A few weeks have passed by and I've completed many D rank level quests, until I got promoted into a C rank, I ask Gale.
"is it normal for members to get promoted this quickly?"
he shakes his head.
"no, most of our members stay at D rank, because of their magical strength."
I respond.
"what about my magical strength?"
he replies.
"well you've already proven your worth, to many powerful individuals at the top, that you're physical strength is more than enough."
he sighs and continues.
"and besides, I know first hand, on how strong you really are."
I reply.
"alright then, I'll accept this promotion."
he returns the guild card back to me and says.
"well you better get going, King Dave is getting impatient about your progress."
"I'm doing it as fast I can, what does he want me to do?"
Gale sits down behind his desk and sighs.
"I know."
after a few moments of complete silence, I clear my throat.
"so is that all?"
he nods.
"yeah, you can go."
and as I leave his office, he says.
"oh and before I forget, you have two guests that just showed asking for you."
"where can I find them?"
he answers.
"they are waiting for you in the training area."
I arrive at the guild's training area and see Remy and Celeste, I smile a greet them.
"hey there, what are you two doing here."
Celeste replies.
"oh hello Master Collin, Remy wanted to come, so that you can give her training regiment."
I respond.
"alright."
"you ready to start now?"
she nods.
"yes."
I then say.
"first we are going to start with some light jogging."
Celeste laughs.
"what you call light jogging, is more of a death march."
I chuckle dismissively to her comments.
"don't listen to her Remy, she's over exaggerating."
"I'm not worried at all, give me your worst Collin."
after jogging the perimeter of the training arena. for about twenty minutes, I slow down and shout to Remy who is lagging behind.
"alright, we are going to drop down, to do twenty push ups and sit ups and then we are going to continue jogging!"
after doing them, I shout at Remy, who is sweating profusely.
"alright, let's start jogging again!"
as we start jogging again, Celeste speaks to me on my mind.
"master Collin, we have three visitors asking for you."
I ask.
"who are they?"
"their names are Jill, Grace and Bell, and they said that they are friends of yours."
I reply.
"okay, I'm coming to you right now."
I look back to Remy.
"hey, there is something I need to do, so just keep jogging until I come back."
I make my way to Celeste, who is talking to the three of them, I then make my presence known.
"you three were looking for me."
as Jill approaches me with a determined look, Grace replies.
"well Jill, wanted something from you, but she wouldn't tell us."
"did you want something?"
she points at me and says.
"I challenge you to a one on one fight."
I ask.
"why?"
she replies.
"If you were the one that Ying Zhu was praising, then I want to see why."
Grace sighs.
"I guess I'll go get guild master Gale."
after Gale arrives, he asks.
"so you two are going to fight one on one?"
Jill nods.
"yes, I want to see what he is made of."
she stares daggers into me and says.
"so don't hold back on me."
Gale grins at me and says.
"this is good."
I ask.
"why do you say that?"
he answers.
"because she is an A Rank, and if defeat her in a one on one duel, you'll get promoted automatically."
I reply.
"I see."
I turn to Jill and respond.
"alright, I accept your challenge and I won't be holding back on you."
Gale claps his hands together with excitement.
"alright, let's go over the rules, no enchanted weapons, no killing, and the winner is declared when their opponent is knocked out, or when they surrender."
me and Jill stand ten feet away on opposite sides, from each other, getting ready Gale to officially start our duel, I then think to myself.
"this is the perfect opportunity to, try out wolf's hide and the upgraded version of mana shift."
I then chant.
"silver eyes."
Gale then shouts.
"get ready fight!"
Jill immediately chants.
"lightning bolt!"
trying to catch me off guard but I dodge with ease, and then I chant.
"wolf's hide."
a translucent wolf shape barrier covers my body, everyone that is watching our fight, are completely surprised with the visuals, Jill follows up with multiple lightning bolt attacks, as the spells fly towards me, I think to myself.
