temporary companion with tales of his mentor, the [sleepless Swordsman]
Unfortunately, as they walked through the village, they couldn't really avoid the curious looks the villagers tossed at Arthur's way. It wasn't any malicious looks, if anything Arthur caught glimpses of some people who looked eager to speak to him.
There was also the fact that there were a few individuals who trailed behind him and Jason, keeping their ears open as he spoke about monsters.
Of course, this was typical, anytime he and his mentor went to any city or town, it wasn't unusual for crowds to start forming, just curious men and women who wished to get a glimpse of an Explorer.
'News travels fast, I suppose'
With another few minutes of walking, they reached the village chief's house and Arthur bid farewell to Jason, watching him as he got swarmed by the curious locals. He suppressed a chuckle as the village chief led him into his home.
A/N: Short chapter I apologize for that but my backlog of chapters is quite small now, so I need to stock up a bit.