The room went deathly silent at Alaric’s words. He still had his head down but could tell no one was happy with what he’d just said. A tense atmosphere took over the room, and he could guess various reactions that went through everyone’s minds.

They probably thought he was too proud or perhaps shy… It was only natural. The fact remained that he would not be summoning his guardian under any circumstances.

‘At least the guardians aren’t acting like Gurlag,’ Alaric sighed.

Fortunately for Alaric, the guardians were acting normal which meant the Face Mask was doing its job well. Either the guardians didn’t recognise him or they understood he was trying to keep his identity hidden with the Face Mask.

“So what, you think you’re above everyone here?” the boy with the scorpion guardian retorted, his voice laced with more disgust than Alaric had ever received just through someone’s voice.

“Not at all,” Alaric responded indifferently. Lifting his head, he locked eyes with the examiner, “Will this be a problem?”

The examiner pursed her lips briefly before sighing, “No, there is nothing in the rules that says an adventurer must have a guardian. Some guardians aren’t built for battle and denying worthy warriors of licenses would make us like the Elite Guardian Academy scumbags that only want B-class guardians and above.”

Alaric let out a sigh of relief: “Thank you. I forgot to remind Sariah to mention this, but since she didn’t seem to mind, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Understood. However, keep in mind that this only means you’re going to have a harder time passing this test. You see, having a guardian that can help you in combat is considered better than not having one, so if we can’t assess your guardian, we can assume you don’t have one that can be used in combat,” the woman replied.

Alaric nodded, “I understand.”

[ I’m sorry, Alaric ]

[ Don’t worry about this, Alia ] he replied. All Alaric needed to do was pass every other test that didn’t require the use of a guardian, then he’d be a full-fledged adventurer.

A part of him hoped that’s how it worked. If it worked that way, then he was practically as good as all the other people here.

The examiner shook her head and sighed, then turned her attention to the other people taking the test, “Now, then, we are going to test your guardian’s abilities and gauge if they are passable for a reliable guardian. As you can already tell, a weakling with a strong guardian is more than qualified to become an adventurer.”

Alaric’s mind paused… Didn’t that mean he was more than qualified to become an adventurer? But he wasn’t about to reveal his guardian now, was he? ‘Ah, why is life so cruel?’

Equipment was brought from all over the training hall to test all aspects of the guardian’s abilities. Naturally, the phoenix and scorpion were the strongest in offensive power.

However, the girl’s floating ghost-like guardian was more suited to magic, and even then, it was more proficient in healing magic than combat magic.

Nevertheless, her affinity for magic was so great that she was guaranteed to pass as a Mage. What worried Alaric wasn’t all that though.

“Your guardian’s useless,” the examiner yelled out loud, “It’s slow, clumsy and barely has the motivation to keep its eyes closed. Is that even a guardian or some scrub you picked up in the Vine Woods?”

William grimaced but stood his ground, “My guardian’s not suited for combat but he’s a lot more capable than you’re giving him credit for. What other tests do you have? I can prove to you that he’s suited for this kind of work.”

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“According to the tests we give here, there is nothing your guardian is capable of. Unless you have something in mind, I suggest we assess your physical capabilities and then pass judgment,” the woman replied sternly.

She was already showing signs of being visibly irritated and grew more impatient with each passing moment.

William shivered then knelt in front of the sloth-like guardian, “Hey, we need something here.”

There was a moment of silence during which Alaric found himself hearing listening in on their conversation—a power he wasn’t meant to alert anyone of.

[ My power works on everything else but you… and honestly, you’re too weak to make use of it. ]

With those words, the guardian’s eyes closed and it coiled on the ground as though getting ready to sleep.

William groaned, “Oh no, no, no. We need this…” then he perked up, “I know! Let me fight alongside my guardian. I’m sure I can prove to you his worth in battle that way.”

“You can fight?”

“Well, I’m not a master with the sword but with my guardian’s power, I’m sure I can take you on,” the man argued.

At this point, the examiner had heard more than she could take, “Follow me.”

Alaric felt his heart sink. William was walking a very thin line here. All evidence pointed towards his guardian being useless in combat. Then again, Alaric had never heard of a completely useless guardian. Yes, there were weak guardians out there but his guardian looked less weak and more bored with everything happening.

Everyone with a D-class guardian was considered too weak to even consider joining the Elite Guard while those with C-class guardians were required to take a test which even then, needed their guardians to be heavily skewed towards combat.

William appeared to be none of those things. Alaric thought his guardian to be at least D-class… and at most C-class.

There was, however, a sliver of curiosity still lurking behind Alaric’s eyes. The man had abandoned everything to become an adventurer so what if there was something to this delusional resolve of his? Alaric was no fool to think he had a high chance of success.

Subconsciously, the boy had already noticed the tell-tale signs of his inability. The way he carried himself was carefree and untouched by the form of a swordsman.

Even with barely any signs of Body Tempering which was responsible for getting rid of the body’s blemishes, he lacked the calousses of a swordsman and was fairly out of shape.

So the reason behind Alaric’s curiosity remained a curiosity in and of itself until the point the examiner said, “Begin.”

William set off running with his sword raised high in the air, topping it off with a ridiculous battle cry that sounded more like a cry for help from a constipated panda, “AAAAHHHH”

Alaric almost wanted to laugh. At the moment that the man attacked, Alaric could already see seven different ways to take the man down without causing him injury, one where he lost his head, another where his shoulder joint was popped and several other ruthless ones that cost him his limbs.

What made him gasp in disbelief, however, was beside everything he saw. The examiner’s face went cross instantly before she angled herself forward with her wooden sword at her side.

“D…I…s…s…a…p…p…o…I…n…t…m…e…n…t…!!!” came the woman’s voice in slow motion.

Alaric’s eyes snapped upwards but there was a slight effort in the action, almost as if the world itself was thrust underwater. All, except for William who kept coming at the examiner with full speed.

[ Time manipulation?! ] Alaric gasped.

[ A watered-down form of it. Not enough to give William the edge but impressive nonetheless ] Alia replied with a sigh.

William’s sword missed the woman’s body completely, the result of a simple but effective sidestep from the woman. Then, the pommel of her sword struck the back of his head with enough force to knock him out.

Just like the battle had ended… The only difference was that the examiner no longer had a scowl on her face, “That was… unexpected.”

“Does he pass?” the woman with a phoenix asked from the line of aspiring adventurers.

“Ha! Why would he? He did nothing,” the boisterous boy chuckled, “The idiot didn’t even know how to hold his sword right. He should go back to whatever civilian job he was working.”

“William failed the test,” the Guildmaster’s echoing voice suddenly spoke up, alerting them all of his presence. He turned to a woman among the examiners who were watching quietly. She was dressed in dark clothes with short daggers at her hips and a mask over her mouth. Her green eyes were as sharp as her silence, “Eleanor, tend to his injuries and send him to wait in the lobby. I’ll need to have a word with him.”

“Yes, sir,” the woman nodded before rushing to the ring. With the help of another burly examiner, she was able to get the unconscious man out of the ring and out of the training hall.

“Let’s see what the rest of you can do,” the Guildmaster replied with a yawn.

“Guildmaster, is it true that you’ll be personally testing that boy?” the female examiner in the ring asked.

“No, Daphne… I’ve seen enough of him. Just get on with the tests so we can finish this round of rookies,” the man responded with a shrug, turning his back away from Alaric in a way that turned the boy’s stomach.

[Did he just… underestimate me… ?]