There was nothing to do. I was bored. Again.
(Author's Note: Deja vu...)
I was not going to bother Al again, however. That was... off the table, for at least six months.
So, I went to an adventurer's guild.
----
"Little missy, this isn't a place for a dainty girl like you." A burly and scarred adventurer looked at my small, young figure.
"I understand your concern, however, I need to do this." I replied enthusiastically. I'm so bored, there really is nothing else to do! I need to do this!
"Girl... sniff, you really are, sniff, so brave! Whatever the reason for you to take up this sniff dangerous sniff job, I hope that sniff it will get better soon..." The burly adventurer burst into tears after I said that harmless sentence. Geez... wasn't that a bit too fast? Are all of the adventurers here that touchy? Haaa, great, now I feel guilty for saying something like that. I didn't know how to answer his heartfelt sentence, so I just simply bowed and walked away.
Since I used light magic to change my appearance, no one thought that I was the heir of Duke Novea. I had black hair and grey eyes, like my past life. Honestly, I just changed my appearance because it reminded me of my past life and that it was fun (also partly because I didn't want to get caught by Mother or Father). I still attracted attention, but what did I care?
I wanted to have fun, unnoticed. My parents wouldn't know that I was out on adventures. After all, I frequently disappeared to my space, and it had become a common occurrence. My parents now had the mindset of 'as long as Ali finishes her work as an heir, she can go to her space for as long as she wants'. Quite convenient.
"I'd like to register as a mage. And swordswoman, if possible." I could barely see the top of the counter as I tiptoed to speak to the receptionist.
"Hmmm... miss, are you sure you're going to be able to become an adventurer? You're a little to young to be an adventurer. Now, hurry along." I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. I'm stronger than everyone in this damn place.
I thought of a basic incantation in my mind and started floating. "N-no incantation magic...!" The receptionist looked surprised and scared.
"I'm strong, don't worry, Mister. I'll be able to survive. Now, please, can you prepare my identification card?" The receptionist bowed hurriedly and ran to the back to fetch the card. When he came back, he presented a blank F-ranked card on the desk. Still floating, I grabbed it easily and studied the card. I've heard that the higher ranked you are, the more quest options you could go on. Can I skip levels? It's highly likely.
"Excuse me, Mister, am I allowed to skip levels?"
"Yes, Miss. You are permitted to apply for a level test, if you so choose. However, you could get seriously hurt by it. I don't recommend it."
"I don't care. Sign me up." I spoke in a rather gruff tone. Yeah! Challenge!
"T-then, please come this way." A bell rang as soon as the receptionist said those words, and the hunters in the tavern started whispering.
"Someone's applying for the level test again."
"How badly hurt will they get this time..."
"Should we watch?"
"There hasn't been a test in a long time..."
"I'm curious. I'm gonna go take a look."
"Same. Let's go."
----
"Applicant: Nova. Rank: N/A. Age: 20 years old. Profession: Mage/Swordswoman. The test shall now begin!" A herald read aloud from a small piece of paper. I was in the middle of a large stone arena. The onlookers were looking from all sides. I felt like I was the star player of a miniature football game. As soon as he spoke, some of the hunters whispered in concern while some started cheering.
"Just twenty years old. Will that little girl be okay?"
"Black hair... That's quite unusual. Is she from another kingdom?"
"I hope so. Did you hear? She doesn't have a rank... that means that she's not even a novice hunter."
"A mage and swordswoman? Can she really handle both of them at the same time?"
"F-ranked monster released." The herald announced once again. The excited hunters started cheering more. Okay. I can do this. I saw a small rabbit with a horn on the top of its head approach me fast. Wh-what? Is this it? A fast spiky bunny? I don't even need to try.
I generated a small fireball and focused it on the tiny rabbit. The rabbit dodged, but as expected, my fireball just changed directions and chased after it until it was dead. Uhhh... I feel guilty now... should I have just taken it as my pet? I shrugged. I hope it'll get harder.
"...Did the girl just use silent magic? I didn't see her mouth move..."
"Selective target fireball magic? That's C-ranked magic at the very least..."
I sat down. It was getting tiring to keep standing. "E-ranked monster released." The herald's voice boomed. A furry creature, which kind of looked like a gorilla, started walking out. What? Is this my next challenger? I don't need to stand up for this. I saw it starting to charge at me. It looked like it had a lot of power, but it was rather... slow. I just sighed and rested my head on hand in boredom. Maybe it'll get harder after this.
