The story starts in a forest located southwest of the Selfrest Kingdom. The forest was not that massive, just passed a river, bordering the Principality of Sakura in the south and Arkan in the west.
It was the usual day, birds chirping, flying around, tree leaves rustling, and the calming sound of wind in the forest.
"Aah! You are not getting away!" a loud shout echoed.
The birds in the trees fled, and a wild boar emerged from the bushes, followed by a beautiful girl who chased it.
The boar tried to escape the damsel but failed; with the girl's one swift kick on the boar's back, it died. The boar was smashed against the ground so hard that it created a crater.
The girl landed on the ground gently. She fixed her messy hair with her hands, placing her hair behind her after.
"Phew. That was pretty close," she sighed in relief. She had almost missed kicking the boar. If she had missed that kick, it would have hit the ground, hurting her after.
She was a beautiful, goddess-like, lady. Ryunova El-Tan.
Ryunova flinched and her gaze shifted to the bush in front of her. The bushes suddenly moved and a small lizard-like creature came out.
"A dragon?" she whispered to herself.
A black-scaled dragon had come out from the bushes. The small dragon looked at Ryunova. Silent fell.
***
I couldn't help but feel threatened by the dragon's presence. In front of me stood a terrifying yet oddly cute little dragon. Its presence rivaled mine—that is to say, this dragon was almost, if not even, stronger than me.
Eight years ago, when I was eight, an incident occurred that caused me to lose my memories of the first eight years of my life. When I woke up, I just knew something was wrong—like I had lost something or someone.
From then on, I had lived in seclusion inside the forest. Many merchants passed by, and adventurers hunted monsters. Sometimes, I helped them—whether secretly or not.
Going back to the topic. I slowly step forward, reaching for the small dragon's head, I want to give it a head pat. It's cute. The dragon has blue right eyes and red left eyes with black slits, similar to predator animals.
"Kyuu~" the small dragon suddenly let out, surprising me.
It's too cute! I thought. The small dragon leaned its head on the palms of my hand, letting me pet them. The scales looked like its solid, yet its actually soft. My palms slid across its skin smoothly.
"Where's your family?" I asked. I grabbed the dragon and lifted them into my arms, carrying them like a baby.
Dragons normally lived in the Draconic Land, which is too far to the east. Thinking about it, I don't know my parents. In a way, we are similar.
I couldn't help but feel sad and I empathized with this cute fella.
"If you don't have one, then let me adopt you."
The dragon jumped on my head, curling around then it lay on my head like a snake.
"I will give you a name... You are now Noir," I declared.
An enormous amount of my mana was then sucked, enveloping Noir with purple and black light. The light slowly fades away, revealing Noir who had grown up to eighty-five centimeters. Noir's black wings span around fifty-three centimeters.
I fell on my knees, my hands on the ground supporting me.
I had forgotten... Tsk! I forgot that when a monster is given a name, it absorbs a portion of the name's mana equal to its mana capacity, evolving in the process, I clinched my fists, greatly weakened.
This law works if the namer give the monster a name and also transfers their mana to the monster, and if the monster accepts the name, they will evolve and a master-subordinate soul connection between the two is formed.
'Master,' a voice spoke inside my mind, it was telepathy.
'Let me... carry you to your house.'
That voice, is from Noir, I know it because I can feel it. Feeling reassured, I let myself fall asleep. My mind went blank. The sensation of my body slowly fades away into the darkness.
...
Waking up, I slowly open my eyes. I looked around and Noir jumped out from my shadow on top of me.
"Kyuu~" she quietly growls.
I had just found out that Noir is a girl. Through the soul connection between me and Noir, I would know where Noir is at, even if it's far away because the soul connection is too strong. The soul connection also allows me to telepathically communicate with her, it seems.
In addition, I could feel Noir's power. She is not the strongest dragon, but she is one of them it seems. I chuckled realizing how powerful Noir is.
"Now. Thank you for carrying me back here."
Also, how did Noir know where I lived? I pondered but dismissed it almost immediately as just a coincidence.
Standing up, I put Noir on my bed.
I've been in seclusion for the past eight years, not knowing my past. I am trapped in this endless confusion, who I was, who are my parents, and what had happened eight years ago. All this confusion had isolated me from the rest of the world. It's now time to break that seclusion and start my life anew. I had just recently celebrated my sixteenth birthday.
