Yakeru crossed over a stone bridge and passed by capital guards dressed in blue and white military-grade armor and armed with spears standing on either side, giving the boy a welcoming nod. A cacophony of sounds filled his ears when he walked through the gate that divided the massive stone walls. Vendors advertising their products to potential customers, chattering voices, and the enticing aroma of food sizzling from outdoor restaurants all greeted him to the capital. Skyscrapers in the distance reached for the sky while a sea of people navigated the busy streets.

'The capital's just as lively as I remember. Now let's see.' he tapped his chin, dusting off his early memories. 'The guild should be somewhere around here.'

He weaved through the crowd, walking in the direction he believed the guild should be. After walking around aimlessly for a time, frustration began to set in.

'Maybe I should've looked for this place beforehand.'

Just then, a young woman with ocean-blue eyes and long silver hair caught his eye. A leather breastplate rested on top of the tight tan shirt that accentuated her curves. She wore a rather plain leather gauntlet on her right forearm and had two daggers sheathed on her belt. The scent of vanilla lingered in the air as she walked past him. Looking back, he saw nearly every guy's face turn bright red as their eyes tracked her.

'Wow. She must be really popular with the guys.'

Like the others, it took a moment for him to peel his eyes away, but when he finally did, he slammed into a passerby with eyeglasses that nearly fell from his face. While he struggled to catch them in time, Yakeru scrambled to retrieve the stranger's staff that dropped in the process from their head on collision.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yakeru handed him his staff.

"No, it's fine. I wasn't looking where I was going." the young man straightened his glasses before taking his staff.

Yakeru gave him a quick look over. His attire was rather simple, sporting a baggy black cloak worn over a plain cream T. The young man took note of Yakeru's sword and asked,

"Are you a ranger?"

"No. I'm actually heading over to the guild for the examination."

"Oh I am too, but you're going the wrong way. It's the other way."

He pointed in the opposite direction of where Yakeru was headed.

"Right, thanks. Sorry, but I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Kenji and you are?"

"Yakeru. Nice to meet you, Kenji."

A warm smile formed on Kenji's face as they shook hands.

"A pleasure."

Yakeru noticed his staff as they began walking toward the guild.

"So I take it you're like a conjurer. If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been training for?"

Kenji scratched the back of his head before replying.

"Uhm let's just say...for a while."

"Oh, then you must be pretty strong then."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say that. What about you?"

"I've been training with my sister for a couple of years now. Hopefully, it pays off."

"I'm sure it will."

They continued until they came across a building in which rangers were entering and leaving. Yakeru followed Kenji up a small staircase that led to the guild's doors.

"This is it."

Yakeru glanced around, the clinking of beer mugs and laughter greeted them as they stepped inside the lobby. Everywhere they looked, they saw an arsenal of various weaponry from the sheathed battle axes and swords to the wands and staffs displayed on her backs and hips. Most of them boasted about their missions and accomplishments.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Yeah, I took down a Saberclaw just the other day." a beefed up man proudly placed his hands on his hips

"Not bad. But that's child's play compared to fighting a dragon."

"My clan and I are gonna hunt a rogue behemoth in the outer rim. You wanna join us?"

"Nah, the boys and I are gonna hunt for an ancient amulet. Let me know how that mission goes though."

Yakeru could barely process all the visual and audio stimulation.

"Sure is lively in here."

As they stood in line awaiting their turn to speak to the receptionist, a few heads turned to face them. Rangers whispered amongst each other from a table nearby.

"Hey isn't that that one kid?"

"Yeah, I always recognize a failure."

Yakeru took note when Kenji's expression fell and turned his head, avoiding their gazes.

'Has he been here before or something?'

The rangers continued to snicker before they reached the receptionist.

"Greetings! How may I help you?"

She looked over at Kenji and her eyes lit up.

"Oh, good to see you, Kenji! I assume you're here to take the exam again?"

'Again?' Yakeru lifted an eyebrow.

Kenji scratched the back of his head, trying to shake off his embarrassment.

"Hi, yeah we're both here for the exam actually."

