The sun rose over Arclight, coating the streets in gold ☀️.
Merchants shouted.Travelers pushed.Guards stood tall and useless.
Through it all walked a boy who didn't belong.
Fifteen years old.Six and a half feet tall.Built like someone who had learned survival early.
Aren's eyes were calm. Not peaceful.Experienced.
His bag was light.Inside it: fifty copper coins.
Enough to survive.Nothing more.
He didn't walk like someone afraid of dying.
He walked like someone who had already accepted it.
Today, Aren came for one reason.
To register as an adventurer.
The Guild No One Dared to Touch
The Adventurer Guild of Arclight was loud and dirty 🍺.
People mocked it across the kingdom.
Rank Six.The lowest.
But criminals who joined it disappeared.
Not arrested.Not punished.
Gone.
Because of that, no one tried to burn the building down.
Aren didn't care about rumors.
He opened the door 🚪 and stepped inside.
Registration
The hall was chaos.
Drunks slept under tables.Mages burned the air for fun ✨.Warriors bragged.Thieves argued.
Aren walked to the counter.
"I want an adventurer pass."
The receptionist looked up. Her nameplate read Mira.
"…You're fifteen."
"Yes."
"What's your specialty? Magic? Sword?"
"None."
Mira frowned.
Aren opened his bag.
Tools. Not weapons.
A thunder crystal ⚡.Smoke fungus 🌫️.Freezing needle ❄️.Flame vial 🔥.Echo shard 🔊.
"I use what works," Aren said."I don't fight fair."
Mira hesitated."…How do you kill monsters like that?"
Aren replied calmly.
"I don't fight them where they're strongest."
The Test
"The pond," Mira said."Clear it and return alive."
Most recruits formed teams.Some quit.Some rushed in and died.
Aren walked alone.
"Kid, you're crazy!""You'll die!"
Aren didn't stop.
"If everyone walks the same path," he said quietly,"it's usually the wrong one."
Nine Seconds
The pond was still.Something hissed beneath the water 🐍.
Aren threw one thunder crystal.
⚡ CRACK ⚡
Electricity tore through the pond.
The hissing stopped.
The water went silent.
Aren waited three seconds.
Then walked away.
The test took nine seconds.
No sword.No magic.
Only logic.
Beginning
When Aren returned, the guild fell quiet.
No laughter.No mocking.
Only attention.
He received his pass.
Not as a joke.
But as a warning.
Aren stepped back into the street.
His journey had begun 🌑🔥.