The heavy oak doors of the E-Rantel Adventurer's Guild creaked open—and the hall fell into stunned silence.
Two figures stepped through.
The first, a tall man in a flowing black cloak lined with crimson. His long hair was loosely tied, and though his expression was calm, there was something almost oppressive about the quiet nobility he carried.
The second, a beautiful woman with jet-black hair and golden eyes like a storm barely held back. Cold, unreadable. Deadly.
Rein and Nabe.
Whispers rippled through the guild like lightning across a clouded sky.
"They're… back?"
"I thought they vanished. It's been almost a week!"
"Some said he died fighting a Lich Lord solo!"
"No way. That guy? He's too scary to die."
Behind the front desk, Receptionist Ina blinked rapidly, scrambling to appear composed as the two approached.
"R-Rein-sama! Nabe-san! You… you've returned!"
Rein gave a small bow, the kind that seemed to drain the tension from the air—only to replace it with a heavier weight.
"Yes. Our business outside the city took longer than expected."
He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to.
In truth, their "business" involved experimental testing of a power that had nearly scorched the earth. But in this hall, all they knew was mystery—and the results it birthed.
Ina cleared her throat, forcing a smile. "I'll… update your activity status now. We were beginning to worry."
Rein nodded, then glanced toward the quest board.
"I'm ready to accept missions again. Something more… appropriate to our rank."
Ina scrambled to recover. "A-Anyway! If you're ready for a mission again… um, the Guildmaster said to give this one directly to you, if you came back alive. It's a high-risk Mithril-tier job, but… no one else dared take it."
She handed him a sealed parchment.
He broke the wax with a flick, eyes skimming the content.
"Ruined crypt. Wraith King-class undead. Reinforced wards. Zero survival rate. Entire Silver-ranked party disappeared four days ago."
Ainz blinked. Oh, good. An undead dungeon. That's either irony or foreshadowing.
"We accept," Narberal declared instantly.
Ina hesitated. "U-Uh, it's really dangerous. I mean, even for Mithril—"
"It will be dealt with," Rein interrupted calmly. "Efficiently."
And with that, they turned and exited—leaving behind a room full of stunned adventurers and one receptionist nervously biting her pen.
********************
The old crypt loomed, vines crawling over the eroded statues. The air hung heavy with undeath and residual elemental signatures.
Nabe raised her hand. "Mana density... turbulent."
Ainz nodded.
Perfect testing ground. I'll keep this simple. No Tier 6 or higher. Just the classics. I'm cosplaying as a battlemage, after all.
He took one step forward and extended his hand.
"[Triple Magic: Flame Lance]."
Three scorching projectiles lanced forward—piercing through a wight before it could even shriek.
Nabe followed up with an electric bolt. A stunned ghoul slammed into the wall.
Dozens of enemies emerged.
"[Chain Lightning]. [Ice Needle]. [Shockwave]."
Low-tier. Clean. Beautiful.
Ainz weaved through the halls like a dancer cloaked in spellfire. Every movement flowed between Tier 1 to Tier 5 magic, no chanting, only swift casting and position.
No mana conservation was needed. Just rhythm and pressure.
Nabe guarded his flank, but barely had to raise a hand.
"Rein-sama. Do you wish me to assist?"
Ainz raised a hand. "Not necessary."
He stepped forward and whispered:
"[Earth Spike]."
A ripple of stone skewered the remaining undead like spears from below.
The crypt fell silent.
*************
Adventurer's Guild – Late Evening
The doors creaked open again.
Ainz stepped inside with the same cloak—now lightly singed at the hem for aesthetic reasons.
He floated a sealed undead relic behind him, wrapped in a [Binding Ward] scroll.
Ina blinked at the clock.
"…But you just left."
He nodded.
"Efficiency."
He placed the relic and mission scroll on her desk. Nabe followed, arms crossed.
Ina reviewed the report, jaw slowly dropping.