After pondering what I should release for a short while, I came to a conclusion. I'll save my mana for the S-ranked monsters later. Like last time, I released silent magic, but this time, I used ice magic. I'll just crush him. The stadium immediately became freezing cold. I concentrated the coldness into the gorilla, and it instantaneously froze. Do I actually have to get up to push him down? I mused, and after a moment, I came to a (very lazy) conclusion. I just used air magic to blow the gorilla statue down. It broke into pieces.
This time, the spectators were completely silent. Maybe they were in shock? Well, I remember that the heroine had rare light magic, and that was considered a blessing. Is that why they're so surprised I used rare ice magic? Oh! Or is the fact that I have three attributes? Hmmm... maybe both? And... isn't silent magic considered difficult? But Mother, Father, and Al have it too. I don't see what the big deal is... Haaah, humans make the most trivial things sound so important, I swear.
"D-D-ranked monster released!" The herald seemed to be rather startled as well as he announced the arrival of the next monster. Is this finally going to be interesting? I looked at the new creature. Thankfully, it didn't look like any of the normal animals in my past life, so I wouldn't have any qualms in killing it this time. The creature - or monster, as everyone calls it - looked weird. If I had to put it in one way, it looked 'blobby'. Fat, chubby, round, and greenish-brown.
Ewww, I don't wanna touch this shit! I was successfully grossed out by the monster in front of me. I don't wanna! Ewww, get it out! I started whispering an incantation this time. I just wanted the monster to get the hell out of my sight. By any means necessary. [ପ୍ରିୟ ଦେବୀ, ମୋତେ ବିରୋଧ କରିବାକୁ ସାହସ କରୁଥିବା ପ୍ରାଣୀକୁ ମାର] I begun chanting. [ଦୟାକରି, ମୋର ଅନୁରୋଧ ଶୁଣ, ଏହାକୁ ବାଷ୍ପୀଭୂତ କର ଏବଂ ଏହାକୁ ଅଦୃଶ୍ୟ କର] I finished. Then I pointed at the gross blob that was slowly making its way in front of me. It vanished. Because of my destruction magic. I know, I said that I would save my mana for later, and I wouldn't use anything excessively, but what was I supposed to do! I just wanted it out and away from me, and destruction magic was the best way for me to do so!
Luckily, the destruction magic just had to get rid of a low-level creature, so it just took away a bit of my magic. Although it would have been more efficient for me to use darkness magic instead... I was panicking! Okay, alright! I panicked, I admit it!
The crowd stood silent. Uh, can they just not speak now? I wondered. I was still in my sitting position, but I felt kind of sore from maintaining the position, so I stood and started stretching. The herald was now speechless. It took a while for him to remember that he was supposed to announce the arrival of the next wave.
"C-ranked monsters released!"
I heard the growling from the monsters. My back is still sore... serves me right for sitting down criss-cross for such a long time, I guess... I'll use a sword for this one, I guess, to stretch out.
I pulled out my sword from my scabbard. It made a 'shing' sound as I took it out. The crowd finally started making noise again.
"Sh-she's already a mage. Th... there's no way that she'll be able to use a sword, right, guys?"
"..."
"Yeah... no way..."
"She's using a longsword. She probably got training from someone good if she can wield it properly."
Whispers filled the arena as I took my position. I observed the monsters released. They're like... giant versions of wolves. With a lot of scars. What, is this an RPG now? I thought begrudgingly.
As I watched the overgrown wolves, they watched me. So my opponents are sentient this time. Cool. I mused. I won't use magic this time to see what happens. After observing each other for a long time, the wolves finally decided to surround me. Oh, so they chose this strategy, huh. Smart guys.
The wolves attacked all at once. I immediately activated physical enhancement and sprinted to the side in time. Oops. I used enhancement on reflex. My bad. They were in a group and began approaching me slowly once more. Magic? They... have magic. Wind blades started attacking me from front and back.
I danced and dodged away from them gracefully, and chuckled. "Fun!" Was what I said before I lunged at them.
With physical enhancement, my movements and speed were all much more powerful and fast. One by one, I killed them. It was like everything else in the world was in slow motion except for me. As I felled the last one, the crowd around me started erupting in cheers and whistles.
"Thank you~ You're welcome, ladies and gentlemen." I did a cocky and exaggerated curtsy before standing up again. "So, do you like my sword skills?" The crowd roared in response. See, this is fun. I knew it was a good idea to apply for this level test.
