Volume 3 Chapter 2: Part 2: Promotion Exam

Onyx walked around the city. It has been a couple of days since they returned to Advent city. But his mind was off-track. Every night, the memory of the monster asking for help kept coming into his mind.

Is it human?

How can it talk?

Why did it ask me for help?

Many questions went through his mind, not understanding why the monster asked him for help. He continued to think about it all the way to the guild.

Onyx asked one of the receptionists, "Is Madelyn around today?" He didn't see her at her usual spot.

"Ahh, She's in the back ordering some files. I'll go get her." The receptionist said as she moved to the back. Seeing this, Onyx sat at a table, waiting for Madelyn to come.

"Onyx, what do you need from me?" Madelyn came out with a smile.

"If it isn't any bother, I want to ask about the rank-up quest." The rank-up quest for him and Rena was going to happen in two days. So naturally, he needed to get some information about it.

"Understood. Please follow me to a private room." Onyx nodded, and Madelyn led him to a room in the back. These rooms were for the guild to give important or private intel to the adventurer.

Sitting down, Madelyn asked, "Where is Rena?"

"She's out with Michelle right now." Onyx smiled. Rena asked him if she could visit Michelle today.

She couldn't look me in the eye. As she asked, her head was down, not trying to make eye contact with Onyx. The scene of her cursing that day was fresh in her mind.

"I see." Madelyn nodded as she took out some paper and handed it to Onyx, "Here's all the information about your rank-up quest. It'll be an escort mission. You, Rena, and other adventurers will protect a merchant carrying cargo to sell to the Riqueza kingdom."

"I see." Onyx thought about it as he asked, "So we just need to focus on protecting the carriage and the person?"

"Mmmhmm. One of the quest's objectives was that the cargo has to be undamaged and the merchant safe too." Madelyn reminded him as she added, "Keep in mind that this will be a five-day journey with a carriage. And you guys will have to pay for transportation fees and such."

Onyx listened attentively, thinking about what he needed on the mission too. Listening to the objective, Onyx added,

"What about the people I'll be adventuring with?" He knew the mission: now, he needed to know about the people he would be working with.

"Including you and Rena, there will be 8 people to protect the merchant."

"Wait, 8 people are becoming C-rank?" Onyx's a little surprised. That meant 6 other people would have the same rank as Stewart.

"No, only 2 people from the six will become C-rank. The rest are ranking up to D and E rank."

Huh?

"The reason for the D and E rank joining you guys is because the guild master wants the lower-rank adventurers to see what it takes to get to the next rank.

And each rank will be weighed differently on this quest." Madelyn explained.

"Ahh, wait a moment!" "Hmm?" Onyx turned around and tilted his head, "What's the matter?"

"Ummm. Are you feeling better now?" Madelyn asked. Onyx was off from what Stewart and the rest told her.

Onyx smiled, "I'm feeling a bit better." His thoughts did get better now that he told Oliver about it. Telling somebody else cleared his mind more. But it didn't stop him from feeling peeved. Like something was missing there.

"You know, if you ever need somebody to listen to what you want to say: I can do that for you?"

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"..." Onyx's eyes went wide. But Madelyn quickly explained herself, "Don't misunderstand! I'm your guild receptionist! It's my duty to keep my adventurer's mind from wandering and out of focus!"

"..." Onyx smiled more, "I understand. If I ever feel this way again, then I'll come to you to talk about it." Leaving these words, Onyx left the office room.

"..."

...

The next place Onyx went to is Gus's workshop. When he walked in, Charles greeted him, "Welcome, Onyx."

"Is the old man in the back?"

"Yeah, he's working on a weapon right now." His expression turned wry, "And I don't think you should go in there. He's making a nasty face again."

"Well, doesn't he always have it?" Onyx joked as he walked to the back. I'll just get yelled at right now, then let it fester. Doing it now? Or wait for the ticking time bomb to marinate?

The correct option was clear to him.

When he entered, he saw Gus hammering down on some armor. It seemed Gus didn't realize he was here. More so, anybody else who walked in. Onyx leaned on the wall, staying on the sidelines as he watched him hammering down on the armor.

It was calming and smooth.

"What do you want, kid?" Gus didn't look at him as he said this. However, he continued to hammer down on the armor.

"How do you know that I came in?"

"Do you think I don't have ears? How old do you think I am?" Even as Gus focused on his work, he could sense a presence walking into his workshop.

"You don't have to focus on me. Just keep doing what you're doing." But Gus took the metal with some tongs and dipped it into the water, leaving it there. But then he turned to the shelves and tossed Onyx a bag,

"Here's your armor."

