Day 115. The capital Zanyr is in sight. No detours or unnecessary stops were made. It seemed like entry to the capital was strictly monitored. The usual ID check. It was annoying but not a huge obstacle and after the procedures were finished the streets of Zanyr could be explored. The first stop was of course the Adventurers Association. This Adventurers Association seemed larger than most others and it also had rooms that had more luxury.

Just a regular room will do. The arena had events going on at all times. It was possible to get in at any time. This time would be tomorrow. My room looked out over the streets of Zanyr and the arena. Nothing could be seen from here. It was time for sleep. Tomorrow might bring its own problems.

I woke up with a craving for fish. Most of my meals have been quite normal but without fish. I cooked various types of fish in my room and enjoyed the well-seasoned dish while I thought of a plan. Practicing to become human friendly sounds good but it isn't an actual plan. Swords are meant to kill. So many tv shows and games have characters using swords but unless the opponent is extremely sturdy or can regenerate it will fall over mortally wounded or dead after 1 or 2 good slashes.

I have no problem with killing but I’m also not a bloodthirsty maniac. I unsheathed Shirayuki and covered the sharp edge with frost. I threw a fish in the air and tried to cut it. The fish bounced off and almost fell on the floor. I caught it with a tail and ate it. I think this would work. It will leave my opponents severely bruised but it beats dying or getting chopped into pieces. This should work, right?

The lobby was noisy the adventurers were watching some news. A strange creature had appeared 2 months ago and was wreaking havoc in north Igrini Kingdom. They were blaming the Aquini Kingdom for it and their relationship got worse. A red lightning pillar had been spotted in Lopahz. What is Raishin doing… The Aquini kingdom is also blamed for this, something about developing a magical weapon. I am not sure if it was him but there is a 95% chance that it was him. The reconstruction of Gittrian was going faster than expected strange phenomena have been spotted all over the continent.

The strange creature that had been captured 5 years ago had been finally sent to the desert of Zanyr to create water. Oh, it's the lobster Raishin and I caught years ago! Some adventurers have gone missing and more and more strange creatures have been appearing. Also, Itris had been attacked by lightning flowing down Mount Thunderpeak. Ooh, are the spirits finally fighting back? And a region is trying to declare independence from the Aquini Kingdom. The Aquini Kingdom can't get a break, can it? What was causing a commotion were some of the adventurers that went missing. I recognized none of them except for one.

Thalia, what are you doing… The Eternal Desertflower had disappeared 8 months prior and hasn't been seen since. I hope that she didn’t get killed by that stupid cult… Do I look for her or am I overstepping boundaries here? I also disappeared technically. I see that I was once in the category of missing but that has been retracted. I decided to give it some more time. She is strong and probably quite similar to me and just needs time away from everything to focus. I just hope that she isn't doing something stupid…

There was more news but some things bothered me. The disappearance of Thalia and the strange creature running around worried me the most. I am guessing that another ancient building broke and whatever was sealed within escaped. This time I wasn't there to stop it. I wouldn't be surprised if more of this popup. Am I expected to deal with all of those? They might be able to handle a strong monster but humanity is toast if a demigod or a demon escapes.

Ugh I can’t do this alone… I got up and headed to the arena. I tried to enter under an alias but they recognized me as the Silver Torrent. I was wondering if I did something wrong because it isn't normal to recognize any adventurer. Hey did I do anything special? I didn't expect anyone to recognize me.

“Well, you're the only member of the Silver Torrent role so I think that’s special enough.” Oh, so nobody has gotten in yet?

“Well, you might not fully realize how hard it is what you’re doing. A video had been released that illustrated just how amazing you are!” He showed me his tablet and a video played of when I fought the skeleton army, It was painfully clear that the skeleton army couldn't do anything. “Anyone who even entertains the idea of becoming a Silver Torrent gets reminded by this video just how crazy it is, so nobody has dared to apply yet and those that tried failed miserably.” I see… Technology is moving quite fast.

