The guild was towards the center of the town and was easily identifiable. It stood in the middle of a small market and towered over the stalls and vendors. Adventurers typically set up around the guild to sell their wares. Mash still had some time before the entrance exam started and took the opportunity to explore the market. He didn’t have anything in mind, and he didn’t have a lot of gold to spend anyways. He had used most of his savings to get some basic items that he would need. He mostly stocked up on some food, which was essentially just some dried meat and hard cheeses. He had also gotten a book on wild plants, so that he could avoid anything dangerous when trying to find fruits and vegetables. He read enough stories about poisoned berries and planned on avoiding that fate. However, he had splurged for a small bag of sugar cubes; it wasn’t chocolate but did satisfy his need for some sugar. He had kept a few cubes in a pouch so that he wouldn’t have to open his storage space in public. He popped one in his mouth, letting it melt from the warmth of his tongue.

The sweetness made him smile as he walked over to one of the stalls. It was an antique vendor, and the man had laid out a wide arrangement of stones. Each rock was painted a different color and was about the size of his fist.

“Do you want to try your luck, one of these stones holds a treasure, if you can guess the right one you can have it.”

The man talked like he was a priest, getting louder with each word like it was a prayer. Mash looked at the stones and wondered what the treasure was. He spoke apprehensively.

“What is the treasure? By the way, I’m Mash”

“You can call me Devin, and that is for me to know and you to find out.”

He gave a little flourish as he spoke, and Mash noticed that Devin was a gold ranked adventurer. His badge poked through his cloak with the little motion. He looked youngish, but some of his hairs had started greying, which would mean that he was probably around 100 years old. Gold rank adventurers were over level 150, which was typically when people started to age a lot slower. When you hit level 200, it was said that you stopped aging all together. The current king had reigned for well over 200 years now and would still rule for many more years. Devin was dressed in loose robes and Mash noticed a few daggers strapped to his belt. He had tan copperish skin and was covered in detailed tattoos. Mash had seen people looking at him strangely because of his mana scars and guessed that Devin was probably in a similar situation. Wanting to make a good impression, he grabbed one of the rocks and asked.

“How much for one?”

“A single silver coin for you. I wouldn’t want a potential adventurer to spend all of their money gambling.”

His tone gave no indication as to whether Mash had picked the correct stone or not. Mash tossed him the coin and crushed the rock like an egg and could feel it break in half smoothly. Inside, he was rewarded with more rock. He guessed that he had picked the wrong one and just shrugged. He contemplated trying again but decided against it. He put the rock back on the table, shaking his head slightly. Devin waved his hand over the crushed rock, and it reformed into a ball. Devin’s little trick had tempted him to try and find the actual prize, but he shoved that down. He decided would go to the guild now, not really wanting to waste any more money.

“I am going to go to the guild now. I’ll see you around.”

Mash spoke quickly, but politely. He didn’t want to leave a bad impression after all. He wasn’t going to be late and wanted to be one of the first people to arrive. He knew that people would often show up early, and he wanted to scope out the competition. He didn’t know any of the details of the exam since the guild would make sure that word never got out. It was supposed to remain a secret.

“Good Luck.”

Devin spoke enthusiastically, while shooing Mash with his hands. Mash noticed the motion and decided to pick up his pace.

The guild itself was big, comparable with the fort. However, this building was an elaborately designed wooden structure that looked fancier than any merchant building he had ever seen. The inside was even more inspiring, as the walls were covered in large, amazing paintings. One painting stood out to him, drawing his eyes like a valuable treasure would. It revealed a forest where all the trees sported streaks of blue and green along the wood. It had to be mana-wood. There was nothing else it could be. The painting depicted a town that surrounded the base of the trees, and there were people seemingly enjoying a festival. As he got closer to it, he noticed that the people were not humans but elves.

He had only ever seen one group of elves since they rarely left their towns. Mash had seen a few half-elves though because they were much more common within human territories. He looked around the frame of the painting and found the name. It was called “Evertree, the Village of Endless Trees.” He made sure to make a mental note of the town, he would go there when he got the chance. Traveling the world was one of the reasons why he wanted to be an adventurer in the first place. That and learning more about the nature of classes. Only as an adventurer would he be free enough to pursue whatever research he wanted. People believed that classes were a gift granted by the gods, since only the intelligent races had access to them. Mash wanted to delve some ancient ruins and dungeons to find out more, and he would be able to soon. While continuing to look at the paintings, he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

“Hey kid, the entrance exam is going to start soon, and you should probably get to the exam room.”

The voice was deep and slow, and the words shook Mash out of his revelry. How long had he been looking at the painting, he couldn’t remember?

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He turned to face the man that had addressed him. He was taller than Mash and looked like a mass of muscle. He looked relatively young, but that could mean a million things. He had a slight tan, and short brown hair that was combed back nicely. He wore a big smile, and even Mash had to admit the man was handsome. He wore a full suit and stood regally. His charisma was probably ridiculous. Mash determined that he must be a high-level adventurer and introduced himself properly.

“Hello, I’m Mash, and thanks for the warning.”

Mash tried to sound as respectful as possible. The man let out a laugh as he spoke with mirth.

