The next morning, Esta and I woke up and we continued to the New Spring Farm. Esta rode with me on my horse and we began to talk with one another. Most of her questions revolved around my dreams and goals and if I believe she can become a huge adventurer or a hero. Of course I told her what she wanted to hear, but knowing her future, she does become a renown hero who worked along side of me beating literal Gods and Goddesses.
"Oh look there! I think that's the farm!" Esta pointed.
I looked at where she pointed and looked at the map. "Huh. We are here." I smiled then pointed to the farm and Blitz neighed then galloped to the New Spring Farm.
We reached the New Spring Farm and I stopped Blitz outside the farm then Esta and I got off his back then I walked into the farm with Esta. The ambience of the farm was full of the sounds of the different livestock such as cows, chicken, pigs, sheep, etcetera. We walked to the farms shopping area and I noticed a cowboy working the shop.
"Excuse me sir?" I said then the cowboy looked up at me with a piece of wheat in his mouth.
"Heh, a fellow country folk I see. What yer here for, boy?" The cowboy asked and smiled.
"I'm here to buy ten packs of New Spring Milk and Wheat for my family." I said.
"How many pounds of this here wheat?" The cowboy asked.
"Around 20 should be good." I said.
"Right. That'll cost ya 150 Celestial Dollars." The cowboy said.
I summoned my wallet and pulled out 150 Celestial Dollars the handed the man the money. He knocked on the counter and my order appeared in front of me in boxed with labels. I tapped the boxes and warped them to my family.
"Have a good day, ya hear?" The cowboy smiled.
"You too." I said then turned around. I noticed Blitz had wandered into the farm. I heard the singing and looked at the riding arena.
"That my wife there. She sings often to the horses and has a pretty alluring voice to the horses. It soothes them. She has the voice gifted by the Sound God, Amadeus. She bares his Crest and anyone who hears her song will be hit with a feeling of calmness and relaxation." The cowboy said as he listened to his wife singing.
"She has such a beautiful voice." Esta said and smiled. "Oh can I buy a horse? I know cars are the hot stuff for cities, but I wanna be an adventurer and I know we will travel a lot so a horse will do wonders!"
"That'll be 500 Celestial Dollars." The cowboy said.
"500? I only have..." She stopped and checked her wallet. "I only have 30 Dollars.."
"I'll pay for it. I have 850 left so it'll cover for the horse you want." I said.
Esta gasped and clapped happily. "Thank you, Shiryo!~"
I smiled and paid the cowboy 500 and he gave Esta a sattle and a special emblem that is used to table ones desired horse. She happily ran over to the horses then tripped and faceplanted on the ground.
"She's the clumsy gal isn't she?" The cowboy chuckled. "Full of energy and dreams. I remember I was like that back in my days. These old bones aren't worth a dime anymore."
"My grandpa says the same thing all the time." I smiled as I watched Esta try to approach a horse but they all were startled by her hyperactive energy.
"Heh. Times have changed for us and it's only a matter of time before Father Time catches up to us. Might as well live the dream and live in the peacefulness we have. You may never know when times will change." The cowboy said and went back to reading his book.
He was right. Back them I wasn't ready for times to change, but now I'm more than ready. I'm ready to make the most of what I have now and what I will obtain in the future to better prepare myself for what's to come.
"Shiryo! I need help!" Esta said as she finally was able to tame a horse.
I walked over to her and smiled. I watched her walk behind the horse in excitement. "Wait Esta don't-"
Esta groaned as her horse kicked her, sending her flying. The woman noticed and stopped singing out of pure shock.
"Goodness! Are you okay?!" The woman hurried to Esta.
"I'm okay!" Esta groaned as she landed on the ground.
"....stand behind the horse." I finished my sentence.
"Noted.." Esta groaned and began seeing stars.
I snapped my fingers and an apple from my personal storage appeared in my hand then I infused recovery magic into it. I crouched down to Esta and watched her quickly sit up and sit on her knees rubbing her stomach. "Here eat this." I smiled and handed her the recovery apple.
She quickly took the apple and began to chow down on the apple and felt her body heal in the matter of seconds. "Wow! This apple was really good!~ Now it's time to get the saddle on the horse!" Esta said then stood up quickly and ran to her horse.
I stood up and walked to Esta and her horse then got the saddle on her horse then heard Blitz snort and looked at Blitz. "She's not a ditz. An airhead yes, but I wouldn't say she's stupid."
"You can talk to your horse?" The woman asked as she walked to me.
"Yeah, I can pretty much understand everything Blitz is saying." I said and looked at the woman and smiled.
