Chapter XIX - Back at the Office (part 2)

A month has passed since the Grey rank up test, and not much has happened since then.

Stories about how there was a double dungeon at a Gray rankup test spread faster than wildfires. Multiple rumours about a masked man defeating the goblin king has been floating around the residents, even to another kingdom. The masked man has become quite famous.

Some people believed that the man was actually a Blue ranked adventurer. To be able to take down the goblin king alone, along with two green ranked trolls. Some others believed that the masked man was actually also a Red ranked adventurer that is also taking part in the Gray rankup test, mainly because they're just wondering what such an individual was doing inside the dungeon.

The stories and rumours have spread all the way to the nearby kingdoms. Stories about how a single person was able to take down two trolls and a goblin king made them shocked. And the fact that it was a double dungeon at a Gray rank up test made it even spicier.

"Probably just an outsider. There is no way a Red ranked adventurer with so little experience on fighting will be able to defeat a high level Green rank monster, like the goblin king."

The King of Mazino said to the press from the Mazino Weekly Newspaper. He seemed to be very sceptical about this whole thing, but deep down he knows that this person is definitely strong.

The press have also approached the Office for answers, but not even the Office knew anything about it.

"We don't know who this guy is yet. He might as well be an intruder. Or, who knows, he might be one of the Red adventurers who has now become a Gray ranked."

That answer came from the mouth of the Master of the Adventurer's Office. Not even the Office Master knows about the answer, which makes everyone else question an unanswerable question in their heads.

So who was the guy in the mask?

.

You know, back in my world, I'm always terrified of high places. 

When I went to the mall, I always kept my distance from the glass on the balcony so that I wouldn't look down. In my school, there was only a one meter wall that kept anyone from falling off a 15 meter cliff. I once went to a memorial monument in my hometown. It is at least 100 meters tall. And the worst part, it has glasses.

Now just remembering that made me shiver.

But, right now?

I feel perfectly fine.

Right now I am sitting down at a nearby mountain, and right under me is a 150 meters cliff. The mountain is not quite far from Mazino. But it is quite the distance, so it does give a good view of it from up here.

So I thought I would just sit down, and enjoy the view.

"Fuuhh!"

The wind is particularly fast here, but that's all right.

It's still quite morning, like 7-8am or something. So the sun wasn't really burning my skin. I think this is the time where the sun is healthy, actually.

So I just sat here, for like 15 minutes. Drooling about whatever things that are not in this world. Every time I look down, I can see the forest underneath the super high cliff underneath my floating feet. How far is it, 100 meters? 150?

But I don't feel scared at all. It's quite good in fact. I just focused my eyes on the green and cloudy view right in front of me. Mazino from far away is actually beautiful. The castle has a unique design to it, making it good looking from far away.

Damn, if only I have my camera with me. I would spend an hour just trying to get the perfect picture. Maybe I could try to make a camera?

Nah... I don't want to ruin this world with modern technologies. Unless I have to, though. 

Because this world is still pure of smartphones, television, and the internet. A stone world where magic exists like this, it's actually not that bad. I don't want to stain it with people looking down on their phones instead of socializing with each other.

After taking a breath one more time, I nodded to myself.

"Okay, I'm done."

Time to go back.

Right behind me is the corpse of the green skinned wyvern I just killed, which is a Blue ranked beast. The skin is despicably hard, but not enough for my dual wielding swords. Nevertheless, after the beast died, I simply found a majestic view while standing above its corpse. That's how I wound up in this beautiful place.

The wyvern only lives on top of the mountain, so I had to hike for a very long walk. Not that tiresome, thanks to my abnormal magic points growth. But boring as hell. Like, normally when I see super long stairs, I just give up. 

But this is a mission, so I had to do it. Time to go back down, which will take another hour of walking...

...

Wait.

A dumb and wild idea came across my mind.

I plucked the wyvern of its wings. Thank god the wings are still intact, and I'm pretty sure anyone will know what I'm going to do with this wing.

I ain't going to walk back down, fellas. I'm going to 'glide' down.

"This is going to get ugly."

I held the two ends of the wings with both my hands, while facing the cliff towards Mazino. I took a deep breath, hoping this will work. And I started running. 

"Woah!-Wooaaahahahah!!!!"

It works!!

I'm gliding down while holding the two ends of the wings. The wings aren't curling up because of the bone inside it. And thanks to it, I can glide. 

I still have no idea how the physics works here, but it fucking works.

