While Kuroki and Juno were still recovering from their new conditions, Akano and Tamaki were hard at work in their own city.
"We managed to make it to E-Rank, and we have completed some requests since, but it likely wont be as easy to make it to D-Rank".
"Agreed".
Every rank was harder then the last to earn, and also took longer. The first seemed obvious, but the second had a deeper meaning then one might think. One could easily make it to F-Rank provided they displayed sufficient combat abilities. Akano and Tamaki had done that already. In fact, they demonstrated combat ability on par with D rank adventurers, perhaps even freshly minted C-Ranks, when they joined.
However, Rank was not a hard measurement of strength. There were plenty of others, including plenty of other children in this world, that had done that. In fact, children younger then them, younger then Riku and Kaede, and occasionally even Ryuu, had all done this before. Fact was, reaching F-Rank upon joining was nowhere near unheard of, even for elementary school age children. One wouldn't say it was common, but it was something that didn't raise too much alarm when it did happen.
Even making it to E-Rank in just a few weeks wasn't unheard of even, especially for those that make F-Rank on their first day. However, once one got to E-Rank, that was where the real challenges started to begin.
To make D-Rank, you had to earn trust with the guild. And that also meant earning trust with clients. In other words, if they wanted to Rank up, they would have to occasionally meet with people who posted the requests in a meeting, in order to ascertain details about the quest, what was needed specifically, the parameters and timetables, and things of that nature. Of course, being E-Ranks, it wasn't like taking E-Rank or even D-Rank requests required overly polite formal talk. The most basic of basic manners and conversation skills would be required, but there was plenty of scum who were both idiots and extremely rude and unsociable, who still managed to get past this rank and reach higher ones. Even scum had managed it.
However, because Akano looked like he could be thirteen despite being fifteen, and Tamaki was in fact actually twelve, they would have a chance to be looked down upon due to their age. It was something they might have to endure and overcome if they didn't want to wait a few years to rank up.
Still, it wasn't like it was some insurmountable gap. Akano figured they could probably make D-Rank in a month or two. That said, he wasn't sure how long they should stay there. Someone was intercepting requests to find people or be found by people, which meant there was a good chance they had been marked and were now sitting ducks for whoever was behind it. It wasn't a situation where they could wait so freely anymore, at least not without trying to find out what was going on. That was part of why they wanted to rank up. if they went to the guild now, with no solid evidence or trust, and no way to explain how they knew in a way that seemed believable, they would not only be ignored, the ones behind it would surely come after them to silence them.
Akano could go to the local church also. As a Shrine Maiden, even if he was a very recent addition, his status did have some pull. Unfortunately, his divine patron was unable to tell him anything. That was in the literal sense, he was quite literally forbidden by something called The Pact of the World to provide information so freely. And Granny was still off investigating matters it seemed, so they were on their own.
As they turned a corner however, they ran into a sort of familiar person. A young child wearing a black cloak and hood, that always seemed to keep their face concealed in shadow. Wearing shorts, boots, gloves, and various other clothes, given the conversations from the receptionists he seemed to be a boy. He made it to E-Rank almost two weeks before Akano and Tamaki, and seemed to pop up sometimes wherever they were. Akano thought he often was starring at them, even if it was essentially impossible to see his face. He also thought the boy could be a Starfallen, and in fact very likely was. It felt like he recognized them somehow.
"Sorry" Akano said as he stood up, offering a hand to help the boy. The boy took it, pulling himself off of the ground, and then dusting himself off. He then gave a polite, apologetic bow. Akano swore it felt like he was apologizing profusely, despite the fact he never actually said anything. "My name is Akano, what is yours?"
Immediately afterwards, he produced his guild ID and showed it to them with another bow. It reminded Akano of his mother when she would give a professional greeting. He looked at the ID, and saw it said Ciel. It also said his age was 11, but something about Akano's instinct made him question it. As for his Rank, he was actually already a D-Rank now, which meant that somehow he had advanced to D-Rank since he first saw the boy. Akano had heard of people making it to D-Rank in just a week or two, but he had never seen one reach it that fast. However, there was something else that caught his eye. He already had two titles, "Rescue Specialist" and "Medical Specialist". That wasn't something so easy to acquire, which made Akano start to think he might have been wrong about him being a Starfallen for a moment. One title maybe if he was exceptionally skilled in their previous world, but two?
Actually wait, there is a profession that would be both. We had a lot of mountains around our small humble city. Rescue teams would have medics with them...so maybe he was a rescue medic? Or whatever their official job title was? I can't really remember what they were called, but they would come in on helicopters and such.
Still, the Guild didn't just hand those specialist titles out. One had to take exams and several quests related to them and prove their knowledge. Had he done all that and acquired D-Rank? That seemed rather difficult, even for a Starfallen, but he couldn't be sure.
