It took the group a few minutes to step out of the train station build just above the ground before jogging to the north city gate that led to the outskirts of Leslie, one of the four lower cities of Xavier, ruled by Joyce, a female noble and an adventurer. She inherited this position from her father, who had passed away a few years ago.
Leslie wasn't a well-established city. Only a few important construction works have been done here, such as the normalized train station. However, it was still a good place for the poor, as the housing prices were ten times cheaper compared to the Great City of New Hope.
Nevertheless, the guards stationed at this city weren't strong either.
Furthermore, the adventurers had no interest in this place as the level of monsters in the wilderness around Leslie ranged from rank-1 to rank-10 magical beasts. There was barely any demonic beast in the beast's forest. Beast's forest is the collective name of the wilderness around Leslie. It was a place without any lucky and fruitful encounters. Such a place isn't one where adventurers chasing after treasures go to. So, there were barely any adventurers in this place, and they the weakest of the bunch.
The arrival of monsters in the woods had troubled the city lord and vexed the people who make a living by collecting and selling herbs from the outskirts and the woods.
So, the city lord ended up requesting help from the military academy after promising to pay a hefty award.
"What kind of missions are we doing first, brother?" Peter asked Vincent as they walked towards the end of the outskirts.
"We will be looking for the bandits and the monster at the same time. They are bound to be somewhere in the woods, near the outskirts. Whoever we find first will be the first to pass on to the other side. You guys should go over the details of the monster subjugation quest just in case," said Vincent to the twins, as Varth didn't need to know. After all, he had already explained the depth of the monster subjugation mission he accepted to Varth.
As soon he said those words, Leila and Peter decided to brief themselves about the mission as it seemed like a good idea, and they gained access to the details of the monster's subjugation missions using their quantum card.
[Mission Detail: The members of three different families mysteriously disappeared while wandering in the peaceful woods near the outskirts of Leslie. A person who luckily escaped somehow said that they were captured by fearsome monsters and taken away after interrogation. From the details, it is most likely to be a pack of Grim Gores who has entered the woods from the beast's forest.
Mission goals: Find and kill all of the Grim Gores roaming somewhere in the woods.
Reward: 15000 contribution points.
Note: A video or pictures can serve as proof.
Time limit: 3 days
Mission level: 59]
After reading the information presented on the blue screen floating in front of them, they found out that it was a combat level fifty-nine mission.
"Isn't this mission a little bit too hard," Peter said.
"Not really," Varth said. "Grim Gore is generally a weak monster, usually around the universal ranking of rank-1 to rank-5 of the magical realm. They aren't powerful, but they are fast. Although they aren't easy to kill as their speed and defenses are their strongest point, as long as you are not careless, you will not die and be able to beat them."
Any beast or monster that possessed an ability or strength far above a normal animal was considered to be in the magical realm.
Magical beasts and monsters are sub-categorized into ten different ranks based on their strength, with the weakest being rank-1 and rank-10 of the magical realm being the strongest.
Most of Peter's worries faded as he was powerful enough to kill rank-1 to rank-3 magical realm monsters.
"I understand," he nodded his head seriously.
The woods were located just near the outskirts of the city. A few guards were stationed at the northern city gate, stopping kids and adults alike from going to the outskirts. They were complaining about how they will die either way, as the source of their income relied solely on gathering herbs, they were herb gatherers after all, but the city guards promptly refused them from heading straight towards deadly danger.
A few moments later, the group passed by multiple peoples and arrived before the guards who stepped aside, letting them through, once he saw the awe-inspiring emblem of the military academy on their uniform.
An old man pointed at their backs and grumbled: "Why are they allowed to go through when we are not?!"
"Old man, stop acting out. That group of four is here to subjugate the monsters." A guard yelled back at him.
"You!" The old man fumed.
"He is an elder, please show some respect," said a gentle-looking young guard to the guard that yelled, before he looked at the group of desperate people before the gates and said with a pleasant smile, "Your prayers have been answered. Come by after a few days, and we won't be stopping you from going outside, hopefully."
He continued, "For now, please go back home. I will notify you the moment the woods are clear of the danger, and it becomes safe to head inside the woods."
"We understand. We won't trouble you anymore."
All of the poor people then left towards their houses with anticipation and excitement. They all hoped that the group of four youngsters would be successful in their endeavor as their livelihood depended on it.
Several minutes later, Vincent and the others found themselves walking on a path with trees, shrubs, and bushes irregularly strewn all over the place.
"Big brother, how are we going to find them?" Leila asked as she looked at Vincent.
"With this," Vincent said, performing a few hand signs to summon four pairs of magic resonating eyeballs.
The effects of these eyes were ten times stronger compared to the ones created using magic power as he has used mana to create them. If previously, the eyes could move individually within a 100-meter radius of him, then now, they could cover up to a 1000-meter radius of distance with him as the center.
"Interesting," Varth said under his breath as he looked at the dark blue eyes that manifested out of thin air.
"What do these eyes do?" Leila said as she got a clear look of the creepy eyes for the first time in her life. She had seen them once before but didn't know about their effects.
"I can see whatever these eyes can see," Vincent said. "I will go North and search for the monsters with these pairs of eyes. The three of you stick together and search for traces of monsters in the East and West sides of the woods, carrying one of my eyeballs. If you find any trace of the monsters or the monsters themselves, send me a signal by using this hand sign in front of the eye. If I happen to find them first, I will recall my eyeball. Let it float and come towards my location. Follow after it, and you will reach me. We will regroup and fight the monsters."
"Wonderful!" Peter exclaimed, impressed by Vincent's plan, causing Varth to look at him as if he was looking at a dumbass.
Who the hell shouts in the wilderness?
'Is this the first time this kid went out in the wilderness,' Varth thought. He was right, and this was Peter's first time in the wilderness.
"Peter," Vincent said calmly.
"Yes?"
"Don't ever shout in the wilderness if you want to live long."
After saying those words, Vincent went straight ahead and the other three went towards the west side of the woods in search of the group of Grim Gores.
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