POV: Noland Dream
"Commander I have come to report the location of SSS Rank threat Lightning sage," A Green haired girl stated.
"So the bitch finally showed up," A young man sitting behind a desk retorted
The Green haired girl widen her eyes in surprise "Commander eyepatch you never curse is he really that big of a deal"
"Back when I was an S-rank adventure part of the council 7 he showed up to the meeting room unannounced. He then suddenly teleported with me alongside 3 other council members and faught us all three years ago."
"N..N..No way! Commander was beat by one person. Is that where you lost your eye "
"Uhhhh no. When I was a little kid I ran with scissors in my hand, tripped over a rock, and stabed myself in the eye "
"..."
"..."
"Hahahaha"
"Heeheeheehee"
"Are you a fucking idiot! I looked up to you, respected you, and your telling me the person I saw as a brilliant tactician and a somewhat kinda decent human being."
"SOMEWHAT! KINDA!"
"That isn't the point. The point is this dumbass fell by triping on a fucking rock of all things, while running with scissors in your hand and stab yourself in the eye. And here I was thinking that you lost your eye to a valiant cause like trying to stop Lightning Sage"
"I was 5 years old. OK! I am different now I am a fully functional human being who is the same brilliant tactition, who came up with the plan for the invasion of the Argonia bridge which lead my forces to secure a crual supply chain bridge. Not to mention I am the most humblest of people."
"Was it also apart of your genius plan wearing your shirt inside out?"
"We have a more important agenda to take care of. Tell me the whereabouts of Lightning Sage," Eyepatch said, expertly diverting the subject after clearing his throat.
"You still haven't told me why you referred to him as bitch" the green-haired girl said, pulling back the conversation to what really mattered.
"Sage Lightning took all four of us at once and than when the fighting got tough he ran like a fucking pussy. Look Emily, any man who instigates a challenge than runs away from it after getting cold feet is not a man but a fucking bitch."
"Ahh, I see, so anyways we have identified him and his bunker in the northeastern part of the Greenwood forest. For us to discover the location of the bunker after we have been searching for it for 5 years could easily mean a trap. However, it is undoubtedly his real bunker because there are traces of his mana there from years ago."
"Hmmm is it guaranteed that he is still there"
"Yeah we have placed a magic tracker on him that let us know of his location. He is currently asleep and has been for the past 2 hours."
"Alright this is our prime time to strike. Assemble all our S rank and above Adventures and get ready to mobilize. I will consult the council of elders."
"Yes Sir!"
POV: Noland
I wake up to the sound of the morning birds chirping through the closed window. Who needs an alarm clock when you have nature's most annoying one? I bury my head back into my pillow and pull the sheets above my head. It's too early to deal with this. I need some more sleep. Wait today is my birthday. And not just any ordinary birthday my 12th one.
"Wake up Arthur it's your favorite brothers birthday. I'm 12 you really think mom and dad are going to keep their promise and let me be an adventure."
"Letmesleeeeeep" My brother mumbled half asleep.
I quietly climb up the ladder to where my brother was and oh so ruthlessly yanked off the blanket covers.
"Gimmeblankie" My brother automatically mumbled still half asleep
I then quickly tickled his neck relentlessly.
"Ah ha ha ok haha I am awake." He shouted fully awake after laughing so hard he was wheezing.
"Ok than lets go" I commanded as I jumped from the top of the twin bed and started changing into my regular cloths
"Sheesh, one day I'm gonna feed you to the wolves" My brother mumbled under his breath while rubbing his neck
"Oh sorry it wasn't your girlfriend who woke you up sleeping beauty." I teased
"At least I have friends " He retorted
As I put on my clothes I automatically look around our room. My eyes slowly circled the dented brick walls. Due to age, it was very damaged however it had a charming homey feel to it. After I changed into my pants I look around at the object in the room. Our small brown bunk beds were obviously getting too small for us. And I stared right into our tiny closet only filled with three different clothes for us.
After we finished putting on our clothes we rushed to our single bathroom in order to get ready. I quickly brushed my teeth, Cleaned my face, and took a shower.
"Hey noland if you rush though your morning hygene runtine everyone in the guild gonna get their impression of you from your stink rather than your skills."
"Your the one to be talking about stink, Arturd"
"Ha, Arturd is that best you can do noland more like, no friends"
"At least I focus on training how it feel to lose to someone 3 years younger than you every time we fight"
"Only cavemen resolve their conflicts through violence you may be stronger than me but not smarter."
