Rudy was an adventurer.

He was.

He hunted dangerous monsters and traveled distant lands. He quested with his party and saved fair damsels from distress.

Sure the damsels did their fair share of saving too, but no one would dare assume female Adventurers were any less dangerous for their gender. The West Wind Brigade was terrifying when angered, and even the lovely Miss Isuzu had a mean right hook. Even the most traditional Landers knew Adventurers operated on different rules.

The longer Rudy spent with his new party, the more of these differences emerged, hidden like glass shards on a dusty street.

And while Rudy may have been an adventurer… an Adventurer he was not.

Before the Cataclysm, the only Adventurers Rundelhaus Code had seen were from a distance. The disadvantage of living far from the cities was that traffic rarely passed through.

Mostly, Rundelhaus heard stories.

Traveling bards were always willing to tell tales of their journeys, and there had always been something enticing about the strange beings who fought back the ceaseless tides of monsters.

Everyone grew up with the tales of Shiroe the Archmage and other legends, but Rundelhaus had always been fascinated by the stories of new Adventurers finding their footing.

While Adventurers never aged, they still seemed to have stages of growth.

In fact, as Rundelhaus learned one night from a particularly well-traveled minstrel, when they first sprung into existence (from wherever Adventurers came from), they weren't that much stronger than an average Lander. It was mostly their instincts and learning speed that gave them their edge.

Well, that and the fact that couldn't die.

To a young dream-filled boy though, that point was mostly irrelevant.

All he had to do was work harder than the rest of them, and make sure not to die. That wasn't too hard! After all, he'd managed the not dying thing just fine so far.

When Rundlehaus thought about it, even his old nickname sounded kind of like an Adventurer's name. It must be fate.

Resolve growing, that was the day Rundelhaus, no, Rudy decided to become an Adventurer.