"You aren't hurt are you? Can you count up to five? Need any help?"
The boy shook his head, and then counted up to five using his fingers in front of them.
He really wont respond verbally at all. Still, I am super curious...
Akano had yet to see the boy's face or hear his voice, but it seemed like it wasn't going to happen. The boy had so far refused to answer verbally at all, but it was only making Akano more and more curious. Between this and everything else that has happened, this sort of thing was a needed break for Akano.
Ciel seemed to sense this, and nearly tried to escape. Akano quickly grabbed his shoulder though.
"Hold on, we got you all dirty now, so lets all take a bath and get washed up. It's the least we can do".
Ciel shook his head far more vigorously. Was he embarrassed or something? That might make it even more likely he was a Starfallen, although it could just mean he had a bad case of social anxiety.
Tamaki seemed to cut him off, his playfulness and curiosity having overtaken him as well.
"Come on, lets have fun and get cleaned up together!"
Ciel quickly got out of Akano's grip and ran up the side of a building suddenly, grabbing onto the ledge of a roof and pulling himself up. That said, misfortune happened to decide to come his way, because Tamaki's Atari was already there. He was not even sure when he got up there, but he pushed off the roof and landed on the other side of Akano and Tamaki, escaping the encirclement.
"Awww..."
"That was kind of cool...and cute..."
Tamaki's off handed comment caused Ciel to wave his fists in annoyance and beat Tamaki with them, although there was no real force behind them so it didn't really hurt.
"Sorry sorry!"
"Well, we should probably get back to the guild. We need to turn in these completed quests" Akano said, deciding that was probably enough indulgence. Both Tamaki and Ciel nodded, and so they decided to all head towards the guild before the sun set.
Maybe we will get lucky, and the wind will at least blow his hood off.
Well, Akano had not totally given up, but that was besides the point right now.
When the group finally made it to the guild, it sounded unusually rowdy in there. They came in, only for the stench of some particularly strong alcohol to assault their senses. Tamaki grimaced especially, being a Dog Beastkin, and Ciel was rubbing his hood with Toria leaves so that the sweet smell could block it out. Akano quickly took out some Naria leaves and had Tamaki and Atari wipe it all over their noses to help them endure.
The trio went over to the counter with the receptionists. Their usual receptionist wasn't there, and instead if was a gruff, older man with plenty of muscles and who was probably over two meters tall. Akano wondered what the story was with someone like this becoming an adventurer, but knew better then to ask.
"We have some requests to turn in. Also, what is with the stench. Its never this bad or noisy in here".
"Ah. A famous B-Rank adventurer party returned today from a particularly long quest, so some people are celebrating their return. Anyways, I will take those, and update your records. Here is your reward".
The three of them each got paid for their own requests. Akano and Tamaki's reward was the same, but Ciel had his own separate one since he took his own requests as a solo adventurer.
"Still, its getting quite rowdy there. We do need to do actual business here, so maybe I should go break it up..."
The old man receptionist said such a thing, looking at the group in the corner. There had to be twenty or thirty adventurers there, and there was a lot of booze. Sure it might be afternoon by now, but Akano wondered if it was really okay to make such a ruckus so early. Even Ciel and Tamaki seemed focused on it, so much that they had missed something that they really should not have missed.
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Right as the old man went to go settle things over there, Akano heard a rather familiar voice from behind them. It was one he hoped never to hear again, one that he knew all too well. Someone he had been purposefully avoiding all this time.
Torita Ogami. a member of Kuroki's father's Elite Class. And a general asshole bully who did not hold back at all when it came to tormenting Kuroki.
The two groups saw each other, although calling Ogami who was alone a group seemed a bit wrong. At first however, he eyed the smallest of them Ciel, who had shown him up a few weeks ago at the guild.
"You again! You will pay for embarrassing me twerp!"
Ciel didn't seem to react at all, although Akano thought he heard a cute sigh come out from under that hood. Perhaps he just imagined it? But it definently felt like Ciel sighed just now. Either way, he shook his head, clearly denying the allegation.
"No, its definitely you! No one else hides their face and voice like you do!"
Ciel took a step back, one hand covering where his mouth should be, and suiting body language as if he was genuinely greatly shocked by such a revelation.
Wait, is he exaggerating, or did this actually shock him?!
Akano honestly couldn't be sure. He couldn't see Ciel's facial expressions after all.
However, Ogami wasn't having it, apparently feeling like Ciel was making a fool of him. Which, to be honest, Akano thought Ciel kind of was. No way could he actually be shocked that no one else hides their face or voice like that.
Ogami raised his fists and went to punch Ciel, but Ciel dodged it by the narrowest of margins. Not accidentally, but on purpose. He left just a centimeter or two between them as he stepped around his fist, and kicked the guy in the leg right behind and under the knee. It looked like it hurt a lot too.
