I kept any questions I had to myself and simply followed the clerk in quiet. We were brought through the door, past the row of seats behind the glass counter where the receptionists sat, and into a small room.
As a man approached us, my father simply smiled in a friendly manner.
"So, what do I owe the pleasure of meeting my good old friend Samuel, haha!" The man smiled and greeted my father as he shifted his attention to me, finally acknowledging my presence. "My name is Reynold Nosefang, and I am in charge of this branch's adventurer's guild!" he introduced himself with a smile.
"The Guild master itself came here? Well, damn!"
The crowd of goons sitting in the main hall started to get surprised.
So, he is the guild master in this Adventurer's guild huh. Just by seeing him, I can clearly say his mana flow is at the Silver-light stage, just as my father's current level. Are all the guild masters of this world have this kind of strength? "I guess if they become a white staged mage, they would be promoted to an even higher level!" I thought to myself as I remembered Uncle George.
"Nice to meet you, sir!" I greeted him back.
"Hey Samuel. Who is this kid?" he asked my father by whispering silently after taking a close look at me.
"Good thing you asked, Reynold. This guy here is my student, and I came with him here today to sponsor him for the Adventurer's test!" My father said with a proud smile.
Although he was certainly a good actor.
"Oh? Your student, you say?" Reynold said as he slowly turned his gaze on me and continued, "Is there a name by which I can address you?" His eyes raced up and down as he scanned me swiftly.
"En!" As I replied, I gave a nod.
"My name is Gladius Agroth," I replied sternly. I just used my past life's name to keep up my strong persona.
Reynold's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly recovered, responding with a casual smile.
"You've got an eye for talent, my friend!" Reynold said as he patted my father's shoulders.
"Yes! Well... Mr. Gladius, we will proceed with my friend Samuel here as your sponsor. Do you know how this will work?"
I shook my head as I listened to him explain. "A B-rank or above adventurer has the authority to sponsor a new adventurer for an examination, and take your old man, for example. This exam will allow you to be placed in a proper rank based on how well you do. This manner, you can avoid the unneeded difficulties of starting from scratch. The rank exam will solely have a practical component. Now, you are certainly a mage if you are a student of the magic guild master himself, but based on your equipment, I'm assuming you are good with the sword you got there, correct?" He looked perplexed at my sword, which was attached to my waist beneath my dagger.
I don't blame him, though. People tend to think things like this.
As I got a smile from my father, I replied, "Yes," as confirmation.
"Okay! Normally, there would be a fast registration as well as an inspection of your mana core before the exam, but since Samuel is here to sponsor you, I will ignore that." He went on as he gave orders to the female receptionist who was with us, Julia, bring Sir Gladius and the Magic Guild master Samuel to the exam hall."
"Y-Yes!" The receptionist, who had been waiting outside the room, entered hastily and led us toward the back door. "Please, Mr. Gladius, Master Samuel, right this way."
"Come on Re... Erhm... Gladius!" My father patted my head as we both followed the receptionist.
I had to squint as my eyes adjusted to the sudden shift in brightness as we exited the tunnel-like path.
I was able to pick out the intricacies of the hall we were in as the dazzling brilliance faded. The brightly lit room was an indoor, dirt-floored stadium with typical theatre seats that resembled exaggerated stairwells.
While most of the seats were empty except for a smattering of ten or so people, there was a tense feeling as everyone's attention was drawn to the two people in the center of the arena.
"Please accompany me to your seats. There are a lot of examinees today, so staying seated until the examiner calls your name will significantly help speed up the process." Before hurrying back down the rows of stone benches, the receptionist gave us one more short bow.
I leaned closer to get a better look at the two combatants who were about to fight. My father simply leaned back and crossed his legs in apathy.
Down in the arena, a man yelled, "HaAht!" as he swung down his broadsword. He was clearly at a disadvantage against his opponent. He was fighting a man of average build, short hair, and a French beard in his sharp under-chin, yet he was simply escaping all of the rival man's wide blows.
He didn't even bother drawing his broadsword from his right hand as he weaved around his bald opponent's brazen blows.
"Take this!" yelled the fighter, his face flushed with rage. The fact that he had declared his next attack indicated that he was either confident or a novice. It appeared to be the latter in this case.
As a heat wave engulfed his weapon, the broad blade he had raised high above his head began to glow a faint orange. The scarred man's face shifted from one of boredom to one of modest surprise.
"Flare Slash!" yelled the man as he hacked down. Many Enhancers decided to perform something similar to how Casters shouted spells to focus their intent, such as vocalizing the name of their attack. However, it felt excessive for such a simple move.
Even from where I was, I could hear the scarred man sigh in mockery as he raised his broadsword to meet the onslaught.
The piercing ring of metal on metal reverberated throughout the arena. The sight of the broadsword spinning high in the air, on the other hand, made it very straightforward to decide who had won the exchange.
The huge cueball was staring down at his empty hands, evidently startled that his ace onslaught had been so easily dealt with.
"Your abilities as a wide sword wielder are non-existent, and your battle senses are abysmal... and that's just me being nice. You rely too much on physical strength in comparison to mana reinforcement, which throws off the balance of your attack. It claims you're forty, yet you're just in the Orange-dark stage. I'd ordinarily assign someone of your ability to E-class, but given your propensity for fire, if the tiny heater maneuver you just did can even be termed fire, I'll pass you as a D-Rank... barely."
"That man is brimming with confidence, doesn't he?" My father said to me while watching the examiner give comments.
Heck, I do agree. The examiner's assessment was brief and to the point, but I couldn't agree with him more.
After that, a few spars of the other examinees went along as suddenly, "Next examinee, Mr. Gladius, please come downstairs!" Without looking up, he yelled.
My father patted me on the shoulder. "Good luck." he said with a smile. I can see his face expressing confidence that I will do great. However, win or lose, I think this test would benefit me too.
I moved down the steps to the center of the arena, giving a solid nod to the examiner in return.
"You are to appear here, to be tested under special conditions, as there is no information written about you here. Alright! Let's find out what you're made of." The examiner in front of me gave me a weird look as I was unsheathing my short sword, he spun his spear with ease and made quite a stance.
"Let us begin!"