Chapter 39:

“W-what did you do to me?” Rine asked in a fluster as he hid his body with the bed’s covering.

Confused, Amelia tried asking “What are yo-”

However, Rine gave her no room to continue as he began to sob in an exaggerated manner. “Now I can never marry”

Amelia squinted her eyes as realization dawned on her.

“Ow!”

Rine cried from her fist connecting with his head.

…………………………………………

“This tea is delicious, thank you, Amelia.”

“Don’t mention it. Would you like more sugar?”

“Thank you, but no. It’s sweet enough”

The two figures exchanged pleasantries as they sipped tea. Each ignoring the swollen face sported by one of them.

“By the way where’s Calvin?”

“He’s still recovering in his room.”

Rine nodded before suddenly remembering “Why am I in your room, and not in Calvin’s?”

Though he was relatively young, he still knew it was improper for two members of the opposite sex who barely knew one another to sleep in the same room.

“My room’s larger than Calvin’s and I did not want to bother him.”

“But won’t your parents find this odd?”

“Luckily for us, they aren’t home right now. They should come back in a couple of days. Anyway, that’s not what matters. Look!” She said excitedly as she presented him with a pouch.

Brimming with curiosity, Rine opened the pouch only to find teeth from the couple of wolves they managed to kill before being surrounded.

“We can present this to the guild and get the rewards,” Amelia said with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah! Let’s go when Calvin wakes up!” Rine also grew excited at the prospect of a reward. It wasn’t so much the reward itself that enticed him but rather the feeling of satisfaction that came with receiving it. This would, after all, be the first quest he completed and reward received.

…………………………………………

After Calvin woke up, the trio made their way to the guild.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Calvin,” An annoying voice sounded as they reached the receptionist’s desk.

“Ray…” Calvin said pensively in reply.

Rine looked at the group that approached them. It was composed of four members, all warriors. It seemed like the one speaking to Calvin was the leader.

“Looks like you found yourself another team, huh,” Ray’s tone was sarcastic and full of mockery. “Hey pretty lady, I don’t suggest getting close to this one. He’s got muscles for brains. But I tell you what,” He scanned her with his eyes. “I’ll let you join my team if you ask nicely~”

“You!” Calvin said with a strained face as he stepped forward.

But before he could get closer, he was held back by Amelia who walked past him and stood before Ray.

“Thanks for the offer, but no,” She said sweetly as Origin began accumulating around her.

Though he wasn’t a magician himself, Ray sensed that something was wrong. “M-magician!” His face hardened as he muttered.

Abruptly, all the men behind ray stiffened their postures and gripped their weapons.

Seeing this, Rine followed her lead and started accumulating Origin as well.

The opposing party’s faces grew paler after discovering the appearance of another Magician.

“And here I thought you were going to flounder about more Calvin. But no, you seem to have found two sturdy backs to cower behind,” Ray said as he attempted to compose himself.

The atmosphere grew heated as the two groups of youths stared each other down.

“Hey, check out the kiddies standing off there.” Rine could hear an old adventurer say to his friends in the bar.

They began drawing more and more attention when…

“Excuse me, but fighting is prohibited within guild grounds unless monitored. So please take it outside,” The receptionist said sweetly but with an authoritative tone.

“Tsk!” Ray said as he and his lackeys turned towards the receptionist. “Sorry ma’am, we just wanted to report the success of our quest to the guild,” Ray’s tone took a 180-degree turn as he respectfully placed a small pouch on the receptionist’s desk.

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“Wind-Sped Wolf teeth,” The receptionist said lightly as she inspected the contents of the pouch.

The surrounding adventurers buzzed with excitement.

Apparently it was rare for rookie adventurers, especially those of the stone rank, to be able to kill a Wind-Sped Wolf. Ray puffed his chest smugly as he basked in the limelight. Slyly, he looked towards Calvin as if to gloat.

However, what he was met with instead was a calm smirk. Calvin tossed another pouch onto the desk.

“Wind-Sped wolf teeth as well,” The receptionist announced, “Moreover, it seems the teeth came from more than one.”

The commotion caused this time was larger as the surrounding adventurers had lively discussions.

“Wow, with smaller numbers, they managed to kill more wolves than the other team. Ain’t that something.”

“Sure is. Man, it’s good to be young. Remember the first time we killed a wolf?”

“What are you talking about? I bet you still piss your pants after seeing one”

“Hahaha”

Calvin’s smile widened as he saw the stiffening face of Ray.

“Hah, get off your high horse you bastard. You have two magicians on your team. I bet you spent your time with your thumb up your ass as they did everything,” One of Ray’s lackys couldn’t hold himself back any longer.

Calvin drew his sword and Ray followed suit.

“Enough.”

However, one word from the receptionist stopped both of them in their tracks.

“Would you like to register as a group while we inspect the teeth?” The receptionist asked Calvin as she handed the bag off to people behind her.

