Chp 7: First Crime pt 1

It was currently 10 in the morning, Bob had breakfast with the other ShadowChasers and had almost got into a fight with a certain Soldier Orc. He left the tavern and made a right turn into a dark alley where he climbed up to the tavern’s rooftop for a better view of things.

“Damn the fucking princess! Embarrassing me right in front of everyone, I’ll get my revenge for sure. And that black-hooded human too! He better watch out!” Soldier Orc grumbled to himself.

"I'll fucking rape her and him too! I don't discriminate who I rape!" Soldier Orc talked to himself again

Obviously, this Orc had not heard the legend of The Shadow Rogue or else he would have been content walking away with just his reputation tarnished.

“There you are, Porky boi,” Bob smiled to himself while crouching on the roof of the tavern. The Orc Soldier was 500 meters away and is walking towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

“Who the fuck is that? And why Is he squatting on the roof smiling like an idiot?” A voice from below was heard.

“Oh shit!” Bob silently cursed while he hurriedly disappeared into the shadows.

Bob now knew where the Orc was going and followed him quickly. Bob could only be seen as a trail of dark matter, moving quickly enough that he could not be seen by an untrained eye.

Little did he know, someone with sharp eyes and an even sharper blade was following him.

“Target spotted,” A devilish grin emerged from the spy’s lips. Which lip?

Bob followed Soldier Orc into the Guild and observed him while seated in a chair in the far corner of the room. “I didn’t know Adventurer Guilds were this huge and so aesthetically appealing.” Bob thought to himself.

Soldier Orc made his way to the counter on the second floor, where he showed his Adventurer’s Card and then gave a form to the counter. Bob squinted his eyes to get an even sharper view of the piece of paper, it read, “ Request for a partner adventurer to slay goblins, payment will be made after the collection of 10 goblin ears. Only E-Ranked adventurers and above is able to apply.”

“It seems that this guy is looking for a partner to kill goblins, I wonder who will take up this quest?” Bob was deep in thought. The second-floor receptionist stamped the word “Approved.” , on his form and another staff member took the request form, went down to the first floor where Guild’s Noticeboard is.

A brief explanation of the Adventurer’s Guild.

The second floor is where the requests are sent, people who make requests are required to fill up a form containing the details, minimum rank of joining and amount of reward given. It is then given to their receptionist who ensures that the requests are valid and then it is stamped “Approved.”. Once a request is approved it is then pinned up on the Guild’s Noticeboard in the first floor. The first floor consists of the Guild’s noticeboard for all approved requests, the reception counter for adventurer’s (registration, acceptance of requests, the collection of rewards from completing requests) and lastly a seating area, where adventurers can eat, drink, discuss strategies and recruit party members.

[Shadow Rogue Bob’s perspective]

After Soldier Orc’s request was pinned up, he went down to the first floor to the seating area and ordered a drink. I noticed that there was a blonde-haired male adventurer with a snobby look on his face checking out the Noticeboard. He glanced at every request form but nothing caught his eyes. He was probably thinking that it was not good enough for his ‘dignified self’. That was until he stumbled onto Soldier Orc’s request, he then took the paper from the board and went to the counter to accept the quest. The receptionist asked for his adventurer’s card to ascertain whether his rank was high enough for the request.

He scowled at the receptionist “ I’m am not a weak peasant like you, my rank is C. I am more than qualified to take this request!”. The receptionist just apologised and approved of his acceptance of the request. “The Orc adventurer who made the request is still here, having a drink.” The receptionist directed Snobby Blonde to Soldier Orc.

Without thanking the receptionist, Snobby Blonde made his way to Soldier Orc and started to have a conversation. “Greetings fellow adventurer, are you do one who made the Goblin Extermination request? I have accepted the request.” Snobby Blonde said to Soldier Orc in a surprisingly polite manner. “I guess he has half a mind to be kind to his source of income,” I deduced.

“Ah, yes I am the one who made the request. Meet me near the City Gates tomorrow at 3 pm or you’s a bitch,” Soldier Orc replied.

“Snobby Blonde and Soldier Orc are gonna meet near the City Gate to exterminate some goblins,” I memorised the details and left the guild. I’ll probably register as an adventurer when Selestina or her group members take me there. Well, time to get back to the tavern.

When I got back, the whole group was still in their seats having their discussions.

“You sure took your time. Did you have fun?” Selestina asked me, she had noticed my presence ever since I stepped into the tavern. Well, it's not like I was trying to hide anyway. Its just she had been more aware of me since the Soldier Orc confrontation.

