Chapter 10

(2019/8/2) In order to change the development of the story from Chapter 10 onwards, I have made some revisions.

After the intense battle with the goblins and the successful completion of the herb-gathering request, Nod returned to the capital and continued to take on more requests.

On some days, he collected magic stones in the labyrinth, on others, he gathered herbs, and on yet others, he set out to slay monsters.

Battles with monsters always carried the risk of death or severe injury, but through the intense battle with the goblins, Nod had deepened his connections with Genius's party and teamed up with other stone tablet-class adventurers to complete requests.

Then,

One day, after returning from a mission to slay giant boars that were ravaging crops, he received the following news.

"Congratulations. You have achieved a certain number of contribution points, so you are now eligible to advance to the second rank."

When Nod went to the counter to report the completion of the request, the guild staff informed him of this.

Thanks to his active acceptance of requests since his first expedition, his contribution points had increased significantly.

If he advanced to the second rank, the jade stone-class adventurer, he would have a wider range of jobs available to him.

The adventurer's guild handles a wide variety of jobs, and among them is a specific type of request called a "guard duty request." This is a request to escort caravans or important people, but it often comes with conditions. For example, if the client needs to travel through a route where they might be attacked by monsters, the condition might be "Rank XX or higher and experience in slaying the monsters that appear there."

In addition to the conditions set by the client, the adventurer's guild may also add conditions based on their judgment. And the minimum condition that the guild adds to any guard duty, no matter how simple, is "Jade stone-class adventurer or higher."

There are also many other types of requests, such as "delivery requests" and "investigation requests," that have conditions like "must be a certain rank or higher" to undertake them. This is not only about the difficulty of completing the request but also about trust. The guild needs to ensure that the adventurer will not betray the client or run off with the delivery items.

The guild's confidence in entrusting the mission is the key to accepting the request.

For stone tablet-class adventurers, it is easy to advance by completing simple jobs that anyone can do. Initially, the guild assigns simple jobs to test the minimum requirements, such as whether the adventurer can complete low-paying jobs without complaint, while also training them in the procedures of working for the guild.

For "guard duty requests," the required attribute is "strength." Clients expect the adventurer to protect them, so it would be unacceptable for the adventurer to accept the request and then report, "We were all wiped out, including the client."

Thus, the adventurer's guild has recognized that Nod, through the completion of several slaying requests, has the minimum strength required.

However, the accumulated contribution points are a clear indicator of this standard, but contribution points themselves are also used to measure other things. They measure the "contribution" to the adventurer's guild or society.

The requests given to the guild, whether large or small, are problems that people in the world are facing. Among them are requests that are "highly difficult but offer low rewards" or "necessary for the stability of society but cannot offer high rewards."

It would be impractical for the guild to always add extra rewards to such requests or to encourage the state or local lords to issue them. To solve this problem, the guild has created a system where, instead of rewards, high contribution points are set, making it easier to challenge the next rank.

However, if this system were the only one, adventurers with high contribution points but low combat ability might advance to higher ranks. The tasks given to higher-ranked adventurers are expected to be challenging, involving powerful monsters or enemies and other difficulties. The essence of an adventurer is "strength," and it would not be acceptable to allow advancement to higher ranks without it, no matter how high the contribution points.

Therefore, the adventurer's guild sometimes issues special requests to those who meet the conditions for advancement.

This system involves assigning the adventurer a request of a difficulty level that the guild deems appropriate to recognize the adventurer's capabilities for the next rank—simply put, if the adventurer can complete a request of the next rank, they can advance.

"What will you do?"

After the guild staff explained this, Nod asked what requests were available. There was a possibility that there might not be a request of the right difficulty, or that it might not suit his strengths.

"The current recognized advancement request is this one."

The staff member took out a file from behind the counter, flipped through it, and pulled out a request form.

Nod's gaze fell on the content of the request form that was handed to him. It was a monster slaying request. Ninety percent of advancement requests are slaying requests because there is nothing clearer than slaying a monster to demonstrate combat ability.

The request form read, "Wanted: Rock Wolves to be exterminated!"

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Rock Wolves are monsters that inhabit the mountainous regions of the eastern part of the Ilva continent. They are a type of wolf monster, and their behavior is similar to that of standard wolves like Forest Wolves. However, they are covered in a hard armor-like substance that has transformed from their fur, giving them the appearance of wolves with tiles attached like armor. Young individuals have thin armor that covers only a small part of their body, but the leader of a pack is said to be covered in armor over most of its body.

This information was gathered from jade stone-class adventurers and above at the tavern. Other information from adventurers included what Rock Wolves like to eat, the fact that they can blend into rock surfaces, the hardness of their armor, and various other details.

Nod wrote down this information in a leather-bound notebook. This notebook contained records of his adventures, including tips for herb gathering, events from completed requests, simple maps of places he had visited, information on monsters he had fought, and even cooking methods he had learned from other adventurers. Initially, it was just a place to jot down notes, but over time, it had become a comprehensive record of his adventures.

Nod looked at the page on Rock Wolves in his notebook and understood why they were chosen for the advancement request.

Nod, with his background as a knight, had not changed his combat style even after gaining some experience as an adventurer. He was fully armored, defended against enemy attacks, and countered with his sword—a straightforward and strong knight's fighting style. His defense, enhanced by a shield he had purchased with the rewards from completed requests and his long-desired chainmail, was so robust that even the attacks of ordinary monsters could not deal fatal blows. He could handle being surrounded by multiple enemies with ease.

When working in a party, Nod used his defensive capabilities to the fullest, acting as a shield to absorb and repel enemy attacks, allowing the party to counterattack. His exceptional defense, which was unparalleled among stone tablet-class adventurers, often allowed him to completely neutralize low-threat enemies during his adventures.

Given his fighting style, Nod understood the challenge posed by Rock Wolves.

Among the slaying requests he had taken on as a stone tablet-class adventurer, there was one to slay Forest Wolves, another type of wolf monster. During that mission, he experienced a different kind of battle from the goblins, who relied on sheer numbers, as the Forest Wolves fought with coordinated attacks.

Wolf monsters that hunt in packs always attack in coordination.

Goblins rely on "numbers," while Forest Wolves rely on "coordination."

Rock Wolves, however, had an additional advantage over Forest Wolves—armor. They look like gray wolves wearing armor made of stone plates. The stone plates are actually their fur, which hardens and thickens as they age. The gray fur armor gradually becomes thicker and more stone-like, and the more mature Rock Wolves have armor that cannot be pierced by ordinary blades.

How threatening would a monster be that is armored and fights in coordination? With solid armor, a target that could be hunted one-sidedly becomes an equal enemy. This was the decisive difference between stone tablet-class and jade stone-class adventurers.