The Adventurer's Level-Up Guide

The northern Central Continent, also known as the Northern Lands, had low temperatures and was covered in heavy snow year-round, making crops difficult to grow.

Compared to the western and southern parts of the Central Continent, it had more forests, and in terms of the number and strength of Demonic Beasts, it was the harshest land on the entire Central Continent.

Unlike the southern Central Continent and the Millis Continent, the Northern Lands were a region where slave trading flourished, and there were villages that sold children into slavery just to have enough to eat and stay warm.

To the west lay the territory of the Magic Tri-Kingdoms, while farther east were scattered small nations where war broke out frequently.

At the westernmost end was the Holy Land of Swords, while at the eastern end were the Biheril Kingdom and Ghost Island, adjacent to the Heaven Continent.

The waters at the eastern end were blockaded by the sea race, so it was impossible to cross the ocean, making travel to and from the Demon Continent extremely difficult.

We needed to reach the Biheril Kingdom. If we didn't stop along the way and followed the post roads the whole way, we could get there in a little under a year.

But my goal this time was a trial, not sightseeing in the Biheril Kingdom.

I needed to raise my adventurer rank to S-rank.

My current combat power was Saint-tier magic, and I had only just entered the advanced level of Water God Style.

Isolte's combat power was Saint-tier Water God Style. Yes, before we set out, she had already successfully learned the Water God Style secret technique "Flow Perception," the killing move "Flow Perception: True Mirror."

Going by the party composition of Black Wolf Fang, the S-rank party belonging to Rudy's father in the novel, the two of us alone wouldn't be able to rise to S-rank.

Teacher Bradycond's trial hadn't stated that I couldn't form a party either. So I planned to travel while taking commissions along the way and build my own party. By the time we reached Forest Song City in the Biheril Kingdom, we should be around A-rank. Once the thought came to me, I acted on it.

The first place we were going was Rosenburg, the second city of the Basherant Principality. This should be the large city in the Magic Tri-Kingdoms closest to Asura.

Because we traveled along the post road, the journey was fairly safe. Perhaps because they saw we hadn't brought more guards, when we passed through a dense forest close to the Red Dragon Mountains, eight bandits blocked the road. Though they seemed to shout that if we paid the road fee, they'd let us pass.

But to keep from being harassed again and again later, I had to show a bit of strength. After getting out of the carriage, I raised one hand toward the sky and cast a Saint-tier fire spell: Dawn of Ignis. The illusory image of a huge golden sun appeared overhead. Of course, I didn't use the complete spell; it was just an illusion hanging there. If I really wanted to unleash it, I'd still need to cast a lot of defensive magic first, which was far too troublesome!

After those petty thieves saw it, they were so scared they wet their pants. They scrambled and crawled away.

I had no intention of killing them. After all, I still needed them to go spread word of my fearsome name. Once people knew a powerful person had arrived, the gangs blocking the road later would avoid us. This was also the way bandit groups survived.

Sure enough, we didn't run into any more bandits blocking the road after that. There were still one or two Demonic Beasts, but Isolte cut them down with two slashes, and we turned them all into dinner.

And so we traveled without stopping, and after about a month and a half, we arrived at Rosenburg, the second city of the Basherant Principality.

After booking two rooms at the best inn in Rosenburg, we put down our luggage and went to the local Adventurers' Guild.

The method for raising an adventurer party's rank was as follows:

Adventurer ranks, from low to high, were divided into seven levels: F→E→D→C→B→A→S. The higher the rank, the more difficult and better-paid the tasks one could accept.

Promotion Standards

Basic rules: One needed to complete a certain number of tasks of the corresponding rank or adjacent ranks. For example, E→D-rank: complete 50 F-rank tasks, or 25 E-rank tasks, or 10 consecutive D-rank tasks.

Failure Penalties

Failing 5 low-rank tasks in a row or 10 tasks of the same tier would result in being demoted by 1 rank. Failing too many tasks one rank higher would result in losing the ability to continue accepting tasks of that tier.

I started at F-rank, and the fastest way to rise to E-rank was to complete 10 E-rank tasks.

The thing that made my head ache the most was that I had been thinking the whole way over about what name I should give my party. At the very end, I decided to use another reading of the name of the villain organization "Akatsuki" from a cartoon I had watched as a child as the party name.

Party Name: Dawn

Party Rank: F

Party Members: 2

Party Task Count: F 0 times E 0 times D 0 times C 0 times B 0 times A 0 times S 0 times

F-rank and E-rank commissions were both very simple.

F-rank was basically pure daily chores with no combat risk, like helping people find things, lost pets, and the like.

E-rank basically involved dealing with non-Demonic Beast creatures, such as exterminating rats, gathering plants, and so on.

I had already thought this through on the way here. How to exploit a bug.

After Isolte and I created the party, I arranged for Lilith to go into the city and buy 10 sunflowers.

Then I had her post a commission at the Adventurers' Guild to gather 10 sunflowers. Isolte and I would accept that commission.

Then the next day, we would turn in the 10 sunflowers we had bought to complete the task, and repeat this process. In about 10 days, we could rise from F-rank to E-rank.