“Anyways I’m curious about your skills, only weapons and magic weapons are allowed so maybe we get to see a more human side of you hahaha, unbelievable, I don't think anyone will be reclaiming this role name for a very long time.” I walked inside the arena and found a spot to look at the fights. There were multiple sections it wasn't an arena where only 1 fight took place at a time. At least they're being efficient. I would fight mainly in section 5B. I found a spot to sit there. There was a section for spectators and a section for participants. Most battles were quite short. No magic can be used as it's a mana-free zone. So, skill will determine the outcome. Some magic weapons made it look like the user could use magic but this was fuelled by the weapon, not the user. Shirayuki can do the same.

It was my turn. The sign to start rang. The opponent was also a swordsman. He was pretty good but I was better and faster. I used my fighting style and parried his sword strikes at the start of the swings with the tip of my sword. At this stage of the swing, there wasn't a lot of power and speed to the swings so there was not much he could do. I will never win a contest of pure strength or weight realistically so I have to rely on speed precision and technique. I parried a strike a bit more than I've been doing and it sent his sword way off course and I hit him in the stomach with Shirayuki and he flew into the wall. I guess I’m still strong from a human perspective. I didn't even try with that swing.

My next opponent used a flaming bow. I easily parried the arrows and knocked him out too. I started to see a problem. None of these were fast enough to pose a threat to me. I could fight the strongest magic weapon used on the continent but if he’s slow there will be nothing he can do. I decided to take another approach. The next guy had a shield as a magic weapon? Why? Is he going to defend until I die of boredom? He just stood there. I decided to hold my sword still and find the correct way to strike. I can't use an Iai because that will one shot him. The crowd gasped. I realized that this was the first time I held Shirayuki still and they could all see the beauty of my katana.

“Hey, where did you get that katana? Want to trade with my shield?” I respectfully decline.

I pointed the sharp edge up and made an upward slash. The opponent's shield fell apart in 2 pieces a second later. His clothes also but he was physically unharmed. I think Nilah, I mean Shirayuki helped me with this. I think I don't need more practice. My sword is well-behaved. I hadn't been kicked out of the competition so I had to do so by losing. The next guy had strange hand cannons. I took some head-on, protecting myself with frost of course. And I pretended to get knocked out. I repeated this until I got kicked out of the competition. I had a lot of people come to me to get a look at Shirayuki and ask me where I got her. Uh, I don't like to brag, you might see her next time.

“Where did you get that sword? How much did it cost? It must have cost a fortune!” It cost a lot but not gold, I crafted it myself. Now I got requests to make one for them too and I declined. I don't have time for this.

“That was an interesting performance Silver Torrent, I’m a big fan, so why did you lose on purpose?” I have no idea what you're talking about, I’m just not as good with the sword as I thought.

“I would have believed you if you didn’t completely dominate anyone in the first half of your matches. I don't even think it was because of your sword, you probably could have done all of that, except maybe that shield guy feat, with an ordinary sword.” You’re giving me too much credit, don't you have anything better to do?

“Hmm I guess these people were nowhere near your level and you got bored, I’m Jack! I like sticking my nose into everything!” I noticed… Just don't get yourself killed because of it. I tried to walk away from Jack. He was wearing a jacket, wearing an orange helmet and carrying some strange drill magical weapon that had the words 'Jack hammer' on it. is this guy a walking pun? This must be on purpose right?

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Whoa whoa, so what is the Silver Torrent up to now?” I’m not going to get rid of you until I tell you, will I?

“Ooh, so you understand! That makes things easier!” Probably do some missions and then laze around until September or something.

“Do you mind me accompanying you? I am a C-rank adventurer, I won't drag you down. I promise!” People around me tend to die or disappear, you are warned. Jack followed me to the adventurers association where I just spent slacking several days in the hope he would give up and leave.

Hey Jack, is it really that special to create a new adventure role?

“Well, Pit Viper was the newest role which got overwritten by Silent Night almost 18 years ago. But in the time of Pit Viper there were enough individuals that met the requirement to become what we call Silent Night nowadays. So even if it was new, it had enough individuals to fill. Your role, however… I don't know where it came from but it is believed that you could be a substitute for a Golden Angel and the requirements to become a Silver Torrent are tuned to that. Currently Golden Angel and Silver Torrent are the only roles that require completing strict tests and building up some experience and fame. Because your party’s life literally depends on your performance. This all got enforced by a video that got released a while ago where you made fighting an army look like childs play. The Golden Angel had nobody to heal.” I see, it seems I did something crazy again.

