A monster.

This man called me an ancient monster.

...

What?

I'm a monster?

"Please don't think I'm stupid...

Most normal people would struggle to even reach level 200 in their entire lifetime.

And the highest level recorded in history was just above 3000.

Which was one of the other ancient monsters."

Dumbfounded, I stare at him and he stares back at me.

"For a small kid like you to get that high of a level is simply not possible.

It means you are some ancient monster, who took on the form of a beastkin girl."

A monster...huh?

Over the few days I have been with other people, I found out that I was indeed quite irregular.

It's true, that I don't remember who or what I was before I got stuck in that dungeon...

I don't have a proof I wasn't some monster.

Except for that dream...

But I don't even know what that dream means.

...

It seems I have been making scary face again when thinking.

The woman standing behind the guildmaster is completely pale and is trembling nonstop.

Even the guildmaster has some sweat drops running down his face.

...

"...I don't know...who I am...

...but...

...I have looked like this...as long as I can remember..."

"As long as you can remember huh...

Just how old-"

The man was about to ask me something, but the woman behind him grabbed his shoulder.

When he looked at her she violently shook her head.

How old am I...?

Feldo said normal people count their age by years.

But I didn't even count days in the dungeon.

I couldn't.

There was no sun and no day cycle.

"...didn't count...my age..."

"That's right...sorry for being rude.

I won't ask anymore personal questions."

"...it's fine..."

It's not like I would get angry at something like that.

"But...there is one thing I have to confirm."

His eyes turned serious and full of resolution.

But at the same time, there is even more fear in them.

"What is your goal?

Do you mean harm to us?

Are you...humanity's enemy?"

I don't mean any harm...

But I can't tell them my goals.

Otherwise, I will fail.

"...no...

...can't tell you...my goal...

...but I'm not hostile...if you aren't hostile..."

Upon hearing that, he closes his eyes while sighing in relief.

Then he looks at me before making a light bow.

"I will do my best to not incur your wrath."

...

It's not like I will blow up this town if you anger me.

Why is everyone so terrified of me?

"...why...are you so afraid?"

"...huh?"

I glance at the woman and she quickly shrinks back.

"...I don't mean harm...

...Why does everyone fear me...so much..."

The guildmaster looks at me a bit surprised.

"Well...it's mainly because of your huge mana reserve.

I can sense mana inside others.

And yours is...overwhelming."

My mana?

...

I never learned how to suppress it, did I?

But that still doesn't make sense...

Sometimes people weren't afraid at all until I looked into their eyes.

"And it's also...your eyes."

...huh?

"Experienced people can read a lot from just looking into the eyes of someone.

But for you...one probably doesn't even need to be experienced.

Just looking into your eyes makes me feel terror.

I have looked into eyes of many people, but you...

For you, killing is as easy as breathing.

And you seem to have...met death quite a lot...

It made me even more sure, that you are an immortal ancient monster."

Eyes huh...

You can read that much just by looking at my eyes?

I didn't even say anything about dying.

But immortal huh...

"immortal...

...I guess...I am immortal...huh?"

Oh...I think I accidentally murmured it out loud.

"So you really are...

Ah sorry, I said I wouldn't invade into your personal matters."

"Well, let's move on.

You wanted to register as an adventurer, right?"

"...yeah..."

"Well, I won't deny you this opportunity, but there will be a few complications..."

Complications?

"You see...normally, you start at rank G and climb through the ranks as you complete quests.

F, E, D, C, B, A and then finally S.

However...

There is a special case rank reserved for ancient monsters like you."

...What?

"Ancient monsters...like me?"

"Ah sorry, you don't know what an ancient monster means, right?

Well basically, we classify anything or anyone above level 1000 to be an ancient monster.

In the past, there have only been two elves, who managed to breach the level 1000 in their lifetime.

And they both happened to be registered adventurers.

The first one was initially rank S...

But it became obvious to anyone, that he could easily overpower all the other rank S adventurers without any effort if he felt like it.

And so, the adventurer's guild created rank X just for him.

Later, another elf also reached level 1000 and was granted this rank as well.

And from then on, the adventurer's guild decided to grant rank X to anyone at level 1000 or higher.

So that's that."

"And as for you...

A rank X adventurer appearing out of nowhere is quite a big deal...

I will need to contact the main branch and inform them about this.

Until I get the authorization, I can't grant you the rank..."

So it's like that...

I guess it makes sense?

"So for now we can issue you a regular rank G adventurer's card.

Or would you rather wait to get rank X right away?

If we were to give you rank G right away, you could accept rank G and F quests.

I assume those wouldn't mean much to you.

But just by having this card, we could verify your identity, so I recommend getting one anyway."

Hmm...

It's not like it's a big difference whether I get one now or later.

"...sure"

"Alright then, Claudia, take care of the registration please."

"E-eh? M-me?"

As he calls out to woman behind him, she starts panicking.

But soon she calms herself down and replies.

"L-leave it to me!"

"Alright then...

Thanks for your time miss Reiza.

If you need something, feel free to come to me."

