Part One: The Origin
Welcome!
You've probably heard stories like this a thousand times by now. And, really, there's nothing special about this one. But all the same, I think it's important to start at the beginning. So, let me spin you the tale of my origin.
Oh. My name's Kyo'da, by the way. And I'm a human. File that away for later.
Anyway, I was born in a small village called Irthul. It's about four hundred miles from the nearest major city at the edge of The Wilds. And for anyone who doesn't know what The Wilds are, it's basically just a fancy and superstition-driven name for untamed lands where monsters roam. Not that there aren't monsters in the forests which sit behind the village as well. But, they usually don't bother us. I think the last time they did was about twenty years ago. And it was just a handful of goblins who were easily driven out even though this village is all about agriculture and art rather than having a genuine fighting force.
Sorry. Back on point.
When I was four years old I started awakening to insane physical and magical power. Yes, it's the old OP protagonist trope. Don't ask me. I didn't write this. Anyway, as a kid my parents were raising me to always think of others first. And I loved living like that. It brought me joy to see other people smiling and feeling happy. I carried water to them from the well, swept leaves from in front of their houses, held doors for everyone, the works. Mom and dad were always telling me I was a good boy and that they were proud I was being so selfless. Mom especially repeated over and over again that she wanted me to never forget what it means to help someone else. And I'd like to say I never did... But we'll address that a bit later.
I kept my powers to myself because I wanted to surprise everyone with something special. Especially my mom and dad. Dad was the village chief. So, the whole "make dad proud" thing was always a strong idea in my mind. So, there was a really big boulder near the edge of the village which everyone had wanted gone for generations. But no matter how often they tried to whack at it with a pickaxe it never so much as got a scratch. But, for some reason, I just knew I could get rid of it. Not sure how or why. Maybe it was some kind of magical instinct. But I knew I could do it.
I called mom and dad over and said I was going to get rid of the rock for them. They chuckled and thought it was cute and that they'd see their son try and push it by hand and fail. And I'm sure they'd planned on giving me supportive words after the attempt. But, that's not what they saw. Instead, they saw their 4-year old son generate a magic circle in front of himself. And a moment later the boulder shook and was lifted and thrown into the forest about 50 yards away. Give or take. It was hard. I was panting from the effort and starting to sweat. But I did it. And I was so happy and excited because I knew I'd just accomplished something everyone always wanted but could never do. I'd helped everyone. Right?
Well, as you've no doubt predicted when I turned and asked my parents if I did a good job I was met with faces of pure terror. They began asking questions out loud to nobody in particular like "How?" "When could he do this?" "How could a human do that?" "What sort of divine prank is this?"
Humans aren't normally very magically inclined, and can't usually do more than basic 1st Tier spells by the way. Every now and then there's someone born who can use 2nd or even 3rd Tier spells. But it's very rare. Literally one in a million rare.
Their faces quickly turned to disgust, and they started calling me all sorts of things which I'd rather not repeat. The other villagers joined in almost immediately. Mob mentality and all that. They see their chief and his wife in terror and disgust and they couldn't help but feel the same. They all started calling me a monster, a freak of nature, a mutant, and other more colorful terms. But the one which hit me the hardest was when my mother walked right up to me, looked me dead in the eye, and said "I wish I'd never given birth to you." The others all gathered around me and backed me up towards the end of the village proper. Everyone was doing it. All the adults who always called me a "good boy" and their "favorite little helper," and all the other kids who I thought were my friends. They all looked at me the same way. All except one. Rose. She was 3, and she couldn't understand what was happening or why. The only way she could express her feelings on this was to cry and look at me with a face that screamed "I'm sorry, I wish I could help." But, sadly for me, it was just a wish. They all ran me out of the village which forced me to take up a life of wandering in The Wilds. As I was leaving the last thing I heard before their voices became inaudible was, "I hope you turn into monster food!"
And thus, we come to the beginning of the sob story trope.
What? I told you, I didn't write this.
I wandered the wilds for about three weeks or so. I honestly can't remember exactly how long it was. But it was something like that. Eventually I reached another town which was absolutely ravaged by monsters. Half the buildings had burned down or been demolished by sheer brute force. Many had died. Many more were missing. And the town was desperate for protection and had apparently petitioned the Adventurer's Guild via a job posting.
Oh. Important info. The Adventurer's Guild is a global problem solving service, basically. The adventurers themselves are ranked from F, the lowest, to S, the highest. They can only take on jobs at their own Rank or below due to the dangers posed by trying anything above their Rank. Reason being is because the curve for power is exponential. Not linear. A low Rank A rank would easily defeat the highest B Rank Adventurer. So on and so forth. When a job listing is posted on one Adventurer Board, thanks to special magic linking them to one another, that job posting will show up on every board worldwide. That way it's never missed. But whether or not it's answered is a whole other story.
