The test was designed to evaluate our individual combat proficiency. Gale and I were able to swiftly subdue the examiner using hand-to-hand techniques, but Ness took an unexpected approach. Utilizing the Storage blessing I had bestowed upon her, she managed to seal the examiner within the confines of her ability.
Unconventional, yet undeniably effective.
"Given that you all possess blessings, I cannot place you in the lowest rank," Valin declared. "However, we require you to complete a Rank E quest first, after which we can promote you to the next tier."
He continued, "Once you attain D-rank adventurer status, you'll be able to leverage that recognition to cross borders with ease and accept quests from other guild branches."
After the examination, we perused the available Rank E quests while awaiting the issuance of our guild identification cards.
"Horned rabbit subjugation," I muttered to myself, the words stirring memories of my time on the island.
Lost in a nostalgic reverie, I was roused by the receptionist calling us forward to collect our IDs.
The ID was fascinating – a crystal card imbued with magic to display our names and ranks. The receptionist explained that these cards possessed security functions to prevent tampering or unauthorized use by anyone other than the rightful owner.
We agreed to undertake the horned rabbit subjugation as our first quest and set out westward, where these creatures were known to thrive in abundance.
After a few hours of trekking through the wilderness, we finally encountered a group of horned rabbits idling in the forest. Gale and I made quick work of dispatching them, instructing Ness to store the carcasses within her Storage ability.
Requiring a few more to complete the quest, we ventured deeper into the woodlands.
I suggested we take a brief respite, prompting Ness to retrieve some rations from her Storage and begin eating, blissfully unaware of the danger lurking nearby.
Suddenly, arrows came whizzing towards us from multiple directions within the foliage.
Reacting swiftly, Gale and I darted towards Ness, deflecting the barrage of projectiles.
Ness, frozen in shock, could only stare at us wide-eyed, her muscles refusing to obey her commands.
Then, a fireball the size of a watermelon came hurtling straight towards us. Acting swiftly, I coated my hand with mana and deflected the spell with a forceful slap, redirecting its trajectory moments before it exploded.
Seeing their ambush had failed, our assailants finally revealed themselves, committing to melee combat. Though we initially assumed them to be mere bandits, the armor they donned marked them as soldiers hailing from the Apton Empire.
"How brave of you to encroach upon Hoverian lands without your vaunted hero," Gale taunted.
Fifteen in total, all appeared to be seasoned fighters save for a lone mage. It shouldn't prove too difficult to neutralize the threat they posed.
"Gale, allow me to handle this," I declared with confidence.
"Aren't you a tad overconfident, young man? Very well, have it your way," he conceded.
I began advancing toward them, knife in hand. Emboldened by my solitary approach, they exuded an air of confidence, assured of their numerical superiority.
Before any of them could react, I had already maneuvered behind their mage, swiftly neutralizing him first. The others only realized what had transpired upon hearing the dull thud of his body hitting the ground behind them.
I remembered that after my resurrection, a deluge of information regarding the blessings I possessed flooded my mind, and I realized I had been utilizing Mana Arts incorrectly. Since I could freely control the mana within my body and surroundings, I could harness it to vastly enhance not only my physical prowess but also my speed.
If only I had understood this sooner, could the outcome on that fateful island have been different?
One down, fourteen more to go.
Sensing the threat I posed, they began to group together, likely in an attempt to prevent any further sneak attacks from behind. Unfortunately for them, this only served to make my task considerably easier.
Not only had my physical abilities been enhanced, but my mental faculties as well. I was moving at inhuman speeds, yet my mind could keep pace effortlessly, rendering the world around me to unfold in what felt like slow motion.
One by one, I cut them down with the very knife that had accompanied me since my arrival in this world. They fell before me until only a single soldier remained standing.
The horned rabbits we had dispatched earlier would have put up more resistance than these so-called elite soldiers.
"You understand why I've allowed you to remain alive, don't you?" I addressed the lone survivor.
