Arc | Chapter. 156: Collecting Badges (Patreon)

Chapter. 156: Collecting Badges

It was a good day for Brent. Today he was going to become a C Tier adventurer. He had just gotten his Class Advancement, becoming a [Shadow Stalker] it was considered quite the rare class. Due to it, he felt more than just ready to undergo the test to attain his C Tier badge. Most people would've normally felt nervous but certainly not him.

He did, however, wish he lived in a different part of the world. There were Adventurer's Guilds that would issue the new badge just from seeing his level through an appraisal stone. Unfortunately, it didn't work that way in the Loa Theocracy. However, he didn't let any of those things drag him down, he had aspirations of traveling the world one day after all. If he resented this, then how could he adapt to other cultures?

And so, with his head held high, and his twin daggers on his hips. He strode into the guild, where he immediately saw a woman leaning against the counter and looking at the ceiling. She seemed distracted and wore rather strange clothes, but even though they were strange Brent felt like they suited her. Still, she may have been an adventurer or civilian waiting for a request to be processed.

Ignoring her, Brent strode to the counter where he greeted the familiar figure.

“Melany,” he smiled at the blonde woman. “You know why I'm here today don't you?”

The woman nodded, her demeanor professional.

“Your C Tier promotion correct?” she asked and Brent nodded. “Very well, you will be taking it along with that woman, Arc, a Frost Mage.”

Brent blinked and looked towards the white haired woman. She didn't even turn their way but he supposed he was fine with that. However what he didn't expect was for the Guildmaster themselves to show up.

“I've read your letter of recommendation Arc,” the old man stated. “Which is why I'll be conducting your test today.”

Recommendation letter? Brent felt… confused and nervous. Never did the Guildmaster conduct the test, it was supposed to be a qualified examiner.

Then, Melany informed the old man of the development and soon he turned towards Brent.

“I'll be conducting your test too, boy.”

He sheepishly nodded and then watched as the white haired woman finally decided to say something. Her tone was rather uncaring and casual.

“By the way, I want to register as an adventurer two more times today, so I hope it doesn't take too long.”

Brent paused. Register two more times?!

The Guildmaster in return laughed. “Young people are so eager, but do not be silly, you can only register once. Well, that doesn’t matter too much. Let us set off.”

In turn the woman nodded and followed after the old Guildmaster, while Brent was stuck processing whatever was happening. However, as soon as the two people left the building he realized he was going to be left behind. So, he rushed to chase after them, not having time to question Melany about what was going on.

Still, the white-haired woman, Arc the Frost Mage, had been present for quite some time it seemed. And it was because of her that all of this was happening… Brent’s eyes narrowed looking at the woman: Who was she? And what was going on? Such questions went through his mind as he stepped outside.

The Guildmaster smiled and summoned a wooden staff that he promptly tapped on the ground.

“[Cloud Ride].”

Brent’s eyes widened as solid mist formed beneath their feet, and a moment later they floated into the air. He struggled to not fall as they immediately began flying towards the forests outside of the city.

“This is a bit slower than the Hero of Glass’ platforms,” Arc commented.

The Guildmaster chuckled. “I’m just a humble S Tier, certainly cannot compare to a hero. But to think you have met that ruthless emperor, what was the experience like?”

“Very pleasant,” the woman smiled. “I enjoyed my time there, and plan to visit again. It finally made me feel like myself again after quite some time.”

“An interesting tale you propose, who might you be?” the old man asked.

Brent also looked towards the woman who blinked and pointed at herself.

“Oh, I’m the Heroine of Frost.”

Brent’s eyes grew wide as the information he received rebounded in his head. It hit like a hammer and for a moment he felt lightheaded. What…? Was all he could think of.

The Guildmaster laughed in response. “So a hero wants to become a C Tier adventurer? Not something I expected.”

“You think I’m joking,” the woman chuckled.

“Indeed,” the old man nodded sagely. “Heroes are much different to you, they tend to be unfeeling and only care for power; there is also the fact that I cannot sense an ounce of mana on you.”

“Oh, that is because my magic became arcane or something, I still don't quite get it still.”

