SKILL TRIAL

Norihiko was bleeding from crashing into the wall, but he was completely fine where the striking head had met his body.

“You know what it is? The voice I heard in my head.”

Jairo, the leader of the Bones gang, made a swing for Norihiko, but he dodged it without paying attention to him.

“Yes, I do. It’s a divine skill, a skill only a god or another divine entity can possess.” Astrea replied.

Norihiko had also read about skills; they are the special abilities certain people are blessed with. A skill may remain dormant for a period of time before the owner finally unlocks it.

“If that’s the case, then why do I have it?” Norihiko asked Astrea, who nonchalantly stepped away from Jairo’s striking range before he swung in a wide arc where she stood before.

“I am not sure, but I am willing to guess it’s because I poured some of my mana into you; that and the skill itself chose you,” Astrea said to Norihiko as he dodged all of Jairo’s strikes.

“You don’t seem to be happy about that,” Norihiko said.

“You got the skill through my mana, so as you might have guessed, the skill is mine.” Astrea said, “But it’s fine, I guess; no matter how hard I tried, I could never use it, plus it was my idea to share my mana with you in the first place. Besides, a skill like that would be the strongest in the hands of someone like you.”

The moment Jairo had hit him, the condition for activating his skill had appeared in Norihiko’s mind. Once I give a law to someone and the person goes against it, he will suffer from “judgement”. Norihiko walked closer to Jairo. For inanimate objects, once I give them a law, they will always obey. That's why the flail didn’t hurt.

What’s up with these two? Don’t they have any idea who I am? Jairo was pissed; he was being toyed with in his own territory. He raised his flail, ready to completely crush Norihiko, who kept moving towards him.

There is a condition, though; Norihiko didn't look up at Jairo’s face as he touched Jairo’s leg. I have to have touched my opponent and also say the law out loud and the enemy has to hear it for it to take effect, “ don’t direct your bloodlust at me.”

Jairo's weapon fell to the ground as wild cuts appeared on both of his arms.

“What did you do?” Jairo said, kneeling in pain and clutching his arms, “You don’t even have a weapon.”

“Do not speak.” Norihiko had let go of Jairo’s leg, but his laws still applied; when Jairo moved to speak, only blood came from his mouth as he coughed.

“Don’t rely on your skill too much; you have to also train your magic. Remember, skills can always be negated by people with higher mana levels.”

“I know that.”

Norihiko turned back to Jairo, who had fallen unconscious from the pain. I didn’t even get to finish testing the conditions for my skill.

“I’ll send an anonymous tip to the guild about the defeat of the Bones gang; they should be able to take it from here.” Astrea said.

“That reminds me, we really should register with the guild.”

“What’s the point?”

“I doubt doing this is legal,” Norihiko said as he looked around at the chaos they had brought on the place.

“You have a point.”

The guild can be found in every town, an organisation directly under the king which keeps data on adventurers, mages, and others.

The next day, Norihiko and Astrea went to the local guild office to register as a party. The guild wasn’t all that filled with people; the adventurers wore what you would only see in Isekai anime, although Norihiko had never seen any.

“Hi there, welcome to the adventurer’s guild. How may I help you?” The receptionist said, she is a very beautiful girl who looked to be in her early twenties.

“I want to start a party with just two of us; would that be okay?”

“Sure, I just need to get some information,” she said, bringing out a book form from under the desk.

“I’m going to need your names, ages, classes and the name of the party you wish to create.”

“My name is Norihiko Hojo.”

“Mine is Astrea.”

“Noted,” the receptionist said, taking down the names.

“My age is sixteen.”

“Age, that’s a tough one. I’d say about—”

Norihiko covered her mouth before she could say any more. “She’s sixteen, same as me.”

“O-kay,” the receptionist said, a little startled by Norihiko’s action.

“So what will your classes be?”

“A mage, I guess.”

“There is no other class befitting one such as I than the class of god—” Her mouth was covered once again.

“She’s also a mage.”

“Al-alright, all that’s left is just the name of your party.”