"Oh please smarter..."
"Noland, Arthur breakfast is ready!"
"Coming mom," we both say at the same time.
Once Arthur finished his shower we raced to see who could get to the dining table faster. Of course, I won.
"No fair you cheated" Arthur states trying to find an excuse for why he lost
"Will you boys cut it out sheesh, your gonna make me ask god for a refund." Mom teased as she motioned us to sit at the table
"Oh my god mom pancakes with syrup, butter, and fruit! Your the best. " I savor each air bite of deliciousness as I consciously remind myself to slow down.
"You better enjoy it fruit aren't cheap."
"Arthur why do you have more fruit than me."
"Cuz you ate most of yours already."
"Noland you said you want to be an adventure right? "
The mood instantly heaved like an invisible blanket was thrown onto the dining table. Dad instantly looked up noticing it. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of dad stuffing his cheeks like a chipmunk eating the pancakes. Then my eyes lock onto moms passive-aggressive smile with her eyes closed. She had veins bulging out of her forehead. I stopped laughing and summed up each ounce of courage to answer her question
"Y...Yeah I want to be an adventurer s...so what!" My mouth betrayed me as it shook out of fear causing me to shudder.
"Arthur their are several less dangerous ways to support the family while still making money why did you choose being an adventure."
"Being an the strongest adventure is my dream! I want to be someone who can help everyone."
"Like I said Their are mutiple safer ways you can make money while still contributing to society"
"Any 12 year old can take on manual labor jobs. I was blessed with strength and magic it'd be a waste not to use it."
"That doesn't change the fact that you are still 12. You should wait at least 4 more years to develop before becoming an adventure"
"Y...You promised me that I could be an adventure when I was 12 years old. I will run out the door and take a quest without your approval if that is what it takes!" I choke out my word and stare into my mom's eye with determination
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"Fine but I have 3 conditions"
"What are they"
"If you ever feel like you are in danger abandon the quest and run away."
"But mom wha"
"Condition number two you will always take a quest that is one rank below your own rank at the minimum"
"Condition number three you will be adventuring with your brother Arthur"
Arthur staring at his plate of food jerked his head up and almost spat out his pancakes
"Mom I haven't trained to become an adventure like Noland all I took was self defense training and only trained my magic for half an hour a day. I will just drag down Noland" Arthur reasoned with his mouth half full of pancakes
"No, Arthur your magic is necessary to keep Noland safe. Plus besides, arthur is only 12 years old he needs someone to make sure he doesn't make dumb decisions."
"Why not just hire a professional adventure or send Noland to a guild"
"Because the whole purpose of this was to make money and no guild would be willing to accept Noland he is too young and has no experience. Plus, do you really trust anyone but yourself to be able to protect Noland?"
"Fine I accept but what about you Noland"
"I have no problem with coming along with me. Arthur that is, if you don't drag me down."
"Good if you accept my conditions than we can get on to me and your dads presents," My mom said as she clapped her hands and smiled. Dad after swallowing his last bite of pancake Pull out a small clip-on pouch that could attach to my pants
"Your mom and I have been talking for some time about the dangerous of you going adventuring so I bought you this pouch and stuffed it with nessecities. It contains three smoke bombs, two rolls of bandages, a small flashlight, a matchbox, and a multitool pocket knife. If you ever run into danger don't be afraid to use a smoke bomb. Your life is worth more than a few hours of our paycheck." Dad stated.
"And for my present well, you will find out about it shortly. " My mom beamed while finishing her last bites of pancake.
"Thanks mom and dad when I come home I will bring enough money for us to eat meals like these everyday." I promised as I finished licking the syrup off of the plate
"Stay safe boys there no point in making tons of money if you are not even alive to spend it." Dad reminded.
"Ugh we already know." I annoyed retorted as I shut the door. Dad was such a worrywart.
I and Arthur ran towards the guild hall. Our small house was on the edge of town. As I ran clipping the bag onto my pants I couldn't help but notice the senary. There were few trees breaking the field of open plains. It was kind of methodic running and seeing endless blades of grass dancing in the wind almost like they were cheering me on. No one wanted to buy land so far away from town because it was unprotected from possible beast attacks. 200 yards away from my house was a forest where beasts come from.
