“So you’re saying there was no exciting fight and just dumb luck?”

“Yes, like I explained before, there was a cave-in, and I found a half-buried snapper under the rocks. I used the sword to zap it, and while it was stunned, I hacked the neck until the head fell off. The head is too heavy so-”

“Alright, fine,” the lady sighed as if she was disappointed. “I guess no one would believe an iron-plate hedge-mage could kill a snapper by himself?” her voice implied that he was hiding something. The woman was sharp.

Adrin stayed quiet and the lady narrowed her eyes. Her instinct probably told her that he was more than he appeared to be, but she could do nothing without any proof or affirmation from him. He didn’t just say that he had just found it outside the cave because the person tasked to manage the association branch couldn’t be a simple person. The woman knew something was up but she was willing to let it pass, probably for now.

“Good work bringing back the evidence, it will help to convince others. Snapper's corpse, especially, is hard to come by because their dead comrades are just more food for them. I won’t be surprised if the corpse you left behind is already gone by the time anyone else gets there. The monster had never left anything behind before.”

Adrin nodded a few times while internally breathed in relief.

“But how did the news get here before me?” he asked the lady who had interviewed him for the past hour or so.

“Echo crystals,” said the branch manager with short blond hair. “It comes in pairs and each is very expensive, and obviously, all the guards watching the furthest gate have it. We can even get news from other cities using them.”

“How expensive are we talking about here?”

“Oh not much, just a few hundred gold coins,” the woman chuckled and shook her head.

He had a few hundred gold worth of things inside his [Storage] ring, but no one had given it a second look. It was a good thing that no one had realized it wasn’t just a simple steel ring. It stored most of his spoils while what was in his bag was just day-to-day stuff.

But if he could use skills like [Magni Flux] and [Metallurgy] together, could he use [Enchanting] and [Spell Scribe] in the same way? Adrin touched the [Storage] ring and activated the skills. He flinched when the result of his testing came out.

[Pocket Space] spell glyph recorded.

List out spell capability?

“Is something wrong?” Paula asked.

“No, nothing is wrong. I just remembered something I have to do.”

“Okay, if you say so, and here are five slates for your reward,” the lady placed and pushed the silver slates towards him across the table. “You had done the town a great service, and with solid evidence, the Central branch should send reinforcements in a week or two.”

The low neck cut became more enticing as the lady bent over to push the reward, but Adrin just focused on the slates. It wasn’t much but it was his own hard-earned money.

“Thanks,” he said as he picked up the silver slates.

“Is that all, ma’am?” he asked after a moment of silence. “I really have to go.”

“One last thing,” the lady said, with a small sigh. “Are you sure no one was there to help you? If anyone finds out-”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Adrin said and stood up.

She grabbed him on the arm as he was turning around, Adrin looked at the woman’s hand and then her worried eyes, “yes, Miss Paula?”

“No, it’s nothing, just be careful out there,” the lady sighed and let him go.

It was clear that he had spent too long with the woman in a closed room.

He nodded and walked out of the room before things suddenly escalated. Miss Paula started alright but the longer she spent interviewing him the worse it got. After almost an hour, the lady was ready to jump on him the moment he would let her.

Adrin used [Mana sense] and noticed an unusual reaction inside a small room across to the manager’s office. He decided to take a short detour and activated [Camo Shell].

The door wasn’t locked to his relief and [Mana Sense] had detected no one inside. He was right when he could see three palm-sized half-crystals placed on the stone pedestals as he entered the room. Adrin carefully copied the spell glyph and placed it back in its specially made grove.

The door behind him opened and Miss Paula entered. She looked confused for a moment after checking on the crystals. The woman looked around before she shook her head.

Adrin was safely tucked by the corner as the woman walked out of the room. Something had alerted her when he picked up the crystal. He wasn’t sure what or how but he already had what he wanted. The spell glyph for the [Echo Crystal] was already safe in his spell list.

Adrin got out of the room and canceled the [Shell] as soon as the coast was clear.

Maybe he should develop a body fitting [Shell] after all. He thought about it while walking down the stairs and towards the quest board. Thanks to the snappers, his last quest defaulted, he would need another quest to spend his time on.

Adrin didn’t even need to hand over the things back to the shop because the association would handle that. They needed the stuff for a full investigation just to be sure no foul had been done.

He wanted to revisit the mine, but he was discouraged after hearing that the giant ants spit acids to people’s faces. The monster probably ate the copper sulfate and somehow processed the blue crystals into deadly acid inside its stomach or something.

The lady also told him a hedge-mage was what people call whoever had chosen the class outside the academy’s tutoring. The kind of [Mage] who later would take another class like [Ranger] or [Swordsman] as a second class while making their way to the next tier. Unlike others, the academy mages usually took dual [Mage] to get the advanced mage classes.

Adrin tried to look for the missing cat quest but there was none. All he could see was general herbs fetching quests or monster parts quests. At least for solo iron plate Delvers.

“I think you should use a sword-lance instead of shortswords,” said someone from his back. “A full metal one, of course.”

Adrin turned around, “you think so?”

