I headed down to the fighting ring, away from the seating area I was at earlier, I presented my Guild Card to the referee and chose a mock weapon, there were a lot to choose from, there were the standard weapon types available, such as long swords, short swords, spears, canes, a zweihander sword, a mace, a battle axe, all sorts of stuff, there's even a sabre style sword, all of them were with dulled edges, of course. I chose a generic short sword along with a small leather shield, and headed towards the testing ring, and greeted the examiner, he was wielding a long sword.
" What has the Guild become, letting brats like you in? ". He remarked, seemingly on purpose to agitate me, but I'm better than that.
I ignored the examiner's rude comment, and instead focused "killing intent" on to the examiner, which worked for a bit, making him a little unnerved, before he shook it off. He's an experienced professional in this field.
The referee then started the match, I decided to not attack immediately, I approached him swiftly, only to then get out of his way, I repeated this several times, much to his irritation before suddenly striking him. As expected, he was fast, really fast. He easily read my trajectory and intercepted it accordingly, with just enough power to block it, not wanting to waste energy. Damn, he's really good. He then went on the offensive and stroke his sword at me, his movements were really fast, I almost didn't see it, I blocked it with my shield. That hurt real bad. I swiftly unbuckled the shield from my wrist and threw it at the examiner. He hadn't expected that, so he awkwardly blocked it off with his sword, his face seemingly impressed with something.
Using advantage of his brief pause, I went within striking range and counter attacked. I swiftly swung my sword, aiming for his torso, by sheer luck, I managed to land a blow to the examiner. The referee, a little stunned, immediately called the match off. I returned to a relaxed stance and bowed to the examiner, and thanking him.
" Thank you for your time today. ". I said.
" You know, sonny? You did good. You're the first person today to have ever landed a blow on me. Good job. You'll be starting off as an E-ranked Adventurer from today. ". He said.
" I understand, thank you. ".
" No need to be all formal and stuff, what's your name? ". He asked.
" I'm Evan Myers, nice to meet you. ".
" Nice to meet you too, I'm Aaron. How about grabbing some drinks tonight? ". He said.
" No thanks, I have work. ". I responded.
" What? Work in the evening?? That's just miserable, man. Maybe another time, then? ".
" Sure, another time. Well, it's been great, I'll excuse myself now. ".
" Yeah, go ahead and wash off the sweat. ". He offered, pointing towards the bathhouse provided.
" Well, see you again sometime. ". I said my farewells.
" Yeah.. Ahem.. Turn number 15! Where are you?! ". He immediately continued with the exams, without resting. Damn, that man isn't normal.
I headed to the bathhouse, the entrance fee was 5 Small Copper coins, pretty cheap. I entered the men's area, of course. Inside, I took a provided towel and then stripped off my clothes, before covering myself with only the towel, then I put my clothes away in a locker, it has a small, wooden plate which works like a lock, it has a strap on it, so I strapped it on my wrist before entering the bathing area. Inside, it was really similar to a traditional Japanese sento, suspiciously similar.. I understand that one should wash one's body first before entering the actual bathtub. So I did just that. It's a little weird, bathing completely in the nude while in the presence of other people, especially if those other people were muscular uncles, but, I've been in a Japanese sento before, so I kind of just shrugged it off.
Having finished washing myself, I headed to the hot water bathtub. As I went into the water, my body immediately relaxed and all of the stress and strain was washed away in an instant. I kind of understand why Japanese people really love to bathe in hot water. I socialized a bit with other people in the bath, making small talks and gossiping, it was really fun. I talked with a Gate Guard, an Adventurer, a Farmer, a Merchant which doesn't look like a merchant at all because he's really buff. Which makes me a little depressed, because my body doesn't have defined muscles, probably because of the whole magic proficiency affecting muscle mass and stuff, but, man.. I really want a nice, ripped body. Damn.
Having enough of bathing, I excused myself and got out. Drying was really easy, because magic exists, you just have to simply cast a << Drying >> spell and you're good to go. Very convenient! Thank you, whoever invented this spell! I dressed myself and headed out to go back home to the Draculesti estate. The sun was about to set, and the sky was already turning yellow, damn, the exam was THAT long?? My God. I better hurry. I must be back before nightfall, or else Maxim will lecture me to death.
