Chapter 47 - Sudden Shift

A brilliant light began to shine over the large board, and nearly instantly, our connection was cut. The shimmering pieces falling to the ground, and the magical board being blank.

If I was a weak being of flesh, the color would have drained from my face.

Passing looks between the other six, we knew that only one thing could cut connection temporarily.

The man above, the true uppercase G.

" We must have pushed too far, it'll be a little while before we're able to meet like this again. Don't try and contact your emissaries either. " Greed said, whilst the rest were still too frozen to speak.

It's been countless domains since He interfered, we've become sloppy.

Thankfully, only a very small fraction of my divinity is down there, but the more stupid members of our little group must be wetting themselves right now.

I think I have a wonderful idea.

--- Point of View: Antonio Icefield ---

After waiting for nearly five hours, Vanessa called me over and handed me a silver card.

"Simply funnel a bit of your mana into it and it should automatically read and update your information. Also, that links the card to your mana signature." She explained, quickly bowing and leaving before I had a chance to ask anything else.

Ever since the confrontation with Teresa, she's been on edge. Poor girl, I would probably want to run in her position too.

It had my name, rank, and age at the bottom right. Flipping the card over, there was a list of qualifications and certifications.

Letting out a deep sigh, I had to grapple with two things.

First, there's no hope in concealing my true age. It says it right on the card, regardless of having Alter Ego active or not.

Secondly, is my last name. The name on the card, in full, is Antonio Razorhog Icefield.

I don't understand magic.

With my head hanging low, I make my way back to the large mansion that Teresa and I are staying in. Yet, before I return, I'm confronted by a sight I never would have imagined.

"Hand over everything on ya and we'll let you go with your life!" Four stooges, it looks like while I was wondering my way back, I ventured into some shady part of town.

One with a wild grin and a diagonal scar over his right eye, also the one talking to me. He's actually quite handsome.

The other three look like nothing much, just joe shmoes in some cheap leather armor. Failed Adventurers?

Thankfully, I had recast Alter Ego to keep up appearances, so they weren't trying to mug a kid.

"Listen, guys, I don't think you wanna do that," I say, shrugging and shaking the staff in my hand to emphasize the fact I had it.

"So what if you can read a few lines, we outnumber you and can reach you before you cast anything serious. Fast spells can only do so much." The handsome bandit said, taking another step toward me.

The leader is around four paces from me, the rest over six.

"Outnumber me? Since when?" I say, funneling water mana through my staff and taping the ground. Ice rapidly spread from my feet, coiling around the three goons behind the leader, freezing them up to their shins. Exterior ice, of course, they can just break it and be free.

But the intimidation factor is what I was going for.

That part worked perfectly. Two of the goons tried to move out of panic and fell over, knocking themselves out on the firm stone ground.

The third was desperately hacking at the ice with a dagger.

"Woah Woah we didn't want any trouble man, you know how hard it is out here? Cmon man we're just little guys, little tiny E-ranks man, come on." Oh my god, he's like a little weasel. "I'm a little guy! It's my birthday too! You wouldn't wanna hit a guy on his birthday, right?" The handsome weasel said, backing up further and further.

As funny as this whole gaggle of idiots is, I can't just let them go.

They said they were adventurers, and according to the rules I head from the Union if I catch an adventure doing a crime and take them into the Union, I can get a reward!

I'm many things, but someone foolish enough to look free money in the face is not one.

"Yeah, no," I say, and with a slight flick of my wrist, I conjure and slam two rocks into the remaining conscious goons. I hate to hit a pretty face, but sometimes it's necessary.

Great, now they're all knocked out, but how am I gonna get them back to the Union office? I walked for at least, twenty minutes, and it's currently dusk.

After grouping them all up and locking their arms and legs to the ground with earth magic, I walk out into a more populated street to find a guard.

"Thank you for your service sir, present your union card and we'll report it for you," An older guard said, and after touching my card to a small stone tablet he brought out, a group of five guards headed for the foolish four.

By the time I arrived back at the mansion, it was already night. Yet, that apparently didn't stop Teresa from waiting for me.

I was tempted to open the door with 'Honey, I'm home!' but I fear she would misunderstand.

"The Union sure took their sweet time," Teresa said, having reassumed her normal form. She wore simple comfortable evening clothes and was eating some baked food I can't recognize.

"Well, the Union let me out around when the sun was starting to set, but then I got lost, someone tried to rob me, and eventually I found my way back here," I say, stretching as I begin to walk towards my room.

"Wait, you were mugged?" Teresa said, more confused than concerned.

"Yeah, some jokers tried to mug me, so I handed em off to the Union for a reward," I say, and my explanation was met by a simple chuckle from Teresa.

"Not only do you get a reward of a minor storage bag, and an instant rank-up to C-rank, but you even turn in a group of muggers on your first day. Talk about a super rookie." Teresa said, finishing her snack and waving me goodnight.

Walking back into my room, I put my day clothes into my storage bag, as well as the rest of my belongings.

Changing into my night clothes, I lay down on the extremely comfortable guest bed and try to go to sleep.

Yet, it's nearly impossible.

I mean, my day today has been insane, let alone eye-opening.

First and foremost, is all the new magic. Magic that the halfling was using to control her daggers, the magic the instructor used to talk to everyone without raising his voice, the weird magic he used as a defensive shield AND as a strength booster, so much I don't understand.

It made me realize something very clear, that I've just been ignoring until now.

For these eight years, I've been a medium fish in a very small pond.

I couldn't beat the instructor and I used more mana in that fight than any other. I mean, it felt like I was really trying to kill him and I couldn't.

Could I even beat, what was her name, Nonie?

Could I beat the halfling that got the drop on the instructor? With her weird speed and dagger magic?

No. If I were put in the same position as the instructor, I would have lost.

Even if I could have countered the fire magic, I couldn't have stopped all six daggers.

Even if I could block the six daggers and the fire magic, I could never keep up with her speed.

I've been too complacent, all I have is a bit of practice with silent casting, yet Severus could cast silently as well, so that much is negligible.

What I need to do now, is wait for my arms to return to full strength, and get stronger. Strong enough to not only survive but protect people too.

If I let even one more person die, I don't know if I'll be able to get back up.

Surge.

Turning over, I pass out after the waterworks run dry.