Arnold looked down. He was floating above a pool of lava but as he stared at the lava below him, the terrain changed and was replaced by snow and glaciers. A massive mountain stood in front of him. He thought about climbing it and the next moment, he was already at the top of the mountain. He looked around and saw a familiar figure sitting at the edge of a cliff. He walked over to her. She turned around and smiled at Arnold.
"Nicole? What are you doing here?" Arnold reached out for her but someone else grabbed her, and slowly pulled her away.
Arnold was horror-struck, his face was twisted in agony. He reached out with his hand, and screamed loudly. "NICOLE!"
"NICOLE!", he screamed once again, he chased after her with all his might, but the distance grew wider. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"
"NICOLE!"
Arnold woke up with a start. The wooden ceiling of his apartment looked elegant in the flickering lamp-light. He got up in a flash and went straight to Nicole's room. She looked really peaceful sleeping in her bed.
"Did you need something, Mr Ling?" Nikki asked. She was a nurse in her late twenties, appointed by the guild to take care of Nicole. she was wearing a blue crop top and hot pants under her white cardigan.
"No, it's... nothing." Arnold shook his head.
"I know it's tough to see someone so full of life in such a pitiful state, but her body is finally responding to the treatment. So you don't have to worry, she'll be okay."
Arnold nodded and kissed Nicole's forehead. "I promise, I won't let anything or anyone harm you. If someone tries to harm you, I'll stop them. Whatever it takes."
He went back to his room and opened the ability interface. He wanted to check if he had subconsciously activated [FORESIGHT] in his sleep.
___
[FORESIGHT] : Usage 0/3
___
"It was just a nightmare after all." He felt relieved, "Since when did my nightmares got so... nightmarish? Or is someone really after Nicole?"
Arnold shook his head, why would someone target his innocent sister?
"I'm just overthinking things."
*****
NEXT MORNING
"Good morning, brother!" Nicole was as enthusiastic as ever, "Are you going somewhere?"
"Yeah, I have to go to work."
"Oh..." Nicole's face dropped.
"Don't worry Lil one. I have a surprise for you!" he said and summoned out a couple of golems, "They will be your play buddies while I'm gone and here, take this."
Arnold handed her a new mobile phone that he purchased yesterday. "You can call me anytime you want okay?"
"Brother... what are these things?" she pointed at the golems standing behind Arnold.
"They are my... partners, and they are made of ice and rock. Pretty cool right?"
"You're the best brother ever!" She exclaimed and hugged Arnold's waist. He just smiled and caressed her head.
Before leaving he called his summons towards the corner of the room and used [ENHANCEMENT] on both of them. He had hoped that with the increased probability, he'd at least be able to gain permanent enhancement on one of them but he couldn't. Apparently his level was still too low and he wasn't able to achieve what he wanted. Seeing no other way, he summoned Duke, the only rank B golem he had. Duke was at a level 54 so technically he was stronger than Arnold himself, on top of that, he also had the scythe of the [UNDEAD REAPER] with him, which made him even stronger and deadlier.
"You're much stronger than I am and that's why I'm making you my sister's personal bodyguard. Protect her at all costs. I'm leaving another golem to assist you in case you need him. I'm giving you the responsibility of protecting my sister, get it?"
After hearing what his master had to say, Duke proudly banged his chest with one of his four arms as if he was saying, "Don't worry, I'll protect her with my life."
Arnold then found Nikki and informed her about the golems so that she wouldn't get startled by them. He kissed Nicole on her forehead and left to go and complete his first job as a freelancing warrior.
*****
Arnold had already uploaded his resume along with a recommendation letter for his guild on the website through which other guilds and other corporations could hire him.
He got a job offer soon after the necessary files were uploaded. He hadn't expected to get an offer so soon. He clicked at the job request and immediately another window popped up on his mobile's screen.
EMPLOYER : Nina Black
EMPLOYER GUILD : Black Knights
BACKING : Daughter of Sheldon Black, a low ranking officer and member of the 'Black Family', one of the twelve elite families.
JOB DETAILS : To clear out a D ranked dungeon that has appeared near Art Deco district.
PAY : Would be discussed before entering the dungeon.
DO YOU ACCEPT THE JOB?
Helping a guild having one of the twelve elite families as its backer will definitely give me some benefits and Art Deco district isn't far from here either. Arnold thought. Only a fool would decline this offer!
He quickly accepted the offer and went towards the meeting point.
*****
"I assume you're Arnold?" The blonde woman wearing a black set of armour asked
"Yes and you are?" Arnold replied.
"I'm Nina Black, you can call me Nina. This is my team. Gabriel is the swordsman, Dan is the tank, Martha is the healer, and I'm the vanguard. As you can see we don't have a mage with us, thus we sent you the job request." Her voice had an 'I don't care about anything' vibe in it.
"Who's the Porter?"
"Who cares about a porter?" Dan said and they all started laughing.
"I do. Even porters are team members and their role is very important in any team." Arnold replied coolly, "What's your name Mr porter?"
"I'm C-Coco s-sir." The Porter stuttered.
"Coco, how old are you?" Arnold placed his hand on Coco's shoulder.
"19 sir."
"First thing, don't call me sir. Second thing, the bag you're carrying looks heavy, would you like some help with it?"
"N-No s-sir, I mean Arnold sir, I'll-"
"If you'll carry the bag then who'll fight? We want a mage not another porter!" Gabriel snapped.
"I never said I'll carry the bag. He will." Arnold summoned a golem out. "Now if that's sorted, would you like to discuss about my fees?"
"S-Sure," Nina stuttered, "We generally provide the hired help around 4500 dollars but since I've already seen your ability, I'll offer you 5500 dollars. Fine?"
"More than enough, but I have a request. I'd like to be paid in beast crystals instead. Will you be willing to pay me 1500 dollars and around 80 basic crystals in place of the remaining 4000 dollars?" Arnold suggested Nina.
"Um... sure. I can pay you the money right now and you can have your beast crystals after we clear the dungeon. Deal?"
"Deal."