Although doing this was a bit like cheating, it was still within the rules. All we lost was the commission handling fee, about 10 copper coins each time. That little bit of money was something I didn't care about at all.

During those 10 days, we weren't just slacking off every day either. Isolte was responsible for scouting people in the Adventurers' Guild who might become companions. I was responsible for gathering information about Demonic Beast spawn points near the city, as well as the types of Demonic Beasts, to prepare for taking D- and C-rank tasks later.

The taverns near the Adventurers' Guild were extremely lively. On the first day I created the party, I invited all the adventurers in the guild to drink at the tavern next door. Although it was said that one shouldn't show off wealth while traveling, buying everyone drinks the first time was still a fairly common move. It wasn't too conspicuous.

Adventurers were still very straightforward and generous. Most of their work was dangerous, and every time they went out on a task, there was no guarantee they would return. So they understood all the more that one should seize pleasure while one could. Big mouthfuls of alcohol, big mouthfuls of meat—the red-light district was also a must. What use was having a lot of money? You had to be alive to spend it.

After several large cups of strong liquor went down, no matter how unfamiliar we had been before, once the alcohol was finished, everyone immediately started calling each other brothers.

In that sort of atmosphere, I became familiar with Rosenburg's adventurer teams and pried a great deal of nearby information out of them.

There were several Demonic Beast gathering places near Rosenburg.

Ilbron Cave, Stephen Crypt, Sphinx Ancient Ruins, Toria Forest, Bushke Ice Lake, Hadora Forest, Kukulu Lake, and the Qian-Naxi Mountains.

Each place had different monster levels and commission tasks. The closest one to the city was Hadora Forest, where Steel-Toothed Black Boars, Snowstorm Giant Bears, and Hail Demon Trees often appeared.

Steel-Toothed Black Boars in particular had tusks that were commonly used materials for making magic tools. So among the Adventurers' Guild's commissions, there were a great many tasks demanding that material.

If all that was needed were the Steel-Toothed Black Boar's tusks, the commission rating was D-rank. But if the hide of a Snowstorm Giant Bear was added, the commission would rise to C-rank, because Snowstorm Giant Bears lived in groups and were therefore harder to handle.

Having gotten the information I wanted, I had also drunk my fill. I returned to the inn, and while I still hadn't thrown up, I cast detoxification magic on myself. Then I slept with my little maid in my arms.

Unlike my method, Isolte's way of recruiting people was much more direct.

She directly announced a martial contest in the Adventurers' Guild. Anyone without a party who had a certain level of ability could spar with her. She would not strike to kill. As long as they could block three of her moves, they could claim a reward of two silver coins.

Those with good technique would be recruited by her into the party.

Although lone wolves were relatively rare, they couldn't resist that the one issuing the duel challenge was a beautiful young girl shouting in the Adventurers' Guild in such a taunting manner.

A pile of hot-blooded youths joined the contest, but the results were far from ideal. Out of a dozen or so contestants, only two barely managed to last two moves.

Although she did not find anyone who could withstand three of her moves, because she caused quite a commotion and also proved her own strength during the contest, several magicians took the initiative to say they wanted to join her party.

She informed everyone to gather at the Adventurers' Guild at eleven tomorrow noon, and that there would still be interviews then. After that, she came back.

The next day, Isolte and I went to the Adventurers' Guild together to interview these people.

I made clear to them the purpose of my forming a party: to rise to S-rank as quickly as possible. During this period, no matter how great the contributions from me and Isolte were, we would only take one share divided evenly by headcount. The rest of the mission rewards would be split among the other members, and if there were members who contributed more, the pay would be divided more toward those who contributed more. I would act as judge and distribute it fairly.

In addition, we would not be staying in Rosenburg forever. In about two to three months, we would set off for the next city. The final target city was Forest Song City in the Biheril Kingdom. If anyone felt their ability was insufficient to continue taking high-level missions, they could leave the party at any time.

I also displayed my strength as a Water Saint-tier magician, while Isolte was a Water Saint swordswoman. Faced with a party with two such thick thighs to cling to, as well as such a fair method of distribution, none of the people had any objections.

Then I questioned each of them about their abilities and the skills they knew, choosing suitable companions.

In the end, I chose three party members.

Berion Suarez, male, beast race. Judging by the shape of his ears, they should have been ox ears. He was tall and powerfully built. According to him, he had studied the North God Style under a master in the Dragon King Kingdom. His level was intermediate in the North God Style.

Fahn Calvin, male, human. He had once studied at Ranoa University of Magic in Sharia and specialized in fire magic. The highest-level fire magic he could use was the advanced fire spell Exodus Flame, but the failure rate was extremely high. He was skilled at using the intermediate fire spell Big Fireball.

The last one was Undine, female, human, born in the Chika Kingdom. She had learned healing magic from her mother. At most, she could use intermediate healing magic and beginner detoxification magic, but her total mana was not especially high. At most, she could use intermediate healing magic four times.

Including Isolte and me, the party currently had five people in total: two frontliners, two attacking magicians, and one healing magician.

