As she stepped through the door, she felt as if she had just passed through a thin membrane before noticing that she arrived within another room.
Looking at her surrounding, she realized that the size of the room is similar to the one before, though it is not decorated and is simply a white room filled with a few necessities and furnitures. Noticing this, she thought back to the thin membrane she went through as she stepped through the door and involuntarily muttered.
“A connected space?”
“Correct.”
Looking towards the source of the sound, she saw Hefas standing before a long table covered with items with Ferhus standing right behind him, showing that Hefas will be the examinee for the inscriber exam.
“The pagoda connects each floor using a single door by using a combination of formations and inscriptions. I will not be going into details as it would be far out of reach at your current stage. Now come here, we will start your beginner inscriber exam.”
Following his words, Yvette walked towards the table. Standing before it, she could see that the items are actually inscriber tools set up neatly above the table.
“You may start inscribing a green tier inscription.”
As his words ended, Yvette calmly reached out for the inscribing brush, showing the stability of her mind. Seeing this, both elders nodded in approval.
To not be told the rules, the grading method, and being suddenly told to start inscribing yet still being able to keep a calm mind, this itself begets a praise.
The two elders did not doubt the slightest that Yvette would know the rules and grading method beforehand as they would always change during every examination based on the examiner.
As the pair continued to silently observe Yvette, they noticed how her hands which held the engraving pen moved fluently without any wasted movements above the inscribing paper.
“Such a good seedling, it is unfortunate that she is female, otherwise I would have had her be trained as my heir after some body building.” Said Ferhus in a voice that could not be considered to be too loud or too quiet.
Clearly, he intended to test Yvette’s mental fortitude. By saying those words which holds praise and insult at the same time, it could cause a level of disturbance to the minds of most young beginners. And by making his voice neither too loud nor too quiet, it also made her unable to fully blame him as his voice is not too loud, which could neither be said to be said as provocation nor to be whispered behind another’s back. Though Ferhus may seem to be a sort of meat head from his burly body unfitting to be one for a formationist and his forthright actions, he is clearly no idiot. Otherwise, how could he qualify as an elder of the branch of Vocation Union’s formationist branch.
Noticing his devious intentions, Hefas only glanced at him for a moment before focusing back to Yvette. Seeing how she seemed to not be disturbed at the slightest, a faint smile crept up to the corner of his lips.
‘It is quite rare for those around her age to be able to easily ignore Ferhus’s provocations. Maybe she is able to enter a deep Focused Mind state?’ As Hefas mused within his mind, time quickly passed. In a flash, around ten minutes passed and a flash of green light came from the table before Yvette.
Checking the time which has passed, Hefas realized that not even fifteen minutes has passed, causing his smile to become even deeper.
Meanwhile, Yvette silently raised the inscribed inscribing paper and held it towards Hefas.
Taking it from her, Hefas unhurriedly examined it before finally nodding in approval.
“Congratulations, you pass. You may finally officially become a beginner inscriber.” Hefas said, while putting away the inscribing paper. “If you wish to continue to your formationist exam, you may directly ask Ferhus, he is the elder of the formationist branch.”
Hearing his words, Yvette turned towards Ferhus, who in turn smiled widely, “Just follow me if you want to take a formationist exam.” Saying that, he walked towards the door which they came from and placed a seal onto the door. Moments later, a series of symbol lit up all over the door before it opened. Then, without waiting for Yvette, Ferhus directly went through it.
Seeing this, Hefas shook his head, “Follow him if you wish to take the formationist exam. Once you would like to return, simply say ‘close’ before the door and say ‘return’ once it closes.” Saying that, he then walked deeper into the room and into another door.
Seeing Hefas leaving, Yvette turned and followed Ferhus. As she walked through it, the door silently closes behind her, leaving nothing but an empty room.
Meanwhile, as Yvette stepped through the door, she glanced around and noticed that she arrived before a similar, yet different room compared to the one she was in before.
“Haha! No need to look around so much, the examination rooms aren’t allowed to be filled needlessly to avoid cheating, so there wouldn’t be much difference between each of them.”
Following the source of the voice, Yvette saw Ferhus standing behind a long table similar to the one in the room before, albeit covered in different items.
Arriving before the long table, Yvette saw that the table is actually covered with a row of spirit boards while an engraving pen lied at the end of it.
“Engrave the blank spirit boards with the same formations engraved on the spirit boards next to it.”
Once he finished his words, without waiting for anymore explanation, Yvette reached for the engraving pen and soon started engraving the formations with fluid hand motions.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Seeing this, Ferhus simply waited silently without bothering her like before, believing that even if he tried to test her mental strength once more, there would be no difference.
Soon, a few minutes passed and Yvette finished copying the first formation. Then, without a moment of rest, she proceeded to continue to the next formation.
Seeing this, Ferhus looked at her worriedly. But as an examiner, he is not allowed to disturb the examinees unless it is a part of the examination, hence he could only watch over her at the sidelines. Even so, he believed that the girl before him is not a push over.
As time passed, Yvette finished copying all the formations, each time without taking a moment of rest. It could be seen from her slightly hurried breath that she is quite tired. Yet other than that, no sign of over-exertion could be seen, causing Ferhus to be surprised.
He knew that for normal beginner formationist, engraving formations in such rapid successions would usually cause them to fail or even over-exert themselves, damaging their cultivation. Yet from what he saw at a glance, the girl not only managed to engrave those formations smoothly, all the copied formations should also be above average.
As he thought so, he examined the formations one by one. But to his surprise, all the formations are actually of quite a high quality. Which would be rather hard even for expert formationists.
