I quickly walked a few steps to the gate, which was also in the east. The cavalrymen saw me coming and immediately blocked my path with their knight's longswords, shouting, "The outside is full of servants of the undead. What do you want to do over there?"
I looked at the knights; their armor and swords had some chipped cracks, indicating that the war with the undead was indeed quite intense. I quickly explained, "I am a swordsman from Hurricane City. I hope you officers can allow me to leave the city for training."
A person who looked like a leader replied, "Oh, I see. You can go for training, but please register at the Adventurers' Guild first and get a training certificate. We will naturally let you pass. The east of Silvermoon City is different from other directions; the undead here are quite formidable, and many experienced adventurers have lost their lives there."
Damn it, turns out I need some damn certificate.
I opened the city map and found that the Adventurers' Guild was next to the tavern. On the other side was a weaponsmith, which should be a place to buy, sell, and repair equipment.
I ran for five minutes. Silvermoon City was really too big; it would probably take at least two hours to walk around the city walls. The Adventurers' Guild was quite deserted; currently, no players had come to get a certificate. A knight in black armor stood to the side, glaring at me as I entered.
"I want to get a training certificate," I said directly.
A female NPC sitting behind the counter smiled and asked me, "What do you want a training certificate for?"
"Nonsense, of course, it's to leave the city to kill monsters and level up!" Perhaps feeling that this NPC beauty was a bit different, I even blurted out a curse.
The female NPC didn't get angry and still smiled, saying, "You can get a training certificate, but you must defeat the Intermediate Knight Nick beside you."
System prompt: Accept Nick's challenge, enter the trial grounds.
My vision blurred, and I was already in the arena with a hexagram background. Intermediate Knight Nick rushed over with his greatsword. I was too slow to dodge and took a sword hit, losing over 500 health points.
Anxious, I quickly unleashed Ice Seal Slash, followed by Combo and Heavy Strike. Nick's health wasn't high; these few hits already took away more than half of his health. Two more normal attacks, and he was dead.
System prompt: Congratulations, you have passed the test and obtained a training certificate.
A parchment scroll fell into my inventory, and I was then teleported out of the arena. The NPC beauty even smiled at me again and said, "You are the first player to enter the Silvermoon City Adventurers' Guild. There is a quest here to rescue an adventurer team. I wonder if you are willing to accept it?"
I naturally chose to accept. The female NPC continued, "Half a month ago, a team of over 30 adventurers went to the eastern Silverpine Forest to eliminate a fierce Rhino Monster. There has been no news since then. We hope you can go there, find them, and bring back the Rhino Monster's horn."
System prompt: You have accepted the quest, [Rescue Adventurers]. Silverpine Forest is in the Silvermoon Valley east of Silvermoon City. It is said that the Rhino Monster is quite fierce. Bring more companions before you go.
The quest was crimson, indicating its high difficulty.
Although the system also told me to bring more companions, I'm not an ordinary person. Soloing a BOSS of the same level should be no problem. If I can't beat it, it won't be too late to call Murong Shanshan and Lu Xuehan. They also need to accept quests themselves, and it's always a bit inappropriate to disturb them from the start.
Leaving the Adventurers' Guild, I repaired my equipment at the nearby weapons shop. Then I spoke to all the NPCs in the shop and, as expected, received a high-level quest. A master weapon smith needed to find a metal for crafting advanced weapons, called red silver ore, which is only found deep in the mountains behind Silverpine Forest. Its exact location is unknown, and most importantly, red silver ore is usually guarded by very high-level monsters in considerable numbers.
[Find red silver ore]: Find 10 red silver ore for Master Smith Latin. Be sure to bring mining tools.
The small mining pick was still in my inventory, so I didn't need to bother buying one. After accepting two quests, there was no need to look for more. I had to leave some for Murong Shanshan and the others, and it was useless for me to accept too many; not completing them would be a waste.
As I left the door, I suddenly saw a player rushing into the tavern. Upon closer inspection, it was the knight named "Let Go of That Girl." I quickly opened the level leaderboard. There were only 13 players in all of Silvermoon City. I was prominently ranked second, Murong Shanshan was level 34 and ranked fourth, and the first was this level 39 knight. I don't know how he trained, but never mind that; I'll go to the east and finish the quests first.
"Hey, you up ahead, stop!"
As I was walking, someone suddenly called from behind. I turned around and saw it was the level 39 knight. From his look, he was clearly calling me.
"Are you calling me?" I pointed to myself, genuinely confused about why he was calling me.
The knight caught up, raised an eyebrow, looked at me, and asked, "That's right, I'm calling you. Tell me, how did your level rise so quickly?"
Seeing his imperious manner, I couldn't help but feel annoyed. I said in a deep voice, "Your level seems higher than mine, right? How did you rise so quickly?"
The knight's tone faltered, and he said coldly, "Why should I tell you?"
"Then I have no obligation to tell you anything either."
Not wanting to waste time bickering with such a person, I ran directly towards the East Gate. The knights guarding the gate immediately came up to me and asked, "Young warrior, have you obtained a training certificate?"
"Of course."
I took out the parchment scroll, and the knight squad leader immediately smiled and said, "In that case, you have gained the right to go to the east. I will take the training certificate, and you can enter and exit the East Gate freely from now on. Also, I almost forgot to tell you, Silvermoon Valley in the east can only be entered from the East Gate, so the monsters inside are a bit stronger than those on the other three sides. Most importantly, there are undead in Silvermoon Valley, so you must be careful. Also, we have something we'd like to entrust to you. Are you willing to accept?"
There was no reason not to accept. I quickly chose "Yes." The knight squad leader continued, "The young king has issued a royal decree, hoping that all warriors and adventurers will take it upon themselves to eliminate the undead. So, we hope you can eliminate some of the undead servants in Silvermoon Valley and bring us proof of your courage. Also, a squad of our soldiers went missing a month ago, and we hope you can find news of them."
"Ding~"
System prompt: Accepted quest [Trial of Courage]. Eliminate the undead servants in Silvermoon Valley, obtain 100 undead ribs, and deliver them to the Silvermoon City squad leader. Find and rescue Koma's squad.
One quest, two requirements. I felt like I got a raw deal...