Era Quartet

It was a lively and peaceful day at Alcastrao’s main road. Kids were playing, stalls were bustling, and adventurers were heading off to the main gate as mercenaries took up a job with the local merchants. Everyone knew each other; whilst the kingdom itself is a big place, the people at Alcrastrao knew each other during the Great War of the Demonic Raid.

With a person walking past heading to the Mercenary Guild, gossip began about him.

“Is he that mercenary?” A passerby said. “He is!” The guy beside him replied.

The sword of a man who had slain countless monsters in his name, a face that women swoon over, the hair of a wolf, and a guy who is smart—his name is Gray.

With Gray arriving at his destination, he opened the door and saw everyone bustling about.

“Hey, it’s Mercenary Gray! Are you taking the B-rank exam again?” Mercenary A said.

“Yeah, I’m certain I will be able to pass it again.”

“You are a resilient man! Which knight are you inspired by?” Mercenary B questioned.

“Haha, I don’t know, maybe Knight of Conjure?” He answered.

“Bravery, huh? Well, you are brave enough to handle B-rank quests.”

Gray laughed, replying, “Yep, gotta pass this time—” “Mercenary Gray, President Zayn is waiting for you,” A mercenary guild receptionist interrupts.

“Ah, okay, Linda, I’ll see you guys later!”

“Yeah, go get ’em, Gray!”

Waving goodbye while following the receptionist, they headed to the Training Grounds to meet with the Mercenary Guild President, Zayn.

Upon entering, a man with a hammer, whose physique can’t be matched by ordinary means, greeted Gray.

“You’re here.”

“Afternoon, President Zayn.”

“Hahaha! I told you to drop the formalities,” he said with a big smile on his face.

“Force of habit, sir.” Smiling back.

“Bwahahahaha! You are a brave man; I can give you that! Some mercenaries don’t have that kind of bravery like you. I already saw the reports of you taking on B-rank quests even if your rank is C.”

“News spreads like wildfire.”

“Hahaha! Anyway, let’s get on with it.”

Zayn stood up from the ground as he grabbed his hammer while Gray unsheathed his sword. The two stand their ground, glaring at each other until Linda signals for the promotion rank to begin. Gray’s ground cracked as he went in for a thrust. Zayn blocked his incoming attack with the tip of his hammer and stomped the ground, making it crack, and struck back with full force by swinging his hammer upward and smashing the ground, but Gray was nimble enough to dodge his attack.

Gray quickly got the upper hand with his fast and precise attacks, making Zayn get a bit of pressure with each attack. With Zayn’s build being an advantage to Gray, he kept on thrusting and slashing, using weight distribution with each attack.

“You’ve grown, Gray! I think I’ll need to get more serious. Enhancement Magic: Physical Boost!”

Using Enhancement Magic, Zayn’s stats doubled. With increased agility and strength, Gray began to parry his attacks, seeing openings, but due to Zayn’s Enhancement Magic, it became a bit hard to strike his weak points. He stood his ground as the attacks became fierce, while Gray kept on parrying and blocking, seemingly unaware that he had already lost.

“G…” someone calls his name. “Gra…” they called him one more time. “Gray?”

Opening his eyes with dizziness, he later realized what had happened.

“Linda? How did I lose?”

“President Zayn did the same thing just like the other attempts.”

“His Physical Boost, huh?”

“Yes—” Linda gets interrupted by a sudden laugh. “Gray, this is the 10th time to take part in the B-rank promotion. You have the skills and even the looks, but with no Affinity for magic, it becomes hard at this point on.”

“Haha, yeah, I guess I’ll have to stick to being C-rank for now.”

“What are you talking about? Everyone at the Mercenaries Guild knows your bravery and wits from the day you started as an E-rank mercenary, taking quests that are above your rank.”

With a gentle smile on Gray’s face, deep down he already knew that he couldn’t get promoted even if he took the exam again. After failing the exam and the bruises being checked, he decided to do a quest to make up for what happened.

