Alex panted for breath as he leaned against a tree.
He didn't know how long he had been running, only that he stopped when his legs gave way.
The young man waited for his breathing to stabilize before taking out his waterskin from his storage ring and drinking a mouthful of water.
Dim Dim then offered him a barbecued pork bun to help him recover his stamina, which had been depleted after all that running.
The young man gratefully accepted the Dim Sum God's food and ate while trying to calm his wildly beating heart.
Now that he was able to think more clearly, he realized that the voices he had heard earlier sounded familiar.
'Could it be them?' Alex wondered. 'But they looked strong and competent. Their party is also pretty balanced. It couldn't be them, right?'
The young man tried to deny the possibility that the strangers he had met and who even helped him were the source of the fearful and desperate screams he had heard earlier.
But Alex wasn't someone who turned a blind eye to reality.
'I just hope at least one of them survived.' Alex sighed. 'I was too reckless. Perhaps if those three hadn't delayed my journey, I might have been the one who encountered whatever monsters they faced.'
The mere thought of facing monsters that even a well-rounded party of three was unable to deal with made the young man shudder.
'It's no use thinking about these things,' Alex thought. 'I guess I won't be getting the Silent Striders anytime soon.'
His life was more important than a Rare Item, so the young man shelved his plans of going to the Fairy Lake for the time being.
After recovering some of his stamina, Alex decisively left the forest to return to the Town of Thaloria.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was still shaken from the gruesome incident earlier.
"Are you okay?" the pretty receptionist, Dahlia, asked the young man, whose face looked a little pale.
"Yes," Alex replied as he handed the Red Cap Mushrooms and the Thornberries he had gathered from the forest.
Dahlia inspected them to make sure that they were in good condition as per the client's wishes.
After checking that there was nothing wrong with the items, she asked for Alex's Guild Card.
Dahlia then updated his information and stamped the two quests he had claimed as completed.
At the same time, the young man heard a notification inside his head.
And just like always, a blue window screen popped up in front of him.
Mission: Gathering Red Cap Mushrooms Completed!
Reward: 10 Arcana Points
Mission: Gathering Thornberries Completed!
Reward: 10 Arcana Points
The rewards he received from the system for completing the two missions were separate from the rewards he would receive from the Adventurer's Guild.
Every mission that Alex took would give him some Arcana Points, which he could use to buy items from the Arcana Shop.
Unfortunately, the cheapest item in the store cost a hundred Arcana Points, and the young man only had thirty of them at the moment.
Alext felt a bit better after gaining some AP from his first adventure in the Floating Forest.
"Since you gathered forty Thornberries, you will receive eight additional bronze coins for your trouble." Dahlia smiled as she placed the two silver coins and eight bronze coins on the money tray. "Please confirm that you have received the proper amount for your quests."
Herb hunting was not a high-paying job, but it was one of the most common jobs that a novice Adventurer got when starting out.
Although the pay wasn't that high, completing five of these missions would allow them to increase their Adventurer Rank.
Now that Alex had completed two of them, he just needed to complete three more quests, and he would become a Rank E Adventurer.
"I would also like to exchange goblin ears," Alex stated as he took out a pouch that contained the ten goblin ears.
Dahlia wasn't too surprised at the sight of goblin ears because it was common for Adventurers on herb-gathering missions to encounter these creatures in the forest.
"Did you kill them by yourself?" Dahlia asked in curiosity.
"No," Alex replied honestly. "They fought against a Rank 2 Brown Bear. I just took the spoils from their dead bodies."
"And what happened to the Brown Bear?"
"It died from its injuries. I also have it with me. Can I have it appraised and dismantled by the Guild?"
"The dismantling fee will be twenty percent of the Beast's value. Will that be acceptable to you?" Dahlia inquired.
"Yes, please," Alex answered.
Right now, he didn't have any dismantling skills, so it would be best to leave the Brown Bear to a professional.
The goblin ears he handed over were worth four silver coins and one bronze coin.
'Six silver coins and nine bronze coins,' Alex thought. 'This could cover ten more days of rent in the inn. I hope the Brown Bear is worth more.'
Alex then followed Dahlia to the dismantling facility, where he took out the bear from his Beast Pouch.
The Dismantler gave the bear an appraising look, not minding the arrows that stuck out of its body.
"It's quite unfortunate that the fur is badly damaged, so it cannot be used as a bear rug," the Dismantler pointed out. "Bear meat is also not popular, so we can't give you a high price for it. But the claws and teeth can be used as materials for weapons, so it's not that bad."
After some calculations, the Dismantler said that the Guild could give Alex five gold coins for the bear, which surprised him.
They had already excluded their own share, so the young man would be getting the five gold coins without any deduction.
Seeing his surprised expression, the Dismantler chuckled and explained why the price was a little higher than Alex expected.
"The bear hide can still be used to craft leather armor and equipment," the Dismantler explained. "Although it's damaged in some places, there's still a good chunk of it that can be used."
"The claws of the bear can be used in weapon crafting, while its teeth can be used to craft enchanted necklaces. Some tribes like to buy bear teeth because they consider bears one of their Spirit Beasts, which adds to their value."
The young man happily accepted the five gold coins, which were equivalent to ten silver coins each.
He now had a total of five gold coins, twelve silver coins, and nine bronze coins, which was more than the starting funds he had received after arriving in Arcana.
With this, Alex felt more comfortable about his expenditure in the Town of Thaloria.
As he headed towards the Cat Tail's Inn, the young man saw Cairo headed the same way.
"Cairo!" Alex called out to the Catkin Swordsman, which made the latter look in his direction.
"Alex," Cairo greeted with a smile. "It's been a while. How are you?"
"I just returned from completing my first missions in the Adventurer's Guild," Alex answered. "Are you headed to the Cat Tail's Inn?"
"Yes," Cairo replied. "I need a drink. Life has been so hard as of late."
"Perfect! How about I treat you to another jug of Stardancer's Delight?"
Cairo hesitated, but since Alex seemed really sincere, he decided to accept the young man's offer.
When they arrived at the inn, Alex ordered food and drinks for the three of them.
While waiting for their food to come, Cairo asked what kind of mission he had accepted from the guild.
The young man then told the Catkin Swordsman about his experience in the Floating Forest, including the incident still fresh on his mind.