--- Author's Note ---
Before you begin with the reading, I just wanted to say that I'm going to add basic information and a picture as the story goes. The pictures of characters, weapons, places, and other stuff that I wish for you to imagine.
Other than that, enjoy the chapter.
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We arrived in town by noon, both men and horses tired as hell from such a long distance traveled. I could barely keep myself awake, as I wasn't used to staying up late. For most of my life, I'd been an early bird hitting the sack and rising early.
Not only that, but I couldn't fall asleep due to the force of the wind blowing right at me at such speeds.
"Come on now, Niall, let me lead you to your dorm where you'll spend your time. It's nothing special, but I hope it'll serve your needs," Marcus waved for me to follow him, and so I did.
The place where I'd be staying was called the Drunken Inn, a generic name for a fantasy inn, but I liked it.
Entering the inn, I was greeted by the owner, a relatively tall man who looked to be in his forties. He sported a thick mustache, a well-groomed beard, and semi-long brown hair."
He wore casual clothes that didn't give me any special thoughts about him. Approaching Marcus and me with his hands open, the man greeted us cheerily. "Welcome, friends! What brings you here this late at night?"
"Hey there, Gob. I just returned from my mission, and during the same mission, I found this fella here who beat the bandits all by himself!" Marcus exclaimed.
"All the bandits by himself?!" Gob quickly halted, scanning me from toe to head. "Are you sure the bandits killed each other for whatever dumb reasons they usually do? Or were you too drunk to mistake this little boy for such an act?"
I couldn't blame the owner for thinking such a thing. To anyone normal, the idea of a sixteen-year-old boy killing all those bandits would sound utterly ridiculous. Marcus, on the other hand, seemed displeased at being accused of drinking on duty. He facepalmed, sighed, and pushed me forward.
"He really did that, to my surprise as well. He's aiming to be an adventurer after all, so of course, he's bound to have some powers! Besides, accusing me of drinking on duty could bring me some trouble with the chief, you know?!"
Gob responded by laughing, holding his stomach from the sheer force of it. "Bahahaha, I'm just joking, Marcus. I know you too well to think of you lowly like that. Well, it's always nice to have some adventurers around the town, especially strong ones since monsters can be a nuisance from time to time..."
I stepped closer to Gob and extended my arm for a handshake. "My name is Niall. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Gob."
Looking at me for a mere moment, Gob extended his arm and shook my hand. His hand was much larger than mine, but I couldn't feel the strength behind it since I have a falna as well. After all, there is much difference in terms of power, strength, and pretty much everything between people who have a falna and those who don't.
"Nice to meet you, kid. Just call me Gob. People in the town call me by that name. Since you helped my good friend over there, you will always be welcome in my tavern... Here, take this." He handed me a key.
"This is a key to the first room on the upper floor. I don't need Marcus to tell me to know the reason why he brought you here. Go now and take a good rest, since even a blind chicken can see how tired you are." He smiled and patted me on the shoulder.
I nodded to both him and Marcus before heading upstairs to locate the room Gob had told me about. Upon entering the room, I found a basic tavern bedroom with a single bed, a wardrobe, a small wooden table, and a nice window that offered a view of the outside world.
"ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Niall sighed deeply as he bolted himself onto the comfy bed. The moment his body made contact with it, he immediately felt a huge wave of tiredness engulf him until his eyes started to close.
--- General POV ---
The two good friends sat down at the table and drank their favorite drinks. For Gob, it was a good bottle of rum, and for Marcus, it was a beer.
"So, what's the thing you aren't telling me about the kid? I can see it clearly in your eyes that you are hiding something from me about him," Gob turned serious as he drank the last portion of his rum.
"Well... Niall is special if I can even call him that. I've seen his powers firsthand. He effortlessly butchered a bandit who used to be an adventurer. Not only that but there's no doubt that he was the one who cleaned up the castle ruins from those bandit bastards."
Gob's eyes widened at Marcus's words. "Wait... don't tell me he cleaned that place up from that stench? That kid did it? All alone?"
Marcus nodded and continued his explanation, "Yeah, he has some pretty odd powers that I don't dare to ask about. It was clear that he was not fond of sharing information about them, so I just kept quiet. But what I can say is that he can send green waves to his foes in some mysterious way I cannot comprehend. It looks like magic, but he doesn't need a chant for it."
Being a simple, hardworking man, Gob couldn't fully understand the explanation Marcus gave him, but he grasped the significance of chantless magic—it was very, if not mystically rare. Adventurers passed through the town from time to time, so he knew they had odd powers that could only be granted by the gods. But he had never heard before of someone not chanting when casting a magic spell.
