Ali leaned against the building as he took a sip from his canteen. His group had arrived in the bustling town of Dalcis a week earlier. He was told the groups were assigned to different locations so they couldn’t interfere with each other. They happened to get a town known for three things: strong fortification, highly productive farmlands and mines filled with lots of ores and valuable minerals. He was filled with excitement when he first arrived but now he was just another one of the many teenagers who walked the streets going about their business.

The teenager never imagined he would set foot in the Earth nation of Usnana, given how an entire ocean separated it from his nation of Ocad. During one of his classes with Juraj, Ali was shown a map of the world but he couldn't wrap his head around the scale of everything. To avoid making his head hurt, he chose to just focus on where he was at. When they were first dropped off on the outskirts of the town, they had to walk the rest of the way to the gate. Along the way, they passed enormous farmlands that had countless individuals busy with the harvest. Ali tried with difficulty to see the borders of the farmlands and thought to himself.

One of these farms must produce enough to feed my village for an entire year.

As they got closer to the town, they saw the tall walls that surrounded the settlement. Their guide shared that Dalcis was in a key strategic location within Usnana and boasted plenty of resources so the government placed a powerful garrison in the town. To this date, the town had never fallen to foreign invaders and most armies would be wise to avoid the town altogether. The tall round towers were said to possess siege weapons with incredible range and deadly accuracy. The walls were not only sturdy but also thick, making breaches impossible to create without absurd amounts of time and effort. Everything about the fortification screamed impregnable fortress.

If it’s impregnable, then we are safe to proceed with our exam without the worry of an unexpected event.

When the group entered through the front gate, Ali found himself mesmerized by what he saw. All the buildings were made out of stone and some of them were five stories high. Most of the ground level stories were stores and stalls of various kinds while the other stories were homes to the town residents. The streets were bustling with activity as people went about their business on paved streets. Most of the people looked quite well off but there were still beggars, mostly in the dark alleys. When Ali saw the eyes of the beggars, he could tell that they were no different from him when he was still in the village.

“We will meet with Ahuru as he will be responsible for your exam,” said the guide who was responsible for getting them to the examiner.

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His group was later introduced to Ahuru, a mine overseer who supervised the largest mine outside the town. The man was responsible for assigning them tasks and, by the end of the exam, giving them a score. He showed them to their sleeping quarters which were located in a large building that housed all the workers of the mine. While the upper management like Ahuru lived at the top floor with more spacious rooms and better amenities, the workers were all jammed into the first and second floor where bunk beds were common. Due to their unique statuses, the three teenagers found themselves on the third floor where the rooms were larger than their cells on the airship and amenities were acceptable.

“Join me in the cafeteria once you are settled,” said Ahuru.

The three teenagers hastily unpacked their stuff in their rooms and locked the doors behind them. Then, they went downstairs to an empty cafeteria where the mine overseer waited at a table. Upon seeing their arrival, he gestured to them to sit down.

“You may call me Ahuru. I will be overseeing your exam. Any questions before I get into the details of your exam?”

“Do we have a budget to work with?” asked Belen.

“Your food is covered in the cafeteria so you don’t need to worry about that.” Ahuru held out a form. “If you have other expenses that are within reason, you can fill out the form and, once approved, we’ll purchase for you.”

“Will…will we stand out here?” asked Kurata.

“Dalcis is the home to people from many nations. We picked the town due to that reason so you have nothing to worry about being discriminated against.”

“Are the many soldier patrols normal on Dalcis streets?”

On their way to meeting Ahuru, Ali noticed the tense atmosphere of the local populace whenever the soldiers marched by. The civilians were eager to get out of the way, as though they wanted nothing to do with the soldiers. From the briefing he received on the airship, he got the impression that the soldiers were respected as they kept the order of the streets. What he saw simply didn’t match what he expected. After he asked the question, he could tell from Ahuru’s body language that something wasn’t quite right. There was a brief silence before the man spoke.

“We recently got rumors of a dangerous fugitive escaping to Dalcis. We don’t know how reliable those rumors are but the town mayor isn’t taking any chances. As a result, the soldiers are more heavy handed than usual when it comes to investigating suspects.”

Once Ahuru answered all the questions, he carefully explained the rules of the exams. The group was expected to do errands and points were awarded depending on the completion time and other factors. Most of the errands were mundane matters like delivering packages but there could be the occasional errand that might result in combat. The man suggested that they stay on alert and always be wary of danger.

“Get some rest now so you’ll be ready to start your exam tomorrow!”