A small purple and white closed carriage arrived at the Weltor Estate. Efficiently, a finely dressed white eyed man stepped off of the front cabin and greeted George in the carriage court. After a brief conversation, two young three young children dressed in simple battle attire walked through the door. Patterned leather padding on all the right places, with different colored cloth clothes underneath.
"Are you three Elijah, Alexia, and Novius?" The fine man asked.
"Yes, that is us." Elijah responded to the group and was waved into the carriage. A carriage service can be called to a specific location to pick up any hunters going on expeditions or exams. These carriages are set up by letter, or scheduled service.
The ride was bumpy as usual, as rubber had never been invented or crafted. However, the sights we all saw as we looked out the window were immaculate. It had only been a month since the light returned, and also the life of the kingdom.
"Novius, where exactly do we go once we arrive?" Alexia nervously asked.
"Don't worry, I probably won't even have to show you. The past month, the hunter guilds have been overcrowded with people, whether that be examinees or hunters. The moment you walk inside we will be greeted and asked for our intentions. Although, I don't even think you will have to walk inside."
Novius' answer didn't settle Alexia's mind, but made her even more nervous. For anyone in the kingdom, uncharted territory was something not explored often.
The carriage pulled into the umbrella shaped driveway of the Inner West Hunter Guild being that both Elijah and Alexia came from the Outer West. If they passed the hunter exam, they would be working specifically on the west side, and due to the problems with the northwest, this hunter guild building was heavily populated. Everyone wanted to contribute to the kingdom.
The moment the trio stepped out of the carriage, they saw dozens of people waiting underneath the driveway apron supported by riveted stone columns.
A tall man with curly blonde hair and brown eyes quickly walked up to the trio. "If you are here to take the exam, please join the line on the right side. If you are a returning Junior Hunter, please walk around to the side door on the left."
Elijah nodded and shook the hand of Novius, and left with Alexia after she did the same. However, as they were walking towards the long line, Elijah heard words out of the side of his ear. "You must be Novius with those dashing golden eyes. Please, follow me, the guild master is awaiting your arrival."
Dammit, it seems like that magitech prodigy is also a beast killing prodigy. I thought he said his experience was boring so far!
Confidently, Elijah tapped on the shoulder of the girl in front of him. However, I was surprised to see her jump in shock. "Hey, I wanted to introduce myself, my name is Elijah."
"So you know the rules of the exam?" The girl responded without even giving her name in return.
"No, but I suspect we either pick people, or are randomly grouped with people. The only unknown being how many people are in a group."
The girl smiled. "It is six to a group. My name is Cora by the way, sorry for being so… distant. I've had a rough life and only want to prove myself. Nobles have always taken advantage of me through their lies and deception…"
"We are no nobles, but were taken in by nobles after the calamity in the Outer Northwest. I understand your grief, but you must know not every noble is bad." Elijah responded with sincerity. The girl in front of him had dark bags underneath her eyes, which was a sign of poor sleep, nutrient deficiency, and likely pointed to her living in The Catacombs, or a heavily populated place in the inner city.
"Wow. I am sorry. As part of my forgiveness, would you like to team up with me? I have a unique affinity that you can probably guess based on my eye color. I suspect you have a water affinity right?" Cora apologized by bowing.
Happily, Elijah and Alexia both agreed and continued introducing themselves and talking to each other about strategy as the line moved forward. More people joined the line from behind them and did not bother to create conversation due to the newly formed trio continuing to talk.
"I'm sorry Niko, but you have no choice but to join the next group. There is a maximum of six per exam party." Said the man at the exam kiosk just outside the side door of the building.
Niko looked behind him at the people next up in line. Two girls and four boys, with only two of them looking like nobles. "Hey you, what is your name?"
The man in question was Elijah, an average height ten year old with seemingly above average clothing on. "Elijah." Elijah acted nonchalantly, ignoring the obvious entitlement radiating from the red eyed youth dressed in fancy attire.
"Elijah? That's it?"
"Yea, would you like to join our group? I'm sure you won't be disappointed ." Elijah's words seemed to shut him up as he started to play along with his inevitability.
"Ahem. The Six next in line, I need your full names."
"Niko Trident"
"Elijah Veran"
"Alexia Sinclair"
"Cora Boone"
"Ben Canter"
"Trey Amphin"
After a couple of minutes of writing down the six names in the seemingly simplistic Kotun language, the group was brought inside into a small room where a formally dressed woman was standing. This woman had a short skirt, with revealing attire that accentuated her medium sized breasts. Niko hadn't even noticed her dark green eyes that had a purple tint. Elijah's guess was a poison affinity, and he was spot on.
"Welcome ladies and gents, my name is Alessia, and I am going to be overseeing your exam. Unfortunately, it is quite a busy day, so please allow me to talk for the next five minutes without any interruptions, and then we will hop in a carriage to head to the catacombs. To start, the six of you are heading to a zone full of red core beasts. Your objective is to survive for one hour without any outside help, while continuing to advance and kill the beasts. The beasts you will be facing are only red cores beasts. Your roles are not only important to the exam, but also to the survival of the people in the catacombs. We need your help as our more powerful hunters are busy training and fighting outside the city. I will be overseeing you in the background and will save anyone who is close to death. Whether you pass or not will be determined by your contribution and potential I see in you. Now please, follow me."
The large carriage took them down a semi-steep stone path, directly into the catacombs. All Elijah could do was look around as the blatant complaining comments of the privileged noble passed over his head. If Elijah had the chance, and this Niko kid was in danger, he would gladly run to save his own life.
The familiar sight of glowing plants and vines lit up the simply crafted stone building that lined the large tunnels and caverns of The Catacombs. The humid air created by the moisture that dripped from the ceiling showed in the deeper breaths of the children.
Elijah knew there was a chance of something out of the ordinary happening. And even with his seasoned mind, he could feel from his last beast encounters, he was becoming more of a child. Hesitation, weakness, everything that could spell his death. The difference between his strength against the ice bears poison spiders, was that he had people to protect. People that had made an imprint on his new life. His idea of freedom was changing, as he found himself thinking of relying on the people around him.