Chapter 4: New Faces
Braiv had me wait outside while he went in and made sure that I was cleared to participate in the exam before he returned outside.
I was a little skeptical about the location of the bronze adventurer exam being such a shabby looking building, especially because it seemed a bit small compared to what I was expecting. But, he told me that it was all a part of keeping the exam hidden in plain sight. So I trusted him and said my goodbyes to Braiv and Bloom. The latter of which even gave me an overly friendly, verging on intimate, hug before she left.
And with that I stepped through the doors and into the pits of hell, or the lion’s den, or the jaws of death, or whatever. However to put it, this was the first time I had ever been face to face with so many adventurers, and I was willing to bet most, if not all of them were beyond me in terms of skill.
On the bright side, most of them didn’t give me more than a curious glance before returning to whatever they were doing. This left me free to walk through the gathering of probably around 40 or 50 adventurers so that I could make my way over to the receptionist and add my name to the list of applicants.
The woman took my entrance fee and the info from my newbie license. “This license is about to expire, you’ll need to renew your current license with me now to guarantee that it will last the length of the exam, but other than that everything seems to be in order.” She said. “You do have some level ups to take advantage of, would you like to increase your stats?”
I did in fact. She placed a small machine in front of me, and I had no idea how it worked. I placed my hand on it and somehow it got the information of my stats, I guess it was similar to how they quantified stats for the licenses in the first place. But, it was slightly different, it allowed me to choose how to grow my stats.
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Name: Masamune Hiro
Race: Human
Class: Newbie Adventurer
Level: 3
Blood type: AB
Alignment: Neutral
…
Hit Points: 209/209
Stamina Points: 109/109
Magic Points: 49/49
Soul Points: 0
Skills: Back step, Blacksmith, Locksmith, Quick Draw
Unique Traits: None
Physical Strength: 4
Physical Defense: 7
Magic Strength: 0 -> 1
Magic Resistance: 1 -> 2
Soul Strength: 6
Soul Resistance: 8
Vitality: 11
Dexterity: 9
Reflexes: 11 -> 14
Movement Speed: 4
Intelligence: 7 -> 8
Charisma: 2
Wisdom: 3
Willpower: 7
Awareness: 5 -> 6
Luck: 10 -> 11
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It would appear that my stats can be increased through such machines. Possibly the most exciting part, is that I was free to choose how I wanted my stats to be spread out. Hello magic.
Of course, this came with the cost that an adventurer could only do so at specified machines. This seemed like an okay trade off to me though. I could gain levels all I wanted and become good at anything through noting more than experience gain, but the increased strength only mattered once it was applied through a very limited process.
She handed me some papers to read and fill out. It mostly consisted of agreements and waivers freeing the guild from responsibility for anything bad that would happen during the exam.
“…By signing this document I hereby absolve the Adventurer’s Guild of all rights and responsibilities involving my person… relinquish my rights to compensation for loss or damages of my person up to and including: property, life, and limb…” I read out loud. Nice.
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She also gave me a brief explanation about what was going on, and what was to happen.
“We are still in the entry period, but once that is over we’ll initiate a countdown on the main hall clock, and on everyone’s individual watch.” She said as she handed me a wristwatch. “It will have 24 hours on it, in that time you can get done any preparations you need before beginning the bronze exam.”
I nodded. That seemed simple enough to understand. “What will the exam consist of?” I asked.
“I’m not allowed to speak of such things.” She said flatly.
“What should I do to prepare for the exam?” I asked.
“I’m not allowed to offer advice.” She said equally as flatly.
I tried something else. “How long will this entry period last?”
“It will last until noon today.” She said. “Which will be coming up soon, so we ask that participants remain inside the building until then. This site is built to serve as a sort of luxury hotel for exam applicants, so if you’d like, you are free to spend the time relaxing in a room. I am not allowed to give you any more information beyond that, however.”
I figured this was about how the rest of speaking with her would go. I found an empty pillar to lean against while I waited along with everyone else. It just seemed like the smartest option, even though I was about ready to forsake the exam to enjoy this so called luxury hotel, especially if it meant taking a shower.
The inside was far more spacious than I had given credit to the building. The layout even reminded me of a general adventurer’s guild branch. The front was a large open space filled with tables and chairs for adventurers, while the back of the building placed the desk and receptionist. The only main difference was instead of a job board, there was a large monitor that displayed all the names of the people who had gathered to take the exam.