The only downside is that my arms are getting tired, and I'm still tens of meters above the ground. I started to fly lower, and when I thought it's the right height, I let go of the wings and fell to the ground.

I rolled on the ground before standing up. Because landing while standing up will break my leg instantly, so I had to roll a little.

The wing is... Ah, right there.

It was stuck on a tall tree, between the leaves. I'm just going to leave it there. Whoever finds it can have it.

After that, it's just walking back to the kingdom. The walk will take a few hours, but there is a village nearby. It will be very hot during the second bell, so carriage is the only answer.

I walked to the village. There are also some adventurers there who are also taking a ride back to the kingdom. Guess I'm riding with them...

There are three of them. A party, perhaps. We are riding the same carriage along with the two other people, an old couple. The three of them are talking very loudly. Geez, tune it down!

"Hahah! And you know when the dear was running, Brian was scared like shit!!"

"Bahahah!!!"

"I almost lost my life. Don't laugh, damn it!"

"I saw his face, he was scared shit. Hahahah!!!"

I-totally-wouldn't-fit-with-those-guys-because-i-often-get-bullied-many-times.

A bunch of kids. There's two old people here. This is going to be a fun ride.

"Hahah, and hey, hey. T-The demon eagle noticed he was pissing himself..."

"And it ran!! It ran away because it couldn't handle the smell!"

"Dude. I did. Not. Peed myself."

"Hahahah!!"

"Hhahah!!!!"

… I'm so annoyed.

After a few minutes of the carriage moving, the two old couples went down at a village, leaving just me and them.

Luckily, I sat down at the chair near the door, so I can still look outside instead of looking at those ass holes. The old couple must've left because they couldn't handle it. Poor old people...

They kept on shitting to one another, until one had enough and didn't talk anymore. Oopsie.

After an hour, we arrived at the Mazino south eastern gate. Finally.

"Dude, wake up. We are here."

"Oh, right, right."

The carriage stopped right at the gate of Mazino, since it wasn't allowed to go any further unless they had given permission.

I stepped out first and immediately walked to the office. I can feel those three assholes are behind me. But whatever, let's keep on walking.

Arriving at the office, it's just as lively as usual. There have been more Grey ranked adventurers than before, thanks to that fiasco. Normally, on the test, there is only half or a little more that passed the test. But since yesterday, everyone, all 36 red ranked adventurers were approved on ranking up. And now, there are less Grey ranked missions thanks to that.

That's why Klane suggested that I go back to doing potential encounters hunting, like before. That's how I wound up with the wyvern. Luckily the Wyvern is a Blue ranked, so it's easier for me to defeat it. If it was a Yellow ranked, that's a pain in the ass to kill, but it's not impossible for me.

I lined up at the receptionist table, to accept my mission's payment. The mission was only to gather the flowers of the blizzard, which is right on top of the mountain. However, the real mission is to find and kill the wyvern, and so I did.

The payment from the main mission is only 70 Jules. The extra for killing the wyvern is 300 Jules. A wyvern is a Blue ranked beast, after all.

"Thank you, Keila."

I thanked the receptionist lady, Keila, who is currently on duty. She only smiled back at me as she gave me the money.

"No problem! In fact, we should be doing the thanking. You lighten our shoulders by clearing up the encounters!"

"I see. Then I guess we both profited."

She paid me 370 Jules. That's nearly four times what I normally obtain. Time for a feast!

I haven't been keeping in touch with the other adventurers like Joyle, Brown, or Heckle after the Gray rank up test. But if we do see each other, we will probably chat a little bit. Joyle is very good at hiding the secret. So I guess I won't have to cut his head, after all.

I also met with Beard and Glasses a few times (I don't know their names). But since we didn't know each other very well, we just passed each other awkwardly. Those two merged their parties and took on the Purple rankup test. They are Purple ranked now.

I haven't seen the black haired lady for some time. I did meet her like a week ago, here in the office.

The only person I haven't seen in a while is Jrake. Ever since our spar a month ago, I've just been hyper focused on my missions. I kill things, far too many for me to count. And everyday after missions, I'd just spend my time at the library reading some weird books.

And Jrake... he too has been busy. But, he should be at the back arena right now.

One month we haven't seen each other... It only felt like it was yesterday we sparred with each other. Something tells me nothing will change once we do meet again.

I went to the back arena to say hello. Arriving at the back arena, I looked around to search for him. When I turned my gaze to the left, I could see him. 

And something's odd…

"Rize!?"

Jrake shouted at me because he wasn't expecting to see me, but I am definitely at the most shocked side.

"Beard???"

