Become an Adventurer

Fayre still stared at Leon in disbelief, for in her own subconscious it was something very unusual for a high-ranking knight like him to become an adventurer.

"Knight-sama, are you sure?"

"Yes, I won't regret my decision" Leon signed his name decisively on an old, worn piece of brown parchment. There were many other names scrawled before his, including 'Leti', but the most special and prominent was the very beautiful, lofty inscription with the name Alvar Syfores at the top.

"Knight-sama, are you left handed ?" Fayre followed Leon's pen strokes and exclaimed in surprise.

"I was both hands" Leon recalled his childhood days of training with his mother.

"Really ?" Fayre exclaimed in admiration.

"Your handwriting is a bit strange, but I must admit that it is really beautiful, even more beautiful than my brother's" Leti was surprised, her cheeks puffed up slightly with envy as she looked at the inscription bearing her name.

"My handwriting is not that beautiful, I still have a lot to learn." Leon finished signing and handed the paper back to Fayre.

"This signature will be used as a seal to authenticate your identity, and now it's time for the next step." Fayre placed a transparent glass sphere on the table, "Please place your hand on it, it will analyse the amount of magical power and magical attributes you possess."

"Normally, a human's magic power is only a combination of two attributes, while a high elf like Leti has at least 4 or 5."

"Is that so?"

Leon placed his hand on the orb and didn't know if it was a coincidence or not, but a small earthquake occurred, causing the iron lanterns in the guild to shake slightly, but fortunately none of them were broken. When he looked back, a mysterious black colour covered the entire sphere. It was the first time Leti and Fayre had seen this phenomenon, and they exclaimed in amazement, attracting the attention of the people in the guild at the time.

They gathered in large numbers, and Leon struggled to remove his clinging hand from the orb. After a while he was able to remove it, but the white part of his hand was covered with something gelatinous and black, and when he asked, he found out that it was magic that had condensed into a puddle. When Leon looked through the dark smoke emanating from it, he saw an unusually distorted space.

The other orb, which had no contact with Leon, returned to normal after a while, but occasionally opaque rays of light flashed through it.

----

Magic Power: /Zero/

Attribute: Unknown

----

The result came to the surprise of everyone, including Leon. Leti looked at Leon worriedly, Fayre kept rubbing her eyes, unable to believe the results in front of her. She muttered:

"This is the first time the orb has reacted like this."

"I'm sorry. I must inform the leader" Fayre bowed her head and ran back upstairs, leaving Leon under everyone's scrutinising gaze.

"It's because of the curse too, isn't it?" Leti comforted quietly, "Don't worry too much, my brother will definitely help you."

Leon looked at Leti in silence and then looked around, a feeling of unease flashing through his mind.

As the rumour grew louder and louder, Feyra returned with another manager. She was a human girl named Yuu, who would watch over the guild while Fayre led the two of them to the guild leader's room.

With that, Yuu quickly stabilised the crowd with a look that screamed fire. She said to Fayre: "Take the knight and the lady upstairs, I'll stay down here and watch over the guild."

"Yes" Fayre held Leti's hand, and Leti took Leon's hand and dragged him away while Leon was still confused. The black large sword at his hip was suddenly impacted, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he looked around and emitted a black qi before closing them again.

◇

"Welcome to the Arthen Guild"

"Sorry for the mess the guild is in at the moment" Yuu bowed her head as she stood in front of a noble girl and her bodyguard who had just walked in through the door, but they didn't seem to care. The way they looked around as if searching for something and their whispering immediately afterwards made Yuu feel a little uncomfortable. She was about to speak when the lady interrupted her:

"May I ask, how do I register to become an adventurer?"

"would you like to sign up?" Normally, when she saw girls in gorgeous dresses like that asking to train as adventurers, Yuu would immediately advise them. But this time it was strange, just as she was about to open her mouth, she was crushed by a bone-chilling sensation that paralysed her. It took a few seconds for her to calm down, and when she did, her eyes swept over and dimly saw a few scars and calluses from the girl's hand. The hunch of a former high-ranking adventurer told her that this lady and her bodyguard were not as mediocre as the nobles who only knew how to spend money, so she was willing to let them in.

