Chris headed back to his room after collecting everything he needed from the Headmaster. When he opened the door Haven was sitting on the bed, looking a bit distraught. Haven looked up at him, making eye contact, and his eyes were red.
“I know I haven’t heard how well you did, but I already know that you could have easily already finished school here. So tell me, when will I see my bud again?” Haven began having tears pour down, and he began coughing.
“I will be meeting at the adventurer’s guild today, but I’m not leaving until the semester is over. I have to take my final year here, but I have a two year hiatus where I am a “self-study” student, but-”
Haven interrupted, “Two years? I know you said you’d visit, but that’s going to be rough for me honestly. We’re all going to miss you.” Haven rubbed the tears from his eyes, smiled wide, and gave Chris a hug, “You better do what you set out to do. We’ll be rooting for you.”
Chris began tearing up, “I’ll miss you guys too. I’m not doing this because I want to, it’s so I don’t let everyone down. I don’t want to fail again.” Thoughts flashed back to their failed stealth mission to save Edwin. They pulled apart.
Chris wiped his face down, and then began to smile, showing Haven his cool new identity of “Rose,” and that if Haven needed help to put up a post at the Adventurer’s guild with that name.
Chris was only twelve now, but he was putting the safety of his friends and his family on his and only his shoulders. With that discussion, Chris embedded some mana thread into the inside of the mask, one thread to collect mana and disperse it, and another to use mana for voice modulation.
He opted for a voice that made him sound around fourteen, as his height was around average for that age, and headed off to the adventurer’s guild the very next morning.
***
Helena sat behind the desk, brown bangs hanging over her glasses, yet her sharp blue gaze still filtered through as she scanned the surroundings. There were a few times where guys would come up to flirt, always somehow cutting in front of someone who actually had business, so she decided to take up a role of unapproachability as necessary.
She blew air out, flicking the bangs out of her face, and she noticed a decently tall boy with a mask covering his face. The mask had what looked like a tangled mess of black roses from what she could notice, and the eyes behind it shone through like a beacon in the darkness.
She stood up, and put on her professional face, “Hello sir, how might I help you?” Their gazes were locked for what seemed like an extended period of time, “U-Uhh, I’ve never seen you here before, might you be a new adventurer applicant.”
The boy nodded his head, pulling out a tag and the woman was shocked, “Yes, I’ve been sent here by the Unvern house in hopes of taking a placement test.” The crest was entirely white, with the image of a black crow as the undermaterial. The Unvern house was well known in Golden Bloom as the first Elves to gain nobility in the country, as well as having extensive ties to the Magic Academy. It was the first time she had ever seen the symbol in person.
“I will go ahead and grab the Guild Master, please wait a moment,” she stated as she turned away quickly, before turning back around, “Ohh, could I have your name or I guess possibly your alias to fill out paperwork with?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“My name is Rose, I hope you don’t forget it,” and with that he winked at her.
She quickly nodded, and headed back to the guild master. She informed him of the person outside, of his connections, and his want for a placement test. He nodded, and told her to quickly bring him to the testing grounds, as he had already been testing a few other people.
She informed the boy, and led him to where the testing was taking place. The area had trees planted, and other obstacles, for the sake of maneuvering in unknown environments. A staple of this guild, as its goal is to test for overall control and reaction time for the sake of break-neck decision making.
She brought him in, just as a bout between a young man, and a retired S-class adventurer turned trainer began. The adventurer used decisive movements, fake-outs between cover, and overall great sword control. He also had the ability to use high end physical enhancement at a moments notice, with an abbreviated chant. He was able to quickly dispatch large monsters, and was even part of a party that cleared a dungeon that had been discovered in the West.
He had taken the distinct disadvantage of one arm behind his back, armor constantly clanking against itself as he quickly dashed around. The boy he was up against was around the age of fourteen to fifteen, almost an adult, but his frame was small. His focus was on swordsmanship as well, but he focused on the quick strikes of a rapier. Whenever confronted head on, he had issues holding blocks, however his style of parrying, backwards dodging, and quick forward strikes provided himself with an overall great style that would be great for a sub-attacker.
After a few minutes, the S Class swordsman called an end to the session. Consulting with a few other staff, and announced the results, “For Derrian Jyris, a rank of C has been designated. With just a little improvement, a rank of B will come to you in no time, good work out there. “Thank you so much!” the boy said, as he bowed, tears visibly streaming down. He began to leave, walking past Rose.
“Are there any more participants for today's rankings? If not I will be formally congratu-” He was interrupted by Helena, “We have one more here, he just arrived. He says his specialty would be sword combat and physical enhancement magic.”
Rose crossed over into the ring, “My name is Rose, it is nice to meet you. I noticed you handicapped yourself, I’m new to this so could you explain the difference between if you do or do not?”
The Ex-Adventurer smiled, “The highest rank you can gain by me handicapping yourself is B if you defeat me, C if you hold your own, and D or less depending on how quickly and how badly you lose. If I do not handicap myself, sometimes I get a little over-excited as well,” The man winked at Rose.
Rose didn’t seem to react much, “If that is the case, I would like you to not handicap yourself for this bout. If I lose then I will respectfully lower my ego and challenge you one handed. Will that suffice?”
The aging man laughed, “You sound like some spoiled noble with those polite words, but unfortunately I speak sword, please begin, I will respect your decision.” The man sneered, and instead of using his longsword two handed, pulled out another longsword from his back. His stance suddenly changed, and Helena sighed.
Anytime someone has had the gaul to ask for a serious bout, they have ended up being smashed flat quite quickly. Rose had seemed a bit cocky, but far calmer than most of those buffoons. She had hoped he could at least hold out and gain a B rank. And the second she thought that, she heard the sounds of metal colliding.
She looked up, and Rose seemed to be quite quick. He maneuvered quite well around the rubble and trees, seemed to predict where that old man would come from, and even was able to dodge one overhead slash, and parry the other. His robe, nor the rest of his outfit seemed to have any cuts. His steps were clean, sword connections smooth, and little look of wear to his physical state.
For an entire minute all Rose did was dodge and parry the attacks, riling up the Ex-Adventurer, and then it was like a switch was hit. As the adventurer grew more excited at his opponent, Rose suddenly began to move faster, reacting faster. His sword technique wasn’t amazing, but his physical abilities more than made up for them.
Rose suddenly began hammering against the man, being pushed back. I bet that old man tired himself out... Wait no, he wasn’t worn out, not even really sweating, yet each swing was still pushing him back. He jumped back and began chanting, “Roar of the Orcish Boar, flood my vei-” He was cut off by a sword at his throat. Rose went from in front, to behind him in a split second.