The Great labyrinth city of Urs is a city built around the great labyrinth, coupled with its proximity to the 'Dark forest' on its south east - a forest so dense that it is said that no light ever reaches the ground in there and filed with monsters of immense power - makes it an ideal place for adventurers to train and work.
In fact the whole city was built around adventure and trade - the adventurers would collect rare monster parts, the merchants would buy and sell them and the same adventurers would protect them on their way in and out of the city. The city thrived on adventurers, so there was nothing that the adventurers couldn't get. Whether fame, fortune, enchanted or rare weapons, elixirs, booze or women - if you succeed here, you could have it all. This is the place that I now found myself in.
I had little money remaining, immense strength and little self control, this city was a heaven for someone like me! And since there were thoughts in my head that I desperately avoided confronting, It was time to get a job. And what better job there could be than exploring the 'Dark forest' as an adventurer? All those new monsters with unknown skills that were just waiting for me to consume them, the thought made me salivate. Maybe I could find a few more 'dragons' or something even more powerful…
First up, in order to become an adventurer, you have to register with the guild. There you are given a rank from 'copper' thru 'iron', 'bronze', 'silver', 'gold', 'mithril', 'orichalcum' and 'adamantium'. A newcomer usually starts at 'copper' rank and has to climb his way by completing quests.
When you complete a quest - you get a reward in coins, when you complete ten quests of your rank - you get a chance to take a ranking test to climb a rank higher. Adventurers that have recently failed more quests than they finished can get demoted. The higher ranked the quest the more dangerous and difficult it is, but it also pays more. The average gap between ranks is ten fold - meaning that a 'silver' ranked adventurer is ten times more powerful than the 'bronze' ranked adventurer.
I found out all of that when I entered the adventurers guild from the guild girl that looked extremely uncomfortable while talking to me. I can't blame her though. As soon as I entered, all eyes were on me - some guy with extremely ragged, blood soaked clothes and a mourning mask.
I Didn't fancy starting at the bottom, so I asked "Is there a way to quickly raise my rank to, let's say, 'orichalcum' or 'adamantium'?
Silence. After a while the whole adventurers guild burst out laughing. Some wondered whether I was joking or not, some thought that I had delusions of grandeur or some loose screws. One guy even shouted that I had somehow returned from the 'Mist forest' and that it fucked with my head.
After the laughing subsided, a towering, muscular, bald man with no shirt and a giant axe strapped to his back approached me, slapped my back and said. "Hey, kid, being an adventurer isn't as easy as you think. And what's up with that ridiculous outfit that you are wearing? If you think that you look intimidating, you are not. It's actually pretty funny." He gave me a condescending smile and continued. "Adventurers risk their life everyday fighting dangerous monsters, with that experience they gain skills and are able to progress through the ranks, but that takes time. I myself am 'gold' rank and I have been adventuring since before you were born, so if you really want to become an adventurer, you should start at the bottom like everyone else." These words were met by shouts of agreement from the rest.
I sighed. I should probably establish a hierarchy before we begin. "If I was like everyone else, I would gladly start from the bottom, but compared to you, trash, I am in a different league." This was met with a lot of angry shouts and even threats.
The man in front of me looked taken it back, but then he got angry and said with a serious tone. "Hey, kid, did your parents never teach you any manners? I was just trying to help, but you insult me, insult all of us out of nowhere? Apologize immediately or face the consequences." He actually said 'face the consequences? How cliché…
I laughed, I laughed hard, that infuriated the baldy. With only two words I sent him into furious rage. "Make me."
The baldy swung with his fist at my face, I could see that he wasn't holding back by the look on his face, I dodged back. Another punch, this time an uppercut, I dodged to the side. "What's wrong? The mighty 'gold' rank can't even land a punch?" I taunted. This infuriated him, even other adventurers started shouting for him to take it seriously.
This time my adversary took out his great axe. "I'll give you one last chance to apologize on your knees before I cut you in half!"
The guild girl looked frightened and tried to stop him, some other adventurers looked concerned as well. I Chuckled. "You cutting me? Dream on, old man!"
"This is it!" His axe became enveloped in a yellowish oura. "Now you die!" He swung his great axe horizontally at me. It connected, causing a huge dust cloud to form all around me.
