High atop the ashen mountain sits a strange little hut, standing strong despite of the countless Wyverns flying in the air. For some unknown reasons, no Wyvern dared to land near the hut in spite of its small size, all of them seemed to avoid it at all cost.
Inside it lived a man who's age faded along with time. Wearing a ragged but clean long white robe, eyes turned white because of his very old age. His long beard reached lower than his waist matching with his long steel gray hair.
He hummed and mumbled something while putting some flasks on the hanging wood ranks, each one containing liquid with different colors. He placed it well with his steady and time-aged hands, despite of his immeasurable age his palms didn't shake like most old people did, in fact, his physique indicated that he was still strong enough to best most of the youths in the current age.
"Mm. This looks fine."
He smiled, putting both his hands to his waist.
"I haven't got any visitors lately... Was choosing this place to live the rest of my life wrong?"
He wondered, holding his chin.
By "lately" he meant an equivalent of half a decade or more. Who in their right mind would dare to go straight into the Wyverns' nest? Oh right, he did.
Done with his tasks inside, he went out of his home. As soon as he opened the wooden door, he was greeted by the mild breeze of the mountain. The sky he looked up for the past years was still the same, the same gray, cloud-filled sky. Had he already seen the sun for all the time he spent living there, he didn't know nor remember. He stepped on the dark brown soil the mountaid had, the soil which the Wyverns once laid.
He breathed in the mountain's air, filling his lungs before releasing it in a single sigh. Satisfied, he walked into his mini garden. His plants grew healthy regardless of the diminished soil, some even outgrowing his own home. He placed himself into the garden's center and then chanted an incantation which after some time, watered all of the plants.
"Hohohohoho, there you go my sweet sweet little greenies, drink and help yourselves grow in this wasteland."
He smiled lovingly.
Something was unusual within the plans he's taking care of, they had the ability to grow into the barren wasteland and when they received water, they looked like to answer him by waving and shaking, like it was alive. Finished with his daily watering, he went back inside of his hut, only to found his basketball-sized crystal orb glowing.
"Ooh, finally after all this time."
He excitedly carried the ball then caressed it. Short moments later, it showed a figure of seven Adventurers who were currently trekking the mountain path.
He only expected one person to come but seeing the eight figures made him a little bit of hyper and uhh, lets say overjoyed. He jumped and ran around like a crazy man. Finally for once in a "while", he would be able to see other people than the village leader.
"Uhuhuhu, where's my manners. I should wait for them, see if they are worthy of my words."
**********************************
Early in the day, Jouzu and his friends left Kelgar (name of the village). With inventories packed with health and mana pots, they set their journey to the mountain top. They've gone smoothly for the first few hours of travel, passing by the Aragorn Forest (the one with "organized" trees) without any issues.
"Strange, we've come this far but there's still no encounters."
Mischa mentioned while surveying the area with her sharp eyes.
"No its not, it was like this when we first came here. I probably think that this is a safe zone."
Sigrun commented.
"Sugoi~ that means we can always come back to go sight seeing here right?"
Irish asked, eyes sparkling with tinge of wonder.
"Yeah, we can." Jouzu replied. "We can maybe even set up a home here."
Irish's eyes sparkled, "Really? lets do it lets do it!" she said with enthusiasm.
Varix chuckled, "You sure belong to a lively bunch Jouzu."
He said, amused by the carefree atmosphere that were established by Jouzu's friends.
It has been a while since he belonged to a group, a very long one. Most of the time, he would be staying in his house doing works between the adventurers and the royal family in Hedia.
Being the world's highest level Adventurer wasn't easy as it seems, its not just killing monsters and doing quests all the time trying to keep up for the title.
Frequently, he would be called in council meetings with the Hedians, dealing with politics to keep the Adventurers in good terms with the royal family. If he's not on the meetings, he would help Eric work with his paperworks, lessening his burden of being the Guildmaster.
He rarely took down and hunted mobs, which was his original job as an Adventurer. Ever since the game became the world, he took a life different from the others. Fortunately, he was old enough to deal with such and his many experiences helped him lots.
"You're lucky with them." he continued.
"Mm. Yeah I think so."
"You think so?" Varix wondered. "Why?"
"Err..." Jouzu muttered. "Most of the time they can be chaotic..."
Varix bursted out laughing, he couldn't stop it. "Really? I do think that they're decent."
He wept some tears of amusement in his eyes, "I should get to know more of you then, I only thought you were a strong bunch."
