Darkness Inside The Light 45 Becoming Adventurers

"Hey, Matias!"

The fat middle-aged man turned around, only to see his old friend, Lloyd. He couldn't help but frown before he opened his mouth.

"Have you gone mad, Lloyd? Don't call me with that name here."

"No one is on the upper floors at this time other than us. You are the only one who teaches at night" the head of the tower answered as he shook his head.

"It doesn't matter if we are alone. As long as we are in the tower, my name is Amos."

"I never understood why you have two names and what is the difference between the two of them. Which one of them is correct anyway?" Lloyd asked with doubt. He never tried to investigate the past of the man in front of him because he knew he wouldn't find anything. That person appeared suddenly out of nowhere as a merchant in the Capital. Many people tried to discover his real ident.i.ty without success.

'At least, I know what his real profession is. I met him when I was a scholar, but after so many years, I still don't know anything about him.'

A wide smile formed on the fat man's face upon hearing the question of his friend.

"Which one do you think is the correct one?"

"Forget it..." Lloyd replied with a sigh before he continued.

"I wanted to ask you about your students. What do you think of them until now?"

"Its too early, but..." Matias stopped to take a deep breath before he answered.

"The potential of the cla.s.s as a whole is the greatest I've ever had. Especially John. He found out the purpose of the first lesson on the first day."

"That's unusual for you to praise someone so much!" Lloyd commented with surprise.

"Well, my test is still not over, but I think that for the first time, the chance of all of them pa.s.sing isn't a dream. What I don't know is if they can handle the training." the man answered with a sigh. The cruelty that the youths had to face wasn't something they were supposed to deal with at their age. Matias couldn't do anything other than support them from the shadows.

"Normal people can't live in the darkness. Even I know it. Make them stronger, Matias. You are the only one who can do it." Lloyd said as he patted the shoulder of his friend and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

"Did something happen?" Lloyd asked as he looked at him with puzzlement.

"There is something. Do you know about the murders that occurred recently in the outer area?"

"Is there anything strange about them?"

"I am not sure..." Matias commented and cleared his voice. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

"I want you to persuade Marvin Robles to forward my request of investigation."

"Marvin Robes? The guild master? Are you planning on asking adventurers to look into the case?" the middle-aged man asked in shock. He didn't understand why the person in front of him would need to involve other people for a small matter like this.

"Wouldn't it be enough to send some of your men? You are experts in gathering information, after all."

"It is confidential, but since I ask for your help, I'll tell you..." Matias replied with a serious expression. He closed his eyes to organize his thoughts for a little and started talking.

"One year ago, we found some clues that some demon spies infiltrated the Capital. We found their hideout and killed all of them, except one who managed to escape."
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"I see... You want to use the adventurers to discover the demon so that you can act from the shadows. You can also guard yourselves against the enemy's possible plot since his attention will be on them. It's a good idea. Unfortunately, Marvin would never agree with that. Don't forget that the guild isn't an enemy of the Demons." Lloyd remarked as he shook his head.

"I want to hire adventurers to deal with a criminal. If the Guild won't help us even in a simple request like this, it doesn't have a reason to exist in our Empire!" Matias said with anger.

"Shut up, Matias. It is better to be allied with them than be enemies. The guild is necessary for our country, after all. If it wasn't, do you think the Emperor would allow for an independent power to exist in the Empire? Even the Demon Lord let them operate in his land. Unfortunately, the guild masters are all idealists that don't discriminate against others. If they weren't, do you think they could expand in Kelvin as they did?" the stern voice of his friend, made the fat middle-aged man to calm down.

"I am sorry. It's annoying that there are so many powers that don't obey the orders of the Emperor. The Guild and the Church of Life. Both of them do as they wish. Don't they know that the only reason they exist in our country, is because our sovereign allowed them to do so?"

"Don't be stupid, Matias. They know it better than you. However, they understand that the benefits they offer are more than the dangers they have in store. Their influence also spreads in the whole planet. Not even the Empire can deal with them with ease. Luckily, both of them don't seem to care about authority."

