Who Says I’m Not a Legitimate Adventurer?

The direction indicated by the pointer never left this house at all.

A bone-piercing chill instantly shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

This meant that object was right beside him!

How was that possible?

Ever since he moved here, only a handful of acquaintances had ever entered this house.

Lance swallowed against his dry throat, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart as he followed the Guiding Compass back toward his bedroom.

In the end, he stopped in front of the wooden wardrobe.

He pulled open the cabinet door and dragged out a dusty old box from the deepest corner at the bottom.

Inside were all the old belongings he had brought over during the move.

Everything left behind by the original owner’s father was stored inside.Lance lifted the lid, and a moldy smell rushed toward him.

The Guiding Compass emitted a faint warmth in his hand, while a strange sense of guidance directed his gaze.

He pushed aside several old clothes and immediately spotted a metallic object pressed beneath everything else.

At that exact moment, the Guiding Compass declared its mission complete.

A to-do item forcibly squeezed into Lance’s mind.

【Walk upside down on the street for one thousand meters】

Lance completely ignored the side effect notification. He could conveniently complete it later tonight while doing his training.

He reached out and picked up the piece of metal.

It was a military emblem.

Engraved upon it was the iris flower symbol representing the glory of the Empire.

This was the Third Legion military emblem left behind by the original owner’s retired veteran father before his death.

Could it be...

Lance tightly clenched the emblem, the hard edges digging painfully into his palm.

However, if he wanted to verify this guess, he could first find someone tomorrow to ask about it.

Back then, the reason he had been able to work as a Scribe at the Adventurers’ Guild was largely because of that person’s help.

And after the original owner’s father passed away, that person had continued looking after the original Lance the entire time.

Lance tossed the military emblem back into the box and locked the wardrobe.

No matter how much he thought about it—

Only improving his strength was the sole guarantee for survival.

Today’s daily training absolutely could not stop, and the intensity had to increase.

He removed his outer clothing and changed into heavy weighted equipment.

Starting today, he would forcibly extend the duration of his daily hellish training.

Six hours!

……

The woodland stream region in the western part of Copper Creek Forest remained filled year-round with the damp scent of decaying leaves.

At this moment, deep within the dense forest, a standard three-person Adventurer Party had fallen into a bitter struggle.

They were Adventurers from the neighboring Birchwood Town. They originally thought they had obtained a treasure map left behind by a Witch, only to discover in the end that it was merely a place suitable for confessions.

The realization infuriated them.

Even worse, they ended up encountering a Gnoll hunting squad that had come out to hunt.

A total of five starving Gnolls tightly surrounded them at the center.

At the forefront of the Adventurer team stood a heavily built shield bearer.

Both of his hands desperately held up a thick Kite Shield large enough to cover most of his chest while he gritted his teeth against the frenzied charge of a Gnoll Marauder directly ahead.

Gnoll Marauders were the largest individuals among ordinary Gnoll packs.

This monster stood nearly two meters tall. Its entire body was covered in rough grayish-brown fur, foul-smelling saliva hanging from its ugly hyena-like head, while the muscles on its arms bulged upward like solid rock.

The remaining four ordinary Gnolls stood around one meter seventy to one meter eighty tall.

They had already cunningly spread out their formation.

Two of them bypassed the frontal defense line and directly moved to hunt the agile female archer at the rear of the party.

The other two coordinated with the Marauder, continuously harassing and attacking the shield bearer as well as the young swordsman guarding the shield bearer’s rear flank.

“Toby! Watch out for that Marauder!”

The female archer standing at the back, Phoebe, caught sight of the Marauder bending its legs to leap through the corner of her eye and immediately shouted a warning.

However, her own situation was already extremely bad.

She clearly saw the two ordinary Gnolls closing in on her and could only continuously draw her bowstring to fire arrows to stop them from approaching while stepping backward.

