A few hours later and they had found the other two flowers that were needed, Ardonis found the second and they both spotted the third at the same time. All the while they were checking the areas for the creature they needed to kill, still no luck so far. That was until Ardonis got the idea to use tracking magic, he wasn’t sure if it would work with just an image, hence why he didn’t try before.

  However, Lucy encouraged him to try anyway and possibly make a tweak or two just to see if it could work. Focusing on the spell, he thought of the creature in the image, as he thought, nothing happened. Then he made a few tweaks here and there to the spell, to try and get it to track the image he had in his mind. This time he felt the magic take effect and a trail that only he could see showed up in front of him when he opened his eyes.

  “It seems your idea worked yet again Lucy,” he said, “I have the trail, follow me.”

  They moved through the forest and turned to the right, it seemed they weren’t as far from the creature as they thought as only a few short minutes later they found one taking a drink at a water hole. If this thing was supposedly on par with the two wolf creatures they took care of at the guild, it wouldn’t take much to kill it either.

  Lucy let Ardonis handle it as he pointed a finger at it and something similar to a spear of ice shot from it. Piercing their prey right through the skull and killing it instantly. They went up to it to confirm the kill, even if they already knew the truth.

  “I feel kind of bad,” Lucy said, looking down at the corpse. “Not necessarily that we killed it, but that it didn’t even have a chance. Even if it knew we were here and charged us.”

  Ardonis patted her head, “I know what you mean, but the only things that could give us a challenge as we are now are the S-rank monsters much deeper in. And the entity in the center, which I am pretty sure is a minor god.”

  After extracting the fangs and ears, as per the assignment for proof, they continued on. This time solely focused on tracking the missing adventurer. “Whoever this guy is, he was either stupid enough to go deep, or had no choice to if he wanted to survive,” Lucy commented at one point.

  “I agree with you on that, Though at least the color changed from red to yellow, so we’re getting closer.”

  All around them was the noise a forest was always accompanied by, light buzzes, bird songs and tree movement, even some crickets and hoots from owls. Nothing seemed as eerie as before, and they weren’t entirely sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

  Another hour later, close to dawn, the tracker changed color again to green. The two smiled at each other and picked up the pace, they were obviously quite close to their target now. In a small alcove was a man with a bloody stump of a leg leaning against a stone wall. His shirt was ripped and his torso was also a bloody mess. He was breathing, but they were quick and not too deep. His eyes were completely bloodshot as well. His blond hair was matted and caked with blood and dirt.

  “Wh-who’s there? Come to finish me off you big bastard?” he asked, clearly frightened.

  Ardonis stepped closer, “Fellow adventurers sent to find a missing man. We’re here to get you out of here and bring you back to the town.”

  “Oh, oh thank the goddess, I thought I was going to die out here,” he answered. Ardonis picked the man up in a princess carry while a light bluish-green sheen coated his body. A healing spell that would at least stabilize the man. He nodded at Lucy and together they took to the sky and began flying just above the large trees. Originally they avoided flight as they didn’t want to come off as suspicious. But the man was in clear critical condition and they had no time to waste. Healing magic, like arcane, was a separate branch that they only knew a few spells of. This was mainly because of the gods of healing, like his mother, a goddess of health, but she held far more healing magic than one would expect.

  The man was of course, very clearly surprised at the flight spell, as it was something only very powerful mages could pull off. And to see his two saviors do it so effortlessly, it spoke volumes of their power. His mind was much clearer as well and much of the pain was gone.

  Of course, with their power cut in half, flight took a bit more out of them than they would have liked, taking their mana reserves down to around a quarter by the time they got out of the forest. However, the man’s life was saved and that was the most important thing at the moment.

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  They then rushed to the guild as fast as possible without using much more of their mana. Once inside, the adventurers that were there in the bright early morning all looked at them in curiosity. “Anyone here know healing magic, or have a potion or something?” Ardonis asked. “This man is in critical condition and there isn’t much either of us can do.”

  “We can heal him,” an older woman in robes said, standing up and coming over with a young man who appeared to be a teenager. She appeared to be in her late forties to early fifties. Their robes were white and both Lucy and Ardonis could sense the light magic they had.