Apparently this poor town's request hadn't been answered. So, being the naïve kid I was and thinking that maybe if I did enough good deeds my parents would come find me and bring me home, I decided to help. After all, maybe my parents were just testing me and trying to push me to do good beyond the village? They loved me. They always had, right? Once I proved I could use my power to do good for other people surely they'd come get me and tell me this was all just a test to see if I had the courage to stick to what they taught me. Right?
That was my hope. I waited for the monsters to come back. And when they did, I wiped them out. I thought I did good. No damage caused. No lives lost. Just dead monsters everywhere. But when I went to see the townsfolk they did the same thing my village did. They called me a monster and ran me out. Was this part of the test, too?
For the next 6 years I wandered from village to village, town to town, city to city, hoping and praying that if I just did one last good deed my mom and dad would come find me. But they never did. One more then, right? Maybe one more? Eventually, even a child gets the message. And as the reality set in following what was probably somewhere around my 500th good deed before getting run out and vilified yet again for the outlandish power I had, I gave up.
I told you we'd address the idea of me never forgetting what it meant to help someone. And, well, this is that time.
I didn't exactly forget. But I did cast it aside and treated it as if it'd been forgotten. I think I was trying to make myself forget so I didn't have to get hurt anymore for trying to do right by others. If I was just going to be called a monster and run out of every place I tried to protect, what was the point? I was just going to keep hurting myself if I kept helping people. So, I stopped. When someone was getting mugged, I fled the area pretending to be scared. If I heard anyone scream, no matter their age or gender, I pretended not to hear and ran away from the direction the scream came from as if something else had caught my attention. And if monsters attacked, I hid and pretended to be so frightened I wouldn't come out of my hiding spot until about an hour after I knew it was over.
I left everyone to their fate, whatever it ended up being. And I did this for the next 2 years. But, this is where the sob story begins to end and a new chapter begins.
My wandering eventually led me to a Town called Grecia. It was a town of around 5,000. So, a decent size. It wasn't usually suffering monster attacks. And it'd been ages since the last time war had ravaged the land and caused any issues. It felt like the perfect place to try starting over. Since I was 12 now, I was allowed to work. And that was my intention. But, go figure, the day I began searching for work opportunities the town was attacked by a massive horde of Goblins and Orcs. And for anyone who doesn't know, both Goblins and Orcs are rather... Crazed... When it comes to a particular activity. Even if it's with a species outside their own, they don't care. Though the attacks themselves were usually rare, human females were common victims of this behavior. Maybe it was instinct? In the world of monsters, both Goblins and Orcs were like giant rabbits with sharp teeth. Always breeding and growing in number so fast they had no choice but to expand their territories. So, I guess it fit. And humans were the most common obstacle to their expansion since we're the most populous species on the planet.
Anyway, I was doing the usual thing by running and pretending to be scared and running away to find a place to hide. But as I rounded a corner heading away from the open marketplace where the attack seemed to be focused, I came across a woman and her young daughter being chased down and attacked by a big group of Orcs. The mother tried to fight and protect her daughter. But she was far too small and physically weak to do much other than flail. They had no chance. I was going to leave them like everyone else. But the daughter locked eyes with me, and I skidded to a halt.
She was around the same age as I was when I was run out of my home village. Four years old. Five at most. And the terror in her eyes as she and her mom screamed for help... I don't know why. But it resonated with me. I turned away, but it was like every micro fiber of my being was pulling me back towards them. So, I gave in. I turned back around. And with nothing but a snap of my fingers the Orcs all jerked and convulsed before dropping dead to the ground. Why? Because I made their hearts explode inside their chests thanks to a technique I called Death From Within. It was derived from Dark Magic, which is a rare art to learn for almost any modern mage as there aren't many texts or scrolls teaching you what to do or how to harness the powers of darkness. Using it, I was able to manipulate the Orcs' shadows to go inside their bodies, surround their hearts, and crush them until they burst.
The mother and daughter were both lightly injured with some scratches and bruises. So, I used a Healing spell to restore them to full health. I told them it might still be sore for a bit, because Healing magic only deal with the wounds and not necessarily the aftermath of them. Especially at lower Tier levels of Healing magic. And as I walked away certain that I was going to be called a monster again, I felt something hit my leg. It was the daughter. She clung to my leg crying into it and saying "Thank you for saving mommy." The mother came over as well and went down on her knees and bowed her head to the ground while thanking me over and over again for saving her daughter. What struck me about this is that neither were concerned about themselves. They were concerned for each other... Just like I was always concerned for others when I was younger.
A few other townsfolk saw what happened and came over to praise my bravery and magical prowess. And they asked if I could find it in my heart to save the town from the invasion. At first, I was hesitant. But the daughter begged me to save her friends since she couldn't find them before she and her mom were attacked. And I couldn't say "no." Not to that. So, I took a deep breath and used Flight Magic to get high into the air for a bird's eye view. And once I saw where the Goblins and Orcs had congregated for their attack I reached out my hand, took over their shadows, and a flick of the wrist later and they all dropped dead. And the town went quiet.
