First Impression

We decided to meet early morning to go see the board. Quests are first-come-first-serve, so the earlier we get there the better.

"Alright," I stopped on our way towards the quest board. "Tell me, now, what skills do you two have?"

"I chose my class to be an illusionist," Aozora seemed to be a little more open now that we knew each other a little better. "I can do basic disguising and tricks."

In the game, illusionists had a high skill cap. A good illusionist may be the biggest threat to enemies, but rookie illusionists are basically useless.

"An assassin, an illusionist, and a knight," I sighed. "You two picked two of the worst starter classes."

"Hey, it's not like I got to pick my class! It's inherited!" Issac yelled.

"I-I'm sorry!" Aozora was on the verge of tears again. "I can still switch if you want me to..."

Good grief. I hate it when she does that irresistible cute face.

"It's alright. Just train to be stronger!" I scratched my head and gave a sweaty smile.

Aozora nodded firmly.

"No mages, huh?" I pinched my chin. "Well, this will be interesting."

After a 15 minute walk (now I really miss my unique speed ability which I cannot use because I'm in a group), we finally arrived at the Town Centre.

"Quest board. There it is," I pointed at a board located directly to the left, and all three of us walked over. "So, tell me. What kind of quests do you guys want to do first?"

"Of course we must do the glorious ones! How about this one?" Isaac said as he pointed towards a quest listing that read "escort a guerilla squad back to the capital".

"Are you serious?" I slapped his head. "It literally says 'A-tier'! Do you want us killed?"

"How about that one?" Aozora put her hand on a quest on the very corner. "It doesn't even have a rank, so it should be easy-"

"No! Aozora, get your hands off-" My eyes widened as soon as I saw the quest, but it was too late.

"Guild Genesis successfully registered for quest number #5," the PA said. "You have 120 hours to complete the quest."

"Well played," I sighed. "Now we're done for."

"What? It's just an assassination quest," Isaac walked over. "And it's also tierless."

"Which means its difficulty is unmeasurable. In other words, it's an elite quest." I shook my head. "We only get to know the difficulty, which is in stars for elite quests, when we talk to the client."

"You're overreacting. It's not that big of a deal. Come on, let's go talk to the client."

I sighed again and started making my way over to the reserved rooms for elite quest meetings. The client was a tall woman.

"Ooh," she licked her lips. "I did not expect a mageless team to show up, not even to mention the fact that you're all level ones."

"Who are we hunting?" I ignored her enticement and asked straightaway.

"Cutting clean, I see? Good. I like clean people," she then sat up straighter. "I need you to kill someone called Tanaka Yoshi. He's a landlord who pays very low wages to his workers and tenants, and he has a high bounty on his head right now."

"So you want us to kill him under your advice, so you could claim the bounty, and we could get guild points?" I replied.

"Accurately! I see that you are also very clever. I like doing business with smart people, you see," the client chuckled.

"Miss uhm,"

"Just call me Mane."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Miss Mane, but we're not going to be bounty hunters if we don't get a share."

"So you want money?" she stopped smiling. "Well, I guess I could give you a share if the amount is within reason."

"Fifteen percent."

"You're a greedy boy!" she shook her head. "I can give you ten at most."

"Fine," I nodded. "I'm not in the mood to bargain. So what star is he on?"

"He has a tier-3 difficulty over his head."

I spat out the water I was drinking. "Tier-3? And you want three level 1's to attempt it?"

"You guys dying won't make me lose money, so I couldn't care less." she grinned. "Well, if you're all clear what to do, I'll take my leave now. Here's Tanaka's blood sample. Good luck!"

Mane then stood up and walked out the door.

"Wait, we don't even know where the hell Tanaka is!" I suddenly jumped up.

"I know how to find where he might be," Aozora, who was silent all this time, stood up.

"Really? You can track him?" I turned to her.

"Yeah! I learned a little bit of blood magic from my uncle," she nodded. "So I can use the blood sample to track his blood."

"Amazing! Can you do it right now?" I asked.

"Um, no," Aozora lowered her head. "My mana capacity is too low. I can only trace within a 20 meter radius."

"Are you joking- nevermind. Come here," I waved towards Aozora, and she walked up to me.

"Close your eyes. In your mind, think only about that spell, and nothing else, alright?" I said as I put my hand on her head.

"Pervert!" Isaac suddenly pulled his sword out. "What are you trying to do to Aozora?"

"Chill. I'm only trying to learn the spell," I rolled my eyes at Isaac.

"Ready?" I then turned back to Aozora, who nodded, and I closed my eyes as well.

"Apprende," I said, and a chain of intelligence flew into my body. I instantly learned the tracing spell.

"Alright," I picked up the vial of blood Mane left us. "Here we go."

"Hemonavide," I said the word as I poured a few drops of blood on my left arm. My arm suddenly started moving by itself, leading me to spin in circles before pointing southwest.

"We found him," I lowered my arm. "I don't know how far he is, but he's around. Let's go before he moves."

After running a while on a huge plain, we came across a huge farmhouse. I used Hemonavide again to check the direction, and this time, instead of making me point in a direction, it highlighted the farmhouse.

"He's in here," I concluded. "We need a plan though. He's heavily guarded."

"Can you get him if you get into point-blank range?" Isaac asked.

"Almost certainly, unless he himself is a melee fighter," I replied. "Which I highly doubt."

"Well, I guess I could act as a distraction," Isaac shrugged.

"Absolutely not," I shook my head. "You'll be dead in seconds."

"Not to mention the fact that it'll alarm them even more," Aozora added.

"Hey, Aozora," I turned to the little girl. "Do you know any spells that could conceal my presence?"

"I do, but it requires a lot of mana," she answered. "Much beyond my capacity."

"Let me try. I feel like I would be that cliche character who is just blindly overpowered," I said as I used Apprende on Aozora again, instantly learning the spell.

"Dissolus,"

Swiftly and silently, my body dissolved into thin air. My presence could no longer be seen.

"Now I'm ready," I held my blade out, and it, too, was invisible. Everything tangent to the user is concealed. "Wish me luck!"

"Hope you don't die before Tanaka does," Isaac yelled.

"Good luck, Kuro-san!" Aozora cheered for me.

Her cute voice is a weapon of mass destruction.