The next day, I returned to Belves city, and entered the adventurer's guild. Today the adventurer's guild was very quiet. I reported about the hundred of Treemans attack, along with one dangerous big Treeman that lead them. The receptionist was shocked when she hear that.
"W-What!? How is that possible?! Treemen shouldn't be able to do that. There's no way a Treeman can be that strong, and in a group of hundreds number! Your report is too far-fetched!"
Then, I took my phone from my pocket, and showed some videos and photos of hundred Treemans invasion on Fcihyn village. The receptionist even more shocked. Oh yeah, this phone was a gift from the village chief. He wanted me to have this phone so that I could provide lots of evidence about the Treemans invasion, to the adventurer's guild.
"This is.... Unbelieveable..."
"If you still can't believe it, you can check it yourself in that village."
Then the receptionist was silent for a moment. After that, a woman, probably an officer, came out of a room and she approached the receptionist.
"Hey, that guy is right... He's the one who saved the Fcihyn village from Treemans invasion. I have many footage from the hidden camera installed near the village. Look at this!" The woman said while secretly looking at me in fear.
"Show me!"
Then, they enter the room behind them. I don't know what they will do. But it's good if there was another evidence coming from the adventurer's guild itself.
A few minutes later, the receptionist and the officer returned to the reception desk. They looked at me seriously, and said...
"Umm, Arde... Follow us. We'll take you to the meeting room and discuss something important."
"Oh, okay."
"Let's go."
Then they left the reception desk, and led me to the meeting room on the second floor. I followed them, with my heart beating fast. I wanted to know why I was called to the meeting room. I was a little nervous.
After walking up to the second floor, we finally arrived at the door of the meeting room. The receptionist opened the door. Behind the door was a room with a wooden floor, the wall was painted white without any decoration, and there were rows of long tables and chairs on the left and right sides of the room. On the right side, the rows of tables were shorter and there were fewer chairs. On the right side, there were also three men in white shirts and black pants. Their appearance was neat and attractive.
"You're Arde, right? Sit in front of us. And both of you, too."
"Look, you used to be known as the number one Loser. Your reputation is very bad. And you are famous for all your failures, and also other bad things. If we immediately promote you to A class, then there will be a lot of commotion. Some will protest to us, and think we are crazy for promoting a loser to A class. Even if we show a lot of evidence, they will definitely not believe it and consider it a fabrication. They might even think that you bribed us to make fake evidence. Then they will also hate you even more and you will become the target of public bullying, whether in the virtual world or in real life. So promoting you to B class is the best choice we can do. Do you accept it?"
Then I sat in the chair on the left side of the room with the officer and the receptionist. This was the first time I had been called to the boardroom. Normally, an adventurer would be called here for various reasons. The reason could be because they wanted to give you an award, special treatment, a title, or even criticism.
I didn't know what they wanted to talk to me about.
"Let me introduce myself, my name is Bill Bates, the administrator of the Belves City branch of the Adventurer's Guild. To my left is Denys Krivtophenn, the deputy administrator. And on my right is Fred, the head of the Adventurer's Rank Management. We have called you here to discuss the attack on the village of Fcihyn by a hundred treemen.
Then the man to his left named Denys spoke.
"According to all the evidence and information provided by Nina and Anne, you alone slaughtered the hundred Treemen and one other Treeman who was bigger and stronger. You slaughtered them easily, in less than two minutes!"
After Denys said this, the floor between us opened and a device with a complicated design rose to the ground. Then the device displayed a hologram screen projection. The hologram screen showed a video recording that did not come from my cell phone. It looked like a surveillance camera recording. There was not just one, but many recordings taken from different angles. I could only be silent. I didn't know that there were so many surveillance cameras installed in Fcihyn Village. Even though it was just a remote village.
"This surveillance footage is the original from the surveillance camera of the Adventurer's Guild
Belves City Branch. And it's unedited. So everything is clear and proven."
Then Fred said
"Therefore, we will promote you."
I will be promoted? This is a good thing!
I wonder what class I will be promoted to? Since I saved a village, I should be promoted to A-Class. And if I am promoted, all those who look down on me will be shocked and Disbilieve. I can't wait to see the faces of those people, hahaha!
"So, what grade will I be promoted to?" I asked.
"Actually, we were going to promote you to A-class. But if we promote you to A-class right away, there will be a lot of commotion, even though you saved a village. We will promote you to B-class first."
What? Why is that? If an adventurer/group manages to save a large number of people, they should be promoted to A or S class. Besides, I saved the villagers from 100 Treemen.
"But why is that?"
Then Bill spoke.
