Roan fought against the sea of Adventurers to stay in front of the big mission board, his nose being bombarded with a sweaty and musty smell. He had to force himself to stay and not run away from these nasty people. Why they had to crowd around the Mission board, Roan would never understand. These musty guys probably didn't even know how to read but they had to crowd around the board to show that they weren't illiterate. It was one of the reasons that an adventurer team existed as a lot of Adventurers didn't know how to read. So, someone who knew how to read was a lifesaver. But the guild had taken that in mind and had started putting employees who could read near the mission boards who would read out what a mission was about on request. The mission receipt also usually had pictures describing the mission so that helped a lot too for those who couldn't read.

Roan flowed through the crowd as he craned his neck to see the missions at the top of the board. There were many missions with different rewards. Some were about collecting herbs, some were about killing some specific animals and some were escort missions but none of these were what Roan was after today.

An easy mission which can get me some money and some time to experiment with necromancy too in the Mervielle. Roan thought as his eyes scanned through the board. He had to find a bronze mission, the lowest-ranked mission as most of the higher-ranked missions were usually either combat-related or escort. The ranks were based on the metals which were also the currency and even the ranks for the adventurer. It started with bronze after which came silver, gold, and platinum and then came the Ethereum rank, an elusive rank that people of the town had only heard of. Adventurers of this rank were said to be so rare that they could only be found in huge cities deeper in the Ceres kingdom. Some even believed that Adventurers with Ethereum rank were only on the capital Adventurers guild located in the capital of Ceres kingdom.

But here in Tolaga, there were not a lot of Adventurers who were above silver rank. And the gold ranks were even rare. To be a gold-ranked adventurer, you either had to be a knight or a magus. A difficult requirement for most of the folks of this town to fulfil. That's why they were so rare.

Roan quickly scanned through the mission board but he had no luck. All the missions were either extremely dangerous or jobs inside the town. As his eyes worked relentlessly, he suddenly saw a word that made him pause. Necromancer. It was a word that he had become familiar with but seeing it on a big board in adventurers guild made his heart skip a beat. He walked closer to the mission that had the word Necromancer in it. It was of golden colour meaning a gold-ranked mission. He strained his eyes and read the notice.

Adventurers Guild, Tolaga Branch

Mission Rank:Gold

Required rank:Gold Rank or Five Silver Ranked Adventurers

Mission Objective: Retrieve the dark grimoire of a Necromancer from the Alkla dead zone located to the West of Tolaga town approximately 50 km away.

Reward: 100 gold coins, rank upgrade for silver rank adventurers or team.

A Necromancer's dark grimoire? Alkla dead zone? Roan was confused as he read the contents of the mission. He had heard of the dead zone before. It was supposed to be some kind of dead place with undead running rampant. But they were rogue undead which now he understood after awakening as a Necromancer. His awakening seemed to have opened his eyes to the world that was hidden in plain sight. Before, he wouldn't have spared this mission a glance but now it was different.

But Roan didn't know what a grimoire was. It was his first time hearing about it. He was about to ask Ressa about it but stopped himself. He was a Necromancer now and Church would be after his head if they ever found out about it. He couldn't leave a clue that would lead to suspicion by asking about some mission that had nothing to do with him. No. He wasn't a magus in the eyes of other people. He held back his curiosity and continued searching for what he was here for in the first place, an easy mission. And he found it after searching for a couple of more minutes, collecting herbs of three different kinds found on the edge of Mervielle forest, just the place he was hoping to go.

He quickly took the mission receipt from the board and went up to, Ressa, the receptionist. There wasn't a long line thankfully so it took only a couple of minutes for him to get his turn. They made some small talk as always while Ressa worked behind the counter. A couple of years of adventuring had made him familiar with the receptionists. And Ressa was a veteran of this position. A couple of minutes later, she was done.

Ressa handed the receipt back to him and said seriously," Don't go deep in the forest. It's a warning from the guild. So, take it seriously otherwise....you might lose your life."

