"Okay. First off. Raid, you know why you're here, correct?"
"I get the gist of it at least." I answered Chadwick's question. "I took the lives of all the party members of the Zeke Party. All including Zeke Reinhardt, a son of the Reinhardt Family. Now his dad, the Family Head wants me dead, but since you guys don't agree with him on that matter, you're now focusing a good chunk of your resources into protecting me."
"Exactly. You see the Reinhardt Family's Head isn't exactly subtle."
"Yeah…Zeke told me something similar."
"Which is why we're gonna need you to lay low for a while. My older brother may not look it but he can handle himself so you don't need to worry about the orphanage as of yet. And as a precaution, I'll send some of my men there in secret. As for you, since you two are well acquainted, I'll assign Peyton to be your personal bodyguard until this whole fiasco dies down."
"Oh no." I replied.
"Yes I know. I apologize in advance for that one." He said.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Peyton responded in protest.
"Ohh nothing. Nothing at all." Chadwick answered exhaustingly. It seemed like old man-Gam wasn't the only person who made his life difficult, I really did pity him, but part of me felt like my being acquainted with Peyton wasn't the only reason he assigned her to me. It almost felt like he just wanted her off his back for a while so he saw the perfect chance to throw her over to me and took it. My suspicions were confirmed the moment I caught a glimpse of a smirk form on his face as he quickly placed his hand over his mouth to hide it.
"That old devil! Now that I think about it, that apology of his didn't sound sincere at all, did it? I should have expected as much. Even though he's more mature, he's still old man-Gam's little brother at the end of the day."
I could only scream internally as he continued. "Keep in mind, however, all of this won't nearly be enough to persuade Andrew to lay off on you. Which is why I have a proposal for you that just might do the trick."
"Huh?"
"A proposal?"
"Oh yes. A proposal."
"Intrigued. I'm listening."
"Alright then. What do you think about joining the Warriors Association?"
"What?" Peyton and Melissa responded in unison. Even I was surprised. I didn't really think he'd go that far.
"Sir, are you sure about this?" Asked Melissa.
"Trust me, we also stand a lot to gain from this. Raid is a very capable Warrior. In fact, I've never seen a Warrior with that much potential… Isn't that right, Peyton?" Chadwick smirked as he looked at Peyton for an answer.
"Pey?" Melissa said while also looking at Peyton, slightly confused. I was also a proud member of her clueless squad. Seriously, just what the hell where they on about?
"… He's just really weird. That's all I can say about him." Peyton finally replied after what felt like an eon of shared confusion.
As I was still in the middle of trying to figure out what they were going on about, Chadwick looked at me and spoke.
"Think about it, Raid." He said.
"I don't need to." I thought.
"If you have an entire Association Branch backing you. Even a Family as powerful as the Reinhardts' will think twice before they decide to mess with you." He continued.
"Took the words right outta my mouth." I thought.
"I'll be honest with you. You don't really strike me as the Guild type."
"I'm not." I replied.
"Heh. I figured." He chuckled. "So there's nothing really stopping you then, is there? 'Cause, judging by your persona, working for the Association would be a lot more advantageous for you, wouldn't it?"
"You're right, it would. Okay then. I'll join, but under three conditions."
"'Conditions', you say. For someone who isn't related to him by blood, you're behaving a lot like Gam right now."
"Oh god, I hope not."
"Heh, I know what you mean. Alright, let's hear those conditions of yours. As long as it's within my power, I might be able to help you out."
"Okay, first off. Don't assign me to any team or special division of any sorts. I work better alone."
"Part of me feels like you just wanna hide whatever special abilities you have that allow you to be as strong as you are, but okay, I'll humor you. Consider it done. Next?"
"Damn, he's smart! He figured that much from a single condition!?"
"… Okay." I continued. "Next, I don't wanna take any orders from anyone outside this room."
"Done. Melissa, Peyton and I are now officially your only superiors. What else?" He asked with a smile.
"Well, this is progressing quite nicely. Now for the big kahuna."
"Well…as for last but not least. I want single person clearance to all Dungeons up to A-Rank."
"You're insane. Can't be done."
"Figured he'd say that."
"Why not?" I asked.
"You're an F-Rank and you want something only B-Ranks and above are allowed to have. I really don't think I need to explain exactly why I can't meet this last condition of yours."
"Yeah but I'm stronger than a B-Rank though." I argued.
"Maybe you are, but that doesn-"
"In fact…" I interrupted. "I'm actually stronger than A-Rank."
....
The entire room went silent.
Peyton didn't look at all surprised by what I just said.
Melissa looked like she had been insulted.
Chadwick looked at me like I was crazy. He was baffled. "Hey kid. Do you honestly believe that? You should understand why this sounds more like a joke to me than anything else. You might've seen Peyton do a little fighting in the Dungeon you recently cleared with her and probably thought 'Oh I can beat that.', but allow me to be the one to tell you right now that what you saw then was nowhere near her full capabilities." He said as he finally spoke.
"I'm sure it wasn't." I replied. "She is a hell of a she-beast after all."
"Hey-"
"But I can prove that I'm that capable." Ignoring a certain someone attempting to lash out at me, I made my declaration.
"And just how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Chadwick asked.
"How else if not a sparring match!?" I waved my arms outwards, smirking ever so arrogantly. They all widened their eyes in response, as if taken by surprise by my change in attitude. Ignoring their curious expressions, I continued. "Allow me to spar with a capable A-Rank of your choosing, and if I win, you give me what I want, deal?"
....
"Eheheheh." Chadwick started laughing, while the rest of us just looked at him confused. "HEHEHEH HAH-HAH-HAHAHAHAH! YOU REALLY ARE ALL THAT HE SAID YOU'D BE! AND HERE ON I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST TALKING OUT OF HIS ASS WHEN HE SAID I'D BE ON ONE HELL OF A RIDE WITH YOU! EVEN MORE SO WHEN I FOUND OUT YOU HAD AWAKENED AS AN F-RANK, BUT NOO! No I see it now, exactly what he meant. That look on your face. I know it well. Alright then, I'll humor you kid. If you can last thirty minutes without tapping out, in a battle against Melissa here, then I'll do you one better than single person clearance in A-Rank Dungeons, I'll throw S-Rank Dungeons in the equation as well."
