The White Lion

"Let me tell you Luciel, I will never forget that painful day, the first day I came to the City of Mara, the day I enter for the first time at the building of the Adventurer's Guild, the day I met the White Lion, my Examiner, a powerful, disciplined and knowledgeable man, the man who taught me so many things about adventurers, and who thanks to his teaching, I am still alive." – said Armando, who began to cough loudly while he was laying in his bed.

A young man with beautiful blue eyes looked at the old man with worry and concern.

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Long was the journey, but a few weeks later, I had finally reached the City of Mara, the capital of the Vermont County, the territory where my village was located.

It was the Year 9945, I was only fifteen years old, and news start to spread about the beginning of a new war, a war between the Great Empire of Rilentor and the Ancestral Empire. So far away from the frontline of the war, and yet, news had start to be heard in here.

Two of the Three Empire of the Continent of Skypea at war, that was clearly not a good thing at all, and, yet, for me, a young northerner son of farmers whose desire and only dream was to be an adventurer, that new didn't concern me at all.

The City of Mara.

I was so excited, and surely the people of the city knew that this was my first time visiting a city with how emotional, excited, and amazed I was at every place and building that I saw.

Even so, although I would have liked to see and know everything about the city, my heart and mind where thinking about just one think: to go to the building of the branch of the Adventurer Guild here in the City of Mara.

Thanks to some nice people, I was in front of an old but still standing strong, three-story wooden building, with two huge wooden doors through which adventurers entered and exited.

"I have finally arrived." – I said with great emotion that I even wanted to cry, but I gave myself two good slaps on my cheeks, something that surely shook and surprised some people close to me. – "The journey was long, but here I am"

I enter.

"Ah!" – just upon entering, I collided with an average looking man in his thirties, with dark brown hair and green eyes. He also was carrying a two-meter spear of the same color as his eyes.

"Watch over where you walk dude." – said a little molested.

"Sorry!" – I apologize immediately. I was so ashamed inside; I couldn't believe that my first time entering the holy land of adventurers was while colliding with a senior.

"Oh, you, are you new around here?" – asked the spearman, with some curiosity in the way he looked at me.

"Indeed." – I said. – "How did you know?"

"It shows in your face, everything about you smelt to little town." – said with a mischievously smile the spearman. – "If you came here to register as an adventurer, then go to where that cute receptionist is." – he said as he pointed with his spear towards where a brunette woman was.

"Thank you very much sir." – I thanked the older man.

"Hm, don't call me sir, my name is Lino." – said the spearman who was older than me. – "Good luck, rookie, I know which day is today, and I know that you would need all the luck of the world." – said he with another mischievously smile as he walks away, leaving the Adventurer's Guild Building.

I went to where the receptionist was.

"Excuse me." – I said.

"Yes?" – she asked with a smile.

"Hi… I… wish to sign up as an adventurer." – I said with some nervous as I look at another place, after all, it was the first time that I had seen such a beautiful woman.

"Aww." – she laughed tenderly while looking at me, and then she handed me a paper and a pencil to write with. – "Here sweet boy, I will need you to fill every question that this paper has, ¿You know how to read and write?"

"Yes." – I said, after all, thanks to Urs advice, I knew how important was to read and write as an Adventurer.

"That's good." – said the receptionist. – "Once you have written everything that is mandatory to write, come see me again."

"Ok." – I said again as I took the paper and pencil, I was blushing even more, and was a little embarrassed while taking the things of the hands of the beautiful receptionist who was continuing to smile professionally at me.

I read the paper. The questions were basically asking about my basic information, like my name, date of birth, birthplace, and other simple things about me, including my rank of power.

I write everything, even the questions that were not mandatory, I stood up and went back to where the brunette receptionist was, when she saw me getting closer, she smiles again.

"Hello there, sweet boy, you answer everything?" – she asked.

I nod, and then handed her the paper and pencil.

"Okay." – she said, she read the paper and two minutes later. – "Please, give me your Identification Card."

