“...you guys took down a golem?”
Fate, John and Prota had been called to Albert’s office after having reported the subjugation of the stone golem. The head of the adventurer’s guild stared at them with a tired look.
“Do you know how dangerous- no, I guess it doesn’t matter. I’m going to have you all take a re-evaluation test with Elfin.” Albert held his head in his hands as if he had a headache. He probably did have a headache.
“When’s the test?” Fate asked.
“Two days. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on changing your ranks or anything like that. Consider it a personal curiosity.”
Fate nodded.
“Alright, we’ll be off, then. See ya later,” John said, picking Prota up. He carried her out the door, holding her like a doll.
“...those two really are odd, no matter how many times I look at them,” Albert sighed. Fate had stayed behind, just as he’d hoped.
“I gave you special permission to take whatever quest you want. I’ve got to say, I’m surprised you went on that one.”
“The boy chose it, sir.”
“The coreless one?” Albert said, surprised.
“Yes.”
“Do you know why?”
“...he was looking for something ‘fun.’”
Albert shook his head. “Crazy bastard.”
“Now. Fate. What do you really think of them? I’m going to have to come to a decision soon. The re-evaluation isn’t really meant for you. I’ve received numerous letters from your king. I want to know about them. Especially that girl.”
Fate thought for a bit. Was he supposed to tell the truth? John wasn’t normal. He was incredibly weak. He’d never win in an honest, one on one battle. But he was clever. Deviously so. And more than that, his weapon. His clothing. That had to be from there, right?
Earth.
Could they be trusted?
“From what I’ve experienced with them… yes, they can be trusted.”
“Are you sure?”
“Not entirely. But I would risk my life going into a dungeon with those two. That, at the very least, I can do.”
His golden eyes flashed. He wanted to trust them. He wanted to ask John about his weapon, about Earth, and he really hoped that John wasn’t an enemy. It just didn’t make sense, though. Why hadn’t the goddess told him about John? Clearly, John was older than he was. That would mean that he would’ve arrived before Fate, right?
So many questions, so little time… and it would all have to wait.
~~~
John had taken apart his revolver, inspecting it piece by piece, then put it back together and sighed.
“This isn’t gonna cut it.”
After seeing the stone golem, it was safe to assume that adventurers would also have similar levels of durability. This revolver wasn’t going to work on anything. It would work on small fries, but if Fate was really the [Protagonist], then they’d soon be working with stronger opponents.
Reaching into thin air, he pulled out a rifle and a shotgun.
“Ooh.” Prota approached the new weapons with shining eyes.
“Hey, don’t touch,” John said in a panicked voice. He didn’t want the shotgun going off and blowing a hole in the wall. Now that he thought about it, did this thing have a safety switch?
“Ok. Sorry,” Prota nodded, backing off. She looked at John with confusion. Where had he gotten these weapons from?
“Um… weapons… where?” she asked, pointing
“Where did I- oh, that’s right. I never explained the pocket dimension.”
John waved his hand, and a shimmer appeared in the air. He motioned for Prota to come over, and when she looked directly from his perspective, she could see a room full of… stuff. A giant pile of things. Food, weapons, furniture, things she’d never seen before, all sitting in a massive pile. She didn’t understand why it was so messy, but she was starting to understand where everything was coming from. She watched as he threw the rifle and the shotgun back in.
“Pocket dimension. It’s pretty standard. I’ll tell you more about it someday.”
Prota nodded. Was John getting stronger? Even though he couldn’t fight, he was still doing things to adapt.
But what about her?
But how was she supposed to catch up? The only training methods she knew were real combat and self training, and she’d hit a wall when it came to self training. No matter what she did, she couldn’t form any new spells or increase the capacity of her core.
She remembered her fight against the golem. Fate. When she’d seen him, she couldn’t help but stare in awe. His sword, drawing perfect lines through the stone, his movement, so much like a dance… but most of all, his confidence. Fate was “strong.” Prota was still “weak.” But what was she going to do about it?
Was she going to stop here? Was this her limit?
“Mm…”
But how? What was “strength?” How good was good enough? She felt like she’d never reach the level she wanted to. Every time, she was relying on someone else. During the fight with the goblins, she hadn’t been able to finish the job on her own. The bandits, too, was a fight she needed help with.
