[Shadow Eruption activated]
The floor beneath them turned black. The skill would kill the adventurers in just a few seconds.
"Die," Dyren muttered.
Plap!
Suddenly, someone touched his hand. Dyren turned to see that it was the elf girl who worked as the receptionist.
"Don't fight here!" she said flatly.
Dyren exhaled and nodded. "Forgive me."
[Shadow Eruption deactivated]
The skill was canceled. The bald man and his friend turned away. They stepped back and returned to their previous table. No one dared to defy the elf girl.
They may have returned to their table, but that didn't mean they forgave Dyren and Mira—even though they were the ones who started the chaos.
Dyren looked away, glancing back at the elf girl.
"I'm sorry!" the elf girl said. She bowed once. "If only I hadn't mentioned that your companion is a beastman… none of this would've happened."
Dyren raised his hand. "It's not your fault at all," he replied.
The elf girl bowed again before returning behind the registration desk. She placed the orb from earlier on the counter.
She asked Mira to place her hand on it. At first, Mira refused. She was still upset. But after a bit of persuasion, she agreed.
"I'm sorry," Dyren whispered.
Mira then placed her hand on the orb. At first, nothing happened. But after a second, an intense light emerged.
It lasted quite a while—almost two minutes—and then…
CRACK!
The orb shattered. The light immediately faded. The elf girl gaped in shock. She had no idea what just happened. This had never occurred before.
"This..." She sighed. "It's probably because the Status Orb is too old. You don't need to pay for a replacement."
She bowed and placed the adventurer card down, asking Mira to write her name. Mira even had to fill in her own class and level.
This had never happened before. It was a special exception just for Mira.
"Alright then, this is yours, miss," said the elf girl with a broad smile.
Dyren scratched his head, a bit confused, but he had completed one phase of the plan he had in mind.
He saluted and proceeded to take a mission. Mira was now a Rank C adventurer. That was quite high for a beginner. It slightly raised the standard of missions they could accept.
"Rank D mission," Dyren read one from the mission board. "Kill 10 Thornboars. Reward: 1 Tharv per kill."
Dyren was interested because the mission had no maximum limit. They could kill as many Thornboars as they could handle.
The more they killed, the greater the reward they would earn.
"This can also be done with Rank F adventurers as long as there's at least one Rank C member in the party."
He took the request, but after looking closer, he noticed a small note at the edge of the paper. It stated that the party must have at least three members.
That meant they needed to recruit one more person. And that was the difficult part.
"Who should I invite?" Dyren scratched his head.
He didn't know anyone in this city. He had to post a notice on the bulletin board saying they were looking for one more member.
"Alright. I'll have to delay this mission a bit," Dyren said.
He asked for paper, borrowed a pen, and once he was done, he posted the notice on the board. He and Mira just had to wait for someone to approach them.
"Alright. Done."
***
But after three days, no one came. Dyren and Mira sat at the guild nearly all day. This was their third day there.
They were laughed at by the other adventurers—especially the bald man from earlier.
"What a fool. He thinks hanging out with a slave will make him look cool." He sneered. "You just look pathetic."
As he passed by Dyren's table, the bald man spat on it.
Mira tried to stand up, but Dyren quickly held her back. He shook his head slowly.
"But... he went too far," Mira muttered.
"We're in someone else's place. And this is an adventurers' guild. Killing a fellow member is unforgivable," Dyren explained.
Mira sat back down. She held herself back, but that didn't mean she would forgive the bald man. If there was a chance, she would kill him.
Dyren wasn't the type to stay quiet when insulted or belittled. He was very vengeful—but he knew how to read the situation.
He wasn't the kind to act without consideration.
"Should we take a few Rank F missions instead?" Dyren mumbled.
Rank F missions were typically trivial tasks like cleaning sewers, horse stables, finding lost pets, fixing roof tiles, or other such chores.
Naturally, the pay was very low. One mission might only earn 1–3 thore coins. Enough only for half a loaf of stale bread.
Dyren shook his head. "Let's wait one more day."
***
The elf girl behind the registration desk had been watching Dyren and Mira come to the guild every day, waiting for someone to join their party to hunt Thornboars.
"Should I help them?" the elf girl thought.
But as she started to walk toward Dyren, her whole body trembled, and she backed off immediately.
A sense of fear gripped her. The bunny girl named Miraqua made her entire body shiver.
"Why is a creature like that here? Is she deceiving that young man?"
Many strange thoughts swirled in the elf girl's head. She was worried that Dyren might be killed by the bunny girl beside him.
She really wanted to help Dyren escape from Mira's grasp—but she knew her limits. She was weaker.
"I need to find a way." Suddenly, she remembered something. "That's right. Tomorrow morning, Sir Gorath will return. I must report this to him. Maybe he can defeat that monster."
The elf girl nodded to herself. She had found the most reasonable idea.
She smiled widely.
***
Dyren saw the elf girl smiling at him. He frowned. Since they first entered the adventurers' guild, she had always been staring at him.
"Does she like me?" Dyren muttered.
He stroked his chin and nodded repeatedly, starting to feel confident. He thought no one would ever be attracted to him since half of his face was scarred.
Turns out, someone was interested. "Is this the romantic path of my life?" Dyren muttered again.
Mira, sitting in front of him, narrowed her eyes. She had been watching Dyren smile weirdly for a while now.
"Has he gone insane or been possessed by a spirit?" she thought.