The next morning arrived quickly.
Osric met William and Paul outside the guild shortly after sunrise. Rust stood nearby, calmly shifting his weight while Paul adjusted the ropes on the cart.
The morning air was cold but clear.
William stretched his arms and yawned.
"I still can't believe we have a horse now."
Paul smiled slightly as he patted Rust's neck.
"She'll make our lives much easier."
Osric nodded.
"That's the idea."
Before they started moving, Osric reached into his bag and pulled something out.
He handed it to Paul.
"My old dagger."
Paul looked surprised as he examined the simple iron blade.
"For me?"
Osric nodded.
"You'll stay near the cart most of the time, but the forest is still dangerous."
Paul's expression became serious.
"I understand."
He slid the dagger into his belt.
"Thank you."
William grinned.
"Look at that. Our porter is already armed."
Paul chuckled nervously.
"I just hope I won't need to use it."
"Hopefully not," Osric said.
"Let's move."
Paul took Rust's reins and began guiding the horse while William and Osric walked beside the cart.
The streets of Ashbrook were only beginning to wake as they headed toward the eastern gate.
A few merchants were setting up their stalls while farmers guided wagons toward the market.
Once they passed through the gate, the road quickly turned quieter.
The forest waited ahead.
Rust pulled the cart steadily along the path leading toward the Monster Forest.
William glanced at the horse again.
"This really is much easier than pulling the cart ourselves."
Paul nodded.
"That's what horses are for."
After about twenty minutes, the path began to narrow as trees grew thicker on both sides.
Paul slowed Rust and looked toward Osric.
"This should be close enough."
Osric scanned the forest around them.
"Good."
He pointed toward a small clearing beside the path.
"Leave the cart here."
Paul guided Rust off the path and stopped beside several large trees.
The area was quiet.
He secured the reins and began preparing the equipment.
Two large reinforced sacks.
Several ropes.
And the leather tarp.
Paul looked toward the two adventurers.
"I'll stay here."
Osric nodded.
"We won't go far."
William rolled his shoulders and adjusted his grip on his axe.
"Forest Creepers shouldn't take long."
Paul tried to appear confident.
"Just bring the sacks back when you're done."
Osric and William entered the forest.
The ground quickly grew uneven beneath the trees as snow and fallen leaves covered the soil.
They moved carefully between the trunks.
After a few minutes, William pointed toward a patch of disturbed earth.
"There."
A cluster of low bushes rustled slightly.
Then the creatures appeared.
Six Forest Creepers crawled out from beneath the brush.
Their small twisted bodies moved low to the ground as they hissed.
William smirked.
"Easy."
Osric stepped forward.
The fight ended quickly.
William split one creature apart with a single swing of his axe.
Another lunged toward Osric.
His sword flashed once.
The Creeper collapsed instantly.
The remaining monsters were just as easy.
Within moments, the forest had fallen silent again.
Six small bodies lay scattered across the ground.
William wiped his axe against the snow.
"That might be the easiest mission we've had."
Osric crouched and opened one of the large sacks.
"Help me."
They quickly packed the bodies into the two sacks.
Three in each.
William lifted one sack onto his shoulder.
"Ready."
Osric nodded and lifted the other.
The weight was noticeable but manageable.
They began walking back toward the path.
When they reached the clearing, Paul was already waiting beside the cart.
"Just drop them here," he said.
Osric and William lowered the sacks beside the cart.
Paul immediately opened them and began unloading the bodies.
His movements were quick and practiced.
He stacked the Forest Creepers neatly across the cart bed before pulling the tarp over them.
A few moments later he tightened the ropes across the load.
"Done."
William blinked.
"That was fast."
Paul shrugged.
"That's my job."
Osric watched him quietly.
'Efficient.'
Much faster than when it had just been the two of them.
Rust shifted slightly but remained calm beside the cart.
Paul patted the horse's neck again.
"Looks like the first mission went well."
William laughed.
"If they're all like this, I won't complain."
Osric glanced toward the forest behind them.
"This is only the beginning."
Paul climbed onto the front of the cart and took the reins.
Rust began pulling the cart back toward Ashbrook.
Behind them, the Monster Forest slowly disappeared between the trees.
And for the first time since forming the party, everything felt… organized.
Their work had become far more efficient.
And far more profitable.
—
After they sold the corpses and officially completed the mission at the guild, they decided to go eat lunch together.
William was laughing with a big chicken leg in his hand.
"We made over 8 silver in total just from one simple hunt. This is why I became an adventurer!"
Paul was also happy.
Although he earned only around 50 copper as his share, that was still quite good for one day's work.
On the other hand, Osric earned over 4 silver but wasn't satisfied.
'This is too easy. It's okay to earn money like this, but we can do more.'
'And I also haven't gotten any system rewards in too long. Clearly it doesn't think that I am working hard enough.'
"Ding!"
As if reading his thoughts, the system answered.
{ New Challenge Activated }
Objective:
Complete a second mission today.
Reward:
+1 Stamina
Osric grinned.
It gave both William and Paul the chills, since they had never seen it before.
'Finally.'
"Alright guys. This mission went very well and without any problems, let's complete a second one today."
Paul looked surprised.
William grumbled.
"Oh come on!"
Osric smiled.
"We can start making even more money if we complete to easy missions a day."
Paul didn't mind.
William was a little annoyed, but he also knew that Osric was right.
"Fine. You're right."