"...thanks"

And just like that, we said goodbye and I followed the woman back outside the room and then downstairs.

When I walk back down, I look around and find Feldo and the others sitting near a table.

He notices me and comes up to me.

"Hey...umm, how did it go?"

"...no problem..."

"O-oh? Is that so? That's good."

After that, I walk up to the counter with the woman behind it.

She presents me with strange see-through card and tells me to put a little of my mana inside it.

I do as I am told and the card instantly changes color from see-through to white.

After that, I give her the card back and she puts it on that tablet thing.

It shines and she once again looks above it as if there was something.

She then asks a few questions such as my name, race and age.

I answer what I know and shortly after that, the card is returned to me.

She starts explaining some things regarding adventurers, but suddenly someone enters the building with a bang.

"E-emergency!

There is some huge monster coming from the sea!

It's about to attack this city!

Can anyone-"

I don't let him finish and run up to him.

"Which way?!"

"E-eh? It's at the docks, but..."

The docks, I know where these are.

"H-hey wait!"

I disregard him and run outside aiming for the docks.

Damn, I almost forgot my true purpose here.

I'm supposed to protect this place from a monster.

There was no monster so I let my guard down.

What's wrong with me?

I never let my guard down.

Running as fast as I can, the people walking in the streets start getting in my way.

[Phantom presence]

After activating it, my path is open.

I even start using air magic at my feet to speed up.

Soon, I can see it.

The monster.

It's big round monster with 'arms' similar to the ogre back in the water cave.

Those things, I found out, are called tentacles.

It has one big eye in the middle of its head.

And the entire monster is almost as big as the colossal spider back in the dungeon.

There are some people on the docks shooting ice magic at it, but it doesn't seem to be very effective.

While approaching, I start gathering mana in my left hand and draw my sword with my right hand.

[Fire dart]

A quick fiery projectile flies from my hand and hits the monster right in its eye.

But it doesn't pierce through.

The monster roars in pain and the people, who were fighting it turn around at me.

Soon after that, they fall on their rear and drop their weapons.

...I'm still using phantom presence.

I should turn it off, it doesn't seem to be working on the monster anyway.

After turning it off, I jump in front of the people and gather mana in my sword.

I raise the sword up high and swing it down.

[Phantom annihilation]

My view is split in two.

The monster is separated into two cleanly cut halves and the water parts, creating waves on both sides going outward.

I relax and look at the terrified people around me, when suddenly I notice something.

The two halves of the monster are merging together again.

Is that a slime?

I can't defeat it like this then...

Cutting my finger, I draw a line of blood on my sword while gathering mana.

At about the same time the monster successfully merges I swing my sword and release my spell.

[Hell serenade]

A huge mass of dark red flames gush out and envelop the entire thing.

Once again I hear a painful roar as the flames devour the monster.

The screams almost instantly subside and the view slowly clears up.

What can be seen now are just chunks of that monster's burning flesh floating on the surface of the water.

Is it dead?

I cannot tell for sure yet.

That's why I still stay on guard.

"Miss Reiza!"

I hear a voice behind me and turn around.

It's the guildmaster.

What is he doing here?

And why does he look even more nervous now?

"Umm...did you...defeat it?"

He looks over to the sea, which was dyed red with the monster's blood and timidly asks me.

"...don't know...if it's dead..."

"N-no, I think it's fine...

You blew it to bits.

Those mammoth squids often appear here.

They aren't that hard to defeat with regular ice magic...

What you did to it...definitely killed it."

...

Wait a second.

Often appear?

That wasn't the monster I was supposed to defeat?

Status screen: Open

I open the status screen and switch to quests.

But the quest is still in 'Current quests'...

It's not completed.

...

That wasn't it...

Then what is the monster I'm supposed to defeat?

Where is it?

Bonus:

How is all the magic and the spells sorted?

There is a scale on how good you are at a given element, that's generally agreed upon by humans.

I will use fire magic in these examples.

Beginner - the ability to spark small flames, enough to light a campfire.

Intermediate - the ability to create standard fireballs, enough to be used in combat.

Advanced - the ability to create more powerful or complex spells such as fire lance or inferno.

Expert - this is the level your average magician will be able to reach in his life. Spells like flame guard and supernova fall into this category.

Master - the absolute mastery over an element. Generally, only some ancient monsters are able to reach this level.

This applies to the basic elements of fire, earth, air, water, ice, darkness, light, etc.

But there are also some higher tiered elements such as blood or lightning.

For those elements, even the simplest spells can be as difficult to perform and be as powerful as some advanced level spells of a normal element.

That's why, even if someone uses intermediate lightning magic, it can be on par with an expert level fire spell.

Lastly, there are combination elements.

These are even more high level than the higher tiered elements.

Generally only private royal magicians or rank A adventurers specialized in magic can use one.

Our main protagonist uses two of them, phantom and hell.

And both of them are especially high level.

If I say both phantom annihilation and armageddon are just advanced level spells, will you believe me?

"Man, isn't that rude?

He just called our cute little girl 'an ancient monster'!

I don't even care she fulfills all the criteria for it!

Being rude is being rude!"