"Oh, there he cos!" Mary cheerfully replied to Cole who could be seen nervously fidgeting. He was afraid that Aiden might have got into so sort of trouble, after all, the examiners weren't known for being rciful. People who went to take an exam, often beca crippled, if they even managed to co back at all.
So, now that he also noticed the side door opening and the calm boy coming out, he sighed in relief. Looking at him, Cole was slightly surprised as he could see no tears on his clothing, or any kind of damages. It was as if he did not fight at all, which was clearly impossible.
"Aiden! Co here!" Mary happily waved at Aiden, who responded with a friendly smile and casually walked to them.
As soon as he arrived Mary started her bombardnt of questions.
"So? What happened? How do you feel? Is everything okay? Do you need any healing?" It was just now that she registered that the boy in front of him looked completely unhard, not even his hair seed ruffled. Astounded by this fact, she asked another question. "Huh? Why do you seem completely okay? Did you not fight at all?"
Aiden silently smiled and waited for the girl to take a breather and stop before he calmly began to answer.
"Calm down, Mary, there is nothing wrong, we did fight. I was just a bit stronger than them, that is all. The person with the hooded robe said that I had passed."
"Ah, that is good. Well, just give a mont then, let go to the back and confirm the next steps. Just a mont, okay? Don't go anywhere!" Hearing Aiden's response, her expression turned even brighter, and turned towards the office door behind the reception area. She bolted as fast as she could, her last words were yelled as she was already at the door just before her slender figure vanished in the office hallways.
Turning towards Cole who was silent next to him, he noticed the utter shock that was set on his face and the disbelief that was visible in his eyes.
"Is everything okay?" Aiden asked with the sa calm tone as he addressed Mary.
First, Cole couldn't even respond, he looked at the youth in front of him as if he was so kind of monster. After a few seconds, he eventually managed to gather enough willpower to voice the only thought that kept ringing in his mind.
"H-how are you fine?!"
Aiden didn't mind the question, he could feel there was no ill-will aid at him. Cole was genuinely concerned about him when he went in and was baffled at the outco.
"We fought, but I was stronger and faster. You already saw the strength I possess when I hit that strange energy barrier around the haunted mansion, so you shouldn't be that surprised by this outco."
Only now did Cole seed to calm down. Embarrassnt set on his expression, he averted his gaze, looking at the ground. He nervously scratched the back of his head.
"Ehehe, yeah that is true. Sorry… I was just nervous, that you would suffer as everyone else did under their hands."
"Don't worry about it. I could tell those guys were strong, stronger than the average Adventurer." Aiden replied with a friendly smile. Then, as he looked at the closed office door in the back where Mary left just a few monts ago, with a thoughtful look he wondered.
"I just don't understand, why did that guy make a Rank 2 imdiately. I did not do anything special…"
Hearing his words, Cole almost fell on his back. With his mouth hanging open and wide eyes, he looked at Aiden with even more shock than before.
"W-what did you just say?!" He stutteringly asked.
"Huh?" Aiden looked at Cole with surprise. "I just said, I don't understand why did that hooded figure say that I am now a Rank 2 Adventurer. I just wanted to register, but for so reason he imdiately upgraded . I don't understand it, I didn't even show anything special."
"T-t-that's���" Cole looked as if he had seen a ghost, he stumbled and fell on the ground. Pointing his shaking fingers at the boy, he exclaid with a mixture of shock and fright in his eyes.
"J-just what are you? H-how?! That's never happened before…"
"Uhm, are you okay? Why are you shaking? Did sothing scare you?" Aiden was puzzled, he did not know why Cole reacted this way. Why was the fact that he was unhard such a big deal? Shouldn't this whole thing be just a test to asure the strength of the person?
"Nobody has ever beco a Rank 2 as soon as they registered! You have no experience, no idea how the system's work, and no credits to your na! Simply put, you just can't be a Rank 2! It's impossible!"
Now, he understood the reason for Cole's seemingly strange reaction. The 'Reward' he got was simply too exceptional; it went against the Guild's rules. However, as he could feel a familiar life sign approaching, he simply smiled and nodded towards the window.
"If you don't believe , then let's just listen to Mary to co back."
Just as Aiden finished his words, the back door opened and Mary rushed back, with a stack of papers in her hands. She had a flushed expression.
As she got back to the desk, she raised her right index finger trying to catch her breath before she flusteredly began reporting back to the boys.
"Aiden... *pant* *pant* I got word from managent! *pant*"
'It's okay, take your ti, we are in no rush." Aiden smiled, trying to calm the girl. Unfortunately, he did not get the reaction he expected, instead, the flushed girl got even more flustered, she nervously fidgeted, averting her gaze to the ground. Her cheeks turned bright red in the process.
Aiden could not understand her strange reactions at all, unlike Cole who smugly smiled back at him. In the end, Aiden helplessly shook his shoulders and decided to just wait for Mary to calm down.
After about a minute, she finally managed to collect herself. With a faint rosy coloring on her cheeks, she coughed and continued with a forced cool in her voice.
"So, Aiden, I got the news from managent, that you have received a pass on your exams. Also," She altered her gaze between the two boys as if trying to read anything from their reactions.
While Aiden remained calm and did not have any visible reaction at all, the other boy, Cole was already looking with expectant eyes, as if he was just waiting for confirmation on sothing.
"Aiden, I was specifically instructed to register you as a Rank 2 Adventurer. Honestly, I do not understand why, or what you did back there that made them co to such a strange decision, but nevertheless, I can now officially welco you as the newest mber, as well as one of the elite group of adventurers for the Higrove's Adventurer's Guild!"
She pulled the top paper from the stack she brought over and handed it over to Aiden.
"Here's your registration details. Your Guild Card will require a day, and that's when you will be able to pick quests and join or create parties as well."
Then he picked up another paper, that was the map of the city, with several buildings circled over.
"And this is the map for all the Inns that we are in contact with. If you would need accommodation in the anti, feel free to contact these establishnts, they will give you a discounted price."
Taking a look at the map, he noticed several buildings circled over and marked with their nas such as "Lionhead Inn", "Swords and Shields" and so on, none of these nas were familiar to him
As he looked over the map he noticed that there was another building that was marked with a different colored ink. While the rest seed to co from the sa pen, this last one, judging by the shape, it was hastily marked, with a different, blue ink.
Looking at the girl, Aiden noticed so blue leftover stains on the edge of the sleeves of her dress. He had a guess that it was done by her, while the others may have been marked by a different person, maybe by that strange, hooded figure that spectated his fight.
"Mary, may I ask, what is this last building supposed to be? There's no na next to it. Is that an inn as well?" He asked with an honest, innocent stare.
"Uhm… That?" Hearing the question, Mary beca flustered once again and began to fidget even more than before. Her face once again turned red as a tomato and couldn't look up from the ground.
Although she planned to explain and even made up a viable excuse as to why she would mark that specific building, now, as she faced the question she practiced along the way, she couldn't speak up.
Seeing her helpless state, Cole already had an idea. Deciding to help her, he spoke.
"Aiden, I think that is her ho."
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