Chapter 118 - New Goal

Veldor’s become an excellent addition to our group, making our reach in the Tower even larger. We were able to climb to the eighth floor, possibly even further if we tried it again. We’ve made great progress in such a small amount of time thanks to both their hard work, there’s only one thing left for me to do on my part.

I stood outside the ASH building staring at sheets of paper pasted all over the wall. There were illustrations of various quests and a bold number highlighted beneath every single one of them.

Quests are the backbone of adventuring, essentially what keeps adventurers in the business. Without them, it would only be a matter of time before they all ran out of money.

It was an easy transaction: ASH placed the ‘job’ that needed to be done and then adventurers completed them, afterwards they claimed the reward and that was that. There are a few details in between and on the side that get a little more complicated but for the most part that’s how I understood it.

Quests served as a great method to earn money but they also had another purpose for Adventurers, that reason is ranking!

If I wanted to become stronger and take on better quests, I'd need a higher rank. That was the true purpose of my visit to ASH that morning.

I stood there waiting for my appointment outside the building, there was a massive commotion amongst their workers that kept things from running as smoothly as usual. The other adventurers gathered on the stairs and entrance hall all stood around like me, loitering to pass the time.

There were countless feet tapping and restless fingers flicking whatever loose material was around on their person. The atmosphere was dull, to say the least.

Something burned on the back of my neck, not physical pain but rather…an intent of something, or rather someone.

I felt like I was being watched. My eyes flicked through the large group of adventures around me but nothing had changed, all of them were either absorbed in their parties' conversations or left sitting there in peace, waiting for their names to be called.

The uneasy feeling that I was in the spotlight of someone else’s gaze kept me on my toes. Suddenly, to send me into further alert, I felt a hand brush over my shoulder.

“Rei, we’re ready for you.”

“Gah!!” I screamed in fright.

Kana flinched back, just as shocked as I was. I gave a few bows to apologise and she caught her breath back.

“What was that about, you nearly gave me a heart attack!”

“I’m sorry I just…it’s nothing, never mind.”

“Well if you’re done messing around, we’re ready to see you inside now.”

I’m not sure if it was Kana calling me by name or whether they were brought in by my scream, but suddenly our conversation had more than just us listening in on it. The watchful eyes of adventurers around us all peered in with stares of contempt as they whispered amongst each other.

“So that’s the unique skill user? He doesn’t look all that tough.”

“Yeah, I heard he’s still a rust-rank so the rumours can’t all be true. He probably faked his admission forms or something.”

“Whaaat?! No way, you can do that? If I knew I could get that kind of fame, I would have given myself a unique skill on my form!”

“Of course the guy with the Skill gets to go in first, damn it! This is special treatment at its worst.”

I was waiting out here just as long as you guys…

My eyes lowered and a sigh left my mouth. Kana noticed my lack of energy sprout from their comments and let out a nervous smile of her own.

“Let’s go inside…quickly.” She rushed.

We walked in and the cacophony of disapproving voices faded from my ears. Waiting for us inside was a woman dressed in a uniform that displayed the ASH symbol and its primary colours, gold and green.

“Good day Mister Alos, we hope you haven’t been waiting long. Our filing system seemed to have failed us today, our apologies.” The woman bowed.

“O-oh don’t worry about it, it wasn’t that long.”

“Well the wait is over, we’ve assessed your request for a rank-up and have the results here for you.”

My face lit up with excitement but that wasn’t the end of it. Standing beside me was Kana who seemed just as excited as I was, if not happier.

“It seems in light of your current progress in the Tower, as well as certain incidents…”

She did her best to tip-toe around the Heaven’s Gate situation as best she could, forcing a smile as she spoke.

“We’ve decided that you’re eligible for a Rank-Up ceremony! Congratulations!” The woman cheered plainly as she gave a tepid applause.

Kana couldn't wait another second, her smile broke free from her grin and followed with a wink towards me, holding up a thumbs-up as she did so. Kana seemed pleased with the result but I didn’t share her enthusiasm.

“Uhm…sorry but I don’t understand…” I said as I raised my hand gingerly.

The applause and cheery expressions vanished.

Essentially to sum it up, the Rank-Up ceremony was a way for adventurers like myself to rank up when they haven’t done many quests but have shown their strength and ability to potentially rise to the higher rank. The process involved taking a difficult quest that matched the strength, skill and precision that the desired ranking would require. In this case, that meant me.

“This is good news Rei, this means that you can Rank up!” Kana smiled.

“I hope so, just how difficult would my quest be? It’s not going to take me a month to complete or anything like that, right?” My face scrunched up just thinking of it.

Kana set my mind at ease as she placed her hand over my shoulder and explained calmly. “No nothing like that, it won’t be anything from the board but it’ll be Silver-ranked difficulty. That’s how they’ll know you’re ready. Don’t worry though, I’m sure you’ll manage.”

“I’ll make sure to clear it, no doubt about it. So when does it begin?”

The woman in uniform flipped through her notes and scanned the page before answering. “We’ll begin a week from today, so make sure to prepare for then. Miss Mills can provide you with the time and any necessary provisions you’ll need, as far as the quest is concerned, you’ll have to wait for the day of the ceremony.”

“Understood.”

The lady gave a short bow and headed straight for the back rooms where other employees essentially flooded out. They looked busy as all hell, nearly as bad as the last time I had visited the building.

We hadn’t fully recovered since then but the number of adventurers seemed to be coming back to normal and returning to the Tower as usual.

Kana and I spoke briefly before another worker shot past us and yanked on Kana’s wrist sleeve. She tried pulling her away with aggressive tugs.

“Here you are playing around with your special-skill boy when we’re swamped back here. We need you back there, ASAP!”

Kana fought back, she tried staying with me but the other worker was too strong. Kana found herself being dragged by the sleeve of her uniform without the strength to resist.

“Ah wait–I had something to tell you…Rei!!”

She called out in a panic, desperately trying to tell me something as she disappeared into the back rooms of the ASH main hall.

“...I wonder what she had to say. I hope it wasn’t important.”

Before I knew it, the sun had already begun to set. Most of my day was used up in that line but I still had some time on my hands. Investigating my new skills back in my room seemed like the best use of my time.

I cut through the Market District and crossed into a vacant alley that led to the street where the inn was where I stayed. It was a bit of a walk from ASH but it was faster than my usual route.

I stepped into the alley, free of any watching eyes or signs of life and yet…there it was again. The feeling of someone's eyes burning into the back of my neck.

I felt oddly naked, as though I were on display for someone, only I didn’t know where it came from. My eyes raced into every corner of the alley but it was no use, everything around me was darkened by the shadow cast from the buildings on both sides.

That feeling of peering eyes branded into my neck rose to its uncomfortably highest, drawing closer and closer. My eyes couldn’t track that feeling's origin, yet every nerve in my body screamed at me to move. I followed the begging of my nerves and raised my arm, gripping my Chakram tightly.

A blade–wide and curved–clashed against mine and forced my body back. A wave of force hit me all at once from a single point, focused on bringing down my guard. It did so effortlessly.

I tumbled back and gripped the floor for stability, still unaware of what had just happened. My eyes raced up in front of me and then again all around, trying to find the attacker.

Nothing.

“You’re weaker than I thought you’d be.”

Those were the words I heard before it struck again. Much faster than before, a dagger pierced the air at a speed I couldn’t match and cut my cheek. I was useless against its speed and stumbled back against the wall of the building beside me.

“What the hell is that?”