"…! No way! He did not just say that!"
"Sir, you can't be serious!" Melissa objected.
I understood why. If someone as influential as a Manager allowed a lower Ranked Warrior to enter a Dungeon believed to be far beyond the Warrior's capabilities, alone, and they died as a result, then the Manager in question would have to take responsibility, and the Branch they govern would probably have to go down with them. The Warriors Association has a sworn duty to protect all Warriors after all.
So Melissa's objection was very much expected. Not to mention that, while she may have seen me use an A-Rank Skill proving that I'm way stronger than I let on, she knew not of my full capabilities. Unlike Peyton, who simply just laughed in response when she heard Chadwick say he'd give me single person clearance to all Dungeons up to S-Rank.
"S-Rank Dungeons. There's a reason why I said that I wanted single person clearance to all Dungeons up to A-Rank, instead of S-Rank. They scare the shit out of me. S-Rank Dungeons. Currently the highest Ranked Dungeons that aren't still Locked. Some S-Rank Warriors have even died in S-Rank Dungeons and it's even said that only the Eighteen Generals and Six Emperors can afford to not take them seriously, and it's the fact that they still do take them seriously that scares people more about these Dungeons. There's only a little over four-hundred of them in the entire world. There were six-hundred and sixty-six of them after the First Trial. That was seventy-six years ago. In a matter of seventy-six years, we've only managed to clear over two-hundred of these monstrosities. That's how dangerous they are."
"Okay then." I said in agreement. "If I can last thirty minutes in a sparring match against Melissa, you'll allow me to be able to explore every Dungeon in the world that's currently Unlocked. Here's hoping you don't go back on your word." I added with a smirk.
"You got it sport." He agreed.
"Yeah. This is good, actually it's incredible. I might have some reserves about exploring S-Rank Dungeons now but it's not like I wasn't going to do that at all. It was bound to happen sooner or later so why the heck not sooner?"
"But first…" I said as I got up. "Allow me to do something I should've done a long time ago."
"Hm?" He said with a confused look. "What's that?" He asked. "…" He paused as he looked at me.
I was bowing.
"Thank you for all that you've done for me so far, and for taking me in." I said.
"Hmm, this is odd. I highly doubt you learned manners like that from my older brother." He replied.
"You're right, I didn't. He was my main guardian but he wasn't the only person raising me at that orphanage."
"I see. Makes sense. And hey, there's no need for thanks. Blood related or not, it's an uncle's duty to protect of his nephew. Not to mention if I didn't, there's a good chance Gam would've had my head if something happened to his little boy on my watch." He said jestingly.
"I'm inclined to believe you on that." We shared a small laugh and I sat back down. "Guess I'll be leeching on you from now on." I joked.
"Hah! Go right ahead!" He laughed. "What's one more brat when I've got two leeching off of me already?"
The two brats in question then joined the fray in objection.
First was Melissa.
"Excuse me, sir. I'd understand if you were talking about this one, but I for one am not a leech or a brat."
Then Peyton.
"And just who do you think you're referring to when you say 'this one', huh?"
"Sorry? I thought that was obvious."
"You wanna go, sister!?"
"No way in hell, you'd break me in half."
They continued their bickering as a long tired sigh permeated through the entire room.
~Sigh~
"You look tired. Are you okay?" I looked at the person the sigh came from, uttering these words. It was Chadwick.
"Not really. I'm constantly having to activate my Composure Skill every time I'm around them." He answered. His right hand lightly placed on the right half of his forehead, his right elbow resting on his desk, along with the entire lower half of his left arm.
"Sounds rough."
"It is. It's become a part of my training at this point. The Skill was F-Rank when I got it, but now it's already reached S-Rank." He smiled faintly, it wasn't a positive smile though. Far from it unfortunately.
"When did you get it?"
"Last week."
"Yeesh."
"Yeah."
"It may not look like much to me, but that's only because my growth rate is monstrous compared to other Warriors. In actuality, getting an F-Rank Skill to reach S-Rank would usually take years for an S-Rank Warrior. So him doing it in a week is actually an incredible feat. The only thing that sucks is that that was only made possible due to the stress these two cause for him. And I'm inclined to believe that old man-Gam might've had a hand in it as well. Ahh, how I truly pity this man."
"But enough about that." Reorganizing himself with expertise, like the true leader he is, he got up from his chair. "Time to get to business." He said.
"I'm sure he means the sparring match."
"But first…" He added. "We oughta get you changed into something a little more…not burnt to a crisp. Seriously. Why did you come here in that get up anyway?" He asked.
"It was my retaliation to a certain someone who basically forced me to come here." The certain someone looked to the side and started whistling as soon as I said that.
"Well, we can't have you fighting in that. Or…literally doing anything else for that matter so, 'certain someone', Melissa, while I get our new friend here some nice battle gear, you two prepare one of our training rooms for the sparring match, okay?"
"… Okay."
"Yes sir." Melissa responded, following Peyton, who paused at first at first for some…'certain' reason. "You'll find us in Training Room Seven." Melissa added as both girls left the office.
"Now then." Said Chadwick. "Wanna see something cool?"
"Do you even have to ask?" I replied.
"I guess not." He laughed.
He then started tapping on his table repeatedly. It had a screen the size of a tablet that looked like it was embedded on it. When he finished. The entire right wall from my side opened up like a sliding door, revealing a large variety of clothing.
"No way! You have a wardrobe in your office?!"
"I have just about everything in my office."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, heck I could even live here if I wanted to. But the house I own is way better."
"Wow. It pays to be a Manager, I see."