“I think this is a good thing, there are many groups that have members die even with Golden Angels, avoiding damage is superior to healing it up.” Yeah, that’s why I got into this. I am what you would call a glass cannon. One good hit and I’m out and my defensive skills are also terrible so I have to rely on that and my speed.

“I see, that makes a lot of sense. Either way, it wakes up the community and breaks the status quo. More people will be looking at you and wanting to help their parties just like you do.” Well, I see it like this. Let's assume you have 100 energy to attack your opponent. If I control you. You need to spend 30 or 40 energy to make sure you can move like you normally do which only leaves 70 to 60 energy to attack. If I put in some attack power in it you will need 40 energy to try and move how you usually do and 20 more to defend yourself leaving 40 for attacks. Then on top of that, I make sure that your allies will have an increased chance of hitting you so you need to spend 20 more energy to pay attention to that. See where I’m going here?

Jack petted his beard. It was styled quite strangely. Don't tell me it has a 'jack' style or something. “Hmm, so you’re dividing their attention making them more likely to fail at one or multiple of the separate tasks they need to keep track of?” Moreover, this will most likely frustrate them, throw in some provokes and 0 energy will be put into attacking.

“Interesting so all we see is that you physically and magically shut them down but you're also mentally shutting them down, so if someone joins your party that can use illusions…” I created a small pink elephant with my illusions. I can use illusions.

“My god, I think I found someone I never want to ever fight. Why has nobody asked you this before?” I don't interact a lot with people in general.

“Hmm, I guess most people aren't interested in the deeper meaning or workings of it they just see something new and cool and are interested in it superficially.” That's an interesting way of looking at it.

“Very interesting and it seems you're not interested in fame, quite rare these days. I would have expected to see you in the Sichar tournament. Although… you did kind of make a name for yourself there. A blacksmith, eh? It must not have been easy to make that gorgeous sword of yours.” I am confident that I can never replicate Shirayuki.

“So that’s the name of your sword, a pretty name for a pretty sword. So ehh when are we going on an adventure?” Dunno, I’m thinking of what kind of mission I want. I need to practice with the sword and most requests for me as a Silver Torrent won't be useful here. I also still need to practice my [Boss music].

“Your what?” A very important part of my skill set.

“Ah, I see… how about guarding some idols?” Why would I do that?

“It has music and probably fighting, Tails of Symphony is massively popular now. They had some rough patches but they are probably the number 1 or 2 idol group on the continent now. And with fame comes the risk of being kidnapped or assassinated.” Maybe another time.

“Aww come on! They are really hot you know?” He poked me with his elbow and moved his eyebrows up and down. Then you go take up that quest. I think I need to fight a large group of something, preferably not in a cave or where sand is.

“How about culling the troll population and the Troll King on Zanyr Mountain nearby.” Why does this country name everything after itself? Zanyr river, Zanyr city, Zanyr mountain.

“The emperor is a narcissist.” The emperor is named Zanyr?

“Zanyr Zanyr the 22nd yes…” You are trolling, please tell me this is a joke.

“I wish it was a joke…” So there have been 22 Zanyr Zanyr’s in this country's history?

“Uhm well, the Zanyr family has never liked the number 1, so 1,10 and the following numbers with a 1 have been skipped, and 21 has been skipped too.” So, this is the 10th Zanyr…

Jack made a 'hush' gesture and looked around. “Not so loud! He hates that he’s the 10th because it has a 1 in it.” Why is this country ruled by a lunatic like that?! Some Silent Nights locked on to me. Shit, you must be kidding me.

“I don't want to sound like a dick but I like my neck! My eh... Jackrabbit escaped! Yes that! I need to find him before he terrorizes the city cya!” Jack ran away and I felt gazes on me. Is this how I die? For criticizing a lunatic? The Silent Nights left the building. I’m so screwed. Do I [Meteor] the city? And how is the future emperor Zanyr going to handle being the 11th, that might be the end of the country... I would be safe as long as I stay in the Adventurers Association. I tried to think of how to get out of this when the Adventurers Association got hit by a power shortage which is strange because this place runs on their own power grid so it means that the Adventurers Association was specifically targeted. It was getting close to the evening so it was quite dark. I noticed 2 Silent Night sneak in the dark and approach me. I went into stealth and went to my room. Minutes passed and nothing happened.