An Adventurers Guild Building is roughly the same, regardless of the city, village, town, or region you are in. They share a near identical appearance to make it easy to recognize and find for the various adventurers that travel around the world, keeping the monster populations in check and safeguarding the people while searching for rewards and bounties.
As such, this was true even for the trade town of Miral. It had quite a bit of bustling trade and industry, as well as having a river port that connected to the ocean. Bountiful farmlands and bountiful forests, and placed in the middle of several major cities and kingdoms, it was self sufficient and had booming trade, which resulted in its economic success. It was well on the way to developing into a full fledged city.
And as such, there were plenty of adventurers gathered around the city, but especially in the area of the guild. And at the moment, there was one person in particular, catching everyone's eyes as they walked through the crowd. Although they looked small and young, a white haired beauty with lovely red eyes caught everyone's eyes, the path clearly taking them to the adventurer's guild.
"Oh man, they might look young, but I would love to make that beauty my own" one man muttered, gazing upon the child.
"You don't even know if that is a boy or girl" another retorted, as the woman with them just smiled and watched from inside her cloak.
"I dont care either way, if its someone that cute and then that innocent, I just have to make them mine...especially if they have such an ego to think they can just walk into an adventurer's guild on their own, wearing such nice clothes. A spoiled noble brat to be sure, he or she will likely have plenty of money".
Unfortunately, some of the types they attracted were those that were no good, like this group.
Meanwhile, Rikuo who was trying to ignore some of the gazes he was getting, walked into the adventurer guild. There were people of all types there, but perhaps as if to taunt him, for some reason the amount of large and muscular people there were larger then normal.
As such, it took a bit for Rikuo to make it all the way to the front counter. Incidentally, it was only him, as the others were off dealing with other things at the moment.
Currently, his group was doing various quests in the area to build up some more money, while they also gathered information.
Its been six months, but all the leads we had on possible reincarnators already went cold before we got there. So far, they either found some group, disappeared all together and went into hiding, or worse, or just were not a Reincarnator.
Rikuo was thinking that, as the clerk finally noticed him.
"Oh, my first day, and such a cute child! But you know, there are certain conditions that need to be met before you become an adventurer, or are you here for a parent or such?"
Rikuo quickly took out his guild ID, a bit embarassed at this mix up. However, as he was about to hand it to her, his wrist was suddenly grabbed.
"Hey now brat, don't you know such a delicate child like you should be in a brothel or Alurvian, putting that pampered body to use for other's enjoyments".
Incidentally, an Alurvian was similar to a brothel, only it was not sexual at all, at least it was supposed to. That said, anything else one desired was essentially allowed.
"Hey now, they could be some noble child, who got registered by paying some big bucks to the guild. Although, I am sure that would make them very skilled in various areas".
"Hey now you two! You shouldn't talk to such an innocent child like that!"
The receptionist defended Rikuo, while the other two were verballing harassing him while grabbing his fist. Rikuo found the looks in their eyes really uncomfortable and unpleasant as his face went red.
However, without a doubt, he was also angry. One of the other adventurers took this chance to grab his idea.
"Now then, who is..."
The moment the third adventurer saw the idea, he gulped as a chill ran up his spine. After all, not only did it give his real age, but the information that was there...
"...a B Rank adventurer?"
Muttering that, he turned around to see that the two other adventurers had started to scream, as their arms and other parts of their body were trapped within magic ice.
"You jerks! You big mean jerks! Give back my guild card!" Rikuo cried out, perhaps at the end of his patience for this sort of thing.
The other adventurer quickly gave it to him, muttering in fear. The group of them were only D Rank Adventurers. It meant they were essentially veterans, but still normal people. Most adventurers never made it past E or D rank. F and G were essentially newcomers. H Ranks were mainly children and fresh meat. C Rank were skilled veterans. B ranks meant they had gone over hurdles that were hard to imagine. Although its not like it was impossible for someone to beat someone a Rank higher then them, especially with proper time and preparation, but...a child that young being B-Rank? Most children his age would only be F, G if they had talent, and maybe E if they had some amazing potential, trained very hard, or were incredible natural talents.
