45 The Life of an Adventurer

Near the same location where they accidentally met the soldiers, Meridiana and Davion noticed an increase of those patrols. They had made sure that no traces of them could be sure but it didn't prevent the local army to be alerted of the complete disappearance of a small squad. Numerous men tried to interrogate them, but for some totally obscure reasons, each time they got too close to Davion, they politely backed off and excused themselves. After the fourth time it happened, the succubus began to laugh at her companion for being so scary that even if he was guilty, none of the soldiers had the bravery to face him.

In the end, the two complete iron armors walked without any interference, be it inside the small woods and even near the city of Archet. Due to the coward nature of most of the humans, they managed to not be blocked at all in the line in front of the eastern gate and soon after, the same captain that interrogated them stood in front of the foreigners. The poor man was having a very intense headache because of this, for he remembered the strange giant of the last week. He had his doubt if the two groups of two were the same or not, but it was certain that they were related.

The captain tried to probe the intentions of the demon commandants but was getting nothing substantial out of it. Losing patience, Meridiana removed her helmet and let her beautiful face appeared in front of the human. She had the same shape than previously, meaning that the man instantly recognized the gorgeous young girl. Because of that, he called a subordinate and asked him if they had any news about that group or that girl in particular. Besides the lecherous eyes of the guard that made his thoughts crystal clear, nothing was learned, prompting the captain to release a happy sigh. Since the two hadn't done anything wrong in their previous passage, they won't do it now, probably. He hoped so.

After being dismissed, the two directly walked toward the Adventurer Guild that they noticed the last week. Why that name was chosen instead of the Mercenary Guild or anything else was because it sounded better. And mercenary was apparently a highly pejorative word on this planet, often used to talk about criminals and lawless individuals. On the other hand, the adventurers were dealing with threats beyond the capacity of normal humans. Whether it was to gather resources in deadly locations, battle against monsters and terrifying creatures or at least that was a common belief.

But even if that part was true, most adventurers were normal people doing errands for others. Some were not even remotely dangerous, but beyond a point, even gathering a few rare implied a high risk of dying. Because what would be the point of paying someone to do a harmless task that everyone could accomplish? As Davion and Meridiana got closer to their destination, they clearly saw that wide difference between each adventurer. Sometimes, it was a group of small kids, not even older than 13 years, carrying baskets of herbs and flowers. Near them, a group of slightly injured men and women were plastered with dry blood and small drops of blood were leaking from their leather bags.

From a rusty sword that would barely be called a long dagger to an extremely sturdy armor accompanied by a shiny and sharp axe. Men mourning the loss of their companions while women were celebrating their latest success, the disparities between each adventurer were so big that it was hard to believe that just a simple word could describe this profession. Neither the orodil or the succubus were born on a planet with that job but they accustomed with that practice present on many worlds. The greed of humanity was endless and treasures caused more dead from the hand of other humans than monsters, but that never stopped more humans to try their luck. And now, it will be their turn.

The appearance of the two provoked countless murmurs near them, each pondering about that peculiar group of two. Adventurers often met and worked with others during dangerous expeditions and even traveled all around a country in case of a great disaster. The network built during those years was proven deadly efficient and the strongest of them were known everywhere, even by rookies. They listen to the tales of their elders and exclaimed their interest at hearing about all the dangers they faced. But this time, however, no one knew who was traversing the door of the Guild.

The reception was coincidently empty right when they arrived but soon after, a gorgeous woman appeared in her not so conservative clothes. Just with that first impression, the succubus knew that the receptionist was probably harassed by half the men that fell in love. Her chest was barely covered and the tight uniform even let her belly exposed, not talking about her small skirt. To make a comparison, some waitresses inside a brothel would have more skin covered. Disregarding her appearance, the receptionist was still very energetic and young, probably not older than 30 years.

"What can I do for?" She happily questioned the big and small armors, not even fearing them a bit. The foreigners were satisfied by that because it will help to not terrify everyone. Removing her helmet and letting her charm do the work, the succubus approached dangerously the gorgeous woman.

"We want to apply to your guild." She seductively said those words and made the girl in front of her turn red instantly. The entire hall had their eyes turned toward the two females and many were saddened by the fact that the receptionist was more receptive to the advance of that newcomer than theirs. Because of that, Davion pinched the right ear of the succubus and calmed her a bit. A bit reluctant, Meridiana obliged and stopped actively charming the audience. Finally catching her breath, the human still felt a lot hotter and was panting a bit. Waiting for her to recover and because she felt the dark stare of the orodil, the succubus also put her helmet on.

