Bloodline: A LitRPG Adventure (The Root of All Evil Book 1), page 48
The only symbol he didn’t have any use for was his sustenance symbol.
Duh, he couldn’t feed a metal dummy.
He activated [Transcriber of Reality] and the symbols shifted onto the stone. Then, he activated [Symbol Communication] and the stone erupted into shadows, tears, and a cone of silence. [Symbol Variation] had worked spectacularly. His shadows were larger and more obscure than they had ever been, covering all the other symbols and even part of the next stone.
Water spurted out of the rock like a sprinkler.
“Oops, I guess I should’ve brought a towel,” Dollar said.
He walked up to the dummy with a confident swagger.
“See, if I move over here then you won’t be able to hear me,” he stepped into the silence symbol’s domain. “————, ——— —and if I come back, now I can talk,” he said.
Dollar had lessened the sound symbol’s area of effect so that only a small area around the stone was impacted.
“Amazing.” Almudarib appeared beside him, his head sinking into the darkness. “What if I ——— ——. ————.”
“Whoops. Um, let me deactivate that for you,” Dollar said.
He deactivated the sound symbol, and the man’s voice boomed across the room.
“This would be a bane to magicians. Most still cast their spells using vocal commands,” Almudarib said. “Can your spell stick to its target?”
Dollar stepped back and watched Almudarib’s head reappear from the darkness.
“My spells will chase them like a clingy drunk,” Dollar said. “And they can’t remove them either.”
So long as he had [Defy Death] activated, of course.
“You will bring fear to many powerhouses.”
Almudarib’s finger tapped against the surface of the stone and a ripple of power shook the room. Dollar’s vision blurred and when he recovered the room had changed.
The testing dummy had disintegrated into dust.
In its place was a giant circle of shadows writhing and wriggling in the air. There was also a constant stream of water spilling out from within it. His darkness symbol and water symbol had survived the attack because he had activated [Defy Death] just in time.
“Spectacular.” Almudarib stepped back.
The symbols were gone, but their effects remained. His illusion of using magic was complete.
Houdini has nothing on me, Dollar thought.
“I will prepare another dummy.”
Almudarib turned toward him, his eyes gleaming.
“Show me the limits of your abilities.”
The scent of burning metal warped his nostrils as alarms blared around him, activated by the symbols etched into the walls. A mixture of water and wooden paper was scattered across the floor around a burning dummy. Most of them had partial burns on them, and even some of the boxes around him had been swept by flames.
“I can’t see!”
To his side Almudarib clawed at the air as the man tried to remove the tendrils of shadow that clung to his eyes like spiders to a web.
“Dang it,” Dollar said.
Everything had been going so smoothly until the fire symbol.
Unexpectedly, the protection symbol and the lock symbol had another thing in common. The hardening effect of the lock symbol on the dummy had strengthened the fire symbol, making the symbol impervious to damage from its own flames. That meant that the fire burned infinitely, or at least until the symbol ran out of time.
Maybe he should have predicted that. After all, that was how the protection symbol worked with the grec when he had fought it.
“Do you mind?” The guild employee said.
“Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts.”
With a click of his fingers, he dismissed the symbol of darkness he had placed on Almudarib’s back. That particular mess had been done at Almudarib’s own request. Unlike Mitsy’s robes, the man’s metal armor was rigid and didn’t fold easily which meant that the darkness symbol wasn’t destroyed and had instead perfectly encased the adventurer’s head.
Almudarib took in the scene of destruction around the room with his mouth agape. After a moment his eyes rested on Dollar, and the boy lowered his head sheepishly.
The man either thought Dollar had created a disaster or was trying to make a statement.
Or both.
“Wonderful,” Almudarib’s voice didn’t hold a single note of annoyance.
Dollar glanced up to check that he wasn’t hearing things, and saw the adventurer kneeling next to the dummy, examining the burns in its surroundings. The paper and wooden boxes nearby had both singed, though some had been spared from the fire’s rampage. Almudarib quickly brought out a clipboard that he scribbled on intently.
“Thank you,” Dollar said.
“I should be thanking you. The others aren’t going to believe this,” Almudarib coughed lightly. “What I mean to say is that you’re not an iron rank. Not with magic like that. Stick that on to a monster and you’ll go far.”
“The flames or the darkness?” Dollar asked.
“All of it. Blast them to oblivion. Heck, you can create water out of nothing. Artifacts like that are common, but that doesn’t make the magic useless. Too many people rely on artifacts when they go into areas where artifacts won’t work. Dethrakil ruins have claimed more than one foolhardy warrior with a newly enchanted sword and no supplies. With you they might come out alive.”
Dollar waited patiently by his side until he finished his assessment, watching as the man looked at him and back at the dummy with shining eyes.
“I can tell you didn’t expect that to happen, but you also didn’t panic.”
“I’m good in bad situations,” Dollar replied.
“A valuable skill for adventurers.”
There were only two symbols Dollar hadn’t shown the man. The protection symbol and the haste symbol. If Almudarib had told him that more was needed to grade him, then he would reveal their existence. Until then, he would rather keep them secret.
Almudarib lowered his clipboard. “You’ve shown me more than enough to make a decision.”
