It didn't take long to find a village. After an 10 minutes of walking towards the mountains he first saw, Hanul saw lines of smoke rising in the distance.
His body felt light, fresh with youth and surprisingly filled with energy despite not having eaten yet. Another 10 minutes was all it took to arrive at the entrance of town.
"Halt. State your identity."
A stern-faced guard stopped Hanul as he approached the tall wooden archway. The town seemed rather humble, considering the wooden walls looked thin and only about 2 meters tall.
"My name is Hanul. I am a wanderer looking to see the world before my adulthood."
Rather than complicating his situation with any intricate lie, Hanul kept it simple, hoping to glean information from the guard's response.
"Hmm, okay! You're good to go."
'???'
Things went far smoother than expected.
Surprisingly, the guard's face lightened up significantly, as if his previous glare was a hallucination. He even started to give Hanul descriptions of places to go, where he could find work, and the local inns.
"If you ever need some more help, Mayor and Captain Han are usually more than willing to assist new visitors."
Hanul nodded and thanked the guard, Chris, for all the information.
Following the advice he just received, Hanul made his was to the bulletin board near the center of town. It stood nearby the training center and town hall, where villagers could be seen passing by frequently.
[Help finding lost toy.]
[Farm workers needed. Full-time and part-time positions available.]
[Guard training for keeping out wolves.]
There were plenty of miscellaneous requests to be found on the bulletin board. Ranging from more demanding requests like taking a night-shift volunteer position with the guard, to strange ones like finding an elder's dentures.
One flyer stood out to Hanul pretty quickly though. A red posted note that had bold lettering on it.
[NOTICE: Immortal inspection approaching, those under 18 may sign-up with Mayor.]
'This is perfect. I can get more information on the immortal scene here and figure out what the calendar system is here. Two birds with one stone.'
He knew where the mayor could be found, so he wasn't in a hurry. Before walking over to the mayor's location, Hanul browsed the bulletin board a little longer to check for any more interesting information.
After making a mental note of the bulletin board, Hanul headed over to the training field. According to Chris, the mayor could be found hanging around here in the afternoon, since he was close friends with the guard captain.
"Hello, are you the mayor?"
Hanul approached a well dressed man, with a slightly sticking out beer belly, near the guard training field.
"Yes, that's me. You can just call me Mayor. How can I help you, young man?"
'Isn't that what I called you?'
Hanul shook his head to quickly get past the odd response he just heard.
"I'd like to sign-up for the immortal inspection."
"Oh! Shucks, I forgot that was still there. Oh gee, we didn't write the date on there did we?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No no, it should be all fine. That's actually happening today! You should get going kiddo, it's happening just outside of the village east gate, and the immortals should be arriving soon."
"Thank you!"
Quickly waving goodbye, Hanul made his way to the east gate. Since he was practically in the center of town, the east gate wasn't that far from where he was. After walking a bit hurriedly over, Hanul saw a group of youths and their accompanying guardians.
Just as he approached the crowd, murmurs and awes could be heard, as he noticed all heads were directed to the sky in front of them. Hanul looked up too.
His eyes grew wide, and his mouth dropped.
Descending from the sky, with the sun at their backs, 3 robed figures walked down as though there were invisible stairs beneath their feet. The figures walked in a 'V' shape order.
As they became more visible, the distinctions between the figures became clearer. An mature lady, looking as though she were in her late 30s, led the group. She had a red robe with white lining along the hems of the robe. Her bountiful figure filled the robe, giving off a sultry vibe to the onlookers.
Behind her were a male and female in blue robes. Their faces gave off a youthful feeling, likely only a few years older than Hanul's new body. The man had a slim fit appearance, making his robes seem as though their were tailored to his stature. Adjacent to him, the younger lady had a modest appearance in contrast to the older woman leading the way.
*Tap*
*Tap* *Tap*
Upon setting foot on the ground, the immortals' feet made soft landing sounds on the dirt. One or two children cheered shortly, before being shushed by their parents. Seemingly afraid that their children's outburst might bring about some kind of punishment.
The red robed lady smiled.
"It's alright, I understand that you all must be very excited. Please gather up closely, and we'll move to the placement center shortly."
Hanul snapped out of his fascination of the immortals' descent, and walked up along with the children around him.
He noticed now that these children had varying styles of clothing. Some more western, like those of the village he was visiting. Others seemed to also be visitors, wearing more oriental clothing or even noble European-like clothes.
It seemed like it was common for visitors to come and give their youths a chance to become immortals. Probably why Chris had let Hanul through so quickly.
"Is that everyone?"
"Seems like it master." The young lady responded.
"Very well, let's get going."
*Riiip*
At her statement, the red robed lady took out a strip of paper with some sort of markings on it. She then tore the talisman in half, facing the group of curious youths.
An orange circle of light began to draw in the air above them. As the circle completed, the interior looked dark, like peeking into an unlit closet. Then, the circle dropped.
Their surrounding changed from the dirt and grassy plains to a dimly lit room. This new location was large, the walls dozens of meters away on all sides.
Around them, other lights sparkled and fell, revealing other groups of children being moved here as well.
'Convenient.' Was all that went through Hanul's mind, as he tried to figure out what they would be doing here. Amidst his looking around, Hanul received an alert from the system.
[Quest Generated]
[Pass the Immortal Inspection]
[Rewards:]
[10EP Voucher]
'I guess that means the inspection had already begun.'