"You have no idea. Even most Family Heads and Guildmasters don't have as much influence as a Manager. Now, let me see what I can get you here, since you'll be fighting, here's an adjustable spandex, top it off with black soldier pants and a simple grey striped long sleeve shirt. Oh and don't worry, they're pretty durable. It's Magic Armor after all." He said as he took them all out from the hanging line in the wardrobe and gave them to me.
"Thanks." I replied.
"And as for footwear. These boots should do the trick." He walked across the wardrobe and found fancy brown light boots.
"Nice." I took them then entered the wardrobe as he stepped out. It was a very spacious wardrobe, enough to fit more than ten people and still have room so there was more than enough space for me to change.
While I did, my thoughts only wandered.
"I wonder what the girls are up to."
*******
"Uhm…Pey. Could you fill me in on what I missed back there?"
It was Melissa who asked Peyton this question almost immediately after they had left Chadwick's office. It seemed as if something had been weighing on her mind.
"What do you mean?" Peyton queried.
"Well, I get that it's unheard of for a Warrior to possess a Skill Ranked four Ranks above their own so an F-Rank having an A-Rank Skill isn't exactly something to scoff at, but it's just one A-Rank Skill, right? He could've just gotten lucky after obtaining a Class no one really knew anything about other than that it was the weakest in the world. So what exactly is so special about Raid that the boss, an S-Rank Warrior would say that he's never seen anyone with as much potential as him? Not to mention, when he asked you, all you said was that he was weird, what exactly did you mean by that?"
"It was a B-Rank Skill just earlier today though." Peyton thought. "He advanced it to A-Rank in a single day. He did, in a few measly hours, something that usually takes S-Rank Warriors months to achieve."
"Melissa."
"…uh-oh, you're using my actual name. You only ever do that when the situation is that serious." Said Melissa in response.
"Because it is. You remember the three Levels at which Special Attacks, Skills and Spells can affect the world, right?" Asked Peyton. This would've been a stupid question if she had asked it genuinely, for it was obvious to the two of them that whatever the answer to this question was, Melissa, being a high level Warrior more so experienced than even Peyton, knew it. Hence there was no valid reason to ask such a question, unless it was for the purpose of carrying a very detailed and serious conversation. Otherwise, Melissa would've been very offended, if anything. Having knowing this, Melissa answered the question with honest sincerity, intentionally ignoring its obvious rhetorical nature.
"Of course, the Three Affect Levels. There's the first Level, Physical, the second, Spiritual, and finally the third, Conceptual." Melissa explained. "Low level A-Ranks whose Mana Capacity Stat is less than halfway through to reaching the A-Rank Maximum, along with all Warriors Ranked E-Rank to B-Rank can only affect the world on a Physical Level with their powers. High Ranked A-Ranks like you and me, however, whose Mana Capacity Stat has gone passed halfway through to reaching the A-Rank Maximum, have the ability to launch Spells, Skills and Special Attacks that affect the world on a Spiritual Level, the same is true for all S-Rank Warriors as well. Meanwhile, the Eighteen Generals and the Six Emperors are the only Warriors in the world who have abilities that can affect reality on a Conceptual Level. Still though, including the Eighteen Generals and Six Emperors, no Warrior in the world has been found to possess a single Spell, Skill or Special Attack that affects reality on two or more Levels at the same time."
"Exactly. At least, that's what I believed as well…until that walking cheat code came along." Said Peyton.
"What do you mean?" Asked Melissa with a curious tone.
"You know what my Truth-Seeking Eyes Skill does, right?"
"Yeah, it basically makes you a living polygraph, right?"
"Please be serious."
"Fiiine." Melissa said with a sigh. "Being able to tell when someone's lying is only a fraction of what it's capable of, right? With a single glance, you can find out just about everything about anything, but what does that have to do with-"
"When I was in that Dungeon with Raid." Peyton interrupted. "During his fight with the Boss, he used a Special Attack, I activated my Truth-Seeking Eyes Skill on pure instinct alone before he launched it and man was it truly 'special'. We've long since believed that there're only three Levels to which our abilities as Warriors affect the world and that they can't do so at two or more Levels simultaneously at that. It's said that any and all aftereffects that occur from an ability affecting the world on either one of the three Levels are just that, aftereffects, and therefore cannot be counted as additional affects on reality by the ability in question."
"And even if they were to be counted..."
"They'd be classified as ''affects'' that only occur when an ability affects the world on a Spiritual or Conceptual Level, and not on a Physical one. Something like a second-hand affect, since it's impossible to have an aftereffect that tempers with reality on a higher Level from an ability whose initial affect was that of on a lower Level."
"Meaning that it'd still be impossible to have an ability that goes from affecting the world on a Physical Level to affecting it on a Spiritual Level, or from a Spiritual Level to a Conceptual Level."
"Exactly, this has always been a fact every Warrior in the world knew. Basically common sense, but Raid practically destroyed said-common sense for me in that Dungeon. You see, not only did his attack on the Dungeon Boss affect reality on all three Levels simultaneously, when I used my Skill on it to analyze it, I also sensed a fourth Level."
"What!?" Melissa couldn't help but be shocked. It was unthinkable, unbelievable, but she had no choice but to believe it. After all, the person who was telling her all this was the one person she trusted more than anyone else in the entire world. More than even Chadwick. She knew Peyton, she had no reason to lie about something like that, and she wasn't so clumsy that she'd make a mistake. Among all the A-Ranked Warriors working in the Niger Branch of the Warriors Association, Peyton was the only one who could rival Melissa in a duel. "A Special Attack that affects the world on all Levels simultaneously. And a fourth Level to boot. Is that even-"
"Possible? It shouldn't be…but I know what I saw." Said Peyton.
"Then… What exactly is this 'new' Level?" Asked a curious Melissa.
"That's just it. I have no idea. My Skill couldn't find out anything about this unknown Level. I could only briefly sense it. That there was something else that Raid's attack was doing to reality. As to what that something was, there was nothing. It was almost as if the Level itself was something way beyond my understanding and beyond what my Skill could find out."
