LOOT DROP Chapter: 17: Whoops

  “I'll wait here,” Faith said, keeping close to the entrance.

  “You sure you'll be fine?”

  “Yup. Just go and do your thing,” Faith said, taking out a berry from her pocket and munching on it.

  With Faith's blessing, Fisk approached the counter of the packed building, the interior, more akin to a tavern than an official workplace with dozens of players chatting non-stop, their voices a cacophony of disembodied voices that made it hard for Fisk to even hear his own thoughts.

  Still, there was work to be done as the receptionist wearing a black vest and matching tie looked up at him through rose-tinted glasses.

  “Welcome to the Talahar adventurer’s guild, how may I help you?”

  Fisk cleared his throat, looking over at Faith who hung close but kept her cowl over her head.

  “Hi, I’d like to apply for an adventurer’s permit?”

  “Ah… yes, I-” The receptionist trailed off, “I'm sorry, did you ask to apply for an adventurer's permit?”

  “Yes, is something wrong?” Fisk asked, adjusting his head so he could look at the woman directly through his mask.

  “It's just…” The woman looked off to the side, eyeing the nearby players, “Not many regular folk apply for adventurer permits...”

  Fisk furrowed his brow, wondering how it was they discerned him from the other players.

  “Well I want one, is that going to be a problem?” Fisk asked.

  “N-no! Not at all, its just rare is all! If you want a permit you’ll have to take a combat test and an evaluation. Due to our status as a contracting agency for the local governments, all tests administered are public due to the nature of the permits we issue. Will that be a problem?”

  “None, when can we start the test?”

  “First off I just need you to fill out some information,” The receptionist said, handing Fisk a clipboard with papyrus and an inkwell, “Once you're done, submit the documents then follow me for your evaluation.”

  “Got it,” Fisk said, looking down at the clipboard, quickly filling out the information before reviewing his answers.

  Country of Origin: Vurishka

  Name: Nobody

  Race: Human

  Age: 25

  Please Circle Desired Role:

  Guardian.

  (Vanguard.)

  Support.

  Fisk placed the current country he was as his land of origin, considering he was from earth, he couldn’t exactly be truthful on the document. As for his name, Fisk decided to lean into his forum name, a nobody. A ghost in a system that shouldn’t exist, a reminder of what he was in his previous life. But here…

  He looked down at his new leg, the trousers and boots he wore covering his metal appendage completely. Here Fisk could be more. He had a goal, a purpose, and a new realm to explore that others could only dream of experiencing in the way he was experiencing it.

  Fake or not, everything was real. HE was real…

  Or was he?

  Fisk shook his head, deciding to abandon that train of thought.

  “Here ya go,” Fisk said, handing the woman the documents who only glanced at it and Fisk once before nodding and beckoning him to join her into a side door that presumably led to the testing grounds.

  He took one last look at Faith who waved at him before continuing on, entering into an open area fenced in by rows of stands dotted by the occasional person.

  “So, this evaluation?” Fisk asked as he was brought towards one of several large black obelisks in the center of the arena where others were performing their tests.

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  “For this part, all you need to do is to strike the pillar. Once you do that we can determine your grade,” The receptionist replied.

  “That's it?”

  “The crystal receives impact and produces a specific result depending on the strength of the attack. Be they mystical or physical, the obelisk will absorb it all so let loose!” The receptionist said, gesturing towards another party taking their evaluation. “If you get a high enough evaluation, you can qualify for higher jobs and better rewards!”

  “Are you sure?” Fisk asked, watching as a player struck an obelisk with a small bolt of fire. A ding was heard, the crystal shaking for a moment before glowing.

  “You're an E rank! Congratulations!” The procter overseeing the player's test exclaimed, elated at such a pathetic display of an attack.

  Another player taking the evaluation slashed at his crystal, his giant sword clanging off the shiny obelisk without a mark on the pillar.

  “Congratulations! You're an E rank!”

  These all must be new players… Fisk said to himself, realizing that the test was for new players.

  “So… the higher I perform the better rewards I'll get?”

  “Yes sir! We even have sign-on bonuses for those that perform especially well!”

  “I see,” Fisk said before striking a stance, doing his best to ignore the spectators. “Well… wind kick.”

  Fisk's leg lifted, releasing a blast of wind that shredded his pants, sending a gale of wind that struck the obelisk, shattering the crystal in one blow.

  “Shit…” Fisk muttered.

