Once his small analysis ended, we took a distance of 15 meters within the grounds of the chamber. Before we started, he made Asura pick from a variety of weapons and declared he'd be fighting us with the same type of weapon once we've chosen, he was clearly underestimating Asura's abilities to fight because she's a girl and hold no apparent imposing qualities that would imply her true ability.
He may come to regret it later. But for some reason, my senses are telling me I cannot win this fight. And judging by how I'm not going to eat him or anything or modify Asura's body during her recognition process, that only complemented the possibility.
I don't mind losing anyway, what's important is that Asura gets a guild card so that we can freely enter and exit cities in this country as I wish.
Grasped tightly in Asura's hands was an iron pole which I chose preferentially since I'm best at using the art of spears when it came to martial arts through the use of weapons. Hopefully Asura can fluidly absorb my battle knowledge without a hitch.
The examiner wore a confident smile. He was certain of winning, that's for sure and I don't mind.
"Hey kid! Once this coin lands, your test starts. Got that? Don't disappoint me!" The examiner instructed while showing Asura a golden coin in his hand.
"Yes!" Asura willingly accepted while organizing her new stance birthed by new forcefully applied muscle memories. She didn't even notice her body moved on it's own.
For half a second, it seemed as if time had stopped when the coin was about to land on the stone floor. The moment it did, our foe moved in a flash.
It was time to make him acknowledge Asura's strength to make her a mercenary.
Baldy darted to our destination at remarkable speed that caused a vacuum in space. By the time I had the luxury to react, Asura only just barely managed to fend off his sudden vertical spear strike aimed at her head.
When he pulled the pole back, he swiftly pressed against her will to fight through a series of onslaughts. Asura tried her best to defend against all those attacks with the spear's shaft but she still got grazed from time to time from unforeseeable moves.
「Asura, keep your distance! This guy is cunning!」
Heeding my warning, Asura stepped back and prepared for any inconceivable attacks. For now, the instructor was collectedly walking in circles around us like a hawk, looking for blindspots that he could utilize once we let out guard down.
"Master, his attacks are aggressive."
「I know. Just react quickly enough if you see him make any moves, don't get fooled by feints.」
"Ho, you're good to have survived this long. Most youngsters drop from that so these days all I'm getting are some retired veterans out from the military." He started to fill us in on a superfluous matter. I can see his attitude is beginning to get slightly respectable. "Even though I like your spirit already, this isn't enough. Last longer and the guild will acknowledge you as one of it's mercenaries."
With a little bit of my influence, Asura's lips curved into a grin which received the instructor's interest.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Kahahaha! I like your spirit, kid!"
Finally, he began to move. After kicking the ground, he zapped to Asura with a slightly faster speed.
A tip the shape of a cone formed and attempted to strike her head. Fortunately she managed to moved aside and be spared with a mere cut on her cheek.
I felt a stinging pain shot across her skin but I didn't mind something so trivial.
「Asura, want me to take over?」
"I want to fight him."
Indeed, her fighting spirit is a good thing in circumstances like this. While I can't say the same in a life and death situation, this type of examination doesn't have that risk and would significantly increase her real time battle experience.
"Ha!"
"Raa!"
Like this, Asura and the examiner exchanged devastating blows. All inconsiderate of the amounts of stamina they were expending on each of their attacks.
Everytime they trade damage from one spot, the receiver would take precautions to protect their wounds which was a defensive trait of the body. While the Examiner went with this phenomena, it didn't seem to apply to Asura with how aggressive the multitude of her attacks were trying to meet their points without regard to her own safety.
For that reason, her opponent was stuck on the defensive. His arms swinging back and about for each parry that stroke different angles.
Sweat ran down Asura's cheek as she barely saved herself from a potentially painful smack on the cheek by simply bending her torso backwards.
Five minutes of their pressing combat later, Asura showed signs of fatigue and several cuts on her skin as both of them formed a temporary rest by stepping back to catch their breath. Based on analysis, her wounds aren't anything serious but she sure got worked up alot. On the other hand, her examiner merely got a single cut on his shoulder and what I think is a broken rib.
Although Asura can't make full use of my spearsmanship and had several miscalculations, she handled this battle quite adequately and managed to injured her opponent with a pole. Delicate, swift and precise strikes are required for that.
While watching them, I couldn't help but compare them with my apprentices and myself. And I sure as hell see these guys as a bunch of amateurs in sōjutsu.
"Haah... Ha... Dang kid, you're a tough nut. You're hired."
"Hah... Mh..."
Asura's throat hurts so much that she can't even speak properly until she gets a proper breather. It must've been damaged earlier when she was building up exercise-induced asthma.
But Asura didn't leave it at that, she nodded in response to what seemed to be her approval to the group.
"Hah... Tah... Okay... Let's end this here, lass..." With some difficulty due to exhaustion with the ever tiring spar with the witty lady, the examiner turned his back and started approaching the green haired observer.
"Oi, Targa. You saw that, right?"
"Y-Yes?"
"She passed. Approve of her right away."
"Understood. You must be tired, please have a wonderful rest."
Thud!
"With pleasure, go tell the Guild master I'll be napping for an hour. Don't tell anyone to come in during that time. Whew, can't believe this girl caught up with my stamina. It felt like I was fighting three trolls by myself."
Before I realized it, it looks like Asura's body fell face flat on the floor. Her breathing unsteady and out of frequency. I'll have to optimize her breathing while she's out or it may cause major problems for her lungs. I'll repair every damaged internal organ and leave the external damage as is for now, I wouldn't want the staff to discover my wounds healing for no reason.
