I was born in a poor rural village. It was a village where families barely made a living, with no good land to farm and no travelers to pass by for trade. I left the village to eke out a meager living. However, I was not given a decent job because I was timid and skinny. With no choice, I eventually had to start pretending at being an adventurer to earn a living. Even if I called it an adventure, it was just errand boy type jobs. Basically just selling legwork for a small fee. Then, one day I went all the way to Stonegard... and my life was forever changed.

Everyone knows that Stonegard is the home of Brown Mica. Brown Mica is found underground everywhere in Stonegard. But it wasn't something anyone could touch. Stonegard's first Lord handed over the right to mine Brown Mica to the Stonemasons' Association in order to build a castle in that desolate land.

Mining Brown Mica is not easy work. Basilisks or mandrakes roaming nearby will often eat Brown Mica. The Association recruits adventurers to secure the Brown Mica on their behalf.

I didn't know much at the time, but at least I knew that Brown Mica was a precious ore. I also knew the fact that if there was a Brown Mica-gathering event, a lot of folks will rush in to get rich just to die instead. I hurried to the Abandoned Stonemason Town where the event was held. It would be beneficial if I could win the prize, and it didn't matter if I couldn't. I thought I could steal at least one piece of Brown Mica while adventurers from all over the world fought with the basilisks or the mandrakes. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a clumsy, unskilled adventurer like me.

The event was organized by the privileged stonemason houses of Stonegard. A house of wedge masons, a house of hammer masons, a house of ax masons, and what was the last one? Ah yes, wood! House of wood masons!

To participate in the event, you had to register your name on the list of one of these houses. So, I registered for the nearest house, the wedge masons. Then, I started to carefully collect the Brown Mica. After some time collecting, the Association head stated - There will be a special reward for the person who collects the most Brown Mica from each list.

That sparked the real start of the competition. Unfortunately, there were many agile adventurers on the list for the wedge masons. It would be virtually impossible for someone like me to walk away with a prize. So I tried to find the house with the weakest competition and see if I could get on their list instead. It was hard to find a house because everyone seemed to use the same strategy. It was then that I heard a warning that a graverobber suddenly appeared. I quickly hid myself and waited for them to disappear. I was so frightened that I broke out into a cold sweat.

Looking at the interim results, there was definitely a house that fell behind due to the graverobbers. I ran diligently and moved my name to that list. At this point I had erased and written my name again many times like this. When I moved lists the last time, there was only 30 seconds left until the competition was over. I had collected quite the haul of Brown Mica. I pushed myself to the limit to collect as much Brown Mica as possible. My whole body trembled, feeling nervous as the competition counted down to its finish.

After the longest 30 seconds in my life, the Association head called the winners' names. Surprisingly, my name was among them. When receiving the reward that I had never dared to dream of, all the trials that I had been through passed through my mind in a flash. I could not stop bawling.

The overwhelming experience of that day was a turning point for me. I gained confidence in my abilities for the first time in my life. I started entering more competitions, took part in every event, and won many times. After a while of this, I found that I had quite a bit of money in my pocket. I opened a small shop in Stonegard Castle with that money. After a while, I was able to completely end my wild but exhausting life as an adventurer.

Now I hear that the same event that launched my adventuring career is still being held. I recommend to anyone reading this story to try participating in that event or one like it at least once in their lives. You need not overdo it or burden yourself from the beginning. Even if you don't win first prize, the rewards are excellent. And I'm not just talking about the money. Sometimes the reward of a better outlook on life is enough.




(This article was sanctioned with the support of the Stonegard Stonemasons' Association.)