I flew down to the marketplace to examine the corpses and used what I called Life Sense to make sure none survived. I'm honestly not sure which magic art Life Sense is derived from. But I know it's gotta be one of them. Using it I was able to key in on any life signs which didn't register as human. But all I found were dogs, cats, rats, and other small animals. With the deaths of all the Goblins and Orcs confirmed I saw a bunch of the townsfolk approaching and asking if I was the one who did this, since they saw me fly down. I confirmed it was me and I was ready for the worst. But just like before this town and its people cheered for me. They all rushed towards me and thanked me for saving their families and community and homes from the invasion. It was quite the ruckus. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. After 8 years of vilification and being called a monster, I was allowed to enjoy this one-time only praise. Right? It wasn't likely to ever happen again. At least, not outside this town.
As it turns out the woman and daughter I'd saved were the wife and daughter of the town's Mayor. And not only did he thank me and give me a badge of honor for my bravery at the Town's Square in front of a huge crowd, he and his wife both asked if I'd like to join their family. Their daughter also said she'd always wanted a big brother. So... How could I say "no?" I was officially adopted later that very day, and was now the son of the Mayor. But, more importantly than that distinction, I had a family again. Both the Mayo-... Sorry. Both my dad and my mom were loving people. They were strict on issues like responsibility, taking accountability for one's mistakes, and making sure never to skip educational lessons or opportunities. But there was no denying they saw me as their son, blood or no, and loved me as such. My little sister as well was always doting on me and telling everyone how amazing her big brother was. And once she started clinging to me there was no stopping her. For all my strength and magical prowess, I was never able to find a defense for my little sister clinging to me.
It was nice though. And I think this was when my heart started to heal. I started going back to my old ways of helping people with little things like bringing water from the well, carrying messages for them to and from the courier building, sweeping leaves, being a chaperone to their kids and keeping them out of trouble, taking care of pest control, holding doors for people, etc. And I was happy. Everyone here was so different from back ho-... Back at the old villages and towns. They were friendly, kind hearted, accepting, and compassionate. Maybe the problem hadn't been me after all? Maybe it was the reactions of others that was the problem? I didn't know which it was, or if the answer was something else altogether. But either way I decided to never again ignore someone in need. I had the power to help, and I would always do it. Even if they called me a monster or ran away in fear, I would help them and I'd do so proudly.
Two years later, at age 14, I joined the Adventurer's Guild. To do so requires one to visit the nearest Adventurer's Temple to be judged and receive one's rank in the Guild. And the process, thankfully, was really simple. The temple was on top of a mountain with a single monk sitting at its central room. And the temple itself would respond to the power of the one approaching by literally glowing. The more powerful the individual, the earlier on approach it would begin to glow, and the more brightly it would glow as they set foot inside and approached the monk. The monk would judge the response of the temple to announce one's rank, and the temple itself, somehow, would manifest the Adventurer's ID. Fairly simple, right? Just walk up there and say "hi" to the monk, and you get your rank. Easy.
To give an example of what one could expect from the temple, an F-Rank Adventurer would typically not see the temple begin to glow until they were basically in the same room as the monk. C-Rank Adventurers would usually see the temple glow as they entered the second room on their way to the monk. A-Rank adventurers would see the temple glow as soon as they set foot inside. And S-Rank adventurers would see the temple glow as soon as they reached the mountain peak and began approaching the temple.
And, well... You know this is an OP Protagonist story. So, you can probably guess what happened when I arrived. All the way from the base of the mountain the temple was already beginning to glow. By the time I was halfway up it was as bright as an S-Tier. And when I reached the mountain peak it was so bright I literally couldn't see the entrance and had to feel my way around until I found the door and went inside. The monk was a straight shot up the middle. And though I veered off course a little I was able to stumble my way to him. Thankfully for him, he was blind. So, he wasn't harmed by the light. But he could feel the temple "trembling" upon my approach all the way from when I was still at the base of the mountain. And so, he announced that I was the first and only SS-Rank Adventurer. The temple then created my ID which, to my surprise, was a small metallic plaque which I could either wear or keep in a pocket. I chose to keep it in my pocket for obvious reasons.
After I left, those at the base of the mountain looked at me in shock as they could still see a subtle glow from the temple as I came towards them. It was only after I was about 100 meters away from the mountain base that the glow finally faded completely.
Needless to say, I didn't tell anyone about this and passed myself off as an S-Rank adventurer instead of SS-Rank. I usually did so by using one of my fingers to hide the first 'S' in case anyone asked to see the ID, which did happen on occasion. Still, I managed to get by. And since I was an adventurer, and since Grecia had become a safe place, I decided to leave home when I was 18 and begin traveling so I could both see more of the world as well as continue helping those in need everywhere I went. Being an Adventurer was my one true calling. And although the road to it was bumpy to say the least, I was ready for whatever came next and headed off to start my life as an Adventurer.