August 15, 343 CE
Maros POV
It's been nearly a year since his son had woken up from his coma. Since that time, he had been teaching him about everything from geography and history to economics.
Maros saw it as a necessary step to catch his son up on all he had missed out on in all those years unconscious. He didn't want Aryn to be behind all his peers when he went to one of the academies.
Looking to his left at the dining table, Maros watched his son tear into his breakfast as though it would be taken from him.
'He's come a long way in so little time.' Maros thought, a small, proud tilt marring his lips.
His son may have lost the advantage of being born with a crystalized Conduit, but he had kept his genius perfectly intact. He absorbed all the knowledge he threw at him like a sponge, then asked for more.
He was thankful that Emilia had started training the boy too. It left him with barely enough time in a day to manage their businesses before Aryn came knocking on his door after his second training session of the day.
But Maros was a little worried. Yesterday, when they had finished the day's lesson, his son had asked him for something for his birthday. He had asked permission to sigh up at the Adventurers' Guild.
A ten year old adventurer wasn't entirely unheard of, but that wasn't Maros' primary concern. As an Apprentice Mage, Aryn would technically be overqualified as a Copper rank adventurer, fitting squarely into Bronze.
What Maros was worried about was experience. Aryn was physically ten years old today, but he had only actually experienced a fraction of that. He didn't want him to be taken advantage of in his ignorance.
Aryn was no doubt intelligent, but wisdom could only be acquired with time.
But Maros also understood that he was being overprotective. Aryn wouldn't learn how to stand on his own two feet if he wasn't given the opportunity to fall over trying. So he talked with Emilia the previous night about their son's request.
It had been a very short discussion as they were on the same page in the matter. Aryn would be allowed to be a an Adventurer on a few conditions.
"Aryn, your mother and I talked and decided that you can sign up as an Adventurer. But we have some conditions." Hearing the words, Aryn stopped eating and looked at him.
"You can only take Copper rank jobs, you can't take jobs that will take longer than a week to complete, and you can't leave the surrounding region of Heriin."
Maros watched a smile appear on Aryn's face before his son nodded and said, "Deal! When can I go?"
Expecting this response from him, Maros answered immediately, "You can go sign up after dinner, but it'll be a week or so before they let you take any jobs. They're going to need to process your paperwork first."
"Great! Mom, let's train!" Maros watched the food on Aryn's plate disappear before he ran to his room, presumably to change.
Looking to his wife, Maros gave her a knowing look. Seeing her nod in return, he relaxed and ate his own breakfast.
***
Aryn POV
Wiping a bit of icing from his lip, Aryn followed his parents into town, stopping for a moment in front of a building he had yet to enter until this point.
The Adventurers' Guild was a simple two-story brick building with a few windows previewing the inside. Aryn could see a seating area on the right side of the building along with a small bar. It was empty at the moment.
On the right side was the reception desk with two workers behind it and a large board where the available jobs were posted.
Walking into the building with his parents, they led him right to the reception desk on the left. Behind it was an old man with long gray hair and a heavily scarred face.
'Probably a retired adventurer.' Aryn thought as his mother gently pushed him forward.
When the old man locked eyes with him, he smiled gently and asked, "What can I do for you today, kid?"
The old man gave off an aura of charisma as he spoke. Aryn found himself feeling like he was talking with a grandparent eager to spoil their grandchildren.
"I want to sign up as an adventurer, Sir." He cut straight to the chase.
The old man reached under the desk and brought up a form to fill out along with a cheap pencil. "Sure thing, kid. Just fill this out and hand it back when you're done."
Accepting the sheet with a nod, Aryn took the pencil in hand and looked over the paper.
At the top of the paper, it read 'Adventurer Application Sheet' followed by a bunch of basic questions. These questions varied from his name and age to his preferred method of combat.
He quickly started filling it out, asking the man or his parents when he didn't know how to answer one of the questions.
'Name: Aryn Mayer
Age: 10
Date of Birth: August 15th, 233 CE
Warrior: No
Mage: Apprentice Mage
Preferred Combat: Close-mid range physical.
Trait: N/A
Notable Skills: Highly effective mana sensory abilities, extremely high stamina.'
Aryn figured the most important things he needed to fill out on the sheet were his preferred form of combat, whether or not he qualified as a mage or warrior, and his notable skills.
These would determine what jobs would suit him and help determine if he was strong enough to accept them.
Handing back the sheet and the pencil to the old man behind the counter, Aryn waited for him to look it over.
"Everything looks good. Now I just need to write down a physical description, hold on a moment." Aryn nodded as the old man started writing on the page, taking a break to look up at him every few moments.
"All done." The old man put the finished application somewhere under the desk. "Come back in a week and your token should be ready. Since you're an Apprentice Mage, you automatically qualify as a Bronze rank, but I'd suggest only taking Copper rank jobs until you've got a bit of experience under your belt."