"Got it. Here you go."

She reached under the desk, grabbed a couple of forms then slid them across the desk.

"Just need you two to fill these out and bring them back, okay?"

"Got it, thanks."

She smiled as they took their forms to an empty table. As they began filling them out, Yakeru asked,

"So you took this exam once already?"

"Twice."

"Oh, I see. So if you're already a ranger why are you taking this practical exam again? If you wanna reevaluate your rank the guild should be able to promote you based on your previous missions."

Kenji's eyes drifted to the side. It was clear he was uncomfortable with what he was about to say.

"Well, I'm not exactly a ranger...I didn't do particularly well in the past exams. In other words, I'm an F rank."

"There's an F rank?"

Kenji continued to avoid eye contact and pretended to be more preoccupied with filling out the form.

"Yeah...it's given to those who don't actually qualify to go on any missions. So you'll have to retake the examination to get at least an E rank. It's basically a mark of shame in the ranger community."

"Oh...I see."

"It's pathetic, I know."

"I wouldn't say that. I actually admire that you're working hard to be a ranger, despite your shortcomings."

"Sure..." he mumbled under his breath.

They finished their forms and returned them to the receptionist.

"Thank you. You can head through those doors and find a seat. The examination will begin in a few. Good luck you two!"

They walked through a pair of doors to find a vast arena. Seated in the rows that stretched from one side of the room to the other were what they assumed were more examinees already chatting amongst themselves. They made their way to find empty seats as more people entered. Before long, a few rangers entered the room. Their mere presence was enough to quiet the crowd in anticipation.

"Greetings, examinees. Thank you for coming. From this point forward these two rangers and I will serve as your examiners. They're both C rank and I'm a B rank. I'll get straight to the point and explain how this examination will go. You'll group up in teams of three to participate in mock battles down in this arena."

An examinee raised his hand from the crowd.

"Sorry, I have a question!"

"Go ahead."

"I thought the guild used to do one-on-one mock battles. It was a good way of gauging one's strength. Why change it to three-on-one?"

His colleague stepped up before providing an answer.

"Because power isn't everything. Since you'll be fighting monsters in groups this is designed to test your teamwork and gauge your strength."

Yakeru cupped his chin in thought. If this was the case, it was safe to assume most, if not everyone, would team up with people they already knew. It'd be a gamble to group up with strangers in an exam designed to gauge not only power but teamwork. The only problem was that Yakeru was unfamiliar with anyone there, even Kenji was still somewhat of a stranger to him.

'Still, I should probably stick by his side.'

The examiners nodded at each other and turned back to the crowd.

"That's all for now. Go ahead and get into your teams. I'm curious to see what you guys got."

With that, the examinees began shuffling while Yakeru turned to Kenji.

"So you think you'd like to team up?"

"Sure, we'll just need one more."

They went around asking different examinees to join only to get rejected one by one. Some even walked away before they got the chance to ask. Eventually, they both stood there idly. They couldn't help but notice a good number of examinees, mostly guys, migrating around someone.

"Hey, join us!"

"No, join my team!"

"I promise we'll protect you so you should join us instead."

Though their view of this popular examinee was obscured thanks to the crowd they garnered, it was obvious they were somehow valuable to everyone. Yakeru sighed in defeat.

"I guess we should just wait for someone?" Yakeru suggested with uncertainty in his voice.

"Or we just face our instructor with just the two of us."

"We'll definitely fail if that's the case."

They sighed in unison as the popular figure elbowed her way through the sea of boys. Spotting the two moping kids on the opposite side of the arena, she made her way over. Despite walking away, she still formed a tail of people still pestering her to join their team. Ignoring them, she approached the two boys.

"Is it just you two?"

A familiar vanilla scent graced Yakeru's nose. They looked up and his eyes shot open when he saw the same silver-haired girl standing before them. Out of all people, he didn't think he'd be seeing her again. And out of everyone there, she wanted to join 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 team? The pain he felt from pinching himself indicated he wasn't dreaming.

'She's taking the exam too?'