Rick's name was called after I took down the second dude who entered the stage. Wasn't expecting to be sparring with him so soon. He's a Shadow Knight, the second highest rank in the guild's ranking system. I'm sure he'll be different from the previous two that I just fought. Can I even call it a "fight"? They barely even moved when I attacked their shoulder or neck, and they just— stood still without reacting. I swear I didn't strike them hard. I swear!
Rick headed up onto the arena as he scratched his head. He asked the Dark Lord to reconsider his decision, to which he replied, "You vouched for him, didn't you?"
Rick was speechless upon hearing that, with no words to retaliate. I didn't even know he vouched for me.
He proceeded to pick up the wooden sword that was left on the ground and sighed. I can see that he's reluctant, but I, on the other hand, was eager to spar with him. Let's see if my perception was right that I might stand a chance against him. I raised my left hand, and Rick was surprised by my rather strange action.
"May I spar with my weapon? I'll be using the blunt side since I wish to spar at my best," I bowed to the Dark Lord. He responded with a stare that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Even while looking down, I can feel his deathly glare piercing into my very soul.
"You may. What about you, Rick? Do you wish to use your weapon?" the Dark Lord smirked.
Rick declined. No doubt he'll surely be embarrassed if he were to actually use his weapon against a newbie. The receptionist brought over my weapons to me, and I only grabbed Inazuma, slotting it at my hip.
"Rick, I wish to spar with you at my best. I need to know what my strength level is and how I can improve myself. I hope you're willing to teach me as my senpai," I bowed to him. He got flustered and started rubbing his nose.
"Well—if you put it that way—Alright then," he scratched his head.
Looks like he's taking things seriously now. I heard the word "Begin," but I made no movement. Unlike the previous two rookies, Rick was calm and emitted a dangerous aura. This must be the Fear spell that the Dark guild was infamous for. Makes you think twice before rushing in. I breathed deeply and exhaled twice to calm myself, then I rushed towards him and attacked.
***
*Rick's Perspective*
Look at this guy getting all cocky. Not to mention getting me all excited over a sparring test. This is just supposed to be an initiation test, dammit! Now look at him using his cute starry eyes asking me to teach him. Called me senpai too! Sheesh.
Ah, damn it. I must have a soft spot for this kid. I'll teach him, alright. I'll teach him what it means to be in the Dark Guild.
I started off by using the guild's infamous spell, Fear. This will make your opponent think twice before attacking you, and if you succumb to it, you'll lose all morale or even the will to fight.
Hm? He's using a breathing technique to calm himself. What a kid. Most newbies would have cowered in fear or run away by now. You're really something else, kid. The Dark Lord would be a fool if he let you go.
W—what? He disappeared when I blinked? Woah!!
*Pap!
I managed to block his attack that was aiming for my neck. Thankfully, he's using the blunt side, or he might have sliced through my wooden sword. Geez, how fast is this kid? Oh shit, here comes more.
*Pap pap pap pap!
Holy shit, I managed to block them all! This kid is constantly aiming to knock me out cold as fast as possible. His swings were not heavy, but his speed— his speed is just unbelievable for someone his age. He's swinging his blade around like a toy with those skinny arms of his. What do I even have to teach him? My agility isn't that fast anyway. Oh boy, here he comes again!
I'm doing everything I can to block his attacks. I am at my wits' end here. Blocking is all I can do when he is on the offensive. If I miss even one, I'll be kissing the ground.
Woah!! I managed to dodge, but he sliced some of my front hair. Not my hair!!
I'm panting heavily now, and so is he. Wait, is he really? No, he's just panting normally. We exchanged blows after blows, and it was mostly me defending myself. Shit, what a joke. And—he's coming again.
Bloody hell, his agility is off the charts, not to mention he's nimble and strikes with precision. I'm losing control of this fight. So much for being a senpai when I can't even match a newbie. Damn it! I'm losing my footing here. Shit, shit!
***
*Zen's Perspective*
What's going on? Why isn't he attacking? I thought cutting a bit of his hair would have triggered him, but he was surprisingly calm. Not bad, Rick. Not bad.
