First Mission

Although he still had more questions, Leo decided to put down his weapon for now. He didn't make it disappear though.

"So," Leo slowly said. He was carefully probing Madelin to see what the man would do next, "Can I come in and check out your items?"

"Of course you can," Madelin positively replied, "Even though I don't feel like it, and still want to take a nap, just treat this as compensation for almost hitting you with my hammer just now."

'This is supposed to be compensation?' Leo grumbled inwardly.

He really wished he could speak more (and maybe lecture this blacksmith on how to properly run a business), but he still held back his words.

Leo decided to accept Madelin's offer and dissipated his club. When the man requested him to bring back the thrown hammer from outside, Leo steadfastly refused.

As the pouting blacksmith was forced to step out of his shop to regain his tool, Leo carefully walked around the items that have been placed on the shelves inside.

"Not bad." Leo commented after scrutinizing the products.

Every object's quality was quite exceptional. Being somewhat experienced with making his own items, Leo could tell that a lot of attention to detail was placed into creating them.

'If the owner here wasn't so crazy, I would actually congratulate him for his stunning works.'

Just as he thought of that, Leo came across some enchanted weapons. There was quite a lot of variety to choose from, but the best one among them was a tall war hammer.

Since it was the best, Leo didn't bother to check the price as it would most likely be too expensive for him. Even if he did have the money, he doesn't have much experience in wielding heavy weapons anyway.

'It's best that I choose something I'm familiar with. Perhaps an item that can help me react quickly against sudden surprises.'

Thinking from that line of thought, Leo decided to choose a short sword. While longer weapons can grant one the advantage in reach, smaller weapons can be deployed more quickly when you are caught off guard.

In addition, Leo was not planning on focusing too much of his abilities on physical combat. That wasn't to say he was going to discard it, just keep it in reserves. It was more suited for him to rely on spells in dangerous situations.

After some careful considerations, Leo finally found a short sword that he felt was the most adaptable to danger. It came with its own sheath and was enchanted with the ability to channel a mage's control over the elements. It can both enhance one's elemental affinity and be used as a type of conduit that can absorb and release all kinds of elemental attacks. Needless to say, the sword suited his abilities quite well.

"I'll take this one." Leo turned to the strange blacksmith with the weapon in hand.

"Ohh, excellent choice! You have good taste mister!" Madelin pleasantly complimented Leo while clasping his hands together with a big smile. Although it seemed like he was trying to appear friendly, a random person may mistaken him for a shady business dealer.

Even so, Leo did not doubt the quality of the short sword in his hands. He had secretly used magic to gauge the weapon and found that there were no fatal flaws in its design.

The blacksmith quickly moved behind the counter and brought out a closed chest.

"That'll be 5 gold coins young mister." Madelin held out his hand above the cash box, "Since I nearly gave you a concussion this morning, I'll knock off the tax for just this one time."

"Hmm, a good deal." Leo nodded approvingly. Thinking back to that hammer throw, he couldn't help but slightly shiver at the thought of nearly losing his skull.

After paying the price and obtaining the short sword, Leo noticed that there was an open cabinet with a stack of potions behind the counter.

He couldn't help but ask, "Are those created from alchemy?"

Seeing the direction to where his customer was glancing at, Madelin showed an ecstatic expression.

"Oh yes, definitely! These special potions were all shipped from a friend of mine who works at an Alchemy Shop down the street," the blacksmith moved towards them to show off their different colors, "I bought them at a fairly good price. Although I'm not good at appraising these kinds of products, I can guarantee that my friend is quite talented at brewing potions. They each come with a wide variety of special effects. You will not be disappointed."

"Are there any of them that can heal wounds?" Leo was most expectant about this. He didn't expect to find potions in a weapon's shop, and since he now has the opportunity to buy them, he felt it was important not to miss this chance.

Growing up hearing about many tales of adventures, Leo is strongly aware that humans can die from many different types of phenomenon. Stories of heroes suddenly getting strange wounds on their bodies that festered and gave them horrible illnesses had once traumatized his young mind.

If a person one wants to explore any location, they must first be prepared against dying from both natural and unnatural causes. Having an item that can save someone from near death is a precious tool.