"You're starting to scare me."
"Join the club. I'm pretty terrified myself and that's not even all."
"There's more!?"
"Oh yeah, sister. There's more."
Melissa was slowly getting more and more exhausted as she listened to Peyton. They took an elevator to the 14th Floor, where the training rooms were as Peyton continued explaining.
"After he defeated the Goblin Lord, the Dungeon Boss..." She said. "I was still a bit out of it so I decided to use my Truth-Seeking Eyes Skill on him instead. As usual, I couldn't see his Skills and Stats due to the restrictions of the System, but in addition to that, unlike when I use it on other people, I couldn't find out anything else about him other than the basic stuff. His measurements, name, the fact that he's a 19 year old black male and that he's an F-Rank Warrior. Instead, in place of the unlimited amount of information that would've been, all I could sense was darkness, a void, an endless emptiness that stretched far beyond anything I could ever imagine. And then, when I looked at him, he didn't react. He couldn't tell that I was analyzing him, which means…"
"…that he unconsciously resisted your Skill. The only SSS-Rank Skill in the world that's owned by an A-Rank. A Skill not even the Eighteen Generals or the Six Emperors can resist."
"Exactly. I can tell you the exact number of cells or atoms that make up a person with a single look. Or the nature of their soul. Their physical capabilities. Whether they're good or evil. The type of life they've lived. The experiences they've had. Everything about their past. Their thoughts and memories. Their hopes and dreams. Their likes, dislikes and personality. Their most deep-seated of secrets. Their desires and their greatest fears. All that and more. As the name entails, my eyes seek the truth in everything they see. But I couldn't see any of that in Raid. It was almost as if there was no truth to seek. And that right there, is why I said he was weird…"
…
"Uhm…Melly? What's wrong?" Peyton stopped to ask noticing that Melissa wasn't walking on the same pace as she was anymore. She simply stood behind while looking down.
"Pey?" She said.
"Yeah?" Peyton replied with a confused look directed at her friend.
"I don't wanna fight him anymore." Melissa looked at Peyton. She had her usual somewhat dim expression, except now her eyes were slightly teary.
This was her true personality as a Warrior. She was strong. Really strong. As strong as Peyton, but she had a tendency to look down on herself when it came to battle, even as she fought opponents weaker than her. And even as she mostly wore a slight dim expression on her face, she was a really playful person, and very kindhearted. She cared deeply about all who were close to her.
"I know what you mean." Peyton said in an attempt to comfort Melissa. "I myself would hate to have to fight him too. Thing is…I think he might want to fight me. I got the sense that he was somewhat of a battle junkie when he fought the Goblin Lord…but you've got nothing to worry about, I don't think he'd intentionally hurt you, and despite what you may think, you've proven countless times how much of a powerhouse you are."
"… Okay, but if your boyfriend ends up killing me, you're taking responsibility." Melissa finally calmed down to take a jab at Peyton.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Peyton lashed out in embarrassment.
"Yeah, but you want him to be, right?"
"N-no I don't! Shut up!" She lashed out again, her cheeks turning redder by the second.
"God, you're easy." Said Melissa.
"… Now I definitely want Raid to give you a beating." Peyton smirked.
"Ouch." Replied Melissa. "You really do hate me, don't you?" She asked.
"Yes." Answered Peyton.
"Well… I still love you with all of me, my adorable little sister." Said Melissa.
"I know." Peyton replied.
They had arrived at Training Room 7 in the 14th Floor. They went inside and started prepping for the spar.
*******
I had finished dressing up, and I have to say, I looked good.
"But if I'm being honest. I look good in anything. Even my burnt clothes were a vibe."
"I can tell by that look on your face alone how much you're feeling yourself right now." Said Chadwick.
"Seriously. If you keep figuring me out so perfectly like that, I'll start to get scared. Don't tell me you have some weird mind reading Skill like Peyton too." I said in retaliation.
"Nah kid, you're just easy. Not to mention, you're a lot more like 'him' than I think you care to realize." He replied.
"Whoa, careful there old man, or you'll cause me to have an identity crisis."
"'Old man'? Listen, I know I look older than him but it's no secret that he's definitely lived longer. Just call me Uncle Chadwick from now on, okay?"
"Do you think old man-Gam wanted me to call him 'old man-Gam'? You don't get to pick what I call you, that's just not how it works." I said.
"I would think that it is in my case since I control your paycheck." He gave me a genuine looking smile as he said that. Genuine 'looking'. Not actually genuine.
"Uncle Chadwick!" I said enthusiastically. "Tch, that sly devil!" I thought. "Have I told you just how mighty fine you look today?" I added.
"I don't believe you have." He replied. "Do I really?" He asked condescendingly.
"Of course." I replied. "Why good sir, you don't look a day over sixty! That's in Warrior years by the way."
"Ah, what a respectful young nephew you are. Yes. Now then, let's see how good you fight."
"… Alright." I followed him as he walked towards the right side back corner of his office.
"Is that…?"
"I told you, I have just about everything in this office."
It was one of those teleportation elevators.
"To think he's got his own personal elevator to take him to any floor he wants in the building. Managers really do live it up, don't they?"
We then stepped on to the cylinder surface of the elevator as the control panel popped up. Chadwick pressed the button to the 14th Floor and we were there in an instant.
"That's gonna take some getting used to." I thought while we existed the elevator and then started walking around, passing multiple Training Rooms, namely 1 through 6, until we arrived at Training Room 7.
He then unlocked the room using retinal scan as its doors slid open. We entered and saw Peyton and Melissa chatting while sitting on a large surface arena situated in the middle of the entire room, taking most of its space. On one side of the arena, was a large variety of weapons placed very neatly and orderly. There were spears, swords, shields, daggers, etc…
They weren't Magic Weapons so they had no Grades and Stages meaning anyone could use them.
Opposite to the entrance and where the weapons were placed, were seating arrangements similar to those in sport stadiums.