Brent kept tabs on the conversation, and finally he realized that the woman was just insane. That she was just completely delusional and probably barely C Tier. Unfortunately, he didn’t have [Appraisal] but he was just sure of that. Even the Guildmaster wasn’t taking her seriously, he hadn’t been the entire time. Perhaps he was only bothering with this due to the recommendation letter.

“I’d like to see some of your magic,” the Guildmaster finally said after a few seconds, pondering before pointing at the forest they were quickly arriving at. “As an adventurer, you are meant to be efficient at killing monsters. This place is crawling with them, so show me something efficient.”

The woman tilted her head, and that’s when Brent knew she was just a phony. She had no clue what she was saying, let alone doing. He felt as if he was wasting his time here, however, he had to remember himself that he was only here to become a C Tier adventurer, not to concern himself over some crazy woman.

She’s just insane, after she is done I’ll get my turn and then I’ll go home and forget about all of this. Brent nodded to himself.

Finally, the woman decided to ask what she seemed to have in mind.

“Should I be worried about killing too many or anything?”

The Guildmaster chuckled at that, and a moment later all the clouds gathered as a much larger platform was formed. Brent felt awed, it felt as if walking in the sky as he looked at his surroundings, however neither of the other two people seemed to care much about that. The Guildmaster joined Arc’s side and began to speak.

“In this vast forest, there are thousands of monsters, of course you shouldn’t be concerned. However, you should understand your limits, so do not push yourself,” his voice sounded genuine.

“Oh, no worries I won’t damage the landscape irreparably or anything,” she said, in an obvious happy tone. “Well I know just the right skill.”

It was beginning…

Brent immediately turned to look at what the Frost Mage was doing. The woman had extended her palm in no direction in particular. And a moment later, Brent felt a chilly wind pass, then more and more.

“Oho.” The Guildmaster stared.

Brent saw mana itself condensing above the woman’s palm, all into a shining blue ball. For a moment, he doubted himself; that all his thoughts against the woman had been wrong, that he was a fool at not realizing who she was⁠, however that ended as soon as it came. A small white bead dropped onto her palm.

“Is that your spell?” the man asked, evidently more curious than ever.

Brent also stared intently at the white bead. It looked… lame and inoffensive. So much for that, he thought. Just when he was about to stop paying attention the woman nodded.

“Part of it, the next part is this.” With rather impressive dexterity, she shifted the ball from the palm to the tip of her thumb and moved her index finger behind it, ready to flick it.

“You… flick your spell?!” Brent lost it. That was the stupidest shit he had ever seen but the woman didn’t say anything and flicked.

The bead flew a few dozen meters forward before it began to fall. The Guildmaster just stared, and Brent crossed his arms. Finally, after about five seconds he realized.

“It didn’t do anything⁠⁠—”

And the forest exploded. The world below became a white hell as everything became coated in ice. The Guildmaster let out a gasp and began trembling, and Brent… his brain broke.

It was just a bead and yet…

It had to be a dream.

It just had to…

His breathing quickened as he looked towards the horizon only to see the expansion of frost cover the entirety of the forest. He looked behind and the city walls seemed unaffected, so did the rivers⁠, however, everything else was frozen. It… didn’t make sense.

It just didn’t!

And in response he began laughing.

* * * * *

I looked towards the adventurer that came along and he seemed to be losing his mind. Which… I felt a bit odd about. I did wish people took me more seriously when I explained stuff to them and yet at the same time I couldn’t be bothered to actually ensure they took me seriously. Well, I didn’t care too much about what the adventurer thought.

Instead I turned to the old man that was the Guildmaster. He was just looking at the surroundings with wide eyes, his mouth agape as his voice trembled⁠— the man was speechless.

Did I overdo it? Well I did, but at the same time I didn’t really know what else to do. I guess I could pretend to be normal?

I pondered for a second before deciding to prompt the Guildmaster.

“So, did I pass?”

The man turned towards me, his mouth still wide open as he looked me up and down, and finally he managed to gather his wits.

“You… you are… the Heroine⁠—”

“Yes I told you,” I interrupted. “Anyway, I was wondering about a recommendation letter.”

“... of… Frost…” he finished.

