Rise of the Devourer

Book 3: Chapter 1 — A New Journey

Noah stretched his body in the gymnasium of the Adventurers' Guild Hall, grunting as he felt his muscles releasing some tension after his exercise. He had taken to coming to this place to train his physique, especially after his rank up evolution, as his body had continued to undergo drastic changes over the last week.

He had gained roughly two more inches in height in that time. His shoulders were just a little bit broader now, his frame growing to be more proportional to the rest of his body. From the outside, the physical changes more or less ended there and he had not gained any substantial amount of muscle. Instead, he had found the muscles that he had shrinking in size, growing more and more compact and denser.

After talking to Aurelia about it, he'd come to know it was a common phenomenon experienced by adventurers, especially if they had a rapid surge in strength. Which made just people like Raesar and Ekira all the more strange, as both had well and truly trained their bodies to the maximum physical limits that they could. The comparison had only made Noah more eager to continue working and continue training himself.

Even after the modifications he’d made to his body to keep up with his growth, if he stopped pushing himself, eventually, he would run into a wall, or the growth of his levels at his soul would surpass his physique, forcing him to stop, and he did not intend to go through the procedure again.

Not that I think that is even an option anymore. I imagine something like that is typically a one-time thing.

It had been a week since his new journey had been announced, and he had obtained the rewards from the guild for completing his previous quest and stopping the abyssal rift from opening. Nae and Raesar had returned to Windrest soon after, both of them busy with their responsibilities and unable to stay for much longer.

Noah had promised to spar with the Drailith when he returned, and the guildmaster had given him his usual predatory grin, agreeing with excitement to see how far he had come.

As Noah finished up his stretches, he noticed Erwest walking into the chamber. The man had a thin sheen of sweat on his body, clearly from training.

Noah looked at the Paladin in silence. Despite the fact that they had been together for almost three months now, the two of them did not talk very much. And not for a lack of trying on Noah's part.

"Training?" Noah asked.

The paladin gave a quiet nod, simply walking inside, as he began to look through the gym equipment. Noah, for a moment, considered if he should just leave the man be and return to his own training, but something pushed him, and he turned once more towards Erwest.

"Hey, if you're looking to train, why don't we spar together? It would be nice for me to have a sparring partner besides Aurelia once in a while," Noah said.

Erwest glanced back at him, staying silent for a few seconds, long enough that Noah felt awkward and was about to take back his offer. But before he could, Erwest spoke back up.

"Alright, what kind of spar?"

"Well, I’m thinking of just sparring without using any abilities. I cannot imagine this place surviving something like that very easily," Noah said.

"The guild has enough nullification wards that even if you tried to pry through the chamber, you would run out of mana five times over before you left a dent,” Erwest said, snorting. “But you're right that the equipment would not survive," he added, glancing around the area before walking towards the sparring section.

Noah followed behind, standing in front of the paladin, looking at him in anticipation. "Ready when you are.”

Erwest nodded, taking a stance, as he took his blade out from a sheath. Noah summoned his spear in his own hands, letting energy flow over the weapon, covering it in the black color that mingled with the Crimson red, adding a layer to the blade to stop the Crimson rot from reaching Erwest but keeping its sharp edge.

A moment later, Noah assumed a stance as well, letting his weapon mastery guide him.

With a wordless signal to begin, Erwest moved.

The paladin rushed in, trying to close the distance as he swung his sword in an arc. Noah jumped back, maintaining the distance between them, as he thrust his spear forward, trying to catch Erwest off guard.

The paladin moved nimbly, dodging his thrusts as he leaned into the spearhead, grabbing the shaft of the weapon. Noah twisted his feet, pulling back. The extended blade from the side of the spear sliced through Erwest's hand. Erwest let go and ducked his head to dodge the attack, using his blade to block Noah's spear.

With one twisted foot, Erwest slid his blade down the spear’s shaft, forcing him to pull his weapon back and turn it at an angle. Noah allowed his weapon mastery to guide him as he spun his spear around, shifting the weight of his body, letting the spear go for a second. Noah kicked at Erwest's feet, swiping at his legs. The paladin moved quickly, grabbing Noah's spear, while Noah, caught off balance, was midair.

Noah leapt up, grabbing the weapon back. Every part of him reached to use Arcane Step to gain distance and rebalance the rhythm of the fight, but the paladin anticipated him.

His sword struck down as Erwest pulled the spear back away, drawing in Noah. With a kick, he threw the spear away. As the weapon clattered on the ground, Erwest's blade rested at Noah's neck.

Noah looked up in surprise, smiling as he stood up. "Man, you kicked my ass.”

Erwest drew back his blade, putting it into a sheath as he looked down at Noah. "You have powerful abilities and use them well. Your mastery and control with your weapon is that of an amateur's. It almost feels like you know enough to not make the most basic mistakes and understand when you're doing something wrong, but not enough to know how to fix what you're doing wrong," Erwest said.

"Pretty much, I've just been figuring this out as I go. But I am by no means very good at it yet," Noah said.

"That is to be expected,” Erwest said. “You have only had a few months to train. It is something seen quite often among warriors who grow too rapidly and do not have the necessary time to build a proper foundation.”

"Well, with how things are going, I don't think I will ever have said time. So I'll just have to learn how to quickly master everything that I must," Noah replied.

"You're right," Ekira said, walking further into the gym. "As you are right now, you won't last very long in Drakonias. You need to do a lot better if you want to win the trials, both of you."

