n

n

n

"We can see it... The ports in the view!

" John shouted out in excitement.

nAriel quietly stared at the scene with enthusiasm.

nIt's been a week since they started the journey. Throughout this journey they encountered bandits and a wolf pack, and they got to see many different types of animal. Now they've finally arrived at the port of Atlas.

nDavid who had been focused on the trip let out a laugh and spoke up

"Welcome to the port of atlas. Thank you for protecting me on the trip, both of you. I don't think I would have been able to survive the bandit raid alone.

"

n

"Yeah, of course not, no one can escape our grasps.

" Said the bandit leader who was tied up on the carriage.

n

"Oh, you woke up? Alright then, let's go back to sleep

" John said with a smile on his face as his hand chopped the side of his neck with magic strengthening.

nThe bandit leader who had recently woken up went back to sleep.

n

"It's fine, we both benefited from it after all. If it wasn't for you, I would've still been stuck in that kingdom. Plus, you taught us how to butcher, we even got a wolf pelt and the bandit leader.

" said John.

n

"Y-Yeah.

" Said David with a dumbfounded expression as he saw the bandit leader get handled by a kid.

nThey had now finally arrived at the gate of the port, which was in view.

n

"ID?

" Asked the gatekeeper.

nDavid presented his merchant card to the gatekeeper, who then looked at them.

nJohn handed his adventurer's card to the gatekeeper, and so did Ariel.

n

"The fee?

" Asked the keeper.

n'Fee? There's a fee for entering a kingdom? Of course there is, how much is it?' John wondered.

n

"How much?

" John asked.

n

"5 silver each

" He replied.

n'And there goes the reward we got from escorting David.' John thought.

nJohn handed him the coins, and he allowed them through.

n

"So that's why no one was escorting you. You were just paying their fee. Unless they actually had a need to come here, they wouldn't.

" John said as he gave him a disappointed look.

nDavid, who saw this, tilted his head to avoid John's gaze.

n

"Well, that's fine, isn't it? David taught us a lot of things and we can go sell the pelt in the adventurer's guild to make some money, right? So no need to get so upset, cheer up okay?

" Said Ariel.

n'Seeing her stand up for Dave was a little cute. Wait, who's Dave? I only know a guy named David.' John thought.

n

"Thanks Ariel.

" Said David.

n

"Ariel, you shouldn't spoil him too much. Otherwise, he'll just do it again and it will end up in no one accepting and him reaching his deadline.

" said John.

n

"Yes.

" Ariel said with a saddened expression.

n

"B-But that's fine. I suppose I can let it go for now.

" John replied.

n

"Mn! Thank you!

" Said Ariel as she grabbed onto his hand.

n

"Well then, don't forget this is only the port. You'll have to pay a fee to go to the main city by boat, so don't waste too much time or money exploring the port. The city is much bigger and prettier.

" David explained.

n

"Yes. That being said, can you take us to the adventurer's Guild? I'll stand out if I carry all the wolf pelt and drag the bandit leader on the ground.

" John asked.

n

"Sure, consider it a bonus.

" David replied.

n'No, I'll think of it more as what you owe us.' John thought.

nWithout getting off the carriage, David took them through the port. It was much, much smaller than the kingdom, but had many facilities. The port was also connected to the sea, so the view was beautiful.

n

"It smells so like the ocean, the breeze is so fresh.

" John said as the carriage continued to head to the guild.

n

"O-cean?

" Ariel asked.

n

"You haven't seen the ocean before?

" John asked.

n

"No, I've always lived in that kingdom. My uncle told me the ocean was full of water, and that you couldn't drink it.

" She said.

nJohn felt that he might actually tear up.

n

"Your uncle was right, the ocean is full of water and it's undrinkable. Most people love playing and swimming in the ocean,

" John replied.

n

"Swimming?

" Ariel asked.

n

"Yeah, swimming. It's really fun, but if you can't swim, you might drown.

" John answered.

n

"Mn. Uncle told me about it. I want to go swimming but I don't know how, so I might drown,

" Ariel said with a saddened expression.

n

"Hm? Don't think too hard on it, Swimming is easy to learn, especially for someone as smart as you. I'll teach you how to swim and I won't let you drown,

" John said with a confident demeanour.

n

"Yes! Thank you!

" Ariel excitedly said as her eyes lit up.

n

"Sorry to interrupt, but we've finally arrived at the guild.

" David spoke.

n

"Ah, thanks,

" John responded.

nAriel carried half the wolf pelt while John carried the other half and dragged the bandit leader inside. Before heading in, John and Ariel turned around to thank David.

