D

After all this time, all this work and all this effort. This is what I get? This has to be a joke, right? But no. It is right there. Plain and simple. I’m a D rank.

I close my eyes in defeat and lower my hands. My fingers don’t even hold on to my card and it falls to the ground. My team mates quickly grab it and look for themselves. I can hear their gasps, including Wendy saying, “Oh no.”

I feel a hand on my shoulder, then I heard Kiara’s voice telling me “Darx, this means nothing.”

“How!” I say angrily. “How does it? Everybody here are B and A ranks and I get this!”

“You still don’t know your class.” Kiara says calmly. “You also still have a skill left. As far as you know it can be a rare skill.”

I know Kiara is just trying to help. She’s a mentor. It’s her job to do so. But this is just ridiculous.

I shake my head at Kiara and simply say, “I don’t want you patronizing me.”

Then I walk away, into the castle, straight towards my room. I just want to be alone for a while.

At first, I sit around wallowing in my misery. Yesterday I find out my girlfriend cheats on me and now this. Maybe I should just give up on being an adventurer and adopt Ryul’s idea of using my newfound water magic to help farmers on the field.

After a while I feel like yelling at Ophelia. She made me feel like I could become a great adventurer who could save her. Instead I became a lousy D.

I lie in my bed and try to fall asleep. Maybe the connection will be strong and I will see her. But it’s no use. The energy I received from when that line shone all around me has me too active. I can’t fall asleep like that. I will go for a walk instead.

I head back to the courtyard. Everybody has left now. They must be at the dining room. It is about that time. But I’m not feeling hungry.

I look around this empty courtyard, the inside of the walls, notice the sky is turning yellow, … I wonder how Riledo looks like from up there.

I walk over to a few guards and ask them, “Hey, you think it might be possible for me to look at the city from on top those walls?”

One of the guards frowns at me and asks, “You’re not trying to sneak out, are you?”

“No, I’m just feeling a bit melancholic.” I say. “I was hoping a view of the capital would help me. I mean, my mom sometimes told me about how beautiful the city was so, I just felt like seeing for myself.”

The 2 guards look at each other. Then one of them says, “As long as we are with him, I guess it’s fine.”

“Alright.” The other guard sighs. “We’ll escort you along the walls.”

The 2 guards walk with me into one of the towers next to the gatehouse and we get up some stairs. Once above, I see a grate which leads to the inside of the gate.

“That’s a **** hole.” The tallest of the guards says. “If we ever get attacked, we can throw boiling water down here.”

“Or arrows.” The other guard adds. “Fireballs too.”

The we walk outside. While standing on top of the gatehouse I look out over the city. First time I see Riledo from a high point like this. I can’t believe how many houses there are. Definitely more than ten times as many as in the village. More than twenty? By the goddess, just how many people live here? Then I remember that so many of them never get their awakening. Of those that do, only a very slim group become A ranks. I suddenly feel very small now, and like an asshole for demanding to be as high ranking as my mother or Leona.

While gazing at the city during near dusk I see a large building up ahead.

“What’s that over there?” I ask the guards. “A mansion?”

“The guards laugh and say, “That’s not a mansion, it’s a hospital. Don’t you see the Knight’s Hospitaler flag above it?”

Now that he mentions it, I do see a white flag with a red cross on top. I guess that’s where the Knights Hospitaler have their guildhall.

“She that other big building there?” The guard continues. “That’s the Midnight Dawn guildhall. Yeah, one of the big three. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll end up there.”

Mom told me the big three usually only recruit B ranks and up. Maybe C ranks, if they have a rare skill. No way my D will ever get me in there.

But wait, didn’t Kiara say the Dark Dragons were in the west of the city? Now that I’m up here, I feel like I should at least see my mom’s old guildhall.

I ask the guards to walk me to the west of the castle walls. Along the way I see a building with a lot of blue flags on it. When I ask about it, the guards tell me that’s the guildhall of the Blue Legion. A little further I see what appears like a tower and ask the guards what that is all about.

“Sorry kid, but that’s a rookery, not a tower.” The guard says.

“Rookery?” I ponder. “Like where carrier pigeons are being stabled?”

“Here in the castle, we have a small one for pigeons, yes.” The other guard says. “That big tower over there is meant for a gryphon.”

My eyes go wide from surprise. “There’s a gryphon in Riledo?”

“Used to be.” The second guard says sadly. “The first guild master of the Gryphon Knights was a Chevalier. It was he who tamed a gryphon and rode it everywhere he went. Even build that rookery just so he wouldn’t have to leave his mount at the edge of the city.”

“But that was many years ago.” The first guard continues. “The first guild master and its gryphon have both died a long time ago and the Gryphon Knights haven’t had a griffon rider since then.”

I stare back to the Gryphon Knights guildhall and their rookery. Mia must be there now. When I think of her it feels as of my heart shrinks. I can’t keep looking at that guildhall. I need to move on.

When we reach the west side of the walls dusk is setting in. The skies are turning dark, aside for the clouds which have turned yellow because of the setting sun.

“Over there.” The guard says while pointing what seems like a fort in the middle of the city. “That’s the Dark Dragon guildhall.”

“It … looks like a miniature castle.” I say.

“Aye.” The second guard says. “I heard the Dark Dragons had to fight off several guild wars when they first started. Hence why they focused their guildhall on defense. Being one of the big three now, they are unlikely to get attacked again. Still look impressive, I guess.”

After all these years, I finally see the place where my mom and dad met each other. I’m guessing that is also where they fell in love with one another, and possibly even where I was conceived.

I simply stare at the home of the Dark Dragons for a while, until some sound in the courtyard distracts me.

I look back inside and see Leona. She is practicing against some of the training dummies. Zigzagging between them while slashing at them with her sword. Like she’s fighting some invisible enemies.

“Ah, she’s back.” The guard says.

“She’s done this before?” I ask.

“Yeah.” The other one agrees. “Every night she comes here and puts in some extra practice.”

Looking at Leona like this, I think back of my own training. Sure, I put effort into it, but I feel she worked for it even harder. Kiara may have offered me to join the Dark Dragons, but I feel Leona deserves that spot more than me.

I thank the guards and let them escort me back to the courtyard. Then we part ways. I walk towards Leona and watch her training up close.

“Feeling better?” Leona asks in the middle of her training.

“A bit.” I say. “It still feels disappointing, though.”

“So,” Leona continues. “Gona give up?”

I lower my head and admit, “Part of me sure feels like doing so.”

Leona then pauses her training and puts her sword away.

“I’ve been there too, you know. That feeling where seems like the whole world has turned against you. When giving up seems like the smart thing to do.”

She then looks straight at me and says, “If I had, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“I get what you mean.” I say. “Refusing to give up rewarded you with an A rank. But then there are people like Ryul who didn’t train anything and got A rank too. Yet all of my training resulted in D.”

Leona simply shrugs, “So?”

“So, it doesn’t really help when ranks are set in stone.” I answer.

“And that’s it then? You’re not going to bother finding out what your missing skill is?”

“Phh, I guess.” I sigh.

That’s when Leona draws her sword on me.

“Come. Duel me.” Leona says.

“Scuse me?”

“Ryul and Wendy are both newbies. Shalia’s only experience is magic and Miranda’s skill is inferior to yours. That means you’re the best challenger I have. If you really are going to give up, I’d appreciate it if you would let me test myself against you before you throw it all away.”

“Are you kidding?” I say incredulously, “You are three ranks higher than me. The strength difference alone will have you swat me aside with your first swing.”

Leona chuckles, then says, “I’ll go easy on you.”