"Ok~ and sign here." Spoke the elven guild acceptance receptionist. "But remember what I told you. You are twelve years old to anyone who asks you."
"Will remember that, sir!" I replied excitedly.
"Well then, just write your adventurer name in this box and the formalities will be finished." He urged as he handed me a quill and some ink.
"Sorry sir, but I can't do that."
"Huh?" He replied in a confused manner,
"I don't know how to write. So I can't sign the paper, nor enter myself in through a name."
"Hmmm. I guess I'll just take your thumbprint then. Pass me your hand and bear with me, this might hurt." He said as he grabbed my hand and put up my thumb. He then extracted a small dagger from his belt held at his waist and sliced my thumb.
"Owww."
"Now press down hard on the paper in this space." Ordered me the elf. I obeyed and firmly pressed my bleeding thumb against the golden yellow scroll under the subheading of signature. The elf then carefully dried the blood using wind magic in a very controlled manner, using it with the utmost delicacy and then folding the scroll and placing it on a shelf crowded with similar scrolls on them.
"Ok then. That'll be all. As for your adventurer name, for now we'll have to leave you as no named. But that doesn't mean you should tell people your actual name. On your license, I will give you the temporary adventurer name blank. Is that to your liking?"
"Yes sir, thank you very much." I replied bowing down gently with a smile plastered across my face.
"Good. Well then, you can collect your license tomorrow when it'll be ready."
"Till then mister -"
"It's Alfie Vion."
"Till then, mister Vion." I corrected myself as the elven man smiled at me as I walked away from his window.
"Hmmmm. Now that I have become an adventurer, it's best I think about taking on some missions to earn some money for myself as well as start looking around for clues. But I won't be able to really do either of those if I can only take on F - E rank missions. Damn. This is more challenging than I thought it'd be."
"Hey kid! Finish your business that you came here for?" The man who shouted at me was the same bald adventurer with an X shaped scar on his head who had previously enquired about my presence in the guild.
"Yes, I have. Why, do you have any business with me that you want to talk about?"
"Actually, I do. I kind of overheard you muttering to yourself whilst looking at the missions board which means your a brand new adventurer right?"
Crap! I didn't think anyone would overhear my whispers. "Indeed. I am a new adventurer."
"Great. Well I have a proposition for you. See, my party has a dilemma. We are currently about to embark on a B rank mission but were missing a key member, and unfortunately, none of us meet the criteria of said person. But you! You do, so how about joining up with our party. I promise you'll be rewarded equally and we will grant you one request as long as you help us."
"That sounds rather promising, however I can only participate in F - E rank missions. So I can't." I replied with a disheartened look on my face.
"Not true. I guess you haven't heard all the rules in the guild. You are able to partake in any mission outside of your range as long as your party is capable of taking such missions, and have enough members of such a calibre to raid the mission. SO~, what do you say?" He extends his hand downwards to meet mine, with a disturbing smile, but one that seemed genuine.
"Ok, I'll trust you and I will accompany you." I proclaimed as we shook hands. His grip strong but clearly still done with consideration as to not crush my hand.
"Well then. Meet me here the day after tomorrow, at the crack of dawn. Also, you can call me by my adventurer name, Skull face."
"Right! And you can address me as Blank."
"That's a rather peculiar name for an adventurer. Nevermind though, till next time."
With that I had left the adventures guild for the day.
"Brrrrrrrrrr. It's so cold outside. Once I get back from the mission with Skull face, I should probably invest in some new clothes that don't have holes in them. Now then, before I actually head out, I should start preparing and training for the day I have to depart. So how should I go about that?"
I then thought to myself that it'd be best if I first find myself a place where I'll be able to rest and eat at whilst I prepare. I didn't have any money so there's only one solution I could think of. Although I didn't want to trouble this person any longer since they'd already helped me out big time, I had no other choice.
"It's this way, if I remember correctly." I said as I wondered around the multiple paths you could take that led to identical wooden homes. This place was practically a massive mirror when it came to it's infrastructure. It all looked identical with very little differences. By no means where they ugly homes, they were just rather plain to look at which was just further accentuated by the fact they all looked the same.
I stumbled along a bit further down a muddy path. Though the mood had turned rather solid and didn't sully my leather boots and instead just cracked underneath them. The path was completely frozen over by a breath of frosty flames that lingered its remaining scent, visible in the form of low hanging fog.
This all led to a single wooden door which was fixed on by obsidian metal that seemed to be slowly eroding and some parts turning a rusty orange colour.
Knock, Knock, Knock, Knock!
"Coming!" A loud voice boomed from the other side of the door.
I readied myself before the door had even opened in a polite bow, ready to impose my selfish request on the poor old man that had been kind enough to feed me when I first arrived at the town and was starving.
The door gently creaked open and there he stood. "Oh, young man it's you. What do you need boy? An how did you know I lived here?"
Remaining in the polite bow that I had been positioned in since even before he opened the door, I began answering his question and relaying my selfish request on him. "I found out you were living here from the people that I asked around. They told me the directions that led me to your humble residence. As for why I'm here... I would deeply appreciate if you would allow me to stay at your house with you until the day after tomorrow!"
"Oh? Is that all?"
"Huh?"
"Well if that's all, then come in. Be my guest. I will allow you to stay at my house until the day after tomorrow."
"R-really? Thank you so much, gramps!"
"Hohohoh! Gramps, is it. Ok then! You can come in, child." He cackled as he moved to the side allowing me to pass inside his house.
"Once more. Thank you!" I said as I stepped inside.
His house was small and cosy from the inside and his living room bolstered a nice warm fireplace along with two comfortable chairs near it. I set my small bag that carried my water canteen in it to the corner of the room and headed out of the house.
"Leaving so soon?" The man asked me.
