I followed Tim over to one of the vendors, and we picked out what we wanted to eat. We then went to sit at one of the two-person tables closer to the wall.
"So-" Time began. "What was the practical test like?" I thought for a moment on how to describe it to him but settled on one word.
"Terrifying, honestly." Tim gave me a quizzical look.
"Why what happened?" I launched into my explanation of the fight with the Great Goblin, and how I had almost dropped out of the fight before it even happened. When I was finished, I waited for my friend to say something; he stayed quiet for a little while longer and picked at his fingernails while looking down at his hands.
"I'm so sorry, Todd... That must have been terrible to face that thing again. When you faced one of the monsters last time, I thought that we'd lost you forever. You were so out of it I worried that I'd never get to see you smile again." I looked at the Cleric and could see how my episode had truly affected him. I didn't know how I could make him feel better; I didn't even know that he was still suffering like I was.
I had no clue what to do, so I just stuck a finger out and awkwardly poked the top of his slumped head with my finger. He looked back up to me, and I gave him the biggest smile I could muster, I pointed to my face to make sure that he could see that I was grinning ear to ear. Tim stared at me for a couple of seconds and then broke out into a fit of giggles.
"Hahaha, oh man, Todd! I guess I didn't have to worry that much if you're able to make a face like that!" I nodded fervently in agreement. The laughter stopped after a few more seconds, and my smile softened into a genuine one. It was really nice to see my friend laugh again. I hadn't noticed it before, but he hadn't been the same towards me in a while.
"You don't have to worry about me that much, Tim, but I appreciate that you do. You're a really good friend, and I'm glad that I met you." The Cleric blushed a deep red, which made me laugh a little. Once my laughter stopped, Tim rolled his eyes playfully at me.
"I'm glad that I met you too." He responded. We ate our food with only a slight conversation after that. Tim told me about his practical test and how all he had to do was heal specific injuries within a certain amount of time. It wasn't long until a bell rang out, and we were told to go back to our waiting areas. I said goodbye to my friend and began walking back.
"See you after you've passed!" He yelled at me.
"You too!" I yelled back. It had been a rough day so far, but Tim had almost made me completely forget about the fear that I had experienced just a couple hours earlier. I made it to the Alchemist waiting area and saw my Master sitting down. She was covered in bruises and had some small cuts as well, but she was already rubbing some herbs on it and using some alchemy to get the areas to heal up.
"Hey, how do you think you did?" She looked up at me and huffed.
"Not bad fer the first day, I suppose." I must have had a confused look on my face because the Master seemed to read my mind like she had done so many times before. "The Platinum tag advancement is a test that lasts a total of seven days. I'll not be able te teach ye fer the next week so make sure ye make lots of money by hunting while ahm in here. I'll want te finish our projects once ahm done. Ah, will pass this year." 'This year?' I thought to myself.
"Master? How many times have you taken this test?" She shook her head and began counting on her fingers.
"This makes the tenth year that ah've attempted this test. There are only ten platinum tagged adventurers in this country, and not one of em is an alchemist. Ah, mean te change that." I couldn't help but think about how incredible my Master was. To take on a challenge like this year after year for upwards of a decade was incredible. I just had one more question.
"You don't try to take this test every six months, do you?" She shook her head in response.
"No, the platinum tag test can only be taken once a year because of the difficulty and danger some people are lost to it, it wouldn't do to lose too many gold tagged adventurers per year." That made sense. I figured they would need time to replenish the number of experienced adventurers this country had. I had more questions about the other countries of this world, but I figured I could always learn about them later, so I never really asked.
Just then, the male and female proctors entered the waiting area. They each had a sheet of paper in their hands.
"Listen up!" The man said. The woman cleared her throat and began talking.
"You are about to receive your results. When we call your name, you will receive what your marks are on the written exam from my colleague, and you will receive your results from the practical exam from me." The room was dead silent, with everyone holding their breaths so they wouldn't miss their name being called.
"In the top slot for the written exam, we have Sean Warren with a nearly perfect score on the written exam. Congratulations to Sean." I looked over at the manager, and his face was a mixture of happiness and confusion. "Coming in at a close second is Todd Sheargin!" It was my turn to be surprised. I had thought that I'd done well, but I didn't know that I made it into the top echelon of the class. Roman's name followed mine, which he was extremely unhappy about. You could tell by the way his usually cool looking face scrunched into one of disbelief and anger.
I had to stop myself from laughing out loud at him, but I saved the mental image to enjoy later on. The names only amounted to ten people in total who had passed the written portion.
"Just because you didn't pass this time does not mean that you should give up!" The man spoke loudly to the people who's faces had dropped in disappointment. "You can always take the test again in six months! Work hard, study harder, and you will be rewarded in the end." The woman took the place of the man and got everyone's attention.
"In the rankings of the practical exam in the first position, we have Todd Sheargin! This gives him the top accumulative score of the tag advancement test for alchemists! You will be representing alchemists at your level in the coming ceremony after the platinum test has concluded. Get with young Sean after this, and he will prepare you." I had no clue about any kind of ceremony that was supposed to occur, but I didn't care too much at the moment as Roman's face had turned from an angry red to almost a purple color.
The woman moved on quickly, Roman came in second place, Sean, unfortunately, came in ninth place, but that was ok with him. He was still happy to have even passed. The woman continued talking after the results had been discussed.
"I want to thank everyone for coming out and participating in this exam; you are doing your country proud by showing your growth, aptitude, and courage in participating in these events. You will all receive your new tags at the ceremony the day following the conclusion of the platinum exams finish." Once we were all thanked, we were told that it was ok to head back to the central area of the building or go home.
I said my goodbyes to Master and Sean. As I walked out, I gave Roman kind of a smug smile, which I think almost made the man faint with rage. I couldn't believe it. After months of being in this world, and working hard studying, struggling, I had finally made a real accomplishment. I thought back to my life in the world I lived in before wondering if I'd ever done something this big back then.
The answer was no, of course. I was an average dude with average grades who worked as a line cook. I didn't even go to college. Yet here I was, taking giant strides to build a better life for not only myself but also the people in my life that I considered my new family. I began thinking about how this would affect our lives. 'I could take Tim out more often, maybe!' The strange thought popped into my head and made me laugh a little bit.
I shook it off, though. 'It's perfectly normal to want to hang out with your best friend more often.'