I got an Adventurer's License

It's been a few days since I started living here. Seol-ah's parents easily gave a pass when Seol-ah asked them to let me stay here. They even thanked me for saving their child. This is the second time I've been thanked... it feels weird. I'm not used to being thanked. All people every said to me before we're things like "you shouldn't exist" or "you'll always be alone."

I take a sip from the cup of water in my hands. Right now, I'm watching Seol-ah practice magic. She's apparently very smart and will transfer into a prestigious academy in the Yurith Empire soon. On a full scholarship. I'm not sure how impressive that is, but I can tell she tries hard. And right now, we're in Argon. Seol-ah was born and has always lived in Argon. She never went overseas. And, apparently, this continent, Argon, contains a country called Argon. And we are in that country Argon right now.

[Ein Sulpus!]

Seol-ah casts her spell and a magic circle appears and summons a tiny cloud the size of a watermelon. The cloud starts snowing. Hm. What an interesting type of magic. Something like that can't be used in battle.... is she sticking to learning more domestic types of magic?

[Young girl. Why do you want to learn magic?]

[E-eh? Oh... that's because... my family is poor and magic is a great way to save money!]

Hm... I see. It's a matter of money. It makes sense. Normal humans can't go a month without eating and to get food, you need money. So saving money is something essential for a poor family. But I feel like she can do more with her magic... she just needs to widen her perspective. We'll, I'm sure she'll come to a realization soon.

RAAAAAAAAWR!!

Hm? Thee's an odd looking bear. Ah, I forgot to mention, but Seol-ah's house is on a street near the forest. Did the bear come from the forest?

[Kyaaah!!]

Seol-ah, who was practicing magic outside, screams at the sight of a bear. There are other people who happened to be walking on the street who are running away in a panic. What's the big deal? It's just a bear. A jet black bear with glowing white eyes. And there's an X under its eye. What a truly odd bear. How did the bear come this much into the city without being noticed anyway?

Seol-ah, afraid, tries to run back to her house. I'm sitting on her house porch right now. She trips over her feet and timbles to the floor.

.... seriously? You trip on a moment like this? It's just like when I let my guard down foolishly and got defeated those billions of years ago... no, 10,000 years ago?

The bear sees Seol-ah and starts charging at her. That's not good. I'm trying to hold a fondness for that girl. I cant have her dying on me. I stand up and jump in front of Seol-ah.

[Neo! Run!! That's a-]

The bear is foolishly charging in recklessly. I dont even need to use my powers for this. I reach my arm out and flick the bear.

BOOM!

The bear was blown to pieces. But there's no blood... what happened? The pieces of the bear that got blown off dissipate midair and the body of the bear still on the ground fades away as well. What a strange bear. Did lifeforms mutate when this world was merged?

[N-N-Neo?! How did you do that?!]

[Hm? Oh, young miss. Are you alright?]

[Y-yes, but Neo! How did you defeat a Nightmare with one flick?!]

Nightmare? What's that? I've never heard of it.

[Nightmare? It's not a bear?]

[No, Neo! And please don't say that with such a straight face! What you did is incomprehensible!]

[...is that so?]

[Yes! Even the weakest nightmares can wipe out an entire city, you know?]

Is that such an impressive feat?

[What are nightmares exactly, young miss?]

[Oh... we're not too sure. They appeared soon after the Great Sinner was defeated. A dimensional hole ripped the sky and they poured into the worlds that make up this planet. There were some powerful figures who thankfully were able to repel them, and Nightmares have rarely appeared ever since. Nightmares are terrifying, you know? They're something you'd tell a child about to stop them from being naughty kids!]

[I see.]

So, those things appeared after I was sealed...

[Nightmares are easy to identify. They have a jet black body, glowing white eyes, and a roman numeral somewhere on their body. 10 is the weakest class of Nightmares, and 1 is the strongest.]

[What an interesting story.]

[Neo, the guards are going to come here and question you and take you away now! What you did was enough to get you an audience with this country's king, you know?! I dont want you to be taken away!]

Was beating that thing that much of a big feat? Well, whatever. What's important right now is that a guard soldier is coming up to me. I can just manipulate him into thinking nothing ever happened... yeah, let's do that.

[Sir! I heard that there was a Nightmare here?!]

[What might you be talking about?]

