Ralph burped as he walked down the road leading to the training fields. He stretched his arms above his head and relaxed. He had returned to his previous job to grab lunch. He forgot to pack his, again. Lucky, his old boss was kind enough to put in his open tab until he received his first paycheck. Hopefully, it would be soon. After the bills he paid the other day, he barely had enough to do laundry, let alone food. He sighed. Inflation was a pain to deal with. He didn’t understand the basic economic state of the village, but he witnessed the raise of prices throughout the village. He hoped Team 17 would be able to start on D ranked Missions, soon. That would be an incredible help to get some food for the week.
“Hey, man,” Enzo said, walking next to him, giving him crocked grin, “Thanks for lunch.”
“Anytime,” Ralph shrugged, trying to ignore a flash of heat in his face. He wasn’t used to getting any thanks. Most of the time, the Barksons and Barkdottirs don’t get thanked for anything. It was the opposite in fact, they were usually run out of a neighbor when something went wrong. Ralph had experienced that more then once. He had to move to the worst area of the Village, the last time it happened. He was lucky he kept his coin purse on him instead of storing it under the loose floorboard in his bedroom. He turned his attention ahead of them. His eyes roamed over the various faces and the back of the heads of the villagers until he spotted Lilian walking toward the Training Fields. He grinned. He threw his arm up and waved, calling out, “Lilian!”
The teenager paused and looked back at Ralph. At first, Ralph thought she looked upset, but the expression disappeared fast enough where he might have imaged it. He blinked, staring at her for a long moment as he slowed down to a stop. He titled his head to study her, sensing there was something wrong, but he didn’t know what. She didn’t look as lively as she did before going to lunch. Maybe she got some bad news or ate something bad, he figured.
“Wait for us!” Enzo called out when Ralph didn’t finished his thought. The son of the blacksmith hurried forward. Ralph shook his head before he followed.
“So, how was your lunch?” Ralph asked, once he got nearer.
“Pleasant,” Lilian spoke evenly, “What about yours?”
“Oh man, you totally missed it, Lily,” Enzo started. Ralph noticed Lilian winced when Enzo called her Lily instead of Lilian, “We had lunch at the most wonderful restaurant.” He rambled on, talking about the lunch until they reached the edge of the training field. Ralph added in his input where he thought it was appropriated while Lilian nodded. He didn’t know if she was giving the impression she was listening or if she actually was.
Ralph spotted Raizen, their teacher, standing under a tree on the far side of the field, holding something in one of his hands and a water skin in the other. He cocked his head to the side. He held out his arms to stop his teammates. Enzo gave him a puzzled expression and Lilian glared at him. He winked at them, whispering, “Our teacher isn’t paying attention. It’s not very ninja like, is it?”
Lilian’s eyes widened. She glanced toward Raizen who turned a page, commenting, “An unaware ninja is open to an attack.”
Ralph nodded, glancing at Enzo.
“A sneak attack?” Enzo whispered.
“Might as well,” Ralph said, “It will be good to see where we stand against him.”
“We will get our butts handed to us,” Lilian agreed, “But it could help us in the long run - to see where we need to improve.”
“He will have the advantage over us,” Enzo argued, “He, not only has experience, but an arsenal of jutsu under his belt.”
“And maybe you should focus on planning a sneak attack before the victim is in your line of sight,” Raizen’s amused voice rang out, right behind Ralph. Ralph’s eyes darted up to where he had last spotted Raizen standing at to see he had moved. He twisted. Raizen gave him a smirk. “Good try, though. Assume, the next time you want to try something like that again, your target is aware of your presence and start sneaking up on them a few hundred more away.”
“Yes, sir,” the trio said. Lilian pouted, crossing her arms. Ralph stretched the side of his head. Enzo looked like someone told him that Christmas was cancel that year.
“Anyway, how was your lunch?” Raizen changed the subject.
“It was good,” Enzo commented, bouncing back, “Ralph showed me this awesome restaurant stand close by. Apparently, he used to work for the owner.” He waved his hands about as he told the team about his experience at the restaurant stand.
Ralph looked to the side, feeling embarrassed. He usually didn’t have many friends to brag about him or the places he visited. He glanced at Enzo, then at Lilian before he cut Enzo off, “So, Lilian, how was your lunch?”
“It was good,” Lilian shrugged, “Just a bunch of the Kunoichi from our class met up and talked about our team assignments.”
Ralph nodded. He turned his attention back onto Raizen. His teacher closed his book with snap. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lilian straightened up and Enzo’s arms fell to his sides. Raizen spoke, “Alright. I’m going to sit down. You might want to as well since I’m going to be testing your knowledge over mission ranks, first.” He ran his eyes over the trio as he sat down on the training field, “What is a E-rank mission?” He hummed, watching the trio as they followed his lead. Lilian raised her hand. “Enzo.”