Rine had heard of this from Cort. The guild would always inspect the items brought back by adventurers to make sure they were legitimate. They would also do this to evaluate how well the adventurers completed their quests. Apparently, this inspection period could last anywhere from a couple of minutes to a couple of weeks. But when it came to small quests like those done by Stone ranked adventurers, the inspection period shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.

Rine thought of this as Calvin filled out the paperwork necessary to register the trio as one party.

“Alright that should do it,” The receptionist said as she took the paperwork from Calvin. “Now, party leader Rine?”

Rine was startled at being called party leader.

“Calvin?”

But instead of receiving a reply, all he got was a nod.

Turning to Amelia also yielded no result as he was only met with her trusting eyes.

“Party leader?”

“Ah, yes here!”

“Here are your rewards for two slain wolves.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Furthermore, in light of your recent accomplishments, the guild has decided on increasing your rankings. Congratulations, you are all Iron-Rank now.”

Rine became rooted in place from the surprise. ‘Isn’t this way too sudden? I only registered yesterday!’

“Yay!” Amelia celebrated as she hugged Calvin joyfully.

“And congratulations to you too,” She said, addressing Ray’s group. “Here are the rewards for slaying one Wolf, and you all shall also receive promotions.

Rine’s eyes squinted at the news. Something was wrong here. Contrary to the jovial news, the surrounding adventurers were shaking their heads wryly.

‘W-what’s going on?’

Uncaring of Rine’s questioning gaze, the receptionist continued.

“Here are your badges, and here is a letter from the guild.”

Receiving both of them, Rine’s eyes sharpened at the letter.

Ray had already torn the thing open and was now reading it. His expression darkened.

Filled with dread, Rine opened the letter as well.

…

Forced conscription. Their party will be participating in the war…

…………………………………………

“You’re an idiot,” Cort said mildly as he sharpened his sword.

“I agree,” Old man Carson said, stroking his beard.

“Yeah…” Rine said as he remained in a kneeling position. Having directly implicated Cort in a war, he felt the need to apologize.

“What are the odds of us running away before the war?” Cort asked.

“That’d be pointless, I can't move far from my tomb,” Carson replied.

“...My question still stands.”

“Oi, are you seriously planning on abandoning me?”

“I did not sign up for a war.”

“It’s not really a war, it’s more like a large-scale brawl.”

Rine listened to the two argue as he stood up and headed towards the campfire. It seems like Cort was preparing lunch as a rabbit was being roasted.

“Oh yes, I’m sure it’s nothing serious. In fact, at the end of it, we might even find ourselves huddling around a campfire singing songs.” Cort said derisively.

“If you think about it, this is an opportunity as well.”

Cort’s eyes narrowed “Continue…”

“What better way to grow stronger than to fight?” Carson continued. “I know you feel it. You are reaching the limit of how far you can train your body physically right now. As for aura, well you’re no closer to learning that than you were when you first started. Maybe a good fight or two will stimulate you in some way.”

Cort stopped talking as he contemplated the matter. If he were asked to do this a month ago, he would have declined without a shred of hesitation. But now?

‘What’s wrong with me?’ He thought to himself despite knowing the answer.

Truth was, he enjoyed it. He enjoyed the thrill of battle and he enjoyed the sense of getting stronger. Back on earth, getting stronger meant buying a bigger gun. But here? It meant growing your own physical power.

Above all, he was finally enjoying moving on his own.

The thrill of when he fought Ratson was still fresh on his mind. Had he not broken through some physical barrier, or rather, had his own personal strength not grown… he would have died.

But he did grow.

‘Besides, it would be a good way to test that new thing I’m getting.’ He thought as he turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” Carson asked the departing Cort.

“Rine, we are going to war,” Cort told the magician.

“Hmm? Ah yes!” Rine answered with a mouth full of rabbit meat.

“Ah good, Rine let’s start training,” Carson said with a beaming smile.

“I’ll be going to the guild to increase my rank,” Cort said as he left.

…………………………………………

“Up until now, we have focused on improving your control over Origin rather than the accumulation of it. I’m sure you must find this odd,” Carson said with a serious expression as he stood before Rine.

“Uhh…” The truth was that he never thought about it too deeply before.

“There is a reason for this of course but to fully appreciate it, I must provide you with some background information first. Currently, the main method of Origin Accumulation and Core formation is being spread by the great kingdom Verlau. Now for various reasons, of which almost none matter right now, this method is flawed. Or rather, it’s inefficient. You see, fundamentally it focuses on accumulating Origin even before the Magician fully understands what Origin is. It’s akin to telling someone to gather the materials for a poison without being told what for. Naturally, one’s understanding of Origin increases with the more of it one has, but by then most would have far too much of it to properly wield. Which is why most magicians are slow to break-through; they need a certain period of time to adjust themselves.”

“I get it, so if I familiarize myself first I should be able to advance easier.”

“Yes. Of course, there are countless other factors, but they’re not the most important right now. No, now we will be focusing on accumulating your Origin as much as we can. When did you say you’ll be sent off by the guild?”

“After 10 days.”

“Ok, in these 10 days I’ll also teach you a more efficient way of gathering Origin.”

“Got it.”

   …………………………………………