[W-wha..? I have multiple reports coming in that there was a Nightmare here, sir!]

[Aw, how sad. It seems like the entire town is playing a trick on you.]

[Huh? No, sir, it's unlikely that this many reports came in and they're all fake-]

[Then wouldn't there be traces of it here at least? There are no traces of destruction at all. I heard Nightmares are fearsome creatures that bring destruction to wherever they go?]

[B-but-]

[Think about it, young guard. Have you ever seen a Nightmare? Have your parents or your grandparents? Nightmares are so rare these days, and you're saying anything Nightmare came this deep into the city unnoticed?]

[I-I understand, sir. I'm sorry for taking your time.]

The guards reluctantly walks back to wherever his post is. Humans are easy to trick. Their psychology is easy to track. I used to play with the minds of kings to make them have a war with each other's countries... well, I won't be doing that anymore. There's no reason to.

[Neo..? What did you tell him? I thought for sure he would take you away...]

[I just cleared up our misunderstanding. Seol-ah, are there monsters stronger than Nightmares in this world?]

[Uhm... I wouldn't know, but I think very few monsters would be more dangerous than even a class 10 Nightmare.]

[I see. How much money do adventurers make nowadays?]

[It depends on their rank... if you're an E rank, you won't make much money. D rank is a bit better, but they would still be in a situation like my family. C rank would be middle class wealth level, B rank would be the low end high class wealth, A rank would be very wealthy, and S ranks are suuuper rare but they almost make as much money as nobility!]

[I see. So if I kill monsters weaker than that Nightmare just now, I can make a lot of money?]

[Yes, but... Neo, are you going to be an adventurer?]

[Hm... it may not be bad to have a license for now. I'll go to the guild tomorrow and sign up.]

[Oh... okay! I think this is my first time seeing Neo do something productive!]

.... I guess I have been lazing around these days. It's so peaceful, I couldn't help it.

--------------------

I woke up this morning ready to go to the guild. Seol-ah told me the directions so I just need to get there. But as long as I know where to go, I don't need to worry about how to go.

I sink into my shadow. This is one part of my powers. Complete control over all shadows. It's a very versatile and useful power, and depending on how you use it, it can prove effective even when fighting against god-like beings.

I rise up out of a shadow in an alleyway next to the guild. I'm here. I walk in the guild.

[Welcome, sir! Can I help you?]

The receptionist lady greets me with a smile. The world sure has changed. No, my world sure has changed. In my childhood, no one would smile when I'm around. I do sense that some people are already afraid of me. Especially the veteran adventurers. There's a group sitting on a round table talking over wine, and I can tell they're wary of me.

[I would like to register as an adventurer.]

[Understood, sir! Please wait a moment!]

The receptionist takes out some crystal ball.

[Please put your hand here! This will determine your rank.]

[How is your rank determined?]

[First, we measure your magical power. After that, we go into a practical exam to see how experienced you are. You can have a very low mana level but if you're still good at fighting without mana, you can still be a high rank! Especially after the worlds merged. The people from the Murim don't have any mana yet their combat prowess is incredible.]

[I see.]

I place my hand on the crystal. So I need to pour mana into this thing. Wait, I forgot what mana was. In my body, there's ki, mana, spirit energy, chakra, and a bunch of other types of energies circulating inside me, so it's hard telling which one's which. Ah. I think I accidentally poured in some ki.

The crystal flashes lightly.

[Hm... congratulations, sir! You're a C rank!]

Oh? I poured in ki and it still measured it? Maybe it's because the fundamental properties of ki and mana are similar. No matter. I'll quickly take the practical exam and go home.

.....

Home.... is that place... my home? Since when did I start thinking that way? How strange. How very strange. What made me think it was home? Simply because I live there? No, I've never thought of anywhere else as home when I lived there. Then... maybe because of the people? Really? Just because of Mr. And Mrs. Yoo and Yoo Seol-ah, I'm simply able to think of that place as my home? Hm... no. It's more than that. It's because they're the first people who seem to have genuine concern for me. Or do they? I'm not sure. But still, they treat me differently than how others in the past have. How strange...

[Mister? Are you alright?]

The receptionist lady asks me. Oh. She's trying to take me to the exam site but I haven't been moving.

I follow her and shake my head. I should focus on this license first.

