Anemone entered the arena nervously, all eyes turned toward her, as she looked to Eline.
"Please state your name, age, and class," Eline said.
"Please, call me Aurora. I am eighteen, and I am a mage who uses wind magic," Anemone announced, deciding not to include the information that she also used fire magic, due to not having full control over it.
"Are you ready to begin the test?" Eline asked.
"Yes, Ms. Eline," Anemone replied.
Malbeze then began to count down from three.
"3. 2. 1. Begin!" he said.
Eline then launched a pillar from the earth aimed at Anemone. She dodged to the left while conjuring Wind Arrow. The spell launched quickly, closing the distance in an instant.
"Earth Wall," Eline said.
A wall suddenly sprang from the ground in front of Eline, trying to block Anemone's spell. Her spell had enough force, though, to cut through the thin wall Eline made with little effort. The arrow then cut Eline's cheek, going past her and breaking some of the stone that made up the seats. During the time Eline turned to look around at the broken stone, Anemone fired another Wind Arrow, aimed at Eline's stomach. Then a sudden burst of water from Eline's wand sprang forth, colliding with Anemone's spell and causing both to disperse.
Before Anemone knew it, a small, thin, and sharp pillar lunged at her ribcage from below; thankfully, she dodged it, only leaving a cut on her left side. She gritted her teeth due to the pain, rushing toward Eline, trying to close the distance so Eline couldn't freely use spells cast from the ground, as she would have to ensure she was not caught in them as well.
Anemone arrived at Eline's side, hurriedly casting Wind Barrage toward her with about ten projectiles. Each one was about a third as powerful as Wind Arrow. Eline blocked every single one that launched at her by casting a small wave of water at Anemone and then quickly dispersing it. Eline used the opening Anemone mistakenly made and launched an Earth Arrow at Anemone's forehead.
Anemone didn't have the time to react as she just stared at it, the distance quickly closing.
'She can't stop a spell that is already cast. No one can heal the damage this will cause me…' Anemone thought.
These thoughts filled her, but they all turned out to be lies as the spell was actually mud and just splattered her on the face, covering her head.
"D-Rank. I can tell you are exhausted from the spells you conjured in this short time. Build up your mana capacity, and you will be able to easily get C-Rank. Please lean your head down so that I may clean you," Eline said.
"Yes, ma'am," Anemone replied.
Anemone leaned over as Eline began to spray her head with a stream of water until all the dirt and mud were washed off her face and hair. She stayed leaning over, waiting until Eline finished as her tears mixed in.
'Curse my stupid mana core. Why don't I have more mana?' Anemone thought.
"It's done, you may go sit now," Eline said.
"Thank you," Anemone replied.
She stood up and quickly took her original seat as Eline went to talk to Malbeze.
"That girl should be C-Rank, Eline. What are you thinking?" Malbeze said.
"She was not using her fire magic, for one of two reasons: She wants to be lower ranked, or she is scared of it. If she is scared of it, then I should have put her even lower," Eline replied.
They both seemed to be glaring at Anemone as she sat there, deep in thought.
***
The test ended after two more hours, with two people getting F-Rank, two more getting E-Rank, three getting C-Rank, one getting A-Rank, and the rest, including Anemone, all getting D-Rank.
"Everyone, please report to the Adventurers' Guild as soon as possible!" Malbeze announced before quickly departing with Eline.
Anemone then stood up, walking out the door to the Adventurers' Guild to speak to Helen. Before she spoke a word, Helen pulled out a small piece of curved silver with a string of leather connected to each side, which formed a bracelet. On the silver, it read "D-Rank."
"Here is your bracelet to prove your association with the Adventurers' Guild, and on the underside of the silver, it will have your name, Aurora. It must be put on your wrist whenever you receive a quest from yours truly or any other person who may serve them. So please do not lose it. Now, you may enter and leave as you wish, you may get any quest without problem as long as it is your current rank and below, and if you wish, you may be accompanied by someone who is also an adventurer who is of the same rank. Then you may do a quest that is of the same rank as yours. If you are accompanied by someone who is not an adventurer, you must do a quest that is below your current ranking. Also, if you have someone who was ranked at another adventurer's guild, we will demote them one rank, and then they may join us or retest here. Anywhere in the empire will accept you as an adventurer, as long as you wear this bracelet." Helen explained.
"Yes, ma'am, thank you for everything," Anemone said, bowing before leaving, just wanting to finally relax.
She left the building, going to a bench in front of the building just to get a break from the busy day.
***
Time passed, and the sun was soon setting. Anemone decided it was best to just go home and check up on Father.
Once she arrived at the tavern, Anemone found Father in his room, and he was relaxing instead of working the cart.
"Hey, Father. What happened to you working?" Anemone asked.
"We sold everything! So, supplies-wise, we should be fine. The gold we have will only be used for food, other sustenance, basic travel, and whatnot; for any gear, you will have to use your own money," Father replied.