The man put the clipboard to his side and pulled out something from one of his pockets. It was a metal badge. But unlike what Dollar had expected, it wasn’t made of iron.
It was bronze.
“Is this okay?” Dollar stared at the badge. “Don’t you need more than one person to assign a bronze-ranked badge?”
He couldn’t imagine the guild letting bronze-ranked badges be given out like Halloween candies.
“Oh? One person?” Almudarib tilted his head, mirth dancing on his features. “I suppose that’s technically correct. Don’t worry, the guild has given me full discretion in these matters. At least up to bronze. Beyond bronze I need to do extra tests. And file way too many reports.”
“[Assign].”
The badge glowed as Almudarib activated his [skill]. After a moment the light disappeared, and the blank surface of the badge had been replaced by a single sword, followed by a net.
“Ength, I welcome you to the adventurer’s guild. You have a bright future ahead of you, and I look forward to hearing about your endeavors in the future,” Almudarib said. “Please accept this bronze badge to finalize your admission into the guild. It denotes your occupation as both a fighter, and a supporter.”
Almudarib held the badge toward him, and Dollar stared at it.
“You made me a fighter as well? Why?” Dollar asked.
“Kid, you can set a monster on fire, and I assume you can drown one too if you really put your mind to it. Killing monsters is the mark of a fighter. So, that’s the designation I’m giving you. Wear it with pride and if you question me again your first mission will be cleaning a sewer.”
Dollar took the badge and held it carefully, pinning it to his chest.
[You have reached level 32.]
[You have reached level 33.]
[You have reached level 34.]
[You have gained a level: +10 free stat points.]
[You have gained a level: +10 free stat points.]
[You have gained a level: +10 free stat points.]
A barrage of system messages assaulted his eyes.
Interesting. The badge was considered an asset by The System, and it was worth far more than the metal it was made from.
[You have been offered bronze membership status by the Guild of Adventurers (Cresta). Would you like to accept? Y/N.]
[Upon acceptance you will receive: type 2 business tax exemption (bronze), access to the hall of weapons (bronze), access to the hall of the magi (bronze), access to the hall of supporters (bronze), access to the hall of alchemy (bronze), access to the guild general store, access to guild missions (up to proto-silver), discounted access to all guild training halls, and access to apply to the hunter’s guild.]
52
MITSY’S BRILLIANT IDEA
Dollar accepted the guild’s offer without hesitation. Tax benefits? Yes please. Beside him Almudarib’s armor was getting a pat down and checkup from the guild employee. Several patches of fire had hit him during the commotion, but the metal and fabric was unharmed when the man pulled his hands away. The clothes were fire resistant, but Dollar didn’t see any symbol arrays on it. Which meant that the materials themselves were likely the cause, and that meant the armor was made from monster parts and magic ores. It must have been something that he bought from the adventurer’s shop. The same shop he now had access to.
“Hot damn,” Dollar said.
“Just saw the benefits, did you?” Almudarib asked. “There’s more where that came from, if you’re willing.”
Almudarib laughed as he saw the surprise and greed in Dollar’s expression.
“This room is only suitable for testing for iron rank and, in a pinch, bronze,” Almudarib said. “Give me another day to prepare and I’ll preside over your silver-ranked test as well, if you’re willing. Let me tell you though, if you’re hiding any cards up your sleeve, you better be prepared to use them.”
Almudarib’s face told Dollar that the man was deadly serious.
Dollar considered the man’s words carefully. He didn’t have a death wish, but it seemed like a win-win offer. Not only would obtaining silver rank bring him more prestige, but now that he knew that he would level up upon receiving a badge he had extra incentive. Access to tax breaks and several unique shops was also enticing. Eventually, he would start his own business and when he did, he wanted to be prepared.
“That sounds like a plan,” Dollar said. “But what do I have to do for the silver-ranked test? And what benefits do I gain?”
“Hah, I’ll get permission to show you the benefits. They’re hidden from the public so that people don’t throw themselves at the test and die in droves.” Almudarib’s eyes twinkled. “As for the test, you’ll have to complete a silver-ranked mission. Alone. Sometimes it takes days or weeks to organize a suitable test, but I think I heard a rumor of giant spiders in the forests nearby, so I think you’ll get lucky.”
Dollar frowned.
Okay, so maybe I won’t be able to take the test so soon, Dollar thought.
Grisham had killed those spiders personally, but it seemed like the news hadn’t reached Zendria yet. Which made him wonder what communication system they had. Clearly, bounties could be claimed immediately, and all nearby branches would be informed, but Grisham had killed the giant spider two weeks ago and the news still hadn’t arrived, purely because a bounty hadn’t been placed on the monster.
“What about gold rank?” Dollar asked.
It didn’t hurt to shoot for the stars while he was here.
“Impossible,” Almudarib said with absolute certainty. “The silver-ranked test is deadly enough, even with me shadowing you. Throwing you into a gold test would be no better than murder. I won’t entertain the idea, nor will the others.”
Dollar didn’t argue with the man’s assessment. If the man said he would die, then he would trust it to be true. Especially now that Almudarib had seen most of his abilities.