"Nonsense! Father Umar, one of the candidates for the position of the pope, is a greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Do you think I can ignore these insects that lurk for the right moment to make their move? The Demon Lord is already a strong enemy. We don't need more."

"I get it. I'll persuade Marvin for you. I know him, he doesn't care for power. He didn't even want to be the guild master for our country. The headquarters forced the position to him." Lloyd said as he had given up.

"Thank you, Lloyd. I plan to pay well if they discover the 'criminal' or provide any information about his whereabouts.

********

"You are late! Are you trying to show off?" John asked the girl with the short black hair mockingly.

"Oh? Where did you find the courage to make fun of me? Did you forget that you had to call me commander some days ago?" Maria answered with a smile that made the brown-haired boy regret his idiocy to try to win against her. Luckily for him, his brother came to his rescue.

"It's been a while, miss Maria. I thought you had returned to your House. I didn't expect to meet you here."

"Yes... After the incident, the Academy permitted me to rest for a while, but when my sister told me that Princess Adriana would be a teacher here, I decided to attend, after all. So, have you met with her Highness?"

John shook his head, but he didn't expect to see Vladimir nod.

'We only saw her two days ago after the entrance exam. We didn't even talk to her.'

"She is my teacher..."

"What?" three voices sounded at once.

It wasn't even John and Maria who were surprised. Not even Helena knew anything about it.

"Well... She seems to monitor my actions in case I reveal that I use three elements. She is more like a supervisor." the silver-haired youth explained with embarra.s.sment. His flushed face caused laugh to the company.

"Excuse me? If you want to discuss, you can do it somewhere else!" the female elf's word that expressed the annoyance she felt resuscitate them to reality.

After the four of them apologized quickly, she started explaining about the procedure of the registration.

"I have to tell you that the guild inside the Academy is a little special. If you want to take requests that demand you to leave from the Capital, you'll need permission from the Tower Master. You'll have to fill in this form, and I'll give you the identification of the adventurer." as she that, she distributed to each one of them, except Maria, one sheet of paper. There were questions written that asked about their ident.i.ty, as well as their ability.

"Your personal information doesn't have any special meaning to us. That's why we only ask for your full name. You also don't need to mention your ability if you don't want to. The ranking is the one that determines your worth."

"Is it possible that by writing about our ability, we can start from a higher ranking?" John asked after thinking for a while.

"That's correct. I would advise you not to do it though, young man. Acc.u.mulating knowledge slowly, as well as becoming used to danger gradually, is the only shortcut to success. Not many know that Antony, the S-ranked Adventurer, started from the bottom. Even the F-rank requests can help you to become stronger. " the female elf said with a smile.

Naturally, John knew all of these, but he still thanked her for her kindness as he continued writing.

The three of them finished quickly and gave her the forms. The elf left for a moment, only to return a few minutes later with some cards in her hand.

"Sorry for the wait. Congratulations, Vladimir Erickson, John Smith, Helena Greene. You are now adventurers. These cards will be the proof of your ident.i.ty. There is a penalty, so don't lose them. The registration fee is ten bronze coins."

The cost wasn't expensive since many commoners tried to become adventurers to improve their financial state. One silver coin was equivalent to one thousand bronze coins. One hundred silver coins needed for one gold coin and ten gold coins for a platinum one. The money that John gave to the priest was enough for him to start a business in the inner area!

The brown-haired youth paid the money and received his card. It was yellow with the name and the rank written. John, like the others, decided not to mention his ability, so he wasn't surprised upon seeing that he was F-ranked.

"You can only take F-rank missions or one rank above you. You need to fulfill ten of them to become D-ranked. On the wall at the side, you can find which requests are available. If you fail to accomplish them, you'll have to pay one hundred bronze coins. Be careful!"

"Shall we try one then?" Vladimir asked the group with excitement.