"Thank you Sir, I will." Aryn thanked him before leaving with his parents.
As they walked along the streets on their way home, he felt a hand rest itself on his head. Looking up, he saw his mother with a big smile on her face.
"I'm so proud of you! You're going to be a bigshot adventurer someday!" Aryn blushed a bit, embarrassed at being treated like a kid.
He was a kid now though, so he would have to suck it up. "Mooom, stop messing up my hair." It was therapeutic anyway, being treated like this.
She only messed it up more, he should've stayed quiet.
Maros smiled as he watched the scene. Aryn couldn't tell what he was thinking as he did, but for a moment, he thought he saw regret flash through his father's eyes before disappearing a moment later.
Not paying it any mind, the family continued on their way back to the manor.
***
In the week Aryn was waiting for his adventurer's token, his mother went into a training frenzy. It seemed she was determined for him to be as ready as he could be for his first job as an adventurer.
He thought it was overkill considering that Copper rank jobs were mainly taken by ordinary people, but he wouldn't turn down the training anyway, so he saw it as a positive thing.
After training under her for nearly a year now, Aryn was feeling quite well about his skill level in hand to hand combat. He was no master, he knew. But he was confident in beating even an untrained adult so long as their physique wasn't boosted too much by mana.
There were a few times when he had asked his mother to not hold back her speed in the past months to get a picture of where he stood in terms of overall combat power.
The result was eye-opening. He was on the ground before he even completely understood what was happening. She was careful not to hurt him physically, but his confidence was certainly pushed back down a considerable amount.
'That's probably a good thing. If I had gotten arrogant in front of a bandit that just so happened to be a Warrior or something, I'd probably be dead.'
He suspected that his mother was more powerful than the average Warrior, but he didn't know by how much. She had told him herself that she was indeed a Warrior though, not a Great Warrior.
'The power ceiling is so high in this world. i think a Great Warrior could probably break the sound barrier. I can only imagine what it'd feel like to be a Grand Warrior or an Archmage.' Focusing back on his mother in front of him, he nodded that he was ready for the next round as he got into a better stance.
He still had a long way to go if he was ever to find out. So he shifted his focus to just reaching the level of an Aspirant Warrior for now. That shouldn't be too out of reach, he just needed to kill something or someone at the level of a tier two being in melee combat.
'I'm also considered a tier two being, that should be well within reach.'
***
Aryn was walking back into town alongside his mother. It was time to pick up his adventurer's token. If there was anything suitable available, he would also choose his first adventuring job.
Walking back into the Adventurers' Guild, Aryn walked right up to the counter and met the same old man as before.
"Hello, I'm here to pick up my token." This was an exciting moment for him, once he had his token, he would officially be an adventurer.
"Ah, hello again, kid. Here you go. Congratulations on becoming an adventurer." The old man grabbed a small, shield shaped bronze token and handed it over to Aryn's outstretched hand.
The token was a simple little trinket made of bronze. On one side was a shield with the words 'Adventurers' Guild' and on the other was a flat space that only had his name and a number that he assumed was for administration purposes.
"Thank you... What's your name, Sir?" He would likely be seeing the old man often, so he decided to ask his name.
Smiling, the old man replied while extending his hand, "I'm Garret, kid. Nice to meet you."
Clasping Garret's hand and giving it a shake, Aryn likewise said, "I'm Aryn, nice meet you too."
With the introductions finished, Aryn walked over to the board next to the desk and took a look at the available job postings. He disregarded any that would go against his parents' conditions, leaving only four.
The first option was from a farmer asking for someone to clear out a bunch of mice from his barn. It seemed his cat had disappeared and they had taken over. It would pay 30 large copper coins on completion.
Option number two was also from a farmer. This time they just wanted some muscle to move a fairly large amount of lumber that they were going to use to build a fence. It would pay 25 large copper.
Third was from an herbalist asking for an escort while they picked plants in the forest for 30 large copper.
Finally, there was a hunter looking for a mage to help find an old family heirloom that they had lost in the forest while on a hunt.
The item in question was enchanted, so a mage of some sort would make it much easier to find. The hunter was offering a small silver coin for a successful search, or 10 large copper for a day's attempt.
After thinking for a minute, Aryn unpinned one of the papers and brought it to Garret at the desk. "Garret, I'd like to accept this job, please."
Grabbing the paper and giving it a quick look, Garret nodded and wrote something on it before storing it in a drawer. "Alright, it's all set. I'll contact the employer, you can meet them here tomorrow at noon. That sound good?"
"Thanks. Noon is fine, see you then."
"Good luck on your first job, Aryn!" Garret waved goodbye from behind the desk as Aryn and his mom left the guild building. Aryn waved back as he walked through the door, back onto the street.