Norihiko covered Astrea's mouth. “I haven’t even said anything yet,” she said through his hand.

“And I’d rather you didn’t.” Norihiko then replied to the receptionist, “For the name, I’d like to go with something basic; we will be called Law.”

“You didn’t even give it a thought,” Astrea said as the receptionist registered the name.

“One more thing, what is the primary focus of your party?” The receptionist asked

“Hunting down bad guys”

“…”

“You look like you want to say something.”

“No, it’s nothing. You will be registered as E-rank adventurers, but you may also take D-rank quests. You will rank up based on the level and quantity of the quests you complete,” the receptionist said as she handed them their adventurer's cards. “The quests are displayed on the board over there.” She pointed to a notice board at the entrance.

The board had different quests with different ranks among them, but what stood out the most was the wanted poster for Vis Scot, an A-rank mage who went rogue, in the middle. After looking at all the other quests, Norihiko decided to go with the one in the middle.

“You do know our ranks are too low to do that one right,” Astrea said.

“It will be fine,” Norihiko said, placing the quest on the counter.

“I’m afraid you can’t do that one, sir.”

“Is it because my rank’s too low?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Fine, I’ll take it back.” Norihiko said, taking the quest from the countertop, “One more thing: How long have you been a receptionist and who set the quests today?”

“May I ask why you are asking?”

“Just curious.”

“O-okay”

“I have been a receptionist with tags guild for six months and yes, I did set up those posters”

That confirms it then; “we will take a quest another day,” Norihiko said as he took the quest from the counter to place it back on the board.

As Norihiko turned to leave, he bumped into the stomach of a big and fat guy who wore armour half his size.

“I really hate cocky noobs like you, acting all high and mighty, thinking they are actually strong,” he spat. “How old are you anyway? Aren’t you still meant to be living with your mama?”

“You are in the way. I’m actually very busy, you see, so could you move?”

“You think you can order me around? I have been an adventurer for fifteen years, so kneel and show some respect to your seniors” The man made a move to punch Norihiko.

“STOP…” The receptionist tried to stop the man, but the fight was over before it started; Norihiko had kicked the man in his shin so hard that there was a crack as the man now rolled on the floor clutching his shin.”

“What did you do, you littl-”

Norihiko stepped on the man’s face as he walked, waving a hand to the receptionist before he left.

“I’m sorry,” the receptionist inaudibly said when he had left.

Outside, Norihiko and Astrea went to an eatery next to the guild.

“Did you lie back there, about your age, I mean?” in between sips of her drink.

“I guess you would think that, wouldn’t you. Actually, my birthday was yesterday.”

Astrea emptied the entire contents of her mouth on Norihiko’s face. “What do you mean your birthday was yesterday? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why do you care?” Norihiko said, cleaning his face with a handkerchief.

“What would you say I am to you?”

“Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Fine, I’d say we are partners, acquaintances at best.”

“So not friends then?”

“Not in my opinion.”

“Ok, then starting today we are friends, got it?” Astrea said as she suddenly stood up to emphasise her point.

“You forget who’s in charge here.” Norihiko said, “What’s come over you all of a sudden?”

Astrea sat back down and took a breather. “I’m sorry; I guess I’m just eager to keep a promise.”

Norihiko looked away and sighed. “If you really want, I see no harm in us being friends.”

“Nah, I’ll pass; that window has closed, buddy.”

“W-What, you can’t be—”

Astrea burst into laughter after Norihiko broke his cool, which made him blush a little. “I’m just messing with you. What made you change your mind all of a sudden?”

Norihiko took a breath. That’s the second time this girl has fooled me. "Same reason as you, I made a promise to my mom I won’t be a loner”

“You are really failing on that end though” Astrea said “ok so starting today we are friends and as a friend it your duty to tell me what you are planning.”

“You are not as dumb as you seem on the outside, are you?”

“I am a pretty goddess after all… Wait, did you just call me dumb?”

“I’ll tell you.” Norihiko said, completely ignoring her question. “I am going to unofficially officially take the A-ranked quest.”

“What???”