Volume 2 Chapter 2: Part 4: Advent City

"I can say the same thing to you, Galven. Are you really going to jump in now? Did you not see what your team member did? Are you really going to shrug it under the rug?" Stewart glares at Galven with a hateful glare.

"I'll deal with Slug when the time comes. But he just punched a B-ranking party member. That in itself is something that I won't stand." There's a hierarchy. Slug is still in a B-rank party.

So for him to get knocked out is a slap to Galven's face.

"And you guys messing with my friend is a slap to my face." Scarlet Lynx is a B-rank party, and Onyx is their party's savior. And that's a slap to their face. No way were they going to let anything happen to him.

No one said anything. This situation becomes tense.

Two B-rank adventuring parties are about to duke it out.

"Pff. Haha." However, the tense atmosphere disappears with the chuckling laughter coming from Onyx.

"What's so funny?" Galven glares at Onyx.

"Nothing. I find it funny how you're trying to make yourself look good. Yet you're the one who asks Slug to do it."

Galven's eyes narrow, "What are you talking about? How did I tell Slug to do it?"

"Oh, please. Do you really think I couldn't hear the two of you talk? You were the one who asked this fool to come and bully me." Galven and his party sat far away from where Onyx was.

But that didn't stop him from hearing what they said.

"Slug, go and take care of him. If he doesn't listen to you, just go beat him up."

"I got it, boss."

Just hearing all of that was enough to make Onyx feel disgusted.

Revealing the truth, the other adventurers start to murmur.

"Did that really happen?"

"Of course, it happened. Everybody knows Galven has a thing for Madelyn."

"It's not surprising he would do something like this."

"You." Galven glares deeper into Onyx, wanting to take him out. He grabs the hilt of his blade, ready to take him out. But Onyx continues to stand there with a confident smile,

"Go ahead and try. But don't expect me to hold back."

Silence. Just pure silence. Galven's face says it all. His face went from red to blue.

"That's it! Your-" "What the hell is going on out there?!"

As the two are about to fight, a person shouts out from above. He looks to be around his late 30s. His hair is shaggy, and his face looks tired.

Right now, he's scowling at every adventurer. And the crowd flinches like scared puppies.

"Guild master."

"What are you guys trying to pull here? Didn't I say before there won't be any fighting in the guildhall? If you're going to do that, take it outside or do it on the sparring ground." But then he notices Slug out cold on the floor while Galven has his hand on his handle. He demands,

"Who did this?!"

"It was him, guild master. I demand justice for my party members. He was beaten up unjustly by this person here." Galven says as he points at Onyx.

The expression on everybody's faces turns for the worst.

"Galven, you little shit! How can you twist the whole situation and say some bullshit?! Everybody obviously saw what happened. Don't try to play it off as Onyx's fault." Stewart speaks up for Onyx.

"Don't you think what you're doing is scum-like, Galven? Don't try to play off what actually happened." Now it's Lyle's turn to speak up. He didn't care about Galven's party as he didn't mess with them. But his actions right now were too much for him to stand.

It seems there's more to this situation. Looking at how Stewart and Lyle backed up Onyx against Gaveln, there should be more to the story than meets the eye. What's more,

"Guild master, I can assure you Slug must have done something first against this young man. He claimed he was an assassin here, aiming to kill you." Madelyn adds. Looking at how Slug was on the ground, it must be because he tried something and got hit with karma.

An assassin? The guild master looks at Onyx up and down, sizing Onyx up.

"Are you the one who knocked out Slug?"

Onyx isn't going to deny it, "Yeah. I was the one who knocked him out."

Hmm, interesting. The guild master didn't expect Onyx could knock out a D-rank adventurer. Looking at his build, it's much smaller than Slug.

"Also, I have this-" Onyx reaches into his pockets to give the letter to the guild master. But when he turns his head, he feels it!

Killing intent!

Onyx quickly raises his arm and,

Boom!