Dude. He grew a beard. In just a month. 

It's literally yesterday that we both sparred with each other. I refuse to believe he grew that much beard in a month.

Back then, I would dream of getting a beard. Now, this guy just grew one without me noticing. The beard isn't long, but it is easy to notice already. It's at the point where people would think his head is upside down because he is bald and has a beard.

He was training with his gigantic sword the moment I walked in. When he saw me entering the back arena, his eyes opened wide as if seeing a ghost. 

He immediately stuck the sword on the ground. He puts his hands on his chin, just realizing what I meant.

"Oh, haha! You like this?"

"It doesn't really suit you, in my opinion. But, whatever."

I walked to him, and we both shook hands.

"How are you doing, these days?"

"Man, I haven't seen you for a month. You're acting like I've left for a year."

"Well, to be fair, it does feel like a long while."

He said as he played with his beard a little, and I can tell he has gotten too accustomed to his beard.

"That thing looks weird."

I said suddenly, and Jrake only laughed.

"Don't talk like that to my beard! Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you actually somehow killed a dragon."

"Well, dragons are pretty rare to see. You won't hear me fighting dragons any time soon."

"Well, I hope so! By the way, check this out."

He moved back to his previous spot, where his sword was. As he pulls it up from the ground, the sword creates a sound.

"Look closely at the blade."

He focused his mind and energy, solely to the sword. You can start to see the sword glow blue, and I opened my eyes wide seeing it.

"Woah... What does that do?"

"Well, for starters, it glows in the dark."

"Good. I won't have to bring a torch."

"Haha! Just kidding. Here's the best part."

He then moved back and faced the wooden doll target at the distance. He took a stance, and hit his sword in the air.

No way... a ranged slash?

WOOSH!!!!

A slash of barely visible energy flies quickly before it hits the doll, creating a huge cut mark. It's like a magic attack, but at the same time, it wasn't.

Jrake turned smiling at my reaction, because I couldn't realize I was smiling with my mouth opened.

"Long distance slash!"

"If that's what you called it, then."

He lowered his sword quite gladly. Those words just came out of my mouth spontaneously, and since everything was so bizarre, I can't say I am at fault.

"Y-You g-gotta teach me how to do that!"

"Sure. If you want."

"Right now!"

"Now?"

"Yes!"

One month. We both separated from each other for a month. And now, we're back at our old schedule. Another teacher and student session.

I spent the next thirty minutes or so learning from my old teacher again. It's like I never left, even though it's only been a month.

"By the way, did you know?"

"What?"

While I was trying to pour my energy into the sword, he broke the silence by talking.

"There is a Blue ranked adventurer test, coming soon."

"Oh, really? When?"

"In three days."

"Oh... Are you going to take part in it?"

"I never really want to rank up. But I guess, it is necessary sometimes."

"Yeah... I get that it's a drag to take the test. But once you get higher ranks, you can access more difficult missions, too. And I guess that's what I'm aiming for."

"For you maybe. I have a whole different reason."

I kept on pouring energy, but it fluctuated on the sword too much. In the end, only one side was glowing, while the other edge didn't even shine.

"I am taking part in it. I signed the papers and all that."

"That's great! Can't wait to see the 'Blue ranked adventurer, the Bald Hero' in the newspapers."

"Hey, the Bald Hero thing was years ago, Masked Man!"

"Now that one is still fresh."

After joking around, Jrake took a glance at the sword I'm holding. He analysed the situation and the issue, and he came up with a solution immediately.

"Here, try to focus your energy on the tip of your hands."

"What?"

"Like flow your energy on your part of the hand that is touching the sword."

"Oh... okay."

I tried to focus on the part where my hand was touching the handle, and the bottom part of the sword is glowing.

"Now what?"

"Now, just keep moving the energy slowly to the edge."

I focused the energy to flow even to the edge of the sword. The sword slowly becomes brighter and brighter, and after a while, every part of the sword is finally glowing.

"Haha! I did it!"

And just like that, I learned how to enhance my sword using magic energy. I walked and took a stance, a few meters away from the doll.

I held the sword on top of my head to the right, and swung it as fast as I could in the bottom-left direction.

The burst of energy shaped like a boomerang, dashing very quickly towards the doll... No, it's faster than Jrake's.

JREKKK!!

BRUK!

I used too much energy. I cut the doll in half, as well as creating a big slash behind it on the walls. Jrake was holding his head with both his hands while his sword fell to the ground. 

Me? I stopped breathing.

How... expensive are those walls again?