It emotionlessly stared at me, seemingly trying to get a read on what I would do next. With a moment's notice it was already halfway to me. I raised my sword like a bat, ready to get a home run.

  “Sacred water slash!”

  As I swung forwards, the wolf jumped up and patted the sword to the side with its paws followed by a jump back on it as I tried to slash back. It seems this wasn’t going to go the same way as last time. It growled at me when a magic circle appeared below its feet. What the spell was didn’t matter. I had to stop it or I would be killed. I bolt forward.

  “Slam!”

  I slammed into the earth where it was creating a dust cloud. It was already gone.

  “Strike!”

  An upwards lunge caught the edge of its tail, it had jumped over me already.

  “Slash!”

  A backwards spin to try and gain momentum ended with it jumping back again. Chaining your most powerful move over and over is effectively suicide to a body who can’t handle it. I could almost feel my limbs tearing off now. The wolf was certainly aware of this too.

  “Slash!”

  The fact that it could go on the offensive at any time reminded me of a predator lying in wait for the perfect moment to strike.

  “Slash!”

  Oh wait… it was one.

  “Strike!”

  With this strike it slammed its full force back into the blade, throwing me back while throwing the sword to the other side of the room. It jumped at me with all its might, knowing this attack would be my end. I held out my hand. I still couldn't help but smile. A wand appeared in my hand, from storage.

  “Dodge, I dare you.”

  It was a blaze of glory. A flurry of flames singed everything in the vicinity while covering the entire room in fire. It seemed to go on for minutes. The red magic circle at my feet faded out as the ash settled. The wolf had turned back into an unconscious man, singed from head to toe, it was over… A slow clap could be heard from the doorway coming from a tall blonde elf, with Sherry half hiding behind him.

  “Haha…”

  The claps stopped.

  “You defeated Alphonse then? In his beast form no less?”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Yeah.”

  “I saw the whole thing, how you pretended you could only use a sword, let yourself be disarmed, then in the moment where it thought it won, you hit it with a surprise elemental weakness… Haha…”

  The elf seemed to be genuinely laughing.

  “I don’t know if I could even pull that off, how long have you been preparing for this?”

  “Since this morning.”

  “You know what? I believe you.”

  He turned to the girl beside him.

  “Sherry, special promotion. On my authority, give him rank S.”

  “B-b-but sir, he’s only level-”

  “-I don’t give a damn. With the amount of skills this man has, any less would be an insult. Max-Level Incantation-less casting was just one I could pick up on. No doubt he was holding back for the show.”

  In reality this wasn’t even remotely true. He walked over to the collapsed Alphonse.

  “I haven't even introduced myself…”

  As he put his hand on Al the burn marks faded away while the room transferred into its previous state of a pure, untouched forest, and all in one motion walked towards me.

  “I’m Heveil, Level 86, one of the three rank S in this city including you, and also the guild master. Nice to meet you, Rein.”

  His handshake was noticeably softer than Al’s.

  “Pleasure to work with you, Hev.”

  Sherry now came running up to me.

  “Here you go, sir!”

  Adventurer Identification

  Level 16: Rein

  Rank: S

  The card was now more detailed than before, instead of blank white it was a shade of gold.

  “Thanks.”

  “Sherry, I’ll take care of the paperwork, go back to reception.”

  “Yes sir!”

  She ran ahead while I followed from behind.

  “I’m expecting great things, Rein, but don’t forget to have fun along the way.”

  “Don't worry, I won’t forget that.”

  “Hahah…”

  After going back to the main hall, I wandered over to the bar area. This place was full of drunk adventurers, a rowdy but unique crowd of people.

  “Help!”

  I walked over to a group of them gathering around a table.

  “Help me!”

  As I stuck my head inside to see, a familiar voice called out to me.

  “Hey! Where were you?!?”

  “The bathroom.”

  “For an entire hour??”

  “That’s private information.”

  “Well I don’t care!! Get me out of this bottle! These fiends trapped me!”

  Mel had gotten herself into exactly what she said she didn’t want to happen. Oh well.

  “I checked and these scrubs are all below Level 30! Wipe the floor with them!”

  “I think you’re forgetting a crucial piece of information here.”

  Some of the drunks took notice of her speaking to only me.

  “Do you know this little miss?”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “Hey!”

  “Do you want her back?”

  “Not really but I’ll take her.”

  “Hey!!”

  “Sorry, but she’s the prize for our dart throwing competition! You're gonna have to enter if you want to get her back.”

  “Aha.”