“Oh, you’re back. How was it,” Genise asked as she spotted Ralf and Jeff’s approach.
Ralf flashed a smile while throwing a thumbs-up in response, which Genise couldn’t help but smile at.
“I see. That’s good. Though, you still have ten minutes left of the session. Did you empty out your Psi reserves?”
“Huh...” The question baffled Ralf for a second, it was just that crazy to him. After collecting himself, he continued. “...oh no, it wasn’t that. I just feared growing too strong too quickly.”
“Too strong,” Genise raised a brow.
Ralf nodded then tapped the shoulder of a still contemplating Jeff and said, “Jeff here is something else.”
“He is?”
“I am?”
Both Genise and Jeff released outbursts of surprise. Ralf addressed them both, starting with Genise, saying, “Yes he is,” before turning to Jeff and saying, “you don’t have to be so humble teacher, remember my words about the diamond in the dark.”
“Uh, yes,” Jeff answered, still a bit confused.
Ralf nodded regardless before turning to the entranceway. “When I walked in through these doors, only an hour earlier, I was a complete novice, I could barely tie my shoelaces with telekinesis…but now, after Jeff’s lesson, I dare say I’m Hunter-level.”
“Hunter-level!”
This time it wasn’t only Genise that was flabbergasted, the other Adventurers at the bar on the side, who had been paying attention to the new face, exclaimed loudly at Ralf’s shocking claim.
Ralf bathed in their shocked gazes with a subtle smile on his face. He turned to Genise. “It’s true. It was like a telepathic inheritance session, it was that good, right Jeff,” he said, nudging the other while sending a cheeky wink.
‘Ralf’s really a mischievous one,’ Jeff thought as a smirk crept onto his face. ‘Very well, since you’ve laid out the script so dutifully, I’ll play along.’
Following the thought, Jeff crossed his arms before his chest, and had his head tilt upwards; his entire demeanour immediately shifted into one of unbridled smugness.
“Humbleness is a suit best worn on occasions, I really shouldn’t wear it out. I taught Ralf everything he knows. Ralf’s genius helped things move a bit faster than it would normally, but ultimately his Psi mastery is a product of my impeccable lesson.”
Genise and the other Adventurers hearing this had their faces painted with incredulity.
“Really, you’re Hunter-level…” From the tables, a leather armoured burly Adventurer stood up while saying. “....that’s a big claim kid, and here, big claims require big evidence.” The Adventurer’s Rank 4 Telekinetic Psi slithered out.
“You want proof?”
“Yes,” the Adventurer narrowed his eyes as he voiced.
As this exchange was happening, Genise’s expression rapidly darkened. “Barry, back off. There will be no hazing of new members at this branch.”
Barry’s agitation quickly cooled off as he bore Genise’ glare. The same could be said of those in the surroundings who had a similar intention.
“Genise, it’s alright.”
Genise turned Ralf’s way and her gaze instantly softened up. “It’s not, I won’t allow bullying here.”
Ralf shook his head. “I won’t bully anyone, don’t worry.”
His words caused everyone a moment’s pause.
Ralf continued, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, I completely agree. I made the claim, so I’ll back it up,” he turned to Barry. “Let’s do a friendly spar, the first person to land a scratch on the other, wins. You game?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, the match starts in five four three…”
“We’re doing it here? Fine then.”
“Wait, Ralf?”
Ignoring both Barry and Genise’s words, Ralf continued his countdown. “…two one-”
Swoosh!
Upon finishing his count, Ralf’s figure flickered out of existence…at least this was what Genise saw from her desk. Eyes forcefully shut by the rapid air currents, she quickly flung them open to recapture Ralf’s figure. A second later, she found him. He was now standing at Barry’s front.
‘Huh, what happened?’
Instead of the high-intensity battle she had been expecting, everyone had become incredibly still. Seeing the deep shock carved into Barry and the surrounding Adventurer’s statuesque forms, she knew something incredible had happened. It was only when Ralf turned around and walked back did she finally catch sight of the red line that now decorated Barry’s cheek.
‘He did that to Barry, how?!’ Genise’s mind was completely boggled at the result, and the same could be said of the other Adventurers present. A shocked silence filled the space.
Ralf and Jeff’s exchange quickly shattered it though.
“Teacher, I did as you taught me. What do you think?”
Jeff shook his head. “Ralf, you still have a lot to learn.”
“I do?”
“Yes, plenty. Don’t worry though, I’m here to guide you to the road of perfection.”
“Yes teacher,” Ralf responded respectfully. He then turned back to the stunned Barry. “Enough proof?”
Barry’s lips quivered at the question. He had barely tracked the other’s approach. From his perspective, Ralf had practically teleported over, before conjuring a sword and slashing at him.
The quickness of Ralf’s initial movement had caused him to panic. This prevented him from reacting quick enough to tank the sword slash. In horror, he watched Ralf’s blade approach. He was certain he would die at that moment, but upon crashing into the barrier, the sword dematerialized into fragments which then left a cut on his cheek.
Thinking about the experience and then the person who brought it to life, a deep fear surged in his heart. ‘That was no coincidence. But how could someone this young have such precision.’ Ralf’s earlier claim passed through his head at this moment. ‘Hunter-level, he might actually be. Argh, I can’t afford to draw any more ire, this kid a monster.’
