Aria was confused after the meeting with the guild master. "It seems as if he could see through everything."
As Aria was walking down the stairs, several adventurers approached her.
"Hey, hey, young miss, what did you talk about with the guild master? Ya know anything bout that monsters?"
"Ya know tha name don't ya. Tell us what those are?"
"Never see ya round here. Yer must be new. How did ya know bout 'em monsters?"
Aria was a little overwhelmed by the constant bombardment, but she kept calm and remain silent while keeping a wry smile.
"Alright, alright, leave her alone you goofballs. Can't you see that she is troubled." A kind staff member clap her hand to disperse the attention and the crowd. "Sorry about that young miss. Adventurers tend to be quite direct and brutish in their approach, but they don't mean you any harm. They are quite curious themselves and any information can be vital for their survival; do forgive them."
"No, thank you. I was a bit troubled, but I kind of understand their reactions. Anyways, I am going to get my quest. I need to get my rank up as fast as I can and I do need some money to stay at an inn."
"There are several inns affiliated with the guild. Why don't I introduced you to some of them after you have returned from your quest?"
"Thank you so much, miss! Well then, what quest should I take first...?" Aria pondered as she walked towards the quest board where a large number quests written on papers were posted and classified based on the difficulty rankings, ensuring that lower ranking adventurers di not take up on quests they should not be able to handle.
"Miss, I do recommend gathering some herbs and materials such as bones and ores. These are the few beginner's quests that are popular. There quests require mining to gather ores or gems, but they usually need a long travel time up north or further down south. Therefore, I think going to the Forest of Beginners to gather herbs and bones should be a better option."
"I see, I will be taking these few quests."
"The gathering of Green herbs, Blue herbs, Beast Boar bones and various fruits. The beast bones are harder to find, but perhaps your odds will be higher if go to the western part of the forest. That is where most Beast Boar roam and if you are lucky, you may encounter their fresh graveyard and collect as many sturdy bones as you want."
"Thank you for the advices. Please help me to process these quests." Aria and the staff member walked towards the counter where the latter proceeded to record various information on a paper and transferring them to her colleague to catalog.
"I am off now. See you later!" Aria ran out of the guild with excitement and headed south to the forest.
***
The Forest of Beginner was located at the south-eastern part of Lapis. It was luscious with many useful vegetations and animals; locals depended on its blessing for sustenance and many new adventurers started their journey here. The various beasts that roamed the forest were classified as relatively tame compared to other parts of the region since the forest consisted mostly of insects, herbivores and occasional carnivores which tend to ran away from humans.
Aria slowly treaded the rich greenery and collected several bouquet of herbs, several edible fruits and a few edible mushroom. After a short rest and taking in the scenery where several birds sung in harmony to the flutter of butterflies, Aria proceeded to head west. "Now, to secure the bones."
Along the way however, she felt that the forest seemed restless as the moved west and a cry commotion came within earshot. She rushed towards the source and what greeted her was a few young adventurers desperately trying to fend off their attackers.
The aggressors surrounded the young adventurers whom she assumed were of similar age to her. They ran around, trying to find any openings in the adventurers' formation. They had frills, bipedal and purplish hue on their bodies; they were Jaggis. Dancing around and calling out in a shrilly voice to coordinate.
Hiding behind a particularly large tree, Aria closely observed the chaos. "Those guys are in trouble if they cannot break out of the encirclement. With each passing time, more Jaggis will show up and you will be overwhelmed with numbers."
As Aria was thinking about how to help, another new creatures emerged from the caves formed by the crack of the cliff side rock formation. They had similar purple hue to the Jaggi, but they were much more muscular, larger and ferocious.
"Those are Jaggia, the female counterpart of the Jaggi. This is bad, those adventurers are around the same age as me. They may become snack for those monsters."
Aria braced herself and charged at the Jaggis and Jaggia with her sword. She managed to kill a few Jaggis, but the majority, who were startled, fled to the cave, creating a small opening.