The only way someone who was thirteen years old could become B-Rank, regardless of whatever money one might pay there was no way to buy a B-Ranking from the Guild.
And so as the boy continued to do his business, the man there felt as if he might collapse. But as he turned around, he saw the greedy and lustful eyes of some had not given up, and some of hte later even intensified.
Of course, to everyone else, he looked like some eight or nine year old boy. They had not seen his guild card, or understood the truth yet. That the child in front of them was a monster.
"Anyways, so with all that, is it okay if I accept the quest?"
"Ah...ah..." the receptionist said, a bit confused, awed, and scared by the scene in front of her. Not to mention seeing his guild ID. "Yes...it should be fine. You really sure though?"
"Yeah, I think I will be effective at it, and I need to vent some frusteration. And the reward for the request I just finished?"
"Here you go" she said, handing him a small pouch. Some with greedy eyes, people who appeared to blend in but were watching curiously, smiled as he accepted them. Rikuo looked around, since he had the feeling he was being watched, but no one seemed obvious to him right now.
Rikuo glanced over at the man who had already pissed himself. Seeing Rikuo look at him, he decided not to provoke his wraith by warning the others, and instead ran off upstairs, towards his room.
Either way, Rikuo decided to step out of the guild, having completed his business there.
Once he was out though, Ruuruu finally spoke up. A projection of him appeared in a part of Rikuo's mind, although it appeared as just a black void and only had Ruuruu's upper body as usual.
"Master, I feel like you are a magnet for trouble".
"It can't be helped. We did agree this was the best plan. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be searching the spiritual realms using your Astral Gaze skill?"
"I cant help but worry when you are alone master. You have Herra hunting information and dealing with an assassin guild in Ristle, but she should be back in a week. And you have Sora, Haru, and Arila currently dealing with a dungeon exploration, which leaves you alone".
"Well, I wouldn't be able to complete this request with other people around anyways..." Rikuo mentioned, remembering the request details. "And besides, honestly I am accumulating a bit of stress right now. Maybe its because they have been traveling a lot so they have a bunch of pent up desire, but I am getting a lot of lustful looks in town".
"Its that just because of your new title?"
"Either way, it will go faster if I am alone, and I dont want to risk them sensing your pressence right now, in case they have someone with spiritual awareness".
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
"Fine fine. But, promise me you will be careful Master".
"I promise, I promise. Besides, I did advance to a new Class after all".
"Yeah...you got a new one after the battle at the Imperial Capital, and now you got a brand new one after six months right? Well, still...there are plenty of ways one could kill or capture you, and Teleka is still out there somewhere, so...just be mindful, and call me if you need help".
"Understood" Rikuo told him, as the mental projection faded away.
As Rikuo was alone again, he looked up at the sky. There was still plenty of daylight left.
"Alright then" Rikuo said to himself, no longer hushing his voice. "Might as well get this done before the day ends".
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"So, did you find him?" the woman asked, as a man slipped into the room.
"Yeah. I gotta say, I am looking forward to testing the goods. That brat is prime goods, he has soft and attractive features that would make people of any orientation desire him. And from what I saw, he doesn't have any guards, so he is solo. Probably not a noble, but maybe a bastard of one given his looks. We should be able to sell him on the black market for gold or even platinum coins".
In a dark room accessible only through a secret door in a back alley, such a plan was made.
"Good. I contacted our client, and send an image we took of him using a magic tool. The client is willing to pay several starsilver coins, so we should be able to make a profit just selling him to our regular guy. That said, his desires are stronger then even our own, so we better go fast before he gets impatient and does it himself".
As they said that, they thought about their latest target, Rikuo. Although there was some rumors he was a high level adventurer, he was still just a boy, a kid, and he was currently traveling alone. He had looks that could even make it possible to sell him to certain royal families who were less then honorable, and rumor had it from someone that bumped into him that his skin was soft and lovely. His appearance was cute and adorable, but that sold well with all sorts of genders and orientations, and a number of people with peculiar fetishes that resulted in them having to hide them or be outcasts of society.
