'At least the kid is decisive.. too bad.' Beastmaster Akigen fluffed his sleeve as they passed through the doorway, the Adventurer's Guild was nothing but a routing utility for his Majesties personal soldiers. In his eyes, Jacob would be ground to dust under their heels.
Shortie ran up to greet Jacob and licked his face.
"Oh? This is your beast?" Beastmaster Akigen wondered 'How did this kid tame such a large and unique looking specimen?' He reached out to touch Shortie.
Shortie growling was not an insignificant action, there had been a lot of people attacking Jacob along the way and Shortie had even been forced to defend him on occasion.
"Have your beast settle down, Hurry up. This way." Akigen knew that some beasts, no matter the circumstances, would never submit randomly and most large beasts had a deeper sense of personal pride than even the most vain of Humanoids.
"The adventurer's guild has trainers, you'll be able to find someone wil.. I mean, more suited to teaching you." Coach Poae caught himself mid sentence and deflected, he too could have chosen to take the boy as a student but he was the instructor for first years and most of his job was getting student's fit enough to endure the hardships that came with long missions.
Jacob walked beside Shortie and followed along. He had many questions but none of them were about the Guild.
"Meat." Shortie huffed under his breath, afterward, he pounded his feet for a few steps and stopped.
Jacob didn't want to create a scene, he pulled out the first meat he could find in his storage ring and threw it over. It didn't look cheap, the meat itself was marbled sliced. It was among the many treasures that were hidden within the items had collected.
Shortie swallowed the meat without chewing it. He looked dissatisfied but Jacob had given in quickly and turned back to walking.
Jacob made sure not to let the Teachers notice his absence but it was too late. When he came up beside them again, they had questions of their own.
"What did you just feed him?" Coach Poae rocked his head to the side.
"Some meat??" Jacob gestured slightly and pulled out some more.
Shortie came up and snatched it immediately, then, swallowed it again. He let out a light boof then snorted.
'Why is Shortie decidedly not speaking?' Jacob caught on with his actions. Deciding to move on, Jacob rubbed his head, "He likes meat." He grinned. 'Come on... give it up, I'm not telling you about my resources!'
Jacob had taken Zadkeil's advice and kept an open eye, he had been thwarted repeatedly in his attempts to even register as a student. Maintaining the Grin on his face, Jacob put Shortie on the side and did his best to get everyone moving again.
'Cheeky little fellow.' "Well, everyone has their secrets.." Coach Poae sighed, he understood the price of wealth others would always want. He coughed, "The Guild is over here. You will have to stable Shortie before you go in, he's a little big for the entryway."
Shortie didn't much like the sound of it but Jacob seemed conflicted as well, rather than adding to the issue, Shortie nodded at Jacob and smelled at the air.
"Smart beast." Beastmaster Akigen had his own opinion about Shortie, his actions were somewhat seasoned himself and watching Shortie quickly searching for the stables, he saw that Shortie had also understood the order completely.
Shortie turned to the left and led them up an alley, a small stable with a few feathered beasts were roosting.
"Hey! He found it pretty quick." The Coach knew where the stables were, that's why he had recommended it. They weren't far from the guild and the price was payable when the owner returned.
Jacob made arrangements with the stablehand and then rushed out of the door.
Beastmaster Akigen shook his head, "I remember when I had to do such things, its a long road. Learn what you can." Unknowingly, Akigen had given the boy advice. By the end of his sentence, he wondered why he had chosen to speak. He felt offended at himself for his actions in hindsight but what was said had been said. "Let's get back to the task at hand, I have other things to manage today."
Coach Poae nodded and waved Jacob over. "Let's hurry along."
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
The Adventurer's Guild building was a large rock. There was a portal built into the side and the entirety of its surface was otherwise covered in formations or runes.
There was little doubt to the safety of those within, a heavy pressure came down when people looked at it. When someone would approach, if they were not welcomed or displayed a heavy bloodlust, the formations that covered the surface would easily activate.
As the entered, more than thirty different barriers passed in a sweeping motion across the hall. It was a portal, the space inside was completely isolated from attacks on the outside.
Jacob marveled at the buildings themselves, there was even a sky above but it was different. No planets or stars hung in the sky. It was also dark.
The streetlamps had crystals that lit the way and once again, Jacob felt like he was in a completely different world. Teksivion was nothing like the inside of the Adventurer's Guild. "This place is very strange." Jacob spoke under his breath and followed along.
"This way." Beastmaster Akigen noticed Jacob's wandering eyes, he crushed his fingernails into his palms. 'This is taking way too long, doesn't this kid know anything? This is nothing. At least I won't regret my choices, this frog will stare at anything.'
Jacob kept up and eventually they found their way to the Main Castle.
At the doorway, the guards perked up. It had been a while since the Beastmaster had made his way to the Castle but they all knew his face.
"Sir." They stood at attention and barked in unison. Jacob saw the shape of their armor, some of them had been scarred by battle.
"Wait here." Beastmaster Akigen told Jacob to have a seat and walked away.
"Come on. I'll wait with you." Coach Poae ushered Jacob to the bench and sat down. "When they're ready, someone will come down and run you through a few tests."
"Tests?" Jacob frowned, he didn't like tests, "What sort of Tests?"
"Strength, Mana control, Spiritual Control, Magic.. they'll ask about interests, background, your special skills. Anything that can be used to give you a profile so that they can pick you for missions." Coach Poae was quick with his words, Akigen was on his way back.
"Here." Beastmaster Akigen threw a tablet over to Jacob, "Fill it out. I've made arrangements, I'll be leaving now." He scoffed and Coach Poae threw a small bag at him. "Next time, bring me someone I can use." tossing the bag lightly, he stored it away in his ring. 'Hmmph.'
Coach Poae helped Jacob answer a few questions but the tablet was completed and when Jacob forced his energy into it, it shattered and transformed into a ball of light that slowly rotated in front of them.
"Okay, lets go." Coach Poae started to follow the ball of light, it snaked around and eventually found its way toward a large Steele located in the back of the Castle. The light ball didn't move very fast but it would have easily left them both behind if they didn't attempt to follow its trajectory.
Poae was running short on time but he was determined to get Jacob a Teacher. The lightball penetrated the Steele after a few revolutions and a few characters appeared on its surface. They wouldn't last long, the stronger the student, the longer and brighter it would be.
Light began to surface across the bottom of the Steele, it snaked toward the top in a crawl.
"This is the Light of Potential, a mystic rune carved into the Steele helps us gauge a student's potential to a fairly accurate assumption. There are many levels, but it's all about how fast one can adapt. The snake rune runs the length of the first rung for the stubborn, each rung has its own difficulty and at the top, if the snake were to ever reach there, that student would be considered a prodigy and top student." Coach Poae licked his lips and waited for the snaking light to stop.
The light of potential had already gone past the second rung. As the light started to climb to the next rung, Coach Poae started to freeze in place, 'Is this kid really going to the third rung?
It had to be said, among the students that were in group of 1st years, most of them only had fourth rung talent, they barely made average scores. Coach Poae had liked Jacob's perseverance but he didn't expect him to be on par with people who had been training for much of their lives.