Enzo let out a sigh before he answered, “An E- rank mission are reserved for the Ninja, still in basic training, but Novice rank, like ourselves, are able to request such missions. These missions are usually community based missions like gathering the trash during important events, providing security during those events, cleaning the local parks, etc. The E-rank missions are designed to teach and improve teamwork qualities within the next generation of ninja, problem solving skills, and possible deal with the unexpected if something should happen during a mission.”
“Excellent,” Raizen gave him a smile. “Ralph, explain what is a D-rank mission.”
“D-rank missions are a step up from the E-rank missions,” Ralph started, “The D-rank missions are simple and done within the villages walls. Like the E-rank missions, they are community based, ranging from various acts of Community Service, to everyday needs of our elderly. Due to the increase number of our villagers, the D-rank missions are able to be done 2 to 3 times a day if requested to do more. They are done by the Basic training ninja and Novice ranked Ninja with supervision to the Master Rank.”
Raizen nodded, “Lilian, how soon can a novice ninja do a E or D rank mission by themselves?”
“Depending on the teacher,” Lilian answered, “In most cases, an E-rank mission can be done unsupervised by a Novice Rank Ninja within a couple months of archiving the rank of Novice while a D-rank mission is done within 6 months of reaching the rank.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Raizen nodded, again, before he commented, “The D rank missions can be done in the farmlands and the forest within a mile of the village as well.” Ralph winced. He knew that. He just forget to voice it. He hoped it didn’t affected whatever Raizen was testing them on. Raizen hummed, “What is a C rank mission?” he ran his eyes over the trio before he called, “Ralph.”
“A C rank mission is a mission done outside of the Village boundaries and are done by the Apprentice rank ninja and above,” Ralph paused, thinking. He hoped he didn’t forget anything. “The C rank missions are dangerous because we might have to deal foreign ninja, enemies of the state, and other unknown dangers, depending on the location of the mission.”
“Lilian, give me an example of a C rank mission,” Raizen stated.
“An escort mission to the Kingdom Capital,” she answered.
“Enzo, another example of a C rank mission,” their teacher said.
Enzo sighed, “A Sabotage effect by a member of the Camelot Court to gain favor with the Ruling Family.”
“Ralph, what is the difference between a D-rank and a C-rank mission?”
“You mean beside the fact there is a good chance we will have to leave the boundary of the village,” Ralph gave a crocked smile. Raizen cocked an eyebrow at him. “The differences are the difficulty and what we are hired to do.”
“Correct,” Raizen gave them a smile. “What is the highest mission you will be able to go on, right now?” He paused, looking them over, “Enzo?”
“D-rank,” Enzo replied, “Until we reach either become Apprentice ranked Ninja or spent a month as a novice, then we have the ability to do C-ranked missions with you, at your discretion.”
“And how long will it take you to reach the Apprentice Ninja rank,” Raizen asked, “Lilian?”
“It depends on how well we do in the apprentice exams,” Lilian answered, “They are held every fall and spring.”
“Good,” Raizen gave them appraising look. “How do you tell the different ninja ranks apart?”
The trio glanced at each other, waiting for him to call on one of them. For a long moment, Raizen didn’t and Ralph spoke up, “By their vests. Apprentice are given a tan vest when they reached that rank, the Masters have a darker tan vest while the Grand Masters have brown vest.”
“What kind of vest does the Black Ops have?” Raizen asked.
That question stumped Ralph. It was one not asked during the Ninja Basic training. He wasn’t for sure if he ever seen a Black ops vest, assuming they had one. He glanced at Enzo. He looked puzzled as Ralph felt.
Lilian, however, rolled her eyes and answered, “It depends on what mission they are undertaking. Most of the time, they can not announce they are a member of the Black Ops force because they might have personal enemies who are undercover and are not afraid to use loved ones against them in an effect to get revenge or harm the Black ops agent in any way.” She paused, “Most of the time, only the spouse of a Black Ops agent is aware their loved one is a Black Ops Agent or not, due to the secrecy of the missions the Black Ops agents take in order to protect the village.”
“That is true,” Raizen stared at Lilian for a long moment with a guarded expression. Ralph’s eyes darted between them as he got the feeling there was something more going on then he was allowed to know. “Alright!” Raizen changed his tone. He reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a small stack of papers, no bigger then the index cards Ralph had used to study for the final exams. “Now, we are moving on to figuring out which elemental affinity you have.”
Ralph smiled. He had been wondering about that since he heard about it. It would be really awesome if he had an Earth affinity. He would be able to use the ground like slid, sliding everywhere he went. Maybe a Water affinity. It would be neat way to cool off during the hot summer days coming up. Let’s not forget about the fire element. He won’t have to worry about being cold on the icy winter nights if he had the ability to create a small fire in one of his stone pots. Of course, he couldn’t discount the ability of air. A cool breeze on the hot day or a long day of training would feel great on his skin. He sighed.
