Chapter 1: An Assassin and a Mission

Damn my feet are killing me. Took me months to get to here.

"Well , I better get moving if I want to get my mission done." I mutter to myself. Taking one last look at the statue at Amor Square, gleaming brightly under the hot afternoon sun, I pick up my rucksack and adjusted my coat.

It has been many decades since the Order has sent undercover operatives to the outside world. Why? To gather information on how the society is doing of course. It's been quite some time since the events of the Great War, and now that we have finally recovered from our losses, we can afford to send Watchers out to establish outposts and do some reconnaissance.

To my surprise, I was given the privilege to operate in Orario, the only city in the world that has a Dungeon. Before the journey, I managed to gather as much information about Orario, but it is mostly about how the Gods came down to the mortal realm to live and mingle with humans.

The Gods, apparently bored with their near-perfect life up in heaven, decided to come down to Earth to live and work alongside the mortals, which is us. But to do so, they left most of their godly powers back in heaven, where it still resides to this day, or so I have heard.

Anyway, the Gods formed their own families, or 'familias', with us mortals to have a closer relationship with them. In exchange for joining their familia, the Gods give their 'children' blessings, known as God's Grace, which is some sort of power up to help them fight better and level up. They kill monsters in the Dungeon, which drop magic stones that can be exchange for the local currency known as valis, at a place call the Guild.

That's all I know for now, and I got to find out more about this city of I want to establish a foothold.

I lean against a wall, ignoring the heavy foot traffic before me, and wonder what is my next move. To learn more about Orario, I got to go to the place where knowledgeable people run Orario.

That's it, I will go to the Guild. The Guild controls the wealth adventurers receive, so I can start there. I could become an adventurer, that way I can learn the ins and outs of Orario and the Dungeon. I could get to learn how people here make a living and what they face on a daily basis. Yeah, it could work, if I play my cards right.

With a grin, I pull on my hood down and made my way through the bustling crowd towards the Guild.

On my way to the Guild, I pass by a marketplace, people of all races were selling various items while haggling prices with potential customers. Food, clothing, charms and the sorts, it was all there. I quietly excuse myself from any approaching vendors as I was less interested in buying their products. After all, I'm not here to shop.

I spy the Guild building ahead and quicken my pace when suddenly I heard the crowd behind me scream. I turn around to find people pointing and shouting at what appears to be a kid covered in... red liquid? He was pushing his way through the crowd and shouting.

"Eina!" shouted the boy excitedly.

He was heading in the same direction as I was, towards the Guild building. He was nimble, and in a split second he brushed past me, staining my dark grey coat with the crimson-red substance. I was rather surprised by his behavior. He appeared to be quite young, about 12 to 15 years of age. I'm only 18 but I was still surprised by that burst of energy by such a young person.

I watched him as he reaches the front of the Guild building, talking to what seems to be an elf in a set of black vest and pants with a white collared long sleeve shirt underneath and a grey bow tie. She seems to be scolding the young boy for being covered in the red substance.

In the blink of an eye, she dragged the young boy into the building, yelling: "Go take a shower!"

The crowd chuckled and started to laugh and joked about him. Some started to call him names like "Tomato Boy" and such. I was not in the mood to laugh however. Not only were the jokes bad, the boy stained my favorite coat. In fact it was the only coat in my possession. Sigh...

That was when I started to notice the details of the stain on my coat. It does not look like tomato juice, as the crowd claimed it to be. It appears too dark-colored to be from tomatoes. I gently touched the stain with my fingers. It felt...sticky. I then pulled the stain closer to my nose and gave it a whiff.

Blood.

It was blood. I recognize the scent immediately. After all, the scent is recognisable since I've been killing and hunting for a large portion of my life. But the question is, whose blood is it? The blood can't belong to that boy, it does not have that usual 'human' smell to it. But then again, I won't be finding any answers standing around doing nothing. Better continue on my objective: that is to become an adventurer.

Without wasting anymore time, I brush the thought out of my mind. I'm here to do my job, time to get my head in the game. I breath in deeply and walked into the Guild.

The Guild is a large building with a wide space and multiple counters. There is a group of people operating those counters, all of them dressed similarly to the elf I saw earlier. It appears that they are the ones running this place, I thought.

Observing the area, I notice that there were adventurers walking in and out of the building, some all by themselves, others in large groups. They approached the counters in an orderly fashion and dropped a bag of magic stones into the drawers beneath it. The worker at the other side opens it, inspects the stones before placing a certain amount of valis into the drawer for the adventurers.

Ah, this must be some sort of an exchange area for valis.

There are a couple of tables and chairs arranged neatly at the side of the building. A worker appears to be talking to a group of adventurers about some strategies for going into the Dungeon. It seems that these workers are not only bankers, they are also dungeon advisers.

I was so focused on the scene unfolding before me that I did not notice a silhouette approach me. I only notice her from the corner of my eye about was an arm's length away. It was probably her flashy, pink hair that caught my attention.

