Chapter 3: To be Strongest in the World

[POV: Silver Davis]

Silver found himself in a white room. Everything was white, the walls, the ceiling, the floor. Except for the chair. She asked him to sit down and maintain his posture. It was brown, the chair.

Alisha asked him to smile, and there was a flash of light.

So that’s the magic device that can capture your image, that’s so cool. His eyes sparkled to see the object. Silver had always read about magic items, but he had never seen one in real life. Well, not something that cool, anyway.

After taking his picture, she asked him to follow her again. They weren’t back at the counter after going through the door. Instead, Silver found himself in another room again. There was an enormous structure with a door, no more like a huge pillar with a door. Alisha opened the door with her right hand and asked him to get inside once more.

“Get inside the door, please.”

What’s up with this place and doors. This time, she is not even going inside.

Even though silver had some doubts, he went inside without hesitation. He knew he could take care of himself. As Silver walked inside, Alisha closed the door behind him. It was dark inside and there was hardly any room inside. There wasn’t even enough room for him to sit down. He heard some kind of sound from outside and then there was blinding white light and he felt a wave of heat washing over him. After three long beeps, the light faded, and the heat receded.

“You can come out now.”

“What was that all about?” Silver asked as he came out.

“It was to check your power level. 563 units. That’s the minimum requirement to join the Hunter corp.”

Cold sweat was forming on Alisha’s forehead as she was looking at data that was being displayed just above the door. Silver cocked his head back to look at the data that was making this woman sweat.

Approximate Stat:-

Grace:                    1173

Life Force:               272

Physical Strength:    26

                            --------

Power Level:            1471

Alisha wiped her sweat from the forehead. Alisha was looking at the numbers, transfixed, lost in thought. “Excuse me ... Miss Alisha, Miss Alisha?”

“Hun!” Alisha finally snapped out of her thoughts, shaking her head.

“Is there something wrong? Miss Alisha?”

“What? No...” With a brief pause and a long sigh, Alisha changed her answer. “There is, actually.”

As she was talking, two chairs materialized in the room; one behind him, another behind Alisha. She sat down without looking behind. A book and a small sheet of paper also materialized in her hands.

Seeing such a phenomenon occurring, Silver’s eyes grew wider and wider. The only words that uttered out of his surprised mouth were, “Undine’s hair! How is this even possible?”

True, one can just say that it’s magic. But even magic was governed by fundamental laws and boundaries.

“Never mind that, take a seat because we have a few things to discuss.”

Alisha didn’t even give much thought to his reaction. Such reactions were probably everyday occurrences to her. After Silver sat down, Alisha handed over the sheet of paper she was holding.

“That is the ranking system we use for the bounty hunters or petty much anyone. But there are other requirements too.”

As Silver gazed at the content of the paper with curious eyes, he grew more excited and his complexion brightened. His lips curled with a smile.

HUNTERS/MAGIC knights ranking system;

1.) Squire: 530-PL: Rank D

2.) Officer: 845-PL: Rank C

3.) Knight: 1150-PL: Rank B

4.) Commander: 1450-PL: Rank A

5.) Supreme Commander: Rank S

6.) Vedic Knights.

PS: PL= Power Level.

***

I am already A-Ranked, only two more to become one of the strongest Knight in the world. Am I great or what? Such thoughts flooded his mind. Why wouldn’t it? It was his dream to strongest in the world. That was the only way to get what he wanted.

Everyone would be happy if they were told they are only a few steps away from fulfilling their ambition. He must have never been this happy in his entire life. But he knew deep down that it was just a spur of the moment. It would not last, not for him.

“I know what you are thinking, but it simply is not true in your case.”

Silver’s world came crashing down. He frowned, and his complexion darkened. “Why would say such a thing?”

“Yes, it is true; your power level is more than enough to make you a commander. However, you haven’t considered two factors about yourself,” Alisha said with her index finger on her lips.

“Two factors?” Silver responded with a confused voice.

“Number 1, you lack experience,

Number 2, you’re physically weak. Your physical strength is just 26, which is too low.

“Even D-ranked mage have physical strength greater than 80. Your grace doesn’t matter at this point. You will exhaust yourself even before you can use your grace. Hun! Rank A, don’t make me laugh. At your current stage, you will barely be able to win against D Rank hunters. No, you might even lose to them.

“However, I’ll assign you Rank C. You have great potential to become Rank A, which is stronger than most of our members. You will have to work hard though. You must train hard and go on a frequent group mission. Only by raising your physical strength by 200 points, can you hope to become that strong.”

Silver stood up from his chair with a bright smile as he heard Alisha. He was relieved inwardly. All he had to do was raise his physical strength by 200. That’s what he thought, at least. “All that blabbering and all you said was that I have to raise my physical strength by 200. It will be as easy as pie.”

Alisha had a dangerous glint in her eyes that sent a shiver down his spine. What is the woman thinking?

“What kind of magic do you practice?” She asked Silver as she showed both of them back to the counter.

“I practice water-based magic. And I know a thing or two about potions.”

“Just water?“

Silver nodded.

Alisha paused for a second. “So you are a pseudo-mage?“

Pseudo-mage? Now, what is a pseudo-mage?

His confusion must have shown in his face. “Ah! You don’t know what a pseudo-mage is. Not a surprise, only a handful know about it. You see, most mages are born with two grace attributes out of five, sometimes more. But just one rarely happens, and we call them pseudo-mage.”

Silver nodded. Silver thought that calling people like them a pseudo-mage was an insult. Of course, silver wasn’t a pseudo-mage. He was something else entirely. He didn’t intend to tell her that.

Silver yawned so deeply that his Adam’s apple must be open for public view. It didn’t come as a surprise after all that travelling he was forced on. “I’m exhausted. I should be on my way and get some rest.” After a brief pause, he added. “Out of curiosity, what type of magic do you practice?”

Alisha Chuckled. “I use spatial magic didn’t you notice the door? It means I can use all five attributes. Ah! I almost forgot you may receive your membership ID by tomorrow morning.”

Their conversation ended after they exchanged short pleasantries. Silver then found a place to stay with the rent of 3 gold beads per month near headquarter. It was a complete rip-off deal. But he argued little and went straight to bed as he was exhausted after all his continuous journey.