The next morning, I woke up on the early side, before heading downstairs and having some breakfast that the inn offered. One of the best things that came as a 'side effect' of my 'Mimic' with a human, is that I also mimicked the senses a human may have, including their sense of taste — which meant that I could taste like I was used to once again. I was a bit taken back by being able to taste it again at first, however after 'adapting' to it a bit, it was a purely delightful experience. It felt like I had entered heaven itself by simply eating food that was properly cooked and made for consumption.

Admittedly, I had no idea how all that raw meat I ate while wandering the forest actually tasted like, since as a snake I was unable to taste shit, but I imagine it probably was nasty and disgusting tasting — and not at all appetising.

After I had a fulfilling meal and paid for it, I left to go to the Adventure Guild. Today I wanted to give another commission a shot – but maybe this time one that was more focused on fighting rather than collecting, for the simple reason being that I wanted to gain some more experience battling in this human form — as I was very much used to fighting with my snake form.

As I approached the guild building, I saw a group making some commotion outside, shouting and complaining about something. The group was made up from around nine or so individuals, all of them very clearly human. They were dressed a lot like warriors – so I assumed that they must have been probably higher ranked adventurers.

"Always interesting to see what other adventurers do."

I commented to myself in my mind before entering the guild. In this early morning, there weren't nearly as many adventurers as there were during the broad daylight yesterday – Just a few adventuring parties that were either resting, planning their day or browsing the quest board.

I walked over to the quest board myself as soon as I entered the guild – beginning to look through it and search for a quest that involved hunting and killing monsters. Preferably the monsters required would also be ones I have faced off against before, as I really didn't feel like learning a new monster's attacking patterns and abilities while in this human form.

There was a F-Rank quest to slay direwolves... A D-Rank quest to slay Green Goblins... D-Rank quest to slay Slimes - of any kind - but overall, nothing that caught the eye. I exhaled — the limitations as an adventurer when it came to what you could accept to do really was showing itself. I should work towards ranking myself up as fast as I can.

"Did Jarvis say I needed to complete twenty commissions or quests before I could rank up? That's quite a lot... It took me long enough to complete that one gathering commission yesterday."

I sighed.
Perhaps I should try accepting more than one commission at once? Because if I keep accepting and completing only one commission a day, it will take absolutely forever for me to reach any significant rank within the guild – and I kind of didn't want to be stuck here for god knows how many years.

I looked at the slaying quests I had looked at earlier, before exhaling and taking all three of their papers and walking over to the closest receptionist – a short female with short light brown hair and dainty lips – like a princess.

"Excuse me, am I able to accept more than one quest at the same time?"

The receptionist looked up at me, before exhaling and closing her book.

"Name and rank?"

"Riyo Komeno and my rank in the guild is currently D."

The receptionist looked at me with a slightly surprised gaze – however I was unable to decipher whether that surprised gaze was a positively surprised or a negatively surprised. After a bit, she shook her head.

"As a D-Rank adventurer, you can accept up to five quests at once. Once you reach C-Rank this number will increase to six and then max out at eight after you hit S-Rank — or rather, if you hit S-Rank."

She explained, sounding a bit unsure at the end. I imagined that it wasn't easy to become an S-Ranked adventurer in this world, especially based on her comment of if I become one. I exhaled lightly, chuckling before placing the three commission papers I had taken on the desk in front of her.

"Then, can I accept these three?"

The receptionist looked at the papers and picked them up, examining them for a bit, before nodding.

"You can. I'll go ahead and process the commission details – please wait here."

She stated, before turning around and leaving – walking off into the backroom of the reception. I crossed my arms, waiting for a bit, simply looking around the guild while I waited. It was quite strange to see it this empty and quiet, especially after the lively atmosphere I had experienced first hand yesterday.

It just felt – off.
After a bit, the receptionist returned.

"Thank you for waiting. I've confirmed the commission details – you need to bring back ten Direwolf tails, ten goblin ears and two bottles of slime condensate."

She stated, placing two small bottles on the table. I took the bottles, placing them inside the bag I had created yesterday, before looking at her again.

"Anything else?"

She shook her head.

"That's all the details I have for you. Where to find all these creatures – in the Abyssal Woods. Slimes can be found everywhere with decently high magical energy condensation while Direwolves and Green Goblins are found basically everywhere."

That... is kind of helpful I suppose. This girl definitely was a lot less enthusiastic about her work as a receptionist compared to Jarvis or the other female receptionist I had met yesterday. Exhaling, I nodded.

"I understand. Then, I'm off."

"Good luck."

The female added as I turned around and left. She eyed Faofa for a bit longer, sharpening her gaze, before sighing and sitting in, before leaning back into the chair behind her.

"Some wild times, if individuals like that are D-Rank adventurers. Those stripes and eyes... most likely a descendant of Dragons."

She sighed again, closing her eyes.

Outside Ordial and back in the Abyssal Woods, as the sun shone through the tree line above, a pack of direwolves sprinted through the forest – desperately trying to get away from something. The direwolves leapt over bushes and slid under low tree branches, occasionally throwing gazes behind them, only to see no one there.

However, despite it being empty, the monsters knew they weren't alone or safe. Whatever was chasing them, was still on their tails.

Faofa leapt down from a tree, immediately using 'Shadowlord' to create a wall in front of the wolves, stopping them before shaping the wall all around them in a cylindrical shape. The direwolves looked distressed as Faofa began to slowly approach them.

They looked at him in pure fear – Trembling.

"Guess even in this world, an animal isn't completely stupid – they know when they can't win."

