The path to the village wasn't that complicated, the place was even free of dangers except for some wild animals that were lurking around. Ace arrived safely in front of the village gate, the guards were watching everyone who entered. "Hello, could you tell me where the nearest guild is?" Ace approached, asking the guard respectfully. "Go straight and on the right side there will be a large structure with a red roof." Thanking him for the information, Ace continued to walk.
The local stores were diverse, having everything you could imagine that could exist in a fantasy world, some basic weapons, some medicines, equipment, and, of course, supplies for adventurers to take on their adventures. Ace didn't draw much attention because there were many people in armor like him. Arriving at the guild, he started to approach.
"Hello, my name is Ace, and I would like to register as an Adventurer." The receptionist looked somewhat impressed, since, judging by Ace's armor and physical build, he thought he was an adventurer already. "Oh sure, please sign here." Signing the contract, Ace waited for the man to return, who after a while returned with someone else.
"This is Ron, he's a Steel-rank adventurer. He'll serve as an instructor." Ron was a tall, strong man carrying a shield. he seemed to have a wide, charismatic smile. "Haha, great to see new aspiring adventurers entering this field! You and I will do a simple quest to test your ability." The way to be accepted as an adventurer was simple, do a quick mission with the supervision of an instructor, and if successful, you will be accepted as an adventurer. Ace nodded in agreement, taking the mission pamphlet that was handed to him.
[Hunt a wild boar that has been causing destruction in the rural area.]
It didn't take long for him to follow Ron towards the mission location, the rural area of this village was quite large, with small farms and animal pens. "We're close to our objective. When you go hunting animals like boars, it's recommended that you use bait like these." Ron took some pieces of meat with a strong smell from a cloth bag. "This is a mixture of meat and plants that makes the smell attractive to animals." He handed the bait to Ace as they went to the place where the boar was last seen. It was near the forest, and one of the fences of one of the small farms was broken.
"Let's get ready, remember that I will intervene as soon as the situation becomes dangerous." Ron kept ready with his shield, he knew that even if he was not the initial target that the Boar might choose, he could not let his guard down.
Ace left the bait near the forest and moved away a little, keeping his shovel ready for an attack. Movement was coming from the bushes, leaving Ace alert, but what came out of the bushes was a greenish creature riding a boar, being accompanied by two more goblins. "Goblins! So the rumors that they are around are true!" The goblin riding the boar would go in a frenzy in front of Ace, raising his arm as he prepared his cannon, firing at the same time.
The goblin was thrown back, his ribs broken by the impact of the wind. The other goblins didn't care that their companion had possibly died, continuing their advance. Ron, who wouldn't stand still, ran alongside Ace, using his shield to push the goblin's body, which was finished off by the shovel on the goblin's head, crushing it instantly. "Keep it up, let's exterminate those who are here and report immediately to the guild. Goblins may be weak individually, but they are known to be treacherous and in great number." Ron continued his attack, accompanied by Ace, who finished off the enemies. Another small group approached.
The thrusters on Ace's boots were activated, making him advance at high speed against the goblins, who were being massacred by Ace's shovel. His arm cannon was effective against those who tried to run or use a bow and arrow. "This should be the last one." Ace took the opportunity to take a look at his vital signs radar, finding only the people of the village and some minor signals coming from birds. "Let's go back to the Guild. Goblins aren't known for being outnumbered no matter where they are." Following Ron, they returned to the guild to report what had happened. Ace earned the reward money for the mission and some extra for facing the goblins.
"You've shown that you can take care of yourself as well as have considerable strength. Instead of starting as a Porcelain rank, you'll go straight to Obsidian." The receptionist handed Ace the adventurer's plaque, which gave him satisfaction and pride, as well as a good amount of money. After a few minutes of conversation, he said goodbye and left.
He looked around the market. He looked at the armor and metals section since he could reuse the materials. He bought some material, available even if little. "That should be enough...tomorrow I'll do another mission..." He would go to an isolated place using the system to return to his original world, Angel Grove. Looking at the time, he noticed that it was 2:30 am, so he just went to sleep.
———
Today was Sunday, so Ace was working on improving his armor, replacing weaker pieces of the armor with better ones even if the improvements were few. Looking out the window, he noticed an explosion in the distance.
"HENSHIN!"
Then his body lit up, transforming. Heading towards the incident, he noticed the Power Rangers already on the scene fighting a strange knight. The Rangers were having a bad time, but seeing Zack fighting the knight and being injured made Ace feel obliged to help.
"I know they'll win in the end, but I still want to participate!" He prepared his cannon, starting to charge its shot, a new functionality after working more on his armor. The pressurized air shot was more powerful than before, and then it hit its target. A huge explosion sent him flying and thrown from the hill, and he collided with the rocks.
———
The Rangers were having a difficult fight against the knight, he was strong as well as skilled in combat. He was known as Knasty Knight, who was easily defeating the Rangers. Zack had arrived for the fight, transforming into a Black Ranger, and with his ax he began to fight against Knasty Knight, but he was easily being overpowered by the Knasty Knight. "Aaagh!" The shots from Knasty Knight's sword caused several explosions near Zack, making him be thrown to the ground. "Oh man, this is not the way I want to spend my birthday..." Before Zack could return to the fight, the Knasty Knight was attacked by something, causing an explosion on the ground and making him fall.
"What!?" Goldar, a monster with golden armor and a lion's face, was startled by the mysterious intervention. Coming from one of the mountain peaks, someone jumped; it was that mysterious knight from before who descended from the sky with his shovel, hitting Goldar in the chest and throwing him close to Knasty Knight. "I see you need help training a kitten." Ace mocked his enemy as he stared at Zack, who was standing up and still holding himself with difficulty, the rest of the Rangers gathered around Zack. "Who are you?" Zack seemed to have no hostility in his voice, just genuine doubt, after all, being saved at that moment made him feel relieved, but he felt a strong, familiar feeling coming from that newcomer.
"We don't have time to talk, we have some intruders wanting to disrupt our meeting." Ace, or now Shovel Knight, prepared his weapon, facing Knasty Knight and Goldar, who stood up.