{Ester's river town}

  I suppose you could always expect some sort of human settlement by following a river, and well, this new town we arrived at in less than two days would prove you right. The town is called Esters or Ester. I didn't really catch it well when I asked, but man, the structures look the same as Chimaru's town.

  The town is relatively small, still just a tad bigger than Maple town, but not by a lot, maybe just a house or two more, but when it came to the amount of warrior-looking people, there were considerably more walking around, all wearing weird green and blue clothes with strange insignia.

  Many warriors, and what I assume were mages, walked around the town carrying monsters and their weapons while holding pieces of paper. Could this be an adventurer town or something? I wondered as I walked along with Martigan, who almost immediately searched for a clothing store as soon as we arrived.

  "Why are they all wearing blue and green colored clothes?" I ask Martigan, who just ignores me, so I try to get the store lady's attention while Martigan goes to the back of the shop to measure new clothes for himself. "Do you need any help young miss?" The busty store owner asks me while I try not to stare at her boobs for too long.

  "Uh, yeah, why is everyone wearing blue and green clothes here?" The lady smiles at me and quickly answers as she looks at my collar and the chair that Martigan tied it to, which she would probably find strange. "Well, because this is a beginner's adventurer town, the color of the adventurer's clothes represents their rank, so it makes sense we only have green and blue people here."

  So, adventurers did exist in this world after all, but what was the color of the clothes all about? "Woah! So are green and blue not that strong, then?" I asked the lady with the cutest possible voice I could muster, which was a little embarrassing even for me.

  "Yeah, Green is the lowest rank, then blue; after blue comes Aquamarine, then yellow, followed by red, and so on. The higher the color, the better rank that adventurer is." Oh, cool, I wonder if the adventurer guild would ever let someone like me join them. Now that I know they are a thing, I might have a shot in there.

  I am not a magically strong ally, but my anti-magical powers could be helpful in many ways, like deactivating magical traps and stuff. I bet I could get into a good team if I showed them my KP engine grade one and its capabilities, too. It doesn't last long, but it's explosive power at its finest! NOOOO DON'T SAY IT SELF! EEEEEX-PLO-SION!

  The only difference between me and that explosion-crazed mage is that I don't go into a coma once my energy is done, so you could argue mine is better. Still, that kid beats me in raw destructive power for sure, as I am still probably just tree level in the power scale, not even town level yet.

  -W-

  "Alright, how much do I owe you, Nora?" Martigan asks the busty lady, who answers him right away with the price tag as she tosses the guy's armor to the side. "Well, since I'll have to get rid of these problematic garments, I'd say five silver coins will do the deal!" Martigan's eyes almost pop out once he hears the price, but he reluctantly accepts it.

  "Damn, you're such a greedy bitch." Martigan says as he takes out five silver coins just to be guilted into paying more for calling Nora a bitch. "I am afraid a bitch won't do it for such a low price; how about you toss me a hundred copper units for hurting my feelings as a tip? Otherwise, I might leak you are here."

  Martigan's face looks even more annoyed, but this time, he doesn't even make smart comments at her as he just gives her the money and leaves, taking me with him. "Man, Nora always knows when she can squeeze the life out of me. Alright, annoying brat. We are registering as adventurers, so we get the guild's protection, got it?"

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  "I have a name, and it's Annabel, you know? You could stop calling me 'kid' or 'twat.'" I say to Martigan, who just responds with a "Whatever" Oh my gosh, what a douchebag! "I thought someone like you would've already been registered, so why not do it until now?" I ask Martigan, who just started walking as he pulls me with the leash's help.

  "Would it kill you to treat me a little more decently?" Martigan just ignores my questions and words like I am not even there at this point, so I just quietly follow him the rest of the way toward the guild, where the ambiance is genuinely adventure-like.

  There's a bunch of people with armor and weapons everywhere, laughing, eating, and drinking with some ladies in some cubicle-like spaces service a lot of people who pull out some sort of weird card followed by the pieces of paper I assumed were the missions.

  "Hey, do you know where I can go register?" Martigan asks one of the guys happily drinking at his table and the guy answers in a friendly manner with his finger and the following dialogue. "Yeah! Over there, where the empty booth is! Good luck, Amiko!"

  "Thanks," Martigan quickly gives his thanks to the guy and just walks toward the booth, pulling me along in a very uncomfortable manner as the smell of beer inside starts reminding me of my previously hidden trauma, only made worse by the collar around my neck.

  It's not the same place, I keep telling myself repeatedly while trying to stay calm until we finally reach the empty registration booth. "Hello there! Do you guys want to start your adventure journey today?" The lady, overly hyped, asks us, which I don't even have the time to take advantage of as Martigan cuts me off.

  "Yes, I will be registering my slave companion and me. How much is the registration fee?" Martigan cuts straight to the point, and to be fair, the lady soon starts acting a bit more normal once she sees that Martigan is not the overly cheerful type at all. "For you, sir, it will be two silver coins, and for the girl slave, it will be fifty copper credits!"

  "Alright, sounds good. Here, you go, you can keep the change." Martigan says as he hands the lady over three silver coins, which the lady pockets right away. "Okay, here are the adventurer cards. Now, all we need to do is get your stat readings to determine your approximate adventurer ranks!"

  The lady cheerfully walks to the back of the room for a quick second just to return with a huge rock tablet that she ends up placing on the counter, followed by some simple instructions. "Your adventurer cards will instantly upload your names and stats into our systems, so go ahead and place your hand on the rock, followed by your cards whenever you're ready."

  "Oh, cool. I was wondering why you didn't even ask my name. Alright, I'll go first." Martigan pushes me aside and places his hand on the tablet which quickly starts making weird noises and projections all over Martigan's face. It takes the tablet a while, but it finally comes up with Martigan's results, quickly changing the color of his clothes to Aquamarine.

  "Oh! Very nice, sir! Looks like you're not exactly a rookie! Your stats are pretty decent for a new adventurer!" The lady happily congratulates Martigan, who now pushes me forward so I can do the same thing, which I thought wouldn't do anything since I am anti-magical. Still, once I place my hand on the rock, the same thing that happened to Martigan starts happening to me.

  To everyone's surprise, however, the rock suddenly starts malfunctioning by flashing too bright. It calls everyone's attention as the rock tries hard to read my stats. The pressure around me is intense for a couple of seconds, and the guild lady desperately tries to remove the rock from me.

  Ultimately, the pressure around me and over the analysis rock is too much for it to bear, causing my adventurer card to explode, but not before it turns all my clothes black. The entire place all suddenly goes insanely quiet as everyone starts staring at me, including Martigan, who looks like he's just seen a ghost.

  "I've never seen stats like these before. Your raw potential is unparalleled, and your intelligence is way above normal. There has never been a rookie adventurer who starts at this rank; this is a first; there are only Twenty others like you in the world. I don't know how you got it, but our systems say you're Adamantite rank or above."

  "Uh, uh, UUH!?" Martigan gasps as everyone in the guild copies him, including myself.