“uhh yea, I guess?” My reply was half-hearted, I did not want to give away any clues that I went to stalk Soldier Orc.

“Mm, okay. I have something to talk to you about.” Selestina told me.

She stood up and made her way outside while signaling me to follow her.

“This tavern only has two spare rooms. Rindwom and Blarggh will be in one room while Eleonora will be in another one. We’ll have to look for another Tavern with a spare room. Are you okay with that, Shadow?” Selestina explained the situation to me.

“Ain’t no thang,” I replied. She looked a bit lost for a second but then quickly understood my reply.

“Alright, there is a popular tavern I know of. It is located near the city gates where we arrived this morning. Shall we head there now?” She told me.

I picked up my duffel bag and walked beside her towards the tavern. The walkway was bustling with life, there were a lot of beastkin pulling carts and carrying construction materials. I asked Selestina about this and she told me that they were building a guardhouse nearby so that the guards will make the place safer as there were a lot of fights, robbery, murder, and rape in the dark alleys of this area. It will likely to be completed in a few days time.

“Shadow, about your job. You understand that you are to fight for Cuntersia and you will be targeted by the Wankeryl army, right?” Selestina said to me suddenly.

“Ah no shit, where are you getting at?” I asked her, there’s something she is important she is trying to tell me.

“There’s something the Wankeryl Nation is trying to do….Nevermind, I’ll tell everyone once we reach the palace.” Selestina changed her mind and decided not to tell me.

“Sure no problem.” I tried my best to not sound interested. What kind of person tells only half a piece of information and decided not to tell it at the end? So, Wankeryl is trying to do something dangerous is all that I’m picking up. Oh well, whatever it is, there’s a low chance of me being affected by it. Wishful thinking.

“We’re here” Selestina informed me. Oh wow, this tavern is literally called “A Popular Tavern”. Is this some kind of joke? We stepped into the tavern, true to its name, there was a lot of beastkin, elves, humans, and orcs in the building.

“Hello, we would like to rent two rooms for tonight,” Selestina told the receptionist.

“ I’m afraid we only have one room available, are you still going to take it?” The receptionist said emphatically.

“Sharing a room with the Shadow Rogue? Despite his ability, he’s more or less still a kid. So I should at least supervise him, I am the Strongest Knight of the Cuntersian Army, I should not be afraid of sharing a room with him!” Selestina assured herself.

“Yes! We shall rent the room!” Selestina told the receptionist. She was feeling pumped up due to her pep talk.

Bob was feeling shocked that Selestina was sharing a room with him, but then again, he had no experience of social interaction so he thought that this was the norm of society.

Selestina paid the receptionist, took the room key and dragged Bob upstairs to their room. Once they went into the room, Bob took a deep breath soaking in the sight of the room, he expelled the air and collapsed on the floor.

“SHADOW ARE YOU OKAY?”, Selestina shouted to him worriedly, lifted him up in a princess carry position with ease and laid him on the bed.

“Woah fuck,” Bob was jolted awake due to being in contact with the soft bed, he had never experienced such comfort, so his body felt weird and foreign. Bob had fainted on the ground while looking at the room due to the sheer beauty of the room. He had never seen anything like it, even when he was still living in the village, he had not seen a bed before or even seen anything like it. From the Bob was born, he had always slept on the cold hard floor.

Bob would have never experienced this level of luxury and comfort if he continued staying in his cave.

“You can start unpacking your things here. I’ll bring you to the Adventurer’s Guild so that you can register as an Adventurer,” Selestina told Bob.

“Huh? Why would I want to register as an Adventurer?” Bob questioned Selestina.

“Being an Adventurer grants you access to places that are not available to the public and also it lets you travel to other countries easily,” Selestina readily explained.

“I could just transform into a dark cloud and go where I want,” Bob said to himself.

“Psssh, whatever. I guess I'll have a good reason to explore if I become an Adventurer.” Bob voiced to Selestina as he started to unpack his duffel bag.

Selestina was warily watching him unloading the contents of his bag. She was interested in what the Shadow Rogue kept in his possession.

[Selestina’s POV]

Shadow fainted just as soon as he entered the room, has he never been to a tavern room before? I guess that makes sense since he used to live in a poor village, cave, and forest. He lived most of his life oblivious to human technology advancements.

When I carried him to bed, he was very light. Has he been eating well? One by one questions of his previous life flooded into my mind. All of the questions were left unanswered.