When they’d fought the golem, she’d been delegated to support, and when she’d had a chance to do something impactful, she fumbled the ball and John had to step in instead.
She couldn’t protect herself. How was she supposed to protect others?
She clenched her fists tightly, so hard that her hands started to shake. She hadn’t felt this hopeless in a long time. She’d gained a goal only to discover that it was practically unreachable. Was this it?
What was the point then? She’d been given a string, a bait, and she’d taken it like a fool. She’d reached out for something, but it hadn’t been a rope to pull her out of her pit.
It was a bait, and she bit the hook.
Prota didn’t want to show her frustration. If she was going to be useless, then at least she shouldn’t worry John about it. She got up and left to go to the washroom until she calmed down.
On her way out, something else came in. John stiffened. The presence was well hidden, but it wasn’t well hidden enough.
“You stink of blood. Consider investing in a better shower.”
There was no reply.
“You were there in the old man’s office, right? It’s the same feeling. It’s kinda rude to stalk someone like this, isn’t it?”
A man came out from the shadows, dressed in an impeccably clean suit. His hair was neatly combed and washed. Had John really smelled blood?
“Your senses are… abnormal. Are you really manaless?”
“My senses aren’t abnormal. You just stink.”
“Only those who are accustomed to the smell of blood would be able to detect this little,” Bren said, coming out of the shadows. “My apologies. I am Bren Brer, second in command at the guild. I apologize for the smell, as you put it. I had to take care of some… business.”
“Uh… sure. Why are you here?”
“Please follow me. I will be escorting you to the re-evaluation test.”
~~~
“Hello again.”
Once again, Elfin stood at the center of a field, but this field was underground, in a private facility. There were no spectators this time either; just Fate, Prota, and John.
“The results of this test will be completely private. Only the boss, Bren, and myself will be able to see the results. So please, be free to go all out.”
John didn’t quite understand why Elfin was telling him to go all out when he didn’t trust anyone else on the list anyway, but it seemed that the statement wasn’t really directed at him in the first place.
Eflin was eyeing Prota and Fate. It made sense. John might’ve been suspicious, but it was impossible to fake not having a core from what he knew, so regardless of how talented he was, it was impossible for him to grow beyond a certain point.
Prota and Fate, on the other hand…
[Prota. Do whatever you want.]
Prota’s eyes widened as she saw the message. Hadn’t he told her to hold back?
[It’s fine]
The message came as if he’d read her mind. Well, it probably wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking.
“Who wants to go first?”
Prota immediately stepped forwards. Fate nodded and took his position at the other end of the field.
“Don’t hesitate to use your full force. If I am injured, that is my own fault.”
Prota nodded and immediately closed her eyes, summoning two spells. She’d land at least one hit. Just one hit. If she couldn’t do that, then she might as well just give up here.
A small gust of wind formed in one hand while a flame appeared in the other. At the same time, unnoticed by anyone else, a third spell was being summoned, a pillar of fire underneath Elfin’s feet. All at once, the pillar erupted, forcing Elfin to dodge. He’d been caught off guard, but then was forced to immediately raised a barrier as Prota’s fire and wind bomb was thrown, creating a massive explosion.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Although she was spent, Prota knew how to recover. Quickly casting mana recovery, she reached her tendrils out toward Elfin. A thin stream of mana started to flow to her, but then suddenly, it was cut off.
“...!” Prota’s heart practically stopped in fear. This was the first time this had ever happened. Focusing harder, she sent out more tendrils, and the mana flowed to her as usual.
Unfortunately, this whole ordeal had taken her focus off the battle, and Elfin had time to recover and was now rushing in with an attack. Prota’s body went rigid but quickly recovered, dodging out of the way just in time to avoid a severe injury. With a steady flow of mana now coming back into her core, she summoned a volley of icicles. They rained down on Elfin, but the elf just deflected the projectiles with his sword and charged forward.
Once again, Prota was cursing her lack of power. She’d been able to perform well against many weak opponents, but now faced with one strong opponent, she was helpless. As Elfin got close, she fell back, trembling.
“...the evaluation is concluded.”
Prota got up shakily and shook her head.
“...more.”
“You’ll get-”
“More.”