Chadwick and I then walked over to Peyton and Melissa.
"Heyyo." I said raising my hand.
"Oh, look at you." Peyton sized me up.
"I know, right? I look good, don't I?" I fished for a compliment. Sadly, her reply solidified that I'd have not a single catch.
"Well we can't have you getting your ass kicked in terrible get up, now can we?"
"Mean."
"Okay Pey, I gotta ask…just whose side are you on exactly…?" Melissa joined in on the conversation. "Didn't you say that you wanted me to get beat up by Raid a few minutes ago?"
"No way, she said that?" I asked looking at Melissa.
"Yeah…" She answered. "She also had a lot of other things to say about you."
"Oh god. Not bad things I hope."
"Try terrifying…"
"Hm?"
"Terrifying? What about me is terrifying?" I then looked at Peyton as she looked back at me. "… Just what lies did you spout to her about me you big oaf?"
"… Just the truth. Or at least as I know it, anyway." She answered nonchalantly.
"Now I don't even wanna know anymore. Whatever, let's just get this show on the road." I went to check out the weapons. Melissa followed while Peyton and Chadwick got off the arena to go the seating arrangements on the side.
There were lots of weapons to choose from but what I picked instead must've caught everybody off guard.
"I didn't expect you to pick a spear." Said Melissa.
"What did you think I'd pick?"
"Well, Peyton told me you regularly used archery and a blade you created this one time so I thought it'd be around that area."
"Yeah, I wanted to test a new Skill of mine then. It's the same now too."
"I feel slightly insulted by that. Do you think of me as some sort of practice dummy?"
"Please don't look at it like that. You're the first A-Rank I'll be fighting, if I trained with somebody weaker than you, I'd be wasting my time."
"Well when you put it like that, I feel compelled to not disappoint. So… I won't hold back." She declared, picking a longsword from the weaponry and performing a sideways slash with it. It was big, almost the same size as her but she handled it like a stick. A freaking stick!
Wind gushed violently as a result of her slash, as if to convey the amount of force it had in it.
"Fucking monster."
"Heh." I chuckled. "Thanks for that. Please, don't hold back on my sake. Even if you may end up killing me. If I can't beat you at your best, then that'd just mean that I'm all talk."
"… She was right. You are a junkie."
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
We climbed back up on the arena and took our positions.
Chadwick then spoke.
"Alright, the rules are simple. Use of Spells and Special Attacks is prohibited, only Skills are allowed. The winner is decided when one has disarmed their opponent and/or has them in a near fatal position. Now then. Begin!" He declared.
As soon he did, Melissa was gone. I looked around. I couldn't see her but I could still sense her.
I looked up and there she was, above me, coming down at an incredible speed. Her sword in tow, ready to deliver her first attack, a downward slash.
~Ting!~
~Clank!~
~Screech!~
The sounds of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the entire room, followed by a screech as the two objects slid roughly against each other. It was her longsword and my spear. I had countered her slash with the spear immediately after activating the newly obtained Lancer Skill in addition to Cultivator, Astral Unification, Soul-Piercing Eyes and Bladework.
I quickly acted immediately after that and side flipped over Melissa then backed away to create some distance.
"Amazing, I had to activate that many Skills just to counter a single attack. An A-Rank, huh? What a monster. Truly. I can only imagine what S-Ranks are capable of. But it's crazy, I don't feel threatened at all. Rather..."
I felt excited. My hands were shaking, along with the spear.
"Ever since becoming a Warrior, I never felt a single challenge. Looking back on it now, everything was a tad too easy…" I thought. "Yeah, I need this. To know how far I've gone, and how much further I can go!"
Activating Hypermove, which quadrupled my speed, I dashed quickly toward Melissa. She did the same. We clashed.
Our weapons bumped off one another.
~Clank!~
"Incredible." Said Melissa. "I can tell from the color of the Mana surrounding your weapon that it's an E-Rank Skill you're using but it's countering my A-Rank sword Skill so perfectly. How are you doing that?" She asked.
"I'm using other higher Ranked Skills to support it." I answered.
"Wow, I never even thought that was something that could be done, unless it was a Spell or a Special Attack. Using multiple Skills for a single purpose like that." She commended as we fought.
"Thanks." I replied.
She was launching a large number of slashes continually. While I simply parried and dodged them.
I made sure to keep a favorable distance since I was using a spear. As we kept fighting, she kept getting faster and more vicious. I was slowly losing my ground as she gradually gained more of hers. She wasn't even using just her sword anymore. As soon as she got close enough, she would attempt to punch and kick me. I dodged every attack with expertise but it was obvious that I wouldn't last long if I didn't rethink my strategy. I would attempt to create some distance, but every time I did, she would quickly dash towards me to cover it then keep her assault.
"Smart. She's taking advantage of my shortcomings with using the spear. Not to mention…she's annoyingly fast. Her speed's already way over a hundred times that of sound." I kept dodging her attacks. The spear was losing its usefulness what with always being forced to fight in close range.
"I can't let that happen… If I can't use the spear then I can't advance the new Skill to a higher Rank."
She launched a large horizontal slash as I was lost in thought, I did a side flip to dodge it. As soon as I landed, I caught a glimpse of a big sharp object approaching me at the corner of my eye. It was her longsword.
"Again!?" She had gotten even faster. I guessed she might've had a few A-Rank Skills activated.
"Maybe even S-Rank. She was already immeasurably faster than the Goblin Lord ever was the moment this fight started, and now this!?" I activated Treasure Hunt and Fury of Dantian for the simple purpose of increasing my Mana Capacity and perception speed, circulating my Mana across my whole body to increase my physical capabilities.
Doing that, I dodged her second slash by ducking down as her sword cut off some of my hair.
"My beautiful spike!" I screamed internally. "That's it! I'm done messing around!" I activated Item Space. Then waved my spear behind me with my right hand and clenched my left fist to deliver a punch to her stomach. She immediately countered it by placing her longsword over her stomach. The force of the impact catapulted her 5+ meters away from me. I then started concentrating, circulating my Mana.
