'You already own this skill'

Another fail. Roland had been handing me lots of low level spell books as well as a few high level ones. Lightning bolts, flame spears and wind slash all failed. While most of them are cheap for skill books, they still cost over 500,000 credits so I would have been in great debt had they worked. Don't even get me started on some of the higher level spells like sun beam that he tried to make me learn. That would have cost well over 10,000,000 credits.

Following the failure of learning skill books I was given a few buff skills that also did not work but it was interesting to see some of the buffs that were possible outside of the standard stat buffs. I've only gotten a couple and they are apparently rare so I doubt I will get them often. Things like heightening your senses so they are similar to an animal and so on.

After another round of failures I was handed a couple summoning books which also failed. I was hoping at least something would work but they always say that I already own the skill. I suppose if my abilities have a chance to trigger it then it's already registered as an ability I have.

'Would you like to learn the skill: Mana Fist'

'Yes or No'

Yes of course i want to but it just won't wor-

'Skill Obtained: Close Range Spell'

It worked! Roland seems to be happy something finally worked.

"Before we test it, let's finish trying out the other books."

After 4 or 5 more books, which all failed, we instead turned to try out the new skill. Feeling the flow of mana in my body has become much easier after spending so long firing off spell after spell that I feel my speed of casting has increased a lot.

'Close Ranged Spell activated: Healing touch'

A small yellow glow emitted from my hands before it faded.

"Yes… This is exactly what I was hoping would happen."

Roland seems to be more than pleased with the result. Adding a close ranged spell to my list of abilities seems to have changed into another ability to use a random close ranged spell. I wonder what counts as close range instead of long range.

"Come now boy, let's start using that spell"

Casting the spell a few times gives a couple of interesting results. A dagger made entirely of flames or a longsword crafted of ice. My body changed as my skin turned to diamond, then my form became invisible. It seems this ability gives me a spell that affects either my own body or something I touch. It can also form weapons made of pure mana. Pretty handy, i could cast the spell over and over until i have a sword or some other magical weapon then I could buff myself on repeat, then i would be a pretty reliable fighter! Not to mention I could throw out spells at long range as long as I need to with how much mana I have!

"Okay I think we've done enough for now. I don't think there's any ogres left here so we should get going and spend some time resting up. There's another D-rank gate that popped up about an hour away from here that I already registered you for so make sure you're well rested. I had the master of your friend Carter request it to be a private gate clear for him to test his student. You will be going with them of course."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Yes sir! Thank you for your guidance."

I bow to him and then quickly to Mera who was sitting back on her picnic blanket.

****

The next 2 days passed without much happening. I continued buffing myself on repeat while I rested. I didn't want to risk using close ranged spells in my home as what if something activated that could damage the area around me. At least buffs are guaranteed to be harmless to my surroundings.

I was ready for the gate but as I was leaving my home I met Carter as well as his master outside my home. He has the same class as Carter meaning he is a monk too. He's not very tall but he seems well defined. His head reflects light like a mirror, he is so bald that even on a cloudy day his head would still shine as if reflecting the sun. Aside from his shiny head and short stature, he has a sash wrapped around his forehead and bandages loosely wrapped around his forearms and fists.

They both greeted me kindly and on the way to the gate Carter's master introduced himself and explained to me why they met me at my house instead of at the gate.

"Carter has told me a lot about you, even if he still refuses to tell me about your class."

He gives a teasing wink which looks odd on his small chiseled face.

"My name is Ban, I'm sure you already know but I'm a monk. Did you know that even though there are over 100 monk classes confirmed, I am the highest ranked out of all of them?"

He seems to puff his chest out a bit at this, clearly wanting me to be amazed.

"When I first met Carter he basically begged me to take him as a student."

Carter punched his master's arm, clearly embarrassed at the memory. It doesn't seem like the carter i know now would do but i suppose in the past, right after awakening with doubt about the future, i could see it.

"Roland said that im to take you with us to the gate so make sure you follow us once. I understand you are here to test your abilities in real combat but if you get injured or die then Roland will be on my ass. I don't even want to think about what Mera would do…"

He shivers, a wave of cold rushing over him at the thought of what Mera might do.

"This is a D-Rank gate too while you're only an E-Rank so don't get too confident."

I've been an E-Rank for quite a while now but i dont think it's that long compared to others when they first start climbing the ranks. Given the support I've gotten though, I should try climbing a bit faster so they don't think I'm slacking. Given my boosted stats too I should be at least a C-Rank right now in terms of stats alone.

I didn't gain any rank from killing those ogres in Hanako's gate since it's a private gate that most don't even know about. Such a shame as killing those B-Rank monsters would have ranked me up a lot compared to killing E or D-Ranked beasts.

'E-Rank - 823,611,739'

I've definitely increased from my time fighting those freaky monkeys and the gate where I got a big boost from killing a boss level monster.

When I rank up I should return to the market and see if there are any other accessories I could pick up. If not for me then maybe for my family to help keep them safe, with this Cataclysm sneaking around who knows what they might do if they decide they want to recruit me or eliminate me.

Ban interrupts my mindless thoughts.

"As for why we decided to walk with you from your house instead of meeting you at the gate is a lot more serious."

His face straightens, a lot more serious now.

"One of the hunters we have hidden within Cataclysm has risked his life to inform us that Kaira, the former S-Ranked hunter with control over bugs, went to meet an E-ranked hunter personally to try to recruit them. The reason was unknown for why she would recruit them herself but it seems she was rejected which caused her to go on a small rampage and ended up killing a few lower ranked members of cataclysm."

Wait what? Why would I need someone to escort me to the gate? I haven't been approached by anyone from cataclysm so i shouldn't need anyone to guard me. Unless…

"Um… Ban? Can i ask, is Kaira a girl with long dark green hair, really tall, big boobs and stuff?"

Ban stops walking, almost like he was frozen. Seems I hit the nail on the head. So she approached me to recruit me for an evil organization? It seemed more like she was just trying to sell me some shady product by fluttering her eyelids and throwing around those massive boobs. I'm not that easy though, no way a woman like that would distract me, I prefer shorter women anyway.

"I think she might have approached me a while ago while I was on my way to train with Roland and Mera. I didn't realize who she was though… She seemed like she was trying to sell me something so I just brushed her off since I was in a rush too…"

Ban sighs while Carter looks from me to his master and back, like he is unable to believe that we are having this conversation.

"Roland didn't think it was on purpose but he had us meet you and walk with you just in case it was you. Looks like it was a good decision. Listen here, since you rejected one of the top dogs at Cataclysm, they will want some kind of revenge. They might try to recruit you one or two more times before theory resort to violence but they will definitely not leave you alone. You should try to go anywhere alone. They will be more hesitant to attack if you are in a crowded area, have other strong hunters with you or if you are too close to the System Association then they won't attack as they can't risk being caught."

I feel like my life is going to get a lot more complicated. Maybe I should move my family somewhere closer to the System Association headquarters so that they will be safer. I wonder how much that would cost. I had been planning on saving up money and buying a cafe or something similar for my parents so they could run their own business how they wanted instead of working under someone else. Now that will have to wait as i don't think our current house is too safe and if Kaira showed up outside my house before then she must know where i live.

"I will contact Roland to let him know. He should be able to come up with some arrangements to help you by the time we finish the gate."

The rest of the walk there was mostly silent aside from the quick phone call that Ban made to Roland. I really hope everything works out…

END OF CHAPTER 14