Another week passes and Rayla and I manage to complete two more F-Rank Quests. One about accompanying a man from the bank to the mail office because he wanted to send a larger sum of money to his family and an urgent quest about helping out with a fire and the cleanup which gave us double the amount of points we’d usually get, putting us at 16 out of 40 points needed to advance to E-Rank.
I’m currently doing laps in the training area. I feel completely exhausted but for the first time I might actually be able to complete running ten laps spread over the day. The goal is to be able to do it in one continuous run but I’m still far off from that. Seeing the goal in sight I go for one last push and suddenly it is as if all my fatigue has left my body as a light emits from me and I finish the tenth lap.
Jason, a D-Ranked adventurer with long blue hair who has also been doing laps, then gives me a high five, “Ey! Congrats Charcoal on unlocking your first skill!”
“Is that what this is!?”
“Yeah, minor boost endurance. Remember the feeling you are experiencing now, it will take a bit of practice to be able to activate on command but I’m sure you’ll get it soon. It’s a useful skill to have but it also means that your body's maximal stamina is pretty low if you already unlocked it at this level.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Unlike spells, skills aren’t something you learn. They’re xxx. Technically everyone has the ability to unlock every skill that exists by pushing their body to their limits. The further your limits are the longer it will take to unlock a skill.”
“So, that means my endurance is pretty bad?”
Looking away awkwardly for a bit, he scratches the back of his head before looking back at me and answering honestly, “Essentially, yes. It means you have reached about a third of your max potential. But don’t worry too much about it, not every adventurer has to be a marathon runner, haha. Also now that you unlocked the skill your endurance will sharply increase even if your skill is not active. There is also an upside to having bad endurance, you’ll unlock moderate and higher endurance boosts a lot quicker than others. You might not reach the peak of those with more talent than you but you’ll be able to get to your peak sooner." He then gives me a thumbs up and a big smile, "Always remember, don’t measure yourself by others or copy them. Instead create a style that works for you. Either way, great job on pushing yourself Newbie. Meals are on me today.”
“Woah, thank you Jason!”
“Haha, no worries kid. I just want to reward your hard work. Now then, I gotta keep doing my laps too, see ya.”
“See ya! I’ve got to tell Uli about this!”
Happily, I run past the busy guild, almost bumping into Jared's crew on the way, run up the wooden stairs to her office and go inside.
“Hey Uli, are you busy?”
She looks up from her paperwork, “I’m always busy, but not busy enough that you can’t come by. What is it?”
“I just managed to unlock minor boost endurance!”
Raising an eyebrow before giving me an approving smile she answers, “Already? Great job, Thoma Ahad! I’m proud of you! Did you already finish the training plan I gave you?”
“No, not yet. But I did manage to run ten laps today for the first time. I did it in five different runs spread over the day.”
Her mood slightly dampened, she replies, “Is that so…How are your reading and writing lessons coming along? Are you practicing well?”
“Yeah! I can read slowly now and I’ve been practicing my letters. Madame Starner is very nice too!”
“That’s great. How about this, as a reward for working hard on your letters we can do your magical aptitude test tomorrow, so I know what teacher to find for you.”
“Really!? Can Rayla come too?”
“Sure, it doesn’t cost me extra to do one more test. Speaking off…" Uli suddenly gives me a creepy smile, "Why is it that today I got a xxx from a courier about Miss Rayla spending two big silver in my name on an enchanted journal? She hasn’t come to the guild yet today so I was not able to ask her personally… Do you happen to know why she did that~”
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Uh oh. Uli is pissed, REALLY pissed. She hides it behind a smile but even I can tell…
“Uh-uhm. Sh-she…”
“Go on, tell me. No need to be concerned, you're not going to be the one that is getting punished.”
“So…Rayla bought it as a gift for me and she said that you owed her.”
“Oh~? I wasn’t aware that I was owing Miss Rayla anything… Did she buy that note book for you to practice your writing in?”
“No, actually she did something very thoughtful. You know how I often say things that I then forget? Rayla thought she’d get a book where she writes down all those memories so that we can both remember them and maybe figure out who I was. She had it enchanted so it wouldn’t get damaged or destroyed.”
“Tsk Suddenly my anger has turned into annoyance. I’ll forgive her this time but this better not happen again without asking me first.”
“Y-yes Uli! I’ll make sure to tell her!”
“Good. Say…Thoma Ahad…”
“Yes?”
Giving me a sheepish look, Uli taps her finger on the desk when she asks, “Are you satisfied with your current living conditions?”
