1 Symbol Master

"Red, are you not going to sign up?" A chubby young boy asked the dazed desk mate sitting beside him.

"Ha? What are we signing up for, fatty?" Red asked in confusion as he snapped out of his daze.

"Sign up for training to become symbol masters!" The chubby young boy, whose name was Finn, but was affectionately called fatty by Red.

"Is there any point? Our talents were tested at birth, none of us have the amazing affinity to become powerful symbol masters." Red sighed, their situation was all too common after all. Talent was a rare thing to find.

Fatty Finn laughed. "Bro, have we been practicing all kinds of martial arts and exercises since childhood as part of school curriculum as a joke? With strength we can kill monsters and acquire the marks on them, may be we can even form a symbol!"

Red looked at his friend and sighed at his naivety. "Do you think its that easy? You need to enter the secret worlds to be able to hunt the monsters. And are monsters going to put out their neck to be slaughtered?"

Finn nodded. "There is no risk without reward. What is important is to have a valiant heart and a yearning for the apex!" He said philosophically as he looked towards the classroom ceiling, posing as an intellectual.

"Enough, Mr. Socrates. Look at your flabby body. I don't understand how anyone can get obese in this age of constant physical exercise and combat practice!" Red replied.

"Hey! It's a genetic thing man. genetic!" Finn cried out.

"Your parents are thin. I'm guessing it has nothing to do with the absurd amount of food you eat every day!" Red laughed.

Finn grumbled in embarrassment. His being fat was his biggest psychological block.

Red patted Finn's shoulder. "Well, it is a one in a lifetime opportunity anyway, let us sign up for training."

Weeks later, however, the two regretted it. "Isn't this the same shit they taught us in middle school?" Finn cried.

"These training are useless. If you want to acquire marks, there is only one way. You need to purchase a weak live monster from the market and kill it to get any marks." Red finally grumbled in dissatisfaction at the so called 'training'.

The government initiated a training program to recruit youngsters, but knowing that they had, what could be politely called shitty talent, there wasn't any serious effort.

What was being taught was known by all people in general. This world has many secret worlds, pocket dimensions where special monsters open up. When people began killing those monsters, they discovered that they acquired 'marks' that would fuse with their body.

When enough marks were collected, they would fuse to form a symbol. Symbols would give humans super powers. People who wielded symbols were known as symbol masters.

In Pinewood city, only one secret world was open to the public at large. It was run by the government and charged money to enter. Most people who would embark on the path to becoming a Symbol Master in this city would eventually begin their journey here.

Red and Finn, knowing this, decided to check out that secret world, which was called Sheep Farm.

"Before we go, let us register ourselves at the adventurers guild." Finn said with enthusiasm.

Red agreed, because he too thought that it would be a good idea. When a monster was killed, they could get marks, but they could also sell the monster body. Their parts could be used for making weapons, charms, potions and for research purposes. Another being product was food, monster meat was very helpful in improving health and was a sought after gourmet delicacy. Thus monsters could be sold to the adventurers guild.

The adventurers guild was a guild for freelancers or wannabe freelancers like Finn and Red. It had a planet wide network and was one of the major forces in the world.

"I spent almost all my savings on this cheap sword and this gun with six charmed bullets. We better kill some of those shitty monsters!" Finn said with tears in his eyes.

Red's face was purple as well. He just bought the gun with bullets, and all his money disappeared into thin air. As for the sword, he had been practicing the sword at the school's Kendo club and had been heavily trained by his grandfather as well at home. He had a sword of his own, even if it was a standard steel sword.

The two arrived in front of the large fort like building where the secret realm was located. The building was designed as an outer structure to shield the gate, so that anything inside could not come out.

Inside the fort like building, the two entered the gate, to enter Sheep Farm.

The secret world was a huge grassland with small hills dotting the landscape. There were a ton of people everywhere and interspersed between them were bizarre looking sheep.

The sheep had wool of varying colors and they jumped around like rabbits. Their speed was not slow at all, however, the monsters seemed harmless.

"These stupid animals give us marks?" Red asked with a stupid face. "Bro, we should've come here years ago!"

At that moment, a red sheep which was surrounded by two hunters, suddenly grew angry and its large black horns began shining brightly. The sheep in question suddenly rammed straight into one of the adventurers and then rebounded away.

The adventurer was flung far away into the grass and began vomiting blood. Immediately Red and Finn turned pale.

"It doesn't seem that simple. Was that the power of the sheep's mark?" Finn spoke out.

Red was looking around and suddenly raised an eye. "Have you noticed something? No one is using guns..."

Finn was confused after he heard that and found another adventurer. "Hey bro, why aren't you using guns?"

"You won't make your money back if you use guns. A sheep's carcass is cheaper than a charm bullet." The adventurer laughed bitterly.

"An adventurer's life sure is hard." Red commented in dismay.