"Look, you used to be known as the number one loser. Your reputation is very bad. You are known for all your failures and other bad things. If we promote you to the A-class right now, there will be a lot of commotion. Some people will protest and say that we are crazy to promote a loser to A-class. Even if we show them a lot of evidence, they will definitely not believe it and think it is a fabrication. They might even think that you bribed us to make fake evidence. Then they will hate you even more, and you will become the target of public bullying, whether in the virtual world or in real life. So promoting you to B-class is the best choice we can make. Do you accept it?"
Bill, Fred, Denys, the receptionist and the officer looked at me seriously. I felt uncomfortable with their looks. I want to think about it. If I think about it, it's true. It would sound strange if I, who had always been known as a weak loser, suddenly became very strong and saved a village from a horde of strong monsters. Instead of being amazed, those people would not accept it and would curse me to the fullest. Even if I showed them real evidence, they would still be stubborn and not believe it. They would also think that I was cheating or lying. There would probably be a lot of people who wouldn't accept it. So it wasn't a good choice to move up to Class A for the time being. It wasn't just me who was taking a risk, but the Adventurers' Guild as well.
If I went up to B class, it would still be reasonable. Class B is a mid-level category. And it would still be reasonable for a D class adventurer to be promoted directly to B class, depending on the reason. Besides, B-class isn't that bad. I can get good facilities and a big paycheck. My life would be better that way. As for the problem of more difficult and challenging quests, it's not a problem because I've become stronger.
"Okay, I accept it. I don't mind being promoted to B-class as long as the pay is worth it." I said politely and firmly.
"Relax, we can take care of the payment. And you will get special treatment from us. Oh yeah, you can return your adventurer's license and badge to Fred so he can replace them with new ones." Bill said.
"Okay."
I took my adventurer's license and badge out of my pocket. Then I handed them to Fred. Then I sat down again.
"Good. Now, since your adventurer's license and badge are being replaced, the replacement process will take a whole day.
You can pick them up tomorrow."
"Okay, Mr. Bill, thank you."
"One more thing."
The hologram projector device descended to the wooden floor, then sank, and another familiar object appeared. It was the appraisal stone.
"Well, check your stats there. We want to see how strong you are."
Hmm, they want to know my strength.I don't know how much power Kiara gave me. If that power is too great and uncontrolled, it might explode when I test it on the appraisal Stone. But that's just a fantasy. How could a high-quality Appraisal stone be destroyed just by checking its strength? Besides, I was also curious about how strong I was now.
I stepped closer to the Appraisal stone. Then I placed my right palm on the surface of the appraisal stone. A few seconds passed, and the appraisal Stone began to glow. Nothing strange until...
Zzrrrt... Zrrrrt.... Zrrt!!!
The appraisal stone made a strange sound, and its temperature heated up. Smoke billowed above the Judgement Stone. The people around me began to panic, and so did I.
Finally, the appraisal Stone cracked and shattered into pieces. Everything was scattered on the floor. I could only freeze, because I had broke one of the valuable assets of the Adventurers' Guild. Even though I hadn't done anything! I just put my hand on the appraisal stone, and suddenly, the stone exploded.
Bill, Fred, Denys, Nina, and Anne were shocked to death when they saw what just happened. They looked at me, with an expression that describe if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Their bodies looked shivering as if they stand in top of a snowy mountains.
"Impossible... There's only few of S-class adventurers that be able to break the Appraisal Stone during the stats scan process! And you..."
I saw Bill, breathing heavily. He tried to calm himself down.
"Why, you can be that strong!! Even though, from the data we had before, your strength wasn't that great. And now you can be that strong... There's no way a human can grow that fast in strength!! Please answer, Why are you that strong?"
I was also surprised and a little nervous because his question. This is the risk if I carelessly check my power without compress it first and also not pretending to be weak. Now, what should I do?
Oh, I have an idea...
"Umm, I actually have sealed power. My sealed power can't detected by an appraisal stone, even by myself. My power only appeared yesterday, when in a very emergency situation, when a hundreds of Treemen attacked the Fcihyn village. At that time, Im afraid to fight those Treeman, but I had a strong desire to protect the villagers. In the end, my sealed power was released, and I use it to slaughter all the Treemen."
I tried to make a convincing lie. There's no way I could tell them that I got my power from my sister who came from another branch of fate. They might thinking im crazy guy.
"Haven't you faced extreme emergencies many times before? Why didn't your sealed power appear at that time?"
Then I answer...
"T-That's because yesterday was the most urgent. And Before I went to Fcihyn village, I was bullied by many adventurers. That made me feel desperate, but also vengeful. So when the 100 Treeman attack happened, I felt scared, but also wanted to save the villagers. I realized that I was too weak, but I had a deep grudge against all the adventurers who insult and humiliated me at that time. So because of all the mixed feelings, my sealed power suddenly unlocked and I vented all my anger on the Treeman, ending up slaughtering them easily. That's how it was."