The pressure from the blow made everybody back away from the two. And the person who punched Onyx was none other than the guild master.

"What's the big idea?" Onyx narrows his eyes at the guild master. His arm tingles from the blow. If he didn't block that blow, it would have definitely caused damage.

"Wow, you actually caught my punch. I thought you would dodge instead." The guild master became surprised. With his build, he thought Onyx would dodge rather than catch it.

But then he starts laughing,

"Gagagaga! It's been a while since I have seen somebody like you. Ey, don't be mad. I'm sorry for punching you. I just want to test whether or not you actually knock out Slug." The guild master didn't believe it when the others said Onyx knocked Slug out.

As the saying goes: you have to see it to believe it. What Onyx showed was enough for him to know it was the truth.

"I see." Onyx calms down. But it doesn't mean he isn't cautious of another attack coming his way at any moment.

"Names Oliver Ashwood. So why have you come to the adventuring guild today?"

"My name is Onyx. My teacher sent me here. And he told me that when I come here, hand this letter to you." Onyx hands the letter to Oliver.

Oliver lifts one of his eyebrows as he opens the letter. And when he looks at what's written, nothing needs to be said. His eyes turn wide, and he looks at Onyx and then back to the letter.

Oliver did this a couple of times. But then he grabs Onyx by the face, slapping it together and looking all over his body.

Are you going to say something? That's what everybody thought. The guild master got a look that made Onyx seem like a newly discovered animal.

"Come with me!" Before anybody could say anything about this, Onyx got lugged like a bag over Oliver's shoulder as he quickly ran away.

...

"Are you really that monster's student?" Oliver says to Onyx. Right now, the two of them are in his office. They're sitting across from each other.

Monster? Onyx tilts his head, "Do you mean teacher Vargar?" And that did it. Hearing his name utter from Onyx's mouth, Oliver shrinks into his chair and smacks himself in the head!

"Oh god! So you are that monster's student!" No wonder he was able to block his punch. That made sense. But now came the problems.

"And you're also on the run from the Holy Land?!" Oliver screams out in horror and shock. Dammit, Vargar! Why did you have to send him over to my place?! He can feel the heart palpitations happening.

As Oliver looks to be....well, is having a mental breakdown, Onyx tilts his head. He has more questions now.

What did teacher do? Seeing how Oliver was acting, it looks like Vargar did something drastic.

"Umm, what's the relationship between you and my teacher?"

"Oh. So Vargar hasn't told you anything about me, and he still sent you here? What a jackass!" Oliver curses out loud even more. But knowing that it won't get anywhere, he could only sigh.

"I and that monster of a teacher of yours were in the same adventuring party." Hearin this, Onyx's expression turns bright,

"Wait! Then are you the Battle Berserker?! That Oli?!" Onyx had read about Walter's tale. More so, he heard about his adventuring party, Golden Road, which is a legendary group.

Battle Berserker Oli is one of its members. He's considered to be the strongest warrior. He played a significant role in the party; the spear. Always the first person to be on the attack, destroying the enemy's defenses!

Oliver rubs his nose, "Yeah, that's me. It's been a while since I've been called that. People usually just call me guild master now.

So anyway, how's the old monster and Walter?"

"They've been doing good." Onyx begins to talk about the training and adventure he had with Vargar. And Oliver listens to it attentively.

Hearing all of that, Oliver laughs,

"To think you defeated an A-class monster all by yourself. Not bad being the monster's disciple."

Onyx shakes his head, "I didn't defeat one alone. Teacher was the one who dealt with it while I was only a diversion."

"But you should still feel proud. You took out some crazy monsters."

"Thank you. However, I know I shouldn't feel proud. Not right now. I can only feel proud only after I defeat one by myself." For the first time, Vargar was the one who defeated it. The second time, he had Irene help him deal with it.

"Well said, boy. I like that energy of yours!" Oliver nods to Onyx's enthusiasm.

"You still need to register to be an adventurer here, right?"

"Mmhmm."

