With 40 copper coins, Zayn had enough money to register for the Adventurer examination.
A branch of the Adventurer Alliance could be found in every town all over the human territory. The examination to become an Adventurer was more or less the same everywhere as well. It was only necessary for an examinee to show that he or she was knowledgeable enough to survive in the wilderness and strong enough to fight ordinary monsters.
Many Blessed were Adventurers even if they didn't bother entering the Adventurer Halls to get their hands on missions. The information one could acquire by being a high-ranked Adventurer was more valuable for some Blessed and they didn't care about the wealth one could acquire by completing missions.
Zayn was interested in the information as well, but his biggest priority was to earn money in a more efficient way and attain a certain status. The latter was necessary to prevent others from discarding him as trash just because he was a Normie. He could prevent getting scammed and disrespected by showing the adventurer card one would obtain upon passing the adventurer exam.
'Reporting about the happenings in the Goblin Cave, and 20 Cores of Undead should be more than enough.' He thought, feeling certain that nobody would have an issue with him if he tried to register for the adventurer examination. It was just an examination, after all!
He spent a few copper coins to buy a new set of clothes and quickly changed into them. The clothes were nothing special but they improved Zayn's overall appearance drastically. He cleaned his face and hands at the town's well using the cleaner parts of his older clothes that were not stained with dirt or dried blood, tried his best to comb his hair with his fingers so as to not look like a shabby and destitute person and he entered the Alliance Hall of the small town with confident steps.
There was no overly heavy weight to carry, just a large iron mace and a large drop-shaped shield on his back, and a shortsword hanging down his belt. The pale grayish clothes he wore made him look like a unique type of silver, grayish tortoise but Zayn tried not to dwell on that for long, or he tried to.
His looks were a little embarrassing but not minding that allowed him to maintain a somewhat calm composure and confident posture as he walked through the Adventurer Hall. It was not a big building and even smaller than the wooden mansion of the academy he had lived in for the last four years, but the rectangular building had two large floors, was neatly constructed, and well maintained.
Built with concrete and smooth, well-processed wooden pillars, the building seemed like a strong, impenetrable fortress. However, nobody in their right mind would dare to attack the Adventurer Hall, either way. Not in the central region of the human territory, at least!
Stepping through the huge wooden door of the Adventurer Hall's entrance, Zayn sighted more than a dozen Blessed in an instant. Everyone was equipped with a full set of armor and at least a single weapon. The Blessed showed off their Stigma pridefully, which was not hard to notice as the right sleeves of their shirts were rolled upward.
Zayn looked at their Stigma for a moment before he walked over to the other side of the room where the counter to the Adventurer Hall's staff was located.
'As expected, Gods like diversity.'
A single glance was enough for him to see seven different types of Stigmas from a dozen Blessed. The only thing that attracted his attention was that six Blessed had the exact same type of Blessing. That was a rare sight because he had never seen Blessed with the same Stigma gathered in the Academy. But then how could he forget that birds of the same feather flocked together!
'Did they form a team because their God gave them the same mission?'
Zayn turned his attention to the counter where a young woman was already waiting to serve him.
"My little boy, how can I help you?" She asked politely, astonishing Zayn who didn't expect to be treated that nicely.
He retrieved a few Cores of the Undead which he put down on the counter next to the pouch of copper coins which he had removed from his belt.
"I would like to register for the next adventurer examination, and report about my finds in the nearest Goblin Cave," Zayn said while pointing at the purple marbles. "The Cores of the Undead are from the Goblin Cave."
When he pointed at the Cores of the Undead, he heard the unmistakable sound of the nice woman clicking her tongue. Only now did she notice that Zayn didn't have a Stigma. As such there was a drastic difference in her demeanor.
"Your report is not necessary. Our leader has already sent a few certified Adventurers to find out more about the changes in the Goblin Cave!" The woman said, her voice much sharper and colder than before.
"Then your leader can tell the Adventurers to retreat and use my information to create a proper plan against the Undeads that reside in the Cave," Zayn proposed but the woman opposite the corner just glared at him. Meanwhile, the one standing in front of him, muttered in a clipped tone.
"If that's everything you have, you can pay the registration fee for the Adventurer exam, which would be one silver coin, or sell the Cores of the Undead for five copper coins each and leave."
The corners of his lips twitched and he opened his mouth just to close it once again.
'I knew that this society is trashy but are they actually willing to sacrifice their Adventurers just because they don't 'trust' the information provided by a Normie?'
Zayn hoped that this was not true, but something attracted his attention when he continued to look in the eyes of the female staff.
He retrieved the remaining Cores of the Undead and put them down on the counter.
"I got all of them from the Goblin Cave and there are hundreds of more Undeads in that ca–..." Zayn began, only to shut his mouth when he saw a change in the woman's expression.
The staff's glare was replaced by a slight tinge of worry as her eyes flicked to Zayn's right.
She looked back at him and her expression made him feel as if the woman was trying to tell him to run for his life.
Zayn stepped to the left instinctively. No sooner than he stepped aside did he sense a dagger flying past him. It lodged itself deep in the wooden counter in the midst of the Cores of the Undead and continued to vibrate for a while.
Zayn threw a glance back to the dagger thrower, which made him realize that one of the six Blessed who had the same type of Blessing had attacked him.
'Was she trying to help me earlier?' He wondered as his gaze fell back on the female staff member.
A faint smile blossomed on his face as he began to collect his Cores of the Undead in an overly nonchalant manner. It was as if nobody had ever attempted to kill him with the dagger throw.
"I guess that was unintentional," Zayn shrugged his shoulders as he put his backpack away. He pulled the dagger out of the wooden counter and played around with it.
"What if it was not?" A young voice responded in an arrogant tone.
"Well…I will confiscate the dagger then!"
**
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