Rats

An entire week went by, and Amaya had already been fired from five different jobs. Today, she lost yet another one.

It was supposed to be a simple task of cleaning the bookshelves at a library. Somehow, some way, It ended with the library catching fire. Needless to say, the library and all of its novels were burnt to a crisp.

'What?! I don't even understand how this happened in the first place. All I did was accidentally make a shelf fall over.'

Of course, her misfortune didn't have to make sense, things just found a way to happen.

'Why can't I have a normal day when I'm working.'

A tear of frustration wanted to fall from her eye, but she sucked it up.

This was the final straw for her. A normal job would never work out.

Amaya closed her eyes, accepting this fact.

There was only one option left for her.

____________

It didn't take long for Amaya to sign all the papers. The registration was now complete. She had decided the path of her new life, all with a signature.

The guild lady placed a handbook in front of her.

"Congratulations! You're now officially an adventurer of Therngo, starting a D-rank. I hope to see you grow to become at least A-rank someday."

Amaya shook her head, "I don't think I'm that skilled. I'll do my best though."

"I've been dealing with newer adventurers for many years now. I've seen lots of them grow to A-rank. Higher in some cases. It is very much achievable. Don't doubt yourself."

" Is A-rank pretty high?"

"It's somewhere between average and above average. The strongest adventurers make it to Platinum. The absolute best make it to Legendary."

The guild lady then pointed at the handbook, "On the first page, it explains the ranks to you, as well as what's needed to rank up."

Amaya opened the book, her eyes scanning the page.

{ Page 1:

Your rank will first be determined by your overall ability score (ABS), the number of your stats combined, excluding health. Later on, you can increase your rank as your stats grow, or as you accomplish feats equal to a higher rank.

D rank- ABS of 4 or lower. This with an ABS 4 and lower will be placed in this rank.

C-rank- ABS Requirement= 5

B-rank: ABS Requirement total= 11

A-Rank: ABS Requirement total= 23

S-rank - ABS Requirment=34

Emerald-Rank - ABS Requirment= 45

Legendary-rank: Ability Score Total Requirement= 60}

Insanity. The scale was pure insanity. Nothing could've prepared Amaya for this.

' How are some of these numbers even achievable? To have an overall that high, I wonder if Legendary-rankers are monsters themselves.'

From her standpoint, it seemed impossible to reach the top rank some day.

Her overall right now was incredibly low. At her current power, The hardest monster she could picture herself winning against was Shadow Bear. Anything stronger, she'd likely get ripped apart.

"Are there any beginner friendly quests for D-rank? You know, something I probably won't die doing." Amaya asked.

The guild lady held her hands together, excitement in her expression.

"Oh? You're ready to take on your first quest already? That's the kind of spirit I like to see in young adventurers. Let's see…." She pressed her find up against her chin, thinking. Until something came to mind.

"Hmm. There is one that's easy, but I can't guarantee you won't die. Everything in life has that risk."

Amaya sighed, accepting whatever it may be, "Alright, I'll take it. Just tell me what I need to do."

_____________

"This should be pretty simple. I'll even be getting 50 silver for it."

It was a low-risk adventure. The church at the edge of town had a major infestation of rats, roaming the small tunnel system underneath. From what the guild lady had said, the rats were near the size of dogs.

They only recently appeared about a week ago, causing problems and attacking the worshipers. Although the rats themselves were pretty huge, they were all estimated to be weak.

It was low-risk, but Amaya had her doubts.

"Yeah right. Like anything I do could be simple. But if they're just rats, I'm sure I can take them. After All, I fought a Shadow Bear and won."

Once she got to the church, a nun opened up, letting Amaya inside.

The expression on the Nun's face was a relieved one.

"You must be an adventurer, I take it. I am so glad you guys are taking priority in our issue."

Amaya replied, "Yeah, no problem. I'll try to take care of the rats for you guys as fast as possible. Show me the way to the tunnel system."

The Nun's face immediately grew worried and she waved her hands frantically.

"N-no. You mustn't go down there alone. Please , discuss it with the other adventures first."

"Other adventures?" Amaya asked.

"Yes. There are other adventurers here. They're having a discussion about everything in the back. Come, I'll show you."

