"So what does Copper Rank mean exactly?" Alex asked, now back inside the guild building.

  Baratol hummed and asked, "You don't know much about adventuring, do you? Haah, here, let me explain." Baratol stood up from his seat and went to a desk, picking something up before returning to sit.

  "This," he motioned to a piece of paper he picked up with pictures and symbols on it—each symbol was colored starting from copper, then bronze, then silver, then gold, and lastly, sitting alone at the top, completely separated from the rest, a symbol with a pitch-black color, "is the ranking system we use." He then pointed towards the bottom to the copper symbol. "This is you. You're a Rank One Copper-ranked adventurer. As you grow in strength, you'll rise in rank from Copper One all the way to Copper Five, then onto the next tier, which is Bronze. This repeats through all the ranks until Gold Rank."

  Alex listened to Baratol's explanation. He then realized that Baratol had missed one of the rankings. "What about that one? Why didn't you mention that?" Alex pointed towards the pitch-black symbol.

  Baratol laughed a little at this—it wasn't meant to be offensive or rude, simply surprised. "That is not reachable through normal means. You're chosen for that rank; one can't ascend to it."

  Alex, looking at the symbol, merely hummed, not caring particularly. He then asked the main question on his mind. "Well... about the accommodations I asked that Taria lady about..."

  Baratol smiled. His aged face, sunken eyes, dark brown hair, and patchy beard seemed somewhat out of place with that smile. "Yes, yes... we have contracts with many inns across the world. This helps adventurers, especially those without homes, to continue working remotely anywhere by giving them a discount on their stay at said inns. Here, take this." Baratol handed Alex two items. One was a copper badge—Alex guessed this was his guild badge, made from the same material as his rank. It had the same symbol the guild building had on its entrance: a shield guarding a sword, bow, and staff. The other item was a piece of parchment with writing on it. He opened it, and after a few moments of focusing, he knew what it said—the letters, unrecognizable at first, changed in his mind to something he knew.

  "Take this to the nearby Grazed Rock Inn and hand it to the owner. He'll give you the usual discount. Welcome to the Adventurers Guild, fellow adventurer. If you ever need help with something or have questions, you can ask us anytime. It's our job to help you grow and become the best possible adventurer you can be," Baratol said, his tone genuine. Alex had the feeling that Baratol was the type of person to wear his heart on his sleeve.

  Alex nodded and said, "Thanks for everything... I don't actually have any, uh, coins, so I'm not sure how to pay for the inn. So I was thinking of taking this job here." He handed Baratol the quest for picking wild plants and herbs for the apothecary.

  Baratol looked at it and nodded. "I see. Very well, you go on then. I'll tell Taria to put the quest on your record. Ahh, right—don't forget to take your starter equipment. You're a mage, right? Make sure you take at least a wand or staff, and of course, the three potions. They're not very good, but hey, it's free!" He smiled as he escorted Alex out of his office.

  Somewhere far, far away...

  "My lord... we have come to fight under your banner," said a kneeling figure wearing armor of golden color. Their arms were far too skinny to be human, same with their legs and neck. The kneeling figure looked up at a standing figure. They looked at their golden, oddly shaped eyes like they were stars... their grey ashen skin and white hair were very striking. The standing figure looked down with gentle eyes and said, "I... am not your lord... merely a walking wraith." The figure held out a hand to the armored kneeling figure, who took the hand and stood up.

  "You say that... yet you look just like him... like our king... and you helped free us. We wish to fight to get our revenge. Please, allow us to fight alongside you," the armored figure said as they bowed, only to be stopped by the golden-eyed figure.

  "Don't bow to me... or to anyone. I am no one's lord or superior. If you wish to follow after me, then do so as my equal. However, my goal will not include the shedding of innocent blood. Are you okay with that?" It wasn't truly a question. As the golden-eyed person walked away, the armored figure huffed and looked back towards an approaching army—thousands of monsters from giants the size of small mountains to "demons"... and as she looked at them, she saw not their strength or majesty, only the shackles that were still attached to their hands and knees.

  Only the scars on their bodies... only the anguish in their faces. "She" raised her hand and pointed towards the golden-eyed figure's back as if saying, Follow the leader.

  "I have surprisingly good memory in this body... I'd say it might almost be photographic. Or maybe not having ADHD is just that much easier... whatever. This should be enough, right? This is like a full sack of herbs and wild plants... wonder what they're used for," Alex said as he looked at his collection of plants. He still had time—the sun was still in the sky and wasn't going to go down anytime soon. He thought about what to do, then: "Ah, right, I got this wand, right? I should see what it does..."

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He took out a small wooden wand with oddly shaped carvings on it.

  He pointed it at his hand, which held a broken piece of stick alongside some dry grass he found. He then did the very same thing he did when making a fireball. He felt the power going to the wand, which started warming up just a bit... only nothing happened. He scrunched his brows and pushed more energy into it... and more... but nothing.

  "Something's happening... but why can't I release the spell? Hmm," he questioned himself. Then he had an idea.

  "What if it's like a dam or something... I have to open the door for it so it can get out. Maybe wands are used to hold magic, then release it with more firepower and safety... if so, then how do I open the door?" Alex thought about this as he held the wand, which still held power in it. He pointed it at a nearby tree, foregoing the dry sticks and grass and only using his magic. He thought about the way to open this "door" and had one idea: incantation.

