Chapter 18 Three years timeskip

The Adventurer's Guild was loud.

It was always loud.

Yet whenever one particular name came up, even veteran adventurers paid attention.

"Did you hear?"

A heavily scarred B-rank adventurer placed his mug on the table.

"They promoted Entropy."

Across from him, another adventurer snorted.

"Already?"

"I thought it be sooner."

Several nearby adventurers nodded.

The name had become impossible to ignore.

The silver knight. black-haired mage.

It was the talk of the town, the “Silver Ash,” Eoghan Rise.

He carried a partisan head made to a hand length sword on his back, and a beautiful girl besides him, “Nightingale,” Selena Blanks.

The duo that appeared from nowhere three years ago.

"Remember when they showed up?"

"The guild master conducted by himself an evaluation immediately after that goblin champion incident."

"And passed it too."

"Nothing about them was normal."

"True."

The surrounding table erupted in agreement.

A younger adventurer leaned forward.

"Are the rumors true?"

The veterans exchanged looks.

Then laughed. An E-rank adventurer spoke up.

"Which one? I still remember the monster tide."

Several veterans groaned.

"That one."

"That was ridiculous."

The younger adventurers immediately became interested.

"What happened?"

The veteran pointed dramatically.

"It was a year ago, they are still C-rank then."

"They accepted a monster suppression request."

"Simple mission. You would like to think that."

The guild hall immediately started laughing.

"Turns out it was a monster tide on full ride; the monster had united under a high rank monster. It was a two headed ogre"

"Ouch."

"That is a real dangerous one."

"Strong enough that B-ranks team were eventually called."

The veteran took a drink.

"Though by the time reinforcements arrived."

A pause.

"They'd already solved the problem."

The younger adventurers stared.

"What?"

"The entire monster tide was slaughtered."

"Slaughtered?"

"The Monster Tide cleared out."

"How?"

"Nobody knows."

"How does nobody know?!"

The veteran shrugged.

"They were the only team there."

"They said Eoghan use some kind of artifact."

Another adventurer joined the conversation.

"The orc one was worse."

"Which one?"

"The one at the mountain."

"That one."

The younger adventurers were becoming increasingly concerned.

"Why do you all sound traumatized?"

"Because we are."

The veteran pointed.

"That was a B-rank quest."

The guild hall fell silent. Even the youngest adventurers knew what that meant—a true monster. The kind that could wipe out villages, the kind that usually needed several B-rank teams to handle. Maybe even an A-rank.

"Entropy was still AROUND C-RANK."

"What?"

"They weren't supposed to be there."

"Then why were they there?"

"They said it was just unlucky, you know, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But if you really want to know from me, I saw they noticed the quest when it gets posted and went there. It wasn’t a coincidence at all."

"What happened?"

The veteran looked toward the ceiling.

As though remembering a painful memory.

"The orc died."

"The orc died?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"We don't know."

"You keep saying that."

"Because nobody knows."

Another adventurer coughed.

"The mountain did explode with some kind of magic, that one really happens. I saw it with my own eyes."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"It explains them very well."

Near the request board, another group was discussing something else.

"The mage is scarier."

"You mean Selena?"

"Yes."A shiver ran through the group of adventurers. The black-haired mage had gained a fearsome reputation. When the fighting started, entire battlefields vanished under waves of devastating magic. One adventurer spoke in a hushed tone."I once watched her cast six spells simultaneously."

Another nodded.

"I saw seven."

A third shook his head.

"I heard eight, though that is probably an exaggeration by then"

The table fell silent.

Because none of that should be possible.

By the counter, Lina overheard the chatter and sighed. Three years. Three years of paperwork, incident reports, and compensation claims. Three years of trying to explain how two eighteen-year-olds kept pulling off feats that made no sense. She still remembered the goblin champion, back when they were F-rank. Now? B-rank. The fastest promotion she’d ever seen—maybe the fastest in the guild’s history.

The guild master himself had personally approved several of their promotions. Not because of favoritism though guild master Gareth did have put a special attention on them.

One young adventurer finally asked the question everyone eventually asked.

"Are they really that strong?"

The veterans exchanged looks. Then one of them answered.

"No."

The younger adventurers blinked.

"No?"

The veteran smiled.

"They're still getting stronger."

The guild hall burst into laughter. After three years, no one really knew where Entropy’s limits lay anymore and that was exactly what made them, well... them. Somewhere out there, the silver knight Eo and the black-haired mage Selena had become more than just adventurers. They had become quite the celebrity in the guild. The kind of tales new adventurers swapped over drinks, the kind that made guild receptionists groan when they appeared on mission reports, and the kind monsters learned to fear.

***

The Guild Master’s office was still and silent. Gareth lounged behind his broad wooden desk, one hand propping up his chin while the other idly thumbed through a hefty stack of reports. At the very top lay a familiar emblem—a compass. Its Entropy. The old man let out a weary sigh.

“Again.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I was hoping they’d wait at least two weeks before causing another incident.”

“They lasted about nine days.”

“That’s technically improvement. Good for them.”

Lina stared at him.

“Your standards are broken.”

“Years of adventuring does that to a man.”

Gareth returned his attention toward the report. The promotion recommendation to B-rank.

The old man flipped the page.

MONSTER TIDE SUBJUGATION

Threat Level: B-Rank

Status: Cleared

Additional Notes:

Area suffered severe environmental damage.

Cause unknown.

Gareth snorted.

“Unknown my ass.”

Lina immediately replied.

“Eo denied responsibility.”

“They always deny responsibility.”

Another page flipped.

MOUNTAIN REGION INCIDENT

Threat Level: B-Rank

Status: Threat eliminated

Additional Notes:

Mountain partially collapsed.

Witnesses reported magical explosion visible from neighboring settlements.

Responsible party:

Unknown.

Gareth slowly lowered the paper.

“Lina.”

“Yes?”

“Did the mountain explode itself?”

“No.”

“Thought so.”

Another report.

ESCORT MISSION

Threat Level: Originally C-Rank

Revised Threat Level: B-Rank

Summary:

Bandit ambush eliminated.

Witness Statement:

"The silver one laughed."

The old man barked out laughter.

“Yeah, that sounds like him.”

Lina rubbed her forehead.

“He apparently said ‘What an unlucky day for you guys.’”

“That brat really does have problems.”

“He admits that himself.”

“How old are they again?”

“Eighteen, three years ago. Twenty-one now.”

“Ridiculous.”

The reports showed steady improvement month after month, with efficiency on the rise, teamwork growing stronger, and casualty rates staying close to zero.

Gareth slowly lowered the paper.

The Guild Master stared quietly at the final document.

Promotion Recommendation: Entropy  

Suggested Rank: B-Rank  

Reasoning:  

Outstanding combat record.  

Reliable mission completion.

  Repeated wins in high-risk scenarios.

  Threat potential far beyond current rank.  

Gareth laughed loudly enough the office walls shook slightly. The old man signed the promotion papers without hesitation. Ink pressed firmly into the document.

APPROVED.

B-rank at just twenty-one years old.

Gareth leaned back in his chair afterward, staring toward the ceiling.

“They’re still growing.”

Lina nodded slowly.

“That’s the worrying part.”

Everyone in the guild had started to realize the same thing: Entropy hadn’t hit their limit yet; they were still getting closer to it.