The man kept looking between me and the landscape and that’s when I realized that I had indeed shown off a little bit too much. I however, needed a letter of recommendation so showing off was a necessity ⁠— or so I felt. Maybe being more assertive would get things done faster? I wasn’t completely sure if I was being honest.

Lily was waiting for me in the forest ⁠— a different forest ⁠— however, I didn’t want to make her wait too long. So in the end, I grabbed the adventurer and the Guildmaster and used [God Step].

* * * * *

Brent barely registered being grabbed, but a second later he found himself standing before the Adventurer’s Guild. He didn’t understand what was happening, he at this point was certain it was a dream so he just smiled and saw as the Heroine of Frost turned to the Guildmaster and gave him a tap on the back.

“Hey, we’re at the guild now, could you hurry with the whole, ‘it’s actually the Heroine of Frost’ shock? I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

Brent began to laugh and a moment later, nausea like never before hit him as he collapsed on the ground throwing up.

* * * * *

I ignored the adventurer and after pushing the Guildmaster into the building he seemed to finally break out of his stupor. That was when he finally turned to me.

“So a recommendation letter for D Tier?” he asked, disbelievingly.

“Yep.” I nodded.

“But why? Why would you want to register multiple times?!”

I tilted my head. “Because I want to, I suppose, might as well finish what I started.”

The man blinked at that and seemed completely confused. “What⁠— that doesn’t⁠— that’s just a whim!”

“It is,” I agreed. “So, will you get me the letter and the badge? I don’t really have all day.”

The man’s eyes momentarily widened before he sighed. And went off to his room. The receptionist gave me weird looks, but I paid it no mind. A short minute later, the adventurer I brought here stumbled into the guild and gave me a weird look.

“Is this really a dream?”

“It isn’t.”

He nodded and went to sit down, then, he laid his head on the table and proceeded to sleep. I found the interaction rather weird, but paid it no mind. Shortly after that, the Guildmaster handed me my adventurer’s badge and recommendation letter.

“While, I hope you can one day reveal to me the secrets of your magic⁠—”

“I can tell you how I did it,” I interrupted.

The man shook his head. “I also hope to not see you again. You’re the first hero I’ve ever met, and thank you for being so friendly, but this is not for me.”

I blinked, and he bid his farewell before retreating to his study again.

Huh, well I guess that’s that.

I turned to the adventurer’s badge.

Name: Arc. Registered in: Brenith Branch. Tier: C

◇ ◇ ◇

After that, I proceeded to obtain my D Tier badge by giving the next Guildmaster my recommendation letter and promptly showing him my collection of adventurer badges. The interaction went in a rather weird way.

“So, you want to collect all of them?” she asked.

“Pretty much,” I agreed.

“Awesome, sure I’ll get you one, honor to meet you, Heroine of Frost.”

The Guildmaster seemed like a woman in her thirties and was rather happy to meet me, she had even invited me for a meal which I had  to unfortunately decline given I had yet another badge to get. She had offered to get me another one but that felt like cheating so I departed after that.

◇ ◇ ◇

The last Guildmaster was a man and unlike the last one he was…

“Monster, just take it! Take it, stay away from me!”

He seemed to have [Appraisal] and had been able to see I was a hero pretty much immediately. So in the end, I attained all my badges by the end of the day. It was a fun experience. I had made a string of frost and threaded them all into it. And now, I twirled all of them in my finger as they clinked against each other. A grand total of six adventurer’s badges. Now, I was riding Lily.

“So, I take it today, you had a lot of fun?” she asked.

“I did.” I nodded. “What about you, enjoying relaxing lately.”

“Yeah, but I think I want to stay by your side from now on, at least until we get to Draliz,” the dragon answered. “It gets pretty lonely in the forest, I guess.”

I thought about it for a moment and nodded. However, I felt a bit sad to remind the dragon of one thing.

In the end, I wanted to see Ceylon… I smiled.

“I won’t leave you, Lily but we are going straight to Draliz now, only stopping for food,” I explained gently.

“Eh?!”

--- 

Heya all, sorry for the delay in the chapter. I hope it's a decent chapter, haven't written Arc in sometime! I've been preparing something, that's all I can say at the moment. 

By the way, thank you all for reading and supporting Arc!