“Yeah, I have a roof over my head and get to eat. During the winters it is a bit cold but we have firewood.”
Giving me a smile she adds, “Well…I do have a big house…”
“Okay?”
“I have many guest rooms as well…”
“That sounds nice! I’m glad you can live well!”
“I…Never mind. Are you hungry? How about I pay for your meal today?”
“Oh! You don’t have to. Jason is paying for me today as a reward for unlocking my first skill!”
Seemingly a bit frustrated, she Uli goes back to pulling out her documents, “I see…Well, I have work to do but always feel free to come by whenever you want.”
“Okay, see ya Uli!”
“Yeah…See you as well Thoma Ahad…”
Going down I take a seat in the guild hall and order some food waiting for Rayla to come through the door. I’m about halfway done eating when she comes in, her hair is a complete mess.
“Sorry Thoma! I overslept!” she says as she sits down at my table looking pretty exhausted. It looks like she ran here.
“No worries….Say, do you notice something different about me? Do I give off a more mature appearance?”
Staring at me for a bit, she suddenly has a look of concern and anger on her face, “Don’t tell me…Did you lose your xxx!? Who was it!? You’re way too immature for that!”
“What? No, I unlocked my first skill. Minor boost endurance.”
Calming down, she still seems concerned when she answers, “Already? I mean…Great job! You must have worked really hard!”
“Yeah! I finished the tenth lap today and shortly before I did I activated it!”
“That’s really cool Thoma! I’m proud of you!”
“Thanks! Oh, also I talked to Uli and she says she forgives you for the notebook but that she won’t let you do something like that again without asking.”
“Phew…I mean…Just as expected!”
A distressed looking merchant wearing expensive silk then runs into the guild and talks to the woman at the counter.
“Look Thoma, if we’re lucky it’s another urgent quest. Hopefully it’s not ranked D or higher.”
The secretary seems to write some things down while the merchant puts down a sack of coins.
“Everyone, we have an urgent and dangerous E-Rank-”
“We’ll take it!” Rayla screams, causing some of the other people in the Guild eyeing that quest to groan in annoyance.
“Shouldn’t we wait until we know what it is about first?”
“We can’t take that risk! If we wait too long someone else might take the quest.”
Giving Rayla a smile, the secretary says, “Alright then, Miss Rayla I will leave the silk spider subjugation to you.”
“S-s-spider?”
“Yes, they have escaped their holding pen. Your job is to either kill them or get them back in the pen. For each one you can save you’ll get 1 small silver as a bonus. They’re non venomous but highly aggressive.”
The others who seemed disappointed at first about not getting the quest now suddenly look very relieved.
“Are they monsters or animals?” I ask.
—------------------------------------------
The difference between an animal and a monster is whether they attack people indiscriminately or just because they’re hungry or want to defend their territory. Animals tend to run away if they’re wounded while Monsters tend to fight to the last breath. Also animals don’t tend to be able to use magic or skills while monsters can.
—--------------------------------------------
“They are animals, but they’re certainly monster-like.”
“I see…Rayla you wait here and ask more about the quest I’m going to get some stuff from the kitchen.”
Bending over on the table and keeping her head down as I get up to leave for the kitchen, she mutters, “S-s-spiders…W-why did it have to be spiders…”
Entering the kitchen, I ask the cooks for some uncooked meat. With the money I have on me I can buy around six pounds from them. When I come back Rayla is sitting at the table looking completely dejected.
“What’s wrong Rayla?”
“To be honest Thoma. I’m not sure if I can do this quest. I know there are many points and money on the line but spiders scare me so much I don’t want to do it.”
Petting her head, I answer, “I understand. You don’t have to go.”
Looking up at me with a hopeful look she answers, “Thank you Thoma, I'll cancel the quest then.”
“Not yet, I’m going to try first. If I can’t do it alone I’ll come back and we can cancel it together.”
“Wh-what? But Thoma, that quest is dangerous!”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t say that it is a party only quest. Meaning it’s possible to do it alone. I always rely on you, so today when you can’t do something, I want you to rely on me too.”
“Still! How can I just let you go on a dangerous quest alone?”
Giving her a smile and a thumbs up I say, “It’s going to be fine. I’m not going to play the hero. I’ll stop the quest when I think it gets too dangerous so please just trust me this time.”
“A-are you really sure?”
“Yeah! You taught me a lot, so I’m going to prove that I paid attention today.”
“Okay. I’ll trust you.”
“Thank you Rayla! I won’t disappoint you!!!”
