Descent of a God

Extra Story - Adventurer Examination

(A/N: This is the last extra story for now. This is non-cannon and it takes place when Jude is at the dark yellow core stage.)

Jude POV:

The Guild Hall was a building filled with prestige and luxury. A marble structure towered over us like a sacred museum. Once inside, it was clear the amount of work that had been put into the intricately designed interior. There were tables made from metal where I could see other adventurers giving us a passing glance. The whole place had an ambience of extravagance that didn't suit me, much less some of the barbarian-looking adventurers here, but I simply continued my stride.

"Welcome! How may I help the three of you?" The female receptionist's rehearsed smile gleamed a pearly white.

Before I had the chance to reply, Jasmine slid a piece of parchment towards the woman.

"I would like to sponsor these two for a rank examination." Her face remained expressionless as she said curtly.

"Y-Yes! I understand," the receptionist answered, nodding her head fervently as she handed back the piece of paper. "Please, come over this way."

Getting up from her seat, the women opened the door beside us from the other side. As we entered, I couldn't help but notice the hushed murmurs around us.

"Oy, there's someone taking a rank examination," someone whispered.

"It's just a girl and two masked midgets, though," another hoarse voice mocked blatantly.

I held in any questions I had and simply followed the clerk in silence. Passing through the door, we were led past the row of seats behind the glass counter where the receptionists were stationed and into a small room.

The office was minimally decorated with two leather couches positioned to face each other. On the far end of the room was a dark, wooden desk facing the door; a slender man was seated behind the pile of neatly-stacked papers, jotting down something with a quilted pen.

Roused by the sound of his office door being opened, the man looked up to reveal a sharp and angular face. The head of black hair I had been staring at was parted down the center and reached just past his thin neck. Behind his rimless and thick glasses were a pair of sharp eyes that regarded us intently.

"A-Class Adventurer, Jasmine Flamesworth has requested these..." the clerk's voice trailed off as she eyed Arthur and I cautiously. "...gentlemen to be taken in for rank examinations."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of who Miss Flamesworth is. You may wait outside, Mary." The slender man waved her away as he stood up from his seat. "Miss Flamesworth, how are you these days? I met with your father not too long ago."

Jasmine simply gave a terse nod, that barely resembled a bow, as the man approached us. Her expression had gotten sharper since coming into this room, but at the mention of her father, Jasmine's hands clenched into fists.

"Anyway, it is a pleasure to meet you two." The man shifted his attention to us, finally acknowledging our presence. "My name is Kaspian Bladeheart, and I am in charge of this branch. I take it that you two must have some sort of close relationship with Miss Flamesworth. Is there a name I can address you by?" His gaze darted up and down as he quickly assessed me.

"I go by Note," Arthur answered gruffly. 

"I go by John," I replied to him.

Kaspian's eyes widened in surprise but he quickly recovered, responding with a casual smile. Other than that, seeing a mana beast didn't seem to surprise him, which I assumed was because of his line of work. "Yes! Well... Mr. Note and Mr. John, we will proceed with Miss Flamesworth here as your sponsor. Do you know how this will work?"

Shaking my head, I let him explain. "An Adventurer of B-class or higher has the right to sponsor a new adventurer for an examination. Depending on how well you do, this exam will give you the opportunity to be placed into a suitable rank. This way, you can avoid the needless struggles of starting from the very beginning. The rank exam will consist of only a practical portion. Now, judging by your weapons, I can assume that you two are either a fighter or augmenter, yes?"

"Yes," both of us answered at the same time.

"Okay! Usually, there would be a quick application along with an inspection of your mana core before the exam but since it is Miss Flamesworth here sponsoring you, I will waive that," he continued as he opened another door at the far end of his office. "Mary, take these two to the examination hall."

"Y-Yes!" The receptionist, who had been waiting outside the room, entered hastily and led us toward the back door. "Please, Mr. Note, Mr. John, Miss Flamesworth, right this way."

I peered at Jasmine through my mask as we made our way down the long corridor. Was this the reason why she wanted to be the one to follow me? The Flamesworth House was mentioned with a fair degree of respect, but what exactly was the Flamesworth House?

I was forced to squint as my eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change in brightness as we exited out of the dark passage. As the blinding glow subsided, I was able to make out the details of the hall we were in. The brightly lit area was an indoor, dirt-floored arena with standard theatre seats that appeared more like exaggerated stairs. While most of the seats were empty except for the scattered ten or so people, there was a tense atmosphere as everyone's eyes focused on the two people at the center of the arena.

"Please, follow me to your seats. There are quite a number of examinees today so if you would remain seated until the examiner calls your name, it'll really help speed up the process." The receptionist gave us one last, quick, bow before scurrying back down the rows of stone seats.

There were a bunch of average rank examinations that simply caused me to get bored. The only interesting thing that happened was when the noble boy attacked the examiner from behind in anger.