Averting his shaky gaze, Barry said, “No, no need. I’ve seen more than enough evidence.” The Adventurer quickly found his seat. The other Adventurers also rapidly turned to their own tables.
The Adventurers present had keen eyes. They fought monsters regularly and knew that the monster before them wasn’t something they should readily antagonize.
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“Looks like you scared them off”
“Seems like it,” saying lightly, Ralf turned to the counter. Two strides later and he was before it. He made himself comfortable at Genise’s station, plopping forward, resting his elbow on the desk and cheeks in his palms. His eyes glided across the room, taking in the decorations on the walls and ceiling.
Seeing this, Genise’s face shifted into a wry look. “Ralf, you never fail to surprise.”
Ralf shrugged. “I told you to expect it didn’t I.”
“I suppose you did. So,” taking a breath, Genise entered receptionist mode, “what can I do for you Adventurer, Ralf?”
“Adventurer Ralf, that’s sounds nice. Though, a title would be better. Mm, something for the future. Anyway, I have several things I’m looking to get. I need to withdraw some money, buy some regeneration potions, oh and I need a regional map, several actually, and of course, I want to do a mission. Let’s start with the missions.”
“Sure, just give me a few seconds.”
Genise focused inward and passed her request through the telepathic network.
“Okay, everything’s ready. Here you are.” Saying this, Genise had her telepathic Psi engulf Ralf.
‘Ah, this feels exactly like our Mental Link,’ Ralf thought as he felt her Psi latch onto his Mental Domain.
It was weird but painless. A second later, Ralf’s mind was connected to the telepathic network.
‘Oh, so this is the adventure board.’
Upon connecting, an image was projected into his mind. It was that of a wooden board with many pages neatly pinned to it. On these pages, were the details, conditions, and restrictions of individual missions, printed out in clear concise language.
“Where is this image projected from?” Ralf had already toured the entire place and hadn’t come across this board.
“The image’s being relayed from the Popleigh branch. All the Surveyors answer to this branch, and every other branch in the Arrin Dukedom gets their missions from here.”
“Mm, must save a lot of paper with this method.”
“Of course, it’s also the most efficient. Take your time, oh, and the missions marked with red circles are completed missions and those marked with yellow circles are those that have been accepted by other Adventurers, but not yet completed.”
“I see, thanks.” Ralf began skimming through the pages. ‘Most missions can only be done in groups of three or more, they really take safety seriously here. These missions won’t be much fun, guess it can’t be helped, they’re D-Rank after all. No, fun isn’t our objective, focus up. Just choose something and go with it.’
Ralf straightened his posture. “I’ll go with B4.”
“Ralf,” she frowned as her mind’s eye moved over his choices, “that requires at least four participants.”
“It’s fine. You saw it yourself, I’ve become quite strong, that mission will be a walk in the park.”
Seeing the frown remain on Genise’s face, Ralf turned to Jeff and signalled with his eyes.
Jeff took the hint and spoke up. “There’s no need to worry Genise, I can assure you that Ralf won’t have any problem clearing any D-Rank missions. Honestly, it’s below him.”
“You’re not joking around?” Genise asked, her eyes showing that she expected a serious answer.
Jeff moved in close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’m not joking. I went all out in our training session and he mopped the floor with me.”
Genise’s eyes widened.
Jeff pulled back and patted Ralf’s shoulder. “He’s good for it, approve of it will ya.”
“Uh, okay. I’ll trust your judgement.” After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again, “Okay, I’ve locked it in.”
“Good good.”
From there, Genise moved to satisfy his other requests.
“Okay, I’m off the. I’ll be heading out through the back,” Ralf said as he walked off.
Genise and Jeff were confused by his decision but didn’t question it, and instead wished him good luck on his first adventure.
With Ralf’s absence, the branch’s front section entered a strange silence. The Adventurers who were seemingly busy among themselves collectively shifted their gaze to Jeff.
Jeff smiled, he knew this was coming. He walked over to an empty table and sat down. “Raise of hands, who wants to hear something interesting?” At his question, hands shot up to the sky like an obedient kindergarten class.
The reaction pleased Jeff greatly.
“Jeff, stop stalling, tell us already.”
“That was the same Ralf from your story, right? How could he move like that? What did you teach him?”
Questions came flying in as the Adventurers grew more agitated.
Jeff’s smile only grew wider at the rising commotion. After bathing in it for a few seconds, he raised his hand. “No need to be impatient, I’ll start. To explain what happened, we’ll have to rewind a bit…”
What followed was a twenty-minute long account, where Jeff went through each of Ralf’s stories in chronological order before getting to the current topic.
“...and that’s it,” Jeff said as he concluded his words.
What followed was silence- or rather, continued silence. His words had petrified everyone; he had been talking to statues for a while now. ‘Haha, how long will they stay frozen I wonder. I’m not sticking around to find out. I have a job to do.’
Jeff would soon leave the branch and zigzag around town, happily spreading Ralf’s words to all in earshot distance.
The frenzy around the name ‘Ralf Fawkes’ which had been dying down was given a second wind.
Ralf’s multiple personalities, martial and Psi prowess, the Silver Path faction, five-year-long special telepathic inheritance, the Pathers…
These topics were soon buzzing around Ganurg, drawing the attention of many individuals and factions.
Whether this was a good or bad thing, would be answered with the passage of time.