“No worries. It’s kind of my job, as I am one of the examiners. You can call me Edmund, by the way.”

The name didn’t seem like it fit, but Mash made sure to keep his thoughts from his face.

“Here, follow me, I will take you to the exam room so that you can get started.”

Edmund had said the words easily, but they caused Mash to gasp a little.

“Wait. I can start early!”

Mash couldn’t keep the surprise from his voice, and he practically yelled the last word. An early start would be a huge advantage, and he regretted not coming earlier. Answering the question that had appeared on Mash’s face, Edmund spoke promptly.

“It doesn’t matter if you get a head start, your first exam is to form a team with at least two other people in the room.”

He said the words while leading Mash into the hall.

______________________________________________________________________________

New P.O.V

Jill sat at the table waiting for someone to approach her. This was her second time taking the exam, and she was hoping to pass. She hadn’t gotten past the first exam and was getting kind of desperate. Her family’s shop had failed, and they were in trouble. They needed money and fast, otherwise they would end up as servants to the kingdom. It wouldn’t be terrible, but she wanted to live freely and wanted the same for her siblings. She had been their only solution, ever since she had gotten a powerful class. She wanted to become an adventurer mainly because she heard that you could operate alone, and it would be the easiest way to get a lot of gold quickly, but of course, there would be some stupid rule to stop her. An adventurer could only work alone if they were gold ranked, until then she would have to find a team.

So here she was again, trying to find someone who would be ok with her conditions. She had decided that she would try again with the same conditions today, if it didn’t work, she would just have to try something else. She didn’t think it would be so hard, her only condition involved the gold that they earned. She either wanted a slightly bigger cut, or to be responsible for the gold the party earned. She had explained several times that she would be fair, but just wanted a little extra while she paid off her debts. Everybody had their own circumstances, and she knew that, but she was desperate. Nobody so far was willing to accept her condition. She tried to stay positive and looked at the next people who entered the room.

One was the examiner Edmund, and the other was a boy that she didn’t recognize. He certainly wasn’t there last week; she would’ve remembered the oddly colored scars. Using her enhanced perception skill, she noticed how truly weird the boy was. On top of his multicolored scars, he had grey almost white hair and deep black eyes. His clothes strangely worked well with his complex coloration, and he was otherwise well built. He wasn’t carrying any weapons or supplies either, that meant that either he had a spatial item or had too many things to carry on him. Either one would mean that he was somewhat rich.

Their eyes met and she shivered just a little, his eyes belonged on a monster. She shook herself of the image as she noticed him walking towards her. He must have noticed her staring. She wondered what he would do. It’s not like he could really do anything to her. She was quite confident in her abilities and relaxed into her seat. He took the seat across from her. He looked even more intimidating as she realized how tall he was.

“Hey there, I’m Mash. Um, what’s your name?”

She almost chuckled as his tone betrayed his visage. He sounded so uncertain as he spoke, as if he had never spoken to a girl before. She knew that she had grown prettier as she raised her stats but didn’t think that was the cause of his uncertainty. She had seen people approach her for her looks and thought that was probably not the case here. He was most likely just the awkward type and didn’t know what to say. He was staring at her blankly now, and she realized that she hadn’t replied to him.

“Oh, its Jill, and I’m assuming you wanted to ask about forming a party.”

She was pleased with how confident she had sounded. She felt a sense of control when she noticed the boy nod. She went on, trying to maintain the lead.

“I have only one major condition, and that is to allow me to control the party’s gold.”

She tried to sound a little desperate, hoping that it would help her cause. She had seen plenty of adventurer’s wasting their gold, and she wouldn’t be able to be in a party that threw money away while she needed it so much. He looked apprehensive and sounded doubtful as he spoke.

“I don’t mind, but why?”

Mash’s words had come out slowly.

“Before you say no…”

She cut herself off as she processed his words. She spoke with a little more hope as she continued, not giving him the opportunity to interject.

“I have some debts that I need to clear, but I promise that I will be fair and reasonable, and only take extra when I think that it wont cause any problems.”

She spoke quickly trying to get him to understand her urgency. She didn’t want to take his pity but was willing to act as sympathetic as possible.

He looked to be contemplating her words, and she could feel her anxiety rising while she waited for him to respond. She took the time to ponder the man again. He had come to her table specifically and seemed eager to join her team. As she thought on it, she wondered if she could trust this person. It seemed too good to be true. Also, she still wasn’t certain if he was even human. Honestly, she didn’t really have a choice. She could only hope that he was being genuine because, if he was planning something, she wouldn’t get a second chance. His voice was still uncertain, but also held a hint of resolve.

“I’m fine with that, but I still have some questions.”

Those words were enough to get her to finally feel some hope, and she relaxed while he started to bombard her with questions. He asked her about how much she needed, and how much she planned on keeping for the party. He was just ironing out some details. It took about five minutes, but they had basically concluded that she would just let the party know how much she would be keeping for the debt. It sounded like he would be fine, even if she took most of what they would earn, so long as they had enough to get by comfortably. At the end of their discussion, he had offered her a sugar cube, and she decided that she liked the man named Mash. Just one more member and they would be good to go. It was a better situation than she had expected, now she just had to hope he was being honest and not some kind of evil villain.