It was just an ordinary day at the start.

“Ms. Sherry, I’ll take this quest,” Max gave the pretty guild receptionist a quest paper.

“Certainly, Max. Oh yeah, the Ginum herb you collected already made Mr. Gustan’s illness better, he’ll be cured in no time. His wife asks me to pass on her gratitude,” Sherry said.

“It’s nothing, with the boar monsters contained, important herbs in low stock should be collected while we still can. It can help a lot of people,” Max scratched his nose.

“Max, you completed a lot of quests lately, take care of yourself okay? This time you going alone? Where’s your party?” Sherry looked around but didn’t see his usual companions.

“Yeah, they are a bit busy. That’s why I took the easy quest.”

“Please be careful out there. I wish you good fortune,” Sherry bowed professionally.

“Yeah, leave it to me!” Max left full of spirit.

***

Max was a talented and hard-working kid. After a certain tragedy, he also learned to be humble. He was the strongest kid during the class sparring sessions but unlike before, he didn’t get cocky and earnestly strive to improve himself. He was a good student and obedient to his teachers. Teldo gave him harsher training than other kids but Max never complained. He knew Teldo was tough but mean well.

Train hard, do quests, collect money. After I graduate, I’ll be a full-fledged adventurer and do lots of grand adventures while sending lots of money to my parents. Or so was my original plan… should I enroll in the Silver Legions? I hope I can see her again…

Max couldn’t erase the visage of a certain woman from his mind. He imagined it every day and the feeling kept getting stronger as time went by. Staying still made him restless so he opted to move his body and do some training or quest.

Collecting quest.

Go to a place, pick something up, and bring it back. The most common of quests. As a Glass rank adventurer, the lowest rank of them all, quests available to him wasn’t too varied. He could take some animal or weak monster extermination request but Max wisely avoided them for the time being.

One misstep in the wild can result in death. I learn this the hard way, after paying a steep price. The bloody scene crossed his mind again, his hands still trembled a bit when he remembered it but he didn’t let fear stopped him moving forward.

“There, the eighth one. With this I have completed the quest, another job well done. At this rate, I can rank up my adventurer tag from Glass to Obsidian before I graduate.” Max took a yellow fruit from a tall tree after climbing it. There was satisfaction in his voice.

Max put the fruit in his backpack and started the walk back to Luxore town.

I wonder what Viers is doing right now, he took a day off and go questing outside yesterday. Is he slaying monsters? No, I don’t think so, not his personality. If it’s a simple quest then why he hasn’t back yet? Playing hooky? Again, not his personality.

Max actually respect Viers. Despite being low in talent, his training ethos was commendable. Often defeated during sparring by high talent kid such as himself and James –the one that got beef with Viers– yet he never gave up or dejected.

Viers was viewed as the odd one by other kids but not Max. Max never underestimated him because sometimes when they sparred, Max felt dangerous vibes from Viers although it was only for a split second. Viers displayed superior skill but he always won because he had higher speed and strength. Max had a slight suspicion that Viers let him win most of the time.

If only his talent is a bit higher than he certainly will be a powerful adventurer, what a pity. Our affinity is already fixed by the time we are born, it’s really not fair for anyone with low affinity. But I don’t think he’s the type that will nod and accept quietly his own circumstances. I wonder what he’s thinking most of the time.

Max sighed while walking on the road.

I should visit my home this weekend, I miss mom and dad.

Max’s parents live in Luxore town. His dad was an adventurer himself albeit not a great one. After he lost a leg fighting a monster, he retired and live peacefully as a blacksmith. Max’s dad's business was quite prosperous and able to send Max to the Training Center. The enrollment was for education, not because he wanted his son to walk the same path as him. Max’s dad was adamant that he shouldn’t be an adventurer because the older man knew the truth from his own experience. But after Max was identified as a tier 4 talent, and after a heart-to-heart discussion with his parents, Max was given permission to be what he wants to be.

While he was thinking about what should he buy for his siblings’ souvenirs, he heard a commotion. Max hastened his steps, he saw a toppled carriage and a monster near it. It was a muscular bear. 2 meters tall, dark blue fur, sharp black claws, and feral eyes. The carriage had signs of receiving its attack; the two horses pulling the carriage were desperate to run away but with the carriage overturned, it was an impossible effort.