Faofa commented, smirking before looking at the trembling direwolves with a sharp, shining gaze. The wolves growled at him, before pushing themselves forward and charging at Faofa, their mouths wide open and teeth shining, as well as their claws fully out. Faofa exhaled, before clapping his hands together.

In an instant, from his shadow, spikes shot out – impaling eight of the eleven direwolves that he had been chasing. The surviving three continued their charge towards Faofa – before one of them leapt at him. Faofa stepped out of the way, causing the direwolf to hit the ground hard, before being impaled by another, smaller shadow spike.

As for the remaining two, he exhaled, before looking at them with a shining red eye – sending an immense pressure towards the direwolves and knocking them both unconscious without even lifting a finger. Afterwards, he silently killed them both as well, impaling them with the same spikes.

"That's eleven direwolves. Lucky me."

I thought, before making the cylindrical wall around me disappear. I then walked over to the first direwolf, while using tentacles created with 'Shadowlord' to bring the other direwolf corpses over to me, before kneeling and forming a small dagger with 'Shadowlord' – cutting off the tail of the wolf.

Direwolf Tail
Rank: C

Beautiful and easy to use, direwolf tails make for the perfect material to use in clothing and armour – as they not only provide good protection but also heat in the colder months.

"No wonder the guild needed these – they seem pretty useful."

I commented to myself in my mind, before stuffing the first tail inside my bag. Afterwards, I proceeded to cut off the tail from the other wolves, stuffing them all also inside the bag – before closing it after the eleventh.

Standing up, I stretched out.

"That's all the things I needed. Eight goblin ears, ten direwolf tails and two slime condensates."

I commented before looking at the sun through the treeline above. It appeared to be about the middle of the day – I managed to collect all of the things rather quickly. I guess that isn't hardly surprising, as these creatures were way too weak to actually be a challenge for me.

While I was just a D-Rank adventurer, my status said that my rank was 'C' – which I believe was a testament to my actual strength.

"Now, to bring all this stuff back to the guild."

I thought, before turning around and beginning to move – only to stop a moment later, as I spotted something unusual at the corner of my eye. To the right side, not too far from me, there seemed to be something.

I decided to investigate it – turning towards the right side and walking over. Pushing myself through the trees and bushes, I walked out into a small, open field, in the middle of which, was what appeared to be some kind of entrance to ruins or a temple. It was very clearly out of place and looked like it had been built by humans or something.

Curious, I used 'Enlightened' on it, just to see what it was.

Dungeon

WARNING:
Only enter IF you are ready for whatever may lay within.

"A Dungeon? And an A-Rank one at that..."

I shed a sweat. The highest ranking dungeon I had come across up until now was C-Rank, which was two ranks lower than this one. And the monsters in those C-Rank dungeons were already resilient enough, with the bosses being rather tricky to take down.

If I was going based off of my previous experience, the difference in power between 'ranks' can be enormous – take the Chimera for instance. While I had no idea what its rank was, it was easily stronger than the B-Rank dungeon bosses I had killed while preparing to face it, which most likely meant it was around the A-Rank.

And if my assumption was right, then going off of how I just barely managed to defeat the Chimera, a dungeon filled with monsters of potentially equal strength to it, definitely didn't seem super appealing to attempt.

Or at least – it didn't at first.

After a bit – my hesitation faded as I began to take steps closer to the dungeon. If it was filled with monsters that were on par with the Chimera, then this place was the perfect location to train fighting while in human form. Mainly because the monsters wouldn't be some pushovers that die in one hit and instead, would actually put up a fight.

After a bit, I exhaled and entered the dungeon – slowly stepping down the stairs that led down underground.

The dungeon inside was dimly lit, with torches that were spaced out and looked like they were about to go out at any point. I shed a sweat as I continued my descent. There wasn't almost any magical energy in the air of the dungeon, which made me worried a bit. Up until now, even against the Chimera, the air inside the places I had fought the monsters, has been dense with magical energy.

But this dungeon's air... It felt foul and ominous – like I had stepped into a haunted graveyard.

Finally reaching the bottom of the staircase, I was met with a large – single open room. There were no tunnels leading deeper or anything like that. The room looked like some kind of emperor's tomb, with large stone statues lined up on the sides, all of them of knights. Just across the room, at the wall which was parallel from the stairs, was a single, larger statue of a cloaked, hooded figure, which was holding a large scythe within its hands, while a large sarcophagus made of stone laid in front of it.

"Definitely the most ominous sight I've seen so far..."

I thought.
The staircase behind me then was blocked off — by bar-like gates closing. Afterwards, the knight statues by the walls on the sides sprung to life, their eyes igniting and shining bright red.

"Predictable."

I thought, before quickly using 'Enlightened' on the statues.

Tomb Knight
Rank: A
Level: 80

Jesus almighty... Those things are definitely more powerful than the Chimera was. The knights picked up their large, stone weapons before proceeding to charge at me, their footsteps heavy and large. I sighed lightly — time to see how well I can fight.

As the statues approached, I activated 'Shadowlord', creating as many appendages from the shadows around me as I could, before sending them towards the statues. Despite their high levels and ranks, the statues were easily destroyed by the appendages – they were smashed, crushed and tossed across the room with ease, each action shattering them to pieces. At first, I felt like it was too easy, as the statues were barely even a challenge. I had ripped through them with ease, making me wonder whether they really were that strong at all.

However, then, the statues suddenly began to reconstruct themselves, the stone making up their bodies coming back together before 'healing' back into the statues. Afterwards, the knights picked their weapons back up and charged at me again.

"So they can regenerate huh? Well, no big deal. As long as they're not hard to destroy, I shouldn't struggle."

I thought before using 'Shadowlord' to create a long spear, before leaping up into the air and then dashing towards the Knights as they charged at me.