The other adventurers looked scared and furious. "Azghar, what the fuck have you done? He was just a kid!" Some shouted. "Now you are done for, you killed someone in broad daylight!" Others retorted. "Yeah, a simple beating would have been enough!"
Azghar looked scared, but not because he had killed someone. When the dust cleared, everyone was surprised by the fact that the axe was stopped right at my shoulder. One of the older adventurers, while seeing this commented "Azghar, I really thought that you were going to kill the kid, who knew that you could stop that attack right before it hits? That's a 'gold' rank adventurer for you!"
The boldy looked pale, sweat forming on his face. He muttered under his breath. "I-I didn't stop though…"
"What was that?" The older adventurer inquired.
"He said that he didn't stop the axe" I answered in his stead. "Now then, I gave you a free hit and that is all that a 'gold' rank can do? Truly pathetic. My turn." I slowly raised my arm for a punch, that woke the boldy from his daze. He panicked, muttered something similar to an apology. When he saw that I wasn't going to stop, he desperately tried blocking with his axe.
I punched straight at the giant axe head, sending Azghar flying through the wall of the adventurers guild, his axe head completely shattered and the boldy was sent unconscious. Then I turned to the terrified guild girl and with a chilling voice asked again. "answer my question, is there a way to quickly raise my rank or not?" She kept stuttering, barely able to speak. "Useless…"
"There is." A powerful voice from the top of the stairs announced. I looked up and saw a tall man in his 50s or 60s with a scared face. He didn't look intimidated by me while others were about to shit their pants, so I could tell that he was someone of a strong character. Someone addressed him as the guild master. "If you get recommended by someone and pass the test, you gain the same rank as the recommender."
"Alright, who here is 'adamantium' ranked?" I asked.
The guild master answered. "At this time there is no one in the whole world holding that rank, so you'll have to go lower."
"Alright, then which one of you, bastards, is 'orichalcum' ranked?" Silence. "'Mithril'?" No one answered. I sighed. "Then whose rank here is the highest?"
This time one of the adventurers answered with an unsteady voice. "T-that would be Azghar."
"Alright, who the hell is he? Azghar, you coward, stop hiding and show yourself!"
The guild master answered for Azghar. "He's the one you send flying… Wait for tomorrow, until he wakes up and then you can ask him for a recommendation, I am sure that since he saw your skills it will be a piece of cake. That is if he'll remember anything from today."
"Oh, so that was your strongest? No need to wait." While everyone was watching my every move, I approached the boldy and stepped on his chest hard. He woke up and started wheezing in pain, but I didn't stop. I kept pressing until I heard a satisfying crunch of one of his ribs breaking. This put a smile on my face. Then I took my leg off, squatted next to him, looked into his terrified eyes and said. "There is something that I need you to do."
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After acing the 'gold' rank exam and collecting 'damages' from the boldy for 'harming' me, I went to the nearest store that sold adventuring equipment and began browsing the selection. The store clerk wasn't too keen on me, looking as I looked back then, being there, but out of respect, or maybe fear allowed me to browse to my heart's content.
reasoning that at this point armor wasn't needed, I picked out a pair of new boots, black pants, a whitish shirt, a black trench coat and a few pairs of socks and underwear. Since none of the items were made using monster parts, neither were they enchanted, they sold for cheap. Next up were weapons.
I had almost zero mastery of any weapon, coupled that with my inhuman strength and the fact that I would be fighting in an unknown terrain that might be too narrow for long weapons, I reasoned that a very thick, sturdy and heavy short sword would suit me best. Since that was something of an unwieldy, freak weapon, it was impossible to find pre-made, so I had no choice, but to get it forged in one of the smites personally.
I had to explain to the smith a few times what I wanted since he thought that he had misheard. He even asked me to demonstrate how I would use it with a thick iron bar and after the demonstration he was still unsure, but since the smith was amused by the order, I even got a buy one get one for half price deal there, so I ended up getting a backup just in case. I would have to wait for a few days for the swords though.
When I was done it was already the evening, so I decided to get back to the tavern. Laying in bed I had time to think. I had to establish who's the boss here, but I sure as hell went overboard with the boldy. though I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of it - the pain, the fear, the destruction, causing all that filled me with such delight. Was that the influence of the 'Flame dragon'? Or was that because of the… It seems that I've become far more violent recently, oh well, it's not like anyone can stop me now, so let's savor the violence for until I am full!