My decision is now solid. With that decision, I then packed my things up; my clothes, a sword given by one of the adventurers I helped, and food and drinks, all that in one backpack. I only have four clothes, two sleeping gowns, and two of my usual attire.
A long-sleeved white dress. My usual attire is a white dress with long sleeves, featuring gold accents on the cuffs, collar, and a golden belt around my waist. I am also wearing a magic item—a necklace that I believe was given to me by my parents, though I don't quite remember.
"Goodbye dear O' house. Noir~" I called out.
Noir who had been lying on the bed, jumped on my arms. Thinking about dragons, those who don't know me or see Noir may be alerted. How could I hide Noir with this size of her?
'Master, during your sleep, I acquired the ability to enter your shadow via my unique skill 'Dragonia', so there is nothing to worry about.'
Even though I didn't use telepathy, Noir could still sense and feel my emotions. I guess the soul connection's use is not only limited to telepathy but emotion sensing and feeling sharing also.
'Oh, I see,' I replied to her telepathically. 'But what is a unique skill? Is it different from magic?'
'Yes, master. Unique skills are those abilities that are born from their master's desire and personality. I had acquired Dragonia for my wish to become what you want me to become. Magics partially manipulate the laws of the world to produce results such as extreme heat can cause a fire.'
She then proceeded to list her unique skill abilities.
'My unique skill—Dragonia—had the sub-abilities of mind acceleration, regeneration, erudition, all-seeing-eye, Shadow Space, darkness manipulation, and fire manipulation.'
Her abilities are suitable for support and offense.
Her mind acceleration allows her to accelerate her thought process or mind up to a thousand times; Erudition allows her to comprehend, understand, and know any and all basic knowledge and access the history of the world. Example of this is how the gravity works.
All-Seeing-Eye grants Noir three-sixty degree (360°) vision, also enhancing her vision, allowing her to see even far away. Shadow Space allows her to enter and travel anywhere via the spaces in the shadows.
Darkness Manipulation and Fire Manipulation allow the user to generate, manipulate, and utilize the elements of darkness and fire.
In layman's terms, she is OP as hell. If I were to fight her in my current state, there is a higher chance of her beating me than I beating her.
And concluding this event, my journey started.
***
Ryunova and Noir decided to go to the nearest town, Belfest. The journey only took a few hours after arriving at the Town of Belfest's front gate. Noir immediately went inside Ryunova's shadow, a space between the shadow of Ryunvoa. The line was not too long; she had only waited two minutes.
When she joined the line, almost all eyes were on her. Ryunova's beauty was that of a princess. Many men immediately fell in love with her the moment they laid their eyes on her.
Ryunova safely entered the town of Belfest. Ryunova gasped in amazement. The town—even though it is small—was crowded. Belfest is also a major trade route between the kingdom of Arkan and the Principality of Sakura.
'Master, if you continue to open your mouth like that, people will think you are crazy," Noir suddenly spoke through telepathy.
Coming back to her senses, Ryunova flinched and looked at her surroundings, noticing the people's attention was on her.
Oh my~
Ryunova covered her face in embarrassment, walking away from the crowds of people. She then thought of something.
What should I do here?
'Maybe you could join the adventurer's guild to earn money and so you could travel almost anywhere without getting stopped by guards.'
What do you mean, Noir?
'Many towns and cities let adventurers enter easily and fast, without inspecting them further. It's like a prestige or an honor or some kind of badge of identification.'
That's nice! Well then, I will go to the adventurer's guild!
Ryunova with Noir's guidance arrived at the adventurer's guild, currently at the front door. She then entered the guild. The guild was moderately busy. Adventurers fighting in arm wrestling and many at the quests board, looking for quests to take.
A receptionist desk. I should go there.
Ryunova walked towards the reception desk and was greeted by the receptionist.
"Welcome to the adventurer's guild. How may I help you? Are you here to commission or request something?" the receptionist asked.
"No... I mean, I want to register as an adventurer."
Ryunova blushed. It's her first time to have a conversation with someone. For Ryunova, talking to another person has a similar feeling of being naked. She nervously twitched her fingers around, playing on her back.
She's shy, isn't she, the receptionist thought with a smile outside of her mind.
"I see. First, I must tell you the requirements for the registration. First is, you must be above fifteen years old to register; secondly is you must pass our test, we will test your capability so we can assign you a rank fit for you."
Seems fair enough.