John frowned. He couldn’t hear what was going on, but he could tell she wasn’t coming back. What was going on? Why was she still fighting?
“Really, I can’t-”
“More.” It didn’t look like she was going to budge on this one.
“Haah… well, I can’t say you’re lacking in spirit.”
Elfin pulled out his sword once more. “Ready?”
Prota closed her eyes and prepared one more spell. This would have to be it. She wasn’t going to win in a war of stamina. It was all or nothing.
“You think an opponent will let you stand still and cast?” Elfin exclaimed, charging forwards, but Prota didn’t move.
In the next five seconds, an extraordinary sequence of events occurred. First, the ground became covered in ice, causing Elfin’s footwork to slip just a little. Next, and pit of icicles erupted from the ground, forcing the elf to jump back. As he did so, a pillar of fire rose up, limiting his movements. A fireball followed up, striking the ground near his feet, causing a cloud of dust to kick up.
They were all simple spells. None of them were high in firepower or complexity. It was simply the creativeness of Prota’s spells that was giving her an edge. A creativity that could only be obtained through dozens of battles.
“Good! Very good! But it’s not enough!”
Elfin amplified himself just a bit more and charged through the dust, but Prota was already gone.
“Kh-!” Elfin gasped, as a single icicle flew at him. He jumped and twisted, barely dodging in time. He turned around to see the dust settle.
“...you really gave it your all, huh?”
Prota was lying unconscious on the ground, having overexerted herself. Elfin’s lips subconsciously rose just a bit, but then his expression stiffened as he felt something trickling down his cheek.
“...blood?” He reached up and wiped the wetness away, and sure enough there was a streak of red on his fingers.
“Ha… incredible.” He couldn’t stop a grin from emerging on his face. “To think she’d be able to do something like that.”
He turned to Fate and John.
“So. Who’s next?”
John’s eyes opened in surprise. Elfin wasn’t tired? Even after all that?
“Hey. What rank adventurer would you be?” John called out.
“S rank.” There was no hesitation in the answer.
“Damn,” John muttered. Clearly, there was a large gap between B and S rank adventurers.
“I’ll go next,” Fate announced. Like before, he put down his sword and walked onto the field. This time, however, his body almost glowed as mana reinforcement wrapped around him. Taking a deep breath, he summoned three balls of fire to wrap around him, then coated his hands and feet with flames as well.
“Let’s begin.”
John watched the fight with interest. Fate clearly wasn’t going all out, but it was a good opportunity to see his individual combat potential.
Fate fought with caution but proficiency, something a child definitely shouldn’t have had. He seemed to have an instinct for danger, dodging attacks that were in his blind spot and countering with ease. There were multiple instances when he pushed Elfin’s blade aside with his bare hands, then delivered a powerful blow that was accelerated with a small explosion from behind.
Most interestingly, however, was the combat style without magic. Fate’s movements were similar to that of a trained professional. A trained professional from Earth, that is.
“...soldier? Mercenary, maybe?” John thought to himself as he watched the fight. Some time later, Prota woke up with a gasp.
“More-” she started, but then realised that her head was in John’s lap.
“...”
Did she fail again? She looked up to see Fate fighting Elfin. There was a scratch on the elf’s cheek. Fate had already injured Elfin? When she couldn’t even touch him? She didn’t know the truth. Had she asked, she would’ve known, but since no one was thinking to tell her of their own free will, she would continue to remain under that misconception.
Soon enough, Fate’s fight was finished, and the boy left the field panting heavily.
“Well, there’s only one contestant left,” Elfin said, panting. John gently lifted Prota off of him and got up, dusting his pants off.
“You sure you don’t need a rest or something?”
“I’ll recover in a bit,” Elfin assured John.
That was worrying.
How strong was the elf? If John had to, would he be able to defeat him? It wasn’t that there was anything suspicious about him, but it was something he had to consider when he met anybody.
Could he win?
If the answer was yes, take the fight. If not, then run. It was time to test the waters.
“A weapon this time?” Elfin said, raising an eye as John reached for a pair of daggers.
“I’m gonna need something to parry your blade with,” John shrugged. “Can’t really do that with my hands now, can I?”
Elfin nodded. “A reasonable assessment to make. I’m not sure why you didn’t use these last time. Begin.”
John didn’t charge in. Instead, he started walking slowly around his opponent, watching, waiting for an opening. It didn’t hurt to go all out. All he needed to do was-
“What the-” he gasped as he barely deflected the elf’s thin sword. “Holy shit!”
In no time at all, Elfin had closed the distance between himself and John and delivered a blow.
“...I surrender,” John said, dropping his knives.
Prota and Fate stared at him in amazement. He surrendered?
“...I see,” Eflin said. “Then, you may all leave.”
He watched them with wary eyes as they left the room.
~~~
“They’re powerful. For kids, at least, but their growth rate will be tremendous,” Eflin reported. “That Prota girl used three elements, and was able to cast three individual spells. They were all simple, but…”
Albert nodded. It was still ridiculous.
“Fate, too. He wrapped himself in flames and charged straight in. I had to really work to beat him,” Elfin admitted.
“Well, you were trying to keep him alive, right? That counts for something.”
“...”
“What’s the matter?”
“He didn’t go all out either.”
“Sorry, what was that?”
Albert looked confused.
“He didn’t go all out, either. Both times he’s fought against me, he puts his sword away. He’s not going all out.”
“Maybe his swordsmanship is from the royal Lunarian family. Besides, if he’s a caster, then what would he do with a weapon like that?”
“That doesn’t change the fact that he still did incredibly well.”
The table was silent. The implications were pretty staggering.
A child was that strong?
“Cough… well, how about the last one?”
“John?” Elfin hesitated. There were only three noticeable things about him.
“Well, he asked if I wanted to rest. Despite not having a core, he didn’t take advantage of the situation. Aside from that, he managed to block one of my thrusts with a knife. That was incredibly impressive considering his circumstances.”
“Mm.” Albert nodded. For a coreless person to block such a powerful attack… he was trained, at the very least. It would keep him alive.
“But also… he didn’t look scared.”
“...?” Bren leaned in. He was interested now.
“Normally, when someone is attacked with a lethal blow, they flinch, right? But he just looked at me as calm as always. No reaction. It was as if nothing had happened at all. The girl, too. It’s weak, but she gives off a similar feeling, likely because of their relation, but it’s especially strong with the boy named John.”
“Maybe he’s insane?”
“No,” Bren said, speaking up for the first time. “From what you’ve told me, he didn’t react to your killing intent. He faced you. And… he noticed me. As soon as I came into his room.”
“What?!”
Bren nodded slowly. “He said he smelled the blood on me. I just came back from dealing with a troublemaker, so I didn’t have time to change. I snuck into their room, just to do a check on them before inviting them to the re-evaluation, but he noticed me and called me out.”
The shock had been so much for him that he’d forgotten about the rifle and the shotgun.
“...but he’s still coreless, right?”
“We should do a better check on him,” Albert said. “Use a better orb. Bren. Keep your distance, but follow them for a bit longer,” Albert commanded. “Elfin, you keep an eye on Fate. Not out of distrust, but just make sure nothing happens to him.”
Elfin nodded and left the room.
“But you don’t trust the siblings, right?” Bren said quietly as he, too, vanished. Albert didn’t answer.
~~~
“Sir. Our spy reported.”
“Again?”
Doctor was not present for this exchange. Rather, it was the large man from before and a subordinate.
“Y-yes. There is new information.”
The large man took the piece of paper and waved his hand, dismissing the subordinate without a thought.
[Breaker. This is for you. I don’t want to tell Doctor directly because he might throw a fit.
First, the man they sent is a lot more capable than we thought. We don’t yet know his full capabilities, but he’s strong.
Second, the girl is very likely a [Soul Siphon] user, but don’t report this yet. There is no demonic energy coming from her. Please wait for further confirmation.
Third. There is a young man. He is coreless, for now. But he is very, very careful. His detection skills and mental strength are no joke. It may be wise to eliminate him before he can detect us.
I repeat. Do not report this to Doctor. None of the information in this letter is confirmed. It is merely speculation.]
As soon as Breaker finished reading, the words vanished, leaving only an empty page. Fortunately, despite his looks, Breaker had a very good mind in his head.
“...assassination, huh?”
He pressed a button and spoke into it.
“Get task force 3 ready.”