Inside Velmora Palace
In the King's big training yard, a powerful knight named Erec Edison stood. He was a Crystal Knight, as strong as an SSS-Rank Hunter. He was very famous.
Suddenly, many other knights ran into the yard. Erec shouted loudly: "All Knights! Obey me! You must fight me! We Knights are better than Hunters! If you believe you are strong, prove it now! Or give up!"
All the knights shouted back: "YES SIR!" They felt brave and ready.
Erec yelled: "START! Use ALL your power! Try to beat me!"
The knights rushed at Erec. They were Silver Knights, good fighters. They swung their swords, trying to hit him.
But Erec was the best sword fighter. He moved incredibly fast. WHOOSH! SWISH! CLANG! In just seconds, Erec hit all their swords and armor with his blade. They all broke into pieces!
The knights looked shocked. They thought, We can't win!
Erec shouted again: "You do NOT have permission to give up!"
One knight stood up. He was bleeding but looked determined. He grabbed a broken piece of his sword and charged at Erec! "RAAH!"
Erec smiled. "THAT is the spirit I like!"
Seeing this, the other knights got brave too. They all attacked Erec again. BAM! THUD! CRASH! But Erec was too fast and strong. He knocked them all down, one by one.
Erec looked at the fallen knights. He thought proudly: You are all truly brave. I am proud of you.
He announced loudly: "You have proven yourselves worthy! From now on, you are true Royal Knights! You will swear loyalty to the King!"
Healers quickly came to treat the injured knights.
Then, Erec wanted to test his special power: "The 7 Swords of Death!"
He focused. Seven glowing, see-through swords made of pure energy appeared floating around him! They shimmered with dangerous power.
He pointed at a big tree. The seven energy swords shot forward like lightning! ZZZZAP! CRACKLE!
BOOM! The huge tree didn't just fall down. It shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, like dust blowing away in the wind.
Erec smiled. His power was very strong.
Inside Velmora City - The Vanguard Guild:
Kael walked through the busy city streets, looking at shops and stalls. He saw a big building with a shiny gold sign: VANGUARD GUILD.
Hunters work here, Kael thought. I should go in.
He walked inside. The Guild Hall was enormous! Kael blinked. Is this real? Or am I dreaming?
He saw many Hunters walking around. He heard them talking:
"Hey! Guess what? I'm a B-Rank Hunter now, bro!"
"Really? No way! That means you'll earn way more money than me!"
Kael thought: Okay, what do I do now? I want to be a Hunter too.
He walked towards the front desk where the receptionist sat. Before he got there, two girl Hunters blocked his path. They looked strong (A-Ranks!).
Girl 1: "Excuse me, sir! Can I ask your name, please?"
Girl 2: "Yeah! And... are you single? Do you have a girlfriend?"
Kael was confused. What are they talking about? The girls stared at him like they really, really wanted his attention.
"Uh, excuse me," Kael said, gently pushing past them to reach the reception desk.
The receptionist, a woman named Laura, smiled. "Hello. How can I help you?"
"I want to be a Hunter," Kael said.
"Okay, sir," Laura replied. "First, fill out this form." She handed him a paper with questions.
Kael panicked inside: Oh no! I don't know this world's language! How can I read this?
He looked down at the paper... and his eyes widened. He could read it! The words made sense! He smiled with relief and quickly filled in the sections.
He handed the form back to Laura.
"Good," she said. "Now, we need to check your rank. Put your hand on this crystal." She pointed to a strange glowing device on her desk – a Walmoran Rank Measurer.
Kael placed his hand on the smooth crystal. It glowed brightly for a second... then showed a letter: D.
A D-Rank. The lowest Hunter rank.
Some nearby Hunters who had been watching laughed.
"Hah! Only a D-Rank?"
"I thought he'd be something special with those girls fawning over him!"
Kael felt a little embarrassed. He thought to himself: Okay... I guess I need to train a lot harder.
Laura handed him a small card. "Here is your Guild Card, Kael. You are officially a D-Rank Hunter. But there is one last task."
Kael looked worried. "Last task?"
"Yes," Laura said. "You must have a quick practice fight against the Guild Master."
Kael was shocked. "The... the Guild Master?! Who is he?"
"His name is William Arthur," Laura explained. "He is an SSS-Rank Hunter. The strongest in our Guild. The Vice Guild Master, George Henry, is SS-Rank. He might watch too."
Kael felt nervous... but then a small, challenging smile appeared on his face. Okay. This... this might actually be interesting.
(Chapter 10 Fin)