Very early in the morning, before the first true light touched the rooftops of Lanthold, Darien was already up and moving.
Mirielle woke up and stood in one place, watching him move.
"I know you did it..."
Darien looked up at the girl before he sighed, asking absentmindedly:
"Did what?"
"Killed the Ash Rats."
"And if I say I did… what changes?"
"So you did kill them…"
A small, weary smile formed on Mirielle's lips, proud of herself for finally getting him to speak up.
"I know they were bad, but... they aren't beasts of the Primordial World. The gods might judge you, Darien. Or what if they used you as a tool? You appear more strange with every passing hour."
Darien scoffed. He knew that in this world, Valurion, Faith was very important for people, especially commoners.
In the Finelands, most still clung to the old gods, the gods of the elemental affinities. This made sense because they were the only thriving province unaffected by the Descent.
The Stormlands bowed to the new gods, the ones tied to the mystical: light, darkness, void, time, etc. Darien's home, the Waterlands, held a strange middle ground, afraid to choose, honoring both.
Darien the daring honored none.
"I'm going now to take the tests in the Adventurer's Association. Wish me luck!"
With that, he slipped out of the house and fled into the quiet city, remembering the way to the carriage precinct.
As the tops of the Adventurer's Association buildings began to show in the distance, Darien braced himself. He arrived and disembarked exactly at sunrise, and even then, there were Warriors already perambulating the area.
Wasting no time, he walked into the same building from yesterday with his holdmark in possession, knocking on the wooden surface of the receptionist's table.
"You actually came. I had a certain feeling you'd chicken out or vanish like most do after just one look at the board."
The same receptionist from yesterday smirked, trying to bully Darien. She brought out her hand, asking for the holdmark.
The boy handed it to her without saying a word.
The receptionist snatched the holdmark with an indignant glare before opening it to review the registration content and approve the signing pass.
She waved him to the side and instructed him where to go in order to meet the Commander with his signing pass.
Darien nodded in gratitude before taking the direction he was given towards a small, dark fighting arena.
Inside the arena, the Commander was waiting for the day's aspirants to be brought to him so he could handle all matters as quickly and as early as possible.
He wore a dark cape, the first Darien had seen anyone don so far, and his stare appeared impatient.
As Darien approached, the man's gaze narrowed in a curious assessment. He was clearly unimpressed with the first person today.
"You're the first?"
"Yes, ser."
"Unbelievable."
The Commander refused to take the signing pass, believing it unnecessary protocol.
He doubted the boy's capability, but he still welcomed him and led him to a stone shed that served as an arsenal for the Adventurer's Association. There, racks upon racks of weapons stood waiting to be chosen.
'Woah. Axes, spears, staves, swords….'
Darien named at least fifteen different weapons, all sharply crafted and emitting a strong stench of metal and oil because of being hoarded together.
All weapons were Common items.
In the Adventurer's Association, choosing one's first weapon was how the Adventurer could proclaim his fighting style and intent.
Every weapon had merits and consequences. They could be a weight in the wrong hands, or a source of puissance when in the right hands.
Darien already knew that sword-types were his best bet, so he searched for the one suiting his size.
But instead of a standard longsword like Heatbringer, he eventually reached for a katana.
It was lighter, quicker, and sharp enough to pierce even thick hide if the beast he'd be fighting turned out to be both heavy and fast.
Moreover, he was told the Adventurer's Association allowed successful candidates to keep their chosen weapons after the test. If he was going to pass, he wanted a katana to be his, since he already had a sword.
[Item Name: Adventurer Katana]
[Type: Weapon/ Katana]
[Rank: Common]
"Good choice."
The Commander remarked before leading Darien back to the center of the small, slightly dim arena.
As they re-entered, Darien noticed several Adventurers had taken seats along the perimeter. His unique frame had stirred their curiosity, and so, they had settled to watch him fight.
They were already grinning, chuckling, whispering, all expecting him to be wounded badly by his opponent.
"You'll be fighting a beast. Your task is to kill it completely."
The Commander instructed the simple rules to Darien.
Darien acknowledged the rules and gripped the slim hilt of his katana tightly, with his heart beginning to throb a bit faster.
The Commander, seeing all was set and ready to go, turned and gave a loud order.
