I walked through Valden City, taking in the sites of the food stalls and shops. Children ran through the streets and adults chattered happily. It seemed so peaceful here and I found myself missing Earth less and less. The freshness of the air, even in this city, was unlike anything I've experienced.
People watched me as I passed, but I didn't pay them much mind. I'd slowly gotten used to the attention my new size had given me. When I reached the gate area I paused in awe of the gate that stood before me. It was large enough to fit a wagon through, with a queue that lined up nearby. It seems they use a rotation system where one side goes in for 10 minutes while the other side waits and then swap.
I fortunately ended up at the front, but unfortunately only because this sides 10 minutes had just finished. A collector walked down the line collecting the fee from each person handing a small engraved wooden tablet that we were to drop in the box as we made it to the gate.
With a gesture from the guard I stepped through as I had seen several people do before me, but nothing could have prepared for the sensation of entering the gate. It was similar to the feeling of going down a steep roller, yet I wasn't off balance when I made it to the other side. I just felt queasy and needed to step off to the side to ease the nausea.
"First time? It's rough on everyone." I heard a woman's voice beside me and when I turned I was face to face with a beautiful purple haired woman. She had a more tomboyish look to her than ladylike, long lavender hair with similar colored eyes. Though her outfit was definitely that of an adventurer. She had a breastplate that covered wraps that wove around her entire torso and even down to her wrists.
She maintained a constant smile like Alice, though where Alice's radiated kindness and gentleness, this woman's seemed to full of confidence and self assurance. She had a cloak tied around her waist one side longer than the other, with the short side exposing the scabbard for her sword. It was a long thin sword with a unique hand guard that I hadn't seen before.
"Ah ya. That obvious?" I finally managed now that most of the vertigo was gone. Her eyes widened as I straightened to my full height.
"Wow you're a big guy, aren't ya? Judging by that sword you must be an adventurer. What's your rank?" She said looking me up and then all around as if inspecting me.
"Well I'm not an adventurer yet, I was actually just heading to the guild so that I could register and take the exam." I replied feeling a little awkward at her intense perusal.
"Hmm I see. Are you as strong as you look?" She asked seemingly not hearing my reply.
"Well how strong do I look?" I asked confused. My body was strong, but to an extent strong was subjective. I could be strong to a lot of people here, but I'm sure there are people stronger than me.
"Hold out your hand. Low." She said watching me expectantly. When I held out my hand around waist level, she frowned and pushed it down lower with her hand. Quicker and with more grace than I would have previously thought, she leaped up on to my hand balancing on one foot. I braced expecting the weight to throw me off balance, but I was surprised to find it seemed like she didn't weigh anything at all.
"Whoa. You're not even using mana and you didn't so much as move an inch. Alright it's decided, you're going to join my party. The name's Lensa, we'll be journeying together from now on." She said and I didn't even register her stepping off my hand as stood confused by this entire interaction.
"This is where you tell me your name. And of course I know you haven't registered yet, but I'm getting first dibs before these other louts try to claim you. Not every day a big guy like you comes around." She continued, slapping my bicep with her hand.
"Steel. My name's Steel." I finally responded. To which she laughed. She actually laughed, bent over holding her stomach laughing. I thought I should be mad or annoyed, but I found myself laughing with her. Just from our short interaction so far I could tell that Lensa was the type of person I enjoyed being around. She knew what she wanted, but wasn't malicious in her intent.
"Hahaha. Is that your alias you're going by? You couldn't come with something better haha?" She asked between laughs as her laughter subsided.
"Nope. It's my real name. My parents said they named me Steel in hopes I'd grow as strong as steel." I replied and she nodded seriously though I could still see a hint of laughter in her eyes
"I see. Well let me guide you to the guild hall so that we can get started! I just became an adventurer 6 months ago and I'm about to go from D to C, but I wouldn't mind showing a rookie the ropes." She said while elbowing me in the side, pointing with her other arm down a wide street.