  Ardonis set the man on an empty table and the two quickly got to work. A light glow surrounded their bodies as they chanted something under their breaths. Which then made a yellow ball of light appear on the man’s chest and disperse through his body. Once it was over, the light died down and the older woman sighed from the effort.

  All of the man’s injuries were gone and his missing leg was back. “Thank you, all of you,” he said. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

  “No need to repay us,” Lucy said, “We were simply doing what the assignment wanted us to do.”

  Ardonis nodded, “But we will gladly pay the two generous healers here for their work.”

  The older woman shook her head with a laugh, “Think nothing of it, we were happy to help. The forest is a mighty dangerous place and this is not a rare occurrence.”

  “Still,” Lucy said with a light bow, “Thank you for your help.”

  “My pleasure young miss, the two of you are quite powerful to have retrieved this man from the forest so quickly though, I saw his poster up just yesterday.”

  Ardonis chuckled, “It took us all night, and most of our mana, but we managed to find him and get back in less than twelve hours.”

  It was interesting for the two to be considered young by the older woman, but they supposed they would have to get used to it. With immortality came an eternal youthfulness, even born mortals who managed to break through to immortality share the look of eternal youth. It seemed as though their fairy friend wasn’t at the counter, so they went to a different receptionist, a young human girl by all appearances.

  “With the obvious task of the missing adventurer found, we also have these,” Ardonis said as he brought out the other two assignments and proofs of them.

  “With all of this that nets you sixty gold, quite the sum for new adventurers,” she said, using some artifact that scanned their profiles within the guild database. She handed them the reward and Ardonis was leaving to go look at more assignments when a question from Lucy stopped him.

  “Is there a limit to the number of assignments we can take, not just at one time, but in general? For example, per day or something?”

  Interested, he turned back to the receptionist to hear the answer as well. “As long as you have a good track record of not abandoning or failing the number of quests you take, then no. For new adventurers, it is usually limited to a certain amount, just as a precaution. However, based on your information, and the results of the three you turned in, that rule can be vetoed by a staff member. I will still set a limit of twenty per day, however, just until we get a little more of your rates and work ethic.”

  “And how much is the usual limit?” Ardonis asked.

  “Five or ten a day depending on multiple factors of the individual, honestly this is the largest amount we’ve allowed new adventurers to take at this branch,” she answered.

  He nodded, somewhat suspicious, “Forgive me if this sounds rude or accusatory, but I don’t believe that just any staff member would be able to circumvent a rule like that. Not without permission from a higher up at least. That sounds like it would be too much power in the hands of a common receptionist who could potentially be threatened and put in harm’s way. It just doesn’t strike me as a smart decision.”

  He didn’t mention that he could feel the suppressed magic she was giving off. Whether with her own power or an artifact, the woman was more than she was letting on. Besides that, he could also feel the magic of an illusion at work, a powerful one at that. Almost on par with what he could do with his current power.

  Her smile widened and she gave a few small claps, “Well done, it seems your prowess is just as I heard then.” The illusion disappeared and a beautiful, more mature woman with a purple dress and an overly large purple wizard’s hat stood before them. A staff with a bluish-red gem at the top in her hands. Intricate sigils, runes, and lines marred the long surface, and both Ardonis and Lucy could feel the power from it.

  “Pleasure to meet the both of you, I am Nula, the guild master of this branch. Sorry for my little ploy there, after I had heard about you, I just had to meet you for myself. Though I can’t say I was expecting a show so early after your departure. If nothing else it proves your efficiency,” she said, her voice a bit deeper and more sultry than it was with the illusion.

  “And what if it was simply beginners luck?” Lucy asked.

  Nula chuckled, “If that was luck then I’ll retire right now, just as you can feel my magical power, I can feel yours. We are about on the same level after all. Though unfortunately not even I can bend the rules enough to give you your proper ranks. Not yet anyway, keep clearing assignments with efficiency and it will certainly help your cases. Now, considering your power, there is a request I would like to make of you.”