I got out of my bed with the usual stretch and headed to the bathroom to splash some water on my face, to get my mind up and running. Putting on my clothes; a simple gray tunic and black pants, I fixed myself up in the mirror. In doing so, I caught the reflection of my furry companion still dozing and dreaming away.

“Wake up, Rye,” I called, as I strapped my dagger to my side. “We have to head to the adventurers guild. I told you that last night.”

This got a twitch from him and he slowly rose his head. “Can’t we go later?” he asked, as he gave a sluggish feline lick to one of his paws.

I opened the door to my bedroom ready to leave, “Zeph said they only give assessment dates and sign-ups out in the morning. You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. Just don’t do anything stupid while I'm gone.”

Rye finally hopped up from my bed a trotted his way out the door, “No, I think I’ll go with.”

Over these past four years, Rye had grown. His fur was still the bright orange and striped black it always was, but now went up to my mid-thigh, which was impressive considering I had grown a fair amount too.

This being the case, though, I always made him reside in my mana core when I went out. I didn’t want him casually walking by my side out in public. Even if I was at the normal age of awakening now, people still threw me odd looks and Rye’s somewhat flamboyant pallet of bright orange didn’t help in this matter.

He himself loved the attention, and always didn't miss the chance to soak in it. So when I gave him the word to go incorporeal, he let out a pouting sigh.

‘You’re so anti-social, Fal. How do you think Lina would feel if she knew you always kept me hidden from the world?’

‘This is not up for debate,’ I responded, my face deadpan, ‘And Lina would understand my reasonings.’

I felt Rye stick out his tongue to rebuke what I was saying.

He and the energetic princess took a strong liking to each other when they met four years ago on another one of my visits to the castle with Zeph. His long sleeping periods were very random back then, and I couldn’t predict when he would wake up. Unluckily for me, Rye decided to wake up and hop out of my body when I was with the princess. I can still remember her expression, and looking back on it now, it was quite funny. Fortunately, we were alone and she was the only one who had found out. She had asked a lot of questions and I had to end up telling her the whole story of how I awakened at such an early age. She promised not to tell, and seemingly, she didn’t.

As I reached for the front door of the mansion the communication bracelet Verla had given me so long ago enter my view. It seemed so word and old now, compared to when I first got it.

The last time we came in contact, she mentioned she would be enrolling in the academy this year. She sounded sad when I mention I wouldn't be enrolling until another year or so, but It couldn’t be helped.

“Heading out?” An all to the recognizable voice asked, swaying me from my thoughts.

Turning toward the owner of the voice, who was walking down the stairs lazily and still in his sleeping robe, I said, “Yeah, wish me luck.”

Zeph laughed, “I will.” continuing to walk down the stairs, he motioned outside, “I have a carriage prepared for you, I not as cruel as to make you walk.”

Opening the front door, I saw a carriage at the front gate awaiting my arrival, “That’ll save me a lot of time. Thank you.”

“No problem, brat, but I wouldn’t get used to it. Your one-on-one training is now officially over, and you'll be on your own from here on out. This is a time thing and you’ll have to find your own way around the kingdom from now on.”

“Gee, thanks for your…generosity,” I said stalely.

He laughed again as he nudged me out the door, “As I said, It’s no problem, brat. Now get going, and for your uncle's sake, be safe.”

Not even a second later I heard the doors shut behind me. Someone must have things to do.

Walking to the carriage, I got in and relaxed on the ride to the Vintess guild's main branch. I had a lot of things to do and now I needed my own transportation, so I also had a lot of money to make.

Arriving at the guild I saw many people going in and out. Due to the recent influx of adventurers these past four years, this type of activity became the norm.

Getting out of the carriage I headed to the front entrance, from there I was greeted with a pretty hefty waiting line. As I stood there waiting for time to pass I observed the people around me.

The recent price drops really did make things quite diverse.

All over the kingdom, in all guilds, the admittance fee to become an adventurer dropped. This allowed many people who could never become adventurers due to the price, to become one, That is, if they saved up and passed the assessment for a rank.

Peaking to the front of the line I saw armored veterans, new commoners, nobles, and even some Vintess academy students who wore their uniforms as if were a trophy.

This many people who are skilled in mana, I could only grin at the thought.

As the line moved forward, I finally made it to a receptionist's desk.

“What can the guild help you with today, young lad?” the receptionist asked, a smile on his face.

“I would like to enroll as an adventurer,” I said simply

The man's smile faded a little as he looked me up and down, “You look a little young, are you sure you don't want to wait a few more years, kid?”

My brow twitched ever so faintly. “I'm sure. How much will it be?”

He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but eventually gave in, “It’ll be seven silver coins.”

I pulled out a sack of coins from my spatial ring and handed the man seven silvers.

I had a bit more than ten slivers with a few iron and copper coins in there, but seven silvers was still a huge dent in my savings.

If the prices are like this now, it would make sense why there weren't as many adventures before the price dropped.

He then handed me a ticket, “Go down the fifth hall and enter room E3. The introduction starts in ten minutes”

Shaking my head, I made my way to room E3. Entering the room, I saw an auditorium-like elevated seating area looking down on a stage. The seats weren’t filled up, but they still held a good sum of people. Walking up to take a seat I tried to sit somewhere where there weren't too many people.

Me sitting away from people, though, didn’t hide their off looks and curiosity.

Looking up I saw a group of teens, looking directly at me, smirking a laughing. To my left and further in the back, I noticed a lone woman, her arms crossed, and a curious glint in her eye. There were others, but I didn’t bother to look anymore intently.

The groups of teens caught my eye because some in their group wore Vintess uniforms. I didn’t know why they wore them to the adventurers guild or anything, but having them was a sign of their knowledge skills.

But the woman in the back also caught my eye because, I couldn't gauge her strength, which meant her mana core was a good few stages higher than mine.

My side eye observance of the woman was interrupted, though, as Rye’s voice rang in my mind. ‘Looks like some people want to introduce themselves, Fal.’

Turning my head, I saw the group of teens making their way over to me.