Chapter 21

(Where are we heading?) Piccy asked excitedly.

(To the guild. I'm want to take on more commissions.)

(Oh, do you mean the place where we met the elf lady yesterday? Does that mean we're heading back to the forest again?)

(Yep, so we can look for your village while I do my commissions. Well, assuming the location for my commissions is close to where your village is.)

(Oh...)

(Sorry.)

(No it's ok, you have to do your own stuff too. I understand.)

She's very understanding. But I do want to help her find her village tho. (If I finish my commissions early, let's take a walk around the forest.)

(Hmm? Ah.. yeah yeah yeah. Ok" Hmm? She sounds a bit down.

Am I missing something?

On our way to the guild I asked Piccy about Wood Shapers, just to get a conversation going. Wood Shapers sound pretty amazing.

From what she told me, Wood Shapers aren't a race, rather they are like blacksmiths for the Fay people. It's an occupation.

They only work with wood and other plant parts, but instead of chipping away at the wood with tools, they use magic to shape the wood, changing its properties and adding new features to it.

Some of the stuff they can make sounds pretty cool too.

In her words, a sword that grows back if it is ever broken and stays sharp no matter how many battles it goes through.

A bow that can quickly grows its own arrows, replenishing every time the wielder shoots.

A staff that can command a storm of flower petals, to mark and blind your enemies.

Now I really want to meet one of these Wood Shapers.

Maybe I can get one of their items. Or better yet, maybe even learn the skill myself.

Shortly after the end of the explanation, we arrive at the guild. "Good morning Glendel."

"Good morning Ether. You're early today. What can I do for you?"

I'll pretend I didn't hear that.

As a teacher, I'm always punctual. I only told the last few days easy because of circumstances. That's right.

"I did the five beginner commissions, so I want to take the test to get to copper now."

"Please wait a moment." She looks at some parchments, "Yes, I can confirm that you've finished at least 5 beginner commissions. Alright then, we'll need to confirm your current level, then I can schedule your test."

My level huh. I guess it's time for me to go up a level, I'll just change it now.

"You've raised one level, congratulations. Since this is your first test, you will be accompanied by a senior adventurer, who will be judging your performance through out the course of the test. They will also intervene if they deem the situation too dangerous. Please wait a moment while I get everything ready."

While waiting for her to finish, I got myself something to eat from the guild bar and sat down for breakfast.

It's a light breakfast, just a gamy, ham and cheese sandwich. You shouldn't eat too much right before exercising.

About an hour later she comes back and waves me to the counter.

"Ok Ether, a pack of Black hounds has been spotted roaming the woods to the north of town. If we leave them be they'll become a problem for the people collecting wood in the area and people traveling through the north road. Your first test will be to track down and eliminate this pack of Black hounds. Silvia here will be accompanying you on your test."

She puts a hand on a very sleepy looking Silvia. "She will be there to observe your skills. She won't intervene unless she deems it necessary, this is your fight. Your deadline for the test is tomorrow noon."

"Good morning." Silvia yawns. She's in her combat gear and is ready to go, but...

"Hehe, good morning Silvia, you look like you just woke up. Did you even get enough sleep last night?"

"Ummm... enough." She says, rubbing her eyes.

Glendel, "Huhu, sorry for waking you up so early."

Silvia, "It's fine, the guild is a bit understaffed right now, so we have to do what we can. Besides, it's almost time for me to wake up anyway. Now let's get going Ether." She stretches a little.

"Right."

Glendel, "Good luck."

We went out of the north gate and walked straight north.

Unlike the forest to the west of town, the one to the north starts a bit further away from town, leaving us plenty of time to have a little chat while we walk.

"I know you've hunted hounds before with Gravel and Alice, and I've seen your skills with the bow first hand. You're a very capable adventurer, but please don't let your guard down during this test.

Up until now, you've been facing these hounds with a party, but this time you will be fighting alone.

Those hounds are smart, they'll look for your blind spot and if they find it, they will exploit it. So keep your guard up at all times and be aware of your surroundings. Hound fights become significantly more difficult and dangerous with out people to watch your back.

But don't worry, if things get dangerous, I'll jump in immediately." She gives me a smile and thumbs up.

Dependable.

"So the first test is to see how an adventurer deals with a bad situation, huh."

"Hmm... I guess you could say that. More accurately it's to test your combat capabilities and your survival skills, hence the time limit. Adventurers need to be able to defeat monsters, but before that can happen, they first need to find the monster. These are the two basic traits an adventurer needs to have."

"I see."

"Well, as a senior I'm suppose to tell you to careful and not let your guard down. But personally, I think you're going to do great."

"Hehe, thanks for the confidence."

About two hours after we left town, we've arrived at the edge of the forest, and after another hour of searching for the hounds, I'm starting to realize that finding them isn't going to be as easy as I thought.

My perception skill and mini map will help me, but it only works with in a certain range. Looks like I'm going to have to track them down the old fashion way, like the test wants me to.

Luckily I've seen Gravel do it once before, and she gave me some tips.

According to her, these hounds leave scat and urinate to mark their territory, and they smell very strongly. I should be looking for those. And if I find a trail, I shouldn't be looking for paw prints on the ground, instead I should be looking for disturbance in the foliage close to the ground, since these guys like to walk through foliage to conceal themselves.

At first, it sounds like pretty good advice. That is, until I realize that she basically told me to sniff out poop and pee…

Gross… But it has to be done.

I kept looking for sometime, constantly waving through shrubs, all the while Silvia was quietly following me, just observing what I do.

Then finally, after an eternity of searching, I catch a break. A very strong, repulsive smell, just like when we were tracking the hounds with Gravel came from up wind.

Though it smells real bad. I had no choice. So I followed the scent to its source and after searching the area for a bit I found some fur stuck to a tree and some disturbed foliage close by.

Now I can finally start tracking them down.

Slowly we followed the trail, carefully wading through the bushes and keeping our eyes peeled so we don't get ambushed by the hounds or step onto any 'dangers'.

It took some time, but finally, through the trees about 30 meters ahead of us, I can see them. The Black hounds.

I can count 12 of them, both on my mini map and that I can visually confirm.

All of there names are white, which means there's no alpha this time. But still, my tiny quiver that I got from Mr. Kolo can only hold 10 arrows.

I wanted a small quiver because it was easier to move around with, plus I didn't think that I'd need that big of a quiver anyways because I could just pull arrows out of my inventory. But I can't do that now because Silvia's watching, using magic is also not a good idea. I'll have to find a way to take all of these hounds out with 10 arrows.

Silvia has concern in her eyes, like she didn't expect there to be this many. She tightens the grip on her staff, turns to me and gives me a nod.

I nod back and gesture Silvia to stay here, as I move to the edge of the bush line.

I reconfirm the location of all the hounds one last time, then slowly and quietly I pull all the arrows from my quiver and put them on the ground. I notch an arrow, take a deep breath, aim, and let the first arrow fly.