17. Rank up

After Rhia and Armaros left the Church and went back to the guild building, she did the rest of the formalities and after a few moments she gave him a handbook which he took in confusion as he looked at it.

"What is this?" Armaros asked her in confusion.

"Why don't you open it and look?" Rhia said with a smile.

He blinked at her words but did as she told him to as he opened it and read it as his eyes widened as the handbook is in his name and seems to be an official handbook of the guild. It also has his photo as well as he read through it as he saw that it has information about all his previous quests.

"What is this?" Armaros asked in slight surprise and confusion.

"This is your Adventurer's handbook. This is used to record the previous quests done by Adventurers. It's a handheld record of an adventurer." Rhia said to him with a smile.

"Why didn't I get it from the start?" Armaros asked in confusion.

"Well, usually when a child of your age becomes an adventurer, they usually forget to put on the data, exaggerate their own accomplishments or take on quests that they are not ready for, which sadly either ends with them traumatized, crippled or dead. Because of that, any Adventurer of the age range of 12 to 14 are given their Adventurer's handbook after the guild seems then as responsible and trustworthy." Rhia said to him with a smile.

"Oh, wait, so I proved myself?" Armaros said in surprise as it has only been a week since he became an Adventurer.

"You saved the life of a child and I have been observing you for the week. You have been a responsible adventurer for the week, not to mention that you are also well behaved and more mature than the other adventurers of your age." Rhia said to him with a smile.

"Did you write them?" Armaros asked as he looked at her.

"Yes, it is my job after all. Still, do you plan on doing another quest?" Rhia asked him curiously.

"No. I had enough for today. Still, thanks for the help." Armaros said as he walked away.

"Have a good day." Rhia said as she watched him leave with a smile.

"You have a soft spot for that boy huh?" Rhia's coworker said as she smiled at her.

"He is a good guy and is pretty respectable whenever he talks with me or others. Not to mention, in the area he is well liked as well." Rhia said with a smile as she remembered how the civilians would talk about how he helped them sometimes.

Her fellow coworkers agreed with her as Armaros has also helped the people of the town when he comes across them in need of help, and didn't ask for anything in return. Though they did show their appreciation by giving him some goods to use like food and clothes.

Armaros himself went back to his room as he took off his adventurer outfit and took a bath before he laid on the bed as he groaned. Even if he had healed himself, the fatigue from the fight is still there as he went to sleep after a few moments.

He would wake up at night almost at the time for dinner as he went and ate his food before he went back to his room as he sat on the bed and looked at his chest.

'The Priestess said she didn't find anything about the scabbard so either she kept it to herself or she definitely didn't know. The question is, why?' Armaros thought to himself as he narrowed his eyes.

He closed his eyes and focused on himself as he looked inside of his body as he could see the flow of Mana inside of him alongside the rest of his body and its organs. He first checked his organs, then blood vessels and nerves and he was glad to see that they were fine.

'Okay, my physical body seems to be fine. What about...' Armaros thought to himself as he shifted his focus.

He looked into himself and he found the scabbard inside of him as he frowned as it has suddenly turned docile as he tried to feel it's presence and he could feel it's demonic energy as his frown deepened.

'It is still there and I can feel it's demonic energy so why didn't the priestess also realise it? Wait, could it be that... Actually, don't we Dawnbringers naturally have Holy Power inside of us, maybe it is counteracting the scabbard as well.' Armaros thought to himself as his eyes widened at the thought.

While he isn't sure if that is truly the case with the scabbard, he doesn't have any other leads as to why the violent scabbard had suddenly stopped being aggressive after entering his body.

'That is the only logical conclusion I can get to at the moment. I guess my own Holy energy is nullifying the Demonic energy of the scabbard and so making me safe. Maybe that's the reason why she didn't find out about it. If she can't sense the Demonic energy which is surrounded by my own power, then she won't be able to know about it.' Armaros thought to himself as a small smile crept on his face.

"I guess I was lucky." Armaros muttered to himself as it was only happenstance that he was the one who found the scabbard.

'But still, who had placed the scabbard there in the first place?' Armaros thought to himself as it was a puzzle for him.

The room was definitely created for the sole purpose of holding the scabbard there, yet it didn't seem to have magic defences on it. Either the scabbard had managed to destroy all the defences, or there wasn't any on it to begin with, and either one didn't bring him comfort.

