Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

"I understand, I'm no stranger to having my life in danger, trust me on that. Now tell me what are the types of creatures that inhibit the Sunken valley?"

"I would have been disappointed if you hadn't asked me that. Caution is a must when dealing with monsters. This is a very important subject for an adventurer or even any Crestmaster even if you aren't the fighting type."

"It's that important?"

"Undoubtedly. This matter may surpass your imagination. Information is valuable. Now, what if you wanted to get your hands on information that could not only save your life but also make you tons of gold?"

Aldrich didn't answer as this question was rhetorical.

"I bet you'd be willing pay handsomely for it. That's what monsters are. You might not realize it but monsters are wildly used in daily life. The oil, the fur, the meat, the poisonous glands and many more. When adventurers fight and triumph over monsters they obtain this information and they can sell it to the highest bidder.

Of course where you're going is a very mild place where even ordinary humans can hunt monsters. Basically as long as it not a grade one monster then everyone already has that information. I just wanted to let you know early."

"You still didn't answer my question yet."

"What was your question again?"

"What type of creatures could I encounter in the Sunken valley? The most common kind."

"Oh, yeah, yeah. The Sunken valley is divided into three areas. You will hunt within the first area; First ground. You must not go further. So, the highest beings there are all grade zero. Fierce beasts and whatnot."

"Oh, you remember that direwolf that almost killed you when we met? That beast is somewhere in between grade zero level two or three. If you see it you better run. There's also the owlbear, these are the strongest monsters in the First ground."

"That sounds boring I should go to a higher level area." Aldrich provoked.

"You will die. This is a warning you must not take a step outside of First ground."

"I know I was jesting. Anyway so how to make money doing this?"

"When you go to the Sunken valley you will pass through Frontier town, some call it Ordeal town anyway you get the idea. That town is where you will sell whatever you hunt."

Aldrich changed into the armor set. It was a half-plate armor, but it wasn't normal it was thicker and heavier than an ordinary set. Aldrich was still quite fine but he could see how the suit acted as part of the training.

He also took a long sword to go along with the suit. He decided not to use Isger's sword if he didn't have to, that sword was special no matter how ordinary people said it was. Everyone thought that Isger was just a farmer but that was far from the truth.

That sword was too much for him as he was now, but someday when he could truly unleash its power like Isger did that day he would wield it with his head raised high.

Aldrich took a special public carriage. The people in the carriage all wore armor and carried weapons. This carriage was heading straight to Frontier town through the Seekers gate.

This gate could easily be accessed from the Crest academy square, that was done on purpose as the initiates were often taken for practical training in the Sunken valley.

Obviously the Crest Academy students were a minority among the valley's regulars. The most numerous hunters of the Sunken valley are normal people. As the First ground was not too dangerous especially if you were in a group of five or six and you were all armed with muskets.

Valley hunters was a very widely used term in Voryhrm as it was a common job, but also from regular hunters. The encounter rate of grade zero monsters was high, ironically that was the reason for the popularity of the Sunken valley.

An hour later Aldrich got off at the Frontier town. It was an active town with many carriages big and small entering and exiting. Almost everyone here was deked in armor and carried weapons.

Aldrich walked around and saw many carts pulled by all manner of creatures oxes, elephants and eight-legged horses. These carts more often than not carried the corps of a huge beast.

Aldrich was attracted to one of these carts. Unlike most carts this cart did not have the corps of a huge beast but a child-sized beetle. It had a fluorescent blue shell and two bulging eyes of the same color.

"Hey! Beat it, before I teach you a lesson, kid. Don't you dare have any ideas about my catch." A low and thudding voice interrupted Aldrich's thoughts.

The man who owned the cart had taken notice of him. Aldrich smiled, unthreateningly and said, "pardon me, I was just surprised by this creature. This is my first time seeing such an insect, What is it?"

The sight of that creature reminded him of the giant roaches in the nightmare realm. If not for the obvious difference in color he might have made a mistake.

"It's a Fulgur beetle. Now leave me alone. I'm not afraid of killing kids." The man was clearly in an unpleasant mood so Aldrich backed away so as to not cause a scene.

In Frontier town there are only two gates. One leads in and the other out. A simple design. Aldrich walked towards the exit gate, the gate that leads into the First ground. When he suddenly felt a tug at his arm and looked down.

He saw a halfling girl staring at him.

"Sir, I was talking to you just now didn't you hear me?"

"I'm sorry it's just the surroundings are so loud I couldn't tell if you were talking to me."

"Come with me for moment." The girl said as she pulled at his hand. Aldrich was curious so he decided to follow. The girl brought him to a shop that had some weapons and other wares displayed.

"What's the matter?" Now that they were here Aldrich wanted to know what the girl wanted after all he didn't have all day.

"Sir, let me ask you, are you going hunting in the Sunken valley?"

"Yes, I am."

"Sir, I couldn't help but notice that you only have a sword with you. If you want to go hunting you need other supplies."

"I think a sword is good enough and I have a waterskin here, that should be enough."

"This must be your first time. Didn't you notice all the backpacks?"

Aldrich did notice, he just didn't pay them any mind, he was focusing on all the slayed monsters and beasts.

"How will you carry the body of your prey? Do you think these adventurers go around pulling carts behind them?"

"Get to the point." Demanded Aldrich, annoyed.

"Look over here. We have a customer!" The girl called over into the shop and a human young man came out. He was carrying something in his arms, strange thing it had small wheels.

The young man strangely bent and twisted the wood and fabric mixture and a minute later it unfolded into a cart. The same kind of carts that he had seen when he first came to Frontier town.

"H-how?"

"Hehehe, this only the beginning if you buy the adventurers pack from us you can attach this foldable cart to it. After a hunt you wouldn't need to leave your prey out in the woods until you get a carriage from town."

"To think that someone would come up with such a marvelous idea, truly fantastic."

"Of course people want to save time. Even if you hunt in a group and send one person to get the cart anything could happen during that time. But not anymore."

"What about that adventurers backpack you just mentioned?"

"This thing here," she said as she pulled out the backpack that was as big as her. "This has all the basic things you might need in an adventure. All purpose knives, ropes, a map of the First ground that includes some crucial information, binoculars and even a pocket for a foldable sleep-bag, if you're thinking of a long term hunt. It was designed to fit in with the foldable cart."

Aldrich examined the cart and saw that when it was opened the seemingly disjointed wood parts fit together and when taken with the backpack they fit together well.

"It's nice but... isn't it too small?"

"No worries there are different sizes to fit your every need, good sir. There a six wheel and an eight wheel version. Much bigger and very stable.

"Sounds good. How much for them both."

"Ah, I am glad you took a liking to our products. May I just say that you have a keen eye, sir. That will only be two silver and ten coppers please."

"Okay, thank you for the explanation. See you around."

"No wait! You can rent it if you don't have the coin."

"You should have said that from the beginning. I imagine everyone just rents their equipment."

"You can't blame me for trying to make a sale..."

"So, how much?"