Cain and Sofia finished their food as fast as possible, Cain seemed to be in a hurry, even if he had told her what he intended to do, she wouldn’t understand.
Cain did have other things on his mind. When the catastrophe happened in his past life, what they lacked more is teamwork! Cain at the time was just an F-ranked adventurer who was barely holding to life.
When that accursed dungeon appeared, it was already almost breaking, the monsters flowed in waves, devouring everything in their ways!
From the sideline he watched the city get destroyed, he was powerless! This was the event that pushed him to gather power!
This meant that he now was living in his life prologue before his past life even starts! He is having the chance to change that tragic start into a better one.
‘Probably I shouldn’t try and hold everything alone, gathering strong people to fight with, that might be the best way!’ Cain looked at Sofia, she wasn’t impressive in terms of magic, she was average. ‘Could I make her stronger?’ He wondered if she will make a good rearguard against large hordes of monsters.
As they finished the food, Cain paid for everything including the rooms, he was left with a light pocket of only 3 copper coins.
Quickly after that, they headed straight for the guild, Cain didn’t even bother to stop by the bath to grab his sword and armor.
BANG! Cain pushed the guild door open, and both he and Sofia entered aiming directly for Mary’s desk.
No one could mistake Cain as he was distinguished by his white hair. The adventurers instead started whispering about who was the girl with him, she felt familiar but they never remembered someone with her beauty. That was until one screamed, “Isn’t she that useless mage? The one who can’t cast magic!”
As she heard that, Sofia dropped her head, only to be tapped in the back by Cain.
“Don’t listen to them, anyone could use magic with the right guidance, you just haven’t received that yet!”
…
“Mary, the appraisal orb! I think I leveled up!”
Hearing that she smiled, It was a happy occasion seeing an adventurer level up, It meant their chances of survival had just increased. If there was one thing worrying her, It was that Cain have been an adventurer for just 2 days.
“Are you sure? We tested you just two days before and you were a Level 1!” She asked. Cain assured her that there was no problem, he will take the measurement again.
This was because if Cain’s assumption that he leveled up was wrong, he will have to pay 1 silver coin as compensation for the guild! The appraisal orbs cost a lot of money and they had limited uses so this rule was put in place.
[Enchanting] Before touching the crystal ball, Cain used his magic to camouflage his stats, having people know about the [Enchanting] magic or his ridiculous MP was dangerous.
‘This will draw Jack’s attention, I have to act quickly if I wanted to succeed!’ That thought quickly changed, ‘No, he will be dead by tomorrow’s night!’
Cain put his hand on the appraising Crystal, It shone with bright light as it displayed his stats!
————————-
<Name: Cain Lisworth><Race: Human><Level: 2/20><Exp: 185/900>
<HP: 14><MP: 18><SP: 17>
<Strength: 11><Dexterity: 12><Constitution: 12>
<Intelligence: 18><Wisdom: 13><Charisma: 15>
————————-
“You…Your a level 2?” Mary was surprised as she was almost certain that Cain was mistaken.
As soon as they saw him being a level 2.
“Challenge! Challenge! Challenge! Challenge! Challenge!” The adventurer started cheering. The traditional newbie’s <Put in their place, fake rank up exam>.
“You’re hearing them right, I want to take the rank up exam!” Cain said to Mary, a confident smile on his face.
“Stop! Don’t do that Cain, you’re a smart man! You don’t need to take a beating to understand!” Mary told him, trying to convince him to stand down.
“I know what is this fake test about!” Cain said, “You better start preparing my E-rank card now as I will need it tomorrow!” He walked to the testing ground where an expert adventurer was waiting for him.
Deciding whether an adventurer will take the test or not was ultimately their and the guild representative decision. All Mary could was try convincing Cain to stand down as the guild representative will prepare the test automatically when a new adventurer level up!
The guild system was a bit complicated as multiple people could influence it, It was one of the reason Cain didn’t want to stand out at the start!
Cain’s opponent was a B-rank adventurer by the name Edward Vally, as Cain appeared to be a swordsman, the guild representative chose a swordsman to be his partner.
Edward was tall, standing at 6’5 compared to Cain’s 5’11. His hair was black and cut short, dark brown eyes and wearing half plate armor. His weapon of choice was a Falchion sword!
Cain on the other hand, was just wearing casual outfit.
Of course since wasn’t a real fight, both of them received wooden swords and were asked to avoid strikes to the face and other dangerous areas.
As they stood facing each other, Cain didn’t wast any time and used his system to look at Edwards stats.
