The Verdant Vandals were adamant about traveling back to the Adventurer's Guild together. Kaelus, however, needed an excuse to travel at his own pace.
"I appreciate the thought," Kaelus told the party, "but I still need to complete the herb collection quest I initially took. I promised the client a fresh batch. You all should head straight to the Guild." He didn't mention that a four-day journey would only take him two days thanks to Gale Dash.
Faelar Moonwhisper, the elven archer, stood a little distance away, her face flushed as she watched him. Gron glanced at Faelar, sensing the unrequited affection, but he kept silent.
Kaelus, completely oblivious to the archer's feelings, simply offered a genuine smile. "Goodbye, and safe travels to you all."
He said his goodbyes and watched them depart before taking off in the opposite direction.
Two days later, having finished his own tasks and filed the successful (and deceptively simple) herb collection quest, Kaelus returned to the city. He bypassed the bustling chaos of the Adventurer's Guild. Instead, he headed directly to Grolnuk's armory.
He found the artificer where he usually was: hunched over an anvil, hammering a piece of glowing metal with focused, rhythmic force. Grolnuk's public workshop was crowded, with a few curious customers browsing the finished wares—dwarven axes, reinforced shields, and specialty armor plates.
"I'm back, Mr. Grolnuk," Kaelus announced, stepping carefully over a stack of rusted gears and discarded forge slag.
Grolnuk paused his hammering, wiping a streak of sweat and soot from his brow with the back of a forearm. "Kaelus, I didn't expect to see you too soon. Did you run out of herbs already?"
"I think I need to speak to you alone," Kaelus said, his voice low enough to avoid being heard by the browsing customers.
Grolnuk straightened up, sensing the shift in the young man's demeanor. "It must be important, then." He quickly dismissed his customers with a series of brusque promises to finish their orders later. Once the shop was empty, the two of them retreated to Grolnuk's private office, a small, heavily shielded room tucked deep behind the forge.
"I brought something you might appreciate," Kaelus said, reaching into his pack and pulling out the two large, crimson-hued fangs of the Crimson Orc. They gleamed wickedly under the dim lamp.
Grolnuk finally looked up, his eyes immediately locking onto the teeth. His usual gruff demeanor dissolved into a look of pure, almost childlike excitement. He snatched them up, his large fingers gingerly testing their edges.
"Crimson Orc fangs! The density, the elemental saturation... these are perfect, absolutely pristine!" he exclaimed, holding them up to the light. "The carbon crystallization is flawless! Lad, where in the name of the earth did you get these?"
"I just encountered a Crimson Orc while completing a Red Orc subjugation mission near Valeridge," Kaelus replied simply, omitting the part where he used a shonen manga technique to turn an F-rank quest into an A-rank encounter.
Grolnuk gave Kaelus a long, assessing look, the excitement settling back into shrewd calculation. "I will not ask you how a peak 4-Star F-rank adventurer defeated an A-rank monster, Kaelus. Let's just say I think you're stronger than I initially thought you were. I will buy these fangs for 400 gold. What do you think?"
"I think it's fair," Kaelus agreed, watching the dwarf carefully.
"Also, I need to ask you something important. It's about the dragon who gave your ancestor the scale," Kaelus continued, moving quickly to his real objective.
Grolnuk chuckled, a dry, rattling sound. He tucked the fangs safely into a velvet-lined drawer. "Why? What seems to be so interesting about a millennium-old story? You want to slay a dragon or something?" he joked, not taking the question seriously.
"No," Kaelus said, his voice level and entirely serious. "I'm just asking where that dragon is now."
Grolnuk stopped smiling. The sound of the main forge outside seemed to vanish as he looked hard at Kaelus, noting the profound seriousness in his young eyes. "Hmm. Look, lad, I don't know why you're asking these questions all of a sudden, and it must be important to you." He paused, his hands resting on the table. "How about this: in exchange for information about the dragon, I will give you a mission. It might turn out to be impossible to clear in the end."
"What is it?" Kaelus asked, intrigued by the challenge in the dwarf's voice.
Grolnuk leaned forward, his voice a low growl. "I need you to retrieve a genuine S-Rank monster core. Any element will suffice, but it must be absolutely pristine. Bring me that, and I'll tell you everything I know about the Verdant Dragon."
Two days later, Kaelus finally entered the Adventurer's Guild. He was immediately greeted by the receptionist, who was already blushing. It looked as if she had been waiting for his appearance at the guild.
Before Kaelus could even reach the counter, a broad-shouldered man approached him from the side.
"You must be Kaelus. I am Aethon Ironheart, the Guild Master of the Dragon's Fury Adventurer's Guild," the man said, his voice booming but friendly.
Kaelus looked over and saw the entire Verdant Vandals party sitting off to the side, all of them recovered and smiling.
"I already know what happened," the Guild Master said, cutting straight to the chase. He handed Kaelus a sleek, new adventurer card with a holographic image of "A-rank." "You are now officially an A-rank adventurer."
"Congratulations, Kaelus!" Gron shouted from his seat, clapping heartily. "You can take a true quest now! You don't have to 'accidentally' clear a higher rank quest anymore!"
Kaelus blushed slightly, realizing they had been debriefed and now knew all the details. "Ah, right, before I forget," Kaelus said, taking the pouch of core fragments and handing it to the Guild receptionist. "I need to convert these core fragments into coins. Take all of the coins and convert it to food and booze—I will treat all of you present here today!"
The Guild erupted in a joyous shout. Humans and demi-humans alike were cheering. The receptionist quickly calculated the massive haul from the Red Orcs and the Crimson Orc fragment, and soon, the Dragon's Fury Guild Hall transformed into an impromptu feast.
Tables were pushed aside, the food flowed freely, and the strong drink quickly followed. Kaelus, still sticking to juice, was constantly approached by adventurers who wanted to shake the hand of the new A-rank who had shot straight from F-rank in a single, audacious quest. The Verdant Vandals toasted him repeatedly, grateful for their lives and the immense compensation they received. The atmosphere was a chaotic mix of celebration and awe, cementing Kaelus's legendary status as the young adventurer who defied the ranking system.