"time to see what how much abuse this new defensive spell can take, before it breaks."
then one after the lightning bolts, hit my wolf's hide shield, leaving it unaffected by the attacks, I smile and think to myself, impressed.
"that wolf was right, this defensive spell is much better than the other two."
Jill then shouts at me.
"here is one of my strongest attacks."
she chants.
"heaven's lightning storm!"
I think back when Rose used this spell on Abigail and say to myself.
"alright, time to close in on her before, this spell full forms on top of me."
as dark gray clouds start forming above the area I'm standing on, I chant.
"man shift."
sending multiple mana signatures around Jill, she looks at me disappointed and asks
"do you really think I'm going to fall for that?"
I smile, and visualize the mana signature behind Jill and chant.
"move."
in a blink of an eye, I appear behind Jill almost instantaneously, as she fails to react to my sudden appearance, I take advantage and chop her at the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious, I then look back at Gale and say.
"get her a healing potion quick."
Grace quickly runs towards us with a potion on hand, and forcefully makes the unconscious Jill drink the healing potion, I then think to myself, completely flabbergasted about how fast I came up behind Jill.
"that was crazy, I didn't expect to move behind her in a split second."
Jill wakes up and asks.
"what just happened."
Gale approaches us and says.
"Collin, swiftly defeated you, in the duel."
Jill smiles, and says to me, while rubbing the back of her neck.
"now I see why, Ying has praised you so much."
she kneels on one knee and says.
"now I have no doubt in my mind that Ying Zhu will notice me, if I become your pupil."
Celeste approaches smiling and extends her hand.
"welcome aboard."
Jill asks me.
"is she also a werewolf?"
I nod.
"yeah, she is one of my underlings."
Jill stutters.
"I just want to train under you, I'm not interested in becoming a werewolf or anything."
I chuckle."
"that's fine by me."
as I grab her hand to help her up, I say feeling embarrassed.
"okay, stand up now, you don't need to kneel for me."
Gale pats me on my back and congratulates me.
"good job, since you defeated an A Rank in a one on one duel, you will be promoted into a B Rank."
I laugh and ask.
"are you just trying to find whatever way to get me promoted quickly, for King Dave?"
he responds trying to hide his real agenda.
"what are you talking about, you've earned this promotion."
after everything was said and done, Remy, Celeste and Jill were the only ones left in the training area, I then say to all of them.
"alright let's all do some physical training together."
Celeste mumbles to herself and replies.
"sorry, Master Collin, but I've got a few things to attend to."
she quickly opens a portal and leaves without letting me respond to her, I sigh and say to both of them.
"alright it looks like it will be just the three of us."
I put them through a grueling three hour workout,
until, Ellena shows up with Hope, she puts both her hands on her h.i.p.s and says with an angry tone.
"I thought that you were only getting promoted today?"
I then think to myself.
"why is she angry with me?"
I reply.
"yeah, but I wanted to get some training in with my friends."
Jill and Remy nervously wave at Ellena, she smiles and waves back at them, but her expression changes to an angry one, when she turn to me, I then ask.
"what's wrong?"
she responds even angrier.
"did you really forget what today is?"
a take a moment to think and then I finally come to the realization.
"oh shit, today is Hope's birthday."
I run up to hug Hope and say to her.
"I'm so sorry baby, I forgot that today was your birthday."
she hugs me back and replies.
"it's okay daddy."
Jill and Remy approach us, and Introduce them to each other.
"Ellena and Hope, these two are my friends, Remy and Jill."
and then I say.
"Jill and Remy, this is my fiancee Ellena, and our daughter Hope."
Jill nervously greets both of them, while Remy is smiling from ear to ear, when she greet Hope, she then asks me.
"so it really is possibly for us to have children?"
I respond.
"of course, but you need to get silver eyes first."
after that exchange, we say our goodbyes and go our separate ways, and as we are walking home together Ellena says to me.
"Hope wanted to ask you something."
I stop a kneel in front of her and ask.
"what is it pumpkin?"
Hope says to me with eyes full of determination.
"I want to become a magic knight."