What I want to know most was what has he got in that bag of his, when we successfully struck a deal with him. I could feel a sudden tinge of excitement being emitted from him, but he quickly calmed himself down and went to his cave to pack his bag. What was intriguing was the bag was pretty small for someone moving to another country. I want to know what has the Shadow Rogue brought with him.

I told him he could unpack his bag, I half-expected him to decline because he brought something he didn’t want me to see and I would check his belongings while he was asleep. It seems that my job was easier with him being cooperative with me. A change of clothes? That’s normal. A handkerchief? And with a design of a cat stitched on it no less. I did not expect that. Unknowingly, I let out a tiny giggle. He noticed my reaction and quickly stashed the kerchief away, even the Shadow Rogue is able to feel embarrassed. I could see a pouch in his bag but it seems like he left it inside his duffel bag, I’ll have to check its contents later.

“Do you want to rest up or take a bath before going to the Guild?” I gave him a choice, the last thing I want to do is make him angry by ordering him around.

“Ahhh, I guess I’ll take a shower” Shadow replied after careful consideration.

I realised that Shadow was fully armored from head to toe since we met him. He didn’t even want to remove his mask fully when I asked him to. Shadow grabbed a towel and made his way to the bathroom.

*Crash*

What? It seems he has fainted again seeing the bathroom. I head over to see if he was alright. In a flash, Shadow jolted back upright and closed the bathroom door.

“I’m fine!” Shadow told me as he took a shower.

20 minutes later, we stepped outside of our room and made our way to the Adventurer’s Guild. “Shadow, do you know what exactly an adventurer is?” I asked him.

“Uhh, you guys fulfill requests that no ordinary person would do?” He answered.

True, only some people are able to fulfill dangerous missions such as monster subjugations and escort missions.

“How is rank determined for adventurers?” Shadow queried.

“First, they record your level when you first register. From level 1 – 10, you’ll be registered as an F-Rank adventurer. Level 10 – 20, you’ll be in registered as an E-Rank. Level 20 – 30 is D- Rank. 30 and above you’ll be straight to Rank D. It doesn’t matter how high your level is the maximum rank you can get when you register is C-Rank. You will have to take up and successfully complete requests to upgrade your rank.” Selestina explained thoroughly

“Hmm, that makes sense. By the way, what’s your rank and what is the highest rank you can get to?” Shadow asked Selestina.

“Highest rank you can get to is S-Rank and that is also Rindwom’s, Eleonora’s, Blarggh’s and my rank,” She explained with pride.

“Highest ranked adventurers, my ass. They couldn’t even lift a finger against me.” Bob said to himself.

“We’re here”. They arrived at the Guild at 3 pm in the afternoon. The adventurer’a guild was still bustling with adventurers, most of them were recruiting for their party. The 1st-floor receptionist desk had nobody in the queue.

“Hello Rosalia, I would like to register my friend as an adventurer. But we would like to do it in private, away from prying eyes,” Selestina said to the receptionist.

“Your Highness? Most certainly, right this way!” Rosalia invited them with a surprised look on her face.

They were lead to a room behind the receptionist’s desk. A brawny man with a huge beard sat on a desk in the middle of the room. This was the Adventurer’s Guild, Leader's office.

“Ho, Selestina. What brings you to my office?” The Manager asked.

“Good afternoon Brad, this is the Shadow Rogue and I would like to register him as an adventurer,” Selestina explained the situation.

“THE SHADOW ROGUE!?!?!?” Brad and Rosalia screamed in unison.

“The one who slaughtered an army of a hundred soldiers alone?”

“The harbinger of death?”

“The eternal virgin?”. One after another, all kinds of titles escaped from their mouths.

“Eternal virgin? That’s what they call me?” Bob was felt angry.

“A-Anyways, can you register him?” Selestina was taken aback by their sudden reactions.

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll give you a form and you can fill in the details.” Brad told Bob.

His words were only met with a quiet nod. Brad passed a registration form to Bob and also a pen. He stared at the piece of paper for a full minute.

“Is there something wrong, Shadow?” Selestina was curious as though why he did not start filling out the form immediately.

Bob made a quick hand motion to Selestina, beckoning her to come closer to a whispering distance. Selestina scooted towards him, Shadow then whispered in her ears, “ I can't write…”.

Bob was living his whole life not touching a piece of stationery, a pen was a foreign object to him, he did not even know how to hold a pen properly.

“Brad, Rosalia. Can I ask that you step out of the room for a while?” Selestina requested to them.

Once they left the room, Selestina took the registration form and the pen away from Bob.

“Shadow, I will ask for your details. All you have to do is answer verbally and I’ll write it down for you.” Selestina commanded him.