Guess I'll have to push the attack since he's being so defensive. So far, all he's done is block my attacks. Aiming for his vitals as easy as I thought. Doesn't matter, I'll just push him to his limits and await for an opportunity to arise. There! He's about to lose his balance. Now I just need to aim for his…
"Shadow Strike!" Rick shouted without warning. His parry became heavy, and it pushed back my incoming strike with force, causing me to be exposed mid-air. Damn it!
I fell to the ground, landing on my shoulder as his heavy parry caught me off-guard completely. I tried to get up as fast as I could, but Rick was already pointing his wooden sword directly at my face.
Alright, I admit defeat. I know when I'm beaten.
Loud applause erupted from the spectators' seats, which caught me off guard. Since when did so many people come to watch? I must have been so focused on this fight that I hadn't noticed them. Rick held out his hand, which I gladly accepted, and he pulled me up.
"Geez, kid, you're crazy! To force me to use Shadow Strike in this test, you're going places, kid. Ah, damn it," panted Rick as he scratched his head.
I just fought at my best. Am I really that strong when I still lost to you?
"Where did you learn how to fight?" asked the Dark Lord.
"My grandfather was the one who taught me. Today was my first time sparring with someone else," I told him honestly.
Was that… a smile? Did the Dark Lord smile? That was the evilest smile I've seen in my entire life!
"Initiate Zen, I welcome you to the Dark Guild. You'll start out as a warrior rank until I deem fit to rank you higher. Miss Angelica, please escort our new initiate to his room," ordered the Dark Lord.
Ah well, everybody has to start somewhere, I suppose. Rick seemed to disagree though. He went towards the Dark Lord, trying to convince him of something. The receptionist approached me and handed my things back, which I gladly received.
"Miss Angelica, I take it?" I asked.
"Yes, that's right. Do follow me so I can show you to your room," she gestured for me to follow her.
And so I did. All the while praying extremely hard that I don't have to live with a roommate, or if I really have to, one that's not annoying, filthy, or hard to live with.
To my genuine surprise, I do have a room of my own. While it's smaller than the room that I stayed in at the tavern, hey, as long as I have my own privacy.
"This will be your room. It looks small, but everyone starts somewhere, am I right? Rank higher, and you'll be able to get a bigger space of your own," she smiled.
Higher the rank, bigger the space. Time to climb up the ladder to unlock bigger rooms. New side objective unlocked.
Side Quest: Rank higher for the glory of bigger rooms.
"Any rules that I should know of?" I asked her.
"No visitors allowed. I'm sure you know what I mean," she winked at me. Um, okay? I'm not 'that' horny yet, but good to know.
"Alright, anything else? Will visitors be allowed when I climb up the rank?" I asked curiously.
Just something for me to know when the possibility arrives. She paused and stared at me. Is she assuming that I'm hitting on her? No, it's just a genuinely curious question. And by visitors, I meant John or Lily coming to visit. Not bringing women over for naughty stuff. Although Lily is technically a woman, damn it.
"If you reach the rank of Fighter, you're allowed to bring over visitors to your room. But don't think about inviting me as I'm already taken," she winked at me.
I stared at her bluntly. She certainly mistook what I meant earlier. But hey, I just need to rise up a rank and I can invite my friends over. Sounds easy enough, I hope.
"In the meantime, you can wait in your room for someone to escort you on your first quest. You can leave your belongings here. This room belongs to you now until you shift to another after you rank up. Then you can get to inviting "visitors" then," she chuckled as she handed me the keys. Her sarcasm is on another level.
"Understood. I guess I'll just wait here until someone arrives. I'll be all alone until I get promoted. Maybe then I can personally invite you over for some wine perhaps?" I said jokingly.
Two can play at this game. Huh? Why is her face turning red? I was just kidding. Seriously.
"I… I'll take my leave then!" shouted Angelica as she rushed out of my room. Guess she's weak at getting teased, perhaps. Oh well, time to check out my room. Let's see, a table, bed, and some cupboards. That's about it. No bathtub to soak in or a place to freshen up. Doubt it would fit in the first place since the room was pretty small but comfortable enough for a solo guy like me. I guess I will be showering with the others then. Is there even a bathroom inside the guild, or do I have to find a public one outside?
