"A… combat test?"
Zac quickly looked at her mother as a confused breath escaped her lips.
It made sense, Zac thought. If Nathalie only visited the Tower during its birth, then she wouldn't know about the combat assessment— because there was no such thing in the early days of the Explorer Association.
The world needed all the System holders and people they could get to clear the Curtains as soon as possible; it didn't matter if they were strong enough to venture out into the wild, or if the System they had was suitable for combat— they send everyone out like soldiers, hoping that they would be useful in stopping the spread of the Curtains.
It was a sort of an organized chaos. But now that everything was somewhat stable and the Explorers have become stronger as the level of their System grew, the Explorer registration has become strict to try and limit the loss of life— probably one of the only few things the association did right.
"Can't you just hand him a license and—"
"It's fine, mother," Zac held his mother's hand, "I already expected that there would be a combat test."
"..."
"He… He'll be fine, Ms. Baker," The receptionist, Nathan, slightly stuttered as he addressed Nathalie, "The difficulty of the Combat Assessment will be according to your son's level. Since he's just a level 4, the examiner wouldn't really make it hard for him."
"Is… that so?"
"Here," Nathan then handed something to Zac, "Please stick this to your clothes and proceed to B6."
"Hm," Zac only nodded, before placing the number tag that the receptionist gave him on his chest. As for Nathalie, she didn't forget to glare at Nathan as they started walking to the elevator.
Thankfully for Nathan, it didn't take long before Zac and Nathalie disappeared into the elevator. And as soon as they were gone, he let out a long and very deep breath.
Nathalie Baker, most of the people here should know who she is. She was basically a landmark for the Explorers, a glowing tree signaling the darkest time of the night.
People have already forgotten what she looked like; but now, after a decade… she finally started moving again.
And with a son?
This news…
"I…" Nathan whispered to himself, "I need to call the higher-ups."
***
"This place… is bigger than I remember."
Zac and Nathalie were still inside the elevator, with Nathalie staring at the descending number being shown above them.
"You… don't visit the Tower?"
"I do, from time to time…" Nathalie breathed out as she removed her eyes from the floor indicator, "...But I mostly just dropped by to check if there was any sign of you."
"..." Zac didn't really say anything as he heard the somewhat… exhausted tone of his mother's voice. He just remained in silence and let the elevator take them to the floor they needed to go to.
And as soon as the bell rang and the elevator doors opened, a large bright hall quickly bombarded their eyes. The walls, the floors; all filled with dents and scratches that the Association didn't seem to bother to fix anymore.
"You're number 5?"
And not even a few steps out of the elevator, a woman approached Zac; adjusting her glasses as she stared at the number tag on Zac's chest.
"Yes."
"Okay," the woman then wrote something on the paper she was holding; her… ample-sized breasts, somewhat jiggling with each stroke, "Please join the others while you wait for your turn."
The woman's interest seemed to have ended there, however, as she pointed towards a group of people that were standing on the side of the hall. The group also turned their eyes toward Zac, before quickly turning their focus back to the two people that were fighting in the center of the hall.
Well, if you could call it 'fighting'. It was quite easy to tell which one was the examiner, as his opponent just ran around the hall, trying her best to dodge his attacks. The examiner wasn't even moving from his spot, and was just shooting out spikes made of ice from the palm of his hand.
"...An Ice Mage," Zac could not help but smirk as he joined the other registrants. He suddenly remembered one of his comrades in the past; Diana Williams, the Mage of Ice. Well, it was more like she was his comrade in the future… It was really getting hard for Zac which term to use.
"..." As for Nathalie, she could really only furrow her eyebrows… as Zac started chuckling on his own out of nowhere. And it wasn't only her; since the hall was completely closed, everyone could hear his laugh.
Even the registrant that was currently fighting with the examiner was sadly not insusceptible to his sudden chuckle. She looked at Zac, causing her not to be able to dodge the ice spike that was flying towards her.
"Ack!" The woman could really only groan in pain as she almost tumbled to the ground,
"W… wait!" She then said as she quickly looked at the examiner, "I was distracted!"
"I was too," the examiner quickly replied as a small scoff escaped his mouth, "That was your chance to attack and hit me, but you didn't take it. And now, instead, you are dead."
"Wait, I—"
"Your assessment is over, next!"
"But—"
"Next, number 4!"
The examiner completely ignored the female registrant as he turned to look at the other registrants. And as soon as he did so, the old man standing in front of Zac quickly raised his hand and ran towards the center of the hall.
As for the female registrant, the only thing she could really do was walk away with her head down. But as soon as she returned to the side, her eyes quickly found themselves glaring at Zac.
"You…" She said quietly, "...It's your fault if I get a low grade."
"..."
"..."
"Hey, you!"
"...Oh?" Zac blinked a couple of times as he finally noticed the female registrant looking at him, "Were you talking to me?"
"Who else!?" The female registrant whispered loudly, causing the others that were watching the combat exam to look at her, "If it wasn't for you laughing, I wouldn't have gotten hit."
"..." Zac returned the woman's glare for a few seconds, before letting out a sigh and shaking his head, "Don't blame other people for your own weakness, little girl. If something like that was enough to distract you, then you wouldn't survive long out in the world anyway."
"Wh—" The female registrant could not help but widen her eyes, "L… let's see how well you do once it's your turn!"
"Well…" Zac once again let out a small chuckle as he turned his eyes back to the center of the hall, only to see the 4th registrant already lying cold on the floor,
"...At least you don't have to wait long."
"Next, Number 5!"