"My name's Anthony... Uh... Nice to meet you?"
My fourth roommate, who I haven't had the chance to talk to yesterday, nervously extends a hand towards me. With cereals still in my mouth, I grab and shake his hand.
"I'm Matt, nice to meet you."
"So... uh... is it true that you're an adventurer?"
"Yep."
Without going into further details, I scoop another spoonful of cereals into my mouth.
"That's so cool! Oh... Uhm... Yeah... I'll be in my room if you uh... If you need anything."
I can't tell if he's shy around me because I'm an adventurer or if he's like that with everyone. I'll have to ask Andrew or Cal when they finally wake up.
After the invasion, I decided to take a few days off from adventuring. I received the money for my last dungeon clear, so I should probably think about going to buy a sword.
Unfortunately, I can't afford to buy one that matches my current power level. There's the issue that I don't actually know my level, for one, but adventuring gear also becomes exponentially more expensive the higher the level it's designed for. I heard that even some level 80 adventurers limit themselves to level 50 equipment because of how expensive things get past that level.
So the money I managed to put aside while clearing dungeons level 10 and under isn't going to cut it. I can afford to buy another sword like my last one, but what's the point if it just breaks during my first battle?
Since I'm still officially registered as a level 8 adventurer, I could probably manage pretty much any dungeon around that level with just my fists and some of the intuitive spells I picked up on during the invasion and while I was practicing in my room. I doubt even a level 10 monster would be able to pierce or cut my skin now that my body is reinforced by this much magical energy. The issue is that I'm a Sword Fighter, and no team is going to allow me in if I tell them that I'll just fight with my fists. Even Monks use weapons at these levels, they're not going to trust that I somehow punch harder than them.
This is quite the puzzle. Without a weapon, I can't do dungeons, but I can't afford a better weapon if I don't do dungeons first. I guess I should just buy another sword and avoid using it as much as possible as I clear dungeons.
I grab my phone, open the map app, and look for the closest weapons shop for adventurers. The app estimates that I would need an hour and a half to walk there, but I'm sure I can do it a lot faster.
I pick up my headphones, put my shoes on, and leave the dormitory. I can tell Cal is looking at me from the couch, but he doesn't say anything.
As I jump from building to building on my way to the shop, I tune in to a news radio station. It's been a few days now since the invasion, but everyone is still looking for the mysterious "Aurora". I try to stay informed about "her" as much as possible so I can run away if I hear anyone say they might have found me.
"... and that's the reason you shouldn't actually boil a frog."
"Thank you, Professor. This was a very insightful conversation. Now, moving on to our next guest, we have Mister Yanaro, who some of you will already know as the head of the NAA. Since the latest invasion here in the heart of our proud city, the National Adventuring Association has been working tirelessly to find the woman who saved many lives and prevented things from escalating further, the one you might know as 'Aurora'. The NAA tells us that they're interested in having this individual reveal the secret of her strength to improve the fighting ability of future generations of adventurers. Mister Yanaro, please tell us more about this."
"Yes, thank you. As I'm sure you've already heard, we have good reasons to believe that this 'Aurora' is one of our registered adventurers. A new detail I can reveal for the first time in this interview is that we originally estimated her level to be somewhere between 55 and 65, but we couldn't find her within that level bracket. For this reason, we now believe that she's much lower-level than this, and that her power allows her to perform as if she was actually higher level."
I think awakening my power just sent me all the way up there, the reason you can't find me is that I'm registered as level 8. And you're probably limiting yourself to looking into female adventurers, while I'm rightfully registered as male. It's good to know that I'm actually somewhere between level 55 and 65 though. Considering that we get stronger by defeating monsters, I must be on the higher end of that range after having killed this many orcs.
The interview continues:
"We've been living in fear of invasions since the first wave, 57 years ago now. Higher-level adventurers are rare and need time to mobilize when invasions happen, so if we could understand and replicate Aurora's powers, we would stand a better chance of pushing invaders back. Of course, we still know too little about her to be confident that this even is an option. We all know about the adventurers who wield powers that can't seem to be replicated, no matter how hard they try to teach them, but we want to verify all of this with the person in question, and that requires finding her."
"Very interesting. How do you reply to the Free Company leaders who made it clear that they would also do their best to find and recruit her?"
"A meeting between the NAA and the ten most important companies in the country is scheduled for next week, during which I hope to reach an agreement with them. I am, of course, not at liberty of discussing how we plan to approach this meeting, but I believe the leaders to be reasonable enough for this conversation to be worthwhile."
So even the companies are looking for me? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If I really am above level 55 now, I fall within the top quartile of all adventurers. They probably believe they can train me to become even stronger and eventually join their top teams.
But I'm confident none of them are looking in the right places. They're never going to find me by looking for a level 55+ woman. At least I can say that no one has contacted me with an offer to join a Free Company yet.
"Have you considered that this 'Aurora' person simply doesn't want to be found?"
"We have. It's a distinct possibility, one that grows more likely as time passes. It's possible the fight exhausted her, but now that it's been a few days, she should be back on her feet and capable of contacting us. That's why I'm asking you directly, Aurora, to please call the NAA if you hear this interview. If you wish to be left alone, simply let us know. I promise that we'll close the case as soon as we hear word and manage to confirm your identity."
Ah! They definitely wouldn't believe that I'm Aurora if I called them. As much as I hate seeing them wasting resources like this trying to find someone who effectively doesn't exist, I can't get them to stop. If the aetherologists manage to find what's going on with my level, maybe I could use that as evidence, but... Is it possible that this is merely a trap? No matter what, this is too risky to attempt.
As I land in front of the weapons store, I turn the radio off.
A bell chimes as I open the door. A relatively small man with an impressive belly waves at me from behind the counter.
Since the sword I'm looking for is a mass-produced model, I should be able to find it on one of the shelves. I'll probably have to do with the default black handle wrapping, but I'll get some custom options when I finally buy a weapon that matches my new level.
After walking around for a bit, I find the sword in question and bring it to the counter.
The shopkeeper looks at me with a puzzled look before saying:
"You know that's for beginners, right?"
"I do. I am only level 8."
"Uh! I wouldn't have guessed. I feel like you're actually a lot stronger than that, but even my intuition can be wrong sometimes it seems."
Could it be that, like Michael, this shopkeeper has the ability to sense someone's power? If he hasn't cultivated it and learned to control it, it probably just feels like "intuition" to him.
I can also sense the power in others now, but that just seems to be a side-effect of having awakened this borrowed power.
As is required by law, I present my adventurer's license to the shopkeeper, who scans it and registers the sword to my profile. A quick swipe of my credit card and I'm now the proud owner of a mass-produced generic sword used by low-level adventurers!
Yeah, it's nothing impressive, but we all have to manage with what we have, right? And right now, I'm not exactly rich.
As I leave the shop, I take a look at my calendar. My first university semester begins in two days. I should probably avoid getting into dungeons and just focus on getting ready for that until then. I wouldn't want to miss my first week of classes after all, and I need to figure out which of them are most likely to teach me what I need to know to figure out whose power I'm now using and how it functions.
I attach my new sword to my belt and go back to jumping from building to building.