"Y-Your highness..."
???
All of a sudden, a strange sensation washed over me. As if I was being pulled back to the land of the living.
I'm in control of her body again, the functions of her movements suddenly became under my power. This means Asura passed out by herself, leaving a secondary consciousness as me in charge of the body. That spar just now really must've been out of her league to make her pass out.
"Asura? Please follow me."
"Y-Yeah."
With that being done and with the examiner relaxedly laying on a futon to regain his lost energy, we left the chamber and headed back to the receptionist. Looks like she already prepared the paperwork too.
By all means the table of contents were optimal and safe to answer. The questions that were asked contained no sensitive information, only the most basic ones such as the address of where we currently reside, age, being part of an operational crew and choosing an alias in the line of duty. Other than that, the rest were just signing the terms of regulations or rules and policies.
"Thank you. So the guild will address you as..."
Since Asura is currently out cold, I have no choice but to take naming matters in my own hand without her personal consent.
However, I was never good at thinking about names to begin with. So I'll just go with the title I was known in my previous life.
"Code Name: Raubtier."
It sounds more comfortable this way. Come to think of it, I was only given that name because I inadvertently got into fights with some foreign martial artists and somewhat luckily won.
"It's all done now. Can you please come back tomorrow to receive your ID? We still have to forge it to existence. You can claim your guild card tomorrow at noon."
"Yeah, sure I will. Can I go now? I still have some matters to attend to."
The receptionist nodded appropriately and responded in a rather bright way.
"Yes, please take care and thank you for choosing our establishment. We wish to cooperate with you fluidly, starting tomorrow and onwards."
Now that she mentions it, can I take missions right now? Most likely not, since it's highly likely that I need a guild card to do anything impactful.
As I pondered about rewards, I stroked my chin curiously in anticipation.
"Before I go, is it okay for me to come by a mission in your boards and do it now?"
"I'm afraid not, you are required to be officially part of the guild before you secure any of it's missions."
"Why is that?"
"Well, being part of the guild means you'd be representing the guild for each mission you take. Which in turn would boost it's reputation and fame to gain the people's trust. For that reason, we offer a service whereas we take payment from the mission givers to award you for your work."
As expected, I can't take missions right now. I'll just manage with something else for today, there's no time for me to accommodate moments for relaxation unless it's a necessity. Afterall, I'm at a race against time. I need to rescue the Ashura Tribe as soon as possible. Who knows what inhumane things have transpired during Asura's separation from them.
With that in mind, I left the mercenary guild building in deep thought. As I deliberated my next course of action, I realized that I've grown accustomed in the body structure of a girl already which is good.
Profuse gazes ensued once I entered the streets. Asura's older figure is gathering an overly abundant amount of attention that it's becoming disturbing to her, I'll change it back once I get my privacy.
「Hm...」
'Is something wrong, my lord?'
「Asura, we'll be going out right now.」
'Understood.'
She's as obedient as ever, she didn't even question the contents of the plan and she already agreed despite fighting just a few hours back.
Asura's eyes were filled with determination and anxiety.
From her expressions alone, I could tell she wants to rush out and find her parents as soon as possible.
「We're going to the forest right now. We'll be hunting down some monsters to make you stronger. We have to get stronger quickly.」
At my words, I felt her heart alight and she hastily headed to the city gates without a word. She's really an overzealous brat.
「Our main menu for today are monsters with good sensory abilities. Asura do you know any monsters that have a strong sense of smell, an excellent hearing and binocular eyesights?」
"There are Calamity Bears that roam around the mountain sides of forests and they have an exceptionally strong sense of smell. Devil Bats have good sound detection, we can find them in lush caves or accompanying vampires. My father told me that most birds have good eyesight, but one that stands out from the rest are the hawk species which are rare around places like these."
「You sure know alot about monsters.」
"My father always introduced me to the monsters he brings home. He often talks to them before skinning them alive, extracting their organs and cooking them."
What a scary person.
"Oh girl. You're going out again?"
"Yes."
Asura met the sentries again who were genuinely curious of what she's up to, to go out this frequently.
"I'm going to hunt monsters."
"Wow, you sure are hard-working. Be careful out there."
"Cartin, why are you letting her go?!"
"So what? She's just going out to hunt monsters."
"What do you mean 'so what?' she's too young to go risking her skin like that!"
I didn't expect this. Will that woman stop Asura? I wish that guy wins somehow so we could exit.
"So what? She's bound to go fighting a monster one day anyway. When I was that age I fought a troll and hit it with a tree!"
"Bullshit! I bet you're the one who got hit by a tree and got brain damage!"
"What did you say!? That's not how you talk with your superior!"
"Use your damn brain, that's just a kid!"
There was a short silence after a late realization.
"Where is she though?"
"..."
Ofcourse I didn't pass the opportunity and Asura slipped away. Because obviously that lady was going to win the babbling.
"Ashura-sama, we're here. Please take care of me in the meantime. I don't feel so good in this place."
We gradually entered the shady expanses of the hair-raising woodland, it was mysteriously emitting sinister auras from all over the place which explains Asura's reaction. This location was riddled with all kinds of man-eating creatures, that I could tell.
This was a part of the forest I didn't enter earlier, what's so different? Besides the place having thicker trees and being darker there was no notable difference in appearance, but why is this damned place feeling so ominous as if frisky ghosts are watching me from behind the moist tree trunks and bushes.
「Keep your guard up.」
This is only just the entrance, the main objective are the mountains deeper in the forest. So with that in mind, Asura dived deeper into the deathly stretches alone.