  An eerie silence fell upon the world, all eyes, staring at Fisk who looked down at his steaming leg.

  “Uhm…” The receptionist said, quick to recover and finally breaking up the silence, “C-con… uhm… pardon me for a moment while I get my manager! I'm sorry!”

  The woman ran off, leaving Fisk alone in the venue surrounded by dozens of eyes.

  “Whoa! You're awesome! That's a cool leg!” A player named LittleNiko exclaimed, approaching Fisk. “Is that a skill? Magic? What's that leg? Can I have that leg? Are you an important NPC? Can you-”

  Fisk blinked, the player's voice high pitched and annoying in a way that reminded him of a child.

  “Hey! Niko get away! He might be dangerous!” Another player yelled, his name, BigNiko.

  Wait… Then Fisk realized why it was, the player before him was literally a kid.

  “Sorry, I'm not up to talking right now,” Fisk said, patting the kid on the shoulder only for LittleNiko to evaporate.

  “Eh-?” The only sound that escaped from LittleNiko’s mouth before he burst into glitter and faded away, telltale signs of a player killed.

  “Huh?”

  “NIKO! YOU BASTARD! NO ONE BULLIES MY LITTLE BRO!” BigNiko yelled, eyes wide drawing a blade of flame and rushing Fisk.

  “Wait! I didn't mean to kill him!” Fisk shouted, dodging the flaming sword before reacting on reflex and punching the player in the face as he came up to swing again.

  BigNiko staggered, blinked, dropped his sword and then glittered away. Two players killed in less than a minute.

  Weary of him, several players collectively moved away while the people in the stands began to chatter amidst themselves.

  “Wasn't… wasn't that guy level twenty?” A player murmured.

  “Y-yeah, let's leave before we lose our exp.”

  Fisk watched a several players emptied the room, leaving the training area nearly barren compared to its packed start.

  The crowd of NPCs however, seem very keen on Fisk's display.

  “Is this the one causing all the fuss?”

  Fisk turned to the black-haired woman in a business suit, the manager no doubt, who looked down at Fisk with narrow green eyes.

  “Huh…” Fisk let out, staring up at the woman who was a head taller than him, her form, muscular and lithe with flowing black hair and a beauty mark beneath her black eyeliner eyes. “You're tall.”

  “And you're short,” The woman replied, causing Fisk to do a double take. He was six feet-two, taller than most. “Did you break my obelisk?”

  “Uh…” Fisk replied, suddenly flush.

  “Uh?”

  “Yeah, ehem,” Fisk coughed, clearing his throat before deciding to share the blame, “I was instructed to attack the obelisk by your employee, so that was what I did.”

  The manager turned, the receptionist from earlier jolting in place.

  “I didn't know he would break it!” the receptionist quickly said.

  “Right, you wanted an adventurer permits right?” The manager said, holding in her hand the documents Fisk had filled out.

  “Correct ma'am,” Fisk replied.

  “You're from Vuriksha?”

  “Yes ma'am,” Fisk lied.

  “Where exactly?” The woman asked, bearing down over Fisk, “Someone capable of breaking an obelisk, I believe I would have heard of…” The woman looked down at the clipboard in her hands, “Nobody. Cute.”

  “I thought so,” Fisk replied, causing the woman to raise a brow.

  “So Mr. Nobody, you show up here, destroy my very expensive obelisk and kill a couple of immortals. If you're looking to garner my attention, you've done it. Now the question is, why?”

  Sensing the woman's anger, Fisk decided to shift his tactic, “To get an adventurer's permit. I heard the guild hall offers work, and I'm in need of coin. No more, no less.”

  “Is that so?” The woman said, crossing her muscular arms and looking Fisk up and down. “Well then… Congratulations, You've scored an S on your evaluation.”

  “Doesn't that mean I get a reward?” Fisk asked.

  “Yes, me.”

  Fisk's ears shifted, watching as the woman began unbuttoning her suit vest, revealing large shoulders and her chest bound by bandages as she handed her jacket and shirt to the receptionist beside her.

  “M-madam Crimson?!” The receptionist exclaimed, backing away.

  “Stand firm worm, you've earned my ire. Let's see if you qualify for the S ranking,” The manager said, striking a pose as Fisk used observe on the woman.

  Title: Wyvern Breaker

  Name: ??? Crimson.

  Stats: ????

  Special Skills: ???

  “Shit…” Fisk muttered as the woman labeled as a Wyvern Breaker charged him.