Jouzu scratched the back of his head as a reply as a smile on his face slowly crept up.
"But despite of their nature, I cherish them in the depths of my heart. Back there in the real world, they made my life bloom, more than anyone did" he paused, a short one. "Except for Irish, we only met her recently but she became a part of us easily."
"Really? From the way you guys act, you seem to know each other a lot."
He remarked, surprised by Jouzu's last statement.
"That I don't know. I thought we've been always like that."
"Proves you guys are just good with making friends. I envy you, newly formed relationships don't bloom that fast nor last long." Varix commended, sincerity in his tone.
"T-thanks, Mr. Varix."
"Just Varix, Jouzu. I'm not that far from your age" Varix smiled. "Besides, I don't wanna be treated formally because of my title. I wan't people to treat and see me as a friend."
Suddenly, the ground shook as if something heavy landed nearby, causing them to slightly lose their balance.
The cause was a Wyvern who anchored a hundred meters away from of them. It moved its head left and right then fixated its red eyes into their location.
"Here comes our first encounter, everyone establish position."
Varix commanded, pulling his greatsword away from his back. To his surprise, Jouzu and his group were already in formation like they expected it will happen soon.
The Wyvern let out a deafeaning roar before flapping its enormous wings to action. Once it was airborne it launched large fireballs from its mouth consequently.
Seeing this, Nimbus activated a skill, forming a dome with enough radius for everyone to take shelter. Once it was fully erected, he let out a shout triggering another skill which buffed his defensive stats by a bit.
The fireballs crashed into Nimbus' dome causing giant explosions around their area, black smoke covered their vision while inside the dome but they showed no worries. Once the smoke faded, they begun their counter attack. Shard started by gunning the Wyvern with bullets improved by 「Power Shot」, Irish followed by releasing defensive and offensive buffs, increasing their offensive and defensive capabilities by a bunch.
The next moments were followed by a conjoined attack from the sword users. First was a heavy slash at the Wyvern's wings from Varix, followed by a blitz of slashes by Jouzu. The two female knights didn't want to get behind, both deeply swiping the sides of the monster.
But that wasn't enough to take down the Wyvern. After receiving the wounds that the humans inflicted it released an earshattering screech, reducing the group's mobility and accuracy for a minute. As soon as it was done with debuffing the humans, it spread its wings wide, then flapping it once in a strong motion, unleashing winds capable of tearing down trees and some rocks.
Varix wiped some scratches he received. "As expected from a Medium difficulty monster, its abilities are leagues different from the ordinary ones."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! There's nothing to worry Mr. Varix." Nimbus laughed. "We should be done with this soon."
Was what Nimbus said before blinking right into the Wyvern's front. The Wyvern couldn't react from surprise, the next thing it knew was Nimbus locking its aggro onto him using a taunt skill.
Varix saw Nimbus' action and just like the Wyvern, he was surprised. Theoretically, tanks such as him shouldn't be able to blink, but Nimbus disregarded all of it once he did. He didn't see that move before, he guessed that since their last encounter, these guys got a lot more stronger by lots. He thought that they could now easily beat him one on one.
Back to the pissed Wyvern, it used its large "hands" trying to trample and crush Nimbus, but it proved ineffective to the tank's invincibility. Buffed by Irish's shields and spells, he took all of the damage without being scratched.
This infuriated the Wyvern even more, how can that stupid human withstood his earth shattering attacks. Realizing that it was ineffective, it halted its actions and began charging up a powerful breath in its mouth.
Seeing this Jouzu shouted. "Shard shoot its mouth!"
He earned a nod from the silent gunner, charging both of her guns with mana and a number of empowering skills. Irish also added some offensive buffs, increasing the shot's damage by folds.
Once she was ready, she activated 「Precision」 and aimed ready at the Wyvern's mouth. She closed her eyes and inhaled, concentrating before exhaling and turning on 「Snipe」, once done, she pulled the trigger of both her pistols.
A zap of dark concentrated light escaped from the gun's barrel, zipping straight to the Wyvern's mouth before exploding in contact. The next thing they knew was a massive blast, both created possible by the Wyvern's charging breath and Shard's devastating shot.
Thick black smoke covered the area after the explosion, rendering any kinds of vision on the nearby surroundings. A few minutes passed until the smoke was cleared by the mountain winds, along with it was the dispersed body of the Wyvern.
