While I slept, I dreamt of that same scenario in the mines again. Fighting as hard as I could only to be eaten or stomped on as if I were little more than an insect.

Other times, I saw myself being killed by the knight captain, too.

Both he and that dragon were far stronger than I was.

I slowly opened my eyes and rolled out of bed. Today, I decided not to bother with a morning workout or stretches.

I have something important to take care of.

After getting my armor on, strapping my sword to my side, and fastening my shield to my arm, I was ready to make my way to the adventurers guild.

I made sure to lock the door behind me on my way out and walked through the main cafeteria of the inn.

Before I even made it halfway to the door, I heard a cheerful voice behind me.

"Mizik! Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

It was my newly discovered Aunt Aria.

When I thought about it, my mother was named Karia. It seemed like grandpa Maul didn't have a very creative naming sense.

"Hey Aunt Aria, I slept fine. I was just heading out," I spoke plainly in response.

The feeling of dread after what happened yesterday still hung over me.

"Without eating breakfast first? What's wrong with you?" Aria asked with a concerned expression.

I'm fine, I'll eat something on the way! I need to get moving!

"Papa is making breakfast at the moment. If you wait for just another minute, I promise you won't regret it!"

It was really hard to refuse this woman. As angry as I was at the world right now, I needed to calm down.

It really wasn't her fault. She was just being nice.

I guess I am family, after all...

"Okay then, I'll just go sit down over-"

"MY GRANDSON! SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!"

A booming voice cut me off. I turned my head to see Maul, My grandfather, bounding straight for me.

He reached me and threw his massive arms around me then squeezed me like a lemon over an empty glass.

"Y-you're killing me! I'm going to die! Let go!"

Struggle as I might, this guy had arms of steel.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I get carried away sometimes," he said as he loosened his grip and I collapsed to the floor.

"It's okay...I'm fine..." I managed to say.

Aria helped me up off of the floor.

"It's just...I knew Karia had a son, but I never got a chance to meet him or learn his name. I'm just excited to meet you!" Maul said excitedly.

"I guess I should apologize for that," said a woman's voice behind us.

It was Cleo.

"I never told the lot of you because his old man wanted me to keep quiet about it. He couldn't bear to be around you after what happened."

"Wait, you knew, Aunt Cleo?" Aria spoke up.

"I did, sweetie. I was there. Ulysses and I were in the room with Karia when she breathed her last. She named this kid Mizik Iratus, held him close, and kissed him just before she passed away."

Cleo looked at me after she spoke. I couldn't help but turn my eyes downward.

"And my word, she would be so proud to see how handsome and honest he turned out to be! He looks just like her, doesn't he?" Cleo said cheerfully.

Please just kill me and get it over with.

"Hey, you know what? He does look a lot like Karia. And he's got those Emerald eyes like Ulysses too!" Exclaimed Maul.

Just before Aria could talk, I decided to speak up.

"Umm...I really have to leave soon. Could we pick this back up later?" I said while hoping to change the subject.

"Ah, I guess you're right! Since you'll be staying with us for a while, we can do just that!" Maul let loose a hearty laugh.

"Breakfast should be about ready by now. Let's eat before we get started, today," said Aria with a smile.

As we sat and ate, some of the other adventurers had begun waking up and arriving to get some food themselves.

The food was delicious.

I cleaned my plate, said my goodbyes, and went on my way.

* * *

That had to be the most lighthearted interaction I'd had in a long time.

It would be nice if I could help out at the inn. It was the least I could do...

While walking around town, I made my way to the area that housed the adventurers guild. Only after getting lost a couple of times and asking for directions, of course.

I walked through the doors and confidently strutted up to the front counter.

The receptionist was a young woman with black hair in a ponytail.

"Welcome to the Lorelei branch of the adventurers guild! How may I help you today? Would you like to make a request?" She smiled at me as she spoke.

"No, no request. But I would like to register myself as an adventurer," I said confidently.

"I'm sorry, sir, but how old are you, exactly? You must be at least fourteen to register. Also...if you don't mind me saying, is there really a need for you to go this far?"

Damn it all! I won't be fourteen for another three months. I can't wait that long.

"I am fourteen. It might be hard to tell because I just turned, but it's the truth," I lied straight to her face while looking her dead in the eye.

So much for being honest...sorry, Cleo!

"Hmm," she pondered for a moment while looking me over.

I was well over five feet tall at this point. My childlike features were nearly gone and I was decked out in armor to boot. I certainly didn't carry myself like a child, either. Lastly, I was close enough to adulthood that it made little difference.

The woman shrugged slightly.

"Alright, do you have the registration fee?" She asked while flashing me another smile.

"Of course, how much will that be?"

"Twenty-five gold."

I reached into my inventory and counted out the money. I placed it on the desk in front of her.

After she counted the money, she reached into her desk and pulled out a small stone then slid it over to me.