Although I felt that Isolte and I alone could handle D-rank missions, the two of us were only two people, and we simply could not carry much when it came to collecting spoils. It would be very easy to end up killing monsters, only to have too many things on us and be unable to take away most of the materials. For the sake of efficiency, recruiting some companions was still very useful.

After confirming the time with all of them and registering the party at the Adventurers' Guild, we returned to the inn. Today happened to be the tenth day, and our party had already risen from F-rank to E-rank. We accepted the mission to collect the tusks of Steel-Toothed Black Boars, because there were relatively many commissions requiring this item. As long as we brought back ten steel tusks, we could complete one commission. If we brought back one hundred, that would be ten D-rank commissions.

At eight-thirty in the morning, we gathered on time at Rosenburg's south gate and set out for Hadora Forest. We left in the morning and walked on foot for about eight hours. It was not until nineteen o'clock in the afternoon that we arrived near the forest. Camping inside the forest at night was extremely dangerous, so we camped on a dirt slope one kilometer away from the forest. At night, we split into three groups for watch duty.

Isolte and I took the first half and the middle period. Berion Suarez and Fahn Calvin guarded the final period together. Because Undine had no combat strength, we did not have her participate in the duty.

The next day, we entered the forest early in the morning. Steel-Toothed Boars were distributed around the forest's outer perimeter, so we ran into them very easily. I did not trouble the others; with one Splash Flow, I easily pierced through a Steel-Toothed Boar's forehead. Fahn Calvin was very surprised to see that I had not chanted. I did not explain much.

Over the whole morning, we encountered about four Steel-Toothed Boars. Since the only tusks on a boar that could be used as materials were the two protruding ones, we collected a total of eight tusks in the morning.

This level of efficiency was too slow for me. I did not want to complete one commission like this and then go back to turn it in. That would waste far too much time going back and forth on the road.

I gathered all my companions and told them my plan.

Because Hadora Forest was a large, round forest, most Steel-Toothed Boars lived on the outer perimeter. However, in the forest near Rosenburg, Steel-Toothed Boars were often hunted by adventurers, so their numbers were already very scarce.

So I planned to cut straight through Hadora Forest and reach the other side of the forest. Since adventurers basically rarely went there, it was now a paradise for Steel-Toothed Boars. We could pull out their tusks like mowing grass.

Isolte did not refuse my proposal. She, too, had been worrying over the fact that she had no chance at all to use her strength!

When the other three saw that the two people with the highest combat strength had spoken, they also had no major objections. Only the timid Undine asked, "What if we run into Snowstorm Giant Bears and Hail Demon Trees?"

My reply was also very simple: kill them all.

After that, we set foot on the journey deeper into the forest. Hadora Forest had a diameter of about one hundred and fifty kilometers. We entered from the northern forest and cut across the entire forest. It would take two days before we could reach the border between the southern forest and the central forest.

Along the way, I used earth magic to make signposts to prevent us from getting lost.

On the first night, we reached the edge between the northern forest and the central forest.

I used magic to clear out an open space. Then I used Earth Fortress to create a huge earthen-wall fortress, enclosing us inside. I only opened a window at the top to ensure ventilation.

This was probably their first time living in this kind of earthen fort house. For safety, I also reinforced the entire layer of earth.

If Isolte and I were not there, the remaining three probably could not even get out of here if they wanted to.

The night watch was assigned the same as yesterday. It was just that the night watch was a little hair-raising. The sounds of Demonic Beasts outside the fortress brushing against the grass made people's hearts hang in suspense.

I was very confident in my magic, so I slept especially soundly. Because we were in the wild, after I finished my middle watch, I held Isolte, who was curled up in her blanket, in my arms. I controlled the fire elements, making the area around me very warm. She also leaned particularly close against me.

We advanced like this for two days. During that time, we ran into one group of Snowstorm Giant Bears and one Hail Demon Tree. Both were destroyed by my magic.

After we reached the southern forest, it was like discovering a new continent. The boars running through the forest came in sheet after sheet, like locusts passing through. Their aggression was stronger, too. They would not flee after being attacked. Instead, they would charge at us even more bravely.

Isolte and Berion stood at the front holding swords, cutting down the stray boars that charged through.

Fahn and I continuously used magic from the rear, inflicting damage on the places where the boar herds were concentrated.

After seven or eight rounds of attacks, Fahn's mana ran out and he collapsed into a sitting position. I continued using area magic to slaughter the boars.

Over the entire morning, we killed and wounded more than seventy-four boars. After pulling out the tusks, we had a total of one hundred and forty-eight. After we finished killing the boars in this area, we rested and waited for our mana to recover.

Then we searched for boars in the forest again and carried out another slaughter.

After killing for two days, everyone's backpack was packed full. There were about four hundred and fifty boar tusks in total. In reality, there were more boars than that, but the backpacks really could not hold any more.

So we headed back home. The road back was the same as when we came, and after walking for four days, we returned to Rosenburg.

We rose straight from an F-rank team to a D-rank team.

Team Name: Dawn of Ignis (dawn)

Team Rank: D

Team Members: 5

Team Missions: F 0, E 10, D 15, C 2, B 0, A 0, S 0