After having fought several dozen wolves with his life on the line, Lloyd gained something. While at first, it might have been deemed simple and not worth speaking of, yet, the moment he felt his father's hand reach out to him, that very thing he gained turned into somewhat of a curse.
*Swoosh
The word 'Danger' rang out within Lloyd's mind, and before he knew it, he narrowly dodged the had by sidestepping. A blank look appeared on his face as his body moved independently.
His arm readied itself by stretching back, but before he could throw out an explosive punch that held all his power and might, the blank look on his face disappeared, and one filled with panic replaced it.
A worried and shocked expression appeared on Layla's face, yet everyone else did not seem to understand what was happening. From where they were looking, it looked like Lloyd either dodged his father's hand, or that his father had purposely missed him.
Without skipping a beat, Lloyd used the momentum gathered to swing his upper body downwards, and without a second of hesitation, he began to do his laces.
The whole thing could only be described with the use of one word.
Smooth!
"..."
Everyone stayed silent. Anyone with strict parents knew that dodging their parents was the same as signing a death warranty, and at that moment, everyone kept their eyes on the duo in an attempt to witness how Lloyd would die (Metaphorically, of course.)
However, the corpse they were expecting never came.
After tying his laces, Lloyd simply stood up and left through the front door. He could feel his heart thumping loudly despite the fact he was 95% sure he didn't have one.
Leaving his house and closing the door behind him, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Touching himself all over, his mind relaxed as a thought perked up in his mind.
'Looks like I am still intact.'
"Young Lloyd?"
"Good morning uncle Rubert!" Lloyd greeted and quickly sprinted out of the front gates, moving past the cleanly cut front yard.
As Lloyd left his house, he instantly entered his shadow, and by the time Rubert looked over, not even his shadow could be seen lingering in the area.
***
After leaving his shadow and ensuring no one was following him, he turned off his GPS system and began walking through the bustling street.
Since it was a holiday, the streets were even more crowded, with children, adults, and teenagers walking around without qualms.
However, Lloyd cared very little about his surroundings, as the moment his eyes landed on a certain shop, he skillfully traversed the crowds and dodged everyone in his way.
While he could have used [Shadow Travel], it was considered taboo to use your abilities in public. While it wasn't outright banned, it was looked down upon; however, that was not Lloyd's main reason.
Despite using his ability for what felt like two days, Lloyd still did not know how his shadow travel would be affected if other people chose to touch it. While there have been instances where his shadow was targeted, he did not have the pleasure of allowing the attacks to hit him, as in those landscapes, a single hit could have marked his death.
After finally moving past the crowd, he found himself standing in front of an extremely popular destination.
Dozens of people were leaving and entering the buildings, yet there wasn't an ounce of traffic as the crowd moved in and out without a hitch.
While the outside looked like a normal high-tech 20-story-high building, the inside was another story all by itself. If Lloyd was forced to describe it using one word, he would find that the only word that would fit the scene before him would be magnificent.
While the outside looked fine, it was a far cry from the magnificence of the inside.
"Get out of the way already. We don't have all day!" A man shouted from behind Lloyd while subtly tapping on his shoulder.
"Oh, crap! Sorry about that." Lloyd apologized after realizing that he was standing in the middle of the door and blocking the entrance for many of the people behind him.
While the door was large enough to let 4 burly men through without many problems, a single person holding up a section of the door would only clog up, making the outburst of the man behind him more than reasonable.
After a while, Lloyd finally found his way toward one of the receptionists.
"Hello sir, how can I help you today?" The woman behind the counter asked with a professional smile.
While the woman in front of him was extremely beautiful, Lloyd did not care in the least.
"I want to register as an adventurer, please," Lloyd replied while the woman's expression remained the same as she gave him a form to fill out.
After doing so, he returned the form; yet, despite thinking that this was the end of the process, the woman's next words told him otherwise.
"Would you like to be known as Lloyd, or would you like a code name?" She asked with a tilt of the head.
"Oh, that..." Lloyd replied before scratching his head.
After glancing at his outfit, his ID card that told him his class of a "Shadow assassin," and all his shadow abilities, Lloyd let out a small grin and replied-
"Shadow... My code name will be Shadow."
Scenes of him entering the battlefield as a black streak of shadows and leaving nothing but decimation behind him made him smile widely.
He could already hear the cheers in the distance, the name 'Shadow' being roared out by hundreds of thousands of people.
"Sorry, sir, but that name has already been used. In fact, that is the name of an S-rank adventurer. I would suggest you try finding another name." The receptionist let out a small chuckle that made Lloyd's dreams of success crash and shatters into hundreds of pieces.
'She's mocking me! Don't worry; when I become an infamous SSS rank Adventurer, you will be the one groveling at my feet, lady!'
