Tralken, where Nickel lived, was the capital city of Tralkia. It was a sprawling, walled city, with several outlying towns and villages.
Yesterday, Nickel had made all the preparations he could.
Today, he was mapping out which of Tralken's surrounding villages he intended to travel to, in order to challenge the dungeons found there.
After a dungeon had been discovered, and some time had passed, a village would slowly begin to build up around it. Or, in the case of a C-Rank or higher dungeon, it would form nearby.
And around Tralken, there were five villages with F-Rank dungeons close by.
'Kildenn, Ashbert, Mackleton, Loram, and Norben.'
Oddly enough, these five villages were all within a few days of each other.
"That should make it easier to find a Caravan."
Nickel leaned back in his chair, thinking of his plan for the next two months.
After his parents disappeared, and Kalvin pulled him out of his self-destructive depression, they had made a plan for what Nickel would do once he'd awakened.
Going on his own adventure. Not as Nicholas Silver, the last son of the Silver family. But as Nick, a commoner who was trying to be an adventurer.
There were some… complications, however.
Artifacts, while not particularly uncommon among more experienced adventurers, due to the fact they could be rewarded by dungeons, were not readily available to newbie adventurers.
Not commoners, anyway.
Nobles, now, they were the ones that would often have an artifact the same day they registered.
Now that Nickel thought about it, that might have been why the Guild let nobles pay to hide their info.
Which meant that, if Nickel wanted to travel incognito, he would have to do two things.
One: keep any artifacts he had a secret unless absolutely necessary.
There was another reason for this. While villages, towns, and cities were all relatively "peaceful", there were no guards in the dungeon. Or out in the wilderness between these pockets of civilization.
It was not terribly uncommon for a person to die in a dungeon due to an "accident". And for those with them to come out an artifact or two richer.
So the [Void Scales] had to remain resting in his Internal Armoury.
Which led into the second requirement: hiding the fact that he was a dragon.
There simply weren't enough dragons in Tralken. There probably weren't even enough dragons in the country.
Due to their long lives and abysmal birth rates, leading to there typically only being a single child born to each couple, the dragons made up the smallest portion of Sherash's population.
Most of them lived in one of the nine Draconic Citadels. And those that didn't typically lived in single family units, like Nickel and his parents.
All of this was to say that, simply knowing he was a dragon would be enough to identify him as Nicholas Silver.
So how would they deal with these issues?
The artifact problem was easy enough, Nickel would just have to use a mundane weapon and wear mundane armor. Kalvin had gotten those for him.
As for the second issue, well, Nickel was going to rely on the people's lack of interaction with other races.
In his least draconic form, he was barely scaled, so it was likely that he could pass as some form of snake demon.
Tralkia's population was predominantly made up of humans, elves, and certain types of beast folk. And while there weren't too many demons, they were certainly more likely to visit than a random dragon.
Admittedly, looking back on it, Kalvin probably only meant for this plan to be something Nickel could focus on, to take his mind off things. Not something he'd actually do.
Too bad Nickel fully intended to go through with it.
—
"Are you certain I cannot convince you otherwise?"
Nickel nodded at Kalvin, a resolute look on his face.
"I am."
A concern filled sigh escaped the butler's mouth.
"But, surely, now that you are a Hex, and have been accepted into Alyn Academy," he tried to persuade Nickel, "You don't need to take such a reckless course of action!"
A small smile appeared on Nickel's face. He truly appreciated the old butler's concern for him.
Kalvin had been playing the role of his caretaker Nickel's entire life. His parents hadn't been neglectful, of course. But Kalvin had always been there for him. Even more so after his parents disappeared.
"That's even more of a reason I need to do this." Nickel said. "I have less than two months to prepare for Alyn. The weakest first year students will have been awakened for two years."
A person could only be accepted into an adventurer academy once they turned sixteen. And the minimum requirement to be accepted into Alyn Academy was to be a Rank 4 Pathfinder.
"And that's not even mentioning the fact that, as a Hex, there'll be more pressure on me, not less." Nickel's expression hardened. "They'll be expecting someone on the level of Sophiette Drakon. And I'm not."
Kalvin let out a sigh.
"Very well, Master Nicholas." he relented. "I concede."
"Thank you, Kal." Nickel smiled gratefully. "Will you go find Will and Liz while I get the armor on? I need to say goodbye."
"Of course, Sir."
Once Kalvin left the room, Nickel began to don his armor.
Honestly, compared to the artifact armor he'd seen in the vault, and especially the [Void Scales], it looked unimpressive. But that was the point.
It was a mix of plate and cloth, meant to cover his vitals while retaining ease of movement. An upper chest plate with a leather stomach guard, small flexible elbow and knee guards, leather gloves with metal knuckles, and boots with plated shin guards.
After donning the armor, Nickel wrapped a cloak around himself, and picked up his weapons.
Two long daggers, sheathed in a cross at the back of his waist, and a small mana-revolver, holstered on his right leg.
Walking out to the front of the manor, Nickel found Will and Elizabeth standing with Kalvin.
"So, finally time, huh?" Will asked.
Nickel nodded in confirmation.
"When will you be back?"
Nickel turned his head to Elizabeth. Despite asking him a question, her head was turned away.
"I'll be back the day before my escort to Alyn arrives," he responded with a grin. "If this is how you're being now, I'd hate to see how you'll be when I leave for the academy."
Liz rounded on him, unshed tears in her eyes.
She swallowed hard. Without saying anything, she threw her arms around him.
After a few seconds, she let him go, and ran into the manor, tears beginning to fall.
Sighing, Will patted Nickel on the shoulder.
"I'd better go after her. Good luck, Nickel."
He followed Liz into the house.
Turning, Nickel looked at the man who'd been by his side his whole life.
There were no tears in Kalvin's eyes, just a look Nickel recognized as one of approval, and pride.
Kalvin bowed.
"Good luck, sir. May you return home stronger than ever."
"I'll be back soon."
Nicholas Silver walked down the stairs, out the gate, and into the city.
Beginning his journey.