"It seems you are slow in the brain to understand," Zein said mockingly.
"Hey I'm not stupid!" Alex shouted in indignation.
"I didn't say that but you assumed you are one. So that means it's true," Zein said while laughing mockingly.
"Do you want to have a go old man?" Alex said while folding up his sleeves as he got up from the chair.
"I don't bully weak children especially brats," Zein said as if Alex's challenge was nothing but a joke to him.
"I am not a brat," Alex grumbled out as he sat down as he knew in his current state he would get beaten easily.
"Do you accept to take my training?" Zein asked.
"Will it help me get my revenge?" Alex asked, his tone becoming darker at the end.
"Who knows," Zein answered while carrying an air of mystery around him.
"I accept," Alex said.
Zein held out his hand for a handshake gesturing for Alex to shake his hand in order to seal the deal. Alex shaked his hand causing Zein's eyes to have a certain sadistic glee to them which Alex took note of.
'What have I gotten myself into.'
Alex thought as he sweat dropped but little did he know that he had gotten himself in a contract with the devil. Zein gestured for Alex to follow him which led to them ending up at the guild master's office where they saw a beautiful woman with purple hair and purple eyes and an angular face while possessing a beauty able to charm any man.
'If it was in my past life I would have fallen head over heels for her but my childlike body has not yet reached adolescence. I am immensely grateful for reincarnation,' Alex thought as he had a content smile.
"Emilia, I have brought the Kid," Zein said, gaining Emilia's full attention.
"I see," Emilia said as stood up and got out of the chair.
"Who are you little one?" Emilia asked while crouching in order to reach Alex's level of vision.
"I am Alex," Alex said, wanting to get out of the vicinity of this woman as all his battle cells screamed in danger from being next to her.
"I am Emilia Bismarck, the Guild master of Imperia, the guild which you are currently in," Emilia said.
"Nice to meet you Emilia," Alex said as he cutely tried to look away from Emilia causing her sisterly instincts to flare up causing her to glomp him in an aggressive hug.
"Emi-li-a can't br-ea-the," Alex said as he struggled to let out some words as he tried and failed to get out of the hug which he was currently held up in causing his face to turn purple because of the lack of air.
"Emilia let go of the poor boy, he clearly isn't getting enough air," Zein said, hoping to relieve Alex from the danger which he was experiencing.
"Oh… sorry," Emilia said as she let go of Alex.
"Emilia, I will be taking him on as an apprentice," Zein said.
"I need you to register him as an adventurer so he can bypass the security at night," Zein added.
"That's fine with me but I will be in charge of his theory lessons," Emilia said.
Emilia gestured for them to follow her as they went through the rowdy guild while avoiding an occasional body or two that was thrown towards them with ease but it was a bit harder for Alex due to his delayed reactions. Emilia led them down a spiral of stairs to a basement where they saw a large green circular crystal was levitating ominously while leaking a purple aura.
"Place your hand on the crystal. It will do the rest,"
Alex did as instructed and immediately saw a small pillar of stone appear and from it emerged a white card with black letters engraved onto it which Emilia stepped forward to pick the card and examine it. Emilia went to a corner of the room and stamped it with the guild master's stamp and signed as she keyed him into the records of guild members. Emilia returned from completing the process.
"Here is your Adventurer's card. You can use it to gain missions and entry into the guild at night because of security procedures," Emilia said as she handed him the Adventurer's card.
Alex took the card and was fascinated by the intricacy of the detail of designs etched on the edge of the card but what fascinated him the most was the guild logo which was the symbol of a sword going through the head of the tiger. He then flipped the card to show his details.
Imperia Adventurer's Guild
Name: Alex
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Age: 12
Class: Novice knight
Attack: 5(F rank)
Defence: 10(F rank)
Stamina: 15(F rank)
Vitality: 10(F rank)
Magic: Non existent
[Everything is poor I see. I haven't done anything of importance to this body to warrant me being strong] Alex thought while letting out a sigh.
Zein and Emilia looked at the card and their eyebrows simultaneously raised up in surprise because of the magic stat and each raised their concern.
"That's odd even if you are a knight in terms of class you should at least have zero written not non existent. You are a rare case," Emilia said.
"Either way your training from me begins tomorrow for today it's your day off so you are to rest as I will train(torture) you till you are haggard," Zein said while chuckling like a maniac.
'Stop leaking out your thoughts. You clearly said torture,' Alex thought in a sweat drop.
Zein's statement caused him to be bonked on the head by a very irate Emilia who was cracking her knuckles as she smiled menacingly causing Zein to instinctively take a step back.
"What is this I hear about you trying to torture this pure innocent soul?" Emilia asked, going full on overprotective big sister mode.
"Wait Emilia, this isn't what you think it is," Zein said as he backed away in fear trying to create some space between him and Emilia who was casually catching up to him.
"I heard your words clearly and I am sure Alex heard you well too. Didn't you Alex?" Emilia asked as her tone became more gentle as she addressed Alex.
Alex saw an opportunity to get back at Zein and shook his head in affirmation while having some fake tears causing Emilia's anger to increase and turn to Zein while Zein saw Alex stick out his tongue the message was clear.
"Checkmate old man," were the unspoken words shared during their brief moment of eye contact.
"Alex would you be a dear and look away," Emilia said in a tone carrying gentleness as compared to her earlier tone.
Alex did as he was told and turned away from the scene before him and heard the various pleas of mercy from a grown man who was currently screaming as he was getting beat up by his female comrade. Alex decided to turn to observe the spectacle while eating some popcorn. Zein who saw this threw him a look as if to ask where he got the popcorn from to which Alex merely shrugged as he continued to watch Emilia beating up Zein. Once Emilia turned around the popcorn from Alex's hands disappeared causing Zein to look at him in incredulousness. Emilia went to Alex asking if he is alright while pulling him into a hug to comfort him while Zein threw him stink eye through his bruises that made his face look comical as it had bumps on various places this caused Alex to grin in triumph as he settled in the arms of Emilia.
Emilia bid them goodbye as she had to get back to doing paperwork and filling out guild application requests. This led to Zein and Alex standing outside the door of Emilia's office. Zein threw him a look of faux anger causing Alex to let out his tongue once again.
"Let me teach you something old man so as to be on slightly equal footing I have to fight unfairly," Alex said mockingly.
"If you want to be unfair I will fight you on your own battlefield," Zein said while having a competitive smirk.
To another person's point of view they would see sparks travelling between the two as they locked eyes. Zein picked up Alex under his arm and led him to the guild library and picked out a few books for Alex to read while they were training. Zein told him he is free to do whatever he feels like after dropping off the books in Alex's room. Alex sat down on a mat in the middle of the room and scanned the appearances of the books before him while trying to decide what to read. He saw an interesting book with a blue cover titled 'Combat training for dummies' he opened the book to read it and once he tilted the book he saw a note causing him to pick it up and once he read it his blood went cold.
"Found you Olethros"