"Wait for me for a moment. I'll prepare the necessary paperwork and procedures and I'll be right back" Yuu walked into the room, her hands clinging to the sides of the wall as she tried to walk as fast as she could. Yuu's physical condition was not weak, but the trauma from the horrible feeling just now still made her a little dazed.

"Drea-sama, there are remnants of black magic here."

"Well, it gives me goosebumps because of how condensed it is" The guardian grabbed some magic threads that were flying in the air, "The one who possesses it is not a mediocre person, he must at least be on par with a high-ranking Archmage of the Demon King's Legion".

"Then he might be a threat to the demon race, should we start investigating him..." A man's hand suddenly touched the girl's waist, grabbing the dress and pulling her towards him.

"Hey, beautiful young lady, I heard you want to become an adventurer?"

"Go, go home with me. I promise to provide food and buy anything I want, as long as you... serve and play with me everynight" The man laughed rudely and reached out his other hand to touch the girl's breast, but was threatened by her glare to retreat.

The man's heart was beating faster than ever, his breathing was ragged, and most importantly, his expression changed as he saw the blood pouring from his wrist. He knelt down, his severed hands in front of him.

"Enough, Hera."

"Yes" The young woman looked at the person holding her head and crying down there with disdain and turned her back.

"Listen, you have to control the amount of magic you put into the orb and the attributes to make it as human as possible."

"Yes, I remember."

Yuu walked out with the orb and the leather cloth in her hand and looked emotionlessly at the man on the ground, who was crying, as if she had known all along. She told him to shut up and go home, but he didn't seem to care and continued to shout loudly.

"Get out !" Yuu rolled up his sleeves, gave him a painful kick to the lower body and dragged the man by the neck and threw him outside.

"Especially for such bitchy men," Yuu looked at the young lady and smiled, "I agree with your handling."

With that, Yuu carefully instructed the young lady to go through the procedures. When it came to measuring the power, the young lady suddenly trembled and lost control. When the guard looked closer, he saw that the girl's hand was covered in black magic. It made the girl feel nauseous and uncomfortable because of the terrible condensation, but it didn't make it difficult for her to quickly adapt to this strange source of magic.

-----

Magic Power: B

Attributes: Wind, Water.

----

"She knows how to control and direct the magic power ?" Yuu smiled, "What an interesting young lady."

"Thank you for registering. This is your membership card. You're currently at level D," Yuu handed the dark oak card to the young lady, "Now you're free to do the tasks that are updated daily on the other side's bulletin board, and every 5 leveled missions, or 3 missions that exceed the level, when there's a confirmation of completion, you'll level up. In addition, with the card, you can freely enter and leave the guild's library, the dungeons under the city of Arthen, ..."

"Thank you," the young lady didn't look at Yuu and walked out of the door with the bodyguard as planned to go to the Adventurer's Library, which was on a nearby street.

"That management girl named Yuu is quite good," the guard said as he moved, but the young lady ignored him. As it turned out, she was thinking about the source of the demonic magic power and was interested in the identity of the person behind it.

A prominent name flashed through her mind - Leon.

◇

"Ccu... coc"

"Everybody come in"

Leti heard this, opened the door and walked casually into a room filled with the scent of flowers and grass, with a table in the centre and a huge transparent glass behind it, looking directly towards the old tree. Sitting on the chair was none other than the man from before, holding a hand fan in his hand.

"Leti-chan, I told the knight to come here and sit down, I see he's a bit shy..."

The leader could see Leon's mood through his awkward who didn't move in the slightest - nervous and awkward - so he didn't wait for Leti to tell him, but went out himself to inquire and talk.

"Knight-dono" the guild leader held out his hand, "welcome to Arthen, my name is Alvar Syfores, the founder of the Adventurers' Guild of the same name as this city."

