Small Star

Now that he was inside the town, Lanis wanted to know more about the world and what he should do to get stronger. He looked around and saw a building with a sign resembling a sword crossing over a staff.

When Lanis got inside it looked close to what he expected and he assumed he already knew what it was. He saw a large meeting area with tables and chairs directly in front of him. To his left there was a wall covered with posters and different papers as people stood in front of the wall examining it in deep thought.

To his right there was a long counter separating this part of the building and the rest with different people standing behind it in uniform helping those in line with whatever they needed. There was also a stair case in the back corner leading to the area above the counters.

The people behind the counters all had on black trousers with a white under shirt and a brown blazer, they looked very formal and helped their customers out quickly as the lines constantly moved forward.

Lanis waited in line before one of the workers called him over. This girl was beautiful, short, and blonde but the only thing he paid attention to was here long pointy ears.

"Wow a real elf." Lanis couldn't help himself before he said outload.

The girl looked very surprised as everyone behind him started laughing.

"You have never seen an elf?" The worker asked confused on how it was possible Lanis hadn't seen an elf.

Lanis was prepared for questions like this since he knew he would seem odd with the questions he would have to ask. He then started repeating the story he had rehearsed of how his parents died leaving him in the forest when he was young and how he lived in the forest by himself until now when he finally had decided to go out on his own.

Although this didn't sound very believable, it was more likely than what actually happened so Lanis didn't really see a choice. The lady nodded as she decided to just go along with it.

"Well, I am very sorry about that sir, what is it I can help you with." the lady put on a smile as she asked.

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me about this building and how society works in general."

The person behind Lanis smacked his head since he knew he was going to have to wait extra-long as everyone else switched lines. If it wasn't for the rules of this town holding them back, they may have just jumped Lanis right there.

The girl, who was named Elluin, explained that this building was the building Lanis expected it to be, an adventures hall, and it was where people went to become an official member of the adventure's guild. The posters on the wall described jobs people could take and be rewarded for accomplishing whatever was on them. There were different levels of adventure that you could test into however there was a hefty fee to take them so no one took them unless they were very confident, they could pass.

Elluin then explained more about society. It was completely run-on mana and the mages that could use it. Some used mana to strengthen their bodies so they could crush mountains with their bare hands or some used it so they could conjure an ocean from their fingertips. Elluin had stars in her eyes as she explained the incredible things that the strongest mages could do.

Lanis also found out more about his surroundings, currently he was in the town of Small Star. Beyond that the forest he was in was called Star Forest and it was inside of Arbren Kingdom. The Arbren kingdom was fairly large and powerful but their neighbor to the north was the Eternal Sun Empire and its power was not comparable to Arbren.

However, for now, Lanis did not really care about the politics or power landscape of the surrounding lands. He saw no reason why he would have to know any of this now and the only thing on his mind was the test to become an adventurer.

"How much is the cost of the test to become an Adventurer?" he asked

Instantly the room was filled with laughter. One of the other customers finally had enough and mocked Lanis.

"Listen kid, Elluin is too nice to say this but you don't qualify to take the test. For an adventurer, a rank 2 Hollow core isn't worth anything. You would never be able to pass the test."

Lanis understood what the man was saying but, in his head, he couldn't do anything but laugh.

'Yes, laugh it up, we will see who is laughing when I become the strongest mage you have ever seen.'

"Thank you for the concern but I think I will be ok."

Lanis took out the coins from his backpack and slammed them on the counter. And with a huge smile on his face told Elluin.

"Take me to the test."

"Um I am really sorry sir but you only have 3 silver and 12 copper even the test for an E class adventurer will cost 5 silvers."

Elluin looked at the coins and their owner with pity in her eyes but there was nothing she could do.

Lanis was shocked and embarrassed as everyone once again laughed at him but he held his head up as he went to the mission board to make enough money to take the test. He quickly saw that the board was organized by requirements and there were some at the very left side which didn't require you to be official Adventurer.

Lanis decided on choosing a mission where he had to go into the woods to the east and clear out wolves, for every wolf pelt he would be given 1 copper plus the 2 coppers for the price of the pelt. The job didn't pay out anything crazy however it was doable and the pay was still decent. Most importantly, the other missions without requirements were cleaning or construction work and he definitely did not want to go back to doing that.

So Lanis stockpiled some food in his backpack. While shopping, he learned that 10 copper was 1 silver but after getting food, he still needed 1 silver and 2 copper to take the adventurer test. After getting what he needed, he went out of the opposite gate that he came in.

When he was about to leave, the guards stopped him and told him the road ahead was infamous for bandits and thieves and he wouldn't make it so he should stay in the town or go west where it was much safer.

This was the second time he had been warned about the bandits so he would make sure to keep an eye out for them but he needed to get even more money now that he had bought food so he continued into the forest anyways.