Chapter 29: Chapter 29 : A Promise

Hana’s face was twisted up as conflicting emotions swirled through her heart. The catalyst of this inner turmoil lay before, taking the form of a single sheet of paper. After reuniting with Ralf, he dropped this document on the table and explained his intention to become an Adventurer.

Ralf didn’t push Hana to a decision. After giving his explanation, he left the form and headed out, allowing her to mull over it without any pressure. Thirty minutes had passed since then, and Hana’s brows were still thoroughly knotted up.

His desire to become an Adventurer wasn’t news to her. He had always gone on about being one. Hana had always opposed it. The pain of losing Robert was still fresh even after all these years. She knew how dangerous an Adventurer’s lifestyle was and didn’t want her son to walk that path. Still, despite these strong feelings on the matter, she was conflicted.

‘Robert.’

Muttering her late lover’s name, her eyes naturally gravitated to the shelf beside the fireplace. There, a framed black and white drawing stood. It was photo-realistic and depicted a dashing middle-aged man. Shaggy head of hair, a light beard, and eyes that shone with fire; the man exuded the spirit of adventure. This man was precisely Robert.

‘What should I do?’

On one hand, she didn’t want Ralf to be in any danger, and on another, she didn’t want to deny his nature, which so greatly resembled his father’s. In truth, she loved seeing that side of Ralf. The smile on his face as he spoke of ‘legendary’ tales, or the focused look in his eyes as he did his 'training' filled her with pride and affection.

Sensing which way the scale in her heart was falling, she sighed. She directed her Psi Scan to the backyard. Finding Ralf there, she used her Psi to form the words, ‘Come.’

Ralf stopped his motions at once and headed for the living room. Entering, he took a seat on the opposite couch and said, “Whatever your decision, I’ll respect it.”

Hana smiled at his words. Then, as she stared at him, his image began flickering in her mind's eye. A second later, his thirteen-year-old self blurred out of existence, and for the first time, her eyes rested on his current form as he actually appeared.

“You’ve really grown Ralf,” she said, her voice betraying a complex set of emotions.

Her eyes shut and she took a breath. “The flames in the hearts of the Fawkes’ can’t be extinguished…trying is a fool’s errand. Still, Ralf…” Pausing, her eyelids opened up slowly and she stared deeply into Ralf's eyes as she said her next words. "...I need you to promise me one thing. You have to be strong. Strong enough that no one can harm you. Strong enough that you’ll never leave me alone in this world.”

“I promise.” Ralf's response came quickly and powerfully. In his voice, an unwavering resolve could be felt. “I promise I’ll be the strongest I can be, strong enough that you’ll never have to worry. I promise.”

Ralf’s words weren’t something cooked on the spot. Since deciding to pursue the path of an Adventurer, he had made this pledge with himself. He wouldn't have his mother cry over his death, no matter what. His frequent reading of books, his weapon practice, and his ‘excursions’ were all done in preparation for his future life as an Adventurer.

Sealing the deal with a tearful hug, Hana moved to fill it in while Ralf returned to the backyard to continue his exercise.

Thirty minutes later.

To ordinary eyes, Ralf's speedy movements would appear like an unending blur. Punches, kicks, dashes, twists, and flips; the more he moved, the more attuned he became to the White Asura's limits.

Swoosh!

Finishing the punch, Ralf took gulping breaths. ‘Haa aah haa aah haa, finally tired. This body is insane.’

Labouring forward, Ralf bent down and picked up a vial. Popping the top, he downed the green liquid. In merely five seconds, Ralf felt his stamina tank rapidly fill up with energy. ‘This stuff must be magic. The type you have to sacrifice a few virgins to produce, at least. The next I see him, I have to ask Micheal about how he makes this stuff.’

Hana had bought batches of stamina potions that would last a month. With it being the start of November, there were nearly thirty high-quality stamina potions just laying around. Ralf decided to use this in tandem with his physical training.

Reinvigorated, Ralf walked over to the centre. His first cocked back, ready to initiate the sequence once more. But as he threw the first punch, he had to catch himself as he nearly toppled over.

‘Holy shit!?’

Ralf’s reaction was appropriate. A massive chunk of energy had been eaten up in an instant.

‘I knew it would be costly, but thirty percent, damn. Ah, I’m feeling a little lightheaded.’

Guiding his body down, he cast his attention inward.

[[Success?]] he asked.

In the Mental Space, Rei smiled then tapped the chessboard before him. [[Come find out for yourself. I’ll switch with you.]]

[[Sure.]]

Ralf switched places and tested out the device. Once the pout cleared, a marvellous smile bloomed on his face.

***

The next day….