I said that while puffing out my chest and smiling proudly. Some of what I said was true, about me feeling vengeful and venting my anger on the Treeman. This way, I could show an honest expression.
"Hmm, okay. That sounds convincing. Well whatever, you saved Fcihyn village. And you deserve a big payment."
I immediately gulped when I heard that. A big payment was something I had always wanted! How could there's a human who wouldn't be tempted when they heard the word "big payment"
"How much is my payment?"
I asked nervously.
"60 gold coins."
What! 60 gold coins?! That's big money! Gold coins are the second highest currency, after star coins. Even if you only have ten, you can live comfortably. And I get 60 gold coins... This feels like a dream!
"Arde, how about it? Are you refusing?" Bill said curiously.
"O-Oh, of course I won't refuse!"
"Good. You can take it at the bank. We'll transfer it to your account. Now you can go out. Come back tomorrow to receive your new adventurer's license and badge, and also... Complete the B-class adventurer's quest."
"Yes, Mr. Bill, thank you. Then, I'll leave first."
After that, I left the meeting room. I went down to the first floor, then exited the adventurer's guild building. Today I'm going to have some fun first, as a form of my happiness for rising to B-class. However, I don't know how to have fun today. Hmm...
Ah, I'm going to the forest to test my new power! I'll take care of the payment later. Today, I'm going to have fun!
*****
I went to the forest in the north of Belves city. Here, I stand. I try to remember the other powers I got from Kiara.
.....
Oh, yeah!
"Deconstruction!"
I touched the large rock in front of me. Instantly, the rock collapsed and turned into a pile of sand. This is one of my new powers, deconstruction. But actually, this is an additional skill from a unique skill called [destruction].
This power comes from another version of me, who became a resident of the esper region in another branch of fate. In that branch of fate, I became a dangerous Esper and hunted by many other espers. That other version of me leads an evil Esper organization with extraordinary powers. Oh, it feels so strange, remembering memories that's not originally mine. This is a copy of my memory in another branch of fate.
Maybe.... This is the side effect of my power that given from Kiara? Not only the power was copied, but the memory too... This is just a small part of the memory, from other memories that's more numerous and complicated. Then, another version of me somehow became that strong, even scary. What about the other versions of me who was not in the Esper world? Are they just scary as this? And why am I the only one who is weak in this branch of fate? Thats until Kiara give me a copy of the power of 14 other versions of myself. That made me jealous.
However, it's also fun to have many powers at once. Moreover, all of this comes from a parallel world! I'm the only human in this world who can do this.
Rather thinking about something confusing, now what other powers can I try....
Oh, how about....
"Fly!!!"
I jumped 20 meters high, then continued to shoot up into the sky, piercing the clouds.
"Woaaah!!!! I'm flying!! Wooooo!!!"
I screamed with joy. Look, I'm flying! I'm flying, piercing the clouds! I can fly in freedom. It feels so free. Like swimming, but in the air. My body feels light and I can move freely. I start to increase my flying speed, and shot at subsonic speeds towards the North. My altitude reached 2 km from the ground, but I didn't care and continued to fly in freedom without any obstacles, heading to a dungeon in the North.
I will become a legend.
*****
...
..
On an island, there is a very deep Abyss, and it looks like it has no bottom. It was the Deepest Abyss, the legendary abyss.... Which always being a bedtime story and a part of the heroic legendary of the hero.
Let's dive deeper....
Into the darkness of the abyss....
.
.
.
.
.
It turned out, this abyss had a bottom, but.... Dark.
Dark... There's only a darkness. However, from a distance, light was visible.
If we approach it.... A city will be visible. This is a city at the bottom of the Deepest Abyss. There are many tall buildings. And the tallest one is a castle in the city center.
It was a castle with a dark gray color, and had dim lighting. The lighting came from torches, lanterns, and candles with dim purple flames burning. The atmosphere can made any human shudder with endless fear and despair.
Inside the castle, there was a room. It was a luxurious room, with a bed... which there was a mattress, blanket, and pillow, all in red. There's also had a large wardrobes with beautiful carvings. And beside the bed was a small table, With a blank piece of paper on it. The room was only lit by a dim purple candle.
On the bed... There's a woman in a plain green dress sat on it. The woman... Was very beautiful. She had pure white skin, long wavy snow-white hair, Ruby red eyes, soft lips, and a rather tall body. She looked like an angel, but she was a literal devil. On her back were a pair of bat wings, and on her head were two black horns with sharp tips.
The woman sat, with both hands holding a blue magic crystal ball. The magic crystal ball, showed Arde flying in the sky, piercing the clouds.
Arde looked like he was having fun.
While the woman was crying.
Her tears dripped on the magic crystal ball. Her lips trembled, wanting to say something, but it was heavy.
Then the woman said...
"Kal... I miss you..."
To be continued