Just a few minutes after Hammer left, Gin's communication bracelet vibrated and when he picked up the call, a burly man's hologram materialized before him.
The man in the hologram looked tall and strong. He wore silver combat clothes which matched perfectly with his silver hair.
"Oh, are you the newbie named Gin who applied for the Ranker exam?" The burly man spoke to Gin.
"Yes", Gin replied, keeping his conversation short.
"I am Jose, and you will be following my team to complete your mission. Where are you right now?" Jose asked.
"I am on the ground floor of Tranquil Inn."
"Wait there... my friend will come and pick you up within a few minutes," saying that, Jose ended the call.
Hardly a minute passed since the call, and a blond-haired man with brown eyes arrived at the Inn's ground floor and approached Gin, after identifying him.
He looked friendly with a slight smile on his face and was casually clothed in red with brown combat dress.
"Hello, Gin, is it?" spoke the blond man in a cheerful tone.
"Yes, and you are?"
"Nice to meet you, I am Cotton. We will be comrades during this mission while you try to complete your Ranker examination." said cotton, firmly shaking hands with Gin.
Gin was slightly surprised as most of the high-level rankers won't be polite to a newbie who's just competing in a ranker exam.
Meeting Cotton and seeing his attitude, Gin's impression of the current ranker team increased.
"Hello, nice to meet you too. I will be in your care throughout the mission." Gin politely spoke.
"Let's go, captain Jose and the team members are waiting on the 2nd floor." Gin then followed Cotton into one of the private cabins of the 2nd floor.
Just as they entered the private cabin, Gin noticed a team of four relaxing inside, chatting with themselves.
He also saw captain Jose, who contacted him among the four. Apart from Jose, he also saw a young man, a red hair lady, and a square-faced man.
"Captain, Gin's here." Cotton said, strode over and sat next to Jose.
"Hello," Gin said.
"You don't need to be formal. Have a seat." Captain Jose beckoned Gin to take a seat next by cotton.
The Private cabin was quite glamorous, as everything inside the cabin seemed to be built of high-quality material and it's also well designed with a golden tint.
There's also a large couch on either side of the table, capable of entertaining 10 customers.
Gin made himself comfortable on the couch, next to cotton.
"Ok. Everyone's here. Today we have two new youths, who will be joining our team and complete a certain quest to pass their ranker exam."
"This young man is Gin." Jose introduced Gin to everyone.
"Nice to meet you, everyone." Gin stood up and spoke.
"This young man is Astro." Jose introduced the other young man to everyone.
Astro also stood up like Gin and politely spoke a few words. He looked the same age as Gin, but little taller and muscular. He was olive-skinned and wore a blue shirt with black pants.
Jose also introduced the other teammates to him and Astro. The red hair lady, who looked beautiful and has charming eyes is called Karina.
She carried a silver longbow that was beautifully engraved in black patterns and quiver of steel arrows over her shoulder.
The square-faced man is called shog, who looked intimidating with a large double-headed ax on his back.
Jose also introduced Cotton, a blonde-haired man, whom Gin already know. And at last, Jose introduced himself as the captain of the team.
Jose looked the same, as Gin saw in the hologram, but in person, he looked more reliable and gave off an air of leader.
"Ok, let's discuss the mission. Some of you may don't know about what's happening in the Wasteland, so I will talk about it first."
As soon as Jose started speaking, everyone straightened their backs and listened attentively.
"There's an outbreak near the safety region of Northern wasteland. Even though the silver mist region's army is taking care of the disorder, there are some high-rank wild beasts slipped past them and wandering near the border."
"Our mission is to track down the 'Two-legged Fiery Serpents' group. According to the intel, the group was last spotted near the east side of the border and formed of one Rank-6, two Rank-4, and three Rank-3 wild beasts."
"According to the quest description, you both will accompany us around while we deal with the serpents group."
"Especially, you two have to independently fight and kill at least one rank-3 wild beast by yourself to pass the ranker exam," Jose said to Gin and Astro.
Both of them nodded their heads in reply.
"Good, since everything is settled, we will leave after a short break. Even though it's not a challenging mission, we have to be extra careful since our mission is near the Northern wasteland."
"I will go and prepare some necessary things for our mission", Jose announced and left the private cabin.
After a twenty-minute break, the team of five left the Inn and stood outside, waiting for Jose.
--
"Well, well, if it isn't newbie Gin, who failed the previous ranker exam!" A voice resounded and a hideous looking man around twenty-five walked towards them.
"Syn!" Gin gritted his teeth in anger as soon as he saw the man. This man is Syn, who failed Gin in his previous ranker exam.
With no regard to Gin's anger, Syn arrived before him and continued, "Did you arrive here for your next attempt in ranker exam?"
Only then he noticed the team of four standing behind Gin. When he noticed Karina and Shog, his expression changed and murmured,
'Karina and Shog of 'Team Jose', don't tell me this pipsqueak is placed in their team?'
Like Syn, Gin also noticed the four familiar faces behind Syn as he already knows them from his previous encounter.
Gin took a deep breath and calmed his anger. He's not the same old Gin, his mentality also completely different from before.
Soon, a smile surfaced on Gin's face while he spoke to Syn, "Oh, isn't it captain Syn!"
Syn scoffed, but the smiling face of Gin told him there's something unusual about him.
"Hehe, looks like you got yourself a good backing," Syn spoke.
"Oh, syn is it?" Captain Jose arrived and stood next to Gin.
"Haha, captain Jose" Syn politely greeted.
"I just saw someone I know, I came over to say hello", Syn explained, clearly, he's a little fearful of Jose.
"I hope you pass your ranker exam this time so that we will have several opportunities to meet again in the future", Syn said to Gin.
Even though his tone seemed natural, Gin could discern a hidden threat in his words.
"I will and thanks for taking care of me last time. If we meet again in the future, I will try to repay your gratitude in full." Gin responded, with an equivalent threat.
"Let's go", Syn said and left with his team members, fuming in rage.
"Nicely done!" Jose said and patted Gin's shoulder in appreciation.
Similarly, others in Jose's team were also amazed by Gin's performance.
'A puny 3-star Ranker opposing the experienced 6-star ranker, is it foolish or bravery?' Only Gin knows the answer.
"Don't let us down on our mission" Shog, who's always silent spoke.
"We won't" Both Gin and Astro replied at the same time, then they looked at each other and laughed.