Ogami persisted however, as he somehow kept his footing and swung his leg around. Ciel ducked in a limbo style, dodging the attack while making sure to then grab the leg and push it aside with all his force, sending Ogami off balance and stumbling backwards. Still, he never actually fell down.
Ciel then blocked a fist that almost seemed like it came out of nowhere. Ogami had made up the distance in a moment.
Was that...Brilliant Flash?
Ciel seemed rather surprised by the attack, but dug his heels in and pushed the fist upward. This caused a chain reaction which threw Ogami incredibly off balance, causing him to tumble backwards and to the right.
Huh?!
Ciel had used a counter for Brilliant Flash on reflex, despite being surprised. But that would indicate...
Has he experienced Brilliant Flash before? Or something similar? That looked almost too refined to just be lucky chance. That is the exact same way Kuroki's dad deflected his own student's Brilliant Flash.
That said, he had seen enough of this world to know that plenty of people, particularly those with combat related jobs, could possess physical abilities well exceeding the norm of his old world. Certainly, with this world, it was not impossible to deflect such an attack.
The way Ciel did it though felt very refined. Although he hid his face and voice, he wore a sleeveless shirt and shorts, so his bare legs and arms were quite clearly visible. His legs and arms did not look tanned at all, although they weren't so white that they looked pale either. Perhaps a little pale, but that was it. However, from that, he could see his limbs were quite thin and scrawny. Akano wondered where the physical strength and stamina Ciel seemed to possess came from, since he seemed totally fine tossing this boy around and deflecting his attacks, despite the fact Ogami should have more weight and muscle to them. Ciel was also surprisingly agile and springy, able to move things around.
Akano had thought he might be a mage or something, but it seemed that he was more of a rogue. The way he could slip into an opponent's blindspot and nimbly dodge attacks, as well as even manipulating the opponent's attacks to suit his needs.
Ogami was getting really heated and pissed off now. It felt rather one sided all things considered, as Ciel danced around him. As he went in for another attack, Ciel slipped behind on the attacking side, temporarily going back to back with Ogami, before turning around and pushing him forward, causing him to go head first into a support. That was when Akano realized something else Ciel was doing.
Oh, he is very clever.
As Ogami got back up, that was when he finally noticed Akano there. It was obvious he recognized him as well by the way he was scowling.
"You!"
He got up and raised his fists, preparing to punching Akano. At that moment, Atari grew three times in size and got between them and knocked him away with his tail. He landed on his feet, and pulled out his sword. Only this time, someone grabbed his arm from behind.
"Alright, I think that is enough there" the receptionist from before said as he stopped the attack. "This is clearly going way too far. And Ciel, don't think I don't realize you were trying to indirectly beat him black and blue and make a mockery of him at the same time".
Indeed, during their fight, while Ogami undoubtedly got hurt in various spots, Ciel had never made a single offensive attack. He deflected, he dodged, and he avoided. Every injury Ogami sustained was from his own momentum, and not from a single thing Ciel did. Even in their previous world, Ogami would likely be unable to press any charges against Ciel, because all of his injuries were directly from his own actions and Ciel never retaliated once, at least with physical force.
He did however make a number of moves that made Ogami look like a fool, but when the other party was already attacking you, that hardly counted as anything.
Still, Akano was not thrilled that Ogami now knew he was here in the same city as him. It make Akano think that perhaps it would be better to move cities then take any more risks. He and Tamaki could try and make the journey north, to the merchant city of Ruthil, or the port city of Alasian that was near it. Either one would have transit to the various other cities in the region, from Azralia to Zanastu.
Akano was certain he was in a main city, and if they kept traveling around to them, they might find him eventually. But cities were large places, and there was no guarantee they would run into Kuroki at the guild even if they waited all day. Because of that, it had a pin put in it for now, especially while they figured out what to do about the intercepted messages and how to handle them.
But the situation was changing radically. There were a lot of different things to consider. The situation was extremely fluid, and frankly speaking they were not sure what to do. All they could do is adapt the best they could.
Either way, Ogami stormed off before anything was done, and the old man looked and sighed.
"Sheesh. That guy really needs to know when to cool it. He seems to be so aggressive and angry all the time. Ah, that's right, its nice to meet you both. I am the Vice Guildmaster of the Guild, Armiaas Rell. I hear you three have been ranking up quite quickly, glad to finally meet you three".
"Wait, the vice guildmaster?"
"Yep. Our guildmaster is just some old crone but she is always busy lately, so I get stuck with a variety of jobs. Usually our new sub-guildmaster would take up a spot in reception as needed, but right now he is at a birthday party for his mom, so I am here instead".
Woah, this guy is the submaster?!