The beast growled savagely and silenced one of the horses by sinking its fang to the horse’s throat. Max could see there were people trapped inside the carriage. After the monster finished with the horses, it was easy to imagine what would happen next.

Max could feel the monster was stronger than him, a tier 1. But before he knew it, his feet already move towards the bear.

“Over here! Come and eat me if you can!”

Screaming his challenge, Max fought the bear monster to protect the people inside the carriage. He lured the monster away from the crash site so they can escape. His plan worked but the monster’s attention became too focused on him and the bear was too strong for Max to defeat or slip away from it.

“Ahaak,” Max blurted out, the bear’s attack made him hit a rock with his back. Eyes blurry and body hurting, Max started to lose consciousness.

Is this it? Mr. Teldo always teaches me to look before you leap. Hehe, I really am stupid.

The memory of Max’s life appeared before him like a floating lantern. Two memories stood out from them all, his family and a certain female knight.

“HAAAAHHH!” Fire returned to his fading eyes and he tightened his grip to his sword. Max fought the monster with renewed strength, for in a moment of life and death, he managed to breakthrough to level 1.

“Grrrrww,” the bear monster roared, intensifying its attacks.

Thanks to his level up, Max was no longer beaten one-sidedly but the bear was still above him. He didn’t have time to convert his Victa and need more time to use familiarized himself with his power. Max lured the bear to a cliff and managed to push it down after dodging its charge. However, the bear claw nicked his clothes and Max fell with the bear.

When he came to, the sun had already set. The bear was dead not far from him. Max’s fall was mitigated by the tree branches so Max only had aches all over his body and not a hundred broken bones.

During his search for the way back, he found a small cave. Max decided to spend the night there. Inside the cave, he found an old, worn down, human skeleton with a white sword next to it.

Max was tempted to take the sword. His previous one was lost who knows where and the sword seemed magical.

But Max didn’t take it. With his tired body, he dug a simple grave with his hands and respectfully put the unknown person’s remains inside the grave along with the sword. He offered a modest prayer to the Goddess for this person’s soul to find rest and peace.

“Finally, someone who has dignity in their heart,” Max heard a voice out of nowhere. The buried sword flew out from the grave and stabbed him in the chest.

Max was startled and terrified, but the scenery before him changed drastically. A blue sky with moving clouds, a green grass field as far as the eye can see, and an old man holding a staff with his right hand. He appeared wise and sage-like with full white hair.

“Hi there kid. Do you want to become strong?” The old man showed his perfectly lined teeth.

***

“Hey, ever eat a roasted pig?” Viers asked.

“A few times, why?”

“You’re about to have one, wheeze…”

A fat boy was slogging through a bone burning desert.

“I don’t know, seemed unappetizing…” the lamia floated around him energetically. Because she’s in soul form, the heat didn’t bother her.

“Ouch, that hurt my feelings,” Viers wiped the tears-like sweat from his face, making a show as he did so.

“Look at the bright side, this is a perfect place to lose weight. ‘Bright’, get it?” Kala covered her smile with her hand, jokingly.

“Yesss, ‘cause I’m in a land of eternal sun. Hahaha, nice joke. What a sunny and jolly day, my future looks bright! ‘Cause ten hours from now, the sun will keep showering me with its loving grace. I swear if that ball of light glows any brighter, I’ll make it cowering like a newborn fawn.”

“Oh? How?” Kala got curious.

I’ve killed a sun god before. He first tasted the power of my leather sandals then I ripped his head off with my bare hands. The sun god’s head made a wonderful lantern. The sun was hiding behind a dark curtain for the rest of the game… good times.

“Never mind, I gotta rest. That rock’s shade would do nicely.”

Thirty minutes after the second trial starts, Viers took his first break.

“Pheeew… a cola would be perfect,” Viers reminisce about that beverage taste.

“What’s a cola?” Kala asked.

“A human invention while you hibernate here. Now forgive me, but I have to cool down before my body melt. And speaking is too tiring,” Viers lean back on the rock, sweating heavily like a sack of water full of holes.

Although the desert’s time was static, the wind still exists and rocks of various sizes casting its shadows. Only rocks and sands, no cacti nor animals, the desert was clearly fabricated.

I have to cross this bloody place smartly. Although there is no night here, I can still mitigate the sun’s effect on me. I have to use my head rather than just using sheer will.

Viers was racking his brains out, but he felt his brain already turned to mush and melting out of his ears because of the heat.