Chapter 14: No Regrets

The Adventurer's Guild's treasury was surprisingly clean and well maintained. Torches lined the walls, providing ample lighting in exchange for the lack of windows, the shelves containing various items were lined up systematically too, sorting various treasures into different categories and ranks.

Right now though, I'd only be able to take a lesser-ranked magic item, which were basically basic enchantments etched into normal items.

Higher ranked items were at the other rooms, so all these items here were for me to choose from. I'd been thinking about what item to get since leaving Aharne, and a sword was what I settled on.

Why? Armor wouldn't do me very good as my attacking capabilities were a bit bad right now, what use would armor be if I couldn't kill anything above the average wind wolf? I needed something that could pierce the hide of stronger monsters.

A guide to magic was tempting, but if my talent or affinities were only sub-par, I would be wasting a good chance. Learning magic would come later, when I get a better opportunity.

There were necklaces that gave a bit of defense or a small increase in mana, but they were a bit negligible as it would only give a significant effect if many of the same necklaces were worn over one another. There were a few one-use items too, like scrolls that would shoot out spells used by the average E-Rank mage, like Greater Fireball or Rock Armor.

Picking a sword that had a good effect was the best choice for me right now as a good sword would last me for a good amount of time. Plus, my sword right now was on the verge of breaking after continuous usage.

I walked past all the shelves that displayed other items and saw other adventurers browsing around the place. Events and requests commissioned by the guild itself usually had rewards like picking an item from the treasury after all. I looked around for a few minutes and came to a realization.

There were too many swords, and the effects were rarely good.

Some swords even gave effects like 'clear blade' and 'sturdy guard', I even found a sword that sparkled when swung in the sunlight! There was even a dangerous enchantment that could shatter the blade and send shrapnel everywhere! It was basically a one-time use weapon! An enchanted weapon costs at least 35 silver too, it was nowhere near worth it.

What the hell?

Who thought of these enchantments?

An ugly look appeared on my face as I continued to browse the guild's collection. I guess Carlos really wasn't joking when he said this branch had a much larger 'variety' than Aharne's branch.

I noted down swords that had enchantments like 'sharpness' and 'minor burn' or 'minor chill' in the off chance that I couldn't find anything better. Minor elemental enchantments didn't really do much in the damage department after all. At most, they would just increase the pain dealt by blows and provide small annoyances like forming ice and burns in the area of the slash. This is a bit good, but the sword would still retain the sharpness of a normal iron or steel weapon.

Luckily, the swords continued to get better the farther I went into the maze of shelves. Swords made of black iron and skysteel began to pop up. Black iron swords weren't exactly black in color, they were more along the lines of a dark ash-grey while skysteel weapons had a very light blue tint in the metal.

Both were sharper than their original metal counterparts and were also better in terms of durability. Skysteel equipment were good with magic, so the enchantments on these swords were stronger and easier to apply. Enchantments like 'lesser armor pierce' and 'lesser weakening' were also more common on these weapons.

Conversely, black iron has a poor amount of mana conduction, but black iron equipment are usually sharper and more durable than their skysteel counterparts. Even though black iron was hard to enchant, basic enchantments like 'sharpness' and 'durability' were still within the capabilities of a novice enchanter.

In the end, I chose to go with a black iron sword with the 'sharpness' enchantment. Most of the skysteel weapons had 'lesser burn' and the like, which were better than their 'minor' counterparts, but needed more mana to keep the enchantment active.

I needed a long-lasting weapon, and black iron was much better for that job.

The sword I chose came with a dark-brown sheath that lacked any design or adornment, but it was closer to my liking that way, I always liked it when things were kept simple.

Fastening the sword to my waist, I nodded to myself and left the treasury, the four swords on my waist following behind. I arrived at the first floor and received my new license from the lady receptionist in the lobby. Now, beside my name, where a letter H used to be, a G now stood in its place!

As of this moment, I was now a G-Rank adventurer!

I walked out of the guild, I'll take a commission later. Right now, I needed new equipment. First of all, I needed a place to put these wooden swords, at least a strap or sheath to place them in. Secondly, I needed better armor, hardened leather would do a much better job at keeping me alive. And finally, I needed basic items like potions, medicine, and clothing.

Or better yet, I could learn alchemy.

All these things needed to be bought with my current budget, which was around sixty silver.

I went over to the local leather worker, and bought myself some new armor. Now, both my shoulders and the entirety of my chest were covered in leather armor. My forearms also now had arm guards that were worn over a dark blue jacket I chose to include as it began to get chilly around fall.

Finally, I bought a large amount of sturdy cloth to wrap around my two wooden swords. I attached the wrapped wooden swords to my back via leather strap and made sure they wouldn't fall off.

I thanked the leather worker and left, heading over to another shop where I bought a few changes of clothing for a cheap price. Afterwards, I visited the nearby apothecary and bought a few lesser healing potions that increased regeneration for a short time along with a few medicines and antidotes.

The encounter with the spiders in the dungeon from before taught me that poison could easily kill me. Caution could and will save my life in the future.

A blacksmith was my final destination and with a bit of haggling, I managed to sell off my old sword for ninety copper. It wasn't in good shape, and it wasn't guaranteed to stay whole in a fight, but the smith could reuse the materials, so I was still able to earn a bit.

All these purchases left me with seven silver and thirty copper.

