Chapter 77: Evaluation (2/2)

- Astronomy I

- Astronomy II

- Algebra I

….

Ilea read through the list and found nearly everything she could think of on there. She had thought the classes would be more focused on fighting but then again something like the knowledge of stars or geometry might actually come in handy for some specialized classes. What if your power comes from the stars and their alignment, Ilea was sure something like that existed.

And William had mentioned that one could pay for classes with too few attending people so a lot of them likely had one or two pupils. ‘Why even have all that...’ she thought as she listened in on the conversation the two women next to her were having. Apparently they weren’t paid members and had to choose at least three classes in addition to the mandatory ones.

‘The privileged rich...though I don’t think mandatory education is a bad thing at all...’ she thought and made her way up to the main hall again, different ideas for learning in her head.

Adam held his hands to his face, stopping his trembling hands. The paper in front of him was grabbed and crumpled up. Tossed to the dogs as thousands before it. He sighed and opened the bottle of strong alcohol on his desk. Holding the cork in his hand he looked straight ahead and put it down into the bottle again.

The dogs were still munching on the paper when a knock could be heard from the door. Adam waited for the dog to stop chewing before he made both of them vanish, back to the realm of beasts. Getting up he summoned his coat and his intricately designed notebook. He flipped through it as he approached the door of his office. The maroon wood under his boots grated a little as his finger came to a stop.

‘Ah yes, new initiate. Fifth one this month.’ he thought as the book vanished again and he opened the door.

“Elder Strand. The initiate is ready.” the woman bowed. She worked hard, level 130. It would take a while for her to reduce her debt to zero and reach the required level to become a member but Adam was sure she could do it. A brilliant mage with marvelous classes. He smiled at the woman genuinely and nodded.

“I’m on my way.” he said simply and walked down the stairs.

‘This is the third one that I supervise this month...’ his teeth ground together at the thought and the lost time in his work.

The man reached his destination fifteen minutes later as he descended one of the elevators at the end of Viscera. A tasteless name for something beautiful and old. He walked out and into the big corridor that held around a dozen big doors to the left. Choosing the third one, he opened it and entered.

William was there, as he always was. ‘The man will become elder as soon as one of us bites the dust...’ he grinned and saw the man nod towards him, likely grateful that at least one of the elders was on time and took his duty somewhat seriously. Though he couldn’t fault most of the others. They did more for the guild than he ever did. Focusing on the task at hand he joined the others.

Sidney was there as well and completed the requirement for three higher members of the guild being there for the evaluation. ‘A good combination too, she’s gonna be pushed to the limit...’ he looked at the initiate, she was wearing leather armor, had black hair and blue eyes.

Her slight grin told him that she was a little too cocky, not ready for the guild but when he looked into her eyes he knew there was more. ‘She’s a veteran alright...though a young one at that.’ he thought, saddened as he was many times before at the requirements of becoming strong.

‘She could’ve lived a happy life on some farm...’ he thought but shook his head. The farm wouldn’t be if it weren’t for them and others who were prepared to fight. He wouldn’t stand in her way.

“So let me start then. I’m Elder Strand. Please quickly explain your classes, abilities and where you would see yourself in a team of adventurers.” he said and stepped up to the others. “Explain as freely as you can. Everything we learn here will stay here and is only used to evaluate an appropriate team for you to join.”

He could see that she didn’t trust that completely but still she started explaining. “I’m mostly hand to hand. I can attack by pushing destructive mana into an enemy I hit. I can take quite some damage as well and I can heal. Both myself and others, though it’s apparently much weaker than a dedicated healer.” she finished and looked at them.

“A healer...that’s a quite rare and valuable ability to have at this level. Well let’s test the extent of your abilities then.” Adam said. “We’ll start with damage sustain…please stand a bit further away. William here will attack you with increasingly powerful ice and water magic. Tell us as soon as you lose more than thirty percent of your health.” he explained and motioned for William to start.

Of course a tank did have specific elements or weapons he was especially strong against but they also had to be ready for any kind of attack. Today it was ice and water, mostly piercing types of attacks.

“I just bought this leather armor...” the woman said, obviously a little attached to the clothing. Sidney motioned to a corner of the room where some chests were sitting.

“You have some things in there. Please just take clothes, armor doesn’t come into account here.” Sidney explained. The initiate nodded and went to change. William summoned a wall of ice that would obstruct their view of her. Unnecessary Adam though, though he didn’t comment on it.

The girl was quick and went to the middle of the room, dressed in some very basic clothing. “Let’s start then.” William said. With that a number of blue runes appeared on the woman’s body, followed by red firey lines. Her eyes seemed to become even brighter as a shroud of ash came into existence around her.

‘Ash Wielder...impressive.’ Adam thought though he did not know the other class of the girl. ‘I believe the 2nd stage of that defensive spell can be rather impressive...’ he thought as the first ice attacks didn’t even make the woman move.

Bigger and bigger blocks of ice hit the initiate but she simply shrugged it off. The blocks turned into spikes and then lances. Finally a massive lance managed to pierce through the shroud and impaled itself into the girl’s chest. Not far though and she simply ripped it out again, the wound closing before their eyes.

William stopped for a second and blinked but Adam was smiling. “Continue, she hasn’t lost thirty percent.” he said to the ice mage.

The man nodded and summoned more ice lances, first bigger and then more numerous. They continued to pierce but the woman just shrugged at the wounds. Her clothing was torn to shreds as time went on and more and more lances attacked her.

“That was thirty...I’m back to eighty percent...and full again but that was thirty in between.” the woman said.

“That certainly qualifies as a tank role. I’ve seen tougher at your level but combined with the healing you’re certainly up there. And I have the feeling you’re more mobile. Try again but this time you’re allowed to dodge.” Adam said and the woman nodded. He didn’t miss the slight smirk on her face.

‘Show me something...’ Adam thought. William started where he left off and the woman went into motion. Even Adam was surprised at her speed, something that could possibly rival even Verena, were she at her level. ‘Body Enhancers...and with that defense as well...’ he thought and watched as the stone hall was destroyed by ice. Not a single lance managed to hit the woman, she dodged them in the last moment with minimal movements.

‘And efficient too...’ Adam thought and motioned for them to stop. He didn’t feel like having William run out of mana here. An embarrassing sight that would be, though it would be an interesting battle if he had seriously tried.

“You’ve been fighting alone haven’t you?” Adam asked. The woman didn’t respond but he was sure. Rarely did body enhancers turn into such balanced fighters when they were in a team. Though he didn’t know about her destructive capabilities yet.

“Next up technique. Sidney. If you will.” he said.

“With pleasure.” the woman said and smiled as she grabbed two wooden swords but hesitated. The wooden ones were replaced by dull steel swords.

“Just try to dodge and attack without skills….to be sure can you hit the ground for me first?” Sidney asked, twirling around her swords.