"Wow, quick as always." Onyx smiled as he looked at the armor.

"Who do you think I am?" Gus scoffed and added, "But you need to be extra careful from now on."

"I know."

"No. This time it's much more serious than the last." Gus's expression was stern as he said this.

"Huh?"

"You might not realize it now because it's only been a few times. However, your armor is much weaker than before." Gus told the truth.

"..."

Seeing his confused face, "Hah! I can't believe I have to spell it out for you." Gus sighed as he explained, "Do you think I fixed your armor only by hammering it with what you did to it?"

"..." Kinda? Onyx wanted to say yes. But he decided not to do it from the expression on Gus's face.

He might have gotten smacked by him.

"I'm not some wizard who can do something like that, fool! Those claw marks can't be fixed like that. I had to melt down your armor and recreate it from scratch.

That patched up the claw marks. But that weakened your armor's durability." Fixing the armor was easy. The hard part was making the armor be as effective as it used to.

"Melting the armor will consistently weaken the material's durability a lot in your terms." And this wasn't the first time he had to do this. When Onyx returned from the fight with the deviled python, Gus used this method to fix the armor.

"Can't you add some materials into the melting process to fix it?"

"Of course, I can do that. That's the most basic method in repairing highly damaged armor." That was what Gus always did. However,

"But do you know what your armor is made out of?" Gus's expression turned even darker as he said this.

Ahh. Onyx realized it too. His armor was made out of chimera bones. Its rarity was something that didn't need to be said.

Gus scolded him, "How in the world did you manage to destroy an armor made out of CHIMERA!" It had only been a month or two since Onyx was here. And yet he shattered the armor into pieces! But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

What broke it was none other than a deviled python!

The person who made this armor never thought this brat would shatter it in a couple of months. Gus realized this as he hammered down Onyx's armor.

Even with the scratches on it, when Gus first saw the armor: he knew it was meant to last for years. Not months.

"..." Onyx went silent, realizing how grim the situation was. He asked, "How much more can it take?"

"Hmm. It depends on what you're going to fight. If it's damaged like this: I would say the armor can take it at least 5-6 times. But if it's shattered to pieces when you fight with the deviled python, then two at the most."

"I see." Two times. I think that should be enough for me for now. Onyx began to think of a plan for it.

Gus added, "I suggest you buy some extra equipment."

"Hmm?"

"Don't hmm me! An extra equipment set will be useful if your chimera armor is too damaged. At the rate you're going, you'll definitely need it."

"..." Can you not put up a flag? But what he said made sense. With how things were going for him, having an extra pair of armor would help him out. And he didn't have to worry about the armor weighing him down because of his dimensional bag.

"Also, buy some tools with you."

"Huh?" Now Onyx was confused. Why does he need tools?

"I will teach you some basic skills to maintain your weapons. You're going on a rank-up quest, right?"

Onyx nodded,

"Then you should learn how to maintain your weapons, you fool. Don't let me get started on your sword. I can tell that you haven't been maintaining it properly."

"But I usually wipe the blood from the blade." That was Onyx's usual routine. Blood could corrode his sword, so he wiped it after every fight.

"Wiping blood isn't good enough. Even if you wipe it down, there are still problems I can see." With a glance, Gus could tell what a sword went through, "There are other things you have to do to maintain it!"

"I see. But you're going to teach me? When have you become such a proactive person?" Onyx snickered a bit. He never pegged Gus to be someone to help a person out like this.

"Shut up. Do you want my help or not?!" Gus snarled.

"Of course, I want to learn it. But will it do me any good? I don't have any blacksmithing experience or skills."

"First, you don't need to worry about experience. People with skills also have to learn basic blacksmithing by hand. And second, do you really think skills matter? People can become blacksmiths even without a skill.

Only hard work and grit can make a great weapon. So are you going to learn or not?"

"Of course, I've got to learn it!" How can I not?

"Good. Take that equipment on the rack, and copy what I do."

"Understood."

…

Elsewhere,

"Master, one of our pets died." The red-hooded figure appeared beside the purple-hooded one.

"Huh? Somebody actually beat my pet?" The purple-hooded figure's voice changed a bit. He was genuinely surprised by the news. Never did he expect his pet to die so soon.

"Master, do you want me to investigate it?"

"No. There's no need to focus on it. It died, it died. I still have my other pets." Under the hood, a grin formed as he looked down at the forest, "Yes. Keep eating. Keep getting stronger, my little pet."

You'll become the perfect pet compared to that inferior.