>Player Arzhur has killed a Jagged Horn Shrew!<
>Player Arzhur has obtained 1% Experience<
The first Jagged Horn Shrew that Arthur pierced through had been injured bore and was going to die anyway. The second one though, was still fine, but with Arthur's spear struck in its body, it couldn't move at all.
>Jagged Horn Shrew has been impaled!<
>Jagged Horn Shrew will be unable to move!<
With the beast struck, Arthur took out his Black Tear Short Sword and stabbed into its eye.
[Critical Hit!]
[Fatal Hit!]
[-50% HP]
>Player Arzhur has killed a Jagged Horn Shrew!<
>Player Arzhur has obtained 1% Experience<
"There we go…" Arthur pulled out the spear from the Jagged Horn Shrews and drew back the Black Tear Short Sword.
The short sword was still handy as a spare weapon when the spear was occupied.
'At least these are easy to harvest.' Arthur thought as he quickly cut off the horns of the shrews.
They were light and wouldn't take that much space.
>Player Arzhur has obtained low quality Jagged Horn x 2<
Since they had been impacted by the spear several times, there were some nicks on the horns and thus their quality was lowered. Though normally with other weapons there should have been no damage to the tough horns at all.
Storing the horns away, Arthur quickly made his way onwards. The vine he had tied to his waist had broken away during the fight and he didn't bother attaching another one.
He didn't need one now anyways. He simply followed along the river until he reached the third curve.
Along the way he encountered a few more Jagged Horn Shrews, but they were not an issue for him. In total, he killed 10 of them, obtaining 10 horns and 10% Experience.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt'I think going along the river allowed me to avoid most of the shrews. If I wandered in the forest, there should have been more of them.' Arthur thought to himself.
He also wondered if he would encounter the field boss, but it didn't look like he would have that chance today.
"Guess my luck is working this time." Arthur muttered to himself.
While he wouldn't have minded hunting the field boss and trying to see how he could fare after it. Arthur would also have to let down the rucksack and items he was carrying as they could be burdensome for him.
'I may as well look around for it later when I'm done settling in the town.' Arthur reckoned.
He walked for a few more minutes looking out for the smoke stacks before he finally spotted them.
"There they are!" Arthur looked in the distance.
With the smoke stacks as a beacon, Arthur quickly found the path that led to the town. From there, getting to Roran town was just a five minute walk.
"Man, having a proper road makes the travel so much easier…" but while Arthur was walking, he heard a voice.
"Huh?" he looked to the back and saw two people.
He narrowed his eyes, wondering who it was. He was sure they weren't players as it was too early for them. Thus he reckoned it was other NPCs.
'But for them to be on this side… wonder where they are coming from.' Arthur thought and let them come closer.
"Look, it's an adventurer," the two NPC's also saw him by now and approached him.
"Hello!" Arthur greeted them.
"Whoa! That's a lot of goods!" The younger looking NPC said with surprise.
"Looks like you had a good harvest." The older NPC said as well.
"Ah, yeah. I guess you could say that." Arthur replied noticing that the two NPC's were also carrying large rucksacks on their backs. "Are you two hunters?" he asked.
"Hunters? Us?" The younger NPC chuckled. "Nah, we're just porters." He shook his head.
"I see. I guess both of you are also heading to the town?" Arthur questioned.
"Indeed." The older NPC replied. "Ah, we forgot to introduce ourselves."
"Me too. I'm Arzhur." Arthur spoke.
"I'm Geran and this is my son, Aaron." The older NPC introduced.
"Nice to meet you two." Arthur replied. "Let's head to the town first." He said, not wanting to talk out here.
While there was no danger this close to the town, Arthur did want to get rid of the burden on his back.
"Yeah! Let's in first. I wanna drop all the stuff." Aaron agreed with a hint of exhaustion.
The three headed to the Town gate where four guards were standing and watching them. Behind them, two more guards were standing on the watchtower built on the town wall.
"Halt!" The guards spoke.
"It's just us Darren." Geran said out loud.
"I see a new person though." The guard named Darren said, furrowing his brows.
"I'm Adventurer Arzhur. I've come from Kestrel Village." Arthur quickly chimed in on cue.
"An adventure from the village?" the guard wasn't convinced just by that though.
"I have a writ of entry from the village head too." Arthur quickly took out the document.
"Let me see… Hmm… this seems legitimate." The guard quickly checked the document and verified Arthur's identity. "Alright, you can head in." He permitted.
"Thank you!" Arthur replied with a smile, the guards easing up.
Arthur could somewhat understand their apprehension and strict behavior not minding it. It was close to evening and once it turned dark, there was no saying what It was better to be cordial with them than antagonize them anyways.
"Let's head in," Aaron said. "Arzhur do you wanna sell off your stuff too?" the younger porter asked.
"Yeah." Arthur nodded his head.
"Come with us then. You'll get better prices." Aaron asked.
"Sure!" Arthur didn't mind.
~Creak~
The village gate was opened by the guards for them as the trip entered the town.
The hustle and bustle of the town could be seen as the people hurried to finish stuff before night time. Tens of workers could be seen finishing up their work, while the residents did some shopping for the dinner.
The scent of food could be smelled from the nearby tavern, while the smoke rose from the chimneys.
It was the classic sight of a medieval town that felt pleasant to one's eyes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmUnlike the Kestrel Village, Roran town was a lot more lively and had a higher population.
It was even more amazing, when one understood the fact that these were all NPCs. They all had their lives and performed their duty.
'It's hard to imagine they are all being run by an AI.' Arthur thought to himself as he gazed at the scene.
"You okay?" Geran asked, seeing that Arthur was standing in one place.
"Ah yeah… just taking in the sights." Arthur replied.
"Haha, I get it. I was the same when I first visited a town." Geran chuckled. "It was such a long time ago, and yet the reaction of newbies never changes." He spoke.
"I guess so." Arthur replied before walking along the two porters. "So where are we going?" he asked.
"The biggest place to sell our stuff. The adventurer's guild of course!" Aaron said out loud.
"You two are affiliated to the Adventurer's guild?" Arthur inquired.
"We are porters employed by them, yes." Geran replied.
"Huh… why did they send you to the forest then? There aren't any other settlement than the Kestrel Village there." Arthur inquired.
"We were asked to bring back some of the supplies left behind by the scout team." Aaron answered.
"Scout team?" Arthur furrowed his brows, trying to remember if there was anything like this in his past life.
But he couldn't remember it.
'It should have been way before any player got to the time.' Arthur reckoned.
"Yeah, the guard captain sent out a scout team to investigate some things, but they were recalled and had to leave their stuff behind in an emergency. We were asked to bring the supplies back." Geran explained.
Arthur was a bit surprised as to how easily he obtained the information.
'If they spoke about it like this, it must mean it isn't a secret. A scout teams dispatched by the guard captain was recalled… strange.' Arthur thought.
"What kind of emergency was it?" Arthur asked in curiosity.
"We don't know." Geran shook his head. "It's not our place to know anyways. Our job is just to carry things." He added.
"Ah yeah. Makes sense." Arthur replied but then thought of something. "Wait… if the scout team was sent by the Guard Captain, why are we going to the Adventurer's guild? Shouldn't we be going to the guard barracks instead?" he realized.
"That's because the scouts were commissioned from the adventurer's guild of course." Geran answered.
Hearing this, alarm bells rung in Arthur's mind.
'The guards here are so short staffed that they need to employ adventurers?' Arthur could sense something troublesome brewing in the back.
He wondered if it all linked to the events that had been happening and knew that he needed to get to the bottom of it.