A Transcender's Guide To Another World 21 Chapter 21: Choosers

I accepted his insult with grace. I am, indeed a coward - a smart one who knows he could barely stand against a Gold-rank adventurer in his top form, let alone with a half-recovered shoulder. I probably could've materialized my soulblade through him like I did to the bandit chief and instkill Gallagher, but to do that, it'll require me to suffer through some whoop-a.s.s that's severe enough for him to let his guard down. Morality aside, killing an examiner and a fellow adventurer with my greatest a.s.set? I guess I'll just have to give up and accept the lowest starting rank for now.

Seeing as I don't intend to change my mind, he uncrossed his arms and walked straight out the combat hall. Only then, did I finally managed to loosened up. I turned to where Lia and her examiner was, and headed there to watch. They had propped up the unconscious adventurer in a way so that he sat leaning against the wall. Lia took his arm, finding a vein and putting her two fingers against it. She closed her eyes and a bluish light suddenly glowed from the point of contact. She then pumped magic through it, causing the adventurer to glow slightly. Seemingly having an epiphany, she opened her eyes. From her stachel, she took out a small blade resembling a scalpel and sliced opened the man's shirt then placed her palms on his abdomen. She began pumping magic again, this time the glow only appeared on the localized area where he was struck. Over the next few minutes, the complexion of the adventurer steadily improved. Until he abruptly jerked and coughed out a lump of congealed blood. Only after then did Lia stopped and wiped the sweat of her forehead, "Done."

The clerk did the same thing as Lia, using his fingers to probe the lad.

Finished with his diagnosis, he adjusted his gla.s.ses in disbelief, "I know that the church has invested many resources to train their Priestesses in healing magic, and I'm also familiar with a few of them from my days of service, but still…"

"I'm sorry, I really tried my best to heal him, I just…" Lia said dejectedly.

"Oy, I get it that she might've failed to fulfil your expectations, but do you really have to go that far just to put her down?" I unhappily chastised him.

"It's okay, Mike. It's only because-" she sniffled.

"What? No! I'm sorry, but that's not what I meant," he quickly interjected. "You're actually great! The speed of which you diagnosed and healed his internal injuries are way beyond my expectations. Not even the Priestesses I've know could've pulled off such a feat!"

"Eh? Are you saying that she's actually some sort of healing prodigy?" I asked.

"Yeah, and the ones I'm acquainted with are the higher ranked ones!"

I turned to Lia and found her staring at the ground, embarra.s.sed of the candid praises she received earlier.

"Do you mind me asking you personal a question, Miss Liarelle?" the clerk said.

"Yes. What is it?"

"Why did you, despite being such a talented Priestess decide to become an Adventurer? And even if you did actually decided to renounce your faith and dissociate from the church, you should've been able to live wealthily with the talent you have."

"I'm technically.. still… not a priestess yet…"

"Huh?" the clerk speculated for a moment before asking again. "A trial, then?"

"Yes."

"I see," he nodded in understanding.

"So what's her initial rank gonna be?" I curiously asked.

"Judging by ability alone, she's actually on par with a Gold-rank adventurer in terms of sheer talent. Unfortunately, according to the guild's rule, the highest starting rank any adventurer could receive is Silver. Thus, in accordance of that, I have decided to confer Adventurer Liarelle with the initial rank of Silver."

Me and Lia's looked at each other and smiled contently.

"Uhhh…" we heard a low groan and noticed the lad beginning to rouse. We all looked at him and the clerk continued, "Anyway, congratulations for your remarkable achievement, the administrations will be processed immediately. As for the tags, it'll be done by tomorrow morning, so be sure to stop by and retrieve it and you can begin accepting requests shortly after. Ah, also, my name is Norton, feel free to look for me or any other clerk if there's anything you need regarding requests."

"Let's take a look at the request boards."

"Sure," Lia agreed.

We browsed along the boards and read some of the requests..

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Hunting Request: Greater Tusked-Pigs

Summary: Eliminate a horde of Greater Tusked-Pigs that's been damaging property and crops around the fields of Canta Town

Requirements: None

Rewards: 5 Coppers/head

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Escort Request: Salimba City

Summary: Escort a group of merchants to Salimba City

Requirements: 4-5 Silver-rank Adventurers

Rewards: 2 Gold each

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Extermination Request: Halindale Village

Summary: Suspected Goblin den in a nearby cave.

