“...”
Half-price tickets... That really was quite tempting...
Shulim had a feeling she would be entering dungeons quite frequently in the future. Having a discount on entry fees would certainly ease her financial strain considerably.
Of course, being an adventurer wasn't all benefits; there were duties as well. If a mandatory quest arose, the guild had the right to call upon all C-Class and higher adventurers to participate. Refusing would result in severe penalties.
“Then please help me register as an adventurer.”
Mandatory quests weren't that common, and even if she encountered one, Shulim wouldn't back down anyway. Thus, she chose to register.
“Of course!”
The receptionist registered Shulim with a beaming smile.
Her delight was only natural. If Shulim ever became a high-ranking adventurer, the staff member who registered her would receive a generous bonus.
Furthermore, students of Manacos were geniuses with at least B-Class talent, meaning every single one had the potential to become a high-ranking adventurer. To an Adventurers' Guild receptionist, there were no better recruits than these.
Soon, the receptionist handed Shulim an adventurer card stamped with the Adventurers' Guild's official anti-counterfeiting mark.
Shulim glanced at the details on the card, her expression quickly turning to confusion.
“Um, is there a mistake? Why does my adventurer card show D-Class?”
The adventurer rank system wasn't based on raw strength alone, but calculated from a combination of strength and quest completion record.
Even if one possessed sufficient strength, they still needed to complete a required quota of quests to advance their rank. In other words, no matter how powerful someone was, a newly registered rookie should start at E-Class.
“No, there's no mistake,” the receptionist explained. “Due to an agreement between our branch and Manacos, any Manacos student registering as an adventurer starts at D-Class, skipping the E-Class rookie stage entirely.”
So that's how it is. That certainly saves a lot of trouble...
“Thank you!”
Expressing her gratitude, Shulim left the Adventurers' Guild with her newly acquired entry pass and adventurer card in hand.
“...It's getting late. I should just head back to the academy for today.”
Standing at the guild's entrance, Shulim checked the sky and decided not to wander around any longer, heading straight back to Manacos.
Just like before, she went to the Great Library to study Magic Formations, returning to the dormitory only when night fell.
“Shulim, you're back!”
Today, Mico had actually returned before Shulim.
“Mm, I just came back from the Great Library.”
Shulim nodded and closed the dormitory door behind her.
“By the way, Mico, what were you up to yesterday? You came back so late.”
“Huh?! Well, um, that is...”
Mico stammered, looking visibly guilty.
Seeing her like this, Shulim knew she wouldn't get a proper answer and decided not to press any further.
“Well... As long as you're safe, that's what matters. I bought some dessert. Do you want some?”
“Really?! I do, I do!”
Mico's eyes lit up instantly, her previous fidgeting vanishing without a trace.
Afterward, Shulim wrapped up her day with some casual chatting with Mico.
...
...
Clack! Clack! Clack...
Inside a dim, ancient stone corridor, a skeleton warrior raised a rusty iron sword and looked around, the eerie green flames in its eye sockets flickering from time to time.
It sensed something nearby, yet could never locate exactly where it was.
Clack! Clack!
Finding nothing, the skeleton warrior resumed patrolling its designated path.
However, before it could take more than two steps, the sound of breaking air cut through from behind, and a Wind Blade shattered it into pieces from the rear.
Clang—!
The rusty iron sword clattered onto the dark stone floor, echoing crisply.
Immediately following...
Clack! Clack! Clack...
The rattling sound of numerous skeletal frames moving rang out from all directions.
“Did that still draw their attention...?”
“Whatever. I'll just fight them head-on!”
In the dark underworld, a silhouette emerged.
Holding a wand in her right hand, a longsword slung across her back, and wearing the uniform of Manacos Magic Academy, Shulim appeared in the previously empty corridor.
“Fireball!”
The moment she revealed herself, Shulim unleashed a spell directly toward a specific direction.
Boom—!
As the fireball exploded, it illuminated the surrounding pitch-black space.
This commotion drew even more skeleton warriors toward her.
Watching the skeleton warriors swarm in from all directions, Shulim felt no panic. Instead, she calmly raised her wand.
Magical light bloomed once more from the tip of her wand.
“Flame Arrow!”
“Rock Bullet!”
“Wind Blade!”
“...”
Light from various elemental spells erupted continuously within the corridor. More and more skeleton warriors were drawn in, and just as many were wiped out by her magic.
An unknown amount of time passed...
“【ᚣᚠᛟᚪᛚᛜᛣᛈᛏᛡᛣᛃᚾᚠᛏᛁᛋᛚᚪᛜᛣᚠᛋᛗᛜᚹᛚᛖᛗᛜᛉᛏᛄᛓᛖᛚ】”
“Lightning Orb!”
Boom!
After a burst of blinding light, the entire corridor fell silent.
Shulim let out a sigh of relief, taking a mana potion from her bag and drinking it down.
“Tastes terrible...”
She stuck out her tongue in distaste.
Terrible as it tasted, quick-recovery potions were an essential item for adventuring in dungeons. Dungeons were no safe haven, and running out of mana could prove fatal.
Fortunately, Shulim knew Heal, so she didn't need to carry healing potions, which lightened her load considerably.
“The difficulty here isn't high enough. I should keep moving down to the next floor...”
Looking at the floor covered in bones, Shulim was dissatisfied. She felt she was far from reaching her limit, and at this level of difficulty, she wouldn't make much progress.
So she stepped forward to leave, aiming her wand at a corner at the same time.
“【ᚷᚲᛏᛓᛖᛚᛜᛁᛄᚾᛒᛜᛏᚠᚪᛡᛃᛋקיᛚᚺᛜᛖᚾהᛤᛜᚹᛚᛖᛗᛜᛞᛈᛃᛡᛚᛖᛋᛜᛉᛏᛄᛓᛖᛚᛜᛃᚾᛟᛏᛖᛜᛏᛃᛖᛒᛡᛏᚠᚪ】”
“Light Bullet!”
A light bullet flew out, striking a heavy-armored skeleton warrior pinned beneath a pile of bones.
Intense light illuminated the entire corridor as bright as day, and the skeleton warrior slowly evaporated within the glare.
Clink!
A crystalline stone dropped onto the floor.
“Hmm?”
Shulim walked over and picked up the stone.
“This magic stone... No wonder it survived until now. It was C-Class?”
Stashing the magic stone into her bag, Shulim set off toward the next floor of the Echo Labyrinth...
It was nearly evening by the time Shulim returned to the surface from the Echo Labyrinth.
She arrived at the Adventurers' Guild.
Clatter!
Shulim poured out her gains from today.
“Please count these for me.”
“Certainly! Please wait a moment!”
It was the same receptionist who had registered Shulim's adventurer status earlier. She began counting the magic stones Shulim had collected.
A magic stone was a highly concentrated crystal of mana formed inside a monster's body. Typically, magic stones only appeared in C-Class monsters and above; while possible in monsters below C-Class, the probability was extremely low. Containing abundant mana reserves, magic stones had many uses, so shops like magic item shops purchased them—as did the Adventurers' Guild.
“Thank you for waiting. The total comes to eighteen thousand four hundred Cole!”
Rate on N.U.