He strolled out of the room and found himself surrounded by two people and a pig. Mitsy was the first to react, her eyes zeroing in on the new addition to his wardrobe.
“Is that…is that a bronze badge?” Mitsy asked.
Dollar pushed out his chest, displaying the badge proudly. The emblem consisting of a sword crossed with a net was clear to see, and Mitsy let out a whoop of joy. Grisham nodded his head like he had expected it the whole time, and the grec let out a happy squeal, matching Mitsy, and knocked a horn against him in congratulations.
As we walked out of the adventurer’s guild, Dollar looked up at the five towers, each one pulsating with power. Inside his storage ring he could see the iron card he had stored the night before. Becoming an adventurer was the beginning of his journey, but he had more to do. There was still another place he needed to visit and one last badge to obtain.
The symbologist guild of Zendria.
“Finally, the open air, now I can give you a proper congratulations.”
That thought was immediately thrown out of his mind as Mitsy grabbed him and threw him in the air to celebrate. Dollar’s protest was blown out of his lips as the wind screamed around him.
“Oops.” Mitsy immediately saw her mistake.
She had thrown him too high. Way too high. He could almost see the top of the towers from this height. For a single moment time stretched out into eternity, and Dollar beheld the majesty of the world beneath him. From the massive behemoth of technology and magic that was Zendria to the infinite ocean expanse beyond it. A snapshot of the beauty was all he needed. It was also all he got because he was dropping. Fast.
“Oh, crap,” Dollar said.
He plummeted like a torpedo back down to the ground.
The world twisted around him as his vision failed to keep up with his descent. As the ground drew nearer, he saw Mitsy stretching, the blonde girl squatting down and pushing her feet against the ground. She pushed off the stone street, the momentum hurling her upward into an intercept course with him. He winced as he realized she was going to smack right into him, and he wondered if he was about to become a splotch of red on the skyline of Zendria.
Thankfully, he didn’t explode into a thousand pieces when she hit him.
Mitsy caught him with a deft hand, slowing down in mid-air in defiance of physics. Her armbands were glowing deep red, but he couldn’t feel any tremendous levels of strength from her. Instead, she was as light as a feather and in seconds they were back on the ground, her feet landing gently onto the ground. She lowered him sheepishly as her father glared at her.
“Sorry,” she said.
Bill waddled up to Dollar, nuzzling him with a cheek and making his disheveled hair even worse. He gave the animal a gentle pat and scratched the back of his ear.
“So, now it’s time for shopping,” Mitsy said, keen to distract everyone from the near-death experience. “That sky ship isn’t going to supply itself after all. Cheap bastards.”
She was, of course, talking about the ship that would take her and Grisham out of Zendria and to wherever they had deemed too dangerous for him to go. He had seen a couple of the ships leaving the port from the inn window in the morning. They looked like big hulking metal barges that would be better suited to plowing through siege walls in Ancient Greece. Each one had been painted in different colors, with emblems of various companies attached to their sides for advertisement.
The duo would be leaving later that night, especially now that he had found his accommodation. A fact that he had explained to Mitsy after she had finally stopped and listened to the reason why he had left the inn last night.
Now, he had to find an excuse to leave them for a while and take his symbologist ranking test.
A shadow blocked the sun as Mitsy lowered herself toward him, balancing playfully on one leg like a flamingo. Her hands were crossed over behind her back and she tilted her head inquisitively.
“You’ve got a strange look in your eyes, Dollar,” Mitsy said. “Are you planning on running back to the guild and checking those missions that you’ve got access to now?”
“Is this the part where you tell me not to get greedy just because I got a single badge?” Dollar asked.
“Please, I know you by now. Be as greedy as you can. Just make sure to do it safely,” she looked at Grisham and poked out her tongue. “Hey, old man, any advice for the new adventurer?”
“Avoid bloodlust,” Grisham grunted. “Those people die faster. Let’s go.”
“Hang on,” Mitsy said. “I want to have a one-on-one talk with the kid to congratulate him. Mushy and emotional stuff, you wouldn’t understand.”
Subtle, Mitsy, Dollar thought.
Clearly, she wanted to talk to him in private.
Grisham didn’t believe his daughter for a second, but when Dollar gave him a thumbs up behind Mitsy’s back the man shrugged and turned around.
“Don’t kill him,” the magician grunted. “Meet at the market.”
“Yeah, yeah, he’ll be fine,’ Mitsy waved her hand dismissively. “I’m so good at protecting others that I could get a [babysitter] class if I wanted to.”
Even Bill didn’t believe that lie, the grec oinked in mirth, thinking her words were a joke.
Dollar wasn’t sure what she wanted to talk about, but he had an inkling. Once Grisham was gone, Mitsy lowered herself to his eye-level, gripping his cheeks in her hands and holding him firm.
“You’re squishing my face,” Dollar said.
“Listen,” Mitsy ignored him, “you’ve learned a symbol. Maybe more if what I saw inside the guild was what I think it was.”
Dollar didn’t refute her words. She knew as well as he did that he had used the haste symbol to fight back against her attacks. She also wasn’t the type to try and exploit or blackmail him about the information. He was sure about that.