“This quest seems to be a joint quest to explore a dungeon to eliminate some monsters that have been terrorizing a nearby village. You will be working with the Adventurers from the Adventurers Guild,” Receptionist Linda said.

“The Adventurers Guild, huh?”

“Yes, both guilds work together and are part of the army of Alcestrao. There’s a rumor that our president and the adventurer guild president used to be lovers.”

Intrigued by the rumor and setting it aside, Linda accepted Gray’s request of a B-rank quest with the adventurers at the adventurers guild.

Before departing, Gray headed to the Alcestrao Monument to see the Knight of Conjure, Vin, from whom he drew his inspiration. Admiring the status of the 8 Knights that saved the kingdom, he smiled with motivation as he moved to the destination to meet his new allies.

A few minutes later he finally arrived with the 10-person party waiting for him, and someone looked his way, making a surprised face, and ran towards him.

“Hey, are you Gray, the Mercenary Gray?” the woman said with a staff.

“I am; nice to meet you.”

The girl began to fangirl; the other party members were surprised and ecstatic.

“Alright, that’s enough. Since we got Gray, the best mercenary of all Alcestrao, we won’t have to worry about someone to be in the frontlines,” The party leader said.

Everyone nodded, and Gray was a bit embarrassed and humbled.

“Anyways, let’s go. Time is of the essence.” With everyone heading to the quest area, inside the dungeon lies a weak and faint light.

Upon reaching the village, the elder gave information on what’s happening.

“Wild monsters have been destroying and killing our people. We don’t know why, but we can guess something is happening inside,” The elder explained.

The adventurers began to ponder until the leader of the group felt something odd.

“Is it an Artifact?” He questioned the elder.

“Artifact… it is possible.”

With their continuation of discussion, one inexperienced fighter adventurer asked their senior.

“What does an Artifact do to a dungeon?” she asked her senior. “It makes the dungeon go crazy; we call that a Wild Dungeon.”

“Wild Dungeon?” She asked curiously.

“They say Wild Dungeons hold great loot but increased monster aggression, doubling the threat of a regular dungeon without an Artifact.”

“That’s why Artifacts have to be studied by top-notch Appraisers to see if the Artifact can be used or not,” Gray intervened.

“As expected of an experienced mercenary,” The senior replied, with the junior in awe of his intelligence.

“Alright guys, let’s head to the dungeon. I got a map from one of the villagers who studied it before it became a Wild Dungeon. Move out!”

With morale high, their quest finally started.

Inside the dungeon, Gray, taking the front with support from mages and archers, cleared the path with ease as the party advanced with caution. Surprise attacks came from left to right, but the party was experienced enough to deal with these ambushes. The inexperienced adventurer, who took position to guard the back with her senior beside her, who is a mage, worked well together as the leader of the party

commanded with precise orders as they advanced smoothly deeper into the dungeon.

Within a couple of hours, taking breaks at each checkpoint, they reached the door of the Wild Dungeon in less than 2 hours.

“Alright, we really did well, especially Gray; we couldn’t have finished this quickly.”

Everyone praised Gray, smiling without saying a word.

“Anyways, it’s time. Is everyone ready to clear out the Wild Dungeon Boss?”

With screams and morale being at an all-time high, everyone is ready as the leader opened the door, cautiously walking in.

The leader of the party, with Gray side by side, checked the surroundings; the inside itself is filled with crystals embedded in the walls, with only a huge monster standing in the middle.

“Guess this is the boss, King Kobold,” Gray said as he warmed up his shoulders.

“Gray, you already know what I’m about to say,” The leader replied as he unsheathed his sword.

“You and I take the front, archers shooting arrows from a distance, with mages using offensive spells and buffs being cast,” he asked with a grin, sword gripped in hand.

“Yup, let’s go!”

The battle of the King Kobold began. The two charged with archers showering arrows, with mages boosting the two with Enhancement Magic. With buffs at their disposal, the leader threw massive slashes with cuts deep within while Gray thrust its stomach, making the King Kobold falter a bit, giving no chance for the boss to strike back.

