"Hi, excuse me," I remarked casually, playing it cool.

"Yes, how can I help y-...wait, is that you, Larrk?"

"Mhm, sure is. How’s it going?" I responded with a grin.

"Uh, good, can’t complain...so, this is what you look like without a disguise, is it?" Replied Rosary with a smile.

"Yup."

She’s just as hot as I remember. Thought it’d take her longer to recognize me, maybe it was my voice that gave me away. I’d just gotten to town about an hour or so ago, first booked an inn room for myself, let Prysm out for a bit before putting her back into my Pocket Dimension.

I then went to get a haircut...my hair had grown pretty long and was getting hard to maintain, so I had it trimmed down to about medium-lenfth. After that, I made my way to the Guild.

It was mostly empty, with hardly any Adventurers to be seen...I’d encountered a couple of groups of them on my way to the town, fighting Monsters.

"So, you’re still working as a receptionist, huh?" I remarked, as I glanced her over.

"Yeah, I like managing upcoming, talented Adventurers, and while I can do that as an Adventurer myself, doing so as a receptionist gives me more perspective and insight," She explained, before adding, "Anyway, are you here for a quest?"

"Maybe later...I’m mainly here to try and rank up," I said in response.

"Hm, you seem to be quite confident in yourself...alright, then let’s get right to it, shall we? You head down to the basement, I’ll be down with an opponent for you in a bit," She responded, as she set aside a stack of papers she’d been working on. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"That’s a lot of paperwork, busy day?" I inquired curiously.

"Busy weeks, actually...remember the Basilisk and all the Monsters that had been appearing around here, Monsters that typically weren’t known to appear in this area?" She replied with a grimace.

"Yeah, I definitely remember the Basilisk."

"Things haven’t been much better since then. More Monsters that aren’t native to this area have been showing up constantly, and we’ve even had a couple of Wyverns showing up. It just seemed like really bad luck or something, but a few months ago, I noticed a pattern.

Every time we start to cut down the abrupt outbreaks of Common and Intermediate Grade Monsters and make some real progress, a Disastrous Grade Monster proceeds to show up. And by the time that’s dealt with, more Common and Intermediate Grades have appeared," She frowned, before leaning over and adding quietly, "It’s far too unlikely to be a coincidence, as if someone’s deliberately doing this, bringing Monsters here somehow.

And about a month ago, I confirmed it...I successfully predicted where the next Disastrous Grade Monster would appear by following the pattern of the appearances of the previous ones, and I sensed someone with my sensory Skill.

Naturally, I intended to capture them, but before I could make a move, they were gone, just suddenly disappeared without a trace. They must have had some sort of a Skill that allowed them to escape.

And I couldn’t search the area since there was a Wyvern there. Until I realized it was very deep asleep...as if it had been sedated or drugged. I killed it before it could wake up, but the culprit had already gotten away."

Hm...that doesn’t sound good at all. A Wyvern is a smaller, less powerful version of a Dragon, but they’re still pretty dangerous Monsters, with a Threat Level of Disastrous Grade, the same as the Basilisk.

In other words, to be able to capture and transport a Monster like that would require someone highly powerful and skilled. Let me think, what kind of Skills would let a person pull this off?

Let’s set aside the sedation for now...hm, even if someone was able to successfully drug a Monster like a Wyvern, they’re large creatures, way too heavy to just drag here.

So, they were probably transported using a Skill of some kind. Pocket Dimension would work for that, though it would require a high level of mastery since it takes more focus and concentration to put a significantly large object into that space.

There’s also a Skill called Transport...by physically touching an object or a creature and placing a marker on them, you can instantly teleport the marked target to a new location.

Getting back to how they might have sedated the Monster...there are Skills that can put a target to sleep, but the most powerful and effective ones require direct physical contact to activate. In which case, could it have been some sort of tranquilizer gas or liquid?

"I think I’ve got a good idea of how this could’ve been pulled off...but that brings up the next question, why?" I frowned uncertainly.

"Yeah, I’ve been asking myself that very same question. We’ve been having Adventurers take shifts scouting out areas that are likely to be where the next Disastrous Grade could potentially appear. I don’t think the person I sensed noticed me, so hopefully, we’ll be able to ambush and capture them," She sighed wistfully, before clearing her throat and adding, "Ahem, anyway...why don’t we get your ranking exam underway?"

"Sure, sounds good. I’ll head down to the basement," I replied, as I made my way to the staircase with a slight wave of my hand.

In all likelihood, a Noble is behind these Monster appearances around this town. What could be their motivation in doing so though? Are they just doing it for their own amusement?

That’s...actually a very real possibility. Nothing like this has been happening around any of the other towns or villages I’ve been to, so why here? Let’s see...oh, if I remember right, Kieph Town has the highest average Adventurer rank in the nation.