"Quick! Come this way! Run!"
The cornered adventurers heeded her words and ran towards her. They all breathed out a sigh of relieve, but that that came to a stop when a sudden roar pierce through the air. They all looked back and saw an even larger creature jumping down from a cliff side. It bore the same appearance as the Jaggis with a more menacing look. It was around 10 meters in length and with every step it took, the soil and vegetations were shook.
"That is the leader of the pack! Run as fast as you can!" Aria shouted and beckoned the others to sprint out of the forest.
"Fire! Sear my burning passion onto my enemy. Fire Shot" Aria chanted her spell and a streak of fire shot out of her palm and onto the approaching creature. The fire engulfed the creature, causing it to writhe in pain as it rolled and thrashed around. That gave everyone enough time to get as far away as possible. Aria shot out another small fire onto a small shrub, burning it with smoke engulfing the area to make the pack lost their scent and sight; after some non-stop cardio, they made it out of the forest safely.
"Hah, Hah, hah... thank you, for saving us." The oldest of the newbie thanked Aria while trying to catch his breath. "We were from a nearby orphanage trying to get some small change to help our caretakers. That is why I took these children with me to gather some herbs. I have been to the forest countless times but, this is the first time I am seeing those creatures. Any guesses on where they come from?"
"Well, this morning, a group of adventurers reported finding these creatures. Just the smallest of those bunch though. They must have not seen the bigger few, especially that one... I am Aria. I just became an adventurer this morning."
"Wait, what you are also a newbie!? But you are so strong!"
"Well, I have been doing my fair-share of trainings. Anyways, we should head back and report our findings to the guild."
They decided to return and reported their experiences in the forest. Along the way, Aria learnt the circumstances of the orphans. Apparently due to the most recent war, more orphans were showing up and while they received help from the local nobles, there were not enough funds to sustain the swelling number of mouths. Several older orphans got out to the forest to forage whatever they could such as fruits, herbs and other valuables that could be sold for some money. Some orphans who had graduated from the orphanage and lived independently helped by virtue of donation while some, such as Daniel, who was telling the story to Aria, guided the younger orphans when collecting in the forest.
Daniel graduated from an orphanage in Lapis a year ago and had joined the adventurer's guild to earn a living. He had been collecting items and sometimes, joining in small hunt; he was considered as a successful adventurer for his age.
Aria listened to the story and thought that Daniel was admirable. He was only 1 year older than her, but had the heart and responsibility to take care of his juniors despite not having a lot for himself.
As they entered the adventurer's guild, there seemed to be another commotion amongst the staffs. Several adventurers were gravely injured with various burns while others seemed to have been poisoned as they started to foam. The scene was gruesome. Several magicians were summoned to cast healing spells in the hopes that some would be able to survive. Several priests and nuns were also helping by concocting antidotes from various herbs and feeding them to the poisoned adventurers. There were some positive effects where the adventurers' complexions looked better.
Aria , Daniel and the other orphans rushed in to help with miscellaneous works. During the buzz, Aria asked the other adventurers on the current happenings. "They're groups of silver ranked adventurers who went West to the Cloudy Jungle to hunt some Green Wyrms for their fangs and organs. However, they became the prey instead; to some flying creatures that spit fires and poison them."
Aria trembled as she listened to the story. "The only big flying creatures in that place should only be the Green Wyrm. However, those Wyrms should not be able to breathe fire."
After the situation stabilised, Aria went to the reception counter and requested for a meeting with the guild master. The permission was granted almost immediately, which confused her. As she entered the office, Granzial was buried in papers, but stopped and approached Aria.
"First of all, thank you for your help with the wounded."
"It was nothing. I should offer help whenever I can."
"...Noblesse Oblige. That is something that many nobles seem to have forgotten these days. Well then, I supposed you have something to report. Are you ready to talk?"
"! Why do you...?"