“Now, how many elements are there?” Raizen asked causing Ralph to snap out of his day dreaming.
“4,” Enzo answered.
“You are half right,” Raizen pointed at Enzo. He glanced between the trio before he settled his gaze onto Lilian, “Lilian?”
“8,” she replied, “Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Life, Death, Light, and Dark.”
Ralph blinked. Life, Death, Light and Dark were considered elements, too? He frowned. He must have slept through that class or it could have one of those days where he was too sick to get out of bed during those winter months.
“Correct,” Raizen said. He handed the trio three sheets of the paper he held. “These are elements sheet. They are used to test for your elemental affinity. Now, using one of the sheets, focus your spiritual power onto it.”
“spiritual power is the power we use when we combine our physical energy with our spiritual energy,” Enzo stated.
“Right,” Raizen nodded, “As for an example -“ He held up a sheet and it crumbled up before it shook slightly, and something grew out of it. “I have the Earth and Life elemental affinity.”
“Cool,” Enzo breathed. Ralph nodded, staring wide eyed at Raizen’s hand where the sheet of paper was.
“Now, you try,” Raizen suggested.
Ralph took a breath and summoned his spiritual power. He pushed it into one of sheets. The sheet of paper started to smoke at the edges before it crumbled up then it brightened. He blinked in surprise. He glanced at Enzo whose paper held the appearance of being wet, but smoked at the edges. He turned to Lilian. Her paper had turned gray before it was cut in half and lost all color, becoming the darkest black Ralph had ever seen.
“Interesting,” Raizen mused. “Ralph, try your affinity again.” Ralph took another sheet of paper and repeated the process. They watched as the second sheet smoked at the edges, crumbled up, and brightened. “It would appear you have the affinity for Fire, Earth, and Light elements.”
Ralph blinked. He didn’t think he would have three different elemental affinities.
“Enzo,” Raizen called out, “Again.” Ralph watched with amazement as Enzo went through the process again and his paper was the same - wet and smokey edges. “Water and Fire. That is an interesting combination. Two polar opposites. You will have trouble, using those elements together, but once you master them, you will be a powerful ninja.” Enzo beamed.
“Lilian?” Raizen said. Ralph turned to face the only female on the team and blinked at the expression on her face. She was pale, solemn, and accepting.
“Death, Air, and Dark,” she intoned. “I got the Death affinity from a distant relative, Air from my mother, and Dark from my father.” There wasn’t a note of excitement in her voice as she explained her affinities.
“Right,” Raizen said, slowly. Ralph glanced at him with an raised eyebrow. “Moving on. I think we have learned enough here today. We will meet at the Government tower at 7 o’clock for our first mission.”
Enzo and Ralph gasped. Lilian jerked back. She found her voice, first, “I thought you said we weren’t have a mission for a while.”
“It’s more like it’s at my best judgment,” Raizen countered, “And I found the best teacher is life herself. You see, Life won’t teach you a lesson then test you. It’s the opposite. She will test you and you will either learn a lesson or you won’t. Depending on the test, you could get lucky and make it out on top or lose everything and end up in a big trouble.” Raizen stood up and dusted off his hands before he waved at them and vanished from the spot he stood.
“I would like to know how he does that,” Ralph grumbled.
“That would be an excellent skill to have whenever I get into trouble with my parents,” Enzo agreed. He sighed and looked up at the sky, “I might as well get home. I am sure my dad will need an extra pair of hands in the smithy tonight.” He glanced at Ralph and Lilian, “I overheard my dad complaining about a large order of swords for the White Hall Estate, something about building up their forces over the next two years or so.” He stood up.
Lilian stood up, slowly, and mused, “King Luke of House Drake. His time as King will be up within the next three years.”
“Lovely,” Ralph commented, getting to his feet, “It means we may have to go to war again, on the behalf of the White Hall Family, depending on which side they side on.”
“Yeah,” Enzo said. “Well, I’m off. See ya tomorrow!” he walked off, heading back to the Merchant part of the Village.
Ralph glanced at Lilian who still looked upset before he asked, “You okay?”
“Yeah,” Lilian said, schooling her face into a neutral expression, “I probably should be getting home as well. I have to work on some chores. See you in the morning, at the Government Tower.”
“Sure,” Ralph watched her go, trying to ignore the feeling growing in his stomach. There was something else eating at Lilian, once she figured out her affinities. Death, Air, and Dark. It was an interesting combination. He might have to do some research on it, but it would have to wait until he started to earn money again. Getting any research book wasn’t cheap and besides he wanted to understand his own affinities. He started to walk back to his run down apartment with a grin on his face. He was on his path on becoming the Leader of the Village.