I really need to do a commission soon... this much money could probably let me stay at a decent inn for a bit over a week and a half. As for learning alchemy, I'll do it another time. Probably.

It was already way past noon too, around an hour before the sun sets... I'll take a break today then.

The city I entered was fairly big. Laharre had a lot of places I could go to, even though I spent a good amount of time walking around, I hadn't even seen a third of the city. I walked around and entered a few inns, buying some snacks to chew on as I explored the city.

Finally, after a bit of searching, I found an inn that was clean and served good food. I needed to spend about eighty-five copper daily though, which was a bit higher than I expected, but it was still well within the range of being affordable as it included breakfast and dinner.

I rented a room on the first floor and entered, taking off my armor, and placing them on the floor beside my bed along with my bag and wooden swords. I put on a new set of clothes that were loose and comfortable, stretching my arms as I walked towards the door that I proceeded to open.

Halfway into leaving the room, I paused and looked back. The two wooden swords rested against the wall, the white cloth I covered them with still being clean.

I stood there for a moment, until I walked back to the side of my bed. I stared at the two swords with a complex expression, a complicated feeling welled up in my chest as I gazed at the wrapped wooden swords in front of me. I closed my eyes and sighed, reaching out and grabbing the two swords, bringing them out of the room with me.

The innkeeper was an old man who's face was covered in wrinkles, a little girl innocently sat beside him, looking at the inn's other patrons in curiosity.

Her gaze locked on to me as I approached a table beside the wall, the little girl's head tilted in curiosity as she noticed the two swords that I brought with me. The cloth was abundant and their forms were hidden, so she was probably wondering what they were.

I noticed her look and gave her a small smile as I waved lightly at her. The girl looked at the old man beside her and looked back at me, hopping off the table and energetically running towards my table.

This attracted a few cursory glances from the other patrons, but they soon went back to whatever they were doing beforehand.

She arrived, only a little bit taller than the table, her head poking out from below as she said, "Are you new to the city Mister?"

I nodded, motioning to the chair in front of me.

She saw my gesture and climbed up the chair, sitting down and saying, "You're an adventurer, right Mister? Only adventurers wear clothes like the ones you wore when you entered!"

A smile emerged on my face as I said, "Yeah, I'm an adventurer. Not a very strong one, but it won't be like that for long."

Her eyes brightened when she heard my words, her eyes sparkling, "You beat up those scary monsters outside the city right? Grandpa says that adventurers usually die early, so does that mean you grow old faster than normal? Grandpa is pretty old, but he's still as strong as when he was a youth! Or at least according to him..."

The bombardment of words that left her mouth ended as she said, "Is being an adventurer fun? I want to be one when I grow up, just like grandpa when he was younger!"

I rested my chin on my palm, looking at her and saying, "It's really fun, being an adventurer is really fun. Your grandpa sounds pretty amazing, are you planning on being as good as him when you get older?" I said as I glanced at the wooden swords beside me.

She began to nod vigorously, her golden hair bobbing up and down, "I'm going to be really strong! I'm going to be as strong as grandpa! I'll be an... Ey rank? He said he was an ey rank or something..." Her voice trailed off as she displayed a thoughtful expression.

My eyebrows furrowed lightly when I heard her, an A-Rank? No way... right? I looked at her and said, "What's your name? Every adventurer needs to have a cool name, you know?"

She smiled brightly as she puffed out her chest, "My name's Emilia!"

I laughed lightly, "Emilia, huh? I guess when you become famous, I can say I knew the great adventurer, Emilia once!"

The old man in the counter arrived at my table carrying two plates of food, he placed them in front of me and Emilia, saying, "I'd rather she take over the inn though, this old man has no one to give this business to."

Emilia voiced protest, while I said, "Wait... You aren't against it? Her being an adventurer I mean?"

The old man gave an exasperated harrumph, "That girl's too stubborn, I've tried to talk her out of it before, she wouldn't budge an inch. Very much like that hard-headed mother of her's." With that, he left, holding three other plates as he served food to the other patrons.

As he left, I couldn't help but notice how lonely his back looked as he walked away.

Emilia and I engaged in small talk and the minutes trickled by like water. Soon, it was late already and signs of sleepiness were on her face as she said, "...And I really like grandpa's roasted chicken... and... the soup he makes is really tasty too... say, mister... what are those two white things beside you..?"

I smiled at her, saying, "These two bundles of cloth are promises to myself and another person. Right now, I don't know where this person is, but when I find her..." I paused, "I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!!"

The words left my mouth as I stared at nothing, thinking back to the back of the girl I wanted to catch up to so desperately. I looked back at Emilia and found her asleep on the table, her breathing was soft and steady as a small puddle of drool gathered on the table.

The old man from before came and picked her up, wiping away the drool with some cloth.

"This girl really is a handful... You should get some sleep yourself, boy." He said, walking away with Emilia on his shoulders.

I continued to sit there for a few minutes, staring blankly into nothing, loneliness filling my chest as I thought back to my mother who left this world early. I closed my eyes and opened them slowly, standing up and walking back to my room with the two wooden swords in tow.

Lying down on my bed, I said, "...I'm not leaving this life with any regrets. Lilith, Mother, I'll finish everything!"

On this, my eyes grew heavy as I fell asleep.

Chapter End.

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Author's Note:

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