"Trust Jasmine when things get rough. She may be the youngest, but don't doubt her strength and experience as an Adventurer," Reynolds advised Arthur as he pulled him into one last firm hug.
"Hey, what about me?" I objected in mock protest.
"I know how strong you are, dummy, I don't need to rely on you." He stuck his tongue out.
I backed off as I saw the rest of the Leywins approaching. I put on my mask, using sound magic to change my voice. "I'll be going first. Meet you guys at the Guild Hall." They turned to me in surprise, hearing my deep voice. "I won't be too long."
While the Leywins were seeing Arthur and Jasmine off, I paid one last visit to the Xyrus Orphanage.
"Mary, I'm here." I said, mask off.
"Kuro!" She smiled brightly, before seeing my attire. "Is it that time already?" Her smile softened as she realized.
"It is. I'm going Adventuring with two other people. Friends, of course." I returned the smile, hugging her.
"YEAH, BIG BRO K IS HERE!" the kids that spotted me shouted in excitement before bombarding me with hugs.
"Haha, what's up guys?" I picked up everyone with Wind magic.
"You can't keep me here for long, though," I laughed. "I gotta meet the others at the Guild Hall," I said as I retreated from the traps that were the children of the orphanage. "I'll be back after my first mission!"
________________________________________________________________________________
When I got to the Guild Hall, Arthur and Jasmine had also just arrived and were about to walk in. I snuck behind them.
"Behind you." I poked Arthur's nape.
"Woah!" He grabbed his neck. "When'd you get here?"
"I've been following you guys for a while now," I lied.
"Jeez man, at least tell me if you're behind us." He rubbed his neck. "And don't do that again, weirdo."
I stepped in front of them, just as we reached the entrance. "I'll lead the way. Don't be surprised."
As expected, Ava was waiting for me. "Sir Regal. I presume today's the day?" She asked as she bowed.
"Yes, Ava. Tell Kaspian I'm here with him, please. He'll know." I nodded.
"I'll notify Mr. Bladeheart immediately." She bowed once more.
I turned to see Arthur and Jasmine stunned, Jasmine moreso than Arthur.
"Don't be surprised." I brought up my finger to my lips as we walked in.
"Regal. It's nice to see you again as always." Kaspian said from behind the counter.
"I could say the same, Kas. I'm sure you already know Miss Jasmine Flamesworth," I pointed behind me.
"And I presume this is the one you spoke of?" He looked at Arthur.
"Note." He brought his hand up in a greeting.
I saw the slightest change in his expression before he recovered and brought his attention to me.
"It seems you were right. He is indeed quite interesting."
"Told you so."
"I assume you're sponsoring him for a rank examination?" He asked me.
"Ah, no. I'm gonna be alone on this one. Jasmine?" I gestured to her.
She slid a piece of parchment toward him. "I would like to sponsor him for a rank examination," she said curtly.
"Very well." He smiled. "This way, please. I'll personally test you when your time to test comes."
As we were led to the examination hall, I got looks from Arthur and Jasmine.
Knowing they would pester me as long as they didn't know what just happened, I decided to explain.
"Kas?" Arthur finally broke the awkward silence between us.
"I've got ties with him. A guy I knew," I said, while directing it at me, "was taught by him."
"Ahh, okay. So it's like that. Friends, I assume?"
"Old friends, at that."
When we finally reached the end of the dark passage, I adjusted my eyes to the sudden brightness.
It was a brightly lit area with an indoor, dirt-floored arena with standard theater seats.
There were a number of people there, including the bug Lucas Wykes and Elijah Knight, the reincarnation vessel of Nico Sever.
Ava spoke quietly. "Examinees are seated over there," she said, indicating to a group of people clustered together not too far away, "but you can just take a seat in this area since testing is already in progress. There are quite a number of examinees today, so please remain seated until you name is called."
"Thank you, Ava. I'll take it from here."
She gave us one last quick bow before leaving.
All of the other examinees were boring an uninteresting, so I just trained with my Gravity magic like usual, inducing a thirty times influence on my body constantly.
After a young girl had just been given her rank as C-class, an all too familiar boy's name had been called.
"Next! Elijah Knight," the clipboard-carrying clerk announced.
"Here..." the boy stood. He had short-trimmed, jet black hair that fell low across his forehead. He bore a serious expression beneath his square-shaped glasses, giving him a mature look at his age.
He looked about as young— or even younger than Lucas— and he had a somewhat unapproachable aura about him. Not to mention, I could feel it. It was similar to Arthur, but also the complete opposite at the same time.
It was definitely Nico's doing. It felt like their souls were fighting over control of the body, and Nico was losing at the moment. I'll need to get rid of him sometime soon. I'll see if I can do it when they raid the Dire Tombs.