And when anyone saw him walking around in the day, he always looked so weak, in addition to clearly being a mage. He had a spear, but it seemed like it was probably for show, especially since it was a kid's spear.
Low danger, and high quality goods. He will make us some easy coin...
She thought to herself, as she looked over at the cages. Inside were people, especially a number of children, who had been stripped naked. Their possessions were all sold already, and they were in chains now.
Once I get him, this should make a good and lucrative shipment. And without a doubt, I would love to test and train him myself...
While thinking such repulsive thoughts, she looked towards her men.
"We wont take any chances though to be safe. We will attack at dusk, when the light is changing and is the most distracting. Then using the darkness that creeps in, we will attack him. We have to capture him with as little damage though, but if we have thirty of us gang up on him, we can restrain him and perhaps even test him out right there in the forest".
Her repulsive mind imagined it, tearing off his clothes and pinning him against a tree, taking full advantage of him as he cries out for help and loses his innocence. It was something she enjoyed the most.
But at the same time, she wondered if she was getting a bit too impatient as that imagery played in her head. She shook it off though, and decided to get ready for action, making sure to bring plenty of drugs as well if needed.
She was only successful because she was always prepared after all.
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"Not a single one so far" Rikuo sighed, leaning against a tree as the sun had lowered to the horizon. "This request might be harder then I thought. Perhaps they sensed me and ran away instinctively? And I bothered to come alone too, given how troublesome they were to everyone else".
Rikuo looked around as he headed towards the main road, and saw nothing but trees, plants, and occasionally some birds.
"...well, I guess if its clear enough, I might as well take advantage to do something. Maybe relieving myself will help make it easier for me to find them".
Saying that, he adjusted his shorts and lowered them a bit, and began to do his business. He had been holding it in all day, and since his body was small, so was the bladder. Since most places didn't have plumbing, the ways to go to the toilet were limited in cities as well, and a bit embarrassing, so doing it out here was a bit more comfortable anyways. In cities, people generally used a large public facility where it would all accumulate, and eventually be disposed of at some points.
Incidentally, the work of disposal was typically done by criminals as punishment for their crimes.
But right as he was finishing, he heard a soft footstep behind him.
"Frozen Spike".
As he finished up, a large ice spike shot out from the ground as he pulled his shorts back up, securing them around his waist as he turned to see his would be attackers.
He was a bit surprised though, because there were over two dozen people surrounding him now, with one person dead from the ice spike he suddenly shot out. At the same time, a woman appeared in front of him instantly, pinning him to the tree before he finished securing his shorts.
"Now now, that is counter productive. Lets get the rest off instead".
"Oh...so you kidnappers were that level of perverted, huh?" Rikuo said as if it was a matter of fact. In the moment the woman tried to rip off the rest of his clothes, she suddenly jumped back and raised a small shield attached to the gauntlets on her arms, with a large ice spike in there as Rikuo finished fixing and adjusting his clothes again.
"The hell? How did you..."
"Cast two spells at once? And here I thought my multi-casting ability was more wide spread. Well, I suppose you probably targeted me not knowing who I really was, right?"
As Rikuo said that, he took a step forward, as he pulled out a wand in his hand.
"Still though, to think the people behind the serial kidnapping case were such perverts that they would target a kid like that? I suppose I should make sure to leave enough of you alive to tell me where you are holding the other captives. Six should just about do it".
"The fuck are you on about?" the woman screamed, feeling both annoyed, and a sense of dread.
"You guys really are morons. You didn't check the request I had accepted at the counter, did you? You see, even if you have been discreet about your identities, everyone noticed the uptick of kidnapings, especially children, you know? And considering how much damage you did in such a short time, as well as the crimes that mysterious stopped in another area as you set up shop here...well, I have been asked that most, if not all of you, should be killed".
As Rikuo said that, a bright blue light shined from the tip of his wand.