Distinct muscle lines could be seen on Phoebe’s exposed arms beneath her leather armor.

The arrows she fired carried tremendous power, several times grazing the monsters’ scalps as they flew past.

However, against the astonishing Agility Attributes of the Gnolls, the interception efficiency of this kind of conventional shooting was simply far too low.

“Its opening move is a jumping cleave! According to the records in the 《Monster Manual》, this attack has a half-second startup! I can definitely block it! Ah, damn it! Since when could it kick too?!”

The shield bearer named Toby had just assumed his posture to receive the heavy strike.

Yet the Marauder hanging in midair cunningly changed its movement, delivering a heavy flying kick that viciously slammed into the edge of the Kite Shield.

The immense impact instantly caused Toby to lose his balance, making it impossible for him to maintain his defensive stance.

The defensive line on the side was about to collapse.

Fortunately, the swordsman beside him, Finn, reacted swiftly.

He immediately stepped forward and followed up with a sharp slash, the keen blade forcing back the ordinary Gnoll on the other side that had attempted to seize the opportunity for a sneak attack.

“Thanks, Finn—ahh!”

Toby had barely regained his footing before letting out a miserable scream.

“Why are there iron nails hammered into these dog bastards’ clubs?! The anti-rust coating I just applied is getting scraped off!”

A Gnoll’s large club smashed heavily against the shield’s surface, immediately spraying out a trail of dazzling sparks.

Toby shouted in heartbreak.

“Phoebe! The repair and maintenance fees for my precious shield are definitely getting deducted from the wedding savings I handed over!”

“Shut up! We don’t even know if we’ll survive today!”

The female archer Phoebe angrily shouted back.

She narrowly bent backward to avoid a deadly pounce from one Gnoll, her legs moving rapidly as she dangerously escaped the encirclement of another.

Within the monster ecosystem surrounding the outer regions of Copper Creek Forest, Gnolls absolutely counted among the most dangerous predators.

Every single physical attribute possessed by these monsters was no weaker than those of veteran Adventurers who trained year-round.

Just as Phoebe was beginning to feel despair—

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two sharp whistling sounds suddenly rang out.

Two arrows abruptly shot forth from the dark tree cover in the distance.

The arrows traveled at astonishing speed, even brushing directly past Phoebe’s shoulder before plunging straight into the chest of the Gnoll that had been preparing to pounce on her.

The sharp arrowhead instantly pierced approximately three inches deep, causing the Gnoll to release a shrill howl of pain.

Meanwhile, on the other side—

The other Gnoll responsible for attacking Phoebe was also struck by another arrow.

However, this monster reacted slightly faster, instinctively raising its thick arm to block the attack. The arrow deeply embedded itself into the muscles of its arm.

Twin Arrow Release!

What incredible archery skill!

As a professional archer, Phoebe clearly understood what this represented.

This technique, capable of simultaneously firing two arrows while maintaining accuracy, could only be refined through special archery arts.

And this kind of specially honed combat skill was respectfully referred to within Adventurer circles as a Specialty.

The two Gnolls wounded by the arrows did not retreat. Instead, it seemed as though their savage bloodlust had been completely awakened.

This was the racial talent they took pride in.

This ability, known as Bloodthirsty Hunt, activated whenever the monsters suffered physical damage, allowing them to drastically increase their Agility and Strength within a short period of time.

The eyes of the two Gnolls glowed with horrifying red light as they roared simultaneously.

One continued lunging mercilessly toward Phoebe.

The other turned its head, attempting to locate the mysterious archer hiding in the shadows and firing cold arrows.

Phoebe originally believed that the kind stranger helping them would continue remaining safely hidden in the darkness to launch sneak attacks.

But she had completely guessed wrong.

Accompanied by the steady crunching sound of fallen leaves being stepped on, a hooded figure carrying a longbow directly walked out from beneath the shade of the trees.

That person was none other than Lance, who had come out to hunt monsters.