"Nine whole Skills. This is it. That challenge I've been looking for. I can feel it. This is exhilarating, I'm excited."
I made Lancer the main running system, drew out as much Mana as I could with Cultivator and Item Space, used Astral Unification to synergize that Mana, used Fury of Dantian to gather it all in my Dantian, and used Astral Unification again to synergize the Bladework Skill, Treasure Hunt Skill, Soul-Piercing Eyes Skill and Hypermove Skill to drastically increase my overall Stats as well as improve my perception speed. I was in full gear. A large amount of Mana was surging from within me, everyone in the room felt it. Most of all Melissa.
"You don't have just one A-Rank Skill, do you?" She asked as she looked at me.
"No." I answered. I was glowing. My Mana was overflowing, it was too much that it couldn't be contained within my body as it was, so everyone saw it. The intense orange light enveloping my entire body.
".... Do you still wish to continue?" Asked Melissa.
I thought it over. I really didn't expect her to ask me something like that but oddly enough, I understood why…
And as for my answer…
*******
"He really is incredible." Thought Melissa.
"That F-Rank title. To think he'd make it seem like a simple joke so easily." This was after Raid had countered her first attack.
"No B-Rank would've been able to do that. Even some low level A-Ranks would've struggled and yet he parried my attack so perfectly. I knew he was a monster from Pey's words, but now that I'm seeing it for myself, it's a hell of a lot different…"
As she thought that, Raid then attacked.
"Fast." She thought.
They clashed as their weapons bumped against each other.
"I can tell from the grey Mana surrounding his spear that he's using an E-Rank Skill so why can't my A-Rank Swordmaster Skill overpower him. Should I ask him?"
"Incredible. I can tell from the color of the Mana surrounding your weapon that it's an E-Rank Skill you're using but it's countering my A-Rank sword Skill so perfectly. How are you doing that?" She asked.
"I'm using other higher Ranked Skills to support it." Raid replied.
"What? He's insane. Instead of just using whatever high Ranked Skills he has to fight me, he's instead using them to give support to a lower Ranked Skill so it can advance to a higher Rank? I've never even thought of something like that. People mostly only combine Skills like that when they hope to get lucky and get a Special Attack out of it or to create a Spell." She thought. Her fight with Raid still in progress.
"But then again, there tends to be some Skills that are hard to advance to higher Ranks no matter how constantly you use them. If you use other Skills to support the specific Skill you want to advance, you could theoretically increase your chance of it reaching a higher Rank. For him to even think of that however when no one else ever has. Truly, he really is incredible. Still, he's nowhere near as strong as he could be. It's his potential that's scary, not his current strength…" Almost as if that thought alone was a catalyst, she began a full assault on her opponent.
"I'll activate the S-Rank Sub-Skill Secretary's Diligence which significantly increases all my Stats.... Now then, let's begin."
She clenched her fist, tightening her grip on her longsword as she began to attack.
She launched consecutive slashes towards Raid restlessly as he kept dodging and parrying them.
"Impressive. To think he'd still be able to keep up even now… Still, I have him cornered. Let's keep the momentum. Next, I'll activate my S-Rank Black Belt Skill."
She changed her tactic. Not attacking with just her sword anymore, she launched kicks and punches from all directions. Raid tried to create some distance to find some common ground, but she wouldn't let him.
"I won't let you!"
See?
Anyway. She dashed towards him as soon as he attempted to move back and kept her assault.
"That spear of his is way longer than my sword, making it hard for him to attack me at close range. So now I'll activated the S-Rank Sub-Skill Secretary's Vigilance and increase my speed and perception all the more."
Using that momentum, she immediately launched a large horizontal slash at Raid. Raid dodged with a side flip.
She immediately turned her sword before Raid could even land back down and as soon as he did, he was met with a big sharp object approaching him at the corner of his eye. It was Melissa's longsword.
Raid quickly ducked down to evade it, as the longsword flew a few centimeters above Raid's head, cutting out a bit of his hair.
"He dodged that to-!"
~Bam!~
She couldn't help but be surprised by what had happened. For some reason, Raid had gotten faster and even landed a blow to her for the very first time, catapulting her a fair distance away from him.
"I was able to block using my longsword, but if I hadn't, he would've landed the first decisive blow ever since this fight started. Using that momentum, he could've totally flipped everything over to his favor… What a monster." She thought.
However, it was what happened next that made her shudder.
"Hold on… What is this feeling?" She wondered as she looked at Raid. "That Mana… so pure. And that color, orange. Is he finally using that A-Rank Skill of his? No…it's not just that, he kept getting faster and stronger, the same way I was, I only had a suspicion before, but now I've confirmed it, there's no doubt in my mind, he has multiple A-Rank Skills…" She thought.
"You don't have just one A-Rank Skill, do you?" She asked as she looked at Raid.
"No." Raid answered.
"Of course…but still, the feeling I just had, it wasn't from his Skills, or his Mana, regardless of how pure it is… It was something else. Something that vanished as quick as it emerged, I can't put my finger on it, Secretary's Vigilance's got nothing too, I can't even begin to understand it… Beyond comprehension…is that what Pey…?"
".... Do you still wish to continue?" She asked Raid.
Though a bit bewildered, Raid knew what she meant by that question. At that point in time, Raid had already proven himself. That he was more than qualified to explore S-Rank Dungeons. Everyone in the room felt it. Most of all Melissa. But most importantly Chadwick. He now had no choice but to accept it. Thirty minutes may or may not have been up-since everyone was so absorbed in the fight, neither of them knew for sure-but that wasn't important anymore. Raid was indeed stronger than an average A-Rank Warrior, and that's all that mattered. So why would the battle continue?
There's was only one reason. The Warrior's pride.
Raid had already resolved himself. Having gathered as much power as he did.
Melissa was also eager. To see just how far Raid would go.
