A week had passed since the teens went to take their final exams. However, of the five which formed their team, only three had actually finished.

Worried that something may have happened, Finn went to Madam Isabella’s office while Michael went straight to the first year swordsmanship class. The response Finn got was to wait and be patient, and Michael seemed to have calmed down as well.

“They’re having fun,” he said, which gave Finn an idea.

‘Training is good and all, but if you don’t take a day off every once in a while, your mentality will suffer.’ Since Annie and Michael were a bit cold to each other, this could also help to reinforce team bonds.

On the seventh day after the third exam, the three teens left their weapons behind and went for a pleasant walk through the city. Their goal was the main square where an announcement would supposedly be made, but in the meantime, there were endless shops to explore.

“Let’s go there,” said Annie, pointing to a store selling plumbing equipment and various tools.

“Sure." 'At least you didn’t pick a weapons’ shop.'

The girl entered the store and grabbed whatever items had a crystal embedded in them. She activated the crystal “by accident,” apologized profusely to the owner, and then grabbed another and did exactly the same.

Three minutes in, the owner kicked them out. “And don’t you dare come back!”

‘Does he mean her or all of us?’ Getting permanently banned could prove troublesome in the long term.

“Hey, let’s go there.” Michael pointed to a spot where a bunch of people had gathered. A giant woman with braided hair was standing near a thin stone pillar and shouting “Gather round, gather round! All of you strong folk, take a shot at my pillar. Punch it, kick it, I don’t care which. If you break it, you’ll win 10 silver coins!”

Finn sighed. “I thought we were going on a relaxing walk.”

With a malicious grin, Michael paid the woman 2 silvers and took a swing at the pillar. He punched it with all his might, but even so it did not break.

“Good hit challenger. Want to try again?”

Michael huffed and left without a word.

“It’s rigged,” said Annie.

“Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“I thought you knew…”

As the two were about to get into a quarrel, somebody placed a palm on Michael’s head.

“I didn’t think I’d see you two so soon,” said Miss Bella. “You do know that fighting outside of official duels is prohibited, right?”

“Yes, Miss Bella.” The two bowed politely.

“Good.” The teacher looked at Michael, then at the pillar, and then back at Michael. “They’re picking up after Mister Cassius, I see.”

“What do you mean?”

“Giants can increase the density and durability of their stone pillars at will. It’s a trick Mr. Cassius uses to get rid of students he disapproves of.”

Michael's brows furrowed and Miss Bella noticed. She took a handkerchief from her pocket, rubbed the football sized orange crystal on top of her staff, and then gave it to him.

“Wrap this around your fist and go try again. You don’t have to worry about the giants anymore; you’re my student now.”

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With a wink, she left the kids to their own devices. Michael did as instructed, gave the giant woman another 2 silvers and punched the stone once more.

The boom was so loud a couple of guards came running. The boy’s fist smashed not only the stone pillar, but even the brick wall behind it. In the end, to avoid charges, the teens were forced to forfeit the 10 silver reward as compensation for the damage.

They left in a hurry just in case, and after checking out a few more vendors and stores, they finally reached the main square. This square was located in the south, near the city’s main gates, since in the actual center there was Phoenix Academy. Even so, it was huge and usually filled with vendors.

However, on this particular day, the area was rented out, and a stage had been built in the middle. People gathered from all over the city, eager to hear the announcement.

“I heard they’re building a new meatshop,” someone whispered.

“They won’t rent the square just for that. I hear a war is brewing in the west. They almost took Trident a few weeks ago.”

Eventually a beastwoman walked onto the stage and the crowd quieted down. She was short with large breasts, long bunny ears, and a cat’s tail. The girl looked no older than 18, although with beast people it was hard to tell.

“M-may I have your attention please,” she spoke into a round, blue crystal in a cutesy, high pitch voice. The crystal spread her words to the entire crowd, but it had the opposite effect to what she intended.

“She’s so cute.”

“I should introduce her to my son.”

“Do you think she’s single?”

“You’re 13!”

“So?”

While a young girl smacked her friend upside the head, another beastman walked onto the stage. He was huge and intimidating, sported thick goat horns on top of his furry head, and his body looked like an oversized, bipedal lion more than an actual person.

“Quiet down.” His voice was low and gutural. The crowd stopped chatting, so he added "Thank you," and turned to leave. He had a long, snake-like tail which he whipped across the stage as he left.

“M-my name is Josie Phuh. That was Baron Bloodeye, and we have an announcement to make.”

Josie turned around, tried to catch a crystal Baron threw at her, failed, picked it off the stage, and then pointed it at the sky. A rainbow colored fireball shot out of the crystal, flew a hundred feet up and then burst into a certain pattern. It was a large, triangular shield crossed by two swords and a staff in the middle.

“Starting today, The Adventurer’s Guild is opening an office in Phoenix city! We would like to invite everyone to bring us your quests to Siegfried boulevard, number 13. Oh, and if anyone wants to become an adventurer, you can come and apply right now!”

The crowd burst into cheers.

“I would love to meet you all at the guild. Thank you very much!”

As soon as the girl got off the stage, people raced to Siegfried boulevard. The three teens finally had some breathing room, and from the corner of his eye, Finn spotted Natalie and Tommy walking towards them.

“Hey!” he waved at them before lowering his arm. The two looked like they hadn't slept in days; they were hunched over and barely dragged their feet. Even so ‘They’re emanating danger like a couple of wolves.’

Everyone in their path scattered as if they were about to get mugged. “You look like you’ve just woken up,” Finn forced smile. ‘The semester hasn’t even started, what the hell?’

“We saw the announcement,” said Tommy. “Should we join for when we have some time?”

Tommy and Natalie shared a look before they burst into hysterical laughter.

“Since when did you have a sense of humor?” Natalie held her belly. “Anyway, Finn if you want to join, then count us out. Me and Tommy are going to be busy… probably forever.”

She then walked up to Michael and gave him a smooch. “I’ve missed you. How was your exam?”

The two whispered something to each other and then walked off while waving goodbye. A new trio was left to take on the town, so Tommy, Finn and Annie they picked a direction at random and went off to explore.

“By the way, did you get in?” asked Tommy.

“Yep.”

“Sure.”

“Will you join the adventurer’s guild?”

“Nope.”

“No.”

“I want to focus all my time on classes,” said Annie. “What about you, Finn? I hear they pay pretty well.”

The boy paused for a second before smiling and ruffling her hair. “I think I’ll pass this time around too. I don’t think we’ll have that much free time anyway.”

“Oh, you have no idea.” Tommy started talking about his time during the exam, how it lasted for a week straight until he and Natalie collapsed from exhaustion. Annie then told him about her fight with the students and the final one against Michael.

As they walked towards a shop selling magical artifacts, Finn seemed distracted. He would occasionally nod and give a comment, but his mind was clearly elsewhere.

‘The adventurer’s guild, huh? I’ll have to look into it.’