I rushed home, on the way, I found some stores selling some sweets which Luke has been wanting to try. Being the "Considerate and Kind Man™" that I am, I decided to buy a couple of those sweets to give to Luke. One piece costs 5 Big Copper coins ...Expensive... I bought 6 of them and paid with 3 Small Silver coins, which is about 30 dollars, the sweets themselves didn't really seem appetizing, it was a simple cake-like dessert, which has the appearance of macarons, but, they're fluffy, unlike macarons. Also unlike macarons, they aren't colorful, they're just brown in color, smells great though. A weird fantasy food, for sure.
After a while of walking, I finally got home.. It's weird calling the Draculesti's estate my "home". Anyways, I went up to the Guard here, and asked for entry, he immediately opened a small, pedestrian door, designed for people, not carriages. Obviously.
I greeted the other servants on the way inside and then immediately went into my room to change into my "work uniform". Which is, you guessed it. The tailcoat and vest, or "waistcoat" as the posh people call it. I finished dressing up just in time after dinner, I took the opportunity to give Luke the sweets I got him.
After navigating the stupidly huge mansion of the Draculesti's, I arrived at Luke's room. I knocked three times, and waited for an answer, while holding the sweets on a silver tray.
A voice replied from inside, asking. " Who is it? ".
" It's me, Master, may I come in? ". I responded.
" Yes. ". He replied shortly.
I opened the door and went inside, as always, his room was too spacious to be called a room, it's bigger than my apartment in the previous world. I spotted Luke, sitting down writing something. So I went over to him, and gently placed the sweets near him, just at an arms reach, yet not too close as to disturb his writing.
" I got you some of these. You were interested, right? ". I said, while preparing tea from my ever convenient << Pocket Dimension >>.
" Did you get these for me? ". He asked.
" Why of course. ".
" How considerate of you. ".
" Is that so? By the way, what are you writing? ". I asked.
" It's a letter to someone. A friend of mine. ". He answered.
" Who is this person? ".
" Oh, she's just the Royal Princess, Kaitlynn cecil Ardria, you should be meeting her soon. ". He said, casually mentioning a Royal's name.
" Oh my, Master, are you courting her? What is with this line here? why does it say " I miss our conversations, I hope to meet with you again"? ". I teased.
" No! nononono! You're misunderstanding! I just miss the interesting topics she always bring up every time we talk! It's not like I'm interested in her! ". He panicked.
" Hahahaha~ Sure you are. Here's tea. ". I said, serving him tea.
" Really, even though you're supposed to be my attendant. ". He said, pouting. His reactions are precious as always.
" Oh, yeah, how was your Adventurer's exams? What rank will you start on? ". He asked.
" Rank E, of course! ". I said, proudly.
" Whaat?? You're cheating! I only managed a rank F! Unfair! I had to take another test to rank up to E! ". He protested.
" Well, if you continued to train diligently with Alyssia, you'll probably going to be much more prepared. ". I said.
" Ugh! I'll do my best in that, I guess.. ".
" When are we going to take requests together? ". I asked.
" Maybe the day after tomorrow. I plan on taking a ruin raid request. Probably going to be the black skyscraper we saw when we were trekking back from getting lost in the woods. ". He explained.
" I see, any reason why? ".
" Reason? hmmm... No, not really, I'm just a little curious, and it's a recommended site for beginners. ". He said.
" Are we going by ourselves, or are we going to recruit with others? ".
" I don't know, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess. ". He said.
" Wow, how unprofessional, Master. ". I retorted.
" Shut up. ". He said, exaggeratedly, while eating one of the sweets I got him.
" Oohh.. These are pretty nice. It's a shame a certain someone can't really taste anything, huuuh?? ". Is.. Is he teasing.. ME? Oh my, better look out for flying pigs tomorrow!
Hearing that, we both laughed, we continued joking around and making fun of each other until well into the night.
====[ Author's Note ]====
An Adventure is waiting!
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I hope!
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