So Raid's answer was easily predictable…
*******
"Yes." I said. "That's if it's okay with you, of course."
"Of course it is." Melissa replied with a thin smile. "If I'm being honest with you, I'm very interested in seeing what you got, I've never felt like this about anyone mind you. I actually don't like fighting. So in a sense, I think you might be rubbing off on me."
"Heheh, I tend to have that affect on people. Okay then, let's do this, ready when you are." I said.
"Are you really?"
"Huh-"
~Clank!~
"Incredible." I thought. "Her speed increased dramatically. Another high Ranked Skill?"
All in basically an instant, she had disappeared and reappeared in front of me, her longsword in tow, thrusting straight for my midsection. I countered it with my spear parrying it to the side.
"Good work." She said. "If you hadn't done that, there's a good chance you might've died."
"Not really, since I have a regeneration Skill…but she doesn't need to know that."
"Yeah, tell me about it." I said.
"Or maybe not…" She replied.
"Hm?"
"Never mind."
"Odd but whatever, time to get serious." I charged at her immediately. All the Skills I had activated were running on full gear. I was at my strongest state ever. Cultivator perfectly circulating my Mana with expertise while Fury of Dantian kept it grounded and doubled up on its quality and quantity by multiplying it seven-fold. Hypermove increasing my speed dramatically while coating my body with protective electric Mana, Bladework increasing all my Physical Related Stats, Treasure Hunt bettering my sensory perception and perception speed same as Soul-Piercing Eyes while allowing me to spot various weak points in Melissa's fighting style, though putting them to use was tricky, they still mattered. Item Space stacking up on my already insane Mana Capacity, heightening my senses even further as well. Lancer bettering my overall fighting style in spearmanship and finally Astral Unification, acting as the link between all Skills. I began my assault on Melissa.
Continually launching piercing attacks. She dodged them all but now she was the one slowly losing her ground. She kept attempting to come at me close range but I made that impossible for her by making sure that my spear always came between us. I left her no choice but to rely on her longsword a lot more as she kept parrying my attacks with it.
Our weapons kept clashing as our spectators kept quiet and only watched. The sounds continuously echoed across the entire room.
Slowly but surely, my spearmanship was getting a lot better.
"Alright, time to finish this!" I declared internally.
I activated the Bullseye Skill and launched a diagonal slash with the spear. Melissa parried it to the side, ultimately pushing me back. Seeing the opening, she quickly acted by dashing towards me to attack. Little did she know, I baited her.
I threw my spear over to my left hand, holding it in the middle then spun anticlockwise as she dashed toward me and attacked her with a rotating slash.
~Swoop!~
She dodged it as she bent her body backwards, ultimately sliding under my left arm.
"As expected."
I was far from done. Taking advantage of her blind spot and decreased momentum when she dodged my attack, I quickly threw my spear back over to my right hand then immediately threw it at her.
She noticed as soon as she looked back then parried the spear with her longsword sending it flying upward.
"You threw your spear. That was foolish." She ran towards me to attack.
"Are you sure about that?" I asked condescendingly while pointing behind her.
"What?" She couldn't help but look. "How?" And also couldn't help but question with amazement as she saw my spear coming straight at her.
I had used the Bullseye Skill on the spear, so it wouldn't stop coming after her unless she destroyed it, or if… you know, it… killed her.
She quickly parried it once more, sending it flying upwards again.
After that, she looked back to where I was standing.
I wasn't there anymore.
She looked to the other side.
She still couldn't see me.
She looked all around her.
I was nowhere to be found.
Then it clicked.
"Above you!" I shouted.
She looked up and there I was. Coming down at an incredible speed. My spear in tow, ready to deliver my last attack, a downward slash.
~Ting!~
~Clank!~
~Clank!~
The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed throughout the entire room, followed by two loud clanks as the two objects roughly penetrated the surface of the arena. It was her longsword and my spear. She had countered my slash with the longsword.
The clash caused both of our weapons to catapult out of our hands simultaneously.
Hence… There was no winner.
"A draw." I said quietly.
"Seems like it." Melissa added.
"Alright!" Chadwick said loudly, getting up from his seat and approaching us while Peyton followed. "I've seen all I need to see." He added. "You surprised me kid. A draw with Melissa of all people. That's no easy feat…you definitely have what it takes to explore S-Rank Dungeons."
"Told you." I said.
"Yeah, yeah…" He replied with a small laugh. "I need to go handle out your Dungeon Exploration Permit. That and solidify your position here. Meanwhile, Peyton and Melissa will get you sorted out on other stuff. Alright, have a good one you buncha rascals." He waved as he left the Training Room.
"What a weird old man." I thought as I sighed.
[Report. Advancements in the Subject's overall Warrior info have been detected as a result of recent actions.]
"Ignore… I'll check it out once I'm alone."
"Hah! I'm beat." I purposely fell backwards and laid down on my back.
"I'm with you there." Melissa sat down next to me.
"Yeah, me too." Peyton joined as she also sat down.
"Hold on…" I said. "What exactly did you do that made you so tired?" I asked.
"If I recall correctly, she just sat there and watched, looking like a total idiot while we were fighting." Said Melissa.
"Hey!" Peyton shouted.
"Heheh, good one!" I said as Melissa and I fist-pumped.
"Hold on, what is this? Why are you guys getting along so well when you only just met today?"
"It's only natural for Warriors to start rubbing elbows after having a battle like that." I said.
"My cute little sister brought me a cute little brother to play with, how can I not get along with him?" Melissa added.
"You guys are sisters?" I then asked.
"Not by blood…" Melissa answered. "But I've taken care of this little one almost her entire life." She added.
"Aww, that's adowable." I said.
"Isn't it?"
"Melly shut up! You're gonna embarrass me!" Peyton shouted as her cheeks turned red.
"Too late hun. You look pretty embarrassed to me already." I joked.
"… Oh, I get it now." Said Peyton. "You two must have a death wish." She added as her eyes, for some unknown reason, glowed a black light.
