Awakening to a Special-Grade Explorer

Book 1: Chapter 28

"Can you disguise a...... calling?"

"Basically, you can't, okay?There aren't many people who disguise a calling in the first place, although there are some. But I don't really care about that."

"Yes."

"Maybe Tenji's calling can't be determined by the Tree of calling Measurement that the association has. Leon probably gave you because of that. Oh, by the way, I basically don't know anything, you know? Leon is always very quiet, so I can only guess from his behavior."

Tenji's heart was pounding in his chest at first, but he was somewhat relieved when Kaido said he didn't know better.

[I realized that I was still guessing just a little bit.]

"What does my inability to determine my calling have to do with this blue stone?"

"Oh yeah, Leon also had a hard time in the past,......, but if the calling measurement tree can't determine the calling, it records it as no calling. That would be inconvenient for you, an aspiring explorer, wouldn't it?''

Tenji nodded involuntarily at those words.

[I was blindsided when I thought about it, or rather, I didn't know that there was a calling that couldn't be measured by the calling measurement tree in the first place.]

Even if you attended the Explorer High School, you will need to express your calling in order to obtain a professional license.

If Tenji had not inherited this blue stone, the Blue Stone of Disguise, from Leon, he might never have become an explorer.

"Oh, sure,...... that's right. Can I ask you one question?" Tenji said.

"Yeah, you can ask me any question I can answer."

"What do you mean the calling measurement tree can't measure up? It is something I had never heard of in school......."

''Ah~, that's it!That's because, in the first place, the 'calling Measuring Tree' is a first grade item. As a simple power relationship, Zero grade is stronger than First grade, right?''

"I see what you're saying. So the calling Measuring Tree can't measure a higher grade of calling than the first grade."

''That's what I meant!Even if......, Tenji-kun has got a calling above the zero grade after all.''

At Kaido's words, Tenji covered his mouth with his hands for no reason.

It was a simple slip of the tongue. It's fair to say that he was set up by the good talker and friendly Kaido's storytelling skills.

"That, that......"

"Oh, it's okay, okay? Our guild has a code of mutual disdain for excessive interference, so I won't leak any information about you to anyone else either."

"Yeah. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to tell anyone else about this.......I'm only a freshman in high school and I can't make that kind of decision,......."

"Yeah, you shouldn't talk about it too much. The association will take it seriously, and then we won't be able to defend it on our own.'

"Association? That doesn't seem like a bad thing to me......."

'Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out in due course. You can still believe in the association now, but you mustn't believe in it with all your heart. That's the World Explorers Association."

"I'm not sure......, but I guess I shouldn't trust anyone too much anyway, right?"

"Yes, that's about all you need to know right now. The actual "blue stone in disguise" is an item that you can use to disguise as a "swordsman" of the fifth grade, so you can tell the association that you have awakened as a "swordsman". It will not be hard to be a swordsman without calling."

"A swordsman, that's a great calling to disguise yourself in."

''Yeah, that's right! Swordsmen don't have any skills worth mentioning, it's just a calling that increases your physical abilities. As long as you're careful not to use your skills in public as much as possible, I don't think your true calling will be revealed so easily.''

"Really...... how can I thank you...... for everything."

"Thank you? So can I just order one thing?"

"Yes, yes! By all means, if I can help!"

Tenji jumped at the mention of it, thinking that there was a way he could be grateful at this point.

However, words that he never expected come out of Kaido's mouth.

"Be stronger than Leon. That is all I ask of you. How about it? Can you do it?"

"More than he is...... Mr. Leon?"

"Yeah, to be honest, that's all we want. There's nothing Tenji-kun can prepare for Leon who got money, status, and everything else. Sorry?I'm sorry for saying such an immature thing."

"Yes, that's why I want you to become even stronger and be able to stand alongside Leon." Mr. Kaido added.

I don't know if I can, but...... I'll do my best."

