The creature dropped to the grass with a *thud* sound and Eon exhaled as he finished his quest.
"You don't use that very often"
Reniris expressed as she floated down and stood next to him, looking him over. His light green eyes and hair were something she quite liked.
"It's never necessary unless I need to fly"
"All your forms when fully transformed give you wings to fly, why only use this for flight"
"It's a preference issue, and this form is lighter and faster when in the air. You know what cars are, right?"
"Yeah you explained them to me"
"Great, it's like using a car designed just for racing and getting to point B as fast as possible, instead of a normal car that is just for leisure; both can get you to where you want, but only one of them was designed for fast travel."
He explained as his hair and eyes changed to their natural state, and he noticed the look Reniris gave him once he returned to normal but chose to ignore it.
"I suppose that makes sense; a better example would have been two birds, one that's a predator and one that's a prey; both can fly, but only one of them flies better and more efficiently."
"Whatever you get the point"
He said, sticking out his hand and Reniris handing him the rope that he would use to drag the giant chicken back to town.
"I do, but why don't you use more of your forms? You only ever alternate between fire, ice and wind, never earth, lightning and Darkness"
"It's just a matter of control, Earth gives me too much strength, and lightning gives too much speed."
"And what? Darkness gives you too much darkness?"
She asked half-jokingly, and Eon rolled his eyes at her words.
"No, I actually don't know what that form does, and I get the feeling that it's too powerful to be used casually."
He expressed while finishing up tying the rope on the cockatrice and began dragging it towards the city.
"Anyway with this cockatrice, I should be able to become a BBB-rank."
"You could request they bump you up to A-rank"
"I mean would have, but the guild would settle me with an observer for two weeks and miss me with that bs"
Eon expressed, if one feels that their strength is above their rank, they can request a double rank up, but if they ask for It, they get the same treatment as a rookie adventurer that wanted their rank to reflect their skill.
"What about you? Aren't you in a hurry because of that dream you had"
"No, I'm actually quite happy right now, since I know that something like Devils exists thanks to Maria, and I saw my family, at least their silhouettes, I can now relax since I know they exist. The only thing that's an issue is my missing memories, but that's not really a problem."
She explained with a bright smile on her face, Eon wanted to ask if she was sure those silhouettes were truly her family, but he chose not to ruin her mood with questions like that; if she was happy, then there was nothing for him to worry about.
"Alright, I'm happy if you're happy."
…
As the two were making their way back, something was happening in the adventurers' guild.
In the month that Eon has spent in this city, he went from C-rank to BB-rank in rapid succession, proving to the guild that his guild card did not match his skill.
Interestingly enough, as long as adventurers can complete their rank-up quests, they can apply for multiple rank-ups with only a few day's waiting periods; however, should they fail, they are required to wait a month before applying for a rank-up again.
With Eon ranking up rapidly, it didn't take long for the adventurers to take notice of him, and the young Dragonoid took that opportunity to once again start referring to himself as [The strongest man]
The more experienced adventurers didn't take this seriously, and some saw it for what it was an attention-seeking tactic, so they ignored it; however, those with ego and chips on their shoulders did not; they began to challenge the young man wishing to take him down a step and humble him.
So far, only about 10 people have challenged him and lost to him, and this, of course, started a gambling ring amongst the adventurers; seeing the potential profit, the guild decided to host it, allowing adventurers to place their bets without issue, for a small fee of course.
Now, the guild was filled to the brim with adventurers waiting for Eon to return from his quest. Some were waiting because they wanted to place a bet, and others waited because they wanted to fight him.
"Ya think the Bash brothers will show up to challenge this guy?"
Asked a random adventurer to his comrades that had been set beside him drinking a tankard filled to the brim with ale.
"Nah, I don't think so. They're AAA-rank they ain't gon wasted time with some random guy with a huge ego, plus the sword tournament is a few months away they ain't leaving the capital for anything"
The man answered as he placed his tankard on the table; the Bash brothers were a famous duo of adventurers that were known for their ability to work in sync; individually, they were A-rank, but together, they were AAA-rank, bordering on S-rank.
"I suppose you're right. I don't think the real heavy hitters like [Kane the grin] and the bash brothers are gonna bother with this guy until he at least gets to AA or AAA rank"
"What about the [soaring witch]? She likes to go after warriors exclusively, despite being a mage"
"Last I heard, she was hunting the flying desert serpent near Elvine the elf lands, plus women love handsome men, so she's not coming back until she's has had her fill"
"What a shame, looks like this "Strongest Man" won't have the real hitters to teach a lesson in being humble"
The adventurers conversed, sharing news and ideas. Some were drinking and just waiting to place bets and waiting to win big. The mood was light-hearted and fun as everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.
However, in the corner of the guild, two individuals were seated together, a bit far away from the rest.
The two people were a woman and a man. The woman had short blonde hair that was unkempt and honey-gold eyes. Her skin was fair, and she was slender and petite, She had freckles on her cheeks and cherry lipstick on her lips.
"Looks like we're gonna make some money with this guy!"
The woman said as she took a swig and gulped down half the tankard of mead before slamming it on the table.
"if you get drunk and mess up this job, like those two idiots, I'll kill you myself"
The man answered with frustration. He wore a hood that covered half his face, but from up close, he could see it. His looks were average and generic, and he had a receding hairline.
"What are you even mad about? We get to make money from this job that was supposed to be free. We should thank those two idiots who failed."
She responded that the two were assassins; after it was apparent to the king of the Dreyer Kingdom that the assassins that were sent to kill Nathaniel failed, He demanded the assassins' guild to complete the job and send their best agents to not repeat that failure.
"Unlike you, Dot. I was busy when I was called for this job, and I already have all the money I need, I never fail my jobs after all"
"Well whatever, I need the money because I wasn't keen on doing a job without a reward, you'll place my bet, and I'll challenge this guy to lose on purpose, kill him later and walk away with money in our pockets"
Dot explained before she once again took a great sip from her tankard and easily emptied the cup on her second sip. Considering her petite frame, one wouldn't expect her to be such a heavy drinker.
"Why do I have to place your bets?"
"Because I can't bet on myself to lose, obviously. Drop, if you don't want the split of the profit, just say so"
Drop did not argue against her and simply rolled his eyes and looked around the guild. He spotted a few individuals that looked to be challengers. There were a lot of them, although he supposed that anyone would want to take a crack at someone claiming to be the strongest man.
As he was taking a look at the guild, he spotted a strange individual wearing all black, with the hood of a cloak covering her face, but he could tell by her body that she was a woman. She didn't give off the feeling she was an adventurer and seemed out of place in the setting.
After a few more seconds of staring, he shrugged and looked away, it's not like he was here to look at suspicious strangers, so it was fine to ignore her.
...