Obviously none of the names were familiar to me. I probably would have been much more worried if any of them did ring a bell, apart from my own.
I also didn’t recognize any of the people gathered around, but several of them did stick out to me for other reasons. At one table I saw two men playing cards. The smaller one looked like a classic thief, but he also had a rather strange appearance, and a bad odor that wafted out from him. He seemed to be accompanied by a very large person completely encased in a bulky, full suit of armor.
I noticed one man sitting up against a pillar near the middle of everyone who had fallen asleep and was snoozing softly. What kind of person could be so relaxed in this situation to fall asleep?
I saw people all of races, including several kinds of demi humans. Most of the people who had gathered as far as I could tell were men, but I did see two girls talking amongst themselves.
The first girl had a tall and curvy figure with long, straight black hair and eyes. She wore no visible weapons or armor on her, and it would be impressive if she did have any hidden weapons considering she was wearing a bright red, skin tight dress similar to a cheongsam with yellow sleeves and black bows around her waist. And from what I could see tall white boots leading up to a tantalizingly exposed absolute territory, before disappearing into a sea of black compression shorts.
She was talking with another girl who looked nothing like her. This girl had strawberry blonde hair in the shape of a bob cut fastened with a headband. Her bangs swept to the side to reveal soft blue-green eyes behind a pair of black glasses. She was dressed like a magical girl, with black tights, a frilly light sky blue skirt and corset, puffy sleeves, and white gloves past her elbows.
In other words, they were both very attractive girls who I had been staring at. Such careful examination came with the unfortunate drawback that they noticed me staring at them, but before the girl in red could approach me a menacing bloodlust permeated from the front entrance as a man in black appeared.
Nobody moved, and everyone was dead silent. Except for the one guy who was still quietly snoring completely unperturbed by the arrival of the scariest being I’d met in all my time in this world.
I couldn’t even begin to explain how worried I was for the guy sleeping, and yet how much I envied him for being able to stay cool under such pressure.
As for the man in black, he scanned the room making eye contact with several individuals before finishing with me.
When our eyes met I sensed something strange, I expected him to lash out at me with killing intent similar to how he had entered the building, but it was more like a silent challenge, as if his curiosity had been piqued and he wanted to know more.
I still found myself unable to move. He sauntered through the group of adventurers like they were statues apart from a few of the ones in his path who moved out of his way before he got to the desk and silently registered.
After the registration process had been completed, I saw the man in black’s name appear on the board: Rick Steadman.
Less than a minute later, a chime played as the clock struck 12, indicating that the 24 hour period had begun. I didn’t see where Rick had gone. The tension in the room had ceased. I decided to leave the building before anything else happened.
I found that I was able to do so. I wandered around the city. I found a local blacksmith shop and investigated his wares. I wasn’t too interested in armor, because I didn’t want to over encumber my back steps. So I checked out some weapons instead, and none of them really seemed better than Lock-on, so I decided to pass on buying anything.
I thought that would be it, until one of the other shop guests, an older gentleman, noticed my sword on my hip and asked me about it. I decided to oblige him and showed him my best work so far, and explained to him about it a little bit.
He introduced himself as Hodgkins. He was looking for a new sword and asked if I could make him one since he saw and was impressed by my work.
I regretfully informed him that I couldn’t at the moment because of my prior obligation to the exam. He seemed to understand, but he also wouldn’t stop pestering me with questions.
“If you’re taking the bronze exam, why are you here and not taking it now?” He asked.
“I’m looking for a place in town where I can have some fabrics turned into clothing.” I told him.
He looked stunned. “Is that all?
“Yes, do you know a place in town where I could have some fabrics turned into clothing?” I asked.
He jumped at the chance. “Of course, I know an excellent tailor in this city, who I’m sure can make you anything you need, I’ll gladly introduce you.”
“I would very much appreciate that.” I said.
He did exactly as he said, I met with the tailor and handed him my fleece. If he was surprised by the fabric at all, he didn’t let on about it. I let him know what kind of clothing I was hoping to get out of it, and he took my measurements.
I then found out how expensive of a project it was that I had asked for and how it would take some time as well, more than three days. Though Hodgkins was more than happy to pay for it after we settled on a contract.
After everything was settled, Hodgkins suggested that I should return to the site of the exam if I was prepared to take it. I didn’t have anything else I needed to do right away, so I agreed and we parted ways.
I made my way back to the exam site and stumbled upon a very strange surprise.
I had left for a bit less than an hour, and the entire building was gone.