"Release the beast."
Someone somewhere obeyed the order and opened the iron gate across the space. Darien assumed a combat pose as the ground trembled a bit from the causing rise, revealing a dark, caged pit that appeared to lead downward.
Once deep snorts echoed from the oblivion, the Commander left the field for the young aspirant.
(Furnace Boar)
(Affinity: Fire)
(HP: 300)
(Rank 2 Stray!)
'What…'
Darien's eyes widened.
From the rising platform emerged a hulking boar with tusks chipped and darkened like scorched iron. The hide of the boar appeared corrupted, featuring cracks like those seen on the surface of a volcano.
Heat waves radiated from it, distorting the visibility of the air around its snout. When it huffed angrily once more, the hottest white steam Darien had ever seen was released. The beast already looked furious and restless!
'A Furnace Boar? I was given a magical beast to fight…?'
Darien thought it was extreme because he couldn't possess Primordial Energy yet, and clearly, the majority of the Adventurers watching couldn't either.
But at the same time, he understood why the Adventurer's Association would test this way.
In the Primordial Forest, beasts with elemental affinities weren't rare, and if someone couldn't even handle a low-ranked one now, then they had no business heading out there at all.
Darien strengthened his backbone and filled himself with some necessary sense of determination.
If this was the test the Association had set, then he would face it head-on. His grip on the katana tightened as he settled into stance, his eyes locked on the agitated beast.
Silently, the boy activated
Instead of revealing to everyone that he had a tactical skill like
The aspirant's stillness infuriated the Furnace Boar even more. It took his calm approach to the fight as mockery on top of the threat he already posed with that bladed weapon.
With a guttural snort and the stomp of a hoof, the beast launched itself forward, dragging its weight with surprising speed and kicking up dust from the arena floor.
As the beast charged, Darien began to see the soft glowing points of potential weak spots revealed by
Many of these dotted the beast all across its bulky form, but Darien understood that the darker the red, the weaker the point.
He fixed on the darkest marked spot, but before another thought could form, the Furnace Boar suddenly skidded to a halt and swung its heavy head forward with a violent snort.
From its open maw, a burning red sphere—an immensely heated and pressurized ball of air—blasted out toward him.
The heat washed over Darien's skin as he escaped the impact at the last second using
When the Commander and the other Warriors watching saw him elude the attack, they couldn't help but be impressed.
'Filthy boar. Very naughty!'
Darien leapt from recovery and charged forward, advancing from the side.
The beast first watched with incredulity and brief confusion, before it began hurling more heat balls at Darien. However, Darien's side-charging in relation to the releases drastically reduced the Furnace Boar's accuracy.
Frustration eventually consumed the beast.
Since its ranged assaults were futile, it decided to go physical.
The Furnace Boar bellowed and stomped furiously, steam hissing from its snout as it lowered its tusks and thundered forward in a wild charge.
'Yes.'
Darien, who had anticipated this moment, instantly activated
With a sharp breath, he launched himself into the air, and his katana, guided by instinct and
An excruciating line across flesh and muscle was drawn by the fine steel wielded by the aspirant.
–100 HP!
Those watching were stunned as the Furnace Boar whined in pain. Blood splattered across the arena floor as the deep slash on its upper neck gushed in turbulence, staining its dark hide.
The Adventurers glanced at each other, unable to believe the precision of the boy's attack on a Rank 2 magical beast!
On his feet now, Darien's gaze landed on the deep wound he had just delivered. Beasts had the capability to regenerate from wounds using Primordial Energy, especially wounds that did not take up 70% of their HP.
If given enough time, injuries could be healed, and Darien, seeing this stubborn boar, knew he couldn't allow that.
He dashed forward again like a savage. This time, he aimed for the beast's glowing eyes.
Its neck and eyes were the weak spots revealed by
–50 HP!
~whine!~
Determined to finish what he had started, he drove the blade into the side as the final blow, ending the creature.
–150 HP!
[Congratulations! You slayed a Rank 2 Beast]
[You get 2000 Skill Points and 10 Attribute Points]
[Congratulations! You can retrieve:]
[Furnace Boar Hide (Lv.2) Boar Meat (Lv.2) Life Core (Lv. 2)]