"And the knight-dono's name is..."

Leti didn't see Leon react to her brother's question, he just stood there, she couldn't wait any longer, so she nudged him lightly: "Knight-san, the leader asked you!"

Leon was startled, his head snapping back to reality, and his eyes were met by the gentle and calm appearance of a man with long ears and peach coloured hair, holding out his hand. Alvar smiled at the sight of him and asked again:

"This Knight-dono's name is..."

"My name is Leon, a free knight." Leon replied firmly and held out his hand to shake hands with the person in the hall, who then invited him to sit down at a nearby table and enjoy some tea.

"Leon-dono, from what I hear, your magic is very special."

"Are you suffering from some kind of curse that turns the arm in this armour into bones?"

Hearing this question, Leon and Leti were both stunned and speechless, and just as he was about to ask how Alvar knew this, a small white butterfly flew out of his hand and landed on Leti's shoulder.

"Is it [Light Carving]?" Because Leti moved, the butterfly vanished into the air, leaving behind a colourful rainbow of light.

"I'm sorry for using magic without your consent, Leon-dono," the leader smiled wryly, "I'm also quite curious about the man who took care of my sister during those days in the mysterious forest."

"That's why I sent this little butterfly to follow you from the moment you came to Arthen," Alvar's words made Leti blush.

"Onii-chan, do you still consider me a child" Leti interrupted angrily, slamming the table and standing up, puffing out her cheeks, "I'm already 200 years old, that's the teenage age of an elf."

Leon was startled and turned to look at Leti, thinking to himself, "She looks so beautiful... Wait, many books seems to say that elves have a very long life span and eternal beauty".

"Hmm, that's right.. Hmm"

"Let's calm down, Leti-chan" Alvar not too surprised by Leon's reaction, said quietly, "Leon-dono, my sister is still at the age of adulthood, so she's a little impulsive, I hope you understand."

"That's enough," Leti exploded, "Don't judge your sister, baka."

"How many times have I told you, I eat a lot, but I'm not fat," Leti puffed out her chest and pointed at her waist, making Leon blush.

Leti's outburst was so loud that Fayre could hear it through a thick wall, and soon she was asked by Alvar to remove the irascible sister from the room, despite Leti's objections.

...

"My sister, I came here to Arthen with her a century ago, when this place was untouched."

"She's been living here for a while, but she still refuses to get along with anyone, and no one can stay with her for more than 2 days," Alvar laughed, "She's a terrible barbecue eater, but I and everyone around me can't provide enough for her."

"But you're the most different."

"Me?"

"Well, I've never seen her feel comfortable with outsiders, because when she'd come back to Arthen, she'd always have a grimace on her face and ask me to take her out to dinner," Alvar sighed, "and every time she does, her favourite restaurant is almost paralysed for the next week or two, and the money in my pocket keeps pouring out like a waterfall."

"No wonder Mia stopped me from agreeing," Leon remembered with a smile.

"Leon-dono, thank you for taking care of my sister !"

"It was my pleasure!" Leon warmly accepted Alvar's thanks.

"Now to your problem, Leon-dono," Alvar took an old book out of his desk drawer, "according to the transformation of your body structure, you are suffering from 'Misure' - a curse that turns your body into a monster."

"But the strange thing is that you don't have the same sefilement around you as the victims used to, and you can even talk," Alvar said in a serious voice, "so maybe I'm wrong, or..."

Alvar's serious look made Leon shiver, it made him hold his breath and brought an indescribable feeling of unease.

"Your curse may be a curse that no one knows about," Alvar hesitated, "if that's true, I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do to help you now."

"But don't be too pessimistic, I'll try to find out about this curse, if I find out anything new I'll let you know right away."

Leon listened, but he didn't know what to say, because he knew that Lich was a Lich, a bone monster was a bone monster, how could a monster like him be human? However, he still accepts this fabricated lie, after all, it is thanks to him that he has a status.