‘That town really has something against me. I can’t catch a break.’ This was Ralf’s first thought as he arrived in the outside world. He had continued his rotten luck in the cowboy town, allowing Rei to extend his lead into the triple digits.

After running more tests, the two had added a few hundred more duels to their tally. They decided that this would be a daily practice.

‘Enough of that, today’s a big day. Focus up.’

Smacking his cheeks, Ralf’s eyelids snapped open. ‘Let's move.’ With this thought, the ball got rolling.

An hour later, he was out of the house and on the streets. Finding Joel at the spot they had agreed upon, Ralf hopped aboard his carriage, and the pair headed for Ganurg.

“Good luck out there, kid, win big. And here…for some luck.”

Ralf caught the tossed apple. “Thanks, I’ll definitely win. Await the good news, and don't forget to save me some fruit."

"Haha, good good. See you then.”

With these words, Joel directed his carriage away. Eyeing the fruit seller until he was out of sight, Ralf gave the apple a once over before biting into it.

‘Not bad, not bad.’ His eyes moved to a clock tower in the distance. 'There's still plenty of time until the meet-up. I’ll hand in the form first, do the entrance test, then stop at the library to record some more books.’

Schedule planned out, he broke into stride.

Fifteen minutes later, Ralf walked through the Adventurer Association branch’s entranceway.

Approaching the reception desk, a smile crept onto his face. “Good morning, Genise.”

“Morning, Ralf.” The elderly receptionist replied with a warm expression.

“This place sure is empty. The Adventurers here, not morning people? …Or the receptionists?”

“This is the usual. Most Adventurers will only come in from noon onwards. As for the receptionists, one is sick and the other is just tardy. I’ll have to give that youngster a talking to when she gets here. Happens way too often haa…anyway, what can I do for you, Ralf? Is the form complete?”

“Yes.” Answering with a nod, he retrieved the form from his bag and placed it on the table.

"Hmm, let's see." Spinning it around, Genise’s eyes flickered when she read the name listed.”Oh, Hana Fawkes.”

Genise’s utterance of his mother’s name didn’t illicit any surprise in Ralf. Last night, his mother mentioned that she buys potions through the Ganurg branch, so Genise knowing her name was par for the course in his mind.

Genise gaze left the page and hovered over Ralf’s face. “I see, no wonder I thought you looked familiar. You look just like Hana”

Ralf’s face beamed at her ‘compliment’. “Well I’m her son after all," he said, pride echoing from his voice.

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Sensing the obvious affection, Genise's face melted into a smile. Lingering in that state for a few seconds, she returned to work mode. Her eyes scanned the rest of the document.

Doing a once over, she then nodded. “There’s no problem here. And with your mother already registered in our database, a lengthy verification process can be skipped.” She placed the page into the tray. In the same motion, she plucked another page from a different tray and placed it before Ralf.

“You have to fill this in. Then, you’ll be allowed to take the E-Rank test.” Ending her words, she placed a pen on the table.

"Thanks." Ralf moved swiftly. After racing through the name, surname, age, sex, and psionic status, his pen paused at the inheritance potion section.

Noticing his pause, Genise titled her head. "A problem?"

"Mm, there might be."

Hearing the words, the mature receptionist's eyes began narrowing. “You're not using a forbidden potion, are you?”

Ralf shook his head vigorously at the question. He knew how serious a crime possessing, trading, or consuming illegal potions was. The Pillar factions didn’t play around on this matter. It didn’t matter which strata of society one belonged to, the hammer would be brought down just as mercilessly.

“No, that's not the case. In fact, it's the complete opposite."

"The opposite?” Genise's brows shot upward at the claim.

"My inheritance potion is as legit as it can get, trust me. The potion was given to me as a gift a long time ago, and I'm a bit hazy about what it was called. It might be called the White Asura Inheritance, but I'm not too sure."

Genise frowned. "Now that is a problem. Who was the gifter? What was their name? Also, doesn't your mother know the name of the inheritance potion?"

"She doesn't. As for the gifter and his name, it appears I've forgotten it during my long sleep."

"Long sleep? How long of a sleep did you have to forget such an important thin-"

"Five years."

"Huh?"

"Five years," Ralf repeated, furthering the baffled look on Genise's face. "I slept for five whole years. I only awoke yesterday. All those potions my mom bought over the years weren't for training, but to keep my unconscious body alive."

"Huh ah, oh, I'm sorry to hear that, forgive me."

Ralf rolled his shoulders. "It's nothing to apologize for. The experience was valuable in its own right. Thanks to my sleep, I've forgotten many things, with the name of my inheritance potion being one of them. Since I can't remember the exact name, I'll go with White Asura. If I happen to remember the correct name in the future, I'll be sure to change it. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"No, that works perfectly." Genise's manner was far more subdued than before. Ralf's strange circumstances had unbalanced her somewhat.

