After going uphill for about two hours Ray looks at me with a smile, “Alright newbie. As a reward for following your brave leader this far, I present you with a gift, turn around and look.”

  As I turn around I can see the entire city of Rostock from above. You can really see the yers of how the town gets prettier the further you get away from the port. Rostock is known as the harbor of the nation and I guess it looks like it too.

  “Huh, neat. I’ve never been outside Rostock or even far past the docks. This is the first time I can see the whole city like this.”

  “Your reaction is pretty tame for someone that has never traveled.Usually people are quite amazed seeing an entire town like this.”

  “Is that so? I guess the beauty is just lost on a bumpkin like me, haha. So leader, what do we do now?”

  “First, we’re discussing strategy. Ruby gnomes are fire elementals, they carry long spears imbued with the fire attribute. They have crystal bodies that are hard to penetrate but thankfully the one we’re looking for has a shoulder injury, as long as we target that weak spot their natural armor won’t matter. One thing we need to look out for is if it starts spinning its spear in the air. Ruby gnomes can create a fme tornado around them, they can only move very slowly if they use that move but if you get caught up in it it’s over. Your job will be to grab its attention by shouting at it and trying to get close to it. I’ll be using that distraction to get in close and quickly get rid of it.”

  “I see. And how do we find it?”

  “We’ll look around for tracks. Ruby gnomes are hot to the touch, they tend to leave charred footprints. Basically look for anything that looks or smells singed.”

  “Got it!”

  Ray then pulls out what look like cw-like knife-gloves and puts them over her hands followed by something that looks like a bear trap that she wears over her face like iron teeth.

  “Woah…Are those your weapons?”

  “Yep, they’re weapons made for the unique fighting styles Beastmen are best at. We’re strong and nimble so some of us choose to embrace the way we used to fight before everyone started to wear metal armor.”

  “Is there any unique thing humans use for fighting?”

  “Yeah, xxx weaponry. Basically, huge machines that fling boulders or destroy gates.”

  “That sounds scary.”

  “Yeah, I heard war with humans is best to be avoided because you guys aren’t strong individually but you create things that rival high level spells.”

  We then split up and start searching the area. Ray actually goes down on all fours during her search and smells around like a dog. Taking it as a challenge to put in the same amount of effort I make sure to be very thorough. After a bit of searching I find a charred trail of footprints moving towards a cave.

  “Ray! I found footsteps!”

  “Don’t yell you idiot, you’ll aler- Run Thoma!”

  “Huh? AGGGH!”

  I suddenly feel a searing pain in my back as a burning hot spear stabs me with so much force that parts of the tip penetrate my armor. Then as I start running the same happens to one of my legs causing me to fall over on the ground. Quickly I turn myself around and put up my shield where in absolute horror I see the ruby gnome put its spear over its head and start spinning it around.

  “Minor boost speed, minor boost strength, minor boost defense.” Ray chants glowing in a different color for a short period of time after each command. She then starts charging at the ruby gnome but gets pushed back as the fire tornado picks up speed. Feeling my legs start to burn up I muster all the strength left in my healthy leg and jump into the fire tornado, tackling the ruby gnome to the ground and pinning its arms down as my flesh starts to burn away and my breath becomes thin. Even just touching the ruby gnome is like putting your hand on a stove but it’s still less painful than the fire all around me. Trying with all my might to hold on and stay awake I see Ray jump through the now dying down fire storm, ripping and tearing at the open wound of the ruby gnome like a ferocious beast while it starts struggling and hissing until it stops moving and shatters to pieces. Shortly after it shatters I can feel my consciousness fade away.

  I then wake up crying, kicking and screaming to harsh pain lying on a table in the middle of the guild while a blue haired woman moves glowing water over my body.

  “Quick! Someone xxx him! Apply the xxx”

  I then feel someone force my mouth open and pour a weird tasting herbal potion down my throat which causes me to pass out again.

  When I wake up again I’m lying in a bed, my body covered in bandages. Ray is kneeling down next to my bed, holding my hand. She seems to have singed some of her hair and fur but otherwise she seems fine.

  “You’re awake! How are you feeling? Are you in pain!?”

  “Hey, Rey?”

  “Yeah!?”

  “Why did you become an adventurer?”

  She then starts tearing up a bit, “I want…I want to travel the world. Marry cute sniff and handsome men and have people look up to me wherever I go.”

  “That sounds like a nice dream to have. I’ll support you as much as I can.”

  “And I’ll make sure to support your dream too!”

  “My dream?…I don’t think I have one.” I say as I pass out again.

  When I wake up again the blue haired woman is talking to Rhaast.

  “Thankfully I was there at the time. His body rejected the healing of holy element spells, so I used healing spells with a water affinity instead. He’s going to need some more bed rest but otherwise he should be fine. The way it’s looking right now he’ll get away without any permanent damage or scarring but I can’t make any promises.”

  “That’s great news ma’am. How much do you wish from us for the treatment? We don’t have much.”

  “Nothing, as a fellow adventurer I wouldn’t dare ask money for healing injuries sustained while on the job. Just count your lucky stars that I happened to be there this time.”

  “Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am.”

  “Oh, it looks like he’s awake. I’ll leave you two for now.”

  Rhaast then walks to my bedside, “So, you in pain?”

  “Not much right now.”

  “That's good...What are you gonna do after you’re healed? I won’t force you to keep adventuring.”

  “I…I think I want to keep working here. Both Ray and the guildmaster seem like really nice people. There are some weird people here too but it seems like a mostly kind pce.”

  “That’s good. I’m going to work now. Stall’s not selling fish by itself.”

  Before he closes the door behind him he turns around one st time and says, “I hear that beast girl is going around gathering pain killing pnts. Make sure to drink that tea.”

  “Will do.”

  “That’s good…”

  Then once he leaves the room I start crying. The pain is manageable but the shock of nearly dying is now really hitting me.