Requirements: Copper-rank Adventurers, minimum 9 people - Silver-Rank Adventurers, minimum 5 people - No females

Rewards: 10 Gold

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Guard Request: Sappo Town

Summary: Protect the townsfolk from beast attacks as they repair their irrigation system

Requirements: Iron-rank Adventurers, minimum 5 people

Rewards: 8 Coppers/day, meals and lodging included

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Hunting Request: Green Wyvern

Summary: Hunt down a Green Wyvern that's been picking off livestock around Nolan's Hill

Requirements: Platinum-rank Adventurers, no minimum - Gold-rank Adventurers, minimum 3 people

Rewards: 40 Gold

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Search Request: Missing Person - Urgent

Summary: Last seen at Canta Town. Refer to counter for details

Requirements: None

Rewards: 50 Gold

====================

We've checked out some of the requests posted on the boards. It seems being a Copper-rank Adventurer is the minimum requirement in order to be able to accept any decent request. But losers can't be choosers, so I'll accept any request I can. I need to start earning money, fast. The coins I have with me right now would only be able to last me for another few days before having to ask Lia to loan me some. Which I wanted to avoid at all cost. I made a mental note on the requests I should take for tomorrow and decided to hang around the guild for a while. Who knows I might learn a thing or two by listening. Lia on the other hand, decided to head back to the inn. She wanted to brew some potions out of the ingredients we acquired back at the shop earlier today. I bought myself a drink and took a seat on the bench. I began listening, sifting for any important keywords.

A few hours later, the amounts of adventurer eventually dwindled and I headed back to the inn. I went to Lia's room to check on her and found out that she had brewed a few vials of potion. She pa.s.sed me one to see and I studied it curiously. The liquid displayed a strange kind of property, so unlike the kinds I've seen before. It's texture was somewhere between liquid and solid, not be mistaken as liquid sand, but something different. Something alive. I turned to Lia and asked her about it and she told me that potion-brewing is actually a branch of a practice called Alchemy, where magic is used in order to alter some of the chemical compositions of the ingredients and rearrange it to create something entirely new. Hearing Lia's explanation about it somehow made me feel kinda useless due to my inability to use magic. As if having read my mind, Lia suddenly offered to teach me how to make some potions that doesn't require the use of magic. I smiled at her and gratefully accepted her offer. She spent the whole night teaching me about the basics of potioneering. Finished with her lessons, we bid goodnight to each other. I headed back to my room to sleep. Tomorrow, our adventure begins.

[Author's Note]

h.e.l.lo there, Kane here.

Right now, I'm using the Author's Thought for the first time today in order to notify you that I won't be able to update my story for a few days since I'll be heading to the mountains in order to raise my cultivation in seclusion.

Okay, no. I'll actually be going on a vacation. On the mountains. Yeah, that part is real.

But fear not, for I will resume updating it as soon as I return to the realm of mortals.

As for the story, I had originally planned for Mike to settle with Darius, Telara, and Alan as his main party. Unfortunately, due to the existence of natural phenomenon called "the writer's block," I was forced to separate Mike from them and venture forth as he a.s.sembles his own party (with Lia, of course.)

Didn't regret it though, at some point it ended up making things more interesting as it allows Mike to encounter more characters, and for the relationship between Mike and Lia to grow.

I guess some of you have already noticed, but my chapters are painfully short compared to most stories on the platform. But you'll have to forgive me for that, since the reason I originally decided to write this story on Webnovel is mostly to improve my writing speed in the first place. Nothing sparks creativity in an author more than having a bunch of angry readers threatening to track down his IP address in order to kidnap him as their personal writing slave due to slow updates.

Anyway, thanks for following my story so far. I hope that you'll continue to support me with your power stones. But don't worry, if I actually do managed to collect all six of them, I'll make sure to remember those who had voted for me by the time I snap my fingers.

Cheers to you all! Wish me luck on the trip and pray that I don't accidentally die in a horrific accident over there. Writing about another world is one thing, but actually transcending into one? Yeah, you read my story, you should get my point.

Q: This isn't the Author's Thought section?

A: Yeah it isn't, the Author's Thought only allows me to post up to 500 characters (not words), so f*ck 'em. I do what I want.