“Fighters! Attack!”

3 fighters emerged from the sides, different weapons in hand as they struck down the boss.

“Mages! Use Fire Magic! The support-oriented mages, buff them!”

With great leadership they began an all-out assault. Using fire magic, they burnt the boss crisp until it began to self-heal.

“Second Phase! Keep pressuring it, mages! Archers, imbue your arrows with the mages’ Fire Magic! Fighters, wait until I signal to strike with Gray!”

The fight became more intense. King Kobolt never had a chance to attack due to Gray and the party leader taking the initiative. With more and more firepower and the boss weakening, it was on its knees with fire within its body and arrows stuck within until something was off.

“Wait, party leader, you said this is a Wild Dungeon, right?”

The leader paused for a moment, realizing what Gray said. “Don’t tell me—everyone! Retreat! Get out of there!”

Hearing what the leader just said, they backed off until the inexperienced fighter-adventurer froze in place.

The King Kobold released a red aura, turned into a Wild King Kobold, and grew a crystal on its forehead.

“Julia!-“The mage who was with Julia ran to her but was stopped by the leader.

“Maria! Don’t! It was my fault for not realizing about the Bloodlust!”

“Don’t say that! She was new to our party, and I should’ve educated her more about Wild Dungeons!”

“I know! Right now—” Someone interrupts. “Leave this to me and the leader. I have a trump card.”

“Gray, you don’t mean—” Gray nodded with determined eyes.

The leader nodded as well, grabbing his sword and walking beside Gray.

“I never really asked, but I already know who you are. One of the best C-rank adventurer parties, the Phoenix Party. It’s an honor to meet you, Ash.”

“For a solo mercenary who works alone like a wolf, you sure know your stuff, Mercenary Gray.”

Both laughed and faced the danger in front of them. Ash knew about Gray’s trump card through rumors within mercenaries, calling it ‘broken’ and ‘Undefined Magic.’

“Ash, get ready to save Julia. I’ll handle that Bloodlust.”

“Alright, leave it to me!”

As the wild boss prepared to strike Julia, who was frozen in place, Gray closed his eyes, focusing on the red aura until he shouted, “Null!”

The Wild King Kobold’s Bloodlust disappeared immediately after Gray’s skill completely ‘nulled’ its effect. With a stunned wild boss, Ash swooped in to save Julia while Gray dashed at the boss’s forehead, completely shattering it with his sword.

Everyone cheered from the sidelines as they headed Ash and Gray’s way. The party members of Phoenix were amazed and praising Gray while Ash carried the unconscious Julia to Maria, slowly regaining her consciousness.

“Maria?” she said with a weak tone. “Yes, it’s me, Julia.” The two embraced, making Maria determined to teach her more about the outside world, as she was only a D-rank Adventurer, recommended by the receptionist to take her with them for more experience from a capable party.

With Gray occupied, he was tapped on the shoulder by Ash while the other party members quickly got to work on recovering the loot that was found at the boss’s lair.

“Mercenary Gray, thank you for joining this joint quest.”

“As a mercenary, it’s rare to see a joint quest since we only offer our services through the locals and merchants or get hired.”

“Haha, either way the Artifact is all yours. We’ll take the leftovers.”

“Sounds good. I’ll go check it.”

With a firm handshake and preparing to head out soon, something caught Gray’s attention from a faint light from the center of the wall. He walked towards it, seeing it glowing faintly, stuck to the wall as he carefully grabbed it and pulled it out.

“An amulet? Is this the Artifact?”

Checking the sides of it, in his eyes it looked like a normal amulet, but knowing artifacts from his entire career as a mercenary, he decided to check on it through a well-known Appraiser.

“Hey Gray! We’re finished! Let’s go!” Ash and his party waited.

He wore it for now and headed in the party’s direction, finishing the quest in 3 hours. After obtaining the amulet and letting it be appraised, it was only the beginning of his soon-to-be journey.