Ep. 52 E Class Part 3

Smith led us back downstairs to the main hall, where the atmosphere had shifted dramatically from the morning's. Now the space buzzed with even more activity as adventurers clustered around the request boards at the back of the room. The air was thick with excited chatter and the smell of ale from the guild's tavern section.

We weaved through the crowd, dodging between animated conversations about monster sightings and dungeon raids. The floorboards creaked under the weight of armored adventurers, and I caught snippets of haggling over reward distributions and equipment costs.

"This is the request board," Smith explained, gesturing to the wall covered in various parchments and notices. "Anything posted here is for the most part doable by any rank, with the exception of E's being recommended to team up with others." He cast a meaningful glance in my direction. "For ranks C and up, you gain the ability to take guild jobs—higher difficulty jobs such as dungeon clearing. We won't worry about those right now though, given your ranks."

He leaned toward the board, squinting as he scanned the various postings. The afternoon light filtering through the guild's windows illuminated the floating dust motes around him as he searched. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Aha, perfect!" He tapped one of the notices. "There's a small party of goblins taking occupancy in the forest just north of here. Seems residents have been growing worried that they might attack the town." He paused, taking a breath before continuing. "Goblins are only F-tier monsters, and whilst together they can cause problems, this is just a small party so it should be fine. Plus, we'll be there supervising, so it should be okay!"

My mind caught on the monster classification. I remembered Ms. Vera teaching me about monster classes, but I wondered if their system matched the mage rankings I'd just received. The question burned in my mind until I had to ask.

Smith's explanation painted a picture of a world far more dangerous than I'd imagined. The classification system started with F-class monsters, barely a threat to the average human when alone, and escalated dramatically from there. E-class monsters required either a group of low-ranking adventurers or someone above C-class to handle. D-class could threaten entire small towns without mage protection, typically needing multiple C-class mages to defeat.

As he continued up the scale, the threats became increasingly terrifying. C-class monsters could endanger larger towns like ours, while B-class creatures could overcome even royal military defenses in smaller cities. A-class monsters were capable of devastating capital-sized cities, requiring S-class mages or large parties of high-ranked adventurers to defeat.

Then there were the S-class monsters—creatures so rare and powerful that many considered them mere folklore. The few historical records of their appearances were often dismissed as exaggerations or fairy tales.

When Smith finished his explanation, I thought about the wolf me, Maya and Rowan killed in the woods. If I remember correctly that was a B class monster wolf, How did we beat it? It doesn't make sense, a beast like that wouldn't even be able to be beat by Kane if he fought alone. So how? Were we just lucky? My head filled with thoughts until I cleared them, deciding now was not the time. Then my mind circled back to something Smith mentioned earlier. "Wait, you're coming with us?" I couldn't keep the surprise from my voice.

He smiled, a gentle chuckle escaping him. "Yeah, why not? We got nothing better to do today—might as well make sure you kids don't die." His laughter grew, but I couldn't shake my uncertainty.

Why was he being so nice to us? Going to such lengths for people he'd just met? The cynical part of me—the part shaped by two lives' worth of disappointment—wondered if we should trust them, even temporarily. Yet the practical side of my mind acknowledged the value of having experienced adventurers around for our first quest.

I studied Smith's face, looking for any sign of deception or hidden motives, but found only genuine warmth in his expression. Perhaps, I thought, not everyone in this world would be worth keeping at arm's length. Still, experience had taught me to be cautious with my trust, no matter how sincere someone appeared.

The request board suddenly seemed to loom before us, each posting representing a possible first step on our journey as adventurers. Whether Smith's group's interest in us was genuine or not, we needed their experience. I'd learn what I could from them while remaining vigilant—after all, survival in this world would require both strength and wisdom.