I looked at the woman and noticed she looked a tad bit younger than the cowboy. They had to be at least six or seven years apart.
"I wish I had your level of skill. The most I can do is soothe them." The woman smiled.
"I mean it is to note that I have a deeper connection to Blitz here. Buddy here has been with me since forever if I recall correctly." I smiled.
Blitz looked at us and the woman looked amazed. She smiled and placed her hands on her hips.
"Well I'd be damned. Never have I met an adventurer who has a connection with their horse. You take good care of him alright?" The woman smiled.
"I will." I nodded.
Esta and I headed off and rode together to the Gesian Kingdom. Once we made it, the guards opened the gates for us and we went inside of the city and Esta looked amazed. I was nothing short of amazed myself. It's been so long since I've seen the City of Gesia. Esta and I got off our horses and I whistled and Blitz ran off to somewhere safe with Esta's horse.
"The City is so huge! Look at the cars! Whoa!" Esta said then exclaimed when I pulled her from the street.
"Careful now alright?" I smiled at her.
She looked at me and smiled then nodded. "Okay."
We traversed the city together to find our way around. I looked around and noticed how beautiful the city looked. This is where my adventure began before. I was so naive before...losing money quickly because of scam artists, getting lost in the city, wandering on the wrong side of town. It wasn't pretty, but now it's different. Even if my memory of the city is foggy, I know what to look out for.
"Hey! Hey! Let's try out the noodles!" Esta pointed at a food truck.
I looked at Esta then smiled and nodded. "I am pretty hungry so why not."
We walked to the food truck and stood in line. I noticed two people in front of us looked familiar to me and I looked at them. The woman in front of Esta, from what I could see, was a woman with long blue hair and a slender build. She wore a yellow jacket with red designs on it, blue jeans, and brown boots.
The guy beside her was a male with black hair and yellow highlights in his hair. He wore golden earrings, a gray hoodie with a black jacket, black pants and black and red shoes with white and yellow platforms on the shoes.
"I really like her style." Esta smiled.
The woman turned around as Esta said that. I waved at her and she smiled and waved back. I decided to strike up a conversation to see if they are who I believe they are.
"Hey, name's Shiryo Ragnarok and this is my friend Esta. Who might you be?" I asked.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Freya Sweet and this here is my cousin Gideon Owen." Freya smiled.
That's right. Freya and Gideon were two of my allies. Aside from Esta, I also dated Freya before her life was ultimately taken by a backstabber. Gideon died by my hands three years before I had my final battle against Galatea. I forgot why we fought, but all I know is I'm changing the future now. Esta, Freya, Gideon, and I had a team together called Team Divinity, or more known as the Heroes of the Divine. The four of us were an unbeatable team and all extremely good friends.
Gideon looked back at me then smirked and closed his eyes. "Hmph."
The line moved forward and the four of us got our cup of noodles then we to sit down and chat with one another at a table.
"So you come from the countryside huh?" Freya asked.
"Yeah, been there all 20 of my years basically." I nodded and smiled. "Working with growing crops and raising and breeding livestock was my way of life."
"I did the same thing before I decided I wanna do more than just tend to chickens and cows! Yesterday, I shot an arrow at a skeleton and saved Shiryo!" Esta giggled.
"A Skeleton huh? Those don't come out until night time right?" Freya asked.
"Yeah, I ran into some last night, but they were a breeze." I said.
"Of course they were a breeze. Most Skeletons don't scale over Tier 10. In power level terms it's at least 150." Gideon said.
"Well yeah, their overall is 150, but just because they rank low doesn't mean they are entirely useless. I just happened to be able to blitz them." I said.
"Not useless? Ha! Elaborate on that." Gideon said.
"Let's take a Pyro Lion for example. A full grown Pyro Lion scales to be at least 3,590 overall, or they are Tier 8. They have incredible attack power, a great defensive prowess and decent speed. Their cubs however are ranked to be the highest level in the Tier 10 which is about 900. Take a group of cubs and pin them a against a volcano boar, who is a Tier 9. The cubs will win because their numbers will eventually weight the boar down and kill it. Just like the skeletons, for their category, high attack power, low defense, high speed. But they also come equipped with weapons. Iron swords which boost their power even higher. Take one adventurer who isn't prepared to battle against a horde of skeletons. The Skeletons win by numbers." I explained.
"Ohhh! So you saying there's a strategy to this?" Esta asked.
"Exactly, granted if you run into someone who's vastly stronger than an entire group you will lose. But as long as you're prepared, you will stand a chance." I said.
"Don't try to high ball a group of dumbass skeletons. My dog would easily beat the bones off those undeads. You crush their skulls, they die." Gideon said.