“Hahaha! Looks like there’s going to be a new prodigy formationist!” Ferhus then turned towards Yvette and said with a wide smile, “Alright, you’re now officially a beginner formationist. Keep improving and don’t waste your talent.”
To his friendly words, Yvette simple nodded in consent. Seeing this, Ferhus once again laughed before finally saying, “You can go back now. By the time you return, your identification badge should be prepared at the receptionist. If you want to ask about anything else, you can go ask that receptionist lass.”
Hearing that, Yvette politely bowed and said, “Thank you.” towards Ferhus before walking back to the door which she entered from. But when she stood before the door, she suddenly stopped, turned around and bowed, “Forgive me for being a girl.” After saying those words with her usual cold, expressionless face, she then turned back and unhurriedly walking out of the room.
Left within the room, Ferhus stood there stupefied after hearing the softly, yet bluntly spoken words from such a girl. But moments later, a small laugh escaped his lips that turned increasingly louder, finally tuning into an uproarious laughter.
As he laughed, he moved towards the door at the back of the room. Slowly, his laughter finally faded once he stood before the door, only leaving the smiling face of a gentle elder. As he walked through the door, his softly whispered words resounded within the plain, white room.
“Such a gentle lass.”
As Yvette stepped out of the door, she returned to the lobby whence she was before. As she looked around, she caught sight of Daiyu and Behnam slowly walking towards her with Behnam slightly raising his hand as a greeting.
But before they could say anything to each other, a voice called out from the distance.
“Miss Yvette, may I have a bit of your time?” Turning to the source of the voice, they saw the receptionist from before waving at them from the receptionist table.
As the group approached, the receptionist took out a badge and handed it to Yvette.
“This is the Vocation Union member badge. It grants you access to certain privileges based on your rank.
As a beginner formationist and inscriber, you have access to the beginner practice room and library so long as you pay enough contribution points. Some materials are also purchasable so long as you have enough contribution points and a rank that is high enough.
To earn contribution points, you may take on requests from the union. But you may only take on requests based on what your profession is. Another way to earn contribution points is to sell things to the union. Anything may do, may it be materials, pills, recipes, treasures, scriptures, book of ancient knowledge or anything of worth.
If you have anything else to ask of me, please do not hesitate to ask.”
Hearing her words, Yvette politely nodded before walking out of the building.
Outside, Behnam turned towards Yvette and asked, “While we are in the city, how about we try visiting a few placed before returning?” Hearing her suggestion, Yvette pondered for a moment before consenting with a nod as she thought that as her parents did not tell her to directly return, it would not hurt to learn more of the city she now lives in.
As Behnam guided the pair through the city, he explained,
“Our clan, the Aasmany Clan, is the ruling clan of Stellar City. But our clan is not the only clan which exists in the city.
There are the Torkan Clan in the east and the Farzan Clan in the west.
Though we still have more authority and holds some control over those parts of the city, the east and west part of the city are managed by the other two clans respectively.
Even then, our clan is the oldest clan of the three. The other two managing clans have been changed multiple times, but from what I have heard, our clan has never been replaced and we always hold authority over the city overall, holding full control over the north, south and center part of the city.”
At the end of his explanation, the pride he held over his clan could clearly be felt. But just as he was about to continue his explanation, his body stilled.
“We have arrived.” Saying that, he led the two girls into a common looking shop.
Inside the shop, various weapons could be seen hanged on the walls. As Yvette curiously looked at the weapons, a voice called out.
“Anything I can help you with?”
Turning her head, Yvette saw that it was a boy who spoke. Thinking that he is a normal worker in the shop, she answered with a question.
“Are there any more weapons?”
“There are more weapons inside if you would like to take a look. Please follow me, miss.” Saying that, the boy turned around and went through an inconspicuous door which leads deeper into the shop.
Just as she was about to follow him, she noticed that Behnam had disappeared. Confused, Yvette turned towards Daiyu who has been quietly following her all this time.
Noticing her lady’s gaze, Daiyu explained, “Young master Behnam disappeared some time ago with another man. Young master said to not worry and that my lady should take her time looking for a weapon.”
Hearing her words, Yvette nodded as she felt reassured and continued to follow the boy deeper into the shop.
As the two stepped through the door, what came into sight was not another small room like the one before. Instead, the place behind the door is a big square room which seemed to resemble a vault of weapons. Without needing to ponder over it, Yvette instantly knew that the door works the same as the door from the Vocation Union, a gate to another space. As she examined the room, she realized that the weapons within are scatted around in disorder, yet they seemed to be of incomparable quantity and quality in comparison to the weapons outside.
But when Yvette walked deeper into the vault, she realized that the weapons within the room might be of the lowest quality within the vault. Because there, deep behind the vault, she could see three doors which seemed to lead into a deeper part of the vault.
As Yvette looked at the three doors, a voice suddenly resounded within the vault, “You may only pick one of the weapons within the weapon vault.” Recognizing the voice as the boy who led them here, she tried to look around in search of him. But then she noticed that the boy who went in before her had already disappeared without notice, causing her to be slightly vigilant.
Still, she decided to continue looking around for a weapon which would fit her. Just as she moved, she suddenly spoke, “Daiyu, you may leave me and search for a weapon which befit you.”
Not expecting those words, Daiyu was about to refuse her words. But after she thought it over, she finally relented, “Thank you, my lady.” Saying that, she entered a door on the right in search of a weapon which would allow her to protect her mistress.
Guessing her servant’s thoughts, Yvette looked towards the direction Daiyu disappeared to before finally entering the middle door.