"Hey Raid."
"Yeah Melz?"
"We should run."
"I thought so too."
And we did.
"Get back here, the both of you!!!" Peyton yelled as she ran after us.
We ran out of the Training Room and headed towards the first elevator we saw.
"Okay so where are we going?" I asked Melissa.
"While we try to escape the wrath of Peyton. I'll see if I can show you around the building. Also we need to get you some working clothes so right now we'll be heading to the thirteenth floor." She said as we stepped on the elevator surface and she quickly had the elevator teleport us to the floor below.
Peyton was still after us. "I said get back here you two!"
"Sorry little sister." Said Melissa as she waved just before the elevator teleported us.
We then arrived at the 13th Floor.
"She'll be up here any second now so we have to move quickly."
We kept running around the halls, passing multiple rooms. I just followed her around until she stopped at a room labeled Uniform Services Room 14.
We entered inside. It was a very spacious room. Across each side of the room laid a placement of seven different variations of the same clothing. Formal wear was either black, white or both in some stylish way. Each style divided into a 'For Men' Section and a 'For Women' Section.
"I feel like I'm in some weird superhero movie. With suits instead of costumes."
"You're funny." Melissa replied while walking around.
"So I get to pick which one I wanna wear between all fourteen of these different styles?" I asked rhetorically.
"Yes." She answered me anyway.
"Hmm…" I walked around to take a look at all my options. I found nothing that resonated with me in the slightest.
Or at least, until I saw the last one.
"This…" I said as my eyes glowed in awe.
"I'll admit. Part of me kind of expected that."
"Then wonderful new older sister of mine, please get it for me."
"Are you only gonna call me that when you need something?"
"Probably."
"You really aren't that different from Gam Sukala."
"You know old man-Gam?"
"Of course… Although I didn't know he owned an orphanage. But you see, Chadwick basically raised us, me and Pey, so we've met Gam a few times." She explained then used retinal scan to unlock the pod containing the outfit I had chosen. It was dressed over a mannequin. She took it off then gave it to me.
"I see." I took the clothes off her hands. "…oh, about Peyton."
"Yeah?"
"I mean, of course it might have been my imagination but I think I saw her eyes glow a black light back there… Any chance you know anything about that?"
"Well, isn't it natural that they would do that since she activated her SSS-Rank Skill?"
"Hold on…so she has a SSS-Rank Skill?"
"Yeah, the only A-Rank in the world who does. It's called Truth-Seeking Eyes. Didn't she tell you about it?"
"Not that it was SSS-Rank, no…or that she's the only A-rank in the world who has one."
"If that's the case then. Doesn't that increase the probability of her being the strongest A-Rank and even more so her chances of becoming S-Rank? … No but, this makes Melissa incredibly special as well, since she's apparently the only A-Rank Warrior here who can rival Peyton."
"That explains it. There's no way I can ever hope to resist it then."
"Huh… So you really don't know…"
"Don't know what?"
"Nothing important, now go change, go, go, go." She started pushing me forward.
"Okay, okay, jeez. Weirdo."
At the far end of the room laid two doors placed next to each other, the fitting rooms. I entered one of them and started changing.
As I did, I started hearing the sounds of two voices coming from outside the fitting room. I guessed it was Melissa and Peyton.
"Before, I would've been confused as to how she found us so quickly, but now, I'd like to believe that a SSS-Rank Skill wouldn't be limited to just being able to tell when someone was lying."
So I simply decided to focus on my clothing. It was a nice tux.
"What a nice tux."
See?
Anyway. It was black with a white tie. Toppled with a foot long fancy coat that was all black on its right side and all white on its left. The shoes were also nice. They were white with black shoelaces. In all honestly, I didn't look like a Warrior anymore. I was far from looking like anyone you'd find in a Dungeon, going around killing monsters but I didn't hate it.
"It's great that Magic Armor is different from Magic Weaponry in that anyone can use them, even a normal human. They still have Grades but unlike Magic Weapons, Magic Armor only has three Grades and no Stages. Named after the three highest Ranks of Warriors with Great Grade as the lowest, Holy Grade as the middle, and finally, Divine Grade as the highest-worn only by the most influential people in the world, people like the Six Emperors, the Eighteen Generals, Association Managers, Country Leaders and so forth, Magic Armor is way more expensive than Magic Weaponry so even if normal humans can wear them without a problem, not everyone gets to be so lucky. Even most Warriors up to B-Rank don't get that luxury. And now here I am, wearing a Great Grade tuxedo, armor that can tank A-Rank level attacks. Of course I'm salivating."
I stepped out of the fitting room after dressing up, seeing Peyton and Melissa. Peyton looked like she had calmed down. Must've been Melissa's doing.
"She really knows how to handle her."
"You seemed to have calmed down."
"Shut up.... You look decent." She said.
"Just say it, I look amazing."
"I think you got that part covered."
"Okay, be that way."
She only lightly chuckled as I said that.
Melissa then joined. "We should take him to see the lobby now that he's all settled."
"Lobby?"
"Yeah, come with us." Said Peyton.
I followed them out of the room as we then took the Main Elevator to the 18th Floor. As soon as we arrived, I was met with quite the scene. It was incredibly spacious room. The biggest I'd ever been in since coming here. It was circular in shape.
We stepped out of the elevator surface. We were on a large balcony that circled half the entire space and had stairways going down from each side, leading to the floor's surface.
I looked down from up the balcony, there were countless people just simply going about their day, all wearing the company uniform, just with different variations. In the center of the room was a big white fancy fountain and seating arrangements placed around it accordingly. Surrounding the other half of the room were five elevators placed in circular formation. Multiple employees kept coming and going. It was a wonderful spectacle to behold.
"Now then, allow me to be the first to officially do this." Peyton looked at me and added. "Raid. Welcome…to the Warriors Association."
"Heh." I smiled.
"So. What do you think?" Melissa joined. "Not bad, huh?"
"Yeah…not bad." I answered. "Not bad at all."