Maybe this is a measure to keep the Adventurers here occupied and in check? I mean...a bunch of Knights were killed here not too long ago, three of them disappeared without a trace.

No, but this Monster issue started before I first arrived in this town, so there must already have been a reason for doing this. Or, like I’d initially suggested, it could just be a Noble messing things up to entertain themselves.

I don’t have any solid basis to go off on, so this is all mostly speculation...hm, you know, what? After this ranking exam, maybe I’ll stick around and help the Guild investigate this, at least until I leave for Kaygee Town and check out the Labyrinth.

It’s been a while since I killed a Noble, and who knows, I might be able to get some useful information out of them too. Anyway, I’ll put that all aside for right now, and focus on the ranking exam.

Failing it because I’m distracted would seriously suck, so I should put all other thoughts at the back of my mind for now.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs and into the basement, I looked around as the vast space...this place hasn’t changed much, it still looks mostly the same as it was during my first ranking exam.

I began stretching to warm up, feeling pretty eager. After I left Kieph Town about two years ago, I decided to fly under the radar, trying not to stand out too much.

I didn’t interact much with the Adventurers of the other Guilds I visited, except for asking around about Argent. Naturally, I’ve played my cards close to the chest, hardly revealing anything about what I’m capable of.

I then glanced back as I heard Rosary coming back, along with my first opponent for this ranking match. Oh, hey, I recognize her...she’s one of the Adventurers who was on the Basilisk quest, the one with the bow Soul Weapon.

Her left arm was heavily strapped and reinforced, and just slightly crooked as well...it had been pretty badly damaged when she was attacked by the Basilisk, guess it doesn’t function as well as it did before.

Still, though, the fact that she’s my opponent means that she hung on to her Platinum rank despite that setback...that’s pretty impressive.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, let’s get started right away. You remember Jane, don’t you? She’ll be your first opponent, she’s a Platinum ranked Adventurer. If you win, you’ll be promoted to Platinum rank yourself," Explained Rosary, as she took out the Magic Item for activating the barrier.

Right, her name is Jane...thanks for mentioning it, I would’ve had to dig into my memory quite a bit to remember on my own.

"You know, you don’t have to say all that, it’s kinda stating the obvious," I remarked wryly, as my opponent headed in.

"Actually, we’re required to say all of it during every ranking exam, it’s a rule," She replied with a sigh.

That’s gotta be rough.

"Hi, it’s good to see you again. I never got the chance to thank you for saving my life, so thank you," Smiled Jane gratefully, before adding, "But that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you."

"Oh, you won’t have the luxury of going easy on me," I smirked in response.

"Is that so? We’ll see about that, won’t we?" She replied with a laugh, as she headed into the area.

Anyway, once she had found a hiding spot, I headed in myself, a rising sense of anticipation inside me. I hid behind a large, jutted rock as I waited for the barrier to activate, before manifesting my Soul Weapon, bringing out my whip.

I think I’ll make the first move for once...since I’ve been sparring regularly with Prysm, I’ve gotten better at direct confrontations, instead of being kind of a specialist as sneak attacks like I was before.

Now, then...Elemental Lava: Molten Meteor Shower!

I first used Elemental Earth to crack up the ground, before floating up ten large chunks of rock, coating them in intense flames before flying them up to the top of the barrier, letting them hover up there as they melted into glowing, fiery red globs of molten rock.

I then swiftly cracked my whip across as a couple of arrows came shooting towards me, before I spotted my opponent springing out from the direction that the arrows came from and sprinting towards me rapidly.

Damn, she’s pretty fast! Must be some kind of boosting Skill. She wasn’t this fast before, she must have reached a higher level of mastery over whatever Skill that is...I then had three of my molten rock meteors shoot down towards her from above, which she responded by swiftly zigzagging to evade them.

"Now, Initiate Skill:...!" She began to chant as she closed in on me, the grip around my whip tightening as I braced myself, "...Disarm!"

A spherical wave of energy burst out from her, and as it reached me...the grip around the handle of my whip was suddenly wrenched open, my eyes widening in surprise as my hand was abruptly repelled away from the handle.

That’s a pretty handy Skill, not bad...she then charged up an arrow and began to take aim from just a couple of meters away...before I swiftly grabbed the length of my whip and swung it across, the handle rapidly swinging towards her, the dagger end poised to slash across her face.

She noticed right in the nick of time, her energy arrow dissipating as she sprang back in alarm, the tip of the dagger nicking the bridge of her nose and drawing out a trickle of blood, as I dissipated my Soul Weapon.

That Disarm Skill is only gonna disrupt me each time she uses it, so I’m better off fighting unarmed. She then took a couple of wary steps back as streaks of flames and lightning roared and crackled around me, a little intimidation tactic on my part. Even without my Soul Weapon, I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeve...

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