When I got to the exam site, there was what looked like a soccer field. The type without any grass. Hm. What am I to do here?

[I will proctor your exam, mister. You will have a one on one combat against a golem we got from Saiba. They created it so that we can control the power level of the golem. I will have the golem level set to the lowest, and as slowly raise its level. Are you ready?]

[Yes.]

[Okay. Then... begin!]

The receptionist lady presses some button on a gadget in her pocket and a golem falls from above. It lands on its feet steadily. It's made of pure metal and has a single red dot on what appears to be the head. Oh, there's also a number on its chest too. It says 1... I guess that's the level. Should I try my best? Or just go with C rank? Hm... I'd rather go home. I guess I'll just pretend I get beaten easily.

[Oh, what's this?]

An old man with black hair and a beard comes in. He's dressed like a military commander.

[Oh, guild branch manager! What brings you here?]

The receptionist greets him. So he's a manager, huh?

[I thought I'd observe the newbies test. Go on. Pretend like I'm not here.]

[Okay, sir...]

The receptionist lady presses a button, and the golem starts moving. The golem throws a punch at me. I deliberately get hit and fall backwards towards the ground.

[Eeeeehh?!]

The receptionist lady looks surprised.

[Mister! Are you alright?]

[Yes... I'm fine. I guess I failed. Does this mean I'm C-rank?]

[Yes, that's right... even if your combat abilities are low, your mana measures up to C rank. That alone qualifies you.]

[Okay. I understand now. I will take my leave.]

I turn around and walk out of the site.

[Hm....]

I can tell the branch manager is rubbing his chin.

Well, whatever.

------

After Neo leaves, the branch manager, Frio, looks at the golem.

[Ella, come look at this.]

[Yes, sir? What is it?]

Ella, the receptionist, comes next to the branch manager. Frio points at the golem fist.

The fist is completely broken. Not only that, its entire arm is loose and almost completely destroyed.

[Oh my...! What happened to the golem?

[The level of the golem was set to the lowest, right?]

[Yes, it was.]

[The lowest level punch doesn't even gave enough power to destroy a wall. Yet just because of that punch, it's own metal body is broken? That can't be the case. Then, it can only mean that man just now did something. I'm not sure, but I can tell that that man lost on purpose.]

[Really, manager? The way he fell backward was a bit realistic... he didn't even bend his back to land on his bottom. He just fell straight onto his back. I think that's a bit hard to fake....]

[Yes, I think so too. Could this just be a fluke..?]

------------------

I went back to Yoo Seol-ah's house after the exam.

[I'm back.]

[Neo! You're back! How did it go?]

[I got C rank.]

[C rank? Wow! That's pretty amazing! But... you defeated a Nightmare with just a flick, so I thought for sure you would be an S rank....]

[I didn't try too hard on the exam.]

[Oh... well, I'm sure you must have your reasons. Anyways, Neo! Welcome home!]

Seol-ah says with a smile.

How strange... I've never heard anyone say that to me before. I truly am experiencing new things today....

[.....]

[Neo? Is something wrong?]

[No. Everything's fine, young miss.]

I nod and go to the guest room I was given. I guess I'll just tuck in for the night....

-------------

After Neo goes to his room, I go to my room too. Neo did something productive for the first time! But how did he get C rank? If he can beat a Nightmare that easily, he should be S rank... or even at LEAST A rank! Maybe he just didn't want to rank too high and be known as a rising rookie?

Hehe... yeah, he's definitely not the type to want that. Neo seems so uninterested in everything after all... his expression hasn't changed even once since I first met him. It's a bit weird... but it probably just means he hasn't fully opened up yet. I hope the day comes when I can see him smile...

I hug my pillow and lay in bed.

Hm? Wait a minute, I don't think I've ever heard Neo call me by my name! He always calls me young miss! Hmph... why can't he just call me by my name? Is it hard?

[Seol-ah.]

I say out loud.

See? It's not hard at all! Geez... should I try to make him say it tomorrow? Hehe....

I imagined him saying it. The image of Neo, smiling slightly, patting my head and calling my name, "Seol-ah."

My eyes shoot open and my face puffs red. I close my eyes and roll around my bed hugging my pillow.

I'm not sure what Neo would look like if he smiled, but... I'm sure he will look just as good as in my imagination.

My face flushes further. What am I even thinking?!