For the first time in ten years, Arix was alone.
No Veyr.
No training ground.
No forest.
No one waiting for him at the end of the road.
Just a long road ahead and an entire world he had barely seen.
Arix walked without looking back.
He had no destination worth mentioning.
No grand ambition.
No heroic dream.
For now, he simply wanted to live his own life.
And, preferably, avoid getting involved in anything dangerous.
At least for now.
The road stretched endlessly before him.
Arix walked at a relaxed pace, his hands resting inside the pockets of his long dark coat.
The world felt strangely different without Veyr beside him.
For ten years, every journey had a purpose.
Every movement had been training.
Every mistake had been corrected.
Every weakness had been exposed.
Now…
There was no one telling him what to do.
Arix smiled.
He liked that.
After several hours, the silhouette of a massive city appeared in the distance.
A capital.
Arix stopped for a moment.
The walls were enormous, stretching across the horizon.
Hundreds of people moved through the gates, while merchants guided loaded carriages toward the city.
Arix continued walking.
As he approached, he noticed something towering above the buildings in the distance.
A cathedral.
It was enormous.
Its structure dominated the center of the capital, its towers rising high above everything surrounding it.
Arix glanced at it.
Then looked away.
“Good for them.” He continued toward the city.
The guards checked travelers entering through the gates, but Arix passed through without trouble.
Inside, the capital was completely different from anything he had experienced during the last decade.
Crowds.
Noise.
Markets.
Adventurers.
Merchants.
Children.
People everywhere.
Arix walked through the streets, observing everything quietly.
A fruit seller shouted at customers.
A group of adventurers argued over a quest.
A carriage nearly ran over someone’s foot.
Arix stepped aside.
“Interesting.” That was about as much excitement as he showed.
He wasn’t here to explore the capital.
He had one objective.
The Adventurer’s Guild.
It didn’t take long to find it.
The enormous guild building stood several streets away from the main road.
Arix looked up at it.
A small smile appeared.
“Finally.” He entered.
The guild was loud.
Very loud.
Hundreds of voices filled the hall.
Adventurers sat around tables, discussing quests, eating, laughing, and arguing.
Some were covered in monster blood.
Others wore expensive equipment.
Arix looked around.
So this was where adventurers gathered.
He walked toward the reception desk.
A receptionist looked up.
“Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild.
How may I help you?” “I want to register.” “Of course.” She handed him a form.
“Name?” “Arix.” “Age?” “Seventeen.” “Have you registered with another guild before?” “No.” “Do you know your Mana or Aura affinity?” Arix paused.
“Mana.” The receptionist nodded.
“Do you know your rank?” “Not yet.” “Then we’ll conduct a basic assessment.” She placed a small crystal on the counter.
“Place your hand here.” Arix did.
The crystal remained dull for a moment.
Then a faint glow appeared.
The receptionist checked the result.
“Mana affinity…
F-rank.” Arix’s expression remained neutral.
‘Perfect.’ His Aura remained hidden.
Exactly as planned.
The receptionist completed the registration and handed him his guild card.
“You’re officially registered.” Arix looked at it.
His name.
His age.
His rank.
Nothing more.
He put it away.
“Can I take a quest?” “Yes.
The quest board is over there.” Arix nodded and walked toward it.
For the first time in years, he felt like he was doing something completely ordinary.
No training.
No survival test.
No killing beasts.
Just choosing a quest.
He scanned the board.
Herb gathering.
Monster extermination.
Merchant escort.
Simple.
Arix reached toward one of the papers.
“Hey.” He ignored the voice.
“I’m talking to you.” Arix continued reading.
A young man stepped beside him.
He looked around seventeen.
The boy glanced at Arix’s sword, then at his guild card.
“F-rank?” Arix looked at him.
“Yeah.” The boy smirked.
“You carry a sword like that and you’re only F-rank?” Arix shrugged.
“Apparently.” The boy laughed.
“You’re pretty confident.” Arix returned his attention to the board.
“I wasn’t trying to be.” The boy frowned.
“Do you actually know how to fight?” “Yes.” The answer was immediate.
The boy looked amused.
“Really?” “Yes.” Arix picked up a quest.
The boy stepped closer.
“You just graduated from an academy or something?” “No.” “Then where did you learn?” Arix looked at him.
“Somewhere.” The boy stared.
“…That’s not an answer.” “It was the answer I wanted to give.” Several adventurers nearby started listening.
The boy’s expression hardened.
“You’re annoying.” Arix smiled faintly.
“That’s unfortunate.” The boy stepped forward.
“You think you’re better than me?” “No.” Arix looked him directly in the eyes.
“I don’t know you.” A few adventurers laughed.
The boy’s face reddened.
“Then prove it.” Arix sighed.
“I came here to avoid trouble.” The boy laughed.
“Then you shouldn’t have walked in here acting like you’re untouchable.” Arix looked at him for a moment.
Then calmly placed the quest back on the board.
“I’m leaving.” The boy grabbed his shoulder.