————————–
<Name: Edward Vally><Race: Human><Level: 8/20><Exp: 8455/48000>
<HP: 65><MP: 42><SP: 64>
<Strength: 15><Dexterity: 16><Constitution: 14>
<Intelligence: 14><Wisdom: 11><Charisma: 13>
————————–
He was far superior than Cain physically, on a whole another level.
‘Of course they weren’t going to make wining easy!’ Cain though as a long sigh escaped his mouth.
“Sofia, Make sure to watch carefully!” Cain said with a smile.
FIGHT! The guild representative announced the start of the match.
Edward stood still, letting Cain take the first strike.
Fully knowing his disadvantages, Cain took the chance he was given and didn’t waste it.
Delivering a swift slash toward Edward’s left knee, then switching for a right kick.
[First tier magic: Lesser Empowerment] Added to the System.
Edward was faster and more agile than Cain, he already saw the attack coming and prepared to block the kick, and so he did. Cain’s leg was stopped by Edwards open palm.
“Don’t underestimate me kid…I’m the…” Edward stopped mid sentence as felt numbness is his hand. “What in the…” Before he could finish, Cain kicked him in the stomach.
Enraged, Edward swung his sword at Cain, the speed was something else, Even with that, Cain surprisingly dodged the attack at the last second.
[First tier magic: Lesser Swiftness] Added to the System.
Thwack! Smack! Cain slashed at Edward’s hand with his wooden sword, forcing him to drop his weapon.
Before the sword could touch the ground, Edward caught it with his left hand and sliced back at Cain.
This was a surprise comeback that Cain didn’t expect, he was forced to try and block the attack with his sword.
Cain was flung backward from the sheer force of the strike and landed on his feet.
“I seem to have underestimated you, I guess just powering through you isn’t an option!” Cain said as he changed his stance, he now held his sword in a high guard position.
“Whoaaaa!” The adventurers who where watching in silences shouted, Cain was surprisingly holding his own, was it just Edward going easy on him? They didn’t care, the match wasn’t a one sided boring fight.
“That…Kid…Is…Using…Magic?” A well endowed woman, wearing a comically large hat said to her friend sitting beside her.
“Why are you asking me? You’re the mage, aren’t you?” Her friend who was wearing a full black coat replied.
“Using magic or not, Those moves are that of an expert! I wonder who taught him?” Another man who was wearing full plate armor, not even his face can be seen said.
“Stop that, I know you’re on a journey to hone your skills with the sword but he is just an F-ranked!” A woman that looked in her forties and wore a priest like clothes replied to the armored man.
“His speed, and the strength behind his attacks were definitely higher than what his stat just showed, but what interested me more is the fluidity of his moves, I wonder if his teacher will accept teaching me those moves too!” The armored man said admiring Cain’s moves.
“At…The…last…Moment…A…burst…Of Mana?” The mage noticed the weird flow of Mana around Cain’s body, It was subtle but sharp. At the last moment before his strikes connect, the waves of Mana around him spikes to extreme levels.
The people observing the fight were the A-rank adventuring party, Dragon fang! They consisted of a lazy rogue, merciful priestess, absent minded mage and a hard headed warrior.
Cain’s fight was getting more intense, he has switched countering style. Taunting Edward with feints!
And before it could get out of hand!
“STOP!!!” The guild representative stopped the fight, time was up!
“Mwahahah!” Edward started laughing like a maniac, this was the first time he had faced such a challenge from a newbie, “No wonder you managed to level up is just two days!!”
“Thanks for the compliment!” Cain bowed slightly, “I did learn a lot from our fight!” He added.
“How about you join our party? A swordsman with your skills is what we needed for our front! With the both of us, clearing even A-rank quest might be possible!” Edward asked, as it was apparent, Cain is the first person to actually pass that test!
Cain pretended to think about Edwards offer, for any other newbie like him, this was a one in a life time chance! It will be rude to just refuse instantly.
“Sorry but…I’m already in a party with her!” Cain pointed toward the crowd. Everyone looked to see who was his partner, It was non other than Sofia.
Sofia froze in place, she was shocked from seeing Cain fights, and now that she was brought to the conversation, she wasn’t able to process what was happening anymore!
“It doesn’t matter, the both of you could join us!” Edward was determined to take Cain to his side.
“Can you give us some time to think about it?” Cain asked respectfully and Edward accepted.
“Cain Lisworth, I hereby declare you an E-ranked adventurer!” The guild representative declared.