  "Fireball..." Nothing yet. He was sure he was on the right track. He thought about it some more and had another idea. He closed his eyes for a moment and imagined a door in front of him. He held the doorknob in his hand... and twisted it... then pushed the door open. In reality, he only twisted the wand and pointed it forward... and thankfully this seemed to do the trick.

  Soon the stored energy in the wand coalesced in front of its tip and formed into a ball of flame the size of a coconut. He concentrated on making it more impactful. He made it smaller while using the same amount of energy as before... and then spun the ball. Now the fireball was the size of a marble, yet the power he felt from it was far stronger than the previous, bigger fireball. He released the spell and it whizzed past the tree. He missed... yet a few seconds later, a loud boom was heard.

  "...OH CRAP... WHAT IF I STARTED A FOREST FIRE? ALEX, YOU MORON! WHY DID YOU THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? I DON'T KNOW, I WAS JUST FOLLOWING MY INSTINCTS!" he criticized himself as he ran towards the location of the boom and saw... that thankfully, it hit a small clearing in the forest. Then, upon closer inspection, it seemed the fireball he cast had hit a rock and broken a chunk off of it. He smiled... and sat on the ground.

  "That's... so freaking cool!!! God, that's so cool! Magic! It's real!!" He pumped his fists in the air, one still holding the wand. He then thought, "I should give my spells a name... make them more unique. Hmm... how about Flame Marble? Hmm, no, that's terrible. How about Fire Bullet! Yeah, that's good for now. And the previous spell can be something like... Flame Spirit, since it's weaker..."

  He thought for a moment about all the possibilities of magic and how to best utilize it. And soon, he felt thirsty... which gave him an even better idea than fire.

  "...Water... can I do that?..." He raised his wand and, much like before, thought about what water was: the ocean, oxygen, and hydrogen. And so he opened his eyes after twisting and opening the "door"... yet... nothing. He felt there was power being released, yet it didn't form into anything.

  "Guess I don't really know as much about water, do I? Shame." Alex sighed and stood up, stretching his arms. He then started the long walk back to the guild through the town.

  Once Alex made it back to the guild, he found Taria and said, “Here, this is for the quest. Did Baratol tell you about it?”

  Taria looked at him with a smile and raised an eyebrow.

  “Haha, no hello or hi, how are you doing? Straight to business, huh? Mr. Alex, you’re certainly interesting,” she laughed.

  Alex looked confused. (Did... did I do something wrong?) His expression must have shown it, because Taria laughed even harder.

  “Ahhh, I needed that. Anyway, yes, this should do as proof. Congratulations on completing your first quest! Here’s your reward—eight sol, just for you. Don’t spend it unwisely. Oh, and if you want, we can hold on to it for you. You can withdraw it later, but we can only store up to five thousand kon per adventurer. That’s our maximum.”

  Alex looked at her and asked, “Sol? Kon?”

  He guessed they were coin names but had no clue what they meant or how much they were worth.

  Taria seemed to be holding back tears from laughing too hard at his innocent confusion. After a few seconds, she composed herself and, with great effort not to laugh again at Alex’s odd expression, explained:

  “Those are the names of our coins. It goes like this: sol is the lowest-ranked one—it’s a copper coin. If you get a hundred sol, it becomes a poli, which is bronze. Fifty poli becomes a kon, and then ten kon becomes a wari. It’s kind of like how the guild ranks work. In fact, the ranking system was inspired by the coins in the first place.”

  She smiled, adding, “You’re really from far away not to know this, huh? Sorry for laughing—it’s just, with your face and expression... Never mind. It’s rare to see someone so expressive.”

  Alex decided to ignore that last part and asked one more question. “The names of the coins—why those names? Why not just call them by the material?”

  Taria nodded and replied, “Well, they’re named after important historical figures. Sol was the name of the first queen of the previous empire here. Her name was the only thing that survived from that period of history. Poli was a blacksmith who discovered bronze. Kon was a legendary warrior who slew the evil god a thousand years ago, and Wari is the name of the current empire—the Wari Empire, ruled by Emperor Regad Wari. There, that should do for an impromptu history lesson.”

  She smiled again. “Well, have a good day. And if you see the owner of the Grazed Rock Inn, tell him I said hi.”

  Alex nodded and sighed as he walked away. As he exited the building and started looking for the inn Baratol mentioned, the only thing on his mind was: (What’s wrong with my facial expressions? What did she mean by ‘too expressive’?)

  Lost in thought, he accidentally bumped into something—or rather, someone—and fell to the ground. The “something” turned out to be a person who immediately said:

  “Oh, my apologies, young lady! Here, please let me help you up. My name is Vert Grimmhold. May I have the name of this lovely maiden?”

  Vert had taken Alex’s hand, bowed, and kissed it.

  Alex looked at him and swore he could feel the overwhelming “fuckboy” energy radiating off Vert. He got an idea, leaned in with a sly smile, and said,

  “My sword’s bigger than yours.”

  Vert blinked, confused. “Sword? What sword are you talking about, my lady? You’re not even carrying a swor—”

  He froze as realization dawned on him. His grip loosened, and he stepped back, horrified.

  He looked at his hand, then at Alex. Then at his hand again.

  As if he had just touched a dangerous monster.

  Alex kept smiling. Vert couldn’t believe his eyes.

  How can a man look so... so...

  (I'M NOT GAY. I'M NOT. I'M NOT. I'M NOT, I SWEAR I'M NOT.)

  Vert turned and ran.