He wore simple clothing; a beige long-sleeved shirt and black pants and carried no weapons. I knew he was a conjurer, further proven as the examiners didn't switch, but also because I could see the domination of his mana veins over his mana channels inside of his body. I need to figure out how he's passively raising his core level over time, too. That'll surely be useful.
The clerk approached the examiner and was holding his notes up for her to see as he whispered something into her ear.
Hold up, lemme hear this one.
I enhanced my hearing with mana and even used Wind magic for extra measures.
"The boy seems to be a special case. I've been notified that he's to be immediately given B-class, no examination required," he whispered.
Her thin eyes widened in surprise before she quickly regained her composure and gave a nod.
"Looks like we've got a special case," I said to no one in particular.
"How so?" Arthur was a bit confused.
"Elijah Knight, age ten," the clerk announced. He took a few steps back as the examiner spoke. "I have been informed of your status. You are hereby assigned the rank of B-class Adventurer."
He merely gave a small bow and sat back down in his original seat without another word.
"Next, Lucas Wykes," the clerk called.
"Hmph! Finally." The blonde-hair noble brat jumped from his seat and made his way leisurely to the floor, staff in hand.
"Oh boy. This one's annoying. He's good, but annoying."
"Lucas Wykes, eleven years old. Conjurer at the... Light Orange stage! Single specialization in Fire."
"Weak." I merely said, just barely loud enough for Arthur to hear.
"It's still amazing though. He appears to be a half-Elf so he must've only awakened a few years ago. To pass through six stages while not being like you or me is already amazing enough," he rebutted.
"I did that in two years when I was four. Six stages is nothing. Besides, the Wyke's noble family is known for their shitty experiments just to get more power."
"Let us begin," the examiner declared, clearly irked by the brat's lack of respect.
I don't like him, but there's no denying he's a good mage. Even if he was a dick, an eleven year old Light Orange conjurer with a single specialization in the Fire element couldn't normally dish out such big spells.
He raised his staff above his head and shouted, "Expulsion!" and the dozens of fire tendrils he made briefly radiated a bright red— then shot beams of fire at the examiner.
Aiming her staff at the ground below her, she calmly continued chanting. The surface around her glimmered a bright yellow as multiple pieces of earth began emerging from the ground.
"Stone Shard Field. It's a good one for countering and even counterattacking." I commended.
The glowing rocks darted into formation to block the lasers of flame— and they didn't just block them. They turned them back toward Lucas.
"Release!" He yelled desperately, his face turning pale. The wisps in the air disappeared but the the flames they had already emitted were still heading towards him.
Pointing his huge staff at the multiple flaming trails rapidly approaching him, he cast another spell.
A cyclone of fire, just large enough to surround him, sprang up from the ground. The approaching trails of flame were caught up in the vortex of the fire tornado, merging harmlessly with it.
"Pierce," the examiner commanded with a fluid motion. The hovering rock shards that had redirected the flames wobbled for an instant, then shot forward at the flame tornado that hid Lucas.
They bulleted through the fiery cyclone, shredding it out of existence. The shards stopped just short of Lucas, who was trembling with anger and shielding himself with his staff held in front of him.
"How dare you! This is a preposterous lack of decency for a mere rank exam! I demand this be recorded and dealt with accordingly," Lucas cried. His once-creamy complexion was now a few shades lighter and a layer of sweat covered his face.
"Look at that, he's too prideful to admit he lost, so he's blaming it on her." I told Arthur. "He's a joke, thinking someone at her level can't control her spells that good."
"Your control over your spells, and your creativity in their combinations, are both excellent. As long as you are cautious and know your limits, I believe you will have a great future ahead of you, Mr. Wykes.
I think it is safe to say you can be placed into B-class. Do you agree, George?" She turned to the augmenters' examiner, who gave a simple shrug in response, a clear sign he didn't object.
His anger seemed to have disappeared into thin air at this decision, and was once again replaced by his smug grin.
"Woah!"
"Another little monster!"
"I might as well just go home."
"What is with today's crowd?"
All of the other examinees complained in envy, and those who had already taken the exam murmured excitedly amongst their companions and the other audience members.
"What did you blundering apes expect? Did you think I was on your level?" He taunted as he dusted off his robes.
"I think you're weak as hell." I said, chuckling.
"Hah?! We'll see about that then, bug!" He fumed as he heard me.
The examiner, who didn't even appear tired, switched places with the augmenter examiner, George.
The scarred man got up, stretching his body like a lazy cat and casually high-fived the conjurer and he walked past her.
The clerk announced, "Next examinee, uh, Note." In response to George's questioning look, the clerk gave an elaborate shrug and held up his clipboard for inspection.
"Let's go," he bellowed, clearly annoyed.
"Alright, kid. You're up." I stood up, following Arthur behind.
Jasmine placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck."
He gave a firm nod, leaving Sylvie with her.
I stood on the edge of the arena as he approached the man. "It seems you're testing under special conditions seeing as we don't have any information on you. Let's see what you're made of."
