A few heavy knocks sounded from outside the door of Michaels bedroom. He lived in the adventurers association for free, and slept in one of the nicer rooms since he was the guard captain.

“Better be important.” he thought to himself as he got up and opened the door enough to have his head poke out since he slept naked.

A soldier with a stern expression stood in front of him.

“Sir. There’s a developing situation. Would you like the report now?”

“Give me a minute.” Michael closes the door and turns around, putting a simple shirt and pants on before leaving his room and joining the soldier in the hallway.

“Report.”

“A man named Alevo came to the garrison early this morning, before the sun came up. He claimed to be from a small hamlet, south east of here. He said the hamlet was being harassed by tiny demons”

Michael had a quizzical expression “..demons?”

“His words, sir.”

“Hmm. I’ll have to question him. Where’d you put him?”

“Bottom floor sir, in a bed since he passed out.”

Michael only yawned in response “Return to duties.” He made a hand gesture to shoo away the soldier as he returned to his room to freshen up, changing into his normal clothes and armour._.

He lightly polished his bux beetle pauldrons and his boots before marching out of his room

Walking down the hallway, he entered a slightly larger room with a few tables and chairs, sitting down to eat his usual breakfast – herbs, mushrooms and sausages. These were all cooked by one of the soldiers every morning as part of their duties.

The soldier-chef was always amazed by how much Michael ate in the morning – ten sausages and seven hand-sized mushrooms; though the amazing part was that Michael had the chiselled body of an athletic champion.

Instead of growing weary of his duty – which was having to cook breakfast every day, he came to enjoy seeing this strange thing happening every morning.

After finishing his meal, Michael nodded at the chef as a thankyou and made his way downstairs.

Knocking on the first door of the hallway, Michael opened it slowly – yet this room was empty. The next room he knocked on, Margaret the receptionist opened the door as she whispered to Michael with a smile.

“Morning Mikey” she smiled as she gestured to the man she was looking after behind her “He’s exhausted. I think he’s been running all night, his feet are all blistered.”

“Mm” Michael nodded at Margaret and looked at the man in the bed. Alevo was breathing lightly while Michael made a decision and walked in.

“I have some questions.”

Margaret wrinkled her brow in concern, but gestured Michael to the side of the bed.

Michael tapped Alevo on the hand, yet there was no response. He tried pinching him next, then shaking his shoulder – still no response.

“Fine.” Michael slowly channelled some mana into the man’s body and mind.

*HUU*

Alevo breathed in heavily as he was now wide awake, invigorated by Michaels energetic mana.

“Hello. I’m the guard captain of Losla. What’s your name?”

“Alevo.” Michael sensed that he wasn’t lying.

“Where are you from?”

“South-east of here.” Alevo looked like he suddenly remembered something as his hands formed fists “Please help us. We’ve been attacked by demons.”

“What did these demons look like?”

“Ah, black skin. Short. And it’s white eyes, they seemed to look into your soul and suck it right out!”

Michael nodded in understanding “Where is your home?”

“South-east of here. Usually it takes two day’s journey but I ran all night. Please help sir, I don’t know how long they will last.”

“Who are they? The people in your village?”

“It’s a hamlet sir, there’s only seven houses with five families. The demons have been doing hit and run attacks on us with their spears, and occasionally throwing sharpened rocks at us. They’ve already taken two children” Tears were in the eyes of Alevo “…One of their remains was found already.”

With that, Michael stopped channelling his mana into Alevo, who suddenly passed out again. Michael had a suspicion, and checked Alevo’s legs. Tiny bite marks were all over it.

Margaret looked confused, while Michael only nodded to himself, confirming his thoughts.

Without saying a word, he left the room and made his way upstairs to Sullivan’s office.

On the way up the stairs, Michael spoke to one of the officers who had just woken up.

“The forest situation is resolved. From today onwards, return to standard routines. Oh, and try to keep the men away from the military tomorrow; the forest situation is not to be discussed – It’s to remain confidential. Sullivan’s orders.”

The officer saluted as Michael walked away before saying “Oh, and Sullivan said he will be watching.”

The officer clenched his jaw realizing the gravity of the order, still saluting as Michael left.

Michael knocked on the door to Sullivan’s office as the door opened itself. Sullivan sat behind his desk, sipping some coffee and he looked at a paper while he leaned back in his chair.

“Hello Michael.” he greeted Michael without even looking up “It’s quite early, how can I help you today?”

“Leech Imp’s are preying on a small hamlet south-east of here. I would send a soldier or two but I want them all fresh for the arrival of the military tomorrow; besides, they’ve been working overtime because of the forest situation. I want to give the men some rest today before tomorrow.”

Sullivan raised an eyebrow as he looked up from his paper “What do you suggest?”

“Sending some of your more advanced younger adventurers to resolve it.”

Sullivan curled his lips “I see. I have a few in mind. Write down the details, and I’ll send them.”

“Thank you sir. Time is of the essence so I’ll send a note up with Anya shortly” Sullivan nodded as Michael bowed his head before leaving.

Sullivan put his paper down and sipped his coffee, pursing his lips as he thought to himself “Yes.. I think Anya’s ready.”

– – –

“Morning” Anya yawned, entering Sullivan’s office and sitting down with half-opened eyes, sipping a coffee and holding a half-eaten muffin. She put the muffin down and took a note out of her pocket, handing it to her dad.

“Goodmorning,” Sullivan smiled tenderly. It seemed like the only person he smiled at was his daughter.

Sullivan grabbed the note as Anya said “It’s from Michael.” handing her dad the note, she grabbed her muffin back off the desk and continued to eat it.

“Mm” Sullivan read the note, understanding the situation Michael was talking about before looking up at Anya. He watched his daughter eat for a moment before he talked.

“There’s a situation. A village south-east of here is being attacked by a band of forest monsters. I estimate about fifty of the monsters. It’s a two day’s walk from here. I want you to head there and resolve it…” Sullivan looked away as he thought for a moment, before looking back at Anya “Take Jay, and choose a few others. Tell the others I wanted you and Jay in a party together while they’re to be in a separate party. This way they won’t discover your class or be freeloading exp.”

“What?” Anya had furrowed brows, still tired from waking up while her father dumped a quest on her out of nowhere.

“Here.” Sullivan handed her the note from Michael. “You should aim to leave before lunch time.”

Anya only sighed as she read the note “What are the monsters?”

“I’ll leave you to figure that out” Sullivan smiled mischievously.

Anya sipped her coffee again. “I get the feeling Jay likes to go solo.”

“Just convince him. Tell him there will be a reward, I’ll think of something special in the meantime. Oh, and take Mark. He’s quite gifted too; his class isn’t unique but he’s a natural spellsword. Two of the guards could’ve handled it so you should take about five adventurers since you’re much lower level.”

“Mark… right. I heard he was planning to join the military. He probably won’t want to leave the village since the military escort is coming tomorrow.”

“Hmm…” Sullivan put his index finger on his cheek and propped his chin on his other clenched fingers while he thought to himself for a moment.

“Tell him he can join later, that we’ll escort him to the nearest military recruitment outpost, and he’ll get there even sooner than the military escort, which still has to travel to numerous villages in the countryside – even if he spends a week doing this quest.”

“Sure. This seems urgent, so I guess I’ll be off… See you in a few days dad” she smiled as she got up, moving around the side of the desk to give Sullivan a hug.

Sullivan smiled warmly, “Watch your back.”