The evaluation area was on the third floor. The first floor was the common area, the second for more specialized services, and the third was a training room.
The third floor was open, with mats covering the floor, walls, and ceiling. Everything was also reinforced up to the eighth rank. Looking at some of the matches, I saw additional barriers would be set up so the matches wouldn't interfere with each other.
It reminded me of a trampoline gym or a wrestling range. Not that I'd had much experience in those places. At least not that I had any memory of.
"You here to get evaluated?" A tall, athletic man walked up to me. He was a sixth-ranked warrior, and his body language gave off the aura of an experienced fighter.
I didn't know if I could beat him if I were on the same rank. My experience came from fighting monsters; the sparring matches I had at the Duchy were more than four years ago.
"Yeah, Patricia sent me up here."
"Alright." The man nodded for me to come with him. "Take off your shoes, I'll test you."
We walked on the padded floor to the corner of the floor.
"I'm Jasper, a B-ranked adventurer. I specialize in fencing. Depending on how you do in our match, I'll rank you."
"Thank you. I'm Alex, also an swordsmen."
"This'll be a sparring match, non-lethal, wooden weapons only until one of us admits defeat or is knocked unconscious. Got it?"
"Got it."
"You can take a weapon from the weapons rack."
"We can use magic right?"
"Yeah, the barriers will absorb most anything you throw at it. We'll be fine."
"I'll go empty-handed then."
"More of a mage type then?"
"I'm mixed, I use whatever suits the circumstances best."
Jasper picked up a wooden training sword and walked into a square. I followed behind him. After we both were in the square area, Jasper tapped a button on the wall. Barriers shot up, and everything went dark.
A light lit up the middle. We were in a dark void that seemed to go on forever.
"Spacial Extension?"
"This gives us more room. It's an 11 by 14 by 5 meter area. It'll give us more room than being confined to the floor."
"Are all the areas like this?" This was advanced magic. I could do it, but it would take some time for me to get the setup right.
"No," Jasper shook his head and sighed. "As much as I would like it, that'd be too expensive. Maybe in one of the guilds next to the capital, but we don't get much attention."
"Cool."
"You ready? We start in five."
"Yeah." I wasn't too worried about the fight. I was analyzing the magic around us. I wanted to replicate it back at Greyhound.
A countdown appeared on the wall: 4…3…2…1… Begin. As the countdown chime sounded, nothing happened.
Or, to be more accurate, I didn't let anything happen. It wasn't time magic, but barriers restricted Jasper's every movement. Only the sound of breathing could be heard.
"So, do I win?"
"..." I let the barriers around Jasper's head release.
"What did you do?"
"Little bit of magic."
"You're not a fourth-ranked mage, are you?"
"Astute observation. Back to my question, do I win?"
"Yes, I admit defeat."
I let Jasper go, and the barriers dropped down. He put his weapon back and gestured for me to walk with him.
"Now, I don't know your exact strength, but to put me in a position like that, I have to say you're an A-rank."
"Thank you."
"I'm not sure if I should take that as a complement or as an insult."
"I wasn't trying to sarcastic."
"Sure, anyway, I'll head downstairs, and the people at the front desk will issue your guild card. It's important so don't lose it.
You can take any job at the board, from a rank above to two ranks below. So, you can take S to C rank jobs."
"Neat, stopping higher ranks from vulturing jobs."
"Yeah, also to stop people from killing themselves with jobs too hard for them. There isn't any limit or minimum amount of jobs you have to do. Most people use their guild card as identification."
"Say Jasper, are you a part of any group?"
"Yeah, I'm a part of the Gold Scrap C-rank group, a widely renowned group for its influence and power. Why do you ask?"
"Are there any B-rank groups around here?"
"Not in this town, no. There probably will be some near the capital."
"How many people are in the Gold Scrap group?"
"Around 100, it has a max count of 150 if you're interested in joining." Jasper seemed expectant.
"No, I have commitments, sorry."
"We'll always be welcome to have you join us if things don't work out."
We continued with small talk until I received my card. It wasn't fancy; it was just a metal clip with my name, rank, group, and occupation. Jasper parted ways with me in front of the guild. As a captain of his group, he had responsibilities other than those of a guild volunteer.
I left to explore some of the buildings I had the deed to. Most… actually, all of them were in the slums, so I started walking.
Grey and Vesper stayed on the first floor while I was evaluated, and I retrieved Arion. I didn't want to leave them all to do nothing as I explored the city alone.
The slums were in the eastern part of town, away from the high-end city in the south-west. I rode into the slums on top of a warhorse with a hunting bird on my shoulder and a dog by my side. I drew a lot of attention.
The people in the slums were poor, as was expected, but they also seemed dead, as if off a high.
'I've seen this too many times in my life."
I'd never seen anything like this. There were some ordinary people—some poor families trying to get by—but the rest were like the Walking Dead. All lying down or lounging around, cloudy-eyed, with no destination in mind.
"Drug addicts, the load of them."
An old man lay by the street. I stopped to look at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Drugs, boy, drugs, what don't you understand."
I looked closer. The old man was just middle-aged, filthy with the condition of the slums. I'd have believed you if you told me this was 1900s New York.
"How, what type of drugs from where?"
"What, you expect me to know everything?"
"Yeah, I thought that was why you spoke to me."
The man was speechless for a moment. I used my mana sight to get a better look at the man. He was a rank seven mage, but his core was broken. It's a tragic thing. It's also curable, so I didn't know why the man didn't fix it.
"The cheek of you lads nowadays. But you're not wrong; I know about the drug. It's a thing called 'spirit check.' Highly addictive and cheap to make."
"First hand experience?"
"Addictive part? Long ago. Cheap? They sell it for scraps, so it was a reasonable deduction."
"Why here or at all?"
"I don't know. This stuff is all around the empire. Even the nobles snort this shit. The reason I couldn't tell you. All I know is that a group of slavers invented it, which has been used ever since.
The thing is, it is just addictive. There are no other real side effects. It just makes people like you see here."
"Wanna come with me?"
"Why?" The man looked up skeptically.
"I'll pay you."
"How much?"
"One gold, and free housing."
"You got yourself a deal."
The man stood up and walked alongside me. He had a limp in his right leg, so he was way slower than I'd have liked.
I gave him a pill to help with that.
"What is it?"
"Painkiller and medicine."
The man took it without much thought. It took a minute to kick in, but after it did, the man could walk upright and keep pace.
"Damn miracle medicine. Would you be willing to sell the recipe?"
"You got cash?"
"I'll take out a loan."
"No. Not for sale anyway. It'll wear off in an hour or so."
"Damn man, you really gonna do me like that?"
I considered it for a moment.
"You got a guild card?"
"Yeah, right here." The man took out a card like mine and gave it to me.
"Oshan Abras, C-rank as well. Nice."
"I didn't do many jobs after I was evaluated, never went up or down."
Oshan wasn't part of a group either. It was perfect for me.
"We've arrived." In the middle of the slums was a dark building. Quaint and filthy. It was a short, two-story building. It is enormous compared to the houses beside it, but still small for my liking.
I approached the front door.
"You better not go in there lady." A woman from across the street called out.
"Why not?" I called back.
"It's owned by a real nasty bunch of thugs, if they see you there, you won't see tomorrow."
"Thanks for the warning, but don't worry. I own it now."
I went in.