I have no idea how I managed to confuse an AI… "Nim, did I do something wrong?"
"…" Her face is glitching slightly…
"Nim?"
"...jolt"
It is still extremely easy to dodge. "STOP TRYING TO ELECTROCUTE ME!"
"...it's wrong…"
"Nim, seriously what's wrong?"
"...follow me"
Nim floated away… great… "Hey, wait up."
...
Oh, it looks like we ended up in a training room with a few dummies and such."
"Ok Veronica, watch. Jolt." As expected the dummy she was aiming at was struck.
"So, what was so special about that?"
"How long did it take for it to strike?"
"Oh around a second or so, why?"
"Jolt is a basic level electricity spell, but it has the positive of being almost instant. I'm currently casting it equal to a rank 2 or so, only rank 6 and up would be able to doge it effortlessly like you do. So, why is it saying that you should be a rank 1?"
"Well, the screen I saw said there was an error or something under 'build'. Could that be it?"
"No, 'build' is just a way we categorize what members are best at. They are all self-explanatory, Fighter, Supporter, Explorer, Creator, and Researcher. Not fitting in one should not really cause an error that affects rank… I don't want to but we may have to do a practical exam…" Nim is starting to look concerned.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"I'm worried that you could be injured or such… you haven't made us any money yet."
"Oh… great…"
"Yep!" She seems happier but still slightly off. "So standard regulations state that in order for a practical exam to be valid, two guild leaders must be present. In most situations, it would be the guild leader of the testee's guild and me but you don't have a guild… so I'll just put out a request for a guild leader. In the meantime, we can begin to record what you can do."
A few objects materialize into the room, it looks like there's a few dummies, an orb, and a strange box. "Ok Nim, what do you want me to do."
"Do you have weapons on you?"
"Oh… no. I lost them before arriving here."
"So a pistol and a knife… Ok, I'll send a request to administration staff. For now, let's test out your magic. Is your wind magic mainly offense, support, or utility?"
"Oh it's a mix of both offense and utility I guess."
"Ok, attack that dummy with a base level wind spell."
"Got it!" Ok, light and airy, concentrate… "wisp" A small shot of wind magic impacted the dummy.
"Good! You were even able to cast it without a focus! Now what is the strongest attack you can do with wind magic?"
Ok, I've got this… still light and airy, but fierce and unrelenting… focus on the mana… there's the heat from the brand… and "Gale!"... That's a hit!
Nim looks impressed. "Great! So why exactly do you use brands?"
"Oh, I just think it's almost comforting, the flow of mana feels nice…"
��You're channeling a large amount of mana directly into your arm… If you misfire there can be extremely bad consequences."
"Really?!" That's strange… "Whenever I misfire the spell just kinda pops."
"Oh, is that so?" Nim's face is displaying some character that kinda looks like a thinking face.
...I hear footsteps… It's a person carrying a case, oh he's waving at Nim.
"Nimue, here are the items you requested."
Nim is somehow holding the case. "Thank you, Fredrick. That is all I need. Thanks!"
He seems to be pretty busy because he just took off…
Nim is still holding the case… "Hey Nim, how exactly are you holding the case, you're just a hologram right?"
"Oh, that's just a little trick I can do." ...another colon three face
Now that I think about it I feel a slight amount of mana… It feels heavy and constant… "You're using gravity magic aren't you?"
"Whaaaaaat, noooooo…" Nim is making a face with a greater than symbol, a dash, and a less than symbol. "What makes you say that?"
"I can feel you using it."
"Wait really?!" Huh, that really surprised her! "Anyway, here."
Oh it's the case, let's see… It's a pistol and knife of decent quality.
"Ok Veronica, let's get back on track. Show me what you can do with wind utility spells."
"Ok" ...focus… and… "jump!" Like typical, I fired off two streams of air, shot up into the air, and landed comfortably.
"Interesting… Can you do that non verbally?"
"Oh, I just said 'jump' out of force of habit."
"Hah, nerd. So any other things you can do?"
"...I wish i could punch you right now, but eh yes." … I dash towards the dummy using wind as a boost.
"Ok cool! Now how about-"
I hear some distant clopping. "Hey Nim, gotcha call. I had some free time, and I thought maybe this new girl might be cute."
Oh, I guess it's a centaur, that's coo-...Huh, she's not a centaur… that��s a llama's lower half… also a llama neck...nothing here is normal is it…
Nim seems relieved somewhat. "Good to see you. Veronica, this is Celeste, the guild leader of the Rainbow Sanctuary"
Celeste seems nice enough… "Hi Veronica, nice to meet you! Can I interest you in joining the Sanctuary?"
That seems to have angered Nim and she whispered to Celeste. They are in a conversation but I can't make out what they are saying… Oh, wait Celeste just said, "but she's cute." ...fantastic.
...
Oh it looks like they are done arguing, good.
"Before you interrupted us, Celeste, I was documenting Veronica's abilities. It is probably a good idea that we understand what she can do before we drop her into a practical exam."
"Very well… What do you have so far?"
The screen that has my info was pulled up again, this time however it also displayed the wind spells I can do.
Celeste seems curious about the info. "So let's get to testing!" I feel mana building up for some reason. "I'll ask the questions and Nim will record what happens."