"P-please spare me! I'll do anything!" he pleaded through tears streaming down his face.
Gale and I then began interrogating him, probing for any valuable information he might yield.
Through our interrogation, we learned that they were a scouting party from Biljor, formerly a territory of the Hover Kingdom now under the Apton Empire's rule. Their mission was to monitor the forest and identify potential routes that could be utilized for a future invasion. The soldier willingly divulged a wealth of information, including the last known whereabouts of the famed hero, Olvir.
He revealed that after the fall of the Easton Kingdom, rumors had begun circulating among the soldiers about neighboring countries exerting pressure on the empire. Part of the reason stemmed from the fact that Olvir had been dispatched westward to suppress the Alfornalian Empire and its heroes.
With the potential for reigniting the war on this front, I deemed it prudent to release the soldier. However, before doing so, I instructed him to remove his top, and utilizing the power bestowed upon me by the goddess Hecate, I carved a series of letters in Ancient script upon his back with my knife. Once complete, the markings magically vanished, as if they had been a mere illusion.
Of course, this was far from the truth. The soldier had endured tremendous pain during the process and lost consciousness before I could even finish. In my eyes, it wasn't an overly severe ordeal.
Gale, intrigued by my ability to write in the Ancient language, inquired about the meaning of the text and how I had acquired such a skill.
"That text will tamper with his memories, rewriting them so that when he awakens, he will believe a monster attacked his party, and he was the sole survivor," I explained.
"I learned about it from the Eastonian smithy back on the island," I added.
I didn't deem it the right moment to disclose everything to Gale. Perhaps one day, I would.
"Egil, whatever happens, please don't use that on me," Gale pleaded, his expression etched with worry.
"I don't know, Gale. Perhaps I would if I found a reason to," I responded, maintaining a serious demeanor.
We paused for a beat, and then both erupted into laughter, though I could sense Gale's lingering unease. It had merely been a jest.
We had completely forgotten about Ness amidst the skirmish. Perhaps she remained frozen in place, paralyzed by fear after witnessing the violent altercation.
I glanced over to where she had been, only to find her rummaging through the fallen soldiers' belongings. Some goddess she was.
"What?" Ness retorted defensively upon noticing my gaze. "They had valuables on them, and they won't be needing those items anymore, right? I might as well claim them for...ourselves!"
I let out a resigned sigh and allowed her to continue her looting undisturbed. It seemed that embracing her newfound humanity had awakened a rather unsavory trait within her. Such nonchalant plundering was certainly not what one would expect from a former divine being.
Gale, meanwhile, pondered how we should dispose of the bodies. Ness suggested storing them within her Storage ability to deal with later, but I had a different plan in mind.
One by one, I approached the lifeless forms and absorbed them into my being. They were visibly shocked and confused by the unfolding events, prompting me to explain that it was a necessary requirement of my blessing.
If anything, this only served to deepen their bewilderment, leading me to implore them to simply let the matter go.
To my surprise, Ness seemed utterly unaware of this particular ability of mine.
I spoke no falsehood when I mentioned it was a requirement of my blessing. Akrys' blessing was not mere Mana Arts, a rudimentary level one skill. The blessing she bestowed upon me bore a peculiar name, yet its sub-skills were aptly fitting for the embodiment of death itself: The Horsemen.
There are four distinct Horsemen branches that I can unlock through the sacrifice of human lives.
The first branch, Conquest, includes Mana Arts and two more skills. I need 86 more sacrifices to acquire the next skill in this branch. Then, it requires me to obtain all three of its skills before I can progress to the next Horseman.
Once I had finished absorbing the fallen soldiers, we continued with our quest as if nothing troubling had transpired, leaving the sole surviving soldier lying unconscious on the forest floor. I could only hope he wouldn't fall prey to any wandering monsters before regaining consciousness.
While the idea of requiring human sacrifices to unlock powerful abilities might seem distasteful, for my revenge, I must embrace this path, no matter how unsettling it may be.