"I'm gonna do a special little trick on the next round! So be prepared!" The crowd became louder and I could see the visible excitement on everyone's face. "Let's go!" I started doing cartwheels and backflips around the stage- I mean, the stone ground.
"B-ranked monsters released!"
Two large ogre-looking creatures came out. They were emitting mana, meaning that they were mid-tier magic users. They must be sentient. They were holding axes and had some sort of clothing on them. I grinned evilly. Hmmm... no emissions of mana coming from the clothing... which means that the clothing is blocking excess mana from leaking out from the ogre's skin that is covered by that clothing... the clothing is made to protect from magic attacks.
There's no way that it can repel all attacks. Powerful magical attacks should work on it. However... that wouldn't be very efficient. I could just use my sword to attack the clothing if I wanted to.
But... would it make more sense for me to just attack their legs? Their legs are mostly bare besides a pair of rags covering their... things. I'll use fire magic for this. Their skin looks like they are also natural protection from magical attacks, so it would be better to prepare a strong attack once than many small attacks.
In a matter of seconds, I figured out my plan and began carrying it out. [Oh great phoenix spirit, lend me your brilliant blue flames and burn my enemy to ashes!] I used mid-grade fire magic for this. I would borrow power from spirits in exchange for mana. Quite simple, but very effective. I continued feeding the (invisible) spirit my mana until a great, mountain-like blue fire appeared above my head.
I extended my arm out and down and pointed towards the ogre-like creatures. "Burn, bitches! Ahahahahahahahaha!" I felt like a pyromaniac right then. I had an extreme urge to burn everything down, and focused it all on the ugly ogres in front of me.
When the smoke and fire finally died out, the only thing that was left on the battleground was me (who's hair was sticking up like a mad scientist and whose face was covered in soot) and a pile of stinky-as-shit ash.
"Wahhh!" The crowd went wild.
"Thank you. Thank you." I bowed like a stage performer.
----
"A-ranked monster released!"
A human-like shadow appeared in front of me, and using the element of surprise, instantly sent me flying across the arena into the stands.
"Keuk!" I coughed up blood. I was not prepared for that attack. Inwardly, I was complaining that it wasn't a fair game. But I still went on. Not bothering to heal myself with light magic, I jumped back into the stadium and zoomed towards the shadow. But it dodged, and appeared behind me. It attacked, again, right away, and I was pushed forward and fumbled to the ground. Alright. Let's do this. You use stealth, I'll use shadow magic.
Shadow magic. A sub-attribute of dark magic. One made for stealth and sneak attacks. It allows me to appear and disappear like a shadow. When I used shadow magic, it was like I was both in a physical form and an intangible one. Like a ghost.
I chuckled maliciously as I disappeared and reappeared in front of the shadow. But when I tried to reach out and choke it, it disappeared. "Tsk." I clicked my tongue and disappeared back into the shadows. So it's not touchable either. Hmmm... I could use destruction magic again. But that wouldn't be any fun... As I ran around in the shadows in search for the human-shaped shadow monster thing, I pondered ways to kill it. It's an A-ranked monster... meaning that people with a rare attribute would be able to defeat it. Of course, none of them are light, since the light attribute had not been seen for a century, well, aside from Aveline, the heroine.
What if I stay a shadow and attack it?
I decided to try it out. I looked through the shadows and immediately found my prey. Trying to surprise attack the physical me? Fat chance. I used physical enhancement and sprinted towards it, grabbing it by the neck and dragging it out.
In the bright afternoon sun, two shadows were seen. One was me. And the other one was, of course, my prey. I tightened my grip until the shadow let out a 'screech' sound and slowly broke and disappeared. I went back to my physical form. Slowly, my black hair and grey eyes were revealed, my figure, then my body.
After a period of short silence, the crowd roared with thunderous applause. Is it just me or are there more hunters than before? Oh, whatever.
"That Nova girl has shadow magic!"
"Guys, she defeated an A-ranked monster!"
"She has four attributes at least, right?"
The crowd was chattering in anticipation. While I, the slightly bloody me, bowed once more. "You're welcome! You're welcome! Hahahahahaha!"
----
"S-S... S-ranked battle, begin!" The herald couldn't contain the tremors in his voice as he announced the battle. I grinned. One more until I was at the top. Well, I am the best, so I should always be at the top... but battle? Wasn't it 'monster' before?