"Just so you know I have no combat training, the most I've done is just swing my sword horizontally and vertically over and over. And even that has only been for the last few days." I said and she replied by patting my arm again.
"Don't you worry big guy." She said tapping the hilt of her sword with her other hand.
"Master Lensa here can teach you how to use a sword. I learned from my father who was an instructor at Lanceler Academy in Kalberk I'll have you know. He wasn't a mage, but he made up for it by being one of the best swordsman in Sapin. He's retired now though." She said proudly, but I could tell from the slight sadness in her eyes that it had been more than a retirement.
"Perhaps I'll take you to meet him so he can help me teach you how to use the sword. If I'm going to have to trust you to watch my back I need to know that you'll know wheat you're doing." She turned to me with a bright smile. I just nodded, i wasn't sure why she was going so far for me but I enjoyed it. I hadn't had much time for friends before due to needing to work so much, so it was nice regardless of her intentions.
We made it to the guild hall quickly, and after passing the card that Alice had given me, we were directed down a hall to a door. Inside I was going to have my core tested and to see my mana affinity.
"Mr. Steel, please place your hand on the device and will your mana into it. If you already have an affinity just focus on it. If you don't know then we will find out shortly." The bespectacled man said as he held a tablet with a piece of paper attached.
I followed the man's instructions, but when I got there I realized I hadn't really used mana consciously yet. I thought back to the feeling I felt when fighting the Mayor and how the warmth felt. I remembered how meditating felt and tried to combine the 2 in a way that turned into a spell. It felt strange feeling the heat follow my thoughts and travel down my arm to my hand.
The device glowed, changing from clear to a shining black. I noticed the examiner writing something down before he turned to me with a small smile.
"Congrats, Mr. Steel. It seems you're nearly to the dark red core stage and you have a fantastic affinity for water. That's typically unheard of for augmenters but if used correctly it can have devastating effects. I don't mean to get your hopes up, but typically when we see someone with this high of an affinity for a singular element they are able to reach its deviant form." He said as he passed me my paper.
"Thank you Mr…" I said hoping he'd give me a name.
"Just call me Percy. I look forward to your success, Mr. Steel. Just take this paper to the examiners in the training hall and they'll call you when it's time for your practical examination." He replied, shaking my hand.
"Thank you, Percy."
I stepped out of the room to which I was met with the expectant face of Lensa.
"Well? What did he say?" She asked impatiently.
I just passed her the paper as we headed to the training hall.
"Wow! You're almost a red core like me. Are you really only 14 years old? Really high affinity with water, and you're an augmenter? Hmm that's interesting. From Marlow and you even have a reference from a Mr. Lach Granite… Granite, Granite… why does that sound familiar. The Granite Trading Company is your reference?!" She rambled on before finally yelling at the end.
"I'm right here there's no need to yell. And not quite Mr. Lach is an adventurer and is the brother of the owner of Granite Trading Company." I replied.
"Wow you've had a pretty eventful journey so far. You even got to meet me, you're a real lucky guy." She said nodding while passing back the paper.
"Ya, lucky alright." I muttered thoughtfully as I replayed everything that's happened so far. I realized I had been pretty lucky so far, so much so that it started to worry me that someone may be influencing my life. Maybe whatever or whoever brought me here is still watching me. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.
(*Stares Authorly* jk)
"We're here. I'll find us a seat in the stands while you give them your paper, we'll have to watch some other examinees most likely. But perhaps we'll find another person to add to our party." Lensa said already moving towards the seats, I could only shake my head.
Pretty soon I'd be an adventurer and it still didn't quite feel real. I gripped the hilt of my sword to ease the nervousness and anxiety that hit me, and I found myself doing the meditation breathing as well. It did wonders to expel the worry and calm my mind and before I knew it I had handed off my paper and was joining Lensa in the stands. I was interested to see what fighting between mages looked like, to hopefully give me an example to follow.
I looked at the others sitting around me and wondered who would be first. The skinny bald man in mage robes at the front, the long haired sword wielder a few seats away, or perhaps-..
"Steel! Make your way to the floor!"