“Guild Master!” Rudy shouted.
“Rudy, what happened? Explain.”
Rudy explained what had transpired to the Guild Master.
“I see. For now, carry that guy sleeping on the floor away. He clearly needs some training, and I’ll see he gets it.” The man then looked towards Cain with a smile. “The third son of the Lord? If you want to become an adventurer in the future, you’re welcome here. If you’re already this strong at age five, you might become an S-rank in the future.”
He patted Cain’s head, laughed boisterously, and then disappeared into the depths of the adventurer’s guild. An employee at the guild arrived and carried the unconscious adventurer to the detention center.
“Allow me to apologize in his stead, Master Cain. That’s just the type of person our guild master is…” Rudy said as she lowered her head.
“It’s fine. An easy-going guild master is pretty nice. I wasn’t injured, so no harm, no foul. I just didn’t want to waste any more time.”
Nina kneeled down and hugged the five-year-old. “Thanks, Cain.”
Cain was overwhelmed by the sudden hug and Nina’s pleasant scent. A smirk found its way onto his face.
As one would expect from an elf, she had a slender build, and her chest left a little to be desired.
“We’ve finished what we came here for, so let’s go.”
The other two nodded at Millie’s words and left the guild. The three of them headed towards the city gates.
“Cain, not only can you use swords and magic, but you also know martial arts.”
“Cain. Strong.”
“I practiced while reading books at home.”
“C-rank adventurers aren’t so weak that you can beat them by just reading books and training. Still, there’s no telling what will happen once we leave the city, so stay on your guard.”
“I understand, Maestra Millie.”
“I’ll protect you. Don’t worry,” Nina said. Nina appeared to be in a good mood since Cain stood up for her earlier. Unlike Millie, Nina wasn’t very talkative, but Cain could tell she was quite nice.
Cain answered Nina with a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Maestra Nina.”
Nina fixed her hood to hide her slight blush.
The group talked about the various things they should be careful of once they left the city. The guards at the gates questioned why they were bringing a child with them, but Millie explained the situation. When the guards learned about Cain’s identity, they immediately fixed their posture and saluted him. Mere city guards naturally did not have the authority to stop the son of the Lord of Gracia.
The city gates were quite grand. They were roughly sixteen feet in height and the surrounding walls encircled the entire city. The wall was built because of the city’s proximity to the Forest of Monsters. If any creature made it out of the forest undetected, the walls would help protect the citizens inside.
Beyond the city gates was a well-maintained road. It was surrounded on either side by knee-length grass that covered the land as far as the eye could see. This would be Cain’s first adventure in this world. He couldn’t help but get excited.
The three leisurely continued down the road. Given this was Cain’s first outing, he constantly swiveled his head, taking in the sights. After they walked along the road for about an hour, Millie, who was leading the group, suddenly stopped.
“We’re far away enough that it should be fine for you to practice your magic here,” Millie said.
She led the group off the road and into the tall grassland. “Let’s practice here.”
“Millie, before that, food…” Nina pointed out. Due to how much time they wasted at the adventurer’s guild, the sun was already high in the sky.
“Oh yeah. Let’s eat first, then start training.” Millie took three bento boxes from her backpack. “I had the inn we always stay at make these bento lunches for us. Their food is always amazing.”
“Yep. The Silver Eagle Inn’s food is the best,” said Nina.
“Be careful not to eat too much since we’re going to be training after this,” Millie said as she handed a bento box to Cain.
Cain opened the bento box. It had several different types of sandwiches inside. Cain took out a veggie-and-bacon sandwich and brought it to his mouth.
“This really is good,” Cain said after finishing a bite.
As Cain began to vigorously eat his sandwich, Nina took out a cup and poured water into it. She handed it to Cain. “You’ll choke if you eat too fast.”
“Thank you, Maestra Nina.” Cain accepted the cup and washed down the food.
“Nina can use water magic—it’s really convenient. I can only use fire magic and physical enhancement magic. That’s why I focused on swordsmanship.”
“…Millie is a musclehead.”
“Shush!”
Cain smiled, thinking they made a good pair. The group finished eating and put the empty bento boxes back into Millie’s backpack.
“Let’s get started. Nina, your turn.”
“Yep. Cain, start with water magic. Try shooting at the rock over there,” Nina said. She pointed at a six-foot rock jutting out of the ground about sixty feet away.
“Got it, Maestra Nina.”
Cain straightened up and held his right hand out in front of him. “Water Ball.” A three-foot diameter water ball shot out from his palm.
“Fire magic next.”
“Fire Ball.” A ball of flame shot out of Cain’s palm.
“Earth magic next.”
“Rock Bullet.”
A small rock formed in front of Cain’s hand and flew towards his target, crashing into it and bouncing off. Next, he fired wind magic at it.
“No problems with your Elementary-level magic. I want to see your Intermediate-level magic next. Use whatever you want,” Nina said.
Although he had read about intermediate level magic in books before, this would be his first time using it.
“I’ll try fire magic,” Cain said eagerly. “Fire Wall.”
A wall of flames sixteen feet tall and thirty feet wide formed and swept towards the rock like a wave, striking against it. It was much more powerful than he had expected.
“…It’s hard to believe you’re five years old. The power of your Elementary-level magic is already ridiculous, but your Intermediate-level magic is on a completely different level,” Nina said.
“I know, right? Being able to use Intermediate-level magic at age five is already absurd! Yet on top of that, its strength is way higher than normal Intermediate-level magic,” Millie said.
“Are you feeling any lethargy from overusing your mana?” Nina asked.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Cain answered.
“…His mana capacity is also top class,” Nina said.
“Looks like it,” Millie agreed.
There was nothing the two could say about both the power of Cain’s spells and his seemingly endless mana pool. At that moment, the nearby grass suddenly began to rustle.
“Nina!”
“I know.”
“Cain, there’s something nearby! Be on your guard!”
Cain instinctively tensed up at Millie’s shout.
A horned bunny jumped out of the grass and began to look around the area. It was large, coming up to the height of Cain’s knees.
“A horned rabbit. Seems like there’s only the one. Cain, want to try taking it out with your magic?” Millie asked.
“Yes! I’d love to try!” Cain answered.
“Its skin and meat can be sold, so no fire magic,” Nina advised.
“Okay.”
Cain faced the horned rabbit. After thinking about which spell to use, he decided to go with wind magic. He adjusted the power, then unleashed the spell.