But Akano decided to probe this a bit.
"Hey, what about our request for finding out where our friends have gone. We haven't heard back yet, but they should very much still be in the region. Know what is going on with that?"
"Oh, the requests? Now that I think about it, we haven't gotten any replies back. They kind of take a backburner usually unless someone asks about them, but now that I think about it, its weird we got none at all...maybe we should check and see if some paperwork snafu happened at the Aviary".
"The Aviary?"
"Yeah. The guild has someone stationed there to handle guild business, who then makes copies and has them sent to all the guild offices. Its possible they recently let some things slip through the cracks, but its certainly not normal. We had best go while there is still daylight to burn".
This was an unexpected but very much welcomed development for Akano, so he nodded along, and he, Tamaki, Atari, Bastian, and Ciel all decided to go to the Aviary.
Perhaps they would be seeing developments sooner then they anticipated.
----------------------------------------
At the same time, within the Ivory Tower, The Oracle sat on his bed, letting out a sigh.
"I have gotten so busy now. Dealing with the memory erasures and restorals is getting to be a pain" The Oracle stated, as he looked over at the latest prophecies he had officially transcribed. It did not possess all of them, but it would possess all that he was willing to share. Even if they used magic to probe his mind, he would always make sure to remove those memories ahead of time and keep them saved.
Still, it wasn't like he had anything else to do. He was locked up in this tower, his only way to be released is if someone removed the cursed collar around his neck, or if someone removed his head from his body. Frankly, he would not mind either option at this point.
"I had to get involved there though. The future shifted so suddenly...and even I can't avert my eyes to the coming tragedy".
The Oracle was not a heartless person, although perhaps everything he had gone through had made him a bit callous at times. There were plenty of people he could try to save, but that could endanger the futures he was trying to bring back. The Starfallen however were a special case. It was not just Kuroki's group, others he was keeping an eye on as well.
"The Eastern Calamity still eludes me, but the Western one...the ripple effects have already begun. He is well on the far side of the Empire, in the nation on the opposite side, but he will start making waves. Perhaps one could say he already is. And then there are the three scions of despair....but I can ignore them for the time being".
The Oracle plopped himself onto the floor, as someone came bursting in.
"Oh, the Black Dog is here to beg? Or have you finally come to remove my head?"
"Shut it you! Tell us why you didn't say anything!" he snarled as he tossed a newspaper down to the ground. It had a clear title on it, and it had three of the council members for the Dark Side of the Church dead from an attack upon a city just north of here, apparently an independent scout force by the Demon King's army.
This came as a surprise, as he had legitimacy no idea what was going on.
"I have never forseen anything to do with them...what?"
He picked up the paper, and read it with various interests.
"They didn't destroy the city, but they caused a lot of harm. Oh my, well at least it looks like no one that mattered died".
"Yes, it was only our people that died! Dont say you didn't hide it! You have been hiding things and trying to have us killed since the start, you bastard!"
"If you feel as if you cannot rely on my oracles anymore, either solution can be found around my neck".
He prodded the Black Dog even now, partially because this was The Oracle's only real joy lately. The two hated each other with the passion of a thousand stars. Should The Oracle ever get free, he was the first he planned to hire assassins to kill.
"Still, it sounds like you made an enemy. A rather clever enemy. Surely you understand right, the difficulties of having such a large group attack such a small group and kill them out of everyone in the city?'
The Black Dog grit his teeth as the Oracle laid out the facts. He made it clear someone had targeted them, but he truly did not know which. Even the Black Dog was starting to realize the truth.
"You actually didn't know".
"Indeed. Says a lot about who is behind it though. Looks like you don't have time to mess with me mutt, so how about you go back to your master and beg him for a chew toy?"
The Black Dog clenched his fists, but simply let them go.
"You bastard. You would think after twenty years, you would become more compliant".
"You would think after twenty years, your people would eventually grow a heart".
As the two pairs of eyes faced off, something else strange that occurred. A map fell down from the desk, as did an ink bottle. The map had somewhat degraded, but the ink landed perfectly...upon four locations. The royal capital, the fortress city, Ranazia, which was the one just attacked, the Trade City of Irasil, and the Frontier City in the South, Azralia.
"Calamity approaches" The Oracle stated, entering a trance. "The great ones arrive, the Hidden makes their move, and the dark shadow sweeping across the lands. The darkness is coming, the danger is real. And soon, the pinnacle will fall. And so will the lighthouse".
And then, with that, the trance ended.
"Well shut. That is a new one?"
"Transcribe it now, whelp".
"Fine fine".
What the hell is going on?! What new threats are these, and how were they shrouded from me for so long? Something has gone very wrong...I need to find a way to look into this.
It appears that the Oracle was getting increasing concerned about all that was going on.