"Please place your hand on this viewer stone," she said.

I put my hand on the stone and it glowed for a moment. After that, she took it and placed it in a small device that copied the information onto a card.

"Alright, registration complete," she said as she looked at my new adventurer card. "Mister... Mizik Iratus?" She pronounced my name with an emphasis on the second I as Miz-eek.

I felt my eye twitch a little. I loved my mom and cherished the name she gave me, but people really had trouble pronouncing it right, didn't they?

This had been happening for as long as I could remember.

"It's Miz-ick, ma'am. Sorry about that."

"Oh! My apologies! Now then, since you're only level ten, you'll start as a novice adventurer. When you complete enough requests, you can move up to bronze, silver, and onward. Since you're only a novice rank, you will have to take requests only from the front desk directly," she explained.

That means I should probably ask her for one, I guess.

"Do you have any requests I could take that would let me kill a large number of monsters?" I asked.

I needed to raise my level quickly to survive, so I couldn't afford to waste time on nonsense.

"Umm...kill quests are usually reserved for people of at least bronze rank. They're also normally found on the bulletin board," she said looking somewhat apologetic.

"I promise I know how to handle myself. Is there anything you could do at all?" I asked.

The receptionist frowned slightly and thumbed through a stack of papers to the left.

"Hmm, I have one request to exterminate a few goblins that have taken refuge in the city sewers, but that's a bit..." She trailed off as she averted her eyes.

What was the problem?

Goblins were low-level creatures. They were dumb and usually didn't know how to fight. Even low-level adventurers could usually kill several at a time.

I was especially weak and had trouble with one a couple of years ago, but at the moment, I felt confident enough to kill several.

I needed an outlet for my anger as well. I was still boiling inside because of the Knight Captain.

It went without saying, that if an especially determined child could kill a goblin, they weren't really considered a threat.

"How many goblins need to be killed?" I asked.

"It's unknown how many there are, but supposedly the one who sent the request mentioned a potential danger."

"I'll take it," I said without hesitation.

The woman shook her head somewhat.

"Are you sure? It might be dangerous for someone of your level. I can't recommend that you put your life in danger, but..."

"I'll be fine. My father trained me well enough and he was a great warrior," I said confidently.

The woman sighed and copied the request form onto another page before handing it to me.

"Good luck out there, and please don't get yourself killed!" She said.

With a nod, I took the paper and placed it in my inventory.

Once everything was settled, I went on my way to find the house where the request came from.

* * *

After an hour of walking, I came upon a fairly normal-looking house. It was similar to the one I'd lost the previous day. It was made of wood and red bricks, however.

I knocked on the front door and waited a moment to get an answer.

There were several sounds of locks clicking before the door opened to reveal a middle-aged man with a scowl on his face. He was sweaty and unshaven. The man stared vacantly at me for a moment before speaking.

"Can I help you?" He said in a nervous voice.

"I'm here about the goblin extermination," I said while holding up the request form.

His eyes went wide as he looked at me.

"Are you some novice adventurer or something? I told them it was worse than just a few goblins!"

"I am, and what do you mean?"

Worse...? How?

"Those things have killed several more experienced adventurers before you. They go down there and they're never seen again. That was before I started hiring through the adventurers guild, though. Still, I told them to bump it up to silver!"

At this point, I was starting to feel anxious. I had no idea what to expect down there at this point, but I really needed to level up.

"Let me take a crack at it, then. If it's too much to handle, I'll come right back, okay?" I said.

I was desperate to get stronger... I needed this.

"...Fine kid, do whatever you want. Follow me." The man said.

I followed the client inside and he shut the door behind me. As we walked through a hallway and down a set of stairs, he spoke.

"Honestly, it doesn't matter to me who completes the request or how. I'm just tired of these things breaking into my basement and stealing my stuff every night. It should be the city's job to handle this, but the Duke is a greedy asshole that doesn't care about nothin' unless it's his problem."

"Story of my life," I said sarcastically.

Duke Oswald really was a pile of garbage.

We stopped at the corner of the basement where I could see a gaping hole in the floor covered by a large crate.

"This hole should take you to the sewers. I can't leave the crate off of it, otherwise, they'll come up and try to kill me. I don't need that. Just knock or move it back when you want out, got it?"

"Got it," I said.

Despite the warnings, I felt relieved that I'd finally be able to blow off some steam. Between the mines incident, the problems with the knight captain, and losing my house, I was pretty pissed.

The man moved the crate to the side and I climbed down using a rope that had been hung off of a pipe to climb down.

It stank like human feces down here. I looked around and could see nothing at all in the pitch-black darkness. I pulled out a lantern from my inventory and lit it with the ember spell.

I heard the crate slide back into place above me. The rope remained where it was.

It was finally time for a real fight.

I just wish I knew what I had gotten myself into.