I assume real life adventurers wouldn't go killing dragons (although that would be pretty badass) but maybe they were the Ines finish the boring quests like finding the lost goat of the farmer outside of town ;)
Thanks for your time everyone!
This question has been asked before. Take a look at this thread. /u/Searocksandtrees compiled a list of threads about mercenaries and knight-errants that might be of interest too.