"Miss Nova will be battling Ax, the S-ranked hunter! If she manages to make him yield, the battle is her's! If not..." I could hear the crowd getting louder, but I wasn't worried. Worst comes to worst, if he tries to seriously harm me, I could just reveal myself as the duke's daughter and get grounded for a year, or just kill him using destruction magic.
I saw a figure emerge from the shadows. A boy. He looked like he was about four years older than me as Alice Novea, with dark, evergreen hair and shining silver eyes. Hmmm... he's pretty. His features were well defined, giving him a mature and older-brother type aura. The opposite of my Little Al. How intriguing. I examined him from head to toe. Handsome, too. I looked at the aura radiating out from him. Hmmm... a rare nature user... and a swordsman. Oooooh! I was getting more and more excited. I was assured that this fight would be much more interesting than beating up the ragdoll called Mr. Bastard Prince.
I started giggling. It was quiet, but slowly became louder and more hysterical. I was pretty sure that he thought that I was deranged. But I didn't really care, as usual.
"Let's have a good match, 'kay?" I asked in a childish tone with sparkling (slightly murderous) eyes.
❅ ❅ ❅ ❅
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Let the match begin!" The herald announced. The crowd began to buzz.
And I began to buzz as well. In excitement. How much should I limit myself? Hmmm... okay. No space. I shouldn't use it as a safe haven. I shouldn't use legendary or mythic attributes either, so no creation, destruction, gravity, summoning, or descension... you know what? I'll just match up with him. I will ONLY use nature and swordsmanship. Yay! Fun!
No, wait. My mana capacity is probably still much higher than his, even though I battled beforehand... and I'm injured. Okay, the 'injuries' will be my handicap! Okay! Yeah! Let's go, bro! Mano a mano! Whoop-whoop! My internal monologue ended as soon as my opponent lunged at me.
I dodged just in time, leaving a small scratch on my beautiful, porcelain skinned face.
"Give up, Miss Nova. I'll let you surrender without any injuries if you yield now." The hunter named Ax said.
But instead of getting peeved as usual, I just got amused. And when I am amused, I laugh. I mean, isn't that obvious?
"Pff-puahahahahahahahahaha! Hooo, I'm guessing that you haven't seen my past matches, huh? You're funny!"
He made a strange expression when I said those words, which caused me to burst into laughter again. "Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh, god. Imma fuckin' die of laughter, dude."
I was holding my stomach and barely able to keep standing. My... modern language was apparently very confusing to him.
"...If you're not going to surrender, Miss, then..."
We started circling each other. My eyes narrowed into thin slits, with my mouth quirked up in amusement. Soon, dense foliage sprung up from the stone. The rock underneath me cracked. Ah... he used his nature attribute. I sensed a figure appear from behind me. I immediately drew my sword out and blocked him.
A loud clang reverberated around the arena from our swords clashing. The audience couldn't find us, so they just whispered in worry.
"Impressive, Miss Nova. However, I will not surrender." His eyes revealed playfulness, just like mine, as he drew out a dagger from under his belt. I wasn't really listening to his comment, and just focused on his dagger. He tried to press it against my neck to make me surrender, but I was faster, and moved to grab the small knife hidden in my leather jacket, blocking his attack.
"Wow...! Ax, this is fun!" I giggled happily, prancing around and running behind him to attack. "Please keep playing with me in the future, okay! You're the first playmate I had that can actually play properly! The others are so boring compared to you... so, one day, please play a game of Tag or Hide and Seek with me, okay?" I started grinning like a devil.
I jumped up and onto a bush-like tall plant. Ax moved up with me, but before he could catch me, I used silent magic to push the foliage back down into the earth underneath the stone.
(Author's Note: I'm sorry I didn't specify this earlier, but the difference between the rare Nature attribute and the common Earth attribute is the Earth attribute deals with solid objects, such as rock, dirt, types of metals, and other things like that while Nature and control, grow, and move living plants (of course, the ecosystem were a nature user uses that magic also affects how much mana they have to expend and the results). Thanks!)
"Not bad, Nova." He grinned and attacked me again with sturdy, unbreakable (well, almost unbreakable) vines.
"Hey, when did I let you call me Nova?" I pouted and sulked as I fended off his attack with a wall of mutated devil's ivy.
"Well, you called me Ax, so I figured that we were one a first name basis..." He reasoned, which was strange thing to do in battle, but I ignored it and just sulked more and attacked him using the ivy.
"I did not! Oh... wait, I did. Okay, fine... I guess you can call me Nova, then." I sighed reluctantly, scratching my (slightly singed) black hair.