"Yeah, I'm counting on it!Oh, and by the way, I'm not talking to anyone, so can I ask you something?About your calling."

"Is it mine?"

"Yeah, I'll give it to you free of charge if you like my knowledge. Ahh, with a phone call like this, there's a chance the conversation could leak out. Then come to my guild office when you're done with your hospitalization!We can talk about all sorts of things there.''

"Are you sure?"

"I'm the one who asked you out!You should come!I want to see Tenji-kun's face once!"

"So, I'll take your word for it then."

"Yeah, yeah, let's do that! So will you call me when you're done with the hospital?I'm usually free, so whenever you're free, okay?"

"I understand. I will contact you again."

"Well then, I'll see you soon!"

"Thank you. Mr. Kaido"

And so the call with Kaido ended.

In the end, the result was that Tenji could thank him in words but had nothing to return.

Even so, Tenji was glad from the bottom of his heart to be able to talk to someone named Kaido.

However, he did have some questions.

"Why me? Why......"

[The only thing I didn't understand was why he cared so much about me.]

But it's not a question that he could find the answer to alone, so he started his daily routine to pass the time.

Since Tenji had started his hospital stay, he had started a few new routines.

One is the process of keeping track of the experience, which is increasing day by day.

He generally records it in a notepad on his phone around 3pm every day.

It was just 10 days ago that he got his calling. Since that day, the experience column had changed to "128/1000".

That's an average of 12 experiences gained in 24 hours. The goblins don't need any rest at all, and their experience increases no matter whether it's morning or night.

[If I keep going at this rate, I'll be one level up in 73 days. It seems a little long at about two months, but it also feels like cheating to go up so steadily when I'm not doing anything.]

Another routine he has started is working out.

[I had started my daily intense workouts in the park that was set up right next to the hospital, because I didn't know when that hell-quest-like hell training would occur.]

[The exercises are much harder than the ones I had been doing in my daily routine.]

In the exercise, Tenji felt the benefit of the 50% increase in attack power firmly in his skin.

[Take push-ups, for example.]

"......1000!"

Tenji exclaimed on the deserted lawn, sweating all over.

[I used to judge that if I could do 100 to 200 without a break, it was a good day, and if I ran out of steam after 50 or so, it was a bad day.]

[Now I can do that about a thousand times.]

Tenji was lying on his back on the grass, huffing and puffing.

"I think I'll try...... today as well."

Tenji muttered to the sky as he began to catch his breath.

The number "1/2" in the hell realm he has been thinking about all week.

He guessed that this was probably the number of hellbeasts he could summon, and he wanted to see if he could summon them right away.

However, Ochanomizu Dungeon General Hospital was open for business as usual even in the middle of the night, so there was no way to get out of the building without being seen.

If he tries to go out normally, even if it's just for inspection and hospitalization, they'll say, "No, you can't, Amagi-san! That's what I was told by the association! Not To Let You Out".

So for the past week, Tenji had been observing the nurses at work to see how he could get out.

And today he decided to carry out that escape.

[Now, let's go home before Imasaka-san starts nagging at me.]

Tenji wipes his sweaty body with a towel and heads back to the hospital.

And so the night came quickly.

Tenji shoves a large amount of towels into the bed and builds up a shape that looks like a person is sleeping.

Then he quietly exits the hospital room without the sound of a footstep. He goes down the hallway, not using the elevator, and heads for the back entrance of the hospital.

The front entrance was not a good place to sneak out, as the nurses and receptionists were working there as a matter of course. So Tenji looked for a back entrance where ordinary people could go in and out, and he found it.

Checking his surroundings, Tenji slipped out of the hospital without being discovered.

He ran as fast as we could through the hospital grounds and into the adjacent park.

"Phew, that went well. Besides, Imasaka-san had the day off today, so no one should be able to find out."

And so he stopped in the woods of the park, where no one was around and no one went near at night.

"Alright, let's check the second summon."