"Well, Father, what rank were you when you were an adventurer?" Anemone asked.
"B-Rank in my prime, but nowadays, I may be able to only get C-Rank. Why do you ask?" he said.
"Would you like to accompany me on a quest tomorrow, then?" Anemone asked.
"I would love to, young one! We might want to go get an adventurer's bag first!" Father replied.
"I will see you tomorrow then," Anemone said, smiling and hugging him before leaving to go to her own room, quickly falling asleep.
***
Morning came, and it was time to finally get ready for her first quest. Anemone and Father met in front of the tavern after having breakfast. They then went to a shop dedicated to adventurers with resources not available at the actual Adventurers' Guild, such as a map, torch, rope, bags, small knives for skinning animals, and other such tools.
They soon stumbled upon a bag that had a sign in front of it.
The BEST bag for ADVENTURERS ranked D and above!
'I hope this isn't a scam,' Anemone thought.
They brought down the bag from overhead. It was made of worn, but solid leather, and its buckles seemed weathered down slightly. A lantern hung from one side of the bag; its wick was already coated in oil, ready to be lit. The other side had a coil of thick and sturdy rope that was latched on tightly. Inside the bag were simple but vital tools, such as dried rations, an extra flask of oil for the lantern, a small roll of twine, and a small silver knife with a leather sheath that was in incredible condition. Alongside it was another small leather pouch; inside it was a quill and a glass vial of ink.
'We don't need the quill and ink, but thanks anyway, store owner. Well, since I should make the money back, I should buy a scroll for an emergency,' Anemone thought.
They soon paid for the bag, which cost Anemone five gold, then moved to a magical shop for mages, or what Anemone liked to call…
'…Heaven,' she thought.
Once inside, Anemone wanted to run immediately through the store at the sight of so many magical items, scrolls, gems, wands, staves; there was so much to choose from. In the end, she knew there was only one thing she should buy for now. So she went to the back of the store, where all the scrolls were kept, and stumbled upon a one-time-use fireball scroll. It had a magic circle engraved on it, which was something Anemone rarely stumbled upon, as she did not use magic circles for casting, but instead did it by voice or incantation. They soon paid for it, and it cost them ten gold, which would put Anemone in debt. She still had hope she would make it back fairly quickly.
Once everything was ready, Anemone and Father left the store with the scroll rolled up and put into her bag.
***
As they walked down the cobblestone path, away from the shop, the weight of the bag already seemed to be getting to Anemone. Knowing she must power through, she continued, watching as the sun set in the distance. The orange glow bounced off the street, giving everything an orange hue. It was majestic.
Father glanced over at her with a large smile, "If you would like me to carry it, just ask. After all, I used to be an adventurer, and that bag reminds me of my first bag. It had holes on the bottom; one time, it even caused me to lose a sandwich while on a walk. I was bummed out."
His manner of speech seemed to regress thirty years as he talked like a young kid.
'That's the power of nostalgia,' Anemone thought.
"Maybe you just don't have a good eye for gear, Father," Anemone smirked.
"If that were true, you would not have that wand in your bag," he retorted.
They continued their walk, their shoes clicking against the stone ground, and as they passed by a large, multistory tavern, they overheard two men conversing in a dark alleyway that received little to no light due to the time.
"On my last mission, there was this guy who went crazy! He randomly started attacking me when he was in my group. His eyes were bloodshot and bulging like they were about to burst. He also seemed a lot stronger than when he was working with me. His veins were also bulging, and he started leaking blue blood!" one man said.
"Blood is red, stop making up stories," the other replied.
"Just listen! After my other party member and I had to sadly put him to rest, a damn centipede crawled out of his eye socket after it burst! And then shriveled up and died… BUT STILL," the first man continued.
Anemone stood there, against the outside of the building, listening in on the conversation, recognizing this was the same arthropod that she and Father had encountered. She then ran up to Father, who walked a lot slower as only she had veered off to listen.
"What is it, young one?" Father asked.
"Other people encountered the centipede-like creature that we had," Anemone said.
They soon arrived at the Adventurers' Guild, and Anemone immediately walked up to the quest board while Father went to talk to Helen to get a ranking.
There were multiple posters, some of goblins, giant rats, and wolves, escorting others. The one that caught Anemone's eye was the poster with a beastkin. Each had a pay from five silver to thirty silver. Before she read the content of the poster with the beastkin, Father returned with a silver bracelet that had 'D-Rank' on it.
"When we are on missions with people around, please call me Calder, it means 'wild water,'" Father said.
"Alright, Father, well, are you ready to begin our first mission?" Anemone asked.
"Of course I am, since we didn't get any hints as to where the seedling of a tree known as Thirasil may be," Father replied.
(Author's note. If a name was mentioned for the seedling in a past chapter, I have decided to change it, as this name resonates with me more.)