- Stepping up

"So what plans do you two have after school?" I asked as we were finishing our lunch. "Me and Lily are going to complete our final F rank Quest today. Care to join?" Corey said while getting up and gathering his trash.

"Sure, but I should tell you guys I ranked up to D rank yesterday," I said in a cocky manner.

"You ranked up that fast? You haven't even been here a week!" Lily exclaimed way louder than she meant, attracting the attention of everyone around us for a moment.

She immediately shut her mouth and looked down, trying to avoid the curious gazes of the other students.

"I've been doing around 3 quests every day," I replied after the crowd dispersed and we threw away our trash. "We need to step up our game, huh Lily?" Corey said as we walked out of the cafeteria.

"Until then, let's go train in the field." He finished as we walked out of the cafeteria and headed towards the fields.

"I'll take you both on today. I wanna test out my new weapons." I said while pulling up the turtle neck on my coat that covered my neck. "You can use your magic and whatever tactics you want."

"Don't get too full of yourself just because of your new toy. Let's see if you have the skill to even wield them properly since you haven't practiced with them yet." Corey said in a matter-of-fact tone.

'How hard can it be?' I say in my mind while pulling them out. I toss them around and flip them in the air, switching them between my hands and mock swinging them.

"Here we are. So what are the rules exactly?" Corey said as he turned around while smiling. "There are none," I said before flying into the air after feeling an ominous presence behind me. 'She was really going to stab me. Well, she could easily heal me, but still. They aren't playing around.'

I descended on the ground and immediately activated extreme speed and after image. I appeared behind Corey before he even knew I disappeared, I sent my fake clone behind Lily to just distract her.

I slung my scythe out and made the chain wrap around Corey. As this was happening I appeared beside Lily and chopped her in the neck, effectively knocking her out. Corey was just now noticing what was going on but I was already behind him once more.

"I win." I whisper in his ear before chopping him on the neck as well. My extreme speed remained on for another seven seconds before turning off.

'They didn't stand a chance with my new equipment skill. If I was still using my shortsword it would've been a different story entirely.' I thought as I put my weapons in my cloak and asked a healer to come over and heal my friends.

"What...happened?" Lily mumbled while grabbing her head. Corey was also leaning forward and regaining his senses. "My new skill that these bad boys gave me. It's called extreme speed. Pretty cool huh?" I bragged.

"No, not cool. That wasn't fair at all. We still use E- ranked equipment, yet here you are using a C- weapon." Corey said while standing up.

"I sold a lot of skills from an E ranked dungeon to buy this and my new gloves. Once you guys get promoted to the next rank, we can go to a boar dungeon and sell the skill books we find there. Then you two can also upgrade your gear." I said excitedly.

'Wait, why am I going out of my way to help these two? They aren't doing anything but slowing my progress down.'

'...yet for some reason I feel compelled to help them. Why is that?' I was suddenly broken out of my thoughts as Corey patted me on the shoulder.

"I'm glad to have a strong friend, but don't think you'll be staying the strongest for long. I'll start taking extra quests on my own." Corey exclaimed. "Me too. I can't let you two leave me behind." Lily said while shooting me a thumbs up.

"I'm sorry guys, but I won't allow that. I have a goal I have to achieve, and as it stands I'll need to get much stronger." I said while feeling the old pain and rage for revenge.

"What exactly is your goal?" Lily asks with a curious expression, one very similar to an innocent child. "Revenge," I mumble while tightening the grip on my scythes.

"You can do that, but make sure you aren't consumed by those negative emotions. Trust me, accepting the past and moving on will make you much stronger than letting the hate control you." Corey said with a huge grin.

"Maybe," I mumble. 'He has a point, but I can't just move on. I will get my revenge one day. I guess I don't have to be in such a rush to get there though.' My thoughts were interrupted once more.

"Hey, you're crying," Lily said with a worried tone. I looked up with a normal face, yet a stream of tears was constantly flowing. "I am?" I said while touching my face.

"Don't worry, whatever is troubling you won't stand a chance with all three of us together," Corey said while slamming his staff into the ground. "Yeah, If getting stronger will help you, then we'll do it together!" Lily said while doing her best to sound optimistic.

'I'm such a baby.' I thought before replying. "Yeah, my bad. You two still down for ranking up this afternoon?" I said while wiping the tears from my face that had appeared from nowhere.

'My emotions don't make any sense. I was only in that den for a few days yet I feel like I've lived there my entire life and then some. The pain is so deeply rooted when it shouldn't be.' I thought as I watched Lily and Corey spar against each other with just their weapons.

'I need to know more about this so-called prophecy.' My thoughts were jumping all over the place as I couldn't make my mind for my next goal in life. 'Whatever happens, I'll be sure to protect these two.' I thought before making up my mind.

'I wonder if all this is according to the prophecy.' I thought before laughing to myself. "Looks like someone's mood has rise- AAGGHH!" Corey screamed as Lily landed a quick combo on him while he was distracted.

"Always keep your eyes on your enemy. How could you forget your own rules." Lily laughed as Corey was trying to recover.

-------------------

"Here's your silver, congratulations on ranking up to E rank. Walk through the door to your right to take the evaluation exam." The lady at the counter of the guild said.

We had just turned in our slime subjugation quest. "Good luck you two. I'll be watching you fight the old man on the sidelines." I say as we walk into the backyard of the guild.

"Well look who it is. How have you been boy, you rank up yet?" The old man asked me, completely ignoring the other two that walked in with me. "Yup, but I'm not here for an evaluation, they are," I said while gesturing to Lily and Corey.

"Oh ho. Getting a little cocky are we? You wanna rematch after their evaluation is over?" The old man chuckled as he walked into the middle of the yard.

"I wouldn't be opposed to the idea," I said. "Alright, you young man, you're up first. Come at me with everything you've got." The old man said as he yawned.

Corey however didn't seem affected by the taunt and just readied his staff and got into his battle stance. "Petty tricks like that won't work on me." He said with a confident smile plastered to his face.

"Tricks? I'm just sleepy." The old man replied while tapping his foot and stretching his arms. Corey didn't reply, instead, he dashed at his enemy while raising several earth walls around the battlefield at seemingly random positions. "A terrain advantage huh? That won't work on me. If anything you ju-"

Before the old man could finish his sentence, Corey raised an earth wall under his right foot, throwing off his balance for a split second. He jumped off a wall and swung his staff at the old man as fast as he could.

"Look behind you." But when Corey turned around, he had already appeared in front of him and landed a swift kick to his ribs.

"You pass, but what happened to those petty tricks won't work on me?" The old man said while laughing. Corey got up and walked over to stand beside me.

"Your turn Lily."