"Has it gotten worse?" Roan asked as he leaned a little towards the counter.

"Yes, it seems like it. The guild sent some gold-ranked adventurers to gather information and they came back saying that the number of monsters in Mervielle has increased by at least twice. At this rate, there might be a beast wave in a couple of months. So, you shouldn't go more than a couple of kilometres in." Ressa said and got back to work while Roan waved at her and walked outside the adventurers guild his mind embroiled in thoughts. Beast waves were rare. So rare that he had only heard of it and never seen one even when living in a town near Mervielle where beast waves were supposed to happen more frequently. But now a beast wave was truly about to happen. He had heard of the horrors of beast waves and he certainly did not want to be anywhere near while it happens.

He looked around as he walked through the town. The lives of all the kids playing in the streets, the local markets where everyone sold their homegrown foods and the wooden houses of the common people living in the outer district would be destroyed. The beasts had already half destroyed his life by killing his friends and now he and this whole town might also become their victim. It was a frightening thought.

He quickly reached the outer wall which encased the whole town in it. It seemed so secure with the tens of guards wearing metal armour and carrying shiny swords. They were the town guards, the supreme power in Tolaga managed by the son of the Ruler of the town, Andres Tolaga named Arda Tolaga. He was also a knight just like his father and managed and trained the town guards himself.

let's hope they can fight back the beast wave. Roan thought. He exited the town and quickly reached the forest. The singing of birds and the smell of earth created a peaceful front masking the true dangers of the Mervielle forest. The tall trees with their base hidden by dense vines and shrubs hid what now endangered the whole town of Tolaga.

Roan took a deep breath and relaxed his tense shoulders. He was now a magus and not a weak teenager anymore. He had proved that in his fight with the thugs and he would do so by surviving whatever the world threw at him just like he had done when living as an orphan child in the slums of Tolaga. He had aspirations to fulfil.

Roan stretched his body and entered the forest cutting away the thick foliage with his sword amidst the chattering of the various animals in the forest. He cleared a straight path and reached a deeper part but not too deep. Ressa's words were still ringing in his ears. This might even be his last venture outside of the town. 

He had also been planning to visit Seth and Lela's resting place but now the monsters made it impossible for him to travel. Who knew what these Pits held? What kind of monsters were there?

The dark ages was huge evidence of the destructive power that these underground tunnels held and they might just be heading towards another dark age. He hoped it wouldn't come true and that the kingdom and the Nobles had enough power to push back these monsters.

His slow and cautious walk through the thick foliage finally brought him to a small open space, a small clearing covered with fallen leaves. He crouched down and scanned the clearing, looking for signs of any other life. This kind of clearing was the favourite spot for any animal to get some sun. So, he had to be cautious lest he run into some predators resting or taking a nap. But thankfully, this space didn't seem to house any animals. He entered the clearing, leaves crunching beneath his feet and his eyes glanced around searching for a suitable tree to climb to rest and think about his next moves.

He found and climbed the tree at the edge of the open space and took out the mission receipt which contained the herb description and pictures which would help him immensely while searching. There were three herbs required for the mission and they weren't that difficult to find in the outer reaches of Mervielle according to the receipt. So, Roan guessed it would at most take one and a half hours of searching to find these herbs. So, he had loads of time to pursue his other interests since it was still morning at the moment. He had around four hours of extra time to fool around.

He landed on the ground, dusted off his hands and started walking. He now had to find the herbs and then his hunt and experimentation would begin. He vanished in the thick vegetation, only the sound of a sword cutting through plants echoing around.

"He is really easy to track, eh? Ha" A man suddenly emerged from the thick foliage followed by a group of people wearing rags and carrying rusty blades. The whole group looked suspiciously similar to the one that had fought with Roan before except the leader who was taller than the other thugs and muscular. The group silently followed behind Roan who was completely unaware of the danger coming his way.