'Fuck, things have only become more complicated, and it hasn't even been a month since I left my home.' Armaros thought to himself as he groaned into his hands as he hunched on the bed.

"Whatever the case may be, I have to hide it. I doubt I can just return after being exiled. The only saving grace is that the scabbard seems to have become trapped inside of me so it can't do anything. Unless I can find a safe way to remove it, I have to be careful." Armaros said to himself as he touched his chest.

He sighed as he laid on the bed and looked out the window at the night sky. It was one of the things he enjoyed after all. Unlike back in his world where the stars were hidden due to the pollution of the modern world, the sky is very clear here and he can see the thousands of stars in the sky which affords him a very beautiful view.

Armaros couldn't stop the smile that bloomed on his face as he looked at the magnificent sight of the starry night sky as he watched it before he went to sleep.

Timeskip

Armaros looked at the wolf monster run towards him with its teeth bared as he held his blade as he watched it. As it got close its fangs sparkles with electricity as it lunged at him.

But he immediately activated his mana and with practiced ease he sliced off the head of the monster as he stepped to the side as the monster carcass fell on the ground as he just turned his head and looked at it. Even though he felt pain, he managed to ignore it as it was only instantaneous.

'After the demon bear and the bloodlust that I experienced from the scabbard, this doesn't scare me as much, and the pain was only for a moment so I am fine.' Armaros thought to himself as he looked at the remains.

"Incredible, he defeated it so easily." Rhia said in shock at the sight of how easily he had killed the monster.

The man next to her looked at his notepad which has Armaros' information as he hummed as he smiled to himself. He is the examiner for the D rank advancement test for Armaros.

Armaros had felt that he has been sitting in the E rank and taking it easy for long enough. Especially with the fact that he now has a demonic scabbard inside of him as well. So he needs to gather more experience, and for that he needs to complete higher ranking quests, which is why he asked for the test and he is quite happy that he only has to kill a world monster.

"That boy definitely qualifies to be a D rank Adventurer." The examiner said with a smile.

"Really?" Rhia asked in surprise as she looked at the examiner.

When Armaros had asked her that he wanted to take the advancement test, she was shocked and concerned, but after he pushed for it she told about it to the guild leader who decided to humour the boy and allowed for the test to be taken.

She was scared that he would be hurt from the fight, but to her surprise he easily killed the wolf monster without breaking a sweat as she couldn't help but be amazed by the skill that was shown by him.

'He is so talented. He might be able to become a very strong adventurer. Well, at least B rank anyway.' Rhia thought to herself as she calmed down her excitement as she looked at the boy whom she has been working with for the past week.

But while both the examiner and Rhia were impressed and amazed by what he had done, Armaros only felt disappointment as he looked at the carcass.

'Still, I didn't expect the advancement test to just be to kill a wolf monster.' Armaros thought to himself as he was let down by it.

Even if he hadnt fought a monster until he had been exiled from the mansion, the vigorous physical training he had done, and with his own usage of magic, he is more than capable of dispatching off of monsters like it as it is quite easy for him as well with the level of training he had under his belt.

'Well, in any case, I managed to pass the test and become a D rank, so now I will be able to take on D rank quests and perhaps gain more experience.' Armaros thought to himself as he sheathed his sword as he looked at it.

Even though it was only a standard sword given to him by his family, it is of very high quality despite it looking like a normal sword, which was to be expected of his family.

'I have no time for doubts. I have to keep on improving.' Armaros thought to himself as he went to the examiner.

"So, how did I do?" Armaros asked the man.

"You passed. I have to say, I have never seen a man of your age with such sword skill." The examiner said to him with a smile.

'Perhaps he was taught by a swordmaster.' The examiner thought to himself.

"That's good." Armaros said as he smiled at that.

"You took care of the monster so easily Armaros. I didn't think you were this strong." Rhia said to him in surprise and wonder.

"I have been training for a while." Armaros said to her with a shrug.

"In any case, you have proven yourself to be fit for becoming a D rank. Congratulations kid." The examiner said with a small smile on his face.

"Thanks." Armaros said as he kept a neutral face as he looked at the man.

The examiner nodded as he sighed the paper for his rank confirmation as Rhia went to the boys side and rubbed his head affectionately. He didn't react much as he allowed her to do so since she has been nice to him ever since he came here.

'Well, I guess this feels nice.' Armaros thought to himself absentmindedly as he just let the woman be.