"The request was to slaughter you all, for the crimes of multiple kidnappings, multiple rapes, countless murders, and illegal enslavement of people".
Rikuo said that, his words as cold as ice. He then swung his wand around.
"Igloo Arena!"
Ice walls formed around them, as the ground itself seemed to turn frosty. It was as if a forest and a frozen tundra had been combined into one.
And as he pointed hte wand down, he then swung it at them, and a massive trail of ice spikes shot from the ground and tore through a number of them, killing them all instantly.
This creeps...they are all like Teleka...I cant let them hurt anyone else!
While feeling those emotions inside himself, the current Rikuo looked both ice cold brutal, but also as tears rolled down his face, he seemed emotional at the same time, his expression a complex one appearing as both those things at once.
To these fools, they were only now realizing it, that they never had a chance against such a monster. But they fought anyways, having the numbers advantage, and also hoping on some luck. After all, it was thirty against one. Even A Rank Adventurers would feel troubled by such a difference.
Of course, usually such groups would have more training, or prepare more. They made preparations, yet the enemy seemed to have made more. Since the battle began, he had been chanting a spell, which appeared to be about done.
"Storms, here my cries, let loose the lightning and take these foolish lives. Teach them the torment that comes from becoming my enemy! Chain Thunderbolts!"
Countless thunderbolts fell upon them, as Rikuo's feet seemed to act as if the friction was modular, rushing at the enemy with a trail of ice following him, as he swung his wand upwards again and another ice pillar attack shot out, claiming more of their lives.
These guys...they are weak. Too weak. How can I prepare to fight such dangerous forces like the demons, or the Demon Lords, like this?
While thinking of his troubles, he jumped and did a sideways flip over three enemies using the momentum from his magic, and the spacial magic Bounce Pad.
And as he landed in the group, another chant was just about done.
"...and errupt around me, a parade of ice! Frost Dragon's Rupture!"
Ice spikes shot out from around him, piercing through the six enemies around him. He then looked at the leader as she attacked him, dodging backwards as she threw a knife at his throat.
He raised his arm at the same time though, and had ice shoot out of the ground around her, deliberately trapping her alive as a few others ran towards him, in a desperate attempt to kill him.
"Shock Tazer".
He quickly dealt them an electrical blow, and rendered them all unconscious.
"Tsk. I was hoping you would actually make me push myself more. That dagger did startle me for a bit, but still...I cant get much stronger against this level of enemy. Skills only seem to level up when used against strong enemies that make you push yourself, after all".
Rikuo was no battle junkie, but he was desperate. If he wanted to survive his next clash against Teleka, he needed to get stronger. He could get stronger both outside the system, and inside, and that was what he decided to do.
The entire point of us splitting up was to increase the challenge difficulty and make it easier to level up skills. But these guys were basically just weaklings who grouped up to indulge in their desires, none of them actually bothered to become strong, aside from maybe that woman.
He then turned back to the woman. He gripped his fists, holding back his emotions as he spoke in a cold and icey voice. His spear floated to her neck, under remote control while Ruuruu was using Astral Gaze.
"Now then, you have two options. The first is you tell me where you are holding the hostages, where you have hidden all your money and supplies, everything. The second is that I make this really hurt until you do".
Giving his coldest stare, he said that while locking eyes with her.
Okay, please please work. I am adapting and working as best as I can, but even so, I definently do not have the stomach to torture people! Even if they are scum like this. Please, please...let this work!
Yes, Rikuo was putting on a bit of an act right now. He was already feeling a bit jittery still, killing humans like this wasn't much to his taste. But he had marshalled himself together to do what he could, for himself and for others.
"No no! I promise I will talk, so please! Dont torture me! Dont kill me!"
Rikuo then tilted his head a bit, and gave a cute yet strangely menacing smile.
"Then start talking".
At such a line, she spilled everything she knew to him.
And once he properly captured them and knocked them out, Rikuo emptied the contents of his stomach into the woods, with no one around to witness it.