"I see. I agree... Oum," Ryunova's eyes repeatedly glance at her side. "I'm Ryu-"
Before Ryunova could introduce herself, the receptionist interjected.
"Please, fill in all the information required in here, like your name and age," she said, sliding a paper on the desk to Ryunova.
"Okay~"
And she filled the requirements with Noir's help. Living in seclusion in the forest for eight years, Ryunova didn't get to learn how to write and read, so, Noir assisted her in filling her adventurer's paper.
Name: Ryunova El-Tan
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Birth: January 1, 4900
Race: Human
After filling the paper with all the information required, Ryunova slid the paper back to the receptionist.
"Here."
"Thank you. It wouldn't take too long for this to be registered. Please follow me, I would be the witness of your capability, dear adventurer."
Already calling me adventurer, eh, Ryunova thought and she smirked.
"Okay."
They went to another room. There are six practice dummies in the room, perfectly lined together and with equal intervals.
"To prove your strength to us, please show us how you fight or your magic attributes. Swordsmanship is also acceptable."
Ryunova stared at the dummy placed in the middle.
"Fine then." I stretched my right hand forward with an open palm. "Fire Magic: Call of The Scorch Spear~" she said, her voice barely a whisper.
A ball of flame formed on her palm and she launched the magic. The ball of fire transformed into a flaming spear, piecing through the test dummy and destroying the wall behind.
The receptionist was left in shock. She fell to the ground, slightly shaken by the show of magic of Ryunova.
"That was quite strong. I swear I managed the mana input," Ryunova muttered to herself.
Her attention returned to the receptionist.
"That was... enough right?"
If not, I may or may not destroy this entire building.
"Y-Yes... Please follow me."
The process took faster than I had expected. I received my adventurer's card. I was given the rank of Lower A-Rank, just slightly below the normal A-Rank. With this, I can now easily access many areas and enter cities and towns, Ryunova thought. She scoffed and smiled.
***
After finishing the last phase of the registration process, we then head back to the main hall. She returned to her seat, behind the receptionist's desk, and she regained her composure completely.
"Now, I require to tell you about the adventurer's guild guidelines and policy..."
And she proceeded to tell me all the information I needed. First was the guidelines and also policy.
In the adventurer's policy, if you accept a quest and you fail the said quest, your rank will be lowered, with some exceptions such as the quest made an impossible task or if they give you misinformation.
She then continues.
"The adventurers ranking system are, from the highest to lowest: S-Rank, A-Rank, lower A-Rank, B-Rank, C-Rank, and lastly D-Rank."
I see.
"Quests rankings are also the same as the adventurers ranking. In addition, you can't select a quest that is higher than your current rank; with one exception for Lower A-Rank. Adventurers from this rank can take the A-Rank quest."
She stopped, closing her eyes. She silently gasped for air. She has a great stamina or lungs, I applaude her.
'Master, joke later.'
Okay~!
She opened her eyes and continued.
"You can take a look at the quests board to pick your first quest," she said, her eyes shifting to a group of people looking at the quests board.
"Sure."
I nodded and then left her. Going to the group of adventurers looking at the quest board. When I came closer to them, they looked at me. I can feel their amazement.
Yeah, yeah. Of course. Yes, I am. I'm beautiful after all.
Outside, I smiled. I looked at them and swallowed my saliva. I'm still not used to getting all the attention, specially men. I don't hate them, however, many of them look at me with lust in their eyes.
"Umm... Excuse me, may I pass through?" I asked.
I closed my eyes and made a slight smile.
"Y-Yes, of course."
"Please, take a look."
"Make way for the goddess."
Murmurs and arguments started in my presence.
What quest should I pick? I asked myself.
I glance left and right at the quest board. The quest here is mostly about monster extermination and labor.
"Huh?"
A quest piqued my interest. It says escorting a merchant to the Selfrest Kingdom Capital City: Selfest.
I stepped forward and stretched my right hand forward to grab the quest paper.
Suddenly, like a gust of wind, the quest paper disappeared.
"Huh!" I glance at my back without turning around. "You... It was supposed to be mine."
"Oh, really? Now it's mine."
Silence fell in the main hall. I could feel everyone's attention on me—no, on both of us.
The one who took it was a lady who looked a little bit older than me—maybe seventeen or eighteen. Her dark long hair reached her waist; her golden eyes looked at me and she smiled.
