There's another few rounds of applicants challenging the examiners where nobody really stands out. Though it's not like that's unusual or anything. Actually, it's more unusual for someone to do the evaluation and do really well.
If you manage to beat one of the examiners, then you should have already been an adventurer. Or a soldier. Anything else would be suspicious. I mean, how would you get the levels and combat experience? Criminal activities, that's how!
Anyways, my eyes start to drift away from the applicants and towards the representatives. Should I try to join one of them? They're already established, so I would have the backing of one of the known big shots.
But the problem is that there are really only two of them I can join. Baldy hates me because I follow Lord Soahc and will probably ban me from his company. Even if by some miracle I managed to join, he'd probably make my life hell until I quit. So Mage Battalion is out.
The Hand of Jakins is out for the very obvious reason that I'm not going to follow the deity in charge of justice Plus, the priest makes my skin crawl. He just gives off that 'religious' vibe that people get when they get overly into it. Not at the level of fanatics, more like those people who wander the neighborhood asking if you've found Jesus.
None of them ever laughed when I told them that I didn't realize he was missing. To be clear, there was a guy named Jesus who lived two houses down from me. He was a fat guy, with a big bushy beard.
But onto more important matters. I could apply to either the Crimson Hearts, or the Pillars of Somewhere. Though I do plan to travel around the continent, so I'm not sure if the Pillars will take me.
I eye the dwarf and armor-clad woman briefly, wondering which represents which. Going by how boisterous he was when I made the comment about an adventurer's sanity, I'd guess that the dwarf represents the Crimson Hearts. Which means the armored lady represents the Pillars of Somewhere,
Joining Crimson Hearts would probably give me the most benefits, as well as letting me leave whenever I like. Or I could even stay with them, maybe move base to another city that they have a presence in. But…
Would that be the most fun? I wonder as I watch the old man swing a quarterstaff at the examiner. He's doing pretty well, for the second time the examiner is on the backfoot. If he was in his prime, he might have even beaten him. As it is though, he's tired, and after the examiner knocks the staff from his hands he yields.'
Watching them call the next person up, I frown. "Hey," I ask the armored woman, "why aren't they saying their ranks and what they should watch out for like with the first girl?"
She snorts. "They typically let people find out their rank when they give them their new guild cards. But transmigrators operate on a different ruleset. Even though she got rated as an E-Rank, she'll likely be invited to C-, or even B-Rank parties.
If she chooses to join a company, she can expect the best treatment they can possibly give her. Everyone will do anything they can to ensure that she stays with their group."
"Including threats." Snorts the dwarf. "She won't know peace so long as she lives. And if a necromancer manages to bind her soul, not even then."
The priest nods. "Indeed. It's a shame of their existence. But so long as they remain within the confines of their gilded cage, they never need know that it exists in the first place. While I wish we could do away with such injustice, it is mortal nature to covet such power."
The mage is silent, though his eyes do move to the girl in question. Seeming to feel his eyes on her, she shivers.
'Yep. It's the creepy stuff like they're saying that made me want to not reveal my origins. Plus I don't want to be monitored.'
I mean, at the moment my magic ability can be considered one of the most powerful things in this world. At least by my thinking. I could theoretically do anything I want by using it, and I do have something I plan to do when I go back to the inn tonight.
But everything always has a cost. And the cost of my ability is never certain. I can't even run tests on it, due to the fact that there's a non-zero chance that the world explodes if I do. But I'm going off on a tangent. Instead, I turn my attention onto what was said.
Each of the representatives' words have showcased the major downside to joining one of them. Being beholden to their group. Sure, it's technically a small thing, but it can grow into something far bigger.
Making my own, or even joining one of the newbie groups, would mean that I lack security. But it would also ensure I don't have the baggage joining a company would come with.
Plus there's something alluring about growing your adventuring groups power from the start, rather than joining people who are already powerful. Of course, that's only if we all manage to survive.
A new party of adventurers will face an untold amount of obstacles that could prove fatal, while having even a single person with even a moderate amount of experience could negate it entirely,
So the question for what I choose to do really comes down to a rather simple question.
Would I rather have the security a company could give me? Or would I prefer having the freedom to do as I like, with an increased chance of injury or death?
More applicants fight. Some as mages. Others as warriors. Some use daggers. Other's use swords. I watch as a large variety of weapons and magic are used as people fight to secure their future with the guild.
Some will fail.
I watch as someone with a large wooden sword trips over their own feet and knocks themselves out when they fall.
Others will excel.
A girl manages to surprise the examiner and open a hole underneath them. They manage to dig their blade into the edge of the wall though, since it's not very wide, Likely a result of either weaker control, or weaker mana capacity.
What's certain though, is that I will find someplace I can be for the foreseeable future. I will find people to be my companions. To trust to have my back in a fight. To keep my secrets.
An adventuring party needs to trust each other. Or else they'll die filled with sorrow and regret.
A receptionist calls an end to the exams. He Directs certain people to stay, while the rest go into another room. I can't help but notice that the ones who are staying are the ones I saw who obviously messed up, such as the guy who knocked himself out.
The representatives make their way through another door, and I follow, excited for what will happen next.