"There definitely are." Madelin nodded before holding his chin, "But the ones that I have are all high quality and are a bit expensive. At least 10 gold coins for each one of them. Of course, I'll still knock off the tax." He hurriedly added at the end.

"It's a deal. I'll only take one then." Leo agreed without hesitation.

He opened his pouch and found that the total amount of gold coins he had amounted to fifteen. This deal was a bit much, but Leo still felt that he needed to accept it. There was still a decent amount of silver and copper coins left. In addition, he was already planning on taking a task at the Adventurer's Guild today.

----------

Walking out of the shop, Leo noticed that the city has become more lively. With the sun rising higher, the streets became bustling with activity.

Because of the special discount a moment ago, Leo felt that he had gotten a good amount of luck today.

'I should probably head to the guild early. Who knows, my good fortune could still last for a while.'

While thinking of that, he suddenly remembered the scene of a flying hammer coming towards his face. Leo nervously rubbed the back of his head and decided to be a bit more diligent of any more incoming projectiles.

It took him only a couple minutes of strolling before he once again arrived at the Adventurer's Guild.

Looking at the somewhat humble furnishings, Leo recalled the pool of blood near the entrance the other day.

Feeling the healing potion in his pocket, he breathed out and walked through the doors again.

'Keep your calm, Leo,' he thought to himself, 'You knew that adventuring wouldn't be easy. You can be afraid but still be prepared.'

Entering through the doors with his head held steady, Leo turned his head to look at a large board beside a wall.

The book he obtained from the guild had given him enough details to know that the board is where all the adventurer's quests/missions would be placed. Most of these tasks require a certain level for one to take, and it is a general rule that no adventurer may take a quest that is of a higher rank than them unless special permission is granted.

Being a Rank 2 Specialist, Leo could only find quests of the same or lower level.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was a paper stamped on the board with an intricate image of a strange black stone structure. After taking a closer look, this notice appeared to contain a special type of task that can allow more than one group of adventurers to complete. At the bottom of the notice, there was the name of an important official that worked in this country's state.

"Interesting," Leo murmured.

On the paper, it was written that a mysterious ruin suddenly arose from underneath the ground and is currently being explored by a group of professionals. However, the ruin itself turned out to be a labyrinth of unknown origins. The first group of professionals have yet to make it out of there, and the minister issuing this task is willing to pay a decent reward to whichever group of people can rescue them. There are also bonus rewards to those who can discover any of the ruin's secrets and/or map the interior of that place. Any hidden treasures taken from there can be kept by the adventurers, but their price can also be negotiated by the minister.

Adventurers of any rank can partake in this mission, and a map of the location of this ruin can be obtained by the guild. There is currently no limit to the number of adventurers who can take this job.

Once he finished reading, Leo happily felt that this kind of job perfectly suited him. Before coming here, he was hoping to take a job that involved some kind of exploration.

Before deciding to accept it however, he felt that he should be wary of the potential risks.

'Many other people might have taken this task already. If it still hasn't been completed now, then the danger level might be a bit too high.'

After pondering for a few minutes, he decided to see the reception lady that he met on the first day.

"Excuse me miss, but I would like to discuss about this particular quest here with you. If that would be okay." He handed out the paper from the board.

The receptionist slowly glanced at it before her eyebrows furrowed. She gave off an unhappy feeling.

"Do you want to accept this minister's request?" she asked carefully before looking at him up and down, "Are you sure you can handle it? You are only one person."

"I would just like to know," Leo hurriedly asked. The slight changes on her face prompted him to worry, "Are there any hidden dangers to this quest that aren't mentioned? Have many other teams already taken it? How many days was this quest released?"

"Well..." the reception lady looked a little uncomfortable at Leo's quick probing, "As far as I know, this task only came out four days ago. Since yesterday, only two small groups have undertaken it so far. None of them have returned yet, but there doesn't seem to be any indication that there are any severe dangers.

"But despite that, I think it should be appropriate to warn you," the lady's attitude suddenly became serious, "These kinds of missions are generally not well taken among those in the guild."

"Why?" asked Leo curiously, "Is it because these missions don't have any level limit for adventurers?"