Chapter 126 - Rank Up Ceremony

“What are you just standing around there for, mister skill-user?”

“I’m…just surprised.”

My eyes remained glued down to the blades beside my feet and just for a moment, the world stood still. Once I snapped out of it, I looked up and met Vye’s smirk.

I was just glad she wasn't upset with me beating her, not that I think it was completely my victory. She was much stronger and faster than me, after all. Even if she let me win, I didn’t care, I won!

The small wins are wins nonetheless. That’s something I grew to appreciate through my week of hell-training with her.

I formed a fist and stared down at my fingers with an intense flicker of pride. “I managed to get stronger–”

Suddenly a hard knock connected with the crown of my head. Vye had landed a solid punch and looked at me with sullen eyes.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. All you did was learn some basics, now it’s up to you to get stronger. Got it?”

I nodded silently in response but once I lifted my head, she had disappeared.

“Wha–why are you still pulling that after a week?!” I called out.

Vye taught me quite a bit about fighting and even more about improving my strengths. Exercising outside of the dungeon is the biggest key to growing stronger and remaining in shape. In her words, allowing an adventurer to dull their strengths was as good as entering the tower without their weapons.

With everything she hit me with that week, I finally felt more confident and ready to tackle the Rank-Up ceremony. I was more than just prepared, I was raring to go.

I made my way back to the inn and got my rest in for the night. After the first night of training with Vye, I never struggled to sleep again.

***

Adventurers dressed in high-end clothing and armour were gathered around a table. Some of them had their eyes on the floor while others looked directly at the ceiling in boredom, the only thing these members had in common was their guild.

“Titans Helm, one of the greatest guilds of its time–gone to shit.”

“Sssshhhhh!! Don’t be so loud, the leader might hear you…”

A woman dressed in colourful silky material, Lily, desperately tried to silence the hulking brute sitting opposite her. He had his feet up on the table at the centre of the sitting room, not a care in sight.

He didn’t bother to look at her when speaking, he continued to lean back on the couch with his eyes closed.

“Don’t go bossing me around, brat! Besides, what does it matter if that pipsqueak does hear me? Maybe it’ll teach him to do better!”

“I agree.” Another voice added.

Liv remained quiet and simply observed the conversation unfold, she felt that anything she did say would have been held against her later on if she misspoke. She was still relatively new to the guild so speaking freely in meetings like that felt quite difficult for her.

Suddenly the doors separated and the final member of the group entered through the doorway. He took swift steps as he brazenly made his way to the end of the meeting quarters.

His greyish-white strands bounced on his forehead with every step he took. The short individual took wide strides, all eyes made their way to him the moment he entered until the second he reached the end of the room.

Dressed in a long coat nearly as white as his hair and a few straps and patches of light armour, he stood closest to the depiction of a modern adventurer.

“If that’s how you rejects feel, then get the hell out!” He shouted.

The white-haired man was quite young, he was barely older than Olivia but still had the attitude of a grumpy old man. His scowl sent Lily into a nervous shiver but even as it crossed over to the others.

“Tch! Don’t boss me around shrimpy, just cause you’re the boss aint mean you the boss of me.” The wild-looking member, Herien, added.

“Always quick to start mouthing off, how come you’re not following the same pace in fights? That last Dungeon raid was a joke, we barely made it out with any drops, and then you let the Boss damage everyone’s gear.”

“Tch! Whatever.”

“...”

Olivia and the others remained silent, hoping that things would have ended there and then. His eyes fell on his next target and her shivering intensified.

“Lily, you’re on thin ice. We’ve got another crappy job tomorrow so make sure your gear’s all fixed and don’t even think of breaking it in the Tower!”

“Y-yes sir! I won’t sir!” She shot in place and had both hands at her sides.

“Job?”

The aloof tone of a woman sitting on the couch broke the tension. There was no urgency in her voice and barely any life behind it either. Her eyes were drained of light, she stared at the white-haired leader for a moment then her attention drifted away before he could reply.

“Another monster pack giving losers trouble on the ninth floor.” He pulled a fist and slammed it into the wall while facing his guildmates. “What a pathetic state we’re in…reduced to grunt work!”

Olivia kept her head low and avoided any troubles with the leader, she wasn’t able to relax through any of it. Her mind was somewhere else entirely, worried about the boy on her mind.

‘I wonder what he’s doing right now…I hope he didn’t give up. He wouldn’t though, not him, right?’

***

It was the morning of the ceremony and I felt ecstatic, although my mind and body were screaming their eagerness, I remained calm. My feet stood beside each other like two solid pillars of stone, absent of any movement.

“Rei, hey Rei!”

I turned to the high-pitched calls that yelled my name and noticed Kana running through the crowd of adventurers. I stood at the front gates of the Tower, just outside the doors where many others were gathered and waiting.

I arrived a little while before Kana appeared so I managed to see how the other solo adventures, like myself for the day, grew into parties and formed larger groups before ultimately disappearing behind the doors of the Tower.

Trailing behind Kana was the same woman I met before at ASH. She adjusted her glasses as she ran, trying her best to keep up. Her braided hair bounced with energetic hops against her back while her pale legs struggled to move.

Weak legs. Uneven stance, top-heavy too.

One after another, thoughts flooded through my head, no it would be better to call them observations, pretty blunt ones at that. They were the result of all that intense training with Vye. I must have picked up a habit while I was at it.

I better get that under control or I’ll accidentally say something I shouldn’t.

“Were you waiting long? Are you ready for today? Did you eat anything, what about going to the bathroom–”

“Kana, please don’t say any more!” I waved my arms in front of her frantically, just to get the wave of words to stop. “I’m all good, so please don’t worry so much. You were beginning to sound like a concerned mother…”

“Sorry, I’m just a little nervous myself. I barely slept, y’know?”

I couldn’t say the same, I passed out in my bed the moment I hit the mattress. Thanks to all the exercise I had gotten, it was impossible for me not to sleep.

“Mills–Ms.Mills! Huff–Huff–you shouldn’t run so fast…please think of me too…I’m not used to running like this!” The other worker finally caught up to us and gasped for air as she gripped her knees in a bent-over position.

Kana turned to the woman and gave a short bow as she apologised.

“Now then, Mr.Alos, are you ready to begin your Rank-Up ceremony?”

Was there even a reason to ask? My smile was brimming to the top, pouring out into a toothy grin as the two ladies stared at me. I gave a short nod and let the emotions burst out into the shape of a smile.

“Bring it on!”

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Author Note:

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