I will not fall for the ragebait

"Alright, welp, this is goodbye for the timebeing."

"Hey, we haven't land-e!!!!!!"

I fell through the air towards the earth.

'What the fuck?'

My master had pushed me off Timmy with a wind spell.

Thankfully, my descent slowed, most likely because of that same spell.

I fell slowly through the air for several minutes.

"...It was sudden, but I guess this is pretty cool."

I had never gone skydiving on Earth, so this was certainly a new experience.

Still, my heart was beating incredibly fast from the initial slowfall.

Internally, I felt Blue panic at my suddenly raised heartrate.

"Blue, relax, we're fine."

At that moment, a thought came to my mind.

"Hey, you'll be able to eat a lot of food soon, so calm down."

Living as an adventurer would allow me to kill many monsters which were far more powerful than the ones I had previously taken on.

In other words, I'd be able to farm experience through Blue.

Blue seemed to calm down a little inside me, and I soon landed on the ground.

It was a calm landing, thanks to whatever spell my master had cast to slow my descent.

In the distance, I saw large walls, with a city behind said walls.

I couldn't make out any details from where I was, though.

I patted down my leather armor, an attire befitting an adventurer.

My suit was undoubtedly a superior piece of equipment, but... well, it would probably give off the wrong vibe.

'The last thing I'd want to be seen as is some arrogant young face-slapper.'

I checked to see if the sword on my back was still fastened.

It was a simple yet decent weapon, ranked D, having no special effects.

I wasn't so shameless to ask for my master's A ranked weapons, even if he had many.

Taking out a mirror from my pouch, I felt that I looked the part of a young aspiring adventurer.

Looking at the sky, Timmy had travelled far enough to appear as a dot.

"Let's get a move on."

---

"Oi, kid... sorry to burst yer bubble, but the whole city's on lockdown right now, a dragon was spotted."

'...Damn, he should've used a cloaking spell."

I was currently standing at the eastern gates of the city, unable to enter as a guard blocked me.

I had no identification, simply claiming that I was an aspiring adventurer.

The man explained that due to the lockdown state only known adventurers were allowed to enter, which naturally did not include him.

'This... technique... It may work.'

I employed a legendary technique that I had not used in years.

I was a fourteen year old, so I worried that its effectiveness would falter.

Looking up at the man, my face crumpled, as if I was about to cry.

"Bu-But sirrr.... I- I- I travelled so long to become an adventurerrrrrr! Please... don't make me sleep outside, please sirrrrrr."

At my sudden outburst, the man started mumbling in confusion at the awkard situation he was in.

"Ahem, ahem, no need to cry, kid, they say it passed over, so the chairman should lift the lockdown within a few hours... just sit here, for a while, okay?"

'Tch.'

Yeah, I was definitely too old for that to work.

Atleast I found out that the lockdown would end soon, but I felt that I could have gained said information without making a fool of myself.

Wiping my crocodile tears, I nodded to the man with a sad expression.

"Uh, wait a second."

The guard ruffled around in his pocket, and for a moment I became nervous.

"Take this, kid."

He gave me a lemon candy with a beaming smile.

'Nice.'

---

As the guard said, a few hours passed and the lockdown ended.

I was allowed in without much trouble, but I was told I needed to register with the association by the following morning.

That was fine with me.

With some money provided by my master, I booked a night at a decent inn and layed in bed.

'A rank adventurer...'

Maybe if it were before the time of the current chairman, I'd have been able to reach it.

But standards for adventurers had shot up as of recent times.

I was confident that with mode I could beat a fourth layer mage, but a fifth layer mage...

Unsurprisingly, the higher the layer, the larger the power difference between the previous layer.

Becoming a B rank adventurer would be doable in time, but I thought that reaching A rank would at least require me to achieve the fourth layer.

'2 years...'

I felt that was plenty of time to reach the fourth layer, even more so considering I could devour monsters using Blue.

Even if I reached the fourth layer, becoming an A rank would not be easy.

I'd need a 'feat' great enough to receive that rank.

What made this even worse was the fact that I wanted to run solo.

Exposing Blue to anyone would always be a no go, meaning that I would not be able to let him eat monsters if I were to join a party.

"Hah, let's worry about that tomorrow."

---

"Name?"

"Outis."

"Age?"

"Fourteen."

"Profession?"

"Mage."

The receptionist for the association hub on the eastern end of the city looked up at me.

"What's with the sword if you're a mage?"

"Can a mage not use a sword?"

The woman looked at me and squinted her eyes.

"You know how to handle that thing?"

I felt a little insulted at her question.

My swordsmanship trait was E+, a result of my hard work with Skelly.

"Yeah, I do."

I answered confidently, and she continued scribbling on my application form.

"I'll be putting you down as a magic swordsman, okay?"

...I wouldn't consider myself a magic swordsman whatsoever, though?

Regardless, I didn't care to correct her.

"Layer?"

"Third."

Once again, she paused and looked at me with squinted eyes, this time adjusting her glasses.

"Quite young for that, aren't you?"

"Is it a problem?"

"No... but we test these things, so if you're lying... you'll be blacklisted from becoming an adventurer."

I frowned at her, annoyed at her suspicion of me.

"Lady, I'm telling the truth, just put it down."

She sighed before continuing to write my details.

"Place of birth?"

"Key Empire."

"Alright, that's all, keep this paper with you and wait for an hour, we'll be holding an exam at that time, good luck."

I quickly took the paper and nodded my head.

"Thanks."

She had been annoying, but I guess that my specs were pretty impressive for her to be so suspicious.

She had probably seen thousands of new adventurers, so based off her reaction, I could hazard a guess that I was well above the average.

As expected with these kinds of places, the association building also served as a major tavern.

I sat down in a corner and waited.

Looking at my application paper, I wondered if it was necessary to use a fake name.

Since I had been exiled from the Notoria family, going by Furio would be no problem.

My appearance had also changed enough that it would probably be difficult to recognise me upon returning to the empire.

Yes, I did absolutely intend to return there.

'Having a false identity would probably be for the best, I suppose.'

But considering I wanted to go to the academy, it was basically guaranteed I'd meet Sylvia, my half sister, there.

And if that were not enough, other children of the great families would be there, ones who knew me.

"Hah, it's too much."

"Oi, talking to yerself, eh? Guessin yer thinking that yer lie is too much now, aren'cha?"

'What the fuck?'

Looking to my right, a group of men, looking to be in their twenties, approached me.

Honestly, they gave the vibe of low level thugs.

"I'm sorry?"

I tilted my head in confusion towards them.

"Heh, acting innocent now, are we? Who'd believe a runt like you would be a rank three mage as well as a swordsman, lookin at yer face, yer just some rich brat tryn'ta play hero, am I right?"

'Oh, it's this kind of scenario.'

Honestly, I couldn't even get angry at these clowns.

The bald idiot who seemed to be leading them called me a 'rank three' mage, meaning he did not even know the very basics on how mages were categorised.

I turned my head, looking down at my application.

I closed my eyes and smiled serenely.

In my mind, I repeated the following phrase.

'I will not fall for the ragebait.'

---

LOG 27 - SOMBRIUS

The only SSS rank adventurer in the world. He is simultaneously considered to be one of the strongest swordsmen in the world, with his strength being his extreme speed. It is a belief amongst adventurers that the second you see his sword unsheathed, you will lose your head, assuming you're fighting him, of course.