I gave her my Identification Card, and then, she entered a room that was behind the places she was, a few minutes later, she returned, behind her was another person, a bald man with dark brown eyes, and a scar in shape of T on his forehead.

The receptionist approached me and hand me again my IC.

"Thanks." – I said when I received again my Identification Card.

"Everything seems to be fine, know, you only need to pass your examination so we can know if you are adapted to be an adventurer and to know which rank to give you." – said the receptionist. – "Please follow Mr. Gladius, he is the Guild Examiner who will test you."

Gladius was a powerful man, more powerful than me or even the other adventurers and staff of this place, I could feel it, and yet, I was young, arrogant, and after being the strongest person in my town and even the other towns that I visited while coming to the City of Mara, my arrogance grew a little bit more that I would like.

I was confident about my ability, so confident that I thought that the difference between my ability and power wouldn't be that much with that of Gladius. I was such a fool.

"Let's go." – Gladius said with strength in his voice.

He started walking away, I just followed behind him, he took me up to some stairs that led us to the basement of the Adventurers Guild's building, where to my surprise, was spacious enough to have a decent training area, a circular place with dirt instead of the wooden floor above us and who covered the basement floor with the exception of the circular area, where Gladius walk until he was in the middle of the training area.

"Enter to the training area." – said the bald man.

I enter the circular area of the training area.

I look at Gladius, all my senses told me to be careful, that the bald man in front of me was powerful, vastly more powerful than me, but my heart and mind that were filled with pride that turned into arrogance for the praises that I received in my towns and the towns that I visited before arriving at the City of Mara, have blind me about the difference of our powers, pushing aside my warning feelings that my senses gave me constantly.

Gladius, that bald man with dark brown eyes and a scar with the form of T in his forehead was not just a simple man, he was not just any opponent or a simple staff worker.

At that time, I didn't know, I just thought that he was just an old staff member who was only powerful because he came from some rich family, but of heck, I was so wrong, sometime later I would find the truth about the bald man.

Gladius, the White Lion, one of the Three Lions of the South, a famous and renowned Party of Adventurers from the Southern territories of the Kingdom of Arcadia, a party that disbanded after the death of one of his members: the Wild Lion, Elton.

Gladius and Lynn, his other teammate, the two decide to disband. Gladius decided to travel and to come to work in the northern lands, far away from the place where his friend died, meanwhile, the Yellow Lion, Lynn, decided to continue doing missions and working in the south.

The Three Lions of the South were Rank Adventurers. Powerful people not only in cultivation, but in combat experience, and enormous experience and knowledge as adventurers. True Veterans.

And I, just a simple newbie had the stupidity and arrogance to think that I would be on par with such a man, great mistake.

"Is that all!" – Gladius yelled at me, as I lay on the ground, blood pouring from my broken nose, my old sword was now broken, and I was also with my pride broken.

It was so fast. All begun with Gladius talking to me.

"The test will be simple, all you need to do to pass is to strike me, do it, and you pass; fail, and you don't pass." – said Gladius. – "Simple, isn't?"

"Ja." – I laughed. – "A hit? So easy."

My words cause Gladius to have a slight smile.

"Well, if you say that is easy, the come on! Test begun!" – yelled Gladius.

Once he said those words, I put my whole strength in my legs, and then, I ran towards Gladius while I skillfully unsheathed my old sword that the old man in my town give me when my training with real swords began.

"Ha!" – I threw towards Gladius like a stupid and arrogant boy, and, without seeing how or realizing it until I was in the floor, I was just a few seconds later in the floors some meters away from Gladius, with my nose broken.

"Weak." – Gladius said. – "A simple City Elite has the audacity to came towards me just like that, ja." – he laughed at me, I didn't know how he discovered my rank, later I would know that he knew my rank after reading the sheet that I write and gave to the receptionist, at the time of my quest, he knew all the basic information about me.

I was Strong.