One Day Earlier
Levi Lee lived an average life. Well, average for an adventurer, maybe. He woke up, stopped by the tavern to catch up with friends and eat a quick breakfast, looked over one of the many Adventure Boards around town, took the first 2-Star Quest he could find, then spent the majority of his day killing slimes or gathering an 10 or 20 of some resource or animal byproduct, returned it to the Adventurer's Guild for some money, spent most of it back at the tavern, then went back to then inn to sleep and repeat it all the next day.
Unfortunately for Levi, there were quite a few adventurers in Podros this time of year. That usually wasn't a problem. Sure, Podros was the largest city in the Amelan region, but Ecril and Ublar usually had better, higher-paying missions! Why the hell would Podros be busy?! All these new Adventurers in the city meant he couldn't take on any easy missions!
"Bad timing," The well-dressed Guild Clerk said at the desk of the Adventurer's Guild. The silver-haired man leaned casually on the wooden desk of the similarly wooden guildhall. Levi felt the place seemed more like a log cabin than an official government building. "Goblins are migrating across Ublar, and the Vampire Hunters are reporting that the Vampires in Ecril are dealing with some infighting. Nobody wants to get in the middle of all that."
Levi rolled his eyes. "So where the hell are the missions?! I still gotta eat!"
"Maybe if you saved your money instead of spending it on booze and women, you'd have some right now," A voice called from behind him.
Levi turned and glared at his silver-armored friend, who leaned with arms crossed on a log beam. "How I spend my money is my business! Maybe if you saved your money instead of spending it all on that fancy ass armor, you wouldn't be here either!"
His friend, Vincent, snorted. He didn't respond, though.
"Well, gentlemen," The Guild Clerk started. "Perhaps you could team up and take on a 3-Star Mission? We have a few available that take you into Ublar?"
Levi barked with laughter so loud that the other Adventurers and Guild Clerks in the guildhall turned to look at him. "Yeah, that ain't happening." He thumbed at Vincent. "That asshole's my best friend, but we do not work well on a team. Just how it is."
Vincent laughed and agreed. "Last time I tried to team up with him, he decided to 'take a risk' and steal a treasure chest in a cave. It was being guarded by a Bulette. You can guess how that ended for us."
"Hey! Sometimes you take risks!" Levi shrugged. "Least we both had enough for the revival fees, right? All's well that ends well."
"I was crushed to death!"
"So was I! You've got to move on from that someday, Vincent. It isn't good for you to hold onto stress like that."
The silver-armored man glared at Levi, brushing past him to speak with the Guild Clerk. "Anything out there that can be handled by a team? The two of us aren't much, but if we gather a crew, I'm sure I can keep him in line. 'Obvious that the 1 and 2-Star's are gonna be eaten up. Show us something a team of 3-Star Adventurers like us can take on."
The Guild Clerk pondered, reaching into his desk and revealing a few scrolls with Quests scribbled onto them. They all looked the same: brown tattered sheets with ink script. There was one outlier, though. A black scroll with golden text etched into it that seemed to glow as if magically enchanted. It immediately caught his attention, and judging by the awed look in his eye, it also caught Vincent's attention.
"You guys have a 5-Star Mission?" Levi asked, too nervous to even touch the scroll.
"Look at the paycheck," Vincent said, his voice just as tentative as Levi's. "Three hundred thousand gold coins. Per adventurer!"
"This one's to kill a Dark Mage and his summoned Slayer. There was a second one to kill an army of magically-enhanced Bulettes, but it was taken."
"Taken?!" Levi and Vincent shouted in unison. "By who?!"
Levi didn't have to wait long for his answer. As if Aspia itself heard his question, the doors to the guildhall flew open, two familiar adventurers striding in as if they'd just come back from a morning jog: Lloyd May and Lyra Knight – the only 5-Star Adventurers in Podros.
"Should've figured," Vincent sighed.
Levi didn't answer, transfixed on the two newcomers as he was. Both Lloyd and Lyra were dressed in simple leather armor like you'd expect a mere 1-Star Adventurer to wear. They were absolutely caked in blood, and both carried bags dripping with the stuff as well.
"How many Bulettes did they kill…? Didn't the Guild Clerk say they were magically-enhanced? Just how strong WERE they?"
"Excuse me," Lyra said to Levi.
"O-oh! Sorry, ma'am." Levi stammered. He hadn't even realized they'd approached him.
At least he wasn't the only one gawking at them. Everyone else, Adventurer and Guild Clerk alike, was staring at the two as they approached the very desk he and Vincent had been loitering in front of!
"Four Berserking Bulette hearts," Lloyd May announced, placing the four dripping bags onto the desk.
"And four from me," Lyra added, doing the same. "Also… sorry for the blood. You can take the cleaning fee out of my cut."
"Don't you worry about it, Lyra. Our wizards can have it cleaned the place cleaned before sundown!" The Guild Clerk paused, his eyes suddenly focused on Levi. "At least you care about how clean this place is."
Lyra turned and faced Levi, a rush of fear striking his heart. He immediately raised his hands in defense. "I-it just happens! T-they have guys to clean… right? Right?! They can't–"
"Oh, don't be too hard on him, Mr. Shaw. I think it's fine as long as he continues to do missions for you guys." She adjusted her round glasses. "Now, if he dirties the place and doesn't do missions for you to compensate? I think that'd be a problem."
"I couldn't agree more," The Guild Clerk, Mr. Shaw, said. "In fact, I had this 4-Star Mission that a client just brought in that I think he and Vincent would be great for!"
"4-Star?!" Levi shouted at the same time as Vincent, who'd been stiff as a board up to this point. Maybe he thought if he was still enough, he'd disappear.
"Aww! I remember doing 4-Star Missions to train with Lloyd." She turned to her counterpart. "Remember those Grendels? Those were the days."
Lloyd laughed softly as he turned to face Levi. "Best way to get stronger is to take harder missions," He gave a half-smile. "Good luck."
Levi shared a look with Vincent, who gave him that "we're gonna get destroyed" look that Levi was feeling. The two stood still, even as the two 5-Star Adventurers gathered their absurdly large moneybags and left the Guildhall. They only moved once Mr. Shaw coughed, handing them the Quest Roll and Quest Fairy. The two accepted both, walking out of the Guildhall and onto the streets of Podros.
"So…" Levi started in an attempt to fill the uncomfortable silence. "Lyra… What do you think?"
Vincent looked down at the Quest Roll, then up through the Podrian city streets. After a long moment, Vincent finally spoke.
"Would."