"Damn, he's really something then! Well, there's no doubt that he'll have a great career as an adventurer once he officially becomes one, hahahah!" Gob laughed and poured himself and Marcus another drink.
Both of them continued chatting while a person sitting in the corner of the tavern overheard their entire conversation.
That person was none other than the sly god Hermes. Beneath his cloak, a pair of two orange eyes were revealed, glancing at the two men in the middle of their drunken chatter.
He's known as the god who runs the scouting type of familia, a familia that works in the shadows to serve the light. Brushing his blonde hair back, Hermes raised his hat just enough to reveal a portion of his face.
"Wiping out the bandit army all alone, huh... that kind of sounds interesting enough," Hermes thought as he raised himself and quietly left the inn, without the two drunken men noticing his existence at all.
Making his way out of the inn, Hermes continued to the darker streets where people didn't usually go. On one of the house walls, a white-cloaked female with aqua-blue hair and cyan eyes, wearing glasses, stared at Hermes with a tired expression.
"Asfi, change of plans. We are staying inside the town until further notice. I think I've found someone interesting enough," Hermes said.
Asfi tilted her head in confusion at Hermes's words. "What do you mean, god Hermes?"
Hermes merely laughed and patted her on the shoulder. "Since tomorrow you will be keeping an eye on the boy residing in this inn. He's a silver-haired human boy with fancy clothes on himself. Also, a strange but noticeable thing is that his eyes are those of a cat person."
She couldn't process the entire information before Hermes moved forward to the place where both of them resided. A vein popped on Asfi's head due to her god's ignorance. "Wait here... Why don't you take the time to explain to me a bit further about the whole thing going on?! Suddenly I have to spy on some boy for whatever reason? Just tell me what you have planned now, god Hermes."
Her tone sent shivers down his spine as her level 4 strength pulled him back. "Calm down, dear Asfi! I just noticed a potential, that's all!" Hermes raised his hands in surrender as Asfi held him tight.
Adjusting her glasses, Asfi sighed and released her patron god from her abnormal grip. "Fine, but I hope this isn't just another of your pointless schemes that lead to nothing," she said, her tone expressing her frustration.
Hearing this, Hermes acted as if he had just been shot by an arrow to his heart. "Arghhhh, my dear Asfi, how could I possibly do such a thing?" He dropped to the ground, clutching his chest where his heart was, pretending to be in pain.
Asfi, seeing this, exhaled once again and rolled her eyes at her god's usually chaotic and playful personality. "Stop making a scene, or you'll wake up the town's folk," she warned, closing her eyes as she spoke.
"But tell me one thing Hermes, how can a human boy have eyes those of a cat person? Are you sure you just didn't drink too much?" She raised her eyebrow at the thought of such abnormality in one human boy.
"No no my dear Asfi, I've seen it clear as the blue sky! A human boy with green cat-like eyes, more so without any emotions on his face either. His expression was like he experienced death multiple times itself, a thing worthy of inspecting!"
Hermes raised his hands proudly at the anomaly he found. "Moreover, I've heard from the conversation that he wiped out an entire bandit camp inside the Shreme Old Ruins!" At his words, Asfi grew a little more interested.
"I see how that would be possible, but are you sure he isn't an adventurer already? Bandits are known to be weak and easy to defeat after all." Hermes only smiled and shook his head.
"No! I even heard him say that he wishes to become an adventurer, so that could only mean that he isn't one already." Asfi took some time to think and could only guess that he was from one of the nations outside Orario where people adventure even without a dungeon.
It was a rare sight to see someone higher than level 2 outside Orario, but some nations had such individuals. Looking back at the smiling god, Asfi nodded. "Fine, I'll follow him around the town."
But Hermes suddenly stopped and thought, 'Hmmm, maybe I can accompany him around the town and perhaps judge him by my own will.' The idea sounded brilliant since mortals cannot lie to the gods, and Hermes would know if the boy lied at any time.
"Asfi, I've changed my mind. I will personally meet him tomorrow while you watch from the shadows and keep me safe from any potential danger, okay?" Hermes smiled innocently as Asfi, tired of everything, nodded and continued her way toward the dorm.
"Hoohoho, I cannot wait until tomorrow!" Hermes happily cheered until a wooden bowl struck him on the head, flying from one of the house windows.
"HEY, KEEP IT QUIET!!" an angry, manly voice yelled, and both Hermes and Asfi started running away from the trouble, not wanting to alert the city guards or invoke the angry mob on themselves for being loud, especially Hermes.