"Wohoo! Nice shot Shard!"
Irish cheered, embracing Shard in a tight hug.
"I must say I'm impressed" Varix praised. "You figured out its weakpoint despite encountering it for the first time."
"N-no, it was not me who figured out its weakpoint."
Shard replied, fidgeting her fingers.
"I know, but I still have to commend your killing shot."
He remarked.
Shard blushed, mostly of shyness. "T-thank you..."
Done with the killing and praising, they climbed up further, continuing their journey to the lead the Kalgar's leader mentioned.
**********************************
[Somewhere in Kelgar]
A boy rushed downwards on a staircase, zipping past through the clamorous bunch of people on the floor. Once he was out, he sighed in relief, then continued to rush in search of someone.
He looked on the streets, quickly checking every nook and corners. When he failed to see the person, he rushed onto the marketplace and there, he found the man.
With a loud shout, he called. "Mr. Pontiferre!" before running and dodging the unusually thick crowd.
The man called Pontiferre recognized the voice, turning his head from where it came from, only to see a familiar boy in a rush to see him.
When the boy reached him, it panted heavily until he recovered enough breath to speak.
"Why are you hurrying to me? Is there any problems back in the inn?"
"No no no, there's no problem I just went to ask you something."
The boy replied, still catching some of his breath
"What is this question you wanted to ask?"
"How do I become an adventurer?"
Pontiferre stared at the boy in a surprised manner, trying to clearly remember his question.
"You want to become an adventurer?"
"Hai!" (If you watch anime you know what this means, if not it means "yes".)
Pontiferre inhaled, then let it out in a single sigh.
"By any chance, is it related to your promise?"
He asked fervently.
"Yes..." The boy closed his eyes. "I wish to avenge my family in any means."
"Listen Zerti," Pontiferre tapped Zerti's shoulders. "Adventurers came from a world that none of us Edeans knows, if anything, an Edean cannot become an Adventurer and an Adventurer cannot become an Edean."
Zerti clenched his fists as he heard Pontiferre's words. He was displeased and saddened.
It was the only thing he held on after his whole family died and left him alone, it was his brother's dying wish to promise him to become strong and become a hero. In contrast, it was one thing that kept him going and alive.
Deep inside, he wished that he could fulfill his brother's and his own wish. But into his dismay, it may not be possible anymore. The only way he knew to become stronger was to become an Adnventurer, people who slew monsters for people. Adventurers who became heroes by putting themselves in the front to protect Edeans who were in trouble.
He was like that until he heard a speech.
"Good day Kalgarians, may I have your attention even for just a tiny bit?"
A man in a heavy silver armor spoke. His voice rang through the streets despite of the loud commotion of the crowd.
When he was sure to get their attention, he cleared his throat and continued.
"As you may already know, we are Adventurers that came here for a quest. But until we haven't found it, we would stay here." He paused. "For the past days, we have noticed that this village lack guards compared to a standard ones. And so, we decided to search for whoever wants to be trained to become one."
"These future 'guards' would be trained personally by us, Adventurers" Another man continued. "We ought to give our very best to train those who aspire to defend this village."
"For those who wish to protect their home, we ask you to raise your hand."
A man in robe asked.
The villagers fell into deep silence, they just stood there looking at the Adventurers.
Zerti then realized that this would be the ticket for him to realize his and his brother's dream, but he hesitated to raise his hands. The words of Pontiferre echoed into his mind, preventing him to do what his body wanted to do. It was now right there! the chance he's waiting for was right in front of him yet he couldn't move a thing to grab it.
His mind continued to battle itself until he said F*ck it! and finally raised his hand.
His action turned some gazes from his fellow Edeans, his "courageous" act inspired some and moments after the other villagers began raising their hands too.
"Alright I think this count is of satisfactory" Silver man announced. "For those who raised their hands please meet us just outside of your village, we will begin your training tomorrow immediately."
With that said, the Adventurers left their place.
While the crowd slowly continued what they were doing, Zerti said passionately, "Even though one cannot be an Adventurer, I will try my best to fulfill my brother's wish."
Pontiferre sighed, "If that's what you want to then so be it" a short pause. "I can't stop you from doing what you want, I can only support you from here on."
His words earned him a tight and "thanking" hug from Zerti. Afterwards, Zerti left with a smile full of content leaving Pontiferre behind.
"That lad, I'm pretty sure he'll be one like our heroic progenitors some day."