"Slow down" Arthur huffed as he struggled to keep up with my pace.
"No, If we continued at this speed we would reach the town in 30 minutes of running."
"please slow down I can't physically keep up."
"Ha that what you get for being a book worm you nerd." I retorted as I slowed down my slow run to a jog. Great now it will take 35 minutes to get to the town.
"You don't have to rush it's not like the guild hall closes."
"They update their quest log at 7 a.m every morning. If we don't arrive to town at 6:40 then we will be late and can't get any easy quests."
My brother silently sped up as he futilely tried to steady his breathing. I return to my slow-running speed. I ran only listening to the sound of Arthur wheezing as he struggled to take another step and let my thoughts entertain me. I wonder what rank I will start at. I trained every day to the bone there is no way I could get less than a C rank. My brother naturally weaker than me but not by a ton will probably get D+ or even C- because his magic is more versatile than mines. I ran entertaining my thoughts until I saw the town walls then slowed down to a walk until we were at the town walls. Arthur on the brink of death clung onto me as I gave him a piggie backside.
"Arthur we are at the town you can get off me" I stated as I tried to peel the half-dead Arthur off of my shoulders.
"5 more minutes"
"I'm sorry that I pushed you too hard but I didn't want to be late."
He slowly got off and then landed with a thud. He walked over to the clock that was hanging at the entrance to the town.
"6:27," He said as he looked at the clock. Suddenly Arthur reanimated to life with burning flames of anger in his eyes as he oh-so menacingly approached me. As he was approaching me swaying his shoulder from side to side. His face suddenly became very defined as if I could see every line of his face. He suddenly look very muscular as he appeared taller, his shoulder more defined, and become 6,5. "You bastard... Noland!" He spat with pure malice.
"Oh? So your approach me?" What was I saying? It's like some high power forced me into saying this.
"Even though you are always weaker than me, you suddenly think you can get a main character power up just because you are mad. Like a delusional loser in high school believing he can get all the bitches if he actually tries, only to stutter when he talks to an actual girl."
"I can't beat you up without coming closer to you."
"HOHOHO then come as close as you like."
His fist blurred into 10 of them as he barraged me fueled with anger and rage. "Ora, Ora, Ora, Ora, Ora, Ora, Ora, Ora!"
"Muda, Muda, Muda, Muda, Muda, Muda, Muda, Muda!"My first blurred into 10 as well as I meet every one of his punches with my own fist. Suddenly his well-defined face, muscular build, 6,5 height and broad-shouldered reverted as he held his fist, crying because his knuckles were bleeding. When he looked up his checks puffed out as his mouth became squiggly. He was red under his eyes from the crying as he pouted. Huh, this face looks familiar but I can't put my figure on it. For some reason, he reminds me of a useless water goddess but I could neither place my reasoning on why nor how I thought that. I reached into my pouch and pulled out the roll of bandages that dad bought us and used it to rap his fists.
"Come on we need to go the guild hall"
"Wahhhh why don't your knuckles hurt you punched just as much as me."
"That because I do 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 squat, and a 10 kilometer run everyday."
"Stop making so many stupid references."
"What do you mean references?" Strange why did I say that I actually do much more training than what I described?
We walked through the lively town as the cobblestone pavement gave my feet comfort that I was walking on even ground. I looked around as I let the lively noise course through my eyes savoring every last sound. The lively atmosphere infected me as I walked with more purpose in each step I couldn't help but let a smile creep up on my face as I walked through the marketplace leading towards the adventures guild.
"10 copper coins for 5 squirl pelts"
"Make it 6"
"Get your hot iron-clam soup just 2 copper coins a bowl "
"Buy willies Iron chest armor for a silver coin "
"No buy Thomas's Iron curved blade for a silver coin "
"Mommy mommy I want a grilled fish skewer"
"If mommy has enough money she will buy you one."
We reached the doors of the adventure guild marveling at its magnificent size. The whole adventures guild was several times the size of our own home. I could tell the building had two stories by the two different levels of windows. It was shaped with a shallow tile 4-sided roof running down into marble ceramic tiles. Giving it a very modern feeling. Near the bottom of the roof was a large clock it read 6:43. Under the roof on the second floor were windows and a balcony in the middle with two people leaning against it. On the first floor, there was a flower garden outlined below the open windows by two huge wooden doors with large metal circular handles attached to them. Four tall trees stood equally distant in front of the adventures guild. As the place gave off a modern aura I marched up to the surprisingly heavy doors and yank them open.