After penning in 'White Asura', Ralf continued down the page before finally reaching the last section. “About section, what’s this for?”

"Anything really. A compliment, a complaint, a bit about yourself. You can leave it blank, most do. You can list areas where you excel at. If you have a unique skill set or specialize in a certain field, the Adventurer Association might allocate additional resources to you. Oh, while I said anything, don’t add any titles.”

“People add titles here?”

Genise sighed a lamentable sigh. “A lot do. People, especially youngsters don’t take the Naming culture seriously and end up paying a steep price.”

Naming culture.

As a resident of this world, Ralf was well acquainted with this term. Naming culture had existed thousands of years before even Velusia's formation and remained as strong an influence all the way up to the present day.

Titles were extremely important in Inis. One couldn’t just casually slap a title on their name. As soon as one did, title testers would show up to test if one deserved the title or not. These testers were an amorphous group. It wasn’t an official occupation, but many people devoted their lives to performing this thankless task to maintain the integrity and importance of titles.

In short, titles were a big deal that shouldn’t be rushed into. When choosing one, it was imperative that one choose a title that matched their ability. The less grandiose, the less attention one would receive. Naming yourself X the Sturdy or X the Swift, for instance, was fine. However, naming yourself X the Impenetrable or X the Lightning Flash was not. One would certainly receive a visit from a title tester, and a powerful one at that.

Genise’s next words highlighted a perfect example of this.

“A few years ago, a twenty-year-old youth by the name of Yunma came in, and gave himself the title of 'Immortal’."

“Whoa, that’s insane.”

Genise nodded. “Insane, and also invalid. The title of ‘Immortal’ is already taken by Micheal Ascania. The branch explained this, and the dangers of calling himself by this title but…” She sighed.

“I guess he didn’t listen.”

“No, unfortunately not. He had ingested the Red-Faced Troll inheritance potion. The incredible regeneration speed had gone to his head. Even after we told him off, he kept calling himself the 'Immortal'. Two weeks later, his body was found in the Great Ocelot Forest, cut up into tiny pieces. On the ground near his body, the words, ‘Yumna, the Mortal’’ were carved deep into the dirt.”

Ralf shook his head at the foolishness before putting pen to paper. “I guess Undying Flame will have to wait for later.”

“Please.”

In the end, Ralf left a positive review of Genise’s receptionist performance and suggested a pay rise. Finished, he pushed it her way. Seeing what he left, Genise’s mood lifted. With a smile on her face, she filed it away. “Now then, with this sorted, you’re eligible to take the E-Rank Adventurer test. Whenever you’re ready, you can take it.”

‘What to do?’

From asking to answering, Ralf’s mind took a mere second. To him, the choice was as obvious as the sun in the sky.

“I’m ready to take the test now. Is there someone available to administer the test?”

Right as Ralf’s question sounded, a figure came striding into the building. Genise’s eyes naturally glanced over. Recognizing the face, a frown surfaced.

Jeff, the familiar face in question, caught her expression and immediately buckled. His nonchalant expression crumbled into a sheepish one. “Ah, I can explain. My alarm broke and I overslept. I was about to - ah, a new face, who’s this?”

Genise put aside the lecture locked and loaded in her head and instead moved to introduce the two.

Gesturing to Ralf, she said, “Yes, this here is Ralf. He’s looking to become an Adventurer. Administer the E-Rank test for him. Also, give him a tour of the place when you’re done.”

Jeff straightened his posture and did a salute. “Yes mam, on it, right away.”

“Just go…and when you’re done, we’ll have a talk.”

Jeff’s face paled. “Ah yes, of course.” He approached the counter with reluctant steps and gave Ralf’s registration information a once over. ‘Ralf Fawkes - wait Fawkes, like that Fawkes,’ Jeff couldn’t help but squint as he caught the infamous surname, ‘I’ll have to confirm this later.’

Making a mental note to do this, his eyes moved over the rest of the page. ‘White Asura, never heard of this before. Pretty wicked name. The Rank isn’t too wicked though, another Rank 3 Telekinetic. Zudrad’s drought of powerhouses continue.'

Verifying all that he needed to, Jeff quickly pulled away from the desk. Even with his gaze averted, he could feel Genise's disapproving gaze bore into him. It was uncomfortable. To avoid it, he quickly circled Ralf and used him as a shield before patting him on the shoulder.

"Okay buddy, let's see what you're made of."

"Sure."

Following the words, the pair moved very awkwardly deeper into the building.

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