“Yes, I’m Shane,” the young man smiled and offered his fist.

It was the common greeting for commoner Delvers. Adrin only noticed this after being around them long enough.

“Nice to meet you, Shane,” he fist-bumped the guy. “But I’m no good with such weapons.”

“Well, lucky for you I know someone who is good with that exact weapon,” the young man said. “He only needs a single slate to teach you until you get the skill.”

Adrin chuckled and shook his head. He was maneuvered right into the sales pitch, but the young man was right about it. He was going to need weapon training.

Of course, his main weapon would be huge Boltguns but it would never hurt to have backup weapon training. Even the modern gun-toting warriors learned Martial Arts and how to fight with melee weapons. It would be naive to think that guns could solve everything.

Who knew he might invent gun-kata here? Adrin chuckled inside.

“Do you know anyone who could teach me Martial Arts?”

Shane perked up hearing that, “yes! The same person also knew Martial Arts but not many had shown any interest in the ability.”

“Good, please take me to him.”

“Alright, right this way,” the young man almost leaped on his feet as he turned around.

Adrin chuckled inside. He was probably the only sucker who easily bought the idea, but it was much easier to believe people when one silver slate was enough to get them excited.

The young man then turned towards the other side of the town. He eyed the same food stall that sold the lizard tail barbeque before shaking his head and continued on.

Adrin stopped by and quickly bought two meat skewers and offered one to the young man. Shane refused at first but he took it after Adrin insisted.

They both enjoyed the skewed meat as Shane led him towards the unknown Martial Art trainer. The guy wasn’t talkative so the journey was a quiet one. Adrin smiled as it felt like he had accepted a hidden quest.

Unlike Adrin, Shane was in normal everyday clothes. A pair of simple shirts and trousers that reminded him of the hemp fabric of the old world. He had short curly brown hair and tanned skin. Shane’s steps were confident and he didn’t even need to look around to find his way towards their destination.

Adrin learned the reason why when they got close to the place.

“Pops! I’ve brought someone today!” the young man hollered as they got close to an older man.

‘The martial artist is his father, of course,’ Adrin chuckled.

There were a few pairs of students who were sparring with one another in a large round area.

A middle-aged man stood watching before these youths with a smile. He had a scary scar that traveled down right across his right eye. One of his long sleeves was loosely hanging, but even with one hand, Adrin knew the old man could kick his ass easily.

It felt like a huge waste for a man like him who had to retire because of his injury. Maybe he could build a prosthetic arm for the man while he was at it. He also could benefit from it as the prosthetic limb was not that different from exoskeleton armor. It should occupy him for some time while he figures out how to approach his other ‘magitech’ experiments.

Shane gave his father a martial art bow before joining the rest of the students. Adrin watched as the others practiced with their chosen weapon using a wooden version of them. They reminded him of when he was a toddler practicing martial arts in the old world.

He was never good at them but at least it helped him to gain self-confidence. It was funny to think that a life-saving skill here was just a sport in the old world.

Adrin swiped the [Inspiration] announcements away. He didn’t know if he wanted to learn [Martial weapons] for now. It felt like a waste when it didn’t contribute to his dream.

“You don’t look like someone who needs this,” said the father without looking at him.

“I prefer ranged than melee, but there is no harm to have a few tricks under my sleeve. But how do you know?”

“Well, you’re thick with mana,” the older man chuckled. “You remind me of another much older hedge mage I used to know. I can tell that you are well above iron-delvers.”

Adrin was taken aback and took a good look at the father. The older man could read him with just a glance. This martial instructor wasn’t just a simple man he appeared to be.

“Can I bribe you to keep it a secret?”

“Unlike what Shane might think, money isn’t really an issue, but don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

“Then how about a prosthetic arm?”

“A pros- what now?”

“A fake arm, made from wood or metal, I just need to figure out how to control it.”

The man looked at him for a good few seconds. “You ain’t kidding, aren’t you?” the older man said. “But why, why help someone you don’t know?”

Adrin shrugged, “I need the fake arm for my own use, and so I thought, eh, why not? It would be a waste if experienced fighters like you were sidelined because of a missing limb.”

Shane’s father laughed, “you sounded just like Alfred, too bad he is dead or he would have liked you. Yes indeed, and speaking of him, Alfred had left behind something peculiar. Are you interested?”

“This Alfred had tried to make a fake hand for you?” Adrin asked and the old man shrugged. “I would like to see this peculiar thing.”

“It’s a magic puzzle, maybe it could help you to help me,” the middle-aged man chuckled. “Like Alfred, I know you are a good kid as soon as I see you, maybe it’s fate. Come, let’s go to my place,” the man slapped Adrin back with his good arm and he almost stumbled.

‘Hidden quest item found!’ mused Adrin as he followed the barrel-chested man towards his house. He didn’t know if it was coincidence or fate, but maybe he could get some clue on how to develop a control system for his exoskeleton armor.

“I didn’t catch your name, sir?”

“I’m Blake, and don’t you start sir this and that,” Blake said as he pushed the door to his humble home open.

They were greeted by a gorgeous young mother.