The walk to Aethelgard was... enlightening.
Lyanna led the way, her silver armor gleaming even under the dim violet sky. She moved with an easy, powerful stride, greatsword resting on her shoulder as casually as Ravi might carry a backpack.
He followed a few paces behind, playing the part of a rattled civilian. In reality, he was conducting experiments.
He picked up a fallen tree branch, one as thick as his thigh. It should have been heavy, awkward. It felt like a foam prop. He twirled it between his fingers, then discreetly snapped it in half with a flick of his wrist.
Definitely not normal.
"Stay close," Lyanna called back, her voice tinged with concern. "The wilds are unpredictable. That was only a lone wolf. Sometimes they hunt in packs."
"Right. Got it," Ravi replied, forcing a note of nervousness into his tone. He tossed the two halves of the log away. They sailed a good hundred feet into the woods before crashing into the spiral trees.
Lyanna glanced back, hearing the sound. "What was that?"
"Nothing!" he said, a little too quickly. "Tripped on a root. I'm fine."
She gave him a look that was halfway between pity and exasperation. A look he was intimately familiar with from his life back on Earth. It was almost comforting.
Soon, massive stone walls rose from the landscape, reaching toward the two moons. Guards in matching silver armor stood watch on the ramparts. Aethelgard.
The city gates were enormous, made of some dark, heavy-looking wood. As they approached, the guards on the ground recognized Lyanna and immediately snapped to attention, their spears thudding against the cobblestones.
"Lady Stormforge! An honor!" the captain said with a crisp bow.
Lyanna gave a slight nod. "Captain Valerius. I'm escorting a... survivor I found in the forest."
The captain's eyes flicked to Ravi, sizing him up and dismissing him in the same instant. A commoner. Not even worth a second glance.
The massive gates groaned open. As Ravi passed through, he reached out and brushed his fingers against the wood. It felt soft. Porous. He was pretty sure he could punch a hole clean through it without much effort.
Note to self: Don't lean on anything. Ever.
The city was a chaotic symphony of life. Merchants hawked glowing fruits from street carts, blacksmiths' hammers rang out in a steady rhythm, and the air was thick with the smells of roasting meat, strange spices, and unwashed bodies. It was overwhelming.
"The best place for a newcomer to get on their feet is the Adventurer's Guild," Lyanna explained, navigating the crowded streets with an ease that said she owned them. "You can take on simple jobs, earn some coin, find a place to stay. It's dangerous work, but it's honest."
"Adventurer's Guild," Ravi repeated. "Like, with quests and monster slaying?"
"Exactly," she confirmed, missing the sarcastic undertone in his voice. She was taking this so seriously. It was almost sweet.
The guild hall was a huge, two-story timber building that looked like it had survived a dozen bar brawls. And was in the middle of another one.
Ravi pushed the door open. It felt like balsa wood and nearly flew off its hinges, slamming against the inside wall with a loud crack that made several people jump.
He winced. "Sorry. Stronger than I look, I guess."
No one bought it. They just saw a clumsy newcomer and went back to their drinks. The hall was packed with men and women in various states of armored disarray. The air reeked of stale ale and sweat.
Lyanna sighed. "Just… be more careful. Come on."
She led him to a long counter at the back of the hall where a tired-looking woman with graying hair was stamping documents with extreme prejudice.
"Lyanna," the woman greeted without looking up. "Break anything important today?"
"Just the pride of a Shadowfang pack, Elara. This is Ravi. He needs to register."
Elara finally looked up, her gaze scanning Ravi from head to toe. It wasn't a friendly look. "Another one? Fine. Fill this out." She slid a piece of parchment and a quill across the counter.
Ravi looked at the form. Name: Ravi. Age: 24. Class: ??? Skills: ???
He left most of it blank.
"Right," Elara grumbled, snatching the parchment back. "Time for assessment. Place your hand on the crystal."
A grapefruit-sized blue crystal sat on the counter, humming faintly.
"It measures your mana output," Lyanna whispered helpfully. "It'll determine your aptitude for magic and assign your class."
Ravi shrugged and placed his hand on it.
Nothing happened.
The crystal's blue light didn't even flicker. It just sat there, inert.
Elara tapped the crystal. "It's not broken. Try again. Focus your energy."
Ravi focused. He thought about taxes, about his crappy old apartment, about getting hit by a truck. Still nothing. The crystal remained stubbornly un-magical.
Elara sighed, the sound of a thousand crushed dreams. "No mana. Not a drop. Happens. Means you'll have to rely on physical skills. Let's test your strength."
She led them to a contraption in the corner. It looked like a carnival high-striker game, but with a padded plate instead of a bell. "Punch this. As hard as you can."
This was the tricky part. He couldn't obliterate it, but he couldn't register zero either.
He drew his fist back, making a show of it. He grunted, channeling every B-list action movie he'd ever seen. Then, he tapped the plate. Gently. Like he was knocking on a door to not wake a sleeping baby.
The needle on the gauge beside the machine quivered, then moved. Barely. It landed squarely in the "Pathetically Feeble" section.
A ripple of snickering spread through the nearby tables.
"Right," Elara said, already looking bored again. "Congratulations. You're an F-Rank. Lowest of the low. You can take on jobs like 'find my lost cat' or 'clean the stables'. Don't die."
She slapped a cheap bronze tag onto the counter. Ravi's new identity. F-Rank Adventurer. A professional weakling.
"Don't worry," Lyanna said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. It felt like a feather. "Everyone starts somewhere. We can form a party, and I'll help you—"
"Well, well. If it isn't the Silver Princess, collecting another stray."
A new voice, loud and dripping with arrogance, cut through the noise. A man built like a brick shithouse, with a smirk to match, strode toward them. He wore steel armor covered in dents and scratches, a massive axe strapped to his back.
"Leave it alone, Kaelen," Lyanna warned, her tone turning to ice.
The man, Kaelen, ignored her and got right in Ravi's face. He reeked of cheap booze. "What's the matter, princess? Scrape this one off the bottom of a barrel? He looks like a stiff breeze could kill him."
Kaelen punctuated his point by shoving Ravi hard in the chest.
It was like being hit by a gentle puff of air. Utterly insignificant.
But Ravi had to act. He threw himself backward, deliberately stumbling over his own feet, arms flailing wildly. He crashed into an empty table, which promptly disintegrated into a pile of splinters.
He lay there in the wreckage, groaning for effect.
Lyanna's sword was halfway out of its scabbard. "That's enough, Kaelen! I mean it!" Her icy blue eyes blazed with a fury that made the big man take an involuntary step back.
"Tch. Can't even take a little push," Kaelen sneered, though his bravado was gone. He shot one last look of disgust at Ravi before turning and stalking off toward the bar.
Lyanna rushed over and helped Ravi up from the pile of kindling that used to be a table. "Are you hurt?"
"Just my pride," Ravi muttered, brushing splinters off his shirt. He was getting surprisingly good at this lying thing.
She looked at him, her expression a mix of pity and guilt. "I'm sorry. The Guild can be rough. Don't let him get to you." She pressed a small pouch of coins into his hand. "This should be enough for a room at an inn and a few meals. Get some rest. We'll talk about your first quest tomorrow."
And with that, she was gone, leaving him alone in the center of a noisy, hostile guild hall with a bronze tag that officially declared him worthless.
He looked down at his F-Rank plate, then at his own hands. A slow smile crept onto his face.
F-Rank, huh? At least this way, no one will be expecting anything.
This was going to be fun.