"Hello there!" she said with a cheerful spirit. "I see that you are a bit confused, are you new here?"

I take a good look at her. She appears to be a worker here as well, based on her uniform. Her long, pink hair matches her vibrant, glistening pink eyes.

"Hey, are you deaf? I said are you new here?!" She yelled at me with a playful tone.

It took me a while to react to her question, she startled me and caught me off guard. "Oh, erm... yes, I'm new here. I would like to register myself as a new adventurer."

"Excellent! My name is Misha Flott, but my friends just call me Misha. Come with me, I will help you get your adventurer's license in no time!" Without saying another word, she just grabbed my hand and yanks me towards one of the counters.

"Hey Rose, I got another starting adventurer for you!" Misha yells at the receptionist as she continues to drag me towards the counters.

"Are you sure he is not another one of your boyfriends? You seem to like to change around a lot, especially during rookie season." The receptionist joked. The other workers snickered and chuckled at her remarks.

"Shut up Rose! I do not have a boyfriend! I...I just like talking to them, that's all." Misha's face turns cherry-red all of a sudden as she tries to explain to Rose, the receptionist.

Rose then looked at me from behind the counter. "So, you're really a rookie, eh? Well then, come here and give me your details so that I can register you into the Guild records." she said to me in a serious voice, quite a change of tone from the joking attitude she put on just now.

I approached the counter carefully, careful not to reveal any of my features to them.

"So, starter pack, what's your name?" Rose asked.

That's when I hit a blunt. Err, am I suppose to give them my real name? Maybe a fake name? What name should I use? What if the fake name I used turned out to be someone in real life? Shit, this is bad, I did not think this through...

My mind was racing a thousand miles when I accidentally blurted out my name, "M-Marcus."

Ah crap, that was not suppose to happen. I guess that's why I'm still still a Junior rank instead of Senior. Is there a replay option? I want to go back to my last check piont.

"Marcus..." Rose mumbles as she swiftly joys down my name on a registration form. "And your last name?"

"It's Marcus... er... Just Marcus." I replied nervously. "That'll do for now."

Rose looks at me suspiciously. "You don't have a last name? You don't have to hide it you know. We won't steal your identity." she said.

"Aw, no need to be shy. Everyone's gotta open up someday!" Misha chimed in. "Also, why are you covering up your face with your hood? It does not rain indoors, dummy."

These questions are coming at me faster than a hail of throwing knives. I had to come up with a valid reason, fast.

"Well I traveled from a faraway land to reach Orario, you see. Along the way, I had encounters that made me want to value my own privacy, so thank you." I reply.

I chose to ignore Misha's comment about my hood. Secrecy is an important asset among the members of my Order. It is how we managed to stay hidden for nearly a millennium.

Rose raised an eyebrow, as if questioning my legitimacy that I wasn't being honest. She was right. I am not a traveler. Clever girl. But still, I pull my best poker face and look her dead in the eyes. Eventually she shrugs and continues with her paperwork.

To divert their attention, I show them the red blood stain on my coat and ask about a "Tomato Boy".

"Oh, you mean that boy covered in Minotaur blood? He's Bell. Eina must be taking care of him!" Misha chirped. "As a matter of fact, there he is!"

I turn around to see a young boy with white hair talking to the elf lady, Eina at one of those tables. He looks much better without all that nasty blood all over him. He must have taken a shower, due to the fact he there is a towel draped around his neck. Hmm, now that I got a good look at him, he looked like a rabbit, honestly speaking.

"Please tell me about Miss Ais Wallenstein, Eina!" yells the young boy. You could practically hear his voice echo throughout the Guild Building.

"Well, she is a level 5 adventurer, she is known as 'Sword Princess'. She is also part of the Loki Familia." Eina replied.

"No, I mean about her..." Bell continued.

I was trying to eavesdrop on their interesting conversation when I felt a slight tap on my back. It was Rose.

"Here is your adventurer's license, Mr Just Marcus," She says with a sly grin as she gave me a document with my name and stats on it. Apparently, all my stats are at zero. How weird.

"You will be appointed a dungeon adviser in a few hours. So, I expect you to drop by in the evening to find out who is your adviser," she said.

I thank them and accept my Dungeon license gratefully. As I turned around to look for the white hair kid, he was no longer there. He must have left the building.

As I sighed and walked out, Misha called me,"Hey Marcus, be careful out there, and happy hunting!" I smile sheepishly and walked out.

Back in the daylight, I contemplate on my next action. Now that I'm a registered adventurer, albeit a few mishaps, step one is complete. Now, my next step should be...finding a lodging space. I've got to find a home, whether temporary or permanent if I want to continue my stay at Orario.

I look up towards the blue sky. This could be the start of an amazing adventure.

"Give me strength, Gods."

My journey's only beginning.