We walk in only to be immediately greeted by the stench of sweat and food hitting our noses. Some adventurers in their 20-30 looked at us with shock.
"Looks like the kiddies mistake this for a playground. It ain't safe here go back home to your mommy." A random muscular adventure loudly declared making all of the other adventures laugh.
"Noland ignore him."
"Looks like the midget got his older brother to protect him hmmm."
I infused mana into my fist and slammed it against the wall while closing my eyes and angrily smiled It created a loud thud sound but I made sure to hold back enough to that I wouldn't crack the reinforced concrete wall.
"I may be 12 year old but I assure that I am strong enough to handle myself."
The laughter stopped as their facial expression changed to a surprised look at my strength.
"Hmm you quite a lot stronger than you look wanna have an arm westle. By the way I am a C rank adventure, subclass vanguard." The random adventure said.
"Sure I wanna test how strong I am against a C rank adventure," I stated as I rolled up my sleeve and put my comparatively small arm against his.
"We already know the result if we arm wreslted without mana so let's do it with mana"
"Alright"
As I infused all my mana into my arm I pushed hard on his arm only to be responded with the same amount of force.
"Holy shit this childs strong" He grunted as he started pushing more force into his arm. I responded by focusing my mana into my muscles rather than letting it flow around my arm. I was taking advantage. Until he finished me with his full power of mana as I resisted until the very end.
"I guess I am not strong enough to contend with you yet. What would you rank my strength with mana."
"Probably top of C- because In terms of strength I am around the bottom end of C class. I am more confident in my durability."
I shook my arm to get it loose as I walked over to the adventure guild counter. When I saw who the receptionist was I couldn't be more surprised. He looked like a middle age man but had muscles more defined than any of the adventures I have seen here. He was also taller than most adventures and stood over a foot and a half taller than me. Yet he looked like a very sweet old man. The type that would give you advice and encourage you at the gym, like a friendly bear.
"Hello I would like to get my adventure rank test as well as my mana rank read."
"And your name is?", He asked as he fiddled through a drawer looking for something.
"Noland"
"Shane"
"Nice to meet you"
"Same"
He pulled out a small device that looked like a clear blue orb. With a card under it.
"I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to charge you for using it is that fine."
"Sure how much"
"2 copper coins for each one of the 5 mana stats"
"Filled out all 5 mana stats please." I politely stated as I placed down a 10 copper coin my parents gave me for this test.
"Alright now I'm gonna need you to put a shallow cut in your thumb and place it on the orb."
I reached for my bag and pulled out my utility knife then I slashed across my thumb and placed it directly on the top of the orb as shan instructed.
"Good now keep it on there for 3 minutes."
Feeling the awkward stare as we both were waiting for the result Shane decided to initiate a conversation.
"So ummm why did you decide to become an adventure Noland?"
"I want to make money for my parents and I want to be the strongest adventure."
"Hmmmm ambitious, I like it. But why do you want to be the strongest adventure. You can make more than enough money for your family if you were even a B - A rank adventure"
"I want to be able to help as many people as possible."
"What a noble goal. I pray for your success Noland."
"My turn, my turn, I want to ask you a question."
"Ok fire away."
"Did you use to work as an adventure."
"Yes I did, in fact I was an A- rank in my prime. I was just like you want to help as many people as possible. I was addicted to seeing my clients smile. If I quite being a receptionist and continued to work with my party I could still be an B+ adventure. I have a family now, a wife, and kids. I can't go out on any more dangerous jobs. So now I work as a receptionist."
"Doesn't not being able to do quest bother you though?"
"Not at all, I have faith in the next generation especially after seeing new blood like you in the guild. Most adventures are here for the money, the fame, or even as a fun challange. That why we need more kids like you to help out and remind the selfish adventures what adventuring truly is about. Making the unknown known and making the unsafe safe."
"Oh looks like I talked too much. Here ya go your card is ready."
I take the small card in my hand as I peer over to see my results. The results shocked me.
Noland, 12 years old, Inward mana user, Mana affinity: Lightning, Blood type: O+, Current Mana rating: C-
Maximum mana core potential: C+
Mana level growth speed: S
Mana mastery: D+
Mana Refineness: C-
Current mana levels: C+