"Which is why they have terrible defense...when unequipped." I said.
"Hm?" Gideon looked at me.
"Equipment changes the flow of battle. Equipment, Enhancements, and the understanding of your aura. They are the stable of battle, allowing you to raise what you're weak at and make stronger your strong points. A skeleton, who is Tier 10, can go all the way up to at least Tier 2 if equipped and enhanced correctly." I said.
And I'm speaking from experience when fighting against Charon, a Skeleton God who threatened the universe. Yeah his head was the weak point, but his knowledge on how to use his aura and with his equipment, he was basically unbeatable unless strategy was used.
"You seem very knowledgeable about these things. Are you sure you've only been a country folk?" Freya smiled.
"Well my grandpa was an adventurer so most of my knowledge comes from him." I explained.
"I see." Freya nodded.
"Hmph. Freya, let's go. I don't want to be late for the Adventurer's Entrance Exam." Gideon said then stood up.
"Right! Oh, are you two coming with? We can head there together." Freya smiled as she stood up as well. Gideon subtly groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah why not. I was planning to do this and then go to my brother's exams." I said then stood up.
"Great!" Freya smiled and nodded.
Esta and I got up then we threw away our trash and headed to a familiar building named the Adventurer's Academy. This is where it all starts to becoming an adventurer and getting the license. We all walked in and noticed other people here as well. We got ourselves signed in and we headed to the waiting room.
"Lots of people here." Esta said and looked around.
"Tons of people want to become an adventurer so they can complete bounties and make money off of them. It's the stable of becoming an adventurer, you can do anything other classes can do such as Bounties, Recon, Support, all of that." Freya explained.
"Ohhh!" Esta said.
We waited for another hour until the director of the Entrance Exams began talking on the intercom.
"Welcome Future Adventurers! Welcome to the Entrance Exams where we will gauge where you stand and see how far you go! If you don't make it this time there is always next time! So to start us off, we will gauge your Power Level and see what Tier you belong in for the remainder of the exams." The director said. "Everyone form a single file line and let's get this started!"
Everyone began to line up and one by one they went in to get their power measured.
Tiers worked in many ways, you have your base Tier then the Sub categories such as C, B, and A. In the past they used a Rank System which was F, D, C, B, A, S, and X. They have reworked the system and not it is Tier 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. There is a hidden Tier called Tier 0 which means the person is Boundless in measurement. The way your Tier is measured is first by the Attack Potency or Destructive Power. All stats are also graded in Tiers. The Stats are Attack Potency, Speed, Lifting Strength, Striking Strength, Durability or Defense, Attack Range, Intelligence, and Stamina.
Freya walked into the room and a target appeared in front of her. Freya concentrated her energy and struck the target. A bell rang and a number generated on the screen. 1,543 was her power level, Tier 9-B. Some people were impressed since the average only got up to 10-A.
Esta went in after Freya and walked with confidence. She looked at the target and smiled then struck it. The bell rang. 548. Tier 10-B. "Eh?!"
I rubbed the back of my head and smiled. "Heh...I guess things didn't change.." I said to myself.
Esta walked back to us with a disappointed face. "I'm gonna be ranked with the other Tier 10 people meaning I won't be seeing you all for the remainder of the exams.."
I smiled and pat her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll catch up to us in no time!"
Esta looked at me and smiled. She nodded and looked determined again.
We heard the bell ring and people murmuring in shock. We looked at the screen and noticed Gideon's stats. 3,957. Tier 8-A.
"Someone can be that strong..?" A guy asked.
"Who is he..? Is he cheating..?" A girl asked.
"Heh, try to beat that." Gideon boasted towards me as he walked back to us.
I looked at him. He was still the same arrogant bastard I knew. Back then I couldn't even top him, only garnering a Tier 9-A. Things were a lot different now.
I walked into the room and stood in front of the target. I contemplated if I should use all of my strength or not. My body is a lot younger now so physical strength could've depleted, but the Goddess of Reality allowed me to keep my experience meaning I couldn't have gotten any weaker than I was 8 years in the future. I nodded and looked at the target then struck it, breaking the target.
'Shit..' I thought to myself.
The bell rang and a number appeared on the screen. 6,942. Tier 7-C. I was quite relieved that it technically wasn't all my strength, but pretty terrified that I broke the target revealing part of my true strength, but at the end of the day this wasn't enough to even beat a Full Power Royal.
"I guess he beat your score." Freya said in shock.
Gideon looked at the screen with disbelief. Esta looked at the screen with shock as well.
"That concludes the first of eight segments of the Adventurer's Exam! Next up is your Speed!" The director said.