"Alright then, let's go back down now. Also, don't worry, I'll do that old monster a favor and watch over you."

...

"Is Onyx going to be alright?" Lucia says as she walks back and forth.

"Just relax, Lucia. The guild master only wants to speak with Onyx." Stewart comforts her. But that just adds more fuel to the fire.

"How can he be alright? He got attacked by the guild master. Who knows what he's planning against him?!" Lucia glares at Stewart. And he quickly steps back, with his hands raised,

"I'm innocent. Don't get angry with me."

"Calm down, sis. Nothing is going to happen. The guild master is calm and fair. So you don't have to worry about Onyx." Reynold, who is usually the energetic one, is calm.

Their group met with Oliver many times. They know he's a calm and collective person.

"But-"

"Also, you don't need to worry about what you do in this city anymore. As long as you abide by the rules, nobody will touch you." Oliver says as the two walk down the stairs.

"Thank you, Mr. Oliver." Having help from the guild master will make his stay here much simpler.

"No problem. And just call me Oliver. You're making it sound like I'm old."

"But you're old, though." Onyx scratches his head. Since Oliver is in the same party as Vargar, they should be around the same age. So he deserves some formal words.

Oliver's face turns blank. You rascal! I'm only in my late thirties! You're just like your teacher!

Seeing how everybody stares at him, Onyx waves his hand, "What's up, guys? Why do you guys look so tense?"

"..." Why do we look so tense? Do you know how worried we were, and you look like you had the time of your life?!

They just couldn't believe it.

Stewart and his group thought Onyx might have gotten in trouble. But looking at how informal and relaxed he was talking to the guild master: it seems they've been friends for a long time!

"Onyx, go and register."

"Alright." Onyx goes back to Madelyn, "Sorry about the wait."

Madelyn smiles gently, "You don't have to worry about it. It's my fault for all that happened to you." She felt guilty. Almost all the problems that occurred were due to her.

"It's ok. So I just need to say my name and age, and I haven't killed any innocent or done any theft, right?"

"Mmhmm."

Onyx places his hand on the orb as he states, "My name is Onyx. I am 15 years old, and I have not killed any people. I have not stolen either."

The orb didn't react to what he said at all.

Seeing this, Madelyn smiles as she hands him a card, "Congratulations, here is your identification. And welcome to the guild."

"Thanks. And what do you guys want to say?" Seeing Oliver, Stewart, and the rest look at him with wide eyes, Onyx knows they have something to say.

In unison, they shout out,

"YOU'RE FIFTEEN!!!!"

They couldn't believe this ma- child in front of them was fifteen.

"Yeah. Can't you guys tell from my face and voice?" Onyx tilts his head. His face and voice are a dead giveaway for his age. But it seems not as all of them shake their heads,

"No, you don't look like your age at all. Well, you do now that you said it. Besides the looks, you you you I don't know what it's called! You just feel older!" Stewart stammers as he grabs his head.

Stewart did not expect he got saved by someone younger than him.

"I see." Onyx doesn't say anything else. It's something he usually hears from the village too. People would always say he acted more mature than people around his age.

Ignoring the shocking revelation from Onyx, Oliver adds with a big grin, "Now that you registered as an adventurer, it's time for you to have a spar!"

"A spar?"

"Yeah. To decide on what rank to give first-time adventurers, we will have them spar with a more experienced one to gauge them.

So who do you want to fight? You can fight one of these guys right here, or we can assign one to you," Oliver says as he points at everyone and then,

"Or you can even fight with me."

"Guildmaster! Don't you even think about it!" Madelyn shouts at Oliver. How could he use himself as well?

"Yeah, he should be fighting somebody with a lower rank, not you guild master."

"You're going to kill him by accident."

The voices of the guild employees scold Oliver for saying something like that.

Onyx shakes his head, "I've already got somebody in mind."

"Oh. Who is it?" Oliver's interested.

Onyx smiles as he turns over to a table. The table where Galven sat.

"Get your ass up."

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