"Thank you, David! Make sure next time we meet you aren't being much of a cheapskate! Stay safe!

" John said as he waved at him

n

"Stay safe! Thank you for all the help, David!

" Ariel said as she waved at him.

n

"Yeah! I'll try not to be much of a cheapskate anymore, thank you too kids, make sure you stay safe!

" said David as he left with the carriage.

n

"What a weird guy. But he was a good person.

" John said.

n

"Yes!

" Ariel replied.

nThey then headed in and were instantly amazed. The adventurers which were here were actually young. Not young as in their age, but some of them were teens while others were young adults.

n

"Finally!

" John said as we walked in.

nAs they walked in, most of the people's gazes and attention were gathered to us.

n

"Hey, Ariel... Aren't we standing out a bit too much?

" John quietly asked.

n...

n

"Um, Ariel?

" John asked.

nAriel who wasn't used to all the attention froze up.

nAs John and Ariel stood still, they could hear some of the mumbles of the adventurers.

n

"Those kids took out all of those wolves?

" Whispered a random adventure.

n

"Hey, look at the guy that the kid is dragging, isn't he a bandit?

" Whispered another random adventure.

n'Standing out is hard... We might not be able to find a party at this rate.' John thought.

nJohn let go of the Bandit leader, tied to a rope, and grabbed on to Ariel's hand.

n

"Let's go submit this pelt,

" John said.

n

"Y-Yes.

" Replied Ariel.

nJohn held on to her hand with one hand and carried the pelt on the other as he guided her to the receptionist.

n

"Um receptionist, we'd like to exchange this wolf pelt for money.

" John reported.

n

"Wha- Y-Yes, of course, just to be clear, you kids hunted the wolves to get this much pelt alone?

" The receptionist asked.

n

"Actually, it was just jo-

"

n

"Yeah, it was the two of us. We got lucky.

" John replied as he interrupted Ariel.

n'I don't want to draw too much attention to myself.' John thought.

n

"Ariel, can you wait here, while I go get the bandit leader?

" John asked.

n

"Yes! I'm fine now, I was just surprised since we didn't really get much attention in the old guild.

" She replied.

n

"I'm glad that you're fine,

" John said before heading back to get the bandit leader.

nAfter John got to him, he dragged him to the receptionist and kindly said.

"Um, this man is the leader of one of the bandits we fought, does he have any value?

"

nThe Receptionist gave him a puzzled look as if she didn't know what to do.

n

"You guys didn't steal all of this pelt from anyone, right? And I need to check to see if he has a bounty.

"

n

"Yes. We hunted wolves during our trip here and were raided by a small group of bandits. This is their leader, he might have a bounty as he seemed experienced.

" John answered.

n

"I see. I'll check his identity and see if there're any bounties on him. Also, I'll check how much this pelt is worth, also where are the rest of your party members?

" She asked.

n

"It's only us 2?

" John replied.

n

"What!?

" She shouted out, which resulted in more attention being gathered at their backs.

n'Darn.. Now we're standing out even more. Come on guys it's just wolves and a bandit leader, it's nothing that ba- okay nevermind.' John cursed.

n

"That's not good! You should try to find at least a 3rd member. This guild is full of people near your age group, so just find someone you can trust. Okay!?

" She said before heading off to one of the rooms with the bandit and wolf pelt.

n

"O-Okay, we'll find someone. Thank you for your help.

" John replied.

nThe receptionist paced back and forth to pick up the remaining pelt and took it to a separate room.

n

"Hey you, duel me.

"

nJohn turned to the source of the voice and found a young-looking girl. She had moderately long silver hair and deep silver eyes; she wore a robe and a pointy hat on her hair. Sort of like the ones you see on witches.

n

"W- What did you sa-

" Asked John.

n

"Duel me.

" She interrupted.

n

"But why?

" he asked.

n

"I want to see if you're strong enough for me to join your party.

" She said.

n

"Who said anything about you joi-

"

nBefore John could finish what he was going to say, one of the adventurer's in the background spoke up

"Guys! The kid who brought the bandit just got challenged to a duel!

"

n

"What? More importantly, how did you hear that?! You're on the other side of the room!?!

"

n

"What are we going to see a duel!? Alright. Everybody let's go outside and watch!!

"

nThe adventurers began to cheer.

n

"Darn it. Now there's no way I can decline. Fine, I accept the duel.

" John muttered.

n

"He accepted the duel!!

" Said the same adventurer who heard John from the other side of the room.

nThe adventurers let out another cheer.

n

"Aren't these guys a little too excited to watch kids fight?

