“I’ve been doing this for a few years now. I joined a team called the Impossible Explorers,” he said, throwing me a knowing glance. “It’s a terrible name, isn’t it?”

  I burst out laughing. “It’s not that bad. With a name like that, you’ll sure be in everyone's mouth. That’s huge for popularity.”

  “See? It’s his jam already,” Richard japed, turning to his sister, who responded by sticking out her tongue.

  “I’ll leave you in the dust, Brother. Just watch.”

  This playful rivalry between them made me smile. I hadn’t expected Bianca to want to become an adventurer too.

  “Yeah, as if you can surpass me,” Richard teased her a little, poking her playfully in the shoulder. “If you keep putting off your training, then I’ll surely sleep easily at night.”

  “Umpf,” Bianca pouted, crossing her arms.

  “What are you training for?” I asked her.

  “What she should be training for, you mean,” Richard commented again. He sounded almost exasperated.

  “Archery. I have awakened a Sagitta emblem,” Bianca muttered, unimpressed.

  “So cool!” I beamed. “Though, I’ve never been good at it…” I trailed off with a wry smile.

  “You think so?” Bianca said, hesitating. “Even Mom and Dad said it’s a great skill if I want to become an adventurer.”

  “Of course it is, you silly girl,” Richard huffed.

  “An archer is very useful in any team,” I explained, trying hard not to sound lecturing. “Providing cover and assisting from distance can make a huge difference in a fight.”

  “How do you know that? I thought you weren’t an adventurer yet,” she narrowed her eyes at me.

  I almost wanted to point out it was common knowledge, but then I wondered if I were the strange one here.

  “I’m not. I’m just… passionate,” I tried to give the most diplomatic answer possible.

  “He’s right, you know?” Richard cut in, trying to convince her. “You just have to make up your mind.”

  Richard cleared his throat. “But where were we, now?” He lingered in silence for a while, recollecting his thoughts.

  “Have you already found a team?”

  “Actually… no,” I smiled sheepishly. Only this morning I realized the time I considered so far away was much closer than expected.

  He gave me a comforting smile. “I figured as much. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the adventurer’s guild hall here in the city. Maybe we can find you a team.”

  Pausing just slightly, he then asked, almost absentmindedly, “I guess you awakened as a magus, right?”

  “No—I mean, yes.”

  “Which one is it?” Both he and Bianca giggled lightly at my confusion.

  “I awakened as a magus.” I confirmed. “But how do you know?”

  “Father told me. Lord Damyon was looking for someone willing to teach the Phantom style,” he responded right away. “I just inferred the rest.

  “That being the case, two more members should be enough,” he continued.

  “Are you thinking of a classic team with two magi and a conjurer?” I asked.

  I noticed that Bianca had been trying to follow the conversation, with her gaze jumping between the two of us as if we were tossing a ball back and forth.

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  “I see someone here knows his stuff,” we shared a smile of understanding.

  “We could try to find another magus, a tank, but I’d say you could settle for a smaller team for the time being.”

  I nodded. Having a tank on the team would be very useful, but considering my nonexistent experience as an adventurer, I was afraid we’d already have a hard time finding two other people willing to join me.

  “Let’s see what we can do at the guild tomorrow. Maybe someone will step forward after seeing your performance.”

  “I don’t think I’m following you,” I responded with a preoccupied frown.

  I knew nothing about performances to become an adventurer. I thought it was just a cool title.

  “Both here in the West and where we’re from in the East, the vast majority of adventurers are affiliated with the Adventurer’s Guild,” he explained.

  “When you register at a Guild’s Hall, each new member is assigned a rank depending on the skills shown during their evaluation. The rank can be D, C, B, A, AA or S.”

  Then, almost absently, he added, “Despite the abundance of AA-rank adventurers, I don’t know if anyone was ever promoted to S-rank.”

  All this explanation, certainly very interesting and informative, got in by one ear and out of the other.

  A test? There’s no way I’m going to make a fool of myself—

  “What’s the test about?” I felt blood rushing away from my face.

  “It’s a test to assess your skills. Don’t worry, you’ll find out everything tomorrow,” he said calmly, but he had a smile on his face that wasn’t reassuring at all.

  “How about we all go back to the others together?”

  Father, unaware of the truly shocking news I had just received, came up with this suggestion.

  “Why do you look so pale, Arda?” He asked as we walked.

  I shook my head. “I’ll tell you later…”

  * * *

  We met up with the others in Dragon’s Square, the open area in front of the park surrounding the imperial palace, the legendary Azure Fortress, which was said to have been built entirely from lapis lazuli.

  I had no trouble spotting Mother among the crowd, given the endless amount of bags floating next to Baryon.

  “Anything interesting in there?”

  “Yes, very. The shop owners were all very happy to show us their entire selection. Although I fear there’s nothing satisfying your tastes, sweetheart,” Mother cheerfully responded.

  As Father introduced my teacher and Lelya to the Edelweiss family, Mother had already started an interesting conversation with Bianca and Miss Edelweiss.

  I forgot that they already knew each other.

  “Kid, mind following me for a moment?” Mister Edelweiss reached out to me, pulling me aside.

  “As Damyon must have mentioned, I managed to find a teacher willing to teach you the Phantom style.”

  “I still haven’t had the chance to thank you for that,” I interrupted him, bowing my head.

  Mister Edelweiss shook his head, waving his hand dismissively as we sat down in front of a fountain. “Don’t mention it. It has been more challenging than expected. You know, it’s not easy to find someone good at the Phantom style who hasn’t already been locked up in prison.”

  I figured that much. I smirked.

  “How did you meet him?”

  He rubbed the back of his head. “That’s a weird story, actually. In a sense, he found me. I found him outside my house the day after I received your father’s message.

  “I found it creepy at first, but when he showed me his references, I couldn’t deny he would have surely made a top-tier teacher.”

  “Did he tell you anything about himself?” I asked, growing more excited about this mysterious individual.

  “Yes, but he had me promising not to tell you anything. When and if he wants to, it’ll be up to him to tell you,” he said with an embarrassed smile.

  “When will I be able to meet him?”

  “Well, I’d like to know that too,” he admitted. “You see, when I had him sign the contract, he insisted that he would only fulfill his duties once he completed a mission.”

  “And he didn’t tell you anything about it, did he?” I concluded, feeling like a deflating balloon.

  “No, I’m afraid not. Your lessons might still have to wait for a while,” he confirmed, looking crestfallen in the eyes.

  “Don’t worry, please,” I hurried to reassure him. “You’ve already done so much for me. You even found him in record time.”

  At last, a shy smile broke onto his lips. “It seems I worried for nothing then.”

  The others were all so busy with their various conversations that they didn’t even notice our return.

  Among all of those, Baryon and Richard’s was definitely the most interesting one—to me, at least. They seemed to be updating each other on the latest strategies for dealing with liches.

  Since when is Baryon so knowledgeable about that? Richard too seemed impressed by Baryon’s extensive knowledge on the subject.

  Liches were classified as B-rank mana beasts; as so, it was expected that a team of experienced B-rank adventurers or higher would be capable of taking them down.

  “Are you sure you’ve never been an adventurer?” Richard asked him, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

  “I’m pretty sure,” Baryon denied again. “I’ve just read it in a book.”

  “If you ever get tired of your job as a tutor, I think you could have a future as an adventurer.”

  Thinking of master Baryon camped in a forest, waiting to enter a dungeon, made me laugh.

  Yet, it didn’t seem like such an unbelievable scene.

  “Maybe one day I’ll give it a try.”