7 First Steps

The Drunk Rat, the tavern where I would spend most of my free time, was a rustic and old place. It had a chimney on the first floor that kept the building warm, a bar was placed on the opposite side of the room and apparently it also worked as a counter for the other services of the stablishment.

There were a few patrons but there wasn't much noise, certainly, it seemed like a very nice place to rest at after a good day of work. I approached the bar and a young man greeted me from the other side with a smile.

"Good afternoon. What can I do for ya?"

"Hello. I would like to rent a room, please."

"Of course. It is a silver per day. 2 Meals a day, 8 Am and 8 Pm."

"Here you go."

I handed him seven coins and I was left with little less than 10 silver. It should last for a bit but I should really start working if I wanted to keep myself sleeping in a warm bed at night. Shortly after, I was handed a metal key and guided to my room.

The room itself was fairly simple. A single bed, a window towards the center of town, a closet and a simple desk. The man walked away and I proceeded to unload my clothes on the closet and placed my books on the desk. After that, I spent the rest of the day laying on my bed sleeping in a warm and comfy bed.

The next morning, I put on more practical clothes. Black pants, white shirt and a leather jacket over it, the same pair of hide boots and finally I placed my sheathed sword on my belt. After getting prepared, I exited the room, locked the door with the key and went downstairs to grab breakfast before heading to the guild.

The breakfast was composed of a mug of coffee, a pair of toasted bread and some butter. It was a somewhat light meal, but for a single silver, I think it was pretty fair. After finishing my food, I stood up and proceeded to walk out of the building, heading straight into the guild.

Once I entered, there were quite a few eyes looking in my direction for some reason. Again, I ignored it and continued to the closest counter to talk to the same secretary as the day before.

"Hello."

"Good morning, how may I help you today?"

"I would appreciate some general information on how the guild works. I had to go very quickly yesterday so I didn't had time to ask."

"Oh, of course! Truth be said, I also forgot to finish the last part of the registration, so if you would come with me, we can get it done."

"Sure."

The secretary moved around and went through a door behind the counter. She very quickly appeared at the other side of the room, waving me over. I approached and went through the door, and at the other side there was a large man waiting with his arms crossed. He seemed to be in his late 30s and stood at around 2 meters in height, he was muscular, yet slightly slender as well.

He looked towards me and smiled, before he picked up a weapon from the table that was besides him. The weapon itself was a longsword, but the blade was slightly wider and longer than it should be. Well, for his size it looked oddly fitting though.

"The step that I forgot was what you could call a test of might. You will be fighting this member of the staff with all of your strength. Don't worry, he is quite tough and I know healing magic so there will be no lasting consequences from this. Also, this test will determine your starting rank as an adventurer, so take it seriously."

"Alright, I will."

I bowed my head to the larger man before moving to the testing grounds. It was on the same room, but the grouds themselves was a simple space with dirt floor made in such a way that it was separated from the room itself despite being placed inside the same building. In any case, I stood on one side and the man stood on the opposite direction.

I unsheathed my sword and held it with both hands while adopting my usual guard at the front with a lowered hip and flexed knees. It was simple, but it allowed me to maneuver quite well even while holding heavy training weapons. Clearly, during this fight, what I was holding wasn't a practice one but rather a real sharp blade.

I felt nervousness, something about the man seemed odd and menacing. I felt a similar feeling to the one I felt when I could hear Leo's footsteps coming down the stairs of the basement. Ah....That's it. It's fear.

It took me a moment to realize that this man was simply expanding his bloodlust in such a way that I was actually afraid to even move towards him. Inside my mind I could see every way in which he could cut me down no matter which movement I took...Except one.

There was a single space, a blind spot in his guard, that I could move into, and for some reason, I could phisically see a shadow of myself moving past me following the idea in my mind. This had happened before when I practiced kendo, and it was one of my main tools to secure a score.

Tightening my grasp on my sword, I moved forward as quickly as possible. I saw his attack coming from the side rather than above, which would've connected if I hadn't used this foresight. Swiftly, I moved past his attack, evading his threat and instead simply lifting my hands, aiming the point straight towards the right side of his neck, specifically grazing the skin that covered his jugular veins.

And so it was then and there that the man put down his weapon and started laughing. The secretary seemed to be in absolute shock, and I was just confused. My body had once again moved on instinct and I didn't held back at all.

"Girl, you really have some talent!"

"Uhh....Thanks. I take this as a win, correct?"

"Of course! You were able to find a gap in my guard and totally had me on the palm of your hand, if I didn't accept defeat, then I wouldn't be able to call myself the Guild Master!"

".....Wait. What?"

I blinked a couple of times and went over his words twice, and yet it didn't clicked for a moment until the secretary stepped into the testing grounds in absolute surprise.

"Y-y-you just...Won against the...Guild Master...That hasn't happened in the last decade! How did you-"

"Calm down Liz, you're gonna scare the girl. It's pretty clear that her talent just surpasses mine! Girl, why are you wasting your time trying to become and adventurer? You should just go straight into the Military Academy, you know?!"

My mind was basically exploding right now. I took a good few moments to think over what just happened. I had just overwhelmed the Guild Master in a practice fight and now I was apparently being questioned over my life choices? I certainly had no idea what to say, but I just tried to calm down.

"Wait, wait, wait....So you are the Guild Master, right?"

"Mhm."

"And you're asking me why am I wasting my time trying to become an adventurer, right?"

"Mhm."

"But you're the Guild Master,"

"Yes. And that's why I can ssure you, you have nothing to learn or gain here. Going to the Military Academy is literally a hundred times better than wasting your time becoming an adventurer just to clean this forest of some bandits every now and then."

"....I-...But-..."

"No buts! I am writing you a recommendation letter right now and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"Wait, but I-"

"No buts!!"

".....Ugh....Okay."

I decided to give up fro now and let him write the letter. The fact that Anna didn't told me about this Military Academy kind of threw me off for some reason, but I decided I would ask her about it when we meet again. The secretary simply walked off just as confused as I was, but something inside me felt right about this...Maybe it was the direction Siegfried wanted me to go? Probably, I couldn't just discard that possibility.

After all, between an Adventurer's Guild and a Military Academy....I think the God of War would choose the second option. Besides, if I don't like the place...I could always just dropout and become an adventurer anyways so I didn't thought it mattered much to just go and use the opportunity that I would have a recommendation letter from the local Guild Master. It was one of those single opportunities you get once in your life right?

I still had to think it over, so there was no use to worry about it right now.