The journey from the commercial district to the Central Adventurer Guild did not take long. Following the street signs and the crowd of armed people, Calian and Wolvin finally arrived in front of a building no less magnificent than the merchant guild.
The building was constructed from sturdy arrangements of gray natural stone. Above its wide-open double entrance doors, a large shield emblem with two crossed swords was displayed. Unlike the neat and fragrant merchant guild, the atmosphere around this place felt much harsher, filled with the scent of metal from weapons, leather armor, and the sweat of passing adventurers.
The two of them stepped into the guild lobby. The atmosphere inside was very crowded and noisy. Dozens of adventurers from various races and classes could be seen gathering. Some were discussing at round tables, some were chugging beer in the morning, and others were crowding in front of the long wooden quest board stretching across the right side of the room.
Without wasting time, Calian guided his spouse through the crowd toward the row of reception desks at the far end of the lobby.
A beautiful female receptionist from the human race in a neat uniform welcomed them. "Good morning! Welcome to the Central Adventurer Guild of the Erthland Empire. Is there anything I can help you with, Gentlemen?"
"Good morning." Calian replied in his calm tone. "The two of us are adventurers who just moved to this empire. We would like to change our adventurer license cards to become official cards of the Erthland Empire. Can that be done?"
Calian then took out his and Wolvin's adventurer license cards, which they had previously obtained in the Yornvast Empire, and placed them on the desk.
The receptionist received the two cards and examined them for a moment. "Alright, I understand. Transferring license data between empires is a common occurrence. We will process it immediately. Your ranks and quest completion histories will be maintained and transferred into the new Erthland Empire guild license cards."
The woman then took two blank cards made of lightweight metal and placed them on top of a magic artifact shaped like a crystal slab. She placed Calian and Wolvin's old cards on top of it. The crystal glowed for a moment, copying all their identity and rank data.
In just a few minutes, the process was complete. The receptionist handed the two shiny new metal cards to them.
"These are your new official license cards, valid throughout the Erthland Empire and in all guilds across this world." the receptionist said with a smile. "Would you like to take a quest right away today?"
Calian accepted the cards, gave one to Wolvin, and then nodded. "Yes, we would like to look at the quest board for a moment."
The two of them walked over to the wooden quest board filled with various kinds of parchments. Wolvin stared at the strings of paper enthusiastically, his tail wagging comfortably from behind his new pants.
"Darling, what quest should we take today?" Wolvin asked, his eyes scanning the available quests. "Are we going to immediately take a monster-hunting quest to train your stamina?"
Calian shook his head slowly. "Not for this first day, Wolvin. We just arrived and are not familiar with the terrain around the capital. It is better for us to take a light quest for a warm-up while adjusting to the new environment."
Calian's hand reached out, plucking a quest parchment from the board. "We will just take this quest. Foraging and gathering Silver Dew Leaf herbs. The location is in the East Forest, not too far from the capital gates."
Wolvin nodded in agreement. "A great choice, Darling! I can use my sense of smell to find those plants quickly inside the forest."
After handing the quest parchment to the reception desk to be registered, the two of them immediately set off, leaving the guild. They walked out of the capital's east gate, following a trail that led directly to the East Forest area.
The atmosphere inside the East Forest felt very peaceful. Towering trees with lush leaves filtered the sunlight, creating cool shadows on the ground covered in moss and dry leaves. The clean forest air made breathing feel very light.
"The scent is around here, Darling." Wolvin said, his nose sniffing the air slightly. He walked a few steps forward, pushing aside the thick bushes. "Ah, here it is! Silver Dew Leaves."
Calian walked to catch up with his spouse and crouched beside him. Behind the bushes grew several clumps of herbal plants with silvery-green leaves that gleamed when hit by light. The two of them began plucking those leaves carefully and putting them into a cloth pouch.
The work felt very soothing. Both of them worked in a comfortable silence, enjoying their time together in the middle of nature. Occasionally, Calian glanced at Wolvin, who looked very focused and happy with the simple activity.
However, the peace in the East Forest did not last long.
When their cloth pouch was almost full, the air around them suddenly vibrated violently.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
The sound of very noisy and heavy flapping wings suddenly echoed from the direction of the dense trees in front of them. The sound was so piercing that it made the surrounding leaves fall.
Calian and Wolvin instantly stopped their activity. They stood up simultaneously, staring warily toward the source of the sound approaching at high speed.
Crack! Bang!
Several tree branches snapped and fell as a large shadow burst through the dense foliage and stopped right in the air, only a few meters in front of the two of them.
It was a giant insect monster. Its form resembled a bee, but with a highly unnatural size, having a body length reaching two meters. Its body color was bright yellow with pitch-black circular stripes. A sharp stinger the size of a short sword protruded from the end of its tail, dripping a clear liquid that hissed upon hitting the ground.
Yellow Bee, a rank C insect monster that usually lived peacefully in the depths of the forest and rarely attacked humans unless its nest was disturbed.
However this time, the giant monster did not look calm at all. Its large pair of compound eyes glowed blood red. Its wings flapped brutally, creating a small whirlwind around its body. The Yellow Bee stared straight at Calian and Wolvin with a gaze full of aggression, blocking their only way out of the forest and preparing to launch a lethal attack.