Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

The situation on the other side of the Source Realm is quite different.

The Source Realm is no stranger to spacetime fragments; they have seen similar rifts before, but those rifts never led to stable space and were mostly randomly collapsing channels.

Of those who entered the spacetime fragment, only a lucky few managed to return; the vast majority drifted away to who knows where.

When those gray-white stone archways appeared throughout the Origin Realm, the attitudes of the various races in the Origin Realm clearly became more wary.

The human kingdoms designated it a forbidden zone, scouts patrolled the outskirts of the elven forest, the dwarves dug new layers of barriers underground, and the orc tribes simply bypassed the arched areas to set up camp.

The Adventurers' Guild officially named those arches "Demon Gates" in the second month after they appeared and posted exploration quests.

The quest log reads: Investigate the Demon Gate, confirm its internal structure, record environmental features, and return safely. No level requirement; reward: 100 gold coins and 2000 contribution points.

Meanwhile, a newly formed adventure team was also established on this day.

They consist of the elven ranger Mia, the human warrior Karl, and the dwarven shieldbearer Bronzebeard; they are a true melee team.

The three formed a low-level Iron-rank adventure team and made a promise to upgrade it to a "King"-rank adventure team.

The newly formed "Hero" adventure team is ambitiously preparing to make a big splash.

On the day of their founding, the three celebrated this great moment by drinking heavily in a tavern all night, much to the delight of the dwarf who was a heavy drinker.

The next day, the three headed towards the Adventurers' Guild building.

The elven ranger Mia walked at the front, carrying a short wooden bow in her hand.

The dwarven shieldbearer Bronzebeard walked in the middle, the edge of his shield scraping against the door frame with a short, sharp scraping sound.

Human warrior Karl walked last, casually closing the door behind him.

They stopped in front of the counter, took out their own black iron medals, and indicated that they wanted to accept the mission.

Their first task was to find a lost cat.

The cat belonged to the grocery store owner; it was gray with a tuft of white fur at the tip of its tail. It ran away through the back door of the store three days ago.

The owner said it might be in one of the nearby alleys; it hadn't gone far, it just wouldn't come out.

Mia squatted in the alley for a long time, Karl flipped through a few trash can lids, and Bronzebeard stood at the alley entrance keeping watch.

As a result, the cat went back on its own the following evening.

They didn't see it enter the room; they only received a message from their boss on the morning of the third day—the cat was back.

Although they weren't the ones who retrieved it, the generous boss still settled the task and handed over the task voucher.

The reward for completing the task is one contribution point and a small bag of copper coins.

There weren't many copper coins, just enough to buy bread for a few days.

The second task was to unclog a sewer.

The sewer was in the old neighborhood in the west of the city; it smelled terrible, and the water was ankle-deep.

Bronzebeard walked at the front, holding his shield up to prevent any disgusting things from suddenly emerging from the water.

Some rats live in the sewers, and some of them are so fierce that they are comparable to small wild animals, so we have to be careful.

Carl followed behind him, his boots making a soft squelching sound as he walked through the puddles.

Mia brought up the rear, her back hunched over her shoulder, and she tightened her quiver with a thin rope.

It took them half an afternoon to clear the blockage—a few pieces of wood, a rag, the mangled body of a stray cat, and a rope that appeared out of nowhere.

The reward for the task is also a small bag of copper coins and two contribution points.

The third task was also to find something, this time it was a dog.

The dog was a descendant of a hunting dog, with dark gray fur and a white mark on the tip of its ear. It had run away near a vegetable garden on the outskirts of the city.

They were very lucky this time.

They walked along the edge of the vegetable garden twice and found it in a thicket near the riverbank, its front legs tangled in a ball of rope.

Copperbeard cut the rope with his dagger. The dog didn't bite; it stood up, shook its fur, and ran back towards the city.

The dog owner didn't say much, settled the task, and handed over the task voucher.

When Mia received the money bag from the guild staff, she felt that its weight was about the same as the previous times, enough for about two meals of bread.

The fourth and fifth missions were similar in content, with none involving any danger or combat.

Copperbeard took a big gulp of his drink, somewhat annoyed, and said, "Hey guys, this isn't what we expected..."

Carl replied, "What were you thinking back then?"

Copperbeard shook his head and did not continue.

Mia walked in front without looking back.

When I entered the guild, it was already dark. There weren't many people in the guild; only a few oil lamps emitted a faint light.

Mia handed over the mission certificate and received the mission reward.

It was still just a small bag of copper coins and two contribution points.

And their contribution points have reached an astonishing ten!

They are only ninety points away from becoming the next level, the Bronze-level expedition team.

Karl, who was walking behind, finally couldn't help but speak up: "I'm saying... at this rate, when will we ever reach the King-level adventure team?"

The two people beside him fell silent.

Copperbeard reached out and touched the wine flask at his waist. He picked it up and shook it. He could hear the liquid sloshing inside, but there was only a small sip left.

He swayed twice and then stopped, putting the wine jug back at his waist, reluctant to open it.

Thinking of the taste of fine wine, he swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, but he didn't open it.

The rewards from these missions were barely enough for them to eat and stay. As for fine wine? That was just wishful thinking.

Mia didn't complain. She stood in front of the mission notice board for a long time, carefully calculating which mission had the highest cost-effectiveness.

The notice board next to the counter was covered with parchment, some of which had curled edges, and some were covered by new tasks, with only a corner showing.

Most of the parchment was marked with things like "finding lost items," "delivery errands," and "cleaning cellars," and the pay was not high.

Mia's gaze swept over the tasks one by one, without lingering for long.

At that moment, her gaze stopped when it passed the lower right corner of the notice board.

The parchment was a size larger than the others, the paper was new, the edges were not folded, and there were no oil stains.

The top line of text is larger than the text for other tasks, reading "Investigate the Demon Gate," with the task requirements, rewards, and notes in smaller print below.

Mia stood in front of the notice board, not reaching out to touch the paper, but simply standing there, facing the parchment.

She read it once, then read it again, then took half a step back, turned her head towards Karl and Bronzebeard, and said, "Come and take a look."

Karl rose from the bench against the wall, walked over to her, and his gaze fell on the parchment.

Copperbeard also walked over. He was a little shorter than the two of them and had to tilt his head back slightly to see the top few lines of text.

The three people stood in front of the notice board without speaking, each reading the contents of the paper and then pondering in their own minds.

The Gate of Demons?