"It is not hard to gather information. I have told you before that we are more organised than you think and we have connection throughout the continent. You are the eldest daughter of Sultier Earl, though it seems you disappear in the social circle for a very long time. Even if you cut your hair short, that silver hair and the demeanor that you exude speak volumes. As you got older, experience could come in handy in situation such as this. Anyway, you have a report?"
"I went to the Forest of Beginners and encountered that newly found creatures. More than that, they work in packs and the largest of them all, a single creature that towers over us, the leader of the pack, stretches over 10 meters. That creature is not something budding adventurers, especially children, could face."
"And yet you survived. Speak volumes of your abilities."
"I was just trying to help those who are in need."
"By sharing information bestowed upon you, we can minimise the risks and we can send out higher ranking adventurers to get rid of them. So, are you willing to talk now?"
Aria hesitated for a while, but agreed in the end as she took the ink bottle, a pen and an empty scroll from the guild master and wrote down what she knew about the Jaggi, Jaggia and their leader, the Great Jaggi. As she was writing, a knock was heard and with Grazial's permission, several guild staffs and some rowdy looking people came in.
"Guild master, we have to report about something we found in the Cloudy Jungle!"
"Calm down, now can you explain in details?"
Apparently, 3 Silver ranked adventurers parties decided to team up and hunted down as many Green Wyrms. However, as they entered the jungle, they did not encounter any of the Green Wyrms. The deeper they ventured, the jungle canopy became denser and they were basked in the shadow. They decided to climb up to get to a higher ground and acquired better vantage point to navigate. That was when they stumbled upon a giant nest made up of wood branches, leaves and eerily, bones.
The nest was large enough for 15 people to walk on it, with plenty of room to spare. One of adventurer who acted as the scout noticed that there were several bones of the Green Wyrms scattered around. The once apex predators of this mystical forest had become the prey of something terrible.
Out of a sudden, a shadow loomed over the adventurers. Several veterans reacted immediately to the dangers and dodged the incoming attacks from its claws. The creature landed on its nest and started spitting fire at the intruders, severely injuring several. After that, the whole ordeal became messy as the creature, cladded in shell-like green armour and extruding spikes with a pair of wings, charged at them. They decided to escape while carrying the injured and taking the tags of their deceased companions.
They were about to escape when a tail swipe came at them with such force that they were thrown out and fell out of the canopy. However, with the thickets of the forest, their falls were cushioned and they survived. With some relived, they decided to regain their bearing while treating their injuries, but some of them realised that their body started to hurt badly and could hardly walked. Those who had been directly hit by the tail had been poisoned. Relying on their limited stock of antidotes, they hastily made their way back to town and the rest were history.
Aria, after listening to the story, asked for another scroll.
"Miss, you know about that creature too?"
"Yes," Aria replied as she handed over the scroll. "You may have just encountered a Rathian."
"You designate that creature with 4 stars. Does it mean anything?"
"It shows the danger, as well as the difficulty level to hunt down that creature. The Great Jaggi that I encountered is a 3 star, the smaller Jaggi and Jaggia are 2 star."
"It seems that going up a star significantly increases the difficulty rating."
"Umm... guild master, who is this kid? Why does she know about the creature that we, veterans, never encounter."
"There was some ancient books that this girl had stumbled upon in an undisclosed library and had taken upon herself to memorise the content since it was interesting for her. However, those books were burned down by some unruly people. Thank god that she remembered most of the content." Granzial lied as if he was breathing. Aria was amazed at how eloquently Granzial fabricated such lies, but she appreciated his thoughtfulness for her.
"So you mean these are ancient creatures told in various legend! Unbelievable! Several of our comrade had died! Why did they had to appear now of all the time!?" The adventurers were furious at their luck.
"We are very sorry for your loss. It was a loss for the guild as well to lose such capable adventurers. Nevertheless, we must strike back. We are organising a hunting expedition to rid these creatures from our ecosystem!" Granzial stood up and declared. "We will show them that we humans, are the hunters and that they are the preys!"