Leon expressed his gratitude and replied honestly: "Thank you "

"Leon-san, this is your membership card, due to the complicated incident just now, the guild can only let you start at the most basic rank of F," the guild leader looked embarrassed, "I am sorry for this injustice to you."

"It's okay, I like the experience of starting from scratch too."

Leon held the wooden card in his hand and looked at the words that proved he really had a human name that touched Leon.

"Leon-dono, there's one more thing," the guild leader stood up and carefully instructed, "You should restrict access to the slave wholesale area here, Horus and his accomplices were once merchants who were robbed and oppressed by the nobility, so they were very hostile to people like you."

"But I really don't..." Leon was about to excuses, but was stopped by a familiar voice in his head. It was Gabul, whispering uncomfortably as a strange pressure pressed against his already intact body..

◇

Leon placed the black sword, the holy sword and a glass of still warm honey wine on the table and went to the small window. He pulled the curtains to let the natural light into the room, then slowly removed his armour and dropped onto the neatly arranged bed mattress.

Looking closely, the room Fayre had shown him was not very spacious and a bit old, but it was quite fully equipped and suitable for someone who was too used to living alone as he was.

"Gabul, we have been back in the motel room."

"I know."

Gabul said, but refused to appear, leaving Leon looking a little confused. Just as he was about to call out his name, a hard object struck him on the back of the neck, making a sound like a hammer hitting a rock. If Leon hadn't been a Lich, he probably wouldn't have been alive when he received that blow.

"Who's that?"

Leon asked, turning his head to see the black sword floating in the air. It turned slowly, the red eye on the hilt pointed at his face:

"My body can no longer be restored," the sword said in a voice very similar to Gabul's, "so I would like to borrow this sword temporarily.

"Gabul? You are a sword?" Leon curiously touched his eye with his hand, but was rebuffed by the other sword with an unpleasant growl.

"Idiot, don't touch my eyes willy-nilly. It's the only eye that can see," Gabul said irritably.

"Um...um"

"But you can't use that sword without asking me, and it's a treasure..."

"Treasure. Yes, it's a real treasure," Gabul flew around Leon, "but wouldn't this great sword be more than a treasure if it was blessed by a creature like me?"

"But..."

"This is for later" Gabul pressed close to Leon, "what did I tell you to ask, what information did you gather?"

"Hah," Leon sighed, taking a sip of wine to refresh himself before turning his gaze to the ancient tree.

"As you expected, the person who appeared in this place today is not only a saint, but also an..."

"An ancient dragon, right? "

"That's right. Ancient dragon" Leon scratched his head.

"As for the saint you spoke of..."

"Sora Flame Roseblade, the Holy horseman of the Central Church" Leon was startled, "Wait, that name Roseblade sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

"This girl must be a descendant of the Roseblade family, who are also the descendants of Athur."

"No, I mean the ruler of this city, she's the Duchess Roseblade or something, are they related?"

"Maybe?" The big black sword suddenly fell and the blade stuck in the ground, making a large hole. Gabul emerged from Leon's shadow, wrestling on the bed.

"Hey, Gabul, this isn't our house, if the landlord comes tomorrow and sees this hole," Leon raised the sword tremblingly, "I'll be scolded by them."

"You will be scolded, but I won't."

"What did you say?" Leon exploded, holding out his greatsword to scare Gabul but failing. His hand slipped and the blade fell, almost slicing the bed in half, but luckily Gabul was able to save it in time.

"Coc..co" a knock on the door made Leon jump, Gabul, who had been laughing happily playing with the sword, fell to the ground and crawled back into Leon's shadow without saying a word.

"Knight-san, let's go eat."

Leon suddenly remembered the promise he had made to Leti, and hurriedly tidied up his battlefield-like room and went to open the door, almost forgetting that he was wearing nothing.

"Knight-san, what are you... doing?"

"Ahhhh" Leti shouted as the wooden door opened, she pointed fearfully at a white skeleton standing right in front of her, instinctively drawing her sword....

"There is monster"

"I have to get rid of the monster" Leti said as she rushed over.

◇