"Yes. I have some important things that I need to do. But I will be back, probably around the time that night falls."
"Ok then. Be careful, and focused. Make sure to come back safe."
"Thank you, and will do!" I said as I swung the door open and closed it quickly behind me as to not let the cold air infiltrate the warmth of the house.
I quickly made my way out of the town through the same gates I had entered a couple hours ago to venture into the nearby forests. I did this for multiple reasons. One of the reasons why I decided to go to the forest is because I wouldn't disturb anyone and I wouldn't be disturbed either. It would also give me more space to practice. It was the ideal environment for whatever kind of training I would put myself through.
"Hmmm... So how do I go about training myself?" I said as I found my spot where I was surrounded by multiple columns, made of Oakwood, that soared into the sky and loomed over with its thick branched canopy that had by now shed all its leaf's. The tree's bark was all the more argent due to the cold weather providing a blanket of frost that was embedded deep in the tree's fissures.
I tried recalling back to the knowledge my brother installed in me when he used to practice and explain to me his though process before training. I scratched my chin as I closed my eyes thinking deep trying to dig up the memories that had been previously randomly dispersed in my brain, kept in an unordered file.
"The first key needed before you begin practice is, assessing the depths of your potential, as well as knowing what you have to work with currently. I think that was it... Damn! I should have payed closer attention to what he taught me. I shouldn't have taken his words for granted back then." I sighed and continued muttering to myself. "Well, even if what I remember may be incomplete, it's better than nothing, that's for sure."
"If I recall correctly, brother once showed me how to see one's mana capacity and source strength. But how do you do it again?" I closed my eyes and pondered hard, trying to think back to the one bit of training I ever did. The one bit of training Krill ever allowed me to do. I mean I guess it wasn't training, but.... That's not important right now. Focus! Focus! Mana capacity and source strength. Mana capacity and source strength. Mana capac-. Huh? "This is it." I said out loud as two numbers appeared in my head.
"So that's how it is! I remember now! All you have to do is focus on those two things. Mana capacity and source strength! Now lets take a look, shall we~. WOW! My source strength! It's incredible! A source strength of 1000000!? But how is that possible? Before this, I only had a source strength of 50. But now it's 1000000." I pause to think at a possible solution as to how this might have happened. But first I needed to remind myself what source strength was, and where does it come from.
"Right. Source strength is supplied to our body through an organ called Soul and is very much attached to your physical body. It's number is set in stone from birth. Which means. This must have been Krill's source strength. Krill..." I sigh as I slap myself, regaining my focus. "This is no time to be getting sad. I'm doing this for you Krill. I will get you your body back!"
I then proceeded to take a look at the number displayed in my head under the name mana capacity. "Huh? It's the same? The same massive mana capacity that I had in my previous body. In fact. It slightly grew. Hmmm... Now unlike source strength, mana isn't supplied to us by an organ nor is it set in stone from birth. However mana does have favourites. Your mana capacity, unlike source strength, can grow. It will continue to grow as long as the persons understandings of mana increase as well as the user improving their relationship and bond with mana allowing them to guide the mana better and shape it more into what they want. I recall, but that knowledge may be flawed. For now though, it's a better basis than nothing. I don't know how my previous mana has been passed on or even slightly increased, but I guess it's safe to assume that mana favours me."
I mostly formed this basis on the fact that Krill had explicitly told me his mana capacity was small and he doesn't along with mana in the slightest. Maybe it was a draw back from being born with such incredible source strength? Maybe that in some way severed the tie he held to mana? Too many questions! I should focus on what I have and what I should be doing with this now!
"Ok then. I guess I'll start preparing myself by practicing using my mana and using magic." I sat down in the centre of the trees, crossed legged, and immediately focused on trying to sense the mana around me. In no time, I noticed the mana and began harnessing it, getting ready to formulate spells.
"Now, in terms of magic. There are 10 affinities, them being, fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, ice, dark, light, destruction and creation magic. I should probably tried to grasp simplest magic affinities like fire, water, earth and wind magic. These should be the easiest since the presence of these affinities are present all round me and have the most practical uses. Ok then! Let's start with wind magic!"
I began trying to coerce and manipulate the mana to move according to my wishes and commands. I would say I did fairly okay, managing to move the mana in no time whatsoever. I stood up an readied myself in front a tree, with a little bit of distance between me and my target. I then placed my hand towards the tree, my hand spread wide as if it was a spider ready to latch onto it's next prey, an I gathered the mana in my palm. Small gusts of wind started to appear before me, swirling in an unorderly manner as I let go sending it straight at my intended target, the tree. On it's path, the gust of wind slowly began taking shape into a fierce slash of air that cut deep into the tree on impact.
"OH YEAH! SUCCESS!" I run over to the tree that had been just hit by my spell and I inspects it closer. "It worked. My attack worked. Though it wasn't deep enough... It's certainly a start."
For the rest of the day, I continued performing the same attack on the multiple tree's in the vicinity, trying to actuate my spell faster, more compactly and more efficiently whilst trying to pack in more mana with each shot.
"Phew. That's a good day of work." I mutter to myself as I lay on the floor, next to a boulder which had been cut in half, sprawled out huffing and puffing with sweat rolling down my heated body. My eyes glued to stars that had just come out. My hand reaches out towards them, and for the first time... They didn't seem so distant after all. "At this rate. I'll bring you back in no time, Krill!" With that I headed back towards the gramps house. There, for me gramps waited with a bowl of vegetable soup and some bread waiting for me.
"Welcome back, child! You must be hungry so you can start eating straight away. After that, you can go ahead and go to bed."
I reply with a smile on my face. "Thanks, gramps."
"No problem. And look at that. Your face looks a whole lot better since this morning. Good to see you happy kid."
Just like that, that first day of my preparations had been completed.