Arix stopped.
His eyes slowly moved toward the hand.
“Take your hand off.” “Or what?” Arix’s expression became completely blank.
The boy didn’t listen.
He swung.
Arix moved his head slightly.
The punch missed.
Arix caught his wrist.
One movement.
Bam!
The boy hit the floor.
The guild erupted in noise.
The boy quickly stood.
“You bastard!” Arix sighed.
“I warned you.” Mana began gathering around the boy.
Arix noticed immediately.
‘Fire.’ The boy’s arm ignited.
“Let’s see how that F-rank Mana handles this!” He attacked.
A wave of fire tore through the guild.
Arix stepped aside.
The flames destroyed a wooden table behind him.
Arix looked at the table.
Then at the boy.
“You’re paying for that.” The boy charged again.
This time Arix raised his hand.
Mana gathered.
A small flame appeared above his palm.
The boy laughed.
“That?” Arix looked at the flame.
“Yeah.” “That pathetic thing?” Arix smiled.
“Let’s find out.” The boy released another attack.
Arix didn’t overpower it.
He manipulated his Mana.
The flames bent around him.
Arix stepped through the attack.
The boy’s eyes widened.
“What—” Arix struck him with a concentrated burst of Mana.
BOOM!
The boy was thrown backward.
He hit the floor.
Arix walked toward him.
The boy struggled to stand.
“You…” Arix’s eyes were cold.
“You should have stopped.” The boy gathered his remaining Mana.
Flames erupted around him.
Arix raised his hand.
The fire around his fingers grew.
He was done playing.
Then— CRACK!
A massive wall of ice erupted between them.
Arix’s flames slammed into the barrier.
Steam filled the guild.
Everything stopped.
Arix stared at the ice.
He immediately recognized the spell.
E-rank.
Weak compared to what he had experienced during his training.
But precise.
Controlled.
Someone had interrupted the fight without seriously injuring either side.
Arix turned.
A young woman stood across the guild.
She looked around his age.
Seventeen.
She wore the equipment of an adventurer, carrying herself with a calmness that immediately separated her from the noisy crowd.
Her appearance drew attention without effort.
Long, carefully kept hair.
Clear eyes.
A composed expression.
There was nothing playful about her.
Nothing exaggerated.
She simply looked at the situation and judged it.
The boy behind the ice wall froze.
His expression changed completely.
“You…” The girl looked at him.
“Enough.” Her voice was cold and straightforward.
The boy swallowed.
“You’re here?” “Yes.” “You graduated recently too, didn’t you?” “Yes.” The surrounding adventurers began whispering.
The boy glanced around.
Then looked back at her.
“She was the top student of our academy.” Another adventurer whispered.
“The academy?” “The biggest one in the entire area.” “She’s the one who graduated at the top?” The girl ignored them.
Her eyes moved toward Arix.
Then toward the destroyed table.
Then back to him.
“You started this?” Arix looked at the boy.
Then at her.
“He did.” She nodded.
“Then stop.” Arix raised an eyebrow.
The boy immediately protested.
“But he—” “Stop.” The single word silenced him.
Arix watched her.
She was direct.
No unnecessary words.
No attempt to intimidate anyone.
She simply expected to be listened to.
Arix thought for a moment.
‘Interesting.’ The boy suddenly looked toward Arix.
“You don’t know who she is?” Arix glanced at him.
“No.” The boy stared at him in disbelief.
“She was the most talented student in our entire academy!” Arix looked at the girl.
Then back at the boy.
“She was?” “Yes!” Arix shrugged.
“Good for her.” Silence.
Several adventurers looked at him like he had just committed some kind of crime.
The girl herself stared at him for a second.
Then her expression barely changed.
“You really don’t care.” “No.” Arix turned toward the quest board.
“I came here for work.” The girl watched him.
There was something strange about him.
An F-rank Mana user.
No academy background.
A sword.
And yet he had defeated someone his age without showing much effort.
She couldn’t understand him.
Arix selected a quest from the board.
He looked at it.
Then at the receptionist.
“I’ll take this.” The receptionist stared at the paper.
It was a gathering quest for moonshade herbs in the Whispering Forest, a low-risk F-rank assignment that required collecting ten bundles before sunset.
“Of course,” she said.
“The moonshade herb gathering quest.” Arix nodded and handed over his guild card.
The receptionist recorded the quest and returned it to him.
“Be careful in the Whispering Forest.
Even low-rank quests can become dangerous if you stray too far from the marked paths.” “I’ll keep that in mind.” Arix turned toward the exit.
He had been in the capital for less than a day.
He had registered with the guild.
Accepted a moonshade herb gathering quest in the Whispering Forest.
And gotten into a fight.
So much for avoiding trouble.
He sighed.
“Maybe tomorrow will be quieter.” Behind him, the girl watched him leave.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, she remembered his face.
And Arix…
Had already forgotten hers.
The quest would reward him with 20 silver coins upon completion, enough to cover several days of food and lodging in the capital.