Valkam!
The largest city in the southern border of the Neargard Kingdom.
One hundred kilometers south of Valkam is Mount Aier.
Further south is the Storm Sea, a human forbidden zone!
Mount Aier is home to various types of monsters, but they are not the main force of the Demon King Army; most of them are below Level 15 in strength.
Of course, these are all guesses by the people of Valkam.
As for whether there are monsters above Level 15 in Mount Aier, no one knows.
After all, no Mercenary Corps is willing to risk annihilation to go to Mount Aier to confirm this information.
Since it is currently a ceasefire, the monsters of Mount Aier have not launched a large-scale invasion.
However, small skirmishes happen every day.
From time to time, groups of monsters would attack the villages and towns surrounding Valkam.
Viscount Renault, the ruler of Valkam, would also offer bounties for some of the more dangerous monsters.
The Mercenary Corps, for the sake of their commission, would then hunt these bountied monsters.
When Adrian and his group approached Valkam, they were all awestruck by the tall city walls before them.
"As expected of Valkam!"
Fang looked at the wooden bridge, over ten meters long, in front of them and exclaimed excitedly, "The moat is over ten meters wide! What monsters could possibly conquer a city like this?"
The others also looked as if they felt a great sense of security living there.
Adrian glanced at everyone and gave a wry smile.
They had all lost their memories, and their understanding of monsters was limited to the Goblins and Slimes they had encountered so far; everything else was hearsay.
Valkam before them was indeed magnificent, but there were also flying species among the monsters.
When encountering flying monsters, city walls would not be able to stop them.
"Let's enter the city!"
Adrian followed the caravan and urged the others to quickly catch up.
Arriving near the city gate, everyone saw a row of fully armed Guards standing on each side.
There were five men in each row, wearing full plate armor, helmets, and leaning on long spears.
The Guards' sharp gazes continuously swept over the passing crowd, exuding an impressive aura!
Their equipment and demeanor were far superior to the Gruer Town Guards who had escorted the caravan.
"Are these the Professionals of the regular army?"
Adrian licked his lips, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.
The equipment on these Guards looked very luxurious, and Adrian simply couldn't afford it.
Manufacturing armor required a large amount of materials like steel.
Some individual pieces, such as breastplates, were more expensive than weapons.
Not to mention a full set of armor.
The Guards of Gruer Town only had a few pieces of armor on them, not a full set at all.
Adrian and Fang could only drool over the equipment on the Guards at this moment.
Under the leadership of Mayor Liya, Adrian and his group entered Valkam.
Behind the thick city walls were numerous medieval-style buildings and people of various appearances.
As Valkam was known as the 'Southern Frontier Defense Line,' the number of Professionals would naturally not be small.
In Gruer Town, besides the Guards and priests, the only Professionals Adrian had seen were Harry and his group.
But upon entering Valkam, several Professionals wearing equipment walked past on the street before them!
As night had already fallen, Adrian led everyone to follow the caravan to a hotel to rest for the night.
The prices at the hotel were twenty percent higher than at Gruer Town's Guangyue Tavern, but the service and comfort were also significantly better.
After the nine people finished their meal, they booked three rooms to rest.
The night passed uneventfully.
By the time Adrian woke up, it was already bright outside.
After asking the hotel staff, he learned that it was already past seven o'clock.
Old John and the other merchants had already gone out to conduct their business.
Everyone only had one day.
Early tomorrow morning, the mayor would lead the caravan back.
If they missed it, they would either have to post a quest and have a Mercenary Corps escort them back.
Or they would have to wait a month for the town's caravan to come again, and then return with them.
As for returning alone...
Monsters loved to attack lone humans!
Adrian and the others did not plan to return with the caravan.
Becoming a Professional required training with a mentor for a period of time.
Only by mastering the basic skills of a profession could one be considered a Professional!
After Adrian and his group finished breakfast, they prepared to search for mentors.
This was their primary mission upon arriving in Valkam.
On the way there, everyone had discussed the choice of professions more than once.
Finally, a plan was decided upon.
The main force of the team consisted of Adrian , Fang, Luis , Lia, and Megan .
The second tier consisted of Lora, Gia, Natalie , and Wendy .
As the primary combat personnel, the profession allocation for the first tier had to be reasonable.
The six major human professions were Warrior, Knight, Mage, Hunter, Priest, and Thief.
Warriors, with high attack and defense, were best suited as the vanguard of the team, and Fang and Luis , with their strong physiques, were the most suitable.
Knights were more mobile than Warriors, and Lia ultimately chose this profession.
Megan chose the Thief profession, which offered strong concealment, and could act as the team's eyes along with the Hunter profession.
The Hunter profession was quite special; they could attack from a distance with bows and arrows, engage in close combat with daggers, tame battle pets to assist in combat, and also set traps.
In short, this profession seemed like an all-rounder.
But the difficulty was also the highest!
Because there was too much to learn.
If one couldn't master it well, it would become a useless profession where one knew a little about everything but was proficient in nothing.
The reason Adrian valued this profession was because of the Hunter's ability to bring pets.
Summons could not always be hidden; there would always be a day when they would show themselves.
The Hunter profession's ability to bring pets could perfectly provide cover for Adrian .
Five people chose four professions.
As a qualified Adventurer, a team must never have weaknesses!
The remaining two professions were taken by the second tier.
Priests, as a profession that could heal teammates, were indispensable.
Adrian had Lora and Natalie choose this profession.
Gia and Wendy then became Mages.
Mages, as damage dealers, should ideally be held by members of the first tier.
However, the current choices of the five people were all professions that best suited their compatibility.
After final deliberation, the professions were still allocated according to the aforementioned results.
Thus, the nine-person team became a configuration of two Warriors, two Mages, two Priests, one Knight, one Thief, and one Hunter.
According to the standard configuration of a ten-person Mercenary Corps in this world, the team was still missing one Knight.
However, this was enough.
It is worth mentioning that just because one person chose a certain profession does not mean they cannot choose other professions.
It's just that cultivating one profession required exhausting all one's energy.
Very few people chose multiple professions.
After inquiring about the locations of each professional mentor in the city, Adrian went alone to the Hunter profession headquarters.
Of course, before leaving, he gave everyone ten silver coins each—Adrian had specifically exchanged gold coins for silver coins at the hotel where they were staying.
Although learning the basic skills to become a Professional only required a tuition fee of five silver coins.
However, as a member of the team, one couldn't possibly carry no money at all.
Valkam was very large.
Adrian set out from the hotel where he was staying and walked for nearly half an hour before finding the location of the Hunter professional mentor.
It was an estate covering about ten acres!
Above the estate gate, there was a plaque.
It read 'Hunter's Home'!