Dim candles lightened the tavern-like structure of the Guild, a white giant whiteboard filled with hundreds of posters, surrounded by men and women wearing different kinds of armor and mage robes.
Wooden tables, filled to the brim with people—some elves, some beastkin, some humans—gave off a welcoming warmth.
"My name is James, I am a local from the outskirts. Can I register as a hunter?" Johan spoke in a youthful tone, catching the attention of everyone seated. Even Ravenata and Beatrice stared at Johan.
The corrupted Aether seeping from Johan's body didn't escape either of their sharp eyes.
The striking orange-haired girl at the counter smiled professionally, her face a bit mature. "James, nice name. Mine's Vani. What's your age, dear?" she spoke sweetly.
"I am 19, these two are also around that." Johan instantly understood that she didn't care much about his identity or past—just his age and skills as a fighter.
Vani's eyes passed over Johan, catching the two stoic figures behind him who looked like the complete opposite of the still-childish Johan. Both looked like honed fighters, which only increased her confidence in this future hunter party.
"There's a small test if you don't mind… it's necessary to test teamwork, strength, and then assign a class worthy of the skills shown." Vani said with a smile, pointing toward a small doorway at the corner of the bar counter.
"Ohh, what kinda test?" Kirin asked with a grin, breaking her stoic expression with bloodthirsty excitement.
Tap! Tap!
A burly man in his forties walked up, his face ugly and fierce. He was almost 8 feet tall, his muscles unnaturally big—double the size of a pro bodybuilder.
He put his heavy right arm around Johan's neck, then leaned in, his long, muscular neck bending to stare Johan down, his heavy breath hitting Johan's face.
Johan frowned, while Kirin and Sebastian stared oppressively at the brown-skinned giant.
Vani's mouth twitched, but she said in an emotionless tone, "Just a simple friendly spar between at least an A-class hunter and the newbie. The A-class is the one who makes the report, and it's completely based on volunteers. Until you get a volunteer, you can't take the test to become a hunter...
And it looks like you already found one. Ronnie Coleman, the strongest hunter in the small town of Mushma, an A-Rank hunter…" she added softly, her eyes almost pleading toward the giant man, as if begging him not to kill them.
In this kind of test, death was as common as drinking water—unavoidable, and necessary. Letting just anyone acquire a hunter's license and take on important quests—on which the fates of thousands could rely—would be foolish.
Ronnie absolutely took this seriously. He had killed over 48 people trying to enter the hunter organization, first breaking them mentally by showing the gap, then—if they didn't show enough willpower—he would kill them by tearing their limbs off one by one.
But the ones who endured mental and physical torture and passed his test would directly become his students, to whom he passed down everything he knew about battle.
"Let me check the girl first… your hair color really does suit you." Ronnie said excitedly, his grin widening at the dangerous expression of Kirin, who was still mad about him trying to intimidate Johan.
"No, no, let's just start with me!" Johan instinctively spoke in a panicked voice. Kirin wasn't mentally stable enough to spar.
'Her going easy could mean burning the whole upper body of the enemy.' Johan wasn't willing to get the attention of the Holy Dragons for something stupid like the Hunter's exam.
Ronnie's dark red tongue licked his blue lips. He pulled out a cigarette, taking a quick puff.
His expression darkened, which made silence fall over the entire Guild—no one dared to look up. "Are you underestimating me? I am the man who is participating in the Dungeon of Doomsday… little girls like her pee their pants hearing the footsteps of the monsters that are common there…" he spoke in a very low tone, saying the sentence word by word.
Kirin's nostrils flared, her expression also darkened, and an equal amount of pressure fell on the Guild, everyone's heart trembling.
She was still suppressing her magic, just her Aether. Even though her Aether core was extremely weak, due to the spiritual superiority of her Aether, her aura was extremely fierce.
There was no way she could use her magic when Ravenata was watching—the dark red flames were way too recognizable for her to not have heard about them.
Especially now, when the Church was hunting for them, it was impossible she hadn't been shown full-on footage of Kirin's fights—her attack patterns—in case Ravenata were to encounter her.
'After all, in their eyes, Kirin is the greatest force of the traitor group. They've got to be prepared.'
"Let's do it." Kirin shoved the frowning Johan behind her, stepping into the man's arm grip instead.
Both walked inside the small doorway, a stairway downward revealing itself.
Johan and Sebastian followed suit, their expressions tense. They knew what the outcome was going to be—but the main problem was the Holy Dragons.
The four strongest fighters of the Crimson Empire. If they started hunting them, escape would be difficult.
But Kirin—even as a troublemaker—knew better.
'Wild West.' she mumbled to herself just as both parties entered the small sandy sparring circle, and raised her hands in front of her face.
Ronnie frowned but instantly muttered, "Iron Condor."
Tham! Tham! Tham!
Ten 100-meter-tall iron knight shields fell from the sky, manifesting out of nowhere.
The shields perfectly trapped Kirin, surrounding her from all sides.
Ronnie moved his hand upward. All the heavy shields fluidly moved at a single moment, closing in like a bullet train.
Clutch!
Johan's eyes widened, his body moved on its own, trying to see what happened to Kirin. Why did she just let herself get crushed by thousands of tons of iron moving at more than 300km/hr?
'Even she would suffer serious injuries without the flame armor… and if she used her iconic technique, Leor would know that we're not dead.'
Johan's frown deepened, but suddenly—
Thud! