I was preparing to go out but I saw the quest I took yesterday at the guild and made my decision. I was about to leave the Inn when a girl spoke to me, "H-have a nice day, sir!"

I looked at her and asked, "You're?"

"Ohh, I-I'm very sorry for not introducing myself yesterday. I am Divine, it's my pleasure to serve you."

"I see, have a good day too."

I left the Inn and went straight to the Guild.

"I am very sorry for my attitude yesterday. I was quite hasty. And also, I'm giving back the quest since I cant take this with my current rank."

"N-no, it's okay." Allyza laughed nervously. "S-so, are you going to take on a lower rank quests?"

"No, I haven't changed my mind. I'll take on a higher rank quest."

"What?!"

Everyone in the guild was surprised by my words and was all glaring at me.

"Well, I won't forcefully take a high rank quest. I'll take a rank promotion test."

"I see." Allyza has felt relief after hearing my request. "Well then, Mr. Crimson, I'll give you a rank promotion permit. Can you wait until your permit is done?"

"Sure."

As I was waiting at the permit, an adventurer approached me. "You're Crimson, right?"

"Yes."

"I am called the 'Brute Fist'. My fist can destroy almost anything, even your armor."

"I see."

Brute Fist was annoyed by my reply, "Hey! Are you shy or something?"

"No."

The veins in his forehead bulged as he grabbed my shoulder. He pressed down my shoulder, it was pretty heavy, but..

I grabbed his hand and lift it up, "Can you please not touch my armor. You might break it."

"What?" He looked at me with amusement, "I see, that's why you're acting full, because your armor is hard."

"Thank you."

He snapped and punched me, I dodged his fist and I kicked his gut. He stepped back for a few meters and looked at me.

"You're pretty strong. I am an A-Rank adventurer, and to think that you would be able to make me step back. I commend your strength."

"Thank you."

"Fine. I'll destroy you right here, right now!"

He used 'body strengthening' and rushed towards me. As he was about to hit me, Allyza came out, "Sir Crimson, your permit is ready." And was shocked by what she has witnessed.

~~~~~

"W-what happened here?" Allyza asked Shin.

Brute Fust is kneeling down in front of Shin while shin is holding Brute Fist's arm. "He was trying to attack me so U defended myself. Everyone can vouch me for that.

"N-no, it's okay. I trust you, he is always causing trouble in the guild."

"Why don't you revoke his adventurer's card?"

"It's the Guild Master's decision that should be followed."

"Hmmmm, so you have a lazy guild master huh?"

There was a huge person that was standing on Shin's back. However, he did not notice him.

"T-the guild master is not lazy."

"Well, if he isn't then why does people like him causes havoc here? If I were a receptionist in this guild I would have filed a report on the guild master."

Everyone was getting nervous because of Shin's words.

"Well, I am very sorry for not doing my work."

Shin's eyes widened as he heard the voice behind him.

Shin thought, "When did he get behind me, I never notice his presence but now... He's overwhelming with presence. How strong is this guy?"

"I..."

The man tapped Shin's shoulder and his body suddenly felt heavy and bowed down to the man.

Shin thought, "W-what is this? This isn't raw strength. Is this magic?"

Shin raised and stood straight.

The man looked at Shin with amusement, "You can stand? Amazing!"

"Gravity magic. What a fearsome power." Shin replied with a clam voice.

"..."

"Your magic is indeed strong but my armor can nullify magic half of its power."

"I see, so that explains it." The man stared Shin for a moment then opened his mouth, "I am Grinder Sonavavitch, the guild master. Also, I would like to apologize for being lazy. So, you said earlier that you want a rank promotion exam?"

"Yes."

"I see. Since I'm feeling generous today, I will take charge to your exam. I will be the one examining you."

Allyza was surprised and opened her mouth, "Guild Master, you can't do that!"

"And why is that?" Grinder smiled.

"It's fine by me. This is an honor... Sir!" Shin spoke with a provoking voice.

~~~~~

I am waiting for the Guild Master to test me but he's late. As I was warming up swinging my sword, my bones suddenly felt chills. I looked at the entrance of the exam hall and the Guild Master showed up equipped in an armor and a gauntlet.

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"I see. So you don't plan on holding back."

"Well, you said your armor can nullify half of the magic that was used against you. The gauntlet can double my magic."

My eyes widened. "That's cheating."

"Cheating? In war, the word 'cheat' doesn't exist. You must know this adventurer. A battlefield is not a game!"

This guy, he's stronger than Giryu.

As we get ready for the fight, I unsheathed the sword on my waist. It was a black katana, it can be amplified with dark magic.

This is actually the first time I hold this sword, this sword.. It's draining my mana. The reason why the defense of this armor was because my magical attributes has been completely sealed, meaning I have no mana. However, my physical attributes on the other side is not affected.

The referee has signalled the start of the exam. I stood still to observe what Grinder will do. However, he is also observing me. I squinted my eyes and rushed towards him. Grinder punched the ground and the whole arena was shaking. Before the impact could reach me, I jumped.

This is very familiar, Giryu did the same thing. I raised my sword and slashed in the midair. A slash rushed to Grinder but he punched it.

He smiled and opened his mouth, "You can't move in the air can't you?"

Grinder controlled the land and a tower of earth has rushed towards me, I sliced it and stepped on the debris to go down. As I was about to step on the ground, Grinder was already in front of me, "Too slow." He dealt a blow on me and I was blown away.

I stood up and looked at Grinder, he was just standing in the middle of the arena waiting for me.

I can't use magic so body strengthening is out of the question, how am I going to defeat him? No, it's impossible, without magic, I can't... No, I don't have to defeat him, I just have to show him that I am qualified to be an A-rank Adventurer.

I walked towards him like a badass while holding my sword. I can't summon the great demon swords since they require magic, and I cant use them without magic.

The old man is a swordsman so I need to train my swordsmanship before I train under him.

Grinder smirked, "Hmmm, you're letting out a monstrous energy. You really are something, Adventurer."

I spoke while walking towards him, "I don't need to beat you to pass this test, right?"

"I don't know." He smiled at me while he said that.

"I see. Well then." I made a stance and used a skill, 'Lion's Strike'. I looked back at him and surprisingly, he was unhurt.

"You blocked..."

He grabbed me by the neck and slammed me in the ground. "How can you use that?

"Kckk!"

"Answer me!"

"Of course, Roger taught me."

"You trained under him?"

"Not exactly."

"Hmm?"

"I simply copied his moves."

Grinder let go of me and stepped back.

I touched my neck and felt that the armor was crushed. "What?"

"I'm sorry, let's call this exam."

"Wait! What about the.."

"You passed, 'Lion's Strike' is one of the hardest skill a swordsman can use. And the fact that you can use it pretty well without magic, you're amazing."

"Magic? 'Lion's Strike' doesn't need magic to use."

"You think so?"

"What?"

"Lion's Strike is an adaptable skill, it means that you can apply different magic to it."

"W-what!"

"Crimson, you passed the Rank Promotion Exam, just wait for your card."

And so, the rank promotion ended.

I went back to the Inn since Allyza told me to wait until tomorrow for my Adventurer's card to be updated.

*knock knock knock*

I opened the door and Divine was knocking on the door.

"Mr. Crimson, should I take your dinner in your room?"

"Ahh, yes. Thank you."

She went down and took my dinner.

I unequipped the armor and ate my dinner.

~~~~~

Elfie is crying and everyone from the village was saddened by the message they just received.

Roger Shyva, Ariel Shyva, and Shin Shyva is said to be dead. And the Brysver Village has disappeared from the kingdom.

"Uncle Roger and Shin are strong! There's just no way they died! Uwahh!"

"I went to the Village earlier together with the guards. Uncle Roger is really dead, his body was not found but the clothes he was wearing that day was found together with Aunt Ariel's."

"What about Shin? Did you see him?"

"No. I went to the house and it's perfectly fine."

"What?"

"It seems to have been protected by multiple barriers."

"Did you check inside?"

"Yes. I everything was very normal. I checked Uncle Roger and Aunt Ariel's room but it was normal, nothing changed. I went to our room and everything's also normal. But when I went to Shin's room."

Elfie gulped. "W-what did you see?"

"There was nothing in there."

"Huh? what do you mean?"

"His clothes are gone. Even the black armor and the red sword in his room is also gone. I then proceeded to check on the kitchen and all of the foods were gone."

"A-are you saying that Shin is alive?"

"Yes, and there's also a chance that the house has been robbed. But that's not the case, since if it was robbed, then they should have also taken all of the things in our room and Aunt's room."

"So Shin is really alive?" Elfie smiled and laughed with relief. Everyone is also smiling after hearing Zeff's report.

The night passed and everyone left the town and went on a journey again.

~~~~~

"Can I really become stronger if I keep doing this?"

"Yes."

John was doing push-ups, curl-ups, running and everything that can build a body.

"It's been a week since I started training but it feels like nothing is changing."

"Results are not achieved easily. You can only achieve them through sheer efforts and determination."

"Ugh! When are we going to do magic?"

"Magic is hard to control, with a weak body, you might even get killed by your own magic if you're not careful. and also you're still 5, I'll teach you magic when you turn 8. So you must train your body first."

~~~~~

I headed out to the adventurer's guild to take my card and also to take a quest.

As I have arrived there, everyone was looking at me.

"Déjà vu?"

I went to Allyza and asked her what's going on.

"Ms. Allyza, did something happen?"

"Words came out about you being promoted to rank A."

"I see. So, about my card."

"Oh, wait I'll take it." She took my card under the desk and handed it to me.

"Hmmm."

"Is there something wrong?" Allyza asked me with confusion.

"No. I'll just look for a quest."

I went to the quest board and looked for a quest.

{Dungeon Explore}

{Rank A -S}

{Explore a newly found dungeon and sell the information that you can gather inside the Dungeon. The price of the quest is dependant on what information that you will sell in the guild.}

{Time Limit: 1 month}

**

{Monster Subjugation}

{Rank A}

{Defeat the monsters that are lurking in the Forest of Gaia. The boss of the monsters will be the confirmation of the quest being finished.}

Time Limit: 2 weeks}

**

{Escort Quest}

{Rank B}

{Escort the merchant and protect him from any dangers that are lurking in the way to the Town of Navidia. The price of the quest will be given by the Merchant after you arrive at the town safely.}

{Time Limit: N/A}

**

As I was looking at the quests, I saw an escort quest. I took out the map that I just bought earlier and looked for the town of Navidia.

The town of Navidia is on the north of this town. I'll take this.

I grabbed the quest and went to Allyza.

"I'll take this quest."

"Uhmm, are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I thought you would take the Dungeon Explore or the Monster Subjugation."

"They didn't pique my interest."

"Escort quest, sure."

"I went to the location to find the merchant."

As I have arrived at the place, the merchant was already waiting for me.

"Are you the merchant that I will escort?"

The merchant looked at me and he looked a bit scared.

"Y-yes. Are you the adventurer?"

"Yes."

"Let's depart then. I look forward to being your companion in this journey."

We departed and went to the Town of Navidia.

As we were on the journey, a bunch of bandits ambushed us.

"Krk! Krk! Krk! Put out everything that you have, and I might spare your life."

The merchant was surprised. "N-no!"

"You don't have to afraid. Ruhahahaha" Another bandit said.

I sighed and went out from the carriage. I stepped up and opened my mouth, "You shouldn't do bad things."

"What? Hahahaha! Who is this? Not don't bad things? What are you? A kid?"

"I see. I tried to talk to you, don't blame me."

"Huh? Did I misheard you? Are you jok.."

Before the bandit even finish his sentence, I have already cut his head.

I looked at the bandits and I emitted a strong aura. "I told you, don't blame me if you die."

A bandit opened his mouth, "You're alone, you can't possibly win against all of us!"

I sensed my surroundings and there are 24 of them that are still alive, there are 6 in front of me. On the trees, there are 8 they seems to be archers. And on the top of the hill, there are 10 that have magic.

"There's only 24 of you. I can take you all."

"What?"

I cut off the limbs of the 6 in front of me and went straight to the archers. They tried to attack me but I dodged all of their arrows. I cut their heads of one by one and rushed towards the mages on top of the hill. They used 'fireball' but was deflected by the armor.

"A half assed attack like that won't work on me!"

I then proceeded to kill everyone.

One of the spoke, "Kill us!"

"Why? I want you to taste the feeling of agony. I will not kill you, but you will fie eventually. But you must suffer for all of the crimes that you did. Just like the people that have suffered because of you."

I went down the hill and went straight to the merchant. "I have cleaned the mess. Let's go."

The merchant was dumbfounded by what he just witnessed and he was lost for words.

We have arrived at the town of Navidia safely.

"This is your reward. Thank you for everything."

"Yes."

{4 Years Later}

(To be continued)

Volume 1: End