"Hehehehehehe~" He chuckled, seemingly satisfied with my unwilling response.
"Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope don't you dare, young man! Don't you get all smug on me, asshole!" I lunged at him with my sword.
"Don't sass me, young lady!" He mocked back, which caused my eyes to flame with more playfulness.
"Oh, it is so on!" I still had about half of my mana left. Enough for three high-tiered legendary spells, meaning enough for about nine high-tiered rare nature attribute spells.
I started firing spells consecutively after sheathing my longsword. [ମୋର ଆବଶ୍ୟକତା ଏବଂ ଇଚ୍ଛା ପୂରଣ କର, ଏବଂ ମୁଁ ମୋର ଶକ୍ତି ସହିତ ତୁମକୁ ପୁରସ୍କୃତ କରିବି] I muttered. [ପ୍ରକୃତିର ସର୍ବୋତ୍ତମରେ ନିର୍ମିତ ଏକ ଅନୁପ୍ରବେଶକାରୀ କାନ୍ଥ ନିର୍ମାଣ କରନ୍ତୁ, ଏବଂ ମୋର ପ୍ରତିଦ୍ୱନ୍ଦୀଙ୍କୁ ଏହାର କ୍ରୋଧ ଅନୁଭବ କରିବାକୁ ଦିଅନ୍ତୁ]
[ମୋର ବିଷାକ୍ତ ଆଇଭି ଶହେ ଗୁଣା ସହିତ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ଆକ୍ରମଣ କର] [ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ଶକ୍ତିଶାଳୀ କର | ସେମାନଙ୍କର ଜୀବନଶ and ଳୀ ଏବଂ ଦକ୍ଷତା ବୃଦ୍ଧି କରନ୍ତୁ] Walls of ivy and vicious attacks came at him from all directions. Direct attacks, sneak attacks, and poison filled the arena. I was ready. [ପ୍ରିୟ ପ୍ରକୃତି, ମୋର ଶତ୍ରୁକୁ ତୁମର ବିଶ୍ରାମ ସ୍ଥାନକୁ ଠେଲିଦିଅ | ପୃଥିବୀ, ତାଙ୍କୁ ପୃଥିବୀକୁ ନେଇଯାଅ] [ତୁମର ଘୃଣାର ଶବ୍ଦକୁ ଫୁସ୍ଫୁସ୍ କର ଏବଂ ଆଜି ତାଙ୍କ ଆଡକୁ ମୁହଁ ଫେର | ସେ ହୁଏତ ତୁମର ସାଥୀ ହୋଇପାରନ୍ତି, କିନ୍ତୁ ମୁଁ ତୁମର ଦେବୀ] [ମୋର କଥା ମାନ।][ମୋ ଚାରିପାଖରେ ଏବଂ ତୁମର ସାଥୀରେ ଜୀବନର ଏକ କାନ୍ଥ ସୃଷ୍ଟି କର] [ତୁମର ଶକ୍ତିଶାଳୀ ଅଙ୍ଗକୁ ଶିକୁଳି ଭାବରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କର, ଏବଂ ତାଙ୍କୁ ତଳେ ପକାନ୍ତୁ] [ବର୍ତ୍ତମାନ, ତାଙ୍କୁ ତୁମର ଅନନ୍ତ ଶକ୍ତିରେ ଉତ୍ସାହିତ କରିବାକୁ ବାଧ୍ୟ କର] My mutterings became louder and more vivacious as time past. At the end of all nine spells, Ax was pinned to the ground by vines, struggling, and barely breathing.
A vine handed me his sword (which somehow showed reverence). I giggled childishly. My voice was hoarse and my mana was completely depleted from all of the spells I executed. "Ax, I win, don't you agree?"
I waved my hand and two vines retreated back down to the ground to let him talk. "...Y...yes."
"Mister?" I looked at the herald standing to the side for confirmation.
I took a moment for him to process the situation, but he finally announced in his booming voice, "N-Nova is now an S-ranked hunter, by rules of the Arvana guild! She will be handed her platinum identification card in the Tavern of Rils Weas in the capital of the kingdom Asar. Congratulations!"
When the crowd roared and applauded, I smiled devilishly again before waving the vines off and helping the half-dead Ax up.
"Cool! Ax, now I'm an S-ranked hunter, just like you! I hope we can work together sometime! And, oh, you still owe me a game of Tag, okay? Remember to 'play' with me again soon!" I smiled childishly before pushing him onto the herald and skipping away with my long sword in hand.