"Celeste what ar-"
"So Veronica, let's see that space magic!"
...are they fighting over me? "Ummm I can only do utility spells for space…"
"Then show those!"
"Ok" steady...ready the pistol ...focus on the target… feel the warmth of the mana...and fire! Even though I was aiming at the ground, the bullet hit the dummy from behind.
Nim seems pretty impressed "Impressiv-"
"Don't worry about talking, Nim just focus on recording the results." Did I somehow cause this hostility… "Any other fun things you can do with space magic?"
"There are a few more things I can do." ok… focus on the knife… conduct the mana into it… "Phase Edge!" Good… now think of where I'm going to land… and use the mana to jump forward! Ok, I'm in the air behind the dummy, so now I just… the knife flies through the dummy and imbeds itself in the ground in front of it.
"Good job, a weapon infusion and blink, are you getting this Nim?"
"...suffer…"
"Thanks Nim! Now for your skills, it said you have curse resistance, so can you go touch the orb?"
"Is the orb going to curse me?"
"Maybe, being honest I don't know. Nim summoned it, not me."
"Fine." I pat the orb and nothing…
"Nim, what does the orb do?"
"Oh it's supposed to put an enfeebling curse on the person who touches it, but there's no effect on Veronica… I guess it's curse immunity not resistance."
"Interesting…" Their hostility seems to be decreasing. "I guess trap resistance is also trap immunity. Ok, Veronica open the box."
"Fine…" I very lightly tap the box and it breaks. A pink gas emerges from it and nothing else happens.
"Nim?"
"Sleeping gas, so it's also blanket trap immunity… now, what does mana nose mean?"
"Hmmm, Veronica?"
"Yea?" I feel mana coalescing into an orb. Celeste snaps and the orb shoots toward me but I manage to dodge it.
"Oh, impressive!"
Nim looks concerned "What did you do Celeste?"
"I casted stealth shot and Veronica managed to know and dodge it... Say, did you ever feel me charging up mana?"
"Yep, after you read the stat info thing on me."
"...You're right…" Celeste is completely shocked.
"Wait, that explains a lot! Mana nose must give you a sort of sixth sense that allows you to sense the flow of mana." Nim's face is doing the colon three thing again… "I'm so happy I'm the one who found you in the park!"
"Ok, that's pretty unique Veronica. Anyway, I believe that that is all the preliminary stuff shall we move on to the exam?"
"First off we will test your combat capabilities, Celeste and I will watch you defeat a Rank 3 simulated monster." Nim pulls open a screen and marks some things on it. The training room turns into a cavern-like arena. "Your opponent is a… Possessed armor! Begin."
A set of armor is materializing around a shadowy sphere… ok, let's do this. "Phase Edge!" If I dash in I should be able to stab at the core… "hya!"...the knife is not long enough… that's bad it's starting to get mad… I need to Blink… good I got out before a punch landed…
I need to think of a plan. I can't pierce its armor with any of my own attacks, so is there anything I can use… rocks, rocks, more rocks… great nothing… wait! If I take a big rock… ok focus… The rock blinks from the floor to the air directly above the armor, falls, and destroys the helmet. Good! Now, just need to… "Jump!" and throw… The knife pierces the core and the armor collapses. The arena turns back into the training room.
"Good job Veronica. Celeste will heal you and we'll move on to the next test."
…
…
…
…
"And good, you completed the twenty-third test… How do we still not have complete results?" Nim seems tired, to be fair though I'm also incredibly tired, it's been at least 4 hours.
"Maybe we aren't testing her correctly?"
"Celeste… we've tested her every way we can. Do you have any form of a suggestion."
Celeste is oddly suspect right now… "Actually, yes. Yes, I do." I feel a strong flow of magic gathering around Nim.
"Celeste! What are yo-" Nim is silenced… and seems to be trapped.
"I'm speeding up the process!" The training room becomes a labyrinthine maze. "Your next test, Veronica, is to save Nim. Begin!"
...why… everyone in this place is insane… if I focus enough I might be able to track the prison spell… ok I got a trace… I run through a bunch of turns.
Ok, I'm at the center, I see Nim trying to say something to me… I feel an interesting type of mana.
Celeste's voice echoes throughout the maze. "I forgot to say you also have to defeat a basilisk."
...why is this not surprising… The basilisk's eyes glare but I guess petrification is considered a curse so I only feel a slight burning.
"Gale!" The spell hits the monster's body… Its tail whips around… I was too slow… I brush myself off. The basilisk is drawing in mana. This is bad… A single hit from the basilisk's magic will easily end me. Instinctively I start a chant and my brands heat up, "Oh space bend to my will, Grant me protection from ills. My reality becomes clearer, come forth Karmic Mirror!"
The basilisk opens its mouth and fires a shot of acid but it strikes the air in front of me and dissipates. Space shatters and a massive beam of energy impacts the basilisk, burning its scales. "Suffer" Mana swirls around me. "TYPHOON!" ...the basilisk is shredded in the resulting blast.
The room returns to its regular state and Nim is freed from the spell. "...how…"
Celeste starts clapping. "Impressive..."
"Thank-" I fall toward the ground and the world goes black.