Adventurers

Silence pervaded the area which just moments before was filled with the occasional laughter and murmur.

Alex just looked around in confusion.

'That title again, what exactly is a D rank Adventurer?''

Of course he couldn't make a fool out of himself by asking this out loud as everyone else clearly knew what one was.

Instead, he just went with the flow and waited in silence, seeing what the guards would do next.

Alfred simply held his pendant up for a few more seconds before putting it away.

The guards still stood in place in stunned silence, and Alfred spoke once again. With much more aggression in his voice.

"Do I have to repeat myself once again?"

One of the guards was the first to react as he broke out in cold sweat and ran at full speed to a sturdy wooden door inside the towering city wall.

Alex had been so focused on the events happening around him that he had only just now realised just how big the city was, in particular the huge wall surrounding the entire thing.

'That's gotta be at least 100 metres high, and judging by the distance from the city gate to the nearest building inside, it's at least 10 metres wide as well. Impressive.'

Alex only held some slight surprise at the sight of the walls, and that was it.

If this were a thousand years ago and humans were still confined to their home planet, then Alex would have been much more shocked to see such a marvel of engineering.

But he's from an age where humans already rule the galaxy!

He once had the luck to witness a colossal spaceship which completely dwarfed the whole asteroid he lived on at over three hundred kilometres long. Naturally this spaceship was the peak of the federation's current technology and was one of only five such ships in the federal military's arsenal.

Alex's mind kept wandering around various random topics until a few minutes later, when his attention was drawn to the same city guard running out of the barracks in the wall, with a taller, bulkier and much more serious looking man moving at a much faster pace than him.

The bulky man arrived before Alfred within seconds, skipping all niceties and greetings and got straight to the point.

"My subordinate tells me you have an urgent report."

Alfred simply turned to Alex and gestured for him to come over next to him.

Alex arrived next to him and met the gaze of the bulky captain and felt a few shivers run down his spine.

He didn't know what a D rank adventurer was, but he knew this guard captain was just as strong as Alfred! He could take his life with a snap of a finger, and he wasn't hiding it!

"My little friend here has something to report. Go ahead Alex."

Receiving permission from Alfred, Alex began to recount the events from the previous two days to the captain, in greater detail than the brief exchange he had with Alfred.

By the time he was finished, even the big and scary looking captain had a frown on his face, a trace of worry present too.

"Are you absolutely sure you saw what you described? If the city finds out that you are lying or exaggerating, there will be very serious consequences!"

The guard captain asked Alex. He secretly hoped Alex was actually lying! The implications for the whole city would be dire if he wasn't.

Alex knew what he was hinting at when he mentioned the serious consequences, what else could he mean other than execution?

Much to his disappointment, Alex didn't even flinch when he replied with a simple yes.

Seeing this, Alfred smiled on the side as he spoke up to the captain.

"I can personally confirm his words, Captain. We were attacked by the cunning beast on our way over here and only escaped by a hair's breadth when I used my full power to halt it."

The captain's face only contorted even more when he heard this.

The captain nodded, thanked Alex and Alfred for their report and quickly left. He sped through the city gates at his full speed before he disappeared in the winding city streets.

Up until now, Alex still didn't realise what the big deal was. 

Sure, the Galephant was pretty powerful and his encounter with it had been the scariest one in his life.

But to this whole city full of millions of people, it shouldn't be such a big threat… right?

Especially with people like Alfred and the Captain around.

Alex turned to Alfred, quietly asking him to explain to him now that they had delivered the news to the city.

"Why does everyone look so tense? Also, what is a D rank adventurer?"

Seeing the genuine confusion on Alex's face, Alfred put his hand over his forehead as he chuckled.

"I was too focused on the Galephant until now that I forgot you're an outsider!"

Alex smiled awkwardly when he heard Alfred's remark. He expected the same treatment he got from the last people who found out he was an outsider.

"No need to be so tense kid, I've met and worked with plenty outsiders in my time. I'm guessing it's your first time here?"

Receiving a nod from Alex, Alfred continued.

"I'll answer your second question first. Adventurers are our native people's equivalent of your world's Awakened. Adventurers pursue wealth and power by completing missions in the mission hall or going out into the wilderness and fighting the beasts that dwell there. Missions are much safer and stable than that though. For example, I'm currently on a mission to transport a merchant's goods to this city. Now, you know about soul cores and their tiers right?"

Alfred continued, "The rank of an adventurer depends on the rank of their soul core which also decides the level of missions they can take. These ranks are split into 7 in total, following the same ranking our soul cores go by. F ranks have F tier soul cores, E ranks have E tier, D ranks have D tier etc, I'm sure you get the gist. Of course these ranks only apply to natives or outsiders who wish to become an adventurer and take up missions, else everyone just calls outsiders like you by your realm's naming conventions."

Alex finally understood and his brows rose in surprise when he looked at Alfred, he didn't know he was such a strong man.

Alfred continued again, "Now for your first question… That creature is called a Galephant, it is a B rank higher life form and wields the wind element. Everyone looks so tense because the current strongest person in the city, the Lord, is a Peak C rank Adventurer, or a Specialist in your realm."

Understanding dawned upon Alex when he heard that the city didn't even have a single person who was on par with the Galephant, not even the city lord could compare…

Just like everyone else in the surroundings who heard Alfred's report, his face fell as he understood the gravity of the situation.

"What do we do now then?" Alex asked Alfred after he collected his thoughts.

Alfred looked at Alex. "What else can we do? We do nothing. Nobody is strong enough to fend off the Galephant and although these city walls may look domineering, they can hold the creature off for an hour at most before it would breach."

A feeling of dread fell upon the surrounding environment and it's people when they heard Alfred's words.

However, bringing a last ray of hope for the people, Alfred spoke again.

"But, we are not doomed just yet. The reason we were in such a rush to report was so word reached the City lord quickly, who could use his own methods to contact someone who is strong enough to come over and help the city."