I turned around, facing her.
"Who are you?"
"What. You're saying you don't know me?" she said with arrogance in her tone, she scoffed.
Her black cape behind her starts waving. She wore a white sweater and long, black pants.
"You wanna fight for this?" she asked me, holding up the quest paper in the air.
"I see."
I regained my composure. I stood straight and held my chin, looking at the ground.
"You are weaker than me. Isn't it bullying?"
That ticked her off.
Like a gust of wind, she appeared in front of me, sword at hand. Realizing the situation, I quickly unsheathed my sword.
The people who were around me were now gone.
"I will make you pay for insulting me, little girl!" she furiously shouts.
She attacked me with her sword, thrusting the tip of the blade of her sword at me. I acted quickly by parrying her attack.
A clanging sound echoed in the main hall. The adventurers nearby circled us.
"Tsk. You are stronger than I expected, missy," she said and smiled.
It seems she had regained her composure, calming herself.
"Of course I am. I'm she who will defeat you. First, isn't it common to know the name of the person who will you be fighting?"
"Hahaha. I see. I'm Olivia Veinglory, an A-Rank adventurer," she introduced herself with politeness in her tone.
"Well then. I'm Ryunova El-Tan, a new member of the adventurer's guild, a lower A-Rank."
After saying that, murmurs filled the room. I saw Olivia's eyes widen.
"I see. Shall we continue our fight?"
After saying that, we readied ourselves to continue fighting.
Olivia—at her top speed—dashed closer to me, the ground beneath her cracked. And our battle continued.
Every attack she delivers at me is parried and blocked. She launched continuous sword slashes and thrusts at me.
Sparks were created every time our sword made contact. She pulled her sword next to her waist.
"O' Spirit of Flame, Blast My Enemy Into Smithereens~"
The blade of her sword was engulfed with fire, a raging lion-like fire on her blade. She lifted her sword high up in the sky, the flames increasing in intensity. She made her attack, she swung her sword down in my direction.
A massive explosion occurred. Smokes formed and I could feel the ground beneath me cracked.
I coughed due to the smoke.
"Tch! It's my turn!"
I held my right hand in front of me. I could feel mana gathering on the palm of my right hand.
Magics is the product of one's own imagination and visual power. Many say magics is a form of natural supermagic. They are telling the truth. Noir had told me that magics are the manifestation of one's imagination and visual power into the reality via the use of mana.
I gathered the surrounding mana and my mana together into a dense mana.
If you know the laws behind magic, you don't need to cast them, you just need to manipulate its laws and manage your mana input.
"This is my magic!"
The mix of blue, green, and white dense mana on my palm turned into a black small sphere.
"Blessing of Death!" I smashed the dense mana ball with my hand and threw my hand toward the direction of Olivia.
A large explosion occurred once again. The smoke that had recently appeared increased in density.
"What a strong magic you have there, missy."
The smoke slowly disappeared and in between me and Olivia was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. The aura emanating around him is strong.
I realized he had just protected everyone from getting harmed by my attack using a powerful barrier magic. The barrier was surrounding me and only me.
He is cautious of me, isn't he.
I slowly stretched my right palm forward, touching the barrier surrounding me.
'Master, this barrier seems unstable. Likely due to the mana input on it.'
'I see. Thank you, Noir.'
Noir hummed in satisfaction.
My magic wasn't even done when I launched it.
That was my first time using that magic. I had concocted that magic—Blessing of Death—from the effects of fire magic, the movement of wind and water magic, and the durability of earth magic. It is easy to say the magic I used is an ultimate magic.
The reason why that man hasn't turn into multiple pieces of meat is, my magic wasn't complete. If it had been completed, the magic would penetrate through his weak barrier and exploded in here, killing countless adventurers.
"Wha-Guild master!" Olivia shouted after she took a glance at the person between us.
Guild master eh. He is a strong one at that.
"Do you have any intention of destroying my guild, young lady?" she looked at me with seriousness in his face.
"No... We were just fighting for the one who will take that quest." I pointed at Olivia's hand. "Wait, where's the quest paper!"
She looked at her hands.
"W-WHAT!?"
"WHERE IS IT?"
"I-I DON'T KNOW!"
"DON'T TELL ME YOU DESTROYED IT!"
Chaos ensued but our argument was later solves, we would both take the quest. The quest paper was found on the ground, where a group of adventurers came to see our fight.