James Ryan repeatedly calmed his beating heart. Right now he was standing in front of the guild door with an uneasy feeling. Ewwin had repeatedly assured James that his grade-up application would be accepted.
A letter of recommendation from Ewwin confirming that he had done all requests at the ceramic level, some goblin ears, and his ceramic dog tags. Everything was as required and there was no reason for the guild to reject it.
"You want to stand there all day?" exclaimed a man behind him in a scornful tone. The man was wearing a slightly oversized robe. He was probably no more than thirty years old. A large conical hat perched on his head. Wizard.
"I just admire the design of the door," James said carelessly.
"Move it! Do as you please, we normal people have business behind that door." The man pushed James aside.
"Your life is too normal. No wonder your face looks boring" grunted James.
"Scram!"
James wanted to leave because he felt a little annoyed, but he also had business with the guild administrator. Like it or not, the uneasy feeling was still there. At least his nervousness had been overrode by his annoyance.
The young man walked quickly towards the reception desk without paying attention to the stares of several people who were sitting at several tables scattered throughout the one hundred square meter room. By using special runic arrays, the lobby room was four times wider than it appeared from the outside.
"Good morning! Can I help you?" A woman with blonde hair in a bun greeted James. A friendly smile graced her pink lips.
"Eh-Erm." James cleared his throat to shake off the awkwardness. "I want to register my membership rank upgrade."
"Do you have the required documents and proof of your achievements?" Asked the woman still with a friendly smile.
"Ah... Oh right!" The eighteen-year-old then rummaged through his bag. From inside the bag, James pulled a scroll of parchment, a letter of recommendation from Ewwin, a glass jar containing several goblin ears, and his ceramic dog tag.
"Have a seat, please! I am going to verify these items for a short inspection." The woman then went up to who knows what floor via the stairs behind her, leaving James who was still frozen in front of the reception desk.
His heart was beating wildly again with nervousness. It was like standing in line at a bank to do something complicated without knowing what to do. He felt lost.
What if the guild rejected his application because his dog tag was dirty? What if Ewwin's letter turned out to be useless? What if an ogre suddenly attacked this building?
The latter might not pose a problem as the mercenaries in this guild were more than enough to take it down.
James could only sigh softly because his worries made him feel old.
As directed by the receptionist, James headed for an empty seat. His gaze wandered around the guild room. There were around twenty people inside the room. Most of them sat in groups at one table.
The wizard he met earlier at the door was sitting alone in a corner beside the entrance. In front of him was an open book. Maybe studying. Had Playboy magazines been invented these days?
Several people who sat in groups were having a serious discussion about something. James prefers to be alone rather than to engage in tiring discussions. He is a Man of Action and discussions were not his forte.
"Mr. James Ryan." The receptionist's voice broke his busy list of basic socializing things that a normal human like him should have. He already had a fairly long list and none of them he excelled at.
The eighteen-year-old walked with some hesitation. He was worried that there was someone who had the same name as him and that person was the one the receptionist was referring to. Seconds later he was sure that he was the only James Ryan in the room.
"Your level-up application has been processed and from now on you are a Steel-grade mercenary. On behalf of the guild, I congratulate you on your achievement. Hopefully, you can make a bigger contribution to this guild." The receptionist smiled broadly at James. The young man felt like flying into the clouds. To be honest, this was the first time anyone had smiled at him. Ewwin had smiled at her before, but that didn't count.
The receptionist handed him a brand new shiny steel dog tag. On the surface of the metal plate was written James' name and registration code.
The dark-haired youth wanted to jump for joy. But he suppressed it because he got a few looks of disapproval from his fellow guild members.
James stepped quickly out of the guild building. The goal this time was the training ground. He couldn't wait to join the training there.
Previously, James could not use the training ground, thanks to his rank did not meet the requirements. Only guild members whose rank was steel and above had access and are allowed to enter.
Ten minutes later James was standing in front of a large building the size of a football stadium. Rumour had it that this building is the largest in Callen.
"Tags?" One of the two gatekeepers impatiently asked James to show him his dog tag.
James grumbled inwardly because he felt humiliated. He was used to it, but getting treated like that after a promotion just ruined his mood.
"Enter!" The guard had thrown James' dog tag at him carelessly.
'Just wait until I get the chance to reduce your junior's size to the size of a pea.' James grumbled to himself.
He wanted to kick the gate open but failed because it was his first day at the training ground. It wouldn't do to have a broken leg before he started practicing. Even if the door didn't break his leg, the guard behind him certainly would.
As soon as the eighteen-year-old entered the training ground, he had to pick his jaw off the floor. To say that the place was huge was a major understatement. This place was gigantic.
And was full to the brim with humans.
His shoulders slumped at the sight in front of him. With this many humans packed in one place, how could he train? Never mind practicing, just moving around this many people was difficult.
"Do you want to go in or wallow in self-pity?" The magician had been standing behind James.
"You're stalking me," James deadpanned.
"I have other things that are more important than following you. Follow me!"
"I'm not a stalker."
"Shut up!" Cut the man. "You're new, right? I'll show you a suitable training ground."
The two men walked towards a non-descript door that was quite hidden. James was sure it wasn't there before. Behind the door was a winding passage. James lost count of how many turns they have passed. Math was never his cup of tea.
After eternity later, the two of them arrived at a secluded area specializing in ranged attack training. This place was dim thanks to the lack of windows. There was only a crack in the wall, though. Rays of sunlight streamed through there.
Several torches were attached to the wall for additional lighting. However, it did not really affect the lighting conditions in the room.
"Welcome to The Corner of Despair." The wizard who up to that moment James had not known his name said proudly.
"You want to blind me?" James' voice sounded depressed.