Bob had no choice but to comply.

Here is the uncompleted form.

Adventurer Registration Form

Name: Shadow Rogue

Sex: Male

Age: 19

Class: Mercenary/ Assassin

Prior experience: I can safely say that I have killed more than one person.

Level:

Rank:

Recommended by (If any): 1st Princess and Head Knight of Cuntersia.

-End of Form-

“Can we come back in now?” Brad asked from outside of the room. It was certainly weird asking for permission to enter your own office.

“You may enter, all that’s left is measuring his level to ascertain his rank,” Selestina said.

Brad went to his desk and took out a crystal orb and explained to Shadow “This device will measure your level, the maximum level you can get to is level 300. So far no adventurer has managed to reach it yet. Place your hand on the orb and focus your energy on your hand,”

Bob placed his right hand on crystal orb and did was he was told to do so. The orb began shining brightly, symbols that he could not understand, started to appear on it.

“Impossible…”

“This is not physically possible!”

Everybody’s eyes began to widen in disbelief and shock. “Level 876… but the maximum level cap was 300!” Brad exclaimed.

“He has transcended the level cap? How….?” Rosalia was feeling extremely light headed by the sheer impossibility of an event happening being played out right in front of her eyes.

“I knew that your level was going to be very high, which is why I requested to register you in private so that we did not attract any unwarranted attention but this level is too high!” Even Selestina was aghast.

“So what’s my rank?” Bob asked.

“Unfortunately, the Guild’s registration policy still applies. You will start out as C-Rank.” Brad said normally.

“What the fuck? I call bullshit!” It was now Bob’s turn to be shocked. “I’m literally the strongest person in the world yet I still start out as Rank C?”.

“Bring me to at least rank B or I’ll burn down this guild!” This was the first time Bob had acted on his anger.

“But…but this is our policy. We can’t go back on it!” Rosalia pleaded.

“You mistook me for someone who gave a fuck about your policy,” Shadow said threateningly. A dark wave of power was emerging from him, it was certainly an intimidating aura. Even Selestina was immobilised and speechless.

“This is how scary he gets when he’s angry huh,” Selestina could only afford to stare with her eyes wide open at Shadow. Like a deer in the headlights.

“ Okay! Okay! We’ll upgrade your rank! Don’t destroy this place, please!” Brad finally agreed to Bob’s order.

In a flash, all the murderous aura around Bob began to be absorbed right back into his body. Selestina and the others recovered their composure. Bob and Rosalia quickly began to process Bob’s adventurer registration form and gave him his Adventurer’s Card in just a minute’s time.

Adventurer’s Card

Name: Shadow Rogue

Level: 876 (hidden)

Sex: Male

Age: 19

Class: Mercenary/Assassin

Current Rank: B

Amount of exp needed to rank up: 2345

[Shadow’s POV]

Ah, that’s better. Why the fuck did they insist that I became rank C? Someone who is above the level cap should at least be given a higher starting rank. Now that I’ve displayed a modicum of my power, they won’t mess with me anytime soon.

“Hey, Shadow. Can I have a talk with you?” Selestina walked up to me.

“Hmm? Sure.” I agreed, there was no reason for me to decline.

“Why did you have to get so angry in the office? You almost brought the place down with your dark aura.” Selestina confronted me.

“I feel that I deserved to start a rank higher than C, so I acted on it and I got a better rank. Also wasn’t this in the agreement? My expenses will be paid for and If I want something, I expect it to be given to me. If you don’t start treating me better, I might go work for the Wankeryl army, you know?” I explained myself and put in another threat.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that was your price. Please excuse me, I have to go report to my superiors. I’ll be back in the inn sometime at night. You are free to do whatever you want.” After having said that she left the building hurriedly.

Meanwhile, I was still in the guild. I made my way to the seating area to have a rest. I observed my surroundings as I called the waiter for a drink. I then eavesdropped on a conversation that was happening right behind me.

“Did you hear? They discovered a dungeon right outside the city! All the high- ranked adventurers are in there now,”

“Yeah, I heard that the monsters there are quite strong, even the strong adventurers are going with their parties. None of them are going solo.”

“They cleared 3 floors but have not made it to the bottom yet as the monster levels are pretty high.”

Having heard their conversation, I decided to ask them for the dungeon’s location.

“It’s just in the north exit, you can’t miss it. There’s a couple of adventurer’s parties at the entrance treating their injuries.” One of them told me.

“Thanks for the info,” I replied

“Yeah no problem, bitch “ He replied, making the last word inaudible.