Chapter 152: New regulations (1/2)
Aiden deactivated the metallic device by touching the gemstone again and stood up. He walked back to the girl with the brown, curly hair who was already blushing as she noticed the approaching boy.
His handsome face curved into the same friendly smile that caused Mary's heart to race for some inexplicable reason, and with a calm tone, he spoke.
”Here you go, I filled it out. What's the next step?”
”Uhm… The next step…” Mary had some trouble gathering her thoughts. For some unexplainable reason, she had a very hard time keeping herself calm and collected. Those mesmerizing golden eyes caused her little heart to thump faster, with much more ferocity than ever before. She didn't know what this feeling was, but she knew that she never felt it before.
After a few moments of blabbering nonsensical phrases, she eventually managed to gather her thoughts enough to continue to the registration process.
”The next part is the test. Uhm, I would ask one of the examiners to test your skills. He or she will decide based on your abilities that you wouldn't just be rushing to your death. Uhm…” She checked the top section of the form he just handed over for the name.” Aiden, could you please take a seat and wait a bit? I will be back as fast as I can.”
Having said that, Mary quickly bowed and rushed to the back and entered the door where her figure quickly vanished.
Seeing her ran for an examiner, Aiden turned around and went back to his seat, where Cole was still waiting. Looking at the boy, Aiden still couldn't figure out, why was he sticking to him so hard. Was it because of him testing the barrier surrounding that old, supposedly 'haunted' mansion?
'Was I too excessive there?' He thought to himself as he sat down on his chair.
”Be careful with the next part Aiden! The examiners are tough, and some of them are very cruel as well! If they don't like you, they will torture you!” Cole's worried voice sounded from next to him as he took his seat.
”What do you mean? Never mind that… Instead, tell me: Where do they come from? My sister who registered a bit more than a week ago didn't mention any tests during her registration. She only mentioned some sort of meet-up…” Aiden asked.
”Well…” Cole began but stopped after a word. He nervously glanced around the room, checking if anybody would be looking at them, then with a lowered voice he continued in a hushed tone.
”I only know that they came from somewhere outside the city supposedly a couple of days ago. The new local branch leader was suddenly changed to Sir Michael, and this was the first change he immediately made. He reasoned that the adventurer's power was way too low and pathetic, we couldn't serve the city properly and let such an atrocious establishment take root in our little city. ”He said.” ”This is necessary to root out the unwanted weeds and accept those that have the potential for growth.”
”That doesn't sound that bad, to be honest…” Aiden spoke with a thoughtful expression. ”But then… why are you so worried about them?”
Cole sighed, placing his right hand above his heart to calm himself, he answered.
”It does sound good, but then, the group that arrived supposedly from the main branch looked nothing like the usual people the guild would work with. They all wore black clothing and covered their faces with black veils. Their leader, the only caster, was even more mysterious, she hid her entire face with a silver mask. She never said a word. Since then, many that tried to take the ranking tests became crippled. The passing rate is below ten percent…”
”That still doesn't necessarily mean they are evil at all, they could just be strict. Anyway, let's not talk about them anymore, I will see it for myself soon. Tell me about Adventurer's Guild a bit more… My sister only told me the basics…”
Aiden asked. Cole sighed hearing this, but didn't force the topic any longer, Aiden will experience the hellish torture soon enough anyway. He took a long breath and started his long-winded explanation about how the guild was built up, how the ranking system worked, and then about the mission board and difficulties.
”So, when all of this is completed, I will be officially recognized as a Rank 1 or 1-star adventurer.” Aiden summarised the last fifteen minutes in a sentence. Then, his eyes lit up as he remembered something that Lily mentioned.
”What about that meet-up? I heard it is a weekly event where you are forced to meet the other newly registered people and form parties. Do I need to attend to that?”