For just a rat slaying quest, it was starting to sound like it wasn't that simple afterall. But it didn't come as a surprise to Amaya.

'Called it. I knew there was going to be something else to it.' she thought to herself.

Still, rats were just rats. Since she would have help, there wouldn't be a whole lot to worry about.

Amaya was led into a room, where a small team of adventurers were gathered around a table. In front of them was a drawn map of the tunnel system.

One of the members in particular was doing all the talking, he was the party-leader. A man with frim gray armor and a sheathed longsword.

Pointing at an area on the map, he was mid-conversation.

"...Then, we'll head to this area. Hopefully, we'll find the root cause of th-"

His words came to a halt when he saw the new face enter the room. His gaze met with Amaya's.

"Ah, hello. Who might you be?" He asked.

The nun explained, "She's another adventurer. Also here to help with the problem."

"I see, then." The party-leader gestured at one of the chairs. "There can never be too many hands. Go on, new addition, have a seat."

Doing as he said, Amaya sat down, listening to him summarize the situation.

"We've already explored the early area of the tunnels. We'll be heading deeper inside, where we suspect the nest to be. At the rate we're going, we'll find it very soon." He leaned forward on the table, finishing up.

"Are you all ready?"

The dwarf and mage both nodded, simultaneously replying. "Yes sir."

The way they spoke to their leader showed how much respect they had for him. Their bonds had to be deeper than just a normal party.

"You must all be really close to each other." said Amaya.

The party-leader nodded.

" That is Correct, We've all been through battles together. Both during our time in the imperial army and as adventurers."

He pointed at the dwarf, "That's Ham. Our trustworthy blacksmith and fighter."

The leader then pointed over at the mage, "And this is Sally, Our very skilled spellcaster."

Then, he gestured at himself. "As for me, I am their leader. You can call me Jack."

Their entire party consisted of the three of them, and they all looked to be well-mannered. Still, Amaya could just feel their auras. They weren't erupting with power or nothing, but it was like she could just sense their skill level.

"So, Amaya. I have to make sure or something. You do have good equipment and a weapon, right?" Jack asked.

Amaya pulled the knife from her pocket, revealing it. She felt embarrassment, her weapon was nothing when compared to all of their equipment.

"This is my weapon. I know it's not the best, but I think it could get the job done. And for my equipment, I really don't have any."

Jack laughed like he had just been told a joke. But stopped when he realized she was being serious.

"Ah, you're not joking. Forgive me for laughing. It's just that a knife wouldn't be very useful."

He picked a spare blade from the back of the room and handed it to Amaya, "Here, take this instead."

It was a short sword, one that could deal a decent amount of damage.

[Analyze: Short sword- Attack Damage: 8 ]

"Woah. This is for me?" Amaya asked.

"Yes. And you can keep it, just get rid of that knife later on."

Ham, the Dwarf opened up his whisky container, taking a drink.

"...Now that hit the spot."

From the moment Amaya entered the room, she noticed the smell of alcohol, and even noticed Ham's slightly-intoxicated face. But now, he was full-on drunk.

He squinted in Amaya's direction, stroking his beard.

"Say…You look oddly familiar to Ze-"

Whatever he was about to say got interrupted by Jack.

"Ham, I know what you're going to say. Do not say it. And what did I tell you about drinking?"

"I'm sorry, sir…I'll refrain from drinking anymore today."

"I hope you can still function like that." Jack looked over to Sally, the spellcaster, "Can you please use a spell and sober him up?"

"Of course. I'll go ahead and do that." she answered.

Jack shook his head, disappointed, then apologized to Amaya.

"He's quite the drinker sometimes. That's the only thing discipline didn't seem to fix."

"It's fine." Amaya replied.

She wasn't really bothered by it. More so, she was just curious, wondering what the Dwarf was going to say before he got cut-off.

'I'll ask about it later.' Amaya thought to herself.

Sally finished up the spell, cleansing the alcohol from Ham's body.

Everything was ready, it was time to head down into the tunnel system.

Jack made sure to fold the map and place it into his bag.

"Remember, the second we go down there, no getting side-tracked. Stay focused, and ready to fight."

It was just a quest to slay rats, but Amaya couldn't help but feel like she was headed to a war or something.