Eritance - Chapter 48

The remainder of my time in the academy passed quickly. In that time, I had more points than I knew what to do with and I took many courses. I of course, continued to go on advanced missions and made a name for myself as someone who is a strong survivor. My motto was to get in, get the job done, and get back to studying.

Even though I had gone on so many advanced missions, I hadn’t heard back from anyone about whether I would be promoted to gold rank or not. I really wanted to be a gold ranked recruit so that I could stay, but I wouldn’t know until my last day.

I would either be given a letter of assignment to duty, or a letter of promotion to become gold ranked. Over the past few months I was able to hit maximum growth for my stats again. It was always satisfying to compare the growth my current self with my past self. I would never be bothered by a spine bear or an orc chieftain again.

“Ross, show me my stats”.

Orin Strength 18 (5) Speed 18 (3) Stamina 18 (3) Magic Power (4)

Due to the advanced missions and the dragon core that I had consumed, I now was around the same strength that Commander Aegis had been. I had to be careful though, they might think it was strange if I displayed strength on the level of a Commander just months after I had arrived.

So, I typically suppressed my stats to be around the level of one of the lower elites for gold rank. I wanted to stand out, but not too much. I knew that Apollos knew that I had a beast relic, but I didn’t know how many others knew.

There shouldn’t be many, since he gave me the enchanted ring that suppressed my beast relic energy. It was supposed to keep others from finding out, but I’m sure the top brass all knew about it.

I finished up my last week of courses without any significant events occurring. Even if I couldn’t stay and learn for another 9 months I was completely confident that I had enough skills to survive in the world now. It was just that, I wanted the benefits of being in a top ranked position in the future.

After the day’s classes had ended on the last day of the ninth month, I slowly walked back to my room. I walked inside my room and there was a small letter on my desk. It was trimmed in gold, and this was the moment I had been waiting for. Inside this letter lay the answer to my question.

This one letter will determine if I continue learning or get my assignment. I slowly opened and read the contents of the letter. After reading the letter I was somewhat confused. I hadn’t been assigned to the field, but I also hadn’t been promoted to gold rank. Well, I hadn’t been promoted yet anyways.

Apparently, there was such a thing as a conditional rank promotion. I hadn’t made quite enough achievements to be promoted fully. However, if I could complete a special mission I would be given a promotion to gold rank.

This was something I had never heard of happening before, but I was excited. It seemed that someone was looking out for me. I was glad to have the chance to prove myself to the upper echelons of the organization and move up the ladder.

Truth be told though, even if I hadn’t received this opportunity I had already far surpassed my prospects of the past. Before, I could only hope to become a field overseer, but that still involved living in a hut and eating very little meat.

Being allowed to become a mid-ranked commander would give me power and authority. I could use it to forge a life for myself already. However, I decided that, if I could just become gold, I would be able to gain independence even faster. I could probably work out some kind of deal where I only worked when called upon, instead of doing an active duty.

My thoughts had begun to change though, on what I wanted. It wasn’t that I wanted to be incredibly wealthy, but I slowly began to see the state that many were in. I wanted to make a new village, a place where people could go who had lost everything.

In this village, everyone that was there would be able to laugh happily and eat meat. There wouldn’t be oppression. To do so though, I needed resources. Otherwise, I could never achieve a sanctuary-like village, it would just turn into the normal village that oppressed many for a few to live in luxury.

With that thought in mind, I clenched the conditional rank letter in my hands. I would not fail. The letter outlined what the mission would be.

It would not be easy. In this mission, I would have to do it all by myself. I couldn’t bring others with me, because I had to prove my abilities. Success achieved by my hand alone would allow me to rank up. If I took a team with me I would be disqualified from the rank up and given a demotion.

The mission seemed like it would be dangerous, but not necessarily too hard to complete.

Mission Rescue the merchant Orkin

Mission Details: The merchant Orkin has been kidnapped by the Drow. Orkin is a key supplier in the Oedipus region of the country. Without Orkin’s help, the rebel forces will lose precious resources in the fight against the emperor. Rescue the merchant Orkin from the clutches of the Drow and return him safely to his home in Bastia.

Mission Reward: Gold rank promotion

The Drow were skilled in both stealth and magic. I would have to be wary of them. Luckily for me, my stats were higher than that of many of the gold ranked elites, so I should be able to succeed without too many problems.