He regarded him with a curious stare, as if trying to see through his mask to see who he was.
They each unsheathed their swords, Arthur pulling out the one I gave him.
Crap. Maybe I made a mistake, giving him Prototype One. Oh well. We'll see what happens.
"Begi-" He was cut off by a man who just walked in.
"Enough," he interrupted. "Stand down, George. I'll be the one to test this particular examinee."
Kaspian. As expected.
Turning his head, Arthur saw him making his way down the stone steps to the arena.
"Sir? You will be personally examining this candidate?" He backed away. "I don't mean to sound presumptuous, but is there really a need for an AA-class Adventurer to lower himself to test an examinee? I am more than capable enough to assess this applicant," he continued.
Kaspian's gaze lowered ever-so-slightly, silencing the examiner.
As the class ranks increased, each jump was exponential, meaning that compared to D-class to C-class, the jump from A-class to AA-class was incomparable. Being an AA-class adventurer signified that you had the strength of ten A-class adventurers, and that was just a rough estimate.
He should be on a whole other tier of strength compared to other humans. I was curious as to how he'd fare against Arthur and if he'd know whether he would hold back.
"His sponsor and... friend," he glanced at me, "has deep ties with me so I feel obligated to test him personally," he chuckled as his right hand reached towards a thin rapier on his waist.
Waving away George, the two of us stood at the center of the dirt arena.
"Let us begin."
I looked at Arthur and his hand that was holding my creation. He's trembling. He's not nervous, no. I can see that mana circulating in him. He's excited as hell.
He didn't think he'd find another person of such high caliber aside from me yet, that's for sure.
"I knew from the first glance that you would have to be assessed in a different manner. I hope you don't take this... special treatment to heart," Kaspian commented as he lowered his stance.
His reach was longer than Arthur's by about a foot, easy. While his stance indicated that he primarily relied on thrusts rather than swings, just from the amount of mana I could sense swirling near him, it was safe to assume that he wouldn't make any careless mistakes.
Not to mention with the little warning I gave him, he'll probably be acting especially cautious.
"Please prepare yourself. I wouldn't want the person Miss Flamesworth sponsored to lose too quickly. I was also given a small warning about you, courtesy of our common friend." Arthur looked at me for a moment, his piercing gaze focused entirely on me before going back to the fight.
He sprang forward, leaving a trail of dust behind him as he closed the gap between us. In one fluid motion, he lunged his rapier like a coiled spring, using the momentum of his initial step.
He twisted his head to avoid the stab, but a few strands of hair were cut off.
"Excellent dodge," he mused, retracting his rapier in preparation for his next attack.
Immediately following up with an angled lunge, he held up the scabbard I gave him to pair with the sword I created. A sharp thud echoed throughout the arena from the clash and he was thrown off-balance.
Still not developed enough to adapt all your skills from your past life, Arthur. Try something else.
He recovered by pivoting, using the momentum from Kaspian's attack to whirl his lacking body to generate a powerful swing.
Kaspian leaned back just moments before his sword reached his head, but a thin red line appeared across the tip of his nose.
His thin eyes widened in surprise but he recovered instantly. He took advantage of that split second, bringing his sword back to produce a sharp, upward swipe at his unguarded legs.
The blade reflected the arena lights, producing a silver arc as it whizzed through the air.
However, his opponent was able to reposition his sword to defend against the swing. The sharp ring of metal on metal made both Kaspian and Arthur cringe, while I deafened the noise with Sound magic. The both of them seemed to have had the same intent as they both used the opportunity to gain distance.
Only a handful of seconds passed during the deadly exchange, but each of them came out with only minor injuries. He switched his sword arm since the impact of their last exchange produced a sharp vibration that made his right hand tremble. I didn't even need to look at him to notice and confirm the condition his arm was in.
The realization that he was still unaccustomed to fighting in that body was all too apparent as he coaxed his hand.
"I must apologize for still underestimating you. I shall be a bit more serious now." Kas' voice was calm but his face expressed a certain degree of seriousness that wasn't there before.
Took him about as serious as the time we fought, dude. Put some more effort into it.
A moment later, I felt his killing intent, the kind that could only be present in someone who had years of fighting experience under their belt. His rapier was aimed toward Arthur, but as he brought it closer toward him, the blade began glowing with a silvery hue.
"Ha!" Letting out a sharp breath, he thrust out his rapier, piercing the air in front of him.
He instinctively pivoted his self away from where his opponent had lined his attack. He stiffened for a quick moment as blood seeped into the sleeve of his robe.
"Seems like Miss Flamesworth has picked up someone worthwhile after all," Kaspian acknowledged. "Regal. It seems you really were right about this individual. Interesting indeed."
"It's nothing, really. He's still a bit soft around the edges, but he sure as hell won't lose to an AA-class veteran in the years to come," I said.
He'll be able to fight with quasi-demigods in the few years to come.