"Have you just been standing there silently watching us?" Noah asked, slightly unnerved. "I'm not saying if that's creepy or not. But it would have been nice if you let us know. Like, did you even go as far as to use some ability or other to hide from my senses? Was that just so you could have an entrance right as the spar ended?"

Ekira did not reply to Noah's words, the guildmaster even more stoic than Erwest was.

"How long has it been since you arrived here, Noah?" Ekira asked.

Noah thought it over for a second. "I think around 5 to 6 months now. Longer than I thought it had been, but somehow it doesn't feel very long either."

"So you arrived here roughly 5 months ago and went from level 0 and unawakened, to a D-ranker in five months. Is that right?" Ekira said, looking at Noah before she shook her head and sighed. "I heard of it from Nae, but it is still something to hear and see for myself. But even with your ridiculous speed, it won't be easy to manage the trials.”

"You keep mentioning the trials. Is this related to the Drakonias thing? Nae had said something about it, but honestly, I really did not listen to much at the time."

"Yes, it is the trial that the three of you are supposed to participate in. The trial for becoming a Dragon Warrior. I assume you have no idea what I'm talking about?" Ekira said.

"Nope, no clue whatsoever," Noah replied.

"The trial is a rite of passage in Drakonias. Here, if you're a D-ranker, you are typically going to be somewhere in your late 20s or early 30s. Some people remain in rank C for the rest of their lives. Roughly half or so manage to reach rank C, which is the highest level they ever go. But to Drakonians, rank C is when they consider you an adult. It is a rite of passage for all children, built around supporting them and ensuring that they continue to grow properly," Ekira said, looking at Noah before she raised an eyebrow in question. "Were you ever told how this C-rank upgrade works?"

"Not really. I assumed it would be similar to my F-rank upgrade, where my abilities would get stronger? Or that I'd get some new abilities," Noah said.

"No, not quite. At rank C, you get to choose a path focus. It is the thing that will define your path from there on out. For a warrior, this is typically their weapon. For a mage, their staff or perhaps a book. For a blacksmith, it could be their hammer or anvil. There are no restrictions to what you can choose as a path focus, but whatever you choose will bind to your soul, becoming a part of your path, and it will shape the options you get when you rank up to B," Ekira explained.

"You must know this already, don't you, Paladin? I hear the Hellion Church tends to set certain restrictions on what you can choose and what you cannot."

"I am aware of how the rank-up works," Erwest replied.

Ekira nodded. "The trial of the Dragon Warriors, as I said before, is for children who have reached the cusp of rank C. Upon completing the trials, you are awarded the title of a Dragon Warrior, and at the same time, you're given artifacts that you can choose from, either to define as your path focus, or to use to enhance your body, spirit, mana control, whatever you can think of. But there is one other thing – for the best warriors, they are allowed to see the Dragon's Heart and gain its blessing. We suspect that the shard that you are seeking might be within said Dragon's Heart," Ekira said. "It would do you well to train. The trials are going to be held in roughly 6 months from now. So the three of you have six months to reach rank C and then win against the myriad of adventurers and warriors participating in the trial alongside you.”

"Will we be the only party going to this place?" Noah asked.

Ekira snorted. "Far from it. There's an airship that travels to Drakonias in about a week. We had to struggle to get you three on the airship. Many adventurers and warriors will be traveling alongside you to go to Drakonias and participate in the trials. Some have even held off from ranking up to C for over a year just to participate. Completing the Dragon Warriors' trial is one of the few guaranteed ways to obtain a title.”

“Besides, the advantages that the title itself provides, they are also allowed to freely travel in and out of Drakonias whenever they wish to. So, besides just the motivations for the shard, there is also plenty of reason for just your party individually to want to succeed in these trials. After all, only roughly those under the age of 25 in human years are allowed to participate. So the best of the very best talent gathers from all over to gain the title of the Dragon Warrior," Ekira explained.

Noah nodded at the woman. "Dragon Warrior, huh? Does sound badass," Noah said, grinning to himself at the idea. "After all, if I already have the plentiful wyrm, why not go all the way and obtain the heart of the dragon as well?"

The woman shook her head, turning around as she made her way out of the gym. "Don't embarrass us there," she said, before walking away.

A moment later, as Ekira disappeared from the gym, Aurelia stepped inside from the gates, Snow tagging behind her. "Was that the… Guildmaster?" Aurelia asked.

"Yeah, she was just telling us not to be an embarrassment in the Dragon Warrior trials and explaining how they worked," Noah replied.

"That's right, though. You're slowly starting to adjust to this world, perhaps I'm trying to adjust to you, but sometimes I forget that you're not from here," Aurelia said. "Anyway, Snow and I are going to shop for some gear. It's time that we bought and replaced a few ability tomes and some gear to go along with it, if she's to come travel with us all the way to Drakonias. Would you two like to come?" Aurelia asked.

"Sure, always happy to shop around and explore the city a little bit. Didn't get too much time to do that, however, before," Noah said, before glancing at Erwest. "What about you, Erwest? Would you like to shop with us?"

"No," Erwest said, turning around as he walked away.

"Guess that was a little too fast," Noah said, shrugging. "I'm sure he'll come around over time."

"Let's go for now. Before the crowd starts to grow. There are a lot of things that I had looked at before that I wanted to check out," Aurelia said, as the three of them made their way out of the Adventurers' Guild.