However, no matter how much Lloyd wanted to say those words aloud, he still wanted to become an adventurer, and insulting the receptionist would not get him closer to his small goal. In fact, he was certain that it would just make something as small as registering much bigger than it should have.
"Uhm... Then how about The Monster Slayer." Lloyd asked with a small smile on his face. While he didn't think of the name much at the moment, he said it in the future; he would look back at this day and feel toe-curling cringe infest every part of his mind. He would go through several sleepless nights, yet somehow, a miracle happened!
"That one is used to." The receptionist responded, and future Lloyd would look back at this day while praying for the goodwill of the man who chose such a cringy name.
"Assassin!"
"Used."
"Wraith?"
"Uh uh"
"Prince of Darkness?"
"Nope... An organization called the Elyon Company has already trademarked that one."
"876?"
"Used by some A rank weirdo who has an obsession with chess. He's handsome and rich, though..." The receptionist commented before her eyes became unfocused, while Lloyd could practically see her thoughts at that moment.
"I heard he has over 40 wiv-"
However, Lloyd quickly cut her off with his final suggestion, and the one his future self would cringe the least at.
"How about Null?" Lloyd asked, yet after waiting for several seconds, he did not get an answer, so he asked again.
"Null?"
"Yeah, so I checked all the databases, and surprisingly enough, no one has the name Null. Congratulations, adventurer Null! Now all you have to do is go through the little testing procedure. Since many came here after finishing school, it will take a little longer than usual. Please be patient with us." The receptionist explained before giving a little boy and handing Lloyd a receipt with the number 192 on it.
Sitting down and waiting for what felt like forever, Lloyd finally heard his number being called up.
In this day and age, the adventurers association was one of the only organizations that weren't being controlled and manipulated by the government. Not even the likes of Benjamin Glade or the Glade Patriarch could affect the decisions of the adventurer's organization or gain any information about someone who registered with them.
By registering with the adventurer's association, one would gain many benefits, one of the main ones being that registered people could enter permanent dungeons owned by the adventurer's association. At the same time, unless someone were to commit a crime or do something bad, they would always be protected by the adventurer's association no matter their background.
The only thing that mattered to them was power, and rightfully so, since power was the only thing that could dictate the life of people in this era of dungeons and monsters.
After walking up to one of the workers and showing them his receipt with the number 192 on it, the worker took him to the back before entering a room and showing Lloyd to one of the podiums.
A tinge of fear could not help but appear on Lloyd's face, yet after exhaling slowly, the fear disappeared, and Lloyd returned to his usual self.
"Please place your hand on the podium." A man's voice entered Lloyd's ears, and despite not seeing the man anywhere near him, he quickly complied with the order.
"..."
"..."
"..."
After what felt like forever, the voice spoke again.
"Alright. Your adventurer's card should be printing itself. One will be sent to your wristwatch in case you lose the card. Please make your way to the front entrance. One of the workers should give you your card there."
Nodding, Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief before strolling to the front door.
Bidding the receptionist farewell, Lloyd stepped out of the building and looked down at his wristwatch.
[Name: Null]
[Commandment: -----]
[Class: Shadow Assassin]
[Talent: 2-Star]
[Rank: F+]
While Null wasn't the best choice of all the names Lloyd could have chosen, Lloyd was never good with names in the first place. All he thought of at that moment was the word Void, and despite wanting to use the name, it was probably not the best of ideas.
Having a name like Void and showing up with violet eyes, shadow abilities, and the capabilities of beating creatures of a higher commandment were bound to create suspicions, not that Lloyd planned on using his Void Walker abilities in the first place.
It was always better to stay safe than sorry.
'F rank, huh... Well, I should have expected this.' Lloyd scratched his chin before shrugging.
Ranks were based on the combination between abilities, commandments, and experience. A man stuck in the first commandment for the last 20 years might only be capable of moving towards the D rank if they were lucky, while someone with 10 abilities yet 0 experience would be lucky if they got anything close to C rank.
In the minds of the adventurer's association, power and abilities trumped all, yet one needed a balance between them all to get a solid foundation and a low death rate.
With a swipe of Lloyd's finger, he changed the holographic screen to one of a map that showed several blue dots all over the city, but at the same time, he could see several red dots shining too, followed by a few purple dots as well that he was familiar with.
'Purple means unauthorized... Blue should mean a normal permanent dungeon, and even though I don't know what red means, if I were to guess, it probably meant that it was a temporary dungeon with a risk of breaking if not conquered within a certain amount of time. I should probably try out the blue one first. Usually, permanent dungeons are a lot more secure than temporary ones.' Lloyd inwardly concluded.
With the aid of his wristwatch, he walked toward one of the nearby dungeons.