It took me less than a minute to finish my room tour. As there was nothing much for me to unpack in the first place, I decided to lie on my bed. Not as comfy as the tavern's one, but it'll do.
Should I nap while waiting for whoever it is that'll be coming? I am feeling a little sleepy after that sparring. This is a wake-up call for me to get in better shape to increase my stamina and endurance.
Oh, speak of the devil, someone is knocking on my door. Let's see who it is. I walked towards the only door in the room and opened it.
"H—hey. Guess I really am your senpai now," spoke Rick as he scratched his head. Is he gonna be my supervisor? Well, better than someone I don't actually know. At least I can banter with him if things go unfairly.
"Nice to meet you, senpai. I will be in your care from now on," I bowed to him.
"S—stop that. You don't have to be so formal with me," he rubbed his nose.
"What about your mercenary job? Won't your party members miss you?" I asked him.
"Oh, them? It's just a side job that I undertake every once in a while. My main income is still from the guild's quest board or from the Dark Lord himself. And since you gave us a gold coin, we were able to split it nicely among us for a favourable amount. You really shouldn't be flaunting your money like that," he warned me.
Guess I shouldn't tell him that grandfather gave me twelve of those and possibly way more back home.
"So—when do we meet the other members?" It's supposed to be a party of four, right?" I asked him. If my memory served me right, that was what grandfather told me.
"Ah, you see, you're kind of a special case. It's just you and me. You'll be going through the quest assigned to you while I will be—supervising," he made a pause towards the end.
"Are you seriously telling me to undertake the quest alone? Is that even allowed for a rookie that just joined the guild?" I asked him with my mouth agape. It felt like they were sending me to my death rather than being a "special case".
"Oh, don't worry. Rookie's quest usually doesn't involve you hunting or killing things. More often than not, it's just some trivial quest within the city borders," he explained.
"If you say so. Alright, when do we start? Anything else I need to know?" I asked him.
"It starts now. Let us head downstairs to check the quest board. Keep in mind that I can be pretty harsh in judging my subordinate's performance. So, do well or the Dark Lord will be showering me a shit ton of shitty quests if you screw up," he puffed up his chest and crossed his arms.
"In that case, I should screw up more often then. Let's go, can't wait to see what my first quest is gonna be," I chuckled.
***
"Alright, the 'Sun' story ends here. You need to go to school, and I'll be heading out on a guild quest after I sent you over," I told my daughter.
"Ehh— what?! It was just getting good! I want to hear more, please, Daddy?" she showed me her pitiful, adorable face. She really follows after her mother.
"The story will only continue after you get back from school. Now, get ready to head out while I speak to your mother," I told her.
"O—kay," she resigned herself with a sad face. Education is important, my sweet summer's child.
I proceeded to the kitchen where my wife was currently in.
"Dear, I'll be sending Daisy to school and heading off on a quest," I told her.
"Okay, what is it you need to do this time?" she asked.
"Hunting a yellow dragon not too far from here. It seems like something is triggering them into attacking settlements and villages outside the city. We "might" need to investigate this eventually," I told her.
"When that time comes, then we'll do it together. Until then, do take care. You're probably not as spry as you were last time— even though you had stopped ageing," she placed her hand on my cheek.
I held her hand and kissed it. Ah, my lovely wife. You were always understanding and stood by my side. Sadly, you can't see her as all of y'all are looking through a window outside. You can see her hands, though.
"You barely changed and still looked exactly like you were when you were 20," she stroked my right cheek.
That is true. It would seem as though I had stopped ageing somehow. I still don't know the exact reason as to why this happened, as I'm fairly certain that I don't have elf blood flowing within me. I might have stopped ageing, but that doesn't mean I can live longer. Only time will tell.
"I'll be heading off now and hopefully be back by evening to pick up Daisy. If I can't make it, can I trouble you instead?" I asked her.
She nodded and gave me a kiss before heading out. Alright, first stop, send Daisy to school, then onto the settlement in question.
You're probably wondering as to why I cut the story short. Truth be told, I'm quite embarrassed to tell my daughter about my first quest. Not even my wife knows about it, as it was an extremely silly quest. I'm still embarrassed about it even after all these years.
Well, it also marks the end of the Sun story. The next one will be called Star. Stay tuned for more.