"Yes … hum …. I will take you to the training room, there you will be evaluated. You can also start at the bottom if you want or you think that your skills are not enough. But I guess that you won't …" She looked at the smaller armor "… do that. Let me conduct you personally."

Hitting a small bell on the desk, she left it and showed the way for the two aliens. The rest of the eyes were still stuck on the group and numerous discussions broke out immediately after they were farther away. Who was that hot red-haired girl, who was the silent giant, where did they come from? Following the corridor and the receptionist, they passed a few doors until they arrived at their destination. After opening it, they saw a huge terrain covered in sand and protected by a roof. In it, numerous training dummies, wooden weapons, and leather armor were accessible. Right now, dozens of men and women were sparring with each other, under the control of two older men.

Those two were chatting happily and seldom threw a piece of advice here and there. One was missing his left arm and his right eyes while the other had all his limbs more or less intact. Noticing the incoming group, the intact man stood up and marched toward them. Exchanging common pleasantries with the receptionist, he soon looked at the two newcomers and at their armors. They were perfectly intact, prompting him to be a little doubtful. To be clean and shiny was possible for even veterans, but the latter's equipment all had scratches, small holes and minor distortions on it. For the elder adventurer, it was easy to see that they never battle once in those armors. Because of that, his impression of the two immediately plummeted toward good for nothing.

"Listen up you two, my name is … No, you don't have what it takes to know my name yet. I don't know who you are, I don't know what you are, but I won't be clement just because mommy and daddy bought you those shiny things. In real life, you won't always wear them and attack can even happen when you are sleeping or washing. And because I am nice and friendly, I don't want that to happen to everyone. Therefore, get the hell out of those iron boxes and let me test your real skills."

While saying this, the old man ignited his inner fire and his previously mild presence turned oppressive. Bloodlust and killing intent could be felt around like the human suddenly became a monster ready to pounce at the two. Countless rookies felt on their knees just because of that and promised to start at the bottom. Even some experienced adventurers still suffered under that. Smiling avidly at the two trainees, he awaited their reactions.

It was only at that moment however that both Davion and Meridiana noticed a deep fatal flaw in their plans. Being the fact that both of them were entirely naked under their armors. For the succubus, that would be relatively fine, just make her labeled as an exhibitionist but nothing that important. For the orodil, that small detail was important. His mask was built on the fact that people would ask to remove his helmet, not his entire armor. Meaning that he could have a normal human face with a blue body under it. Exchanging a gaze between each other, the two nodded and Meridiana apologized.

"Sorry, we have wasted your time, we will start at the bottom. Have a nice day." They immediately left, letting the old man dumbfounded. From what he heard, they were totally fine with his menacing aura and without any fear. But, they still choose to not be evaluated, making him curious. Not pondering more about that, he returned to his seat and kept advising the other trainees, only getting a surprised glance from the disabled elder.

Returning to the receptionist, they were welcomed by a surprised audience. Many were murmuring that in the end, they were only show and no action because it was impossible for the trainer to be defeated so quickly. Jeering and mocking a bit the newcomers, the rest resumed their normal activities. Even the receptionist was slightly disappointed by the result but still received them warmly.

"That's fine, not everyone can beat him. But because you have no result, you can only start at the lowest grade, being A. Next, I will need your name and surname please." The two only gave their names, since they only had one. That provoked some additional questions in the head of the receptionist, but that was not her job to ask them. Soon after, she gave them two small badges made of leather with three squares on it. Only the first one was filled with blue ink. Sensing their stares, the woman explained it.

"Because the three lowest grades are not really prestigious or even complicated to obtain, you don't get your official badge of an adventurer. In other words, since even kids like you can see over there can be of grade A, B or C, it would be too costly to create a proper badge for someone that could die in two days. It is a cruel way to see it but were are not charity. As for the rankings, it is easy, A is the lowest and Z is the highest. However, the current strongest adventurer is only classed as P. The same principle of the Magic Circles was applied, if you heard of them. The grade Z would mean that a being is as strong as one of the Dark Gods."

The gorgeous female then turned around and pointed the two huge walls where most of the adventurers were next to. On it, countless papers were pinned on and some people were discussing with each other about them.

"You can now pick any request of level A to D over there. I won't get too much in the details, but most people need to complete at least one mission of a higher level before being able to change their grade. Also, when you want to pass from the probation adventurer that you are to a proper one, you will have to pay 2 gold coins. Don't worry, it is only a way to prevent unskilled people to obtain it. If you have the skill, you can easily get those coins in a few months by doing D-missions over and over."

She finished her sentence and then harbored her most resplendent smile. " I hope we will meet again very soon."