"Riggs my boy, how is your father?" The bald man spoke to me first. He looked uncomfortably happy to see me. Uncomfortable for me. Actually, a little too happy. His boisterous laugh echoed out the entire room regardless of the weird looks most of the people in the room were giving him, which made me change my opinion of him. I liked him. He gave zero fucks. He was the father of Iris and the guild master of the adventurer's guild of Lorks. His name, if I remembered was Brand.
"Unfortunately, still alive." I answered seriously but it only earned me another hard and loud laugh. What was interesting thought was that among everyone present he addressed me first, even with the hero present. In fact, he did not even look at him the moment our little group walked up to them.
"Funny boy." I don't know what was funny about my serious statement. "I heard from my little Iris you wanted to become an adventurer. Fear not. I'll test you myself." The muscle head patted my shoulder so hard if I were a normal man I would probably be crippled by now. 'Nothing less of the guild master. He is strong…for a human.' I nodded with a smirk at his statement. I could see how some of the adventurers in the guild were looking at the guild master in horror, and I with pity.
Iris looked like she wanted to say something, but Brand waved her off before she could say anything. With another boisterous laugh, he dragged me to the back to the guild, under the horrified gaze of most of the adventurers. As for the little group, from start to finish, Brand did not pay a single one any attention. The others, being Iris and Layla did not seem to know what to do, but Light snorted and turned to walk out with Grain following behind. With their 'leader' out the door, the two ladies followed quickly followed behind after a brief hesitation.
We continued towards the back with his hand over my shoulder, which by the way was getting annoying. He was acting too chummy with me. We looked like we had been friends for years. After a short while we arrived at the back through a door. It was an open space used to test the new recruits who wanted to join the guild. There were a few dummies scattered about that were nailed in place, and a few men and women who were practicing. The place was sometimes lent out to adventurers who wanted to test out a few new or improved skills.
Everyone stopped what they were doing the moment we walked unto the practice field. Seeing their guild master with a newbie, they knew what was about to happen. They cleared the space and allowed Brand and I to walk to the center with a few murmurs here and there.
"I thought I was going to be tested with a glowing ball or something?" I smiled at him. Usually when a new adventurer shows up they use the ball or plates to check their levels and status and their skill progress. They use it to also find out if there were any specials among them. That way they could nurture them. It was the same way they found the hero. Only the hero or maiden possess the holy aura.
"Alright. Everybody out." The adventurers present became visibly confused. Their guild master had never asked them to leave whenever he was crippl…testing out a recruit. Why the sudden change? They continued to stand there staring at their guild master when a booming sound echoed throughout the place, forcing them to cover their ears. "I SAID GET THE HELL OUT!" Immediately they scrambled out the field, afraid they would be the ones tested instead.
The only people left were me, the guild master and his secretary. She stood by the door as if to guard it from intruders. "So, what do we do now, guild master?" I asked while I was doing my stretches. Not that I needed it. I just liked imitating the mortals where they stretched their wrists and legs when they were about to prepare for some big fight.
"You cheeky brat." Brand smirked. He took off the jacket he wore to reveal a body that could easily be mistaken for a stone sculpture with cut marks. His entire body was riddled with scars of all types and shapes. There were a few wounds that I would have sworn were gun shots if I didn't know it was not the era of guns. Special arrows, maybe?
I whistled in admiration, at his body. They say scars were badges of honor. It looked cool on him, but I was not interested in having them. It would ruin my perfect looks. "Ready brat?" He was serious. I could tell he was looking forward to the fight just as much as he was. I nodded in response and waited for him to attack. Since he did not have any kind of weapon, I could only assume he was a fighter of sorts. I could always just check his fate. If even I wanted I could see his entire life, his adventure career, his abilities and techniques, all in a split second and find a counter, but what would be the fun in that? After so long, all we want is excitement.
Brand crouched slightly, lowering himself into a pouncing stance. I stood at the ready, waiting for him to make a move. I quickly jumped back, and a boom and crack sound resonated at my earlier position. Looking back at my earlier position, I saw Brand standing there with a wide smile. His earlier position had another brand standing there. Only, it was slowly fading until it completely faded. An after image. "Woah. I thought this was just a spar. You almost crushed me there." I looked back at the crack he had done to the sturdy floor of the training ground.
"Liar." He quipped back. I was beginning to see an almost maniacal look growing in his eyes. 'Sheesh. Why are all monks such battle junkies?' The guild master was a monk. Not just any monk. It looked like he had almost maxed out everything. He had piqued my interest. Just who was he, really? Brand continued to remain silent, only staring at me with his wide grin. I responded with a grin of my own. It was no wonder everyone looked at me with pity. If this was how he trained or assessed recruits I wonder how there were still members pouring in. "Since you have no weapons and could dodge, I assume you are a fighter like myself." Brand looked on in anticipation. His smile growing bigger by the second.
"Fighter, huh?" I walked over to a few racks containing some wooden weapons and some inferior steel weapons under the confused gazes of Brand the guild master and his secretary. I picked up a bastard sword and tested it out a few times, swinging it to get a feel for it. I preferred a Nodachi but considering the rack did not even have the standard katana I could only use what I could get.