" John asked.

n

"Kids? I'll have you know I'm already an adult! I turned 15 this year.

" Said the silver-haired challenger.

n

"Oh sorry, do they always do this when there's a duel?

" John asked.

n

"Every adventurer's guild does, it's normal.

" She replied

nAriel, who had been quiet this whole time, decided to speak up.

n

"Why do you want to duel John?

" She said with an annoyed face.

n

"Well, I overheard you talking to the receptionist, she said you should find party members, so I was planning on joining your party as a condition if I won.

"

n

"That's the reason. You could have just asked! I would've let you join either way!

" John shouted.

n

"R-Really!? T-Then, thank you for allowing me to join. My name is Serena Valeriana, I'm a mage. Thanks for having me on board.

" She said as she bowed.

n

"The pleasure's all mine. My name is John, and this is Ariel. We're both mages.

" John said as he bowed.

n'Oi.. I got caught up in the moment. No matter how you look at it, isn't this moving too fast!?' John thought.

n

"Either way, I believe we should still have that duel, we'll be able to understand more about each other's abilities.

" Serena Suggested.

n

"Yeah, you have a point. Besides, I don't think the audience wants to wait any longer. Very well, this will also show people that I'm not weak.

" John said.

n

"John.. Wait a minute.. Aren't things moving too fast!?

" said Ariel.

n'So you thought so too.' John wondered.

n

"Yeah, but we needed a third member, anyway, so I don't really mind.

" said John.

n

"But.. You could have at least asked me for my opinion.. We're partners after all.

" Ariel said with puffed up cheeks.

n

"You're right.. Sorry. Um Serena.. I forgot to consult with my party member, whether or not she would mind you joining, so let's set up new conditions.

" John replied.

n

"Alright, I understand.

" She replied.

n

"If you win, you join our party, or we can join your party. Whatever you want. If I win, Ariel will decide whether or not you can join us. Sorry,

" John declared.

n

"It's fine, I was the one to rush it all, so it's my fault. Very well, I agree to the conditions. If I win, I'll join your party.

" She said with a slightly saddened expression.

n

"Very well, then, it's decided. Let's just wait for the receptionist to come back.

" John suggested.

nAfter a few minutes, the receptionist came back with a box.

n

"Uhm, for the wolf pelt, you were given 10 Gold coins as they were in perfect condition and there were at least enough pelt worth 20 wolves which is 50 silver each. This box also holds 55 Gold coins, the bounty on the Bandit leader you brought in. He confirmed that it was indeed you who beat him. So there are no issues.

"

nBoth Serena and Ariel looked shocked at the amount of gold in the box. At the same time, John could feel a few evil gazes fall on his back.

n'They never learn.' John said to himself.

nThe receptionist handed him the box, and he showed a confused expression.

n

"Um receptionist, This Box is the size of a pencil case. Does it really have all those coins?

" John asked.

n

"John.. That's not a normal box.

" Said Serena.

n

"What?

" John asked.

n

"Oh my, is this your first time seeing a Magic Tool Box? While it looks small, it's only so that it can be easily transported. While it indeed is small, inside can fit anything as long as the space doesn't exceed 10 cubic meters. All your gold is in there, all you need to do is open and pull it out. If you don't believe me, you could check it right now.

" The receptionist replied.

n

"No, it's fine. You're trustworthy, and if I were to take everything out now, that would grab too much attention. Thank you very much for the reward. Also, how were you able to get information on the bandit? He wasn't willing to talk when I asked him.

" John asked.

nThe receptionist gave me a cold smile as she said.

"The guild has its ways.

"

n'I'm never picking a fight with receptionists…' John decided.

n

"Well, then.

" John said as he turned around to look at the people adventurers which stood before him.

nSome of them stood up and were waiting near the entrance for John and Serena to have their duel, while the remaining ones ignored it and looked like they were just relaxing. John could tell just by looking that these guys were strong.

nUnlike the young adventurers who were excited to see a fight, these guys remained composed and diligent. John respected people like them.

n'But I guess that just proves that every adventurer is unique. They're not like the ones you see in fairy tales, and they're not all Buff men. Some of the ones here are swordsman teens around 16-18 years of age, while others look like mages and tanks in their 20s and 30s.' John pondered.

nHonestly, they look a lot more motivated than the adventurers of Halfaust though. John wondered how diverse the adventurers in Atlas will be.

n'I can't wait to find out!' John thought.

n

"Let's head to our duel, shall we?

" John said before heading to the entrance.

n'Man.. So many things that I could never expect are happening.. I'm so glad I became an adventurer!' John thought happily.

n