"You cleared a six-man dungeon… with just two people… in three hours?"
"Yes."
Ina stared.
"B-But how?! The last group said the necromancer there was enchanted by elemental spirits—"
"Low-tier manipulation. Fire resisted ice. Ice resisted lightning. Nothing we couldn't predict."
Also, one big rock from [Earth Spike] is apparently still effective against wraiths.
Nabe, expressionless, added, "Rein-sama is capable of using Tier 5 magic and below."
Ina choked on her own breath. "T-TIER FIVE?"
The entire front desk quieted.
A few nearby adventurers looked up, some mid-drink, others mid-boast—suddenly aware that something absurd had just been said.
"Tier Five…" Ina repeated, as if tasting the words for the first time.
She looked down at her paperwork, then back up at the man standing so calmly in front of her. "You say that so casually, Rein-san. But... the strongest court mage in the kingdom—Fluder Paradyne—he's only known to use Tier Six. And he's been studying magic for over two centuries!"
Rein gave a small nod.
"I'm aware."
Ina gawked. "So you… just… use Tier Five magic casually?"
"…I've had a good teacher," he lied smoothly.
"Where?" she asked, a little too eagerly.
"...Far away."
Preferably in a fictional country I'll invent later if she asks again.
Behind Ina, a Bronze-ranked adventurer dropped his sword polishing cloth.
"You're telling me a guy who looks like he came out of a ballroom just wiped a crypt full of undead with magic nobody under a royal court is supposed to be able to use?!"
Another whispered, "Wait, what Tier spell did I learn last month… Tier One?? So I'm a toddler next to him?!"
"Shhh! He'll hear you!"
Ainz remained calm, outwardly unbothered.
Nabe folded her arms proudly. "Rein-sama is not one to flaunt power… though he could."
Ainz, internally:Thank you, Nabe. That definitely didn't make it sound more ominous.
Ina swallowed hard, her eyes flicking between her paperwork and the now-unassailable mystery of the man in front of her.
"You… you really don't want to join the Magic Ministry? Or the Royal Arcane Registry?"
Ainz shook his head.
"I prefer wandering. Magic is a tool. Not a throne."
Wow. That actually sounded kind of cool. I should write that down.
He accepted the stamped quest form, now clearly marked "Completed – Solo Team (Tier: Extreme Risk)" and handed it back.
Ina hesitated, then leaned forward slightly.
"…You know, Rein-san… some people would call what you just did inhuman."
He gave her a faint smile.
"I've been called worse."
Then, without waiting for more questions, he turned and walked out, Nabe following like a silent stormcloud.
Behind them, the guild hall burst into whispers.
"Tier Five…"
"He said it like he was talking about breakfast!"
"Maybe he's really a legendary mage in hiding…"
"Or a lost royal…"
********************
Guildmaster's Office – E-Rantel Adventurer Guild
Ainzach stared at the closed door of the guild hall for a long moment after Rein and Nabe had left.
Tier Five.
He leaned back in his creaking chair, eyes narrowed, lips pursed like someone trying to process an absurd joke he couldn't laugh at.
"Tier Five?" he muttered again, incredulously.
That rank of magic wasn't unheard of—but it was the kind of thing written in royal spellbooks, protected by national seals, and studied by archmages who spent their entire lives behind arcane walls.
And yet this man—no title, no history, no entourage—had returned from a solo crypt-clearing mission without so much as a scratch. And his companion spoke of Tier Five as if it were the standard.
Ainzach exhaled through his nose and stood up sharply.
"This I need to see with my own eyes."
Later That Evening – Private Guild Testing Grounds
Rein stood in the center of the wide field, cloak fluttering slightly in the night breeze. Nabe stood silently beside him, arms folded.
Across from him, Ainzach and a small team of senior guild observers looked uneasy.
"We don't usually conduct demonstrations at this hour," the Guildmaster said, folding his arms. "But after what happened at the graveyard… and after your receptionist nearly fainted from shock… well."
He motioned to the magical constructs placed across the testing range—reinforced golems made to absorb Tier 3 magic without collapsing.
"If you wouldn't mind… Rein-san… could you cast a spell for us? Just to verify."
Ainz nodded slowly.
"Very well. But please stand back."
Here we go. Gotta act like this is effort. Not "I could sneeze and vaporize it."
He raised one hand.
"[Explosion Burst]—Tier 3."
A bolt of blazing force shot forward and detonated cleanly against one of the targets, sending a shockwave across the field. The golem staggered but remained intact.
Ainzach gave a nod. "Alright. Tier 3. We expected that."
Ainz sighed internally.
He wants more. Fine.
He flicked his fingers again.
"[Inferno Javelin]—Tier 4."
This time, a lance of fire shaped like a burning spear pierced clean through the second golem. It collapsed in molten chunks.
The observers jolted.
"That… that was Tier Four," one muttered.
Ainzach narrowed his eyes. "One more."
Ainz held back a chuckle.
"[Crimson Lance]—Tier 5."
The third target vanished. Not exploded. Not shattered. Erased.
Even the reinforced warding plates on the ground glowed red-hot where the beam had passed.
Silence.
One of the senior staff, a veteran mage named Gerhart, finally broke the silence.
"…There was no chant. or even a delay??!!!"
The others stirred, murmuring now. Murmurs turned to whispering.
"No chant… no buildup…"
"That spell was Tier Five, wasn't it? But it fired like a basic cantrip…"
"He didn't even gesture properly! How did it cast cleanly?"
Ainzach's eyes were wide. He took a step forward.
"That's impossible. Even the court magicians of the Empire need at least a few seconds to stabilize Tier 4. And Tier 5… only royal sages even touch that level. And with full ritual support!"
He looked at Rein—not in suspicion, but something like awe.
"You just cast it as if it were natural breathing."
Ainz kept his tone level. "I've practiced a long time."
Very long. And with cash shop items. And bugged armor. And a literal otherworldly power skin.
One of the mage-observers leaned in toward Ainzach, whispering urgently.
"Guildmaster… what if it's the legendary trait? The one they whisper about in the Arcane Tradition circles…"
Ainzach blinked. "You mean—?"
"Yes. The Born Caster. A mythical innate talent that lets a mage bypass chants and cast through will alone. Only one in ten thousand mages is said to have even a trace of it."
Another gasped. "No wonder we couldn't identify his origin! Maybe he was raised in secret by some arcane order!"
Ainz just barely held back a smirk. well, there is a talent that let the user to use any magic item regardless of restrictions, so it is not weird.
Well, Let's go with that. Rein the wandering prodigy from a long-lost secret order. Has a nice ring to it.
But he said nothing—just bowed his head modestly.
"Thank you for the opportunity to demonstrate. It's… humbling, to have it recognized."
The guild observers looked pale. Ainzach blinked rapidly.
"…Tier Five," he whispered. "He really did it."
He took a step forward, eyes locked on Rein. "Forgive me for asking this directly, Rein-san… but who are you really?"
Ainz gave a neutral smile. "Just a traveler. With a bit of training."
Ainzach looked at him for a long, hard second.
Then he turned to the stunned guild staff.
"Effective immediately," he declared, "Rein and Nabe are to be promoted to Orichalcum Rank. No deliberation required. Submit the paperwork before nightfall."
A cheer erupted from the team. The Guildmaster, despite the unease in his chest, couldn't suppress the grin forming at the edge of his mouth.
If we don't recognize that kind of power, someone else will.
Ainz, on the walk back:
Well, that worked out. Barely had to try. No one died. Didn't even have to fake being exhausted. Nice.
Still though… if someone asks me to cast Tier 6 next, I might need to pretend I've "sworn an oath of restraint."
He glanced to Nabe beside him.
She said nothing.
But there was the faintest curve of a smirk on her lips.