The source of the voice was a man who looks like he’s seen a lot in his life. He looked to be in his early 40’s. He had black hair along with a few strands of gray hair, indicating his age. He had a small stubble on his face, there were a few scars throughout his body. Despite me denying the fact, he has been protecting me for the last 13 years. Being my personal bodyguard.

“I keep on telling you….. You don’t need to address me as a (Lord), I don’t rule over a kingdom, not even a manor. So there’s no need to address me as if I was your master, Sir Eadic.”

“Then you shouldn’t call me (Sir), for I am not a knight any longer. I am but a humble Adventurer.”

“An AAA class adventurer at that.”

You say smirking at the remark.

He merely smiles as he puts the broom he was previously holding aside. 

“Oh by the way, have you and Rosaria eaten lunch?”  

I say raising the cloth bag that contained the loaf of bread and another bag that contained the eggs.

“Unfortunately yes, your sister left not too long ago, she probably went with her friends and looked for a quest to take.”

“Ah….. Teenhood, the age where you can do anything you want…..”

I reply as I put the loaf of bread onto a wooden plate, I pick a single egg from the dozen I bought from the vendor. 

“Are you sure you’re not hungry? I’ll make another egg for you if you want.”

“Don’t worry my Lord, I am nowhere near hungry as of the moment. So you don’t need to.”

“Suit yourself!”

I opened our food storage, and surprisingly there was a leftover sandwich from this morning. I decided to eat that instead of making something else entirely. The sandwich contained a thin slice of meat with onions and lettuce. It wasn’t much but it was enough to keep me going. 

After finishing my meal I went out once more and decided to go to my “other” job. It paid well despite the fact that I merely had to “Test” up and coming adventurers for the Guild. Although it can get dangerous at times, especially when I have to go up against overconfident Teens who always cause damage to the guild’s property.

As I greeted a few of my coworkers, a stray ice shard zoomed past me. Oh, did I mention this world had magic? 

Magic, to use and utilize magic, you need to be able to wield mana. Mana is the backbone of life, it existed way before our forefathers, every organism that lives has mana inside their body. But only a selected number of people are able to wield and utilize mana. About one person out of 10 people is able to control mana, we call those persons “Mages”.

But wait, there’s more! There are elements to mana, we have Flame, Ice, Stone, Metal and Water to name a few. Only one out of five Mages are able to receive the gift of wielding an element. The average mage is able to use one magic type at birth. But they are also able to learn another magic type, but learning another element of mana other than the magic type you are born with usually takes a long while to master. Other than that, each element has its own rarity.

Let me give an example:

Flame - This element of Mana is one of the most common magic types.

Frost - This element of Mana is much rarer compared to its sister element, Ice.

Crystal - This is considered as one of the most beautiful elements of mana, known for its pure destructive power. Only about one out of two hundred mages wield this element.

I myself am a mage myself, being able to use the power of Lightning. 

Anyhow, there was a long line of aspiring adventurers, some as young as 14, the oldest in the line could probably be in their late 30’s. 

“Oh there you are instructor Regulus!” 

I look around searching for the voice until I spot Mira. She’s a member of the Adventurer’s guild as well. I guess you could say she’s my partner when it comes to ranking adventurers. She had fair skin, she had a pretty set of short brown hair. She stood around the 162 centimeter mark, which was the average height for girls her age.

“You're late! The man in front tried to wreck the arena! Luckily Sir Markus and a few others managed to restrain h-”

I cut her off, not wanting to be scolded again.

“Yeah I got it!”

I then approached the small arena grounds used to rank the aspiring adventurers, and there stood an incredibly bulky man. He was quite tall as well! If I were to estimate he was close to the 200 centimeter mark. I myself am taller than the average man, being around 185 centimeters. 

“There you are! So you’re the Adventurer’s guild rank examiner! I got to say! You're not as intimidating as they say! Are you sure you're really an AA class adventurer!?” 

He says as he gives his best attempt to mock me. 

I merely sighed as I walked down to the arena. It then hit me, I left my spear at home! 

“Damn it…….. Oh well, guess I'll improvise.” 

I mutter as I grab an iron sword that was hanging on one of the containers. 

I face the man once more. Examining him closely he looked to be in his late 20’s. So just around his athletic prime. 

I looked around as the other examinees were now allowed to get in the bleachers and view the arena. 

I ready myself as I hold a stance.

“Get ready.” 

I tell him, in which he proudly replies by grabbing the two axes from his back. 

“Get ready to taste defeat!”

He says as he smirks, unleashing a fiery aura of mana.