The herb fields lay quiet under the late afternoon sun, the air scented with crushed leaves and earth. Kael's satchel was full, the quest complete, and—more importantly—his coin pouch would be full again soon.
By the time he reached the capital, the guild was alive with its usual noise: boots thumping on wooden floors, the clink of mugs in the tavern corner, the rustle of parchment at the quest board.
Kael moved straight to the reception counter, "Oh Kale, Im Guessing you're here for The Reward, Great job out there, Heard from Brant,Mila and Joss you Doze for Most of the Escort." Said Lira Smiling.
"I did My job, Thats all. " Said Kael.
"Anyway....Theres a Rumor about a Certain Somebody who Took out a Whole Pack of Direfang on his own. " Said Lira Winking.
"I Was Lucky that's All, Now where's My share, I need to Go Shopping " Answered Kael already Tired of the Conversation.
" Ughhh, Your no Fun Kael. " Said Lira as She handed over a Pouch. "Here 5 Silver Coin, and an Extra 5 Bronze Coin, It's From the Merchant, Says that It's a Way of Thanking the Adventurers for The Escort."
Kael nodded,Grab the Pouch and turned to leave.
Off to the side, a table of familiar faces caught his ear. The rookies from the escort mission—minus the usual panic in their voices—were retelling their trip to anyone who'd listen.
"…I'm telling you, we'd have been in trouble without him, The way he moved....made It looked easy...." Said Brant.
Mila added, "It was Just Luck Brant. I mean he Stumble a couple of times."
Joss leaned in, lowering his voice. "No...No Amount of Luck can make you Do that.....He wasn't the fastest or anything. Just… every swing landed. Even the Direfangs kept backing off him. Direfang Wolfs are around F-Class Monsters, But when It's a Pack of em, with an Alpha Its around C-Rank, An Alpha Direfang alone Is a D-Class Monster, and he Moved easly.....Efficiently.....Made It Look Like An Accident"
The surrounding listeners raised their brows. Some nodded in mild respect, others looked skeptical. Thinking thats Its Just some Mild rumors new Adventurers Spreading, a Whole Pack of 25 Direfang with an Alpha needs a Whole Party of C-Rankers, their Agile,Smart, Move in Coordination, Its Rare to find these kind of things, and Its even Rarer to find a large Pack like that, cause Direfangs are territorial monsters who Lives alone, They don't Exactly Group up, Probably just Some exagerated story from new adventurers they thought.
At a corner table, a tall man with a wolf-pelt shoulder guard—Garrick—set down his mug, eyeing Kael's back as he walked toward the door.
"A D-rank making Direfangs back off," Garrick said with a slow smirk. "Either they were half-starved… or he got lucky."
One of the Adventurer frowned. "Luck doesn't make you stand in front of an alpha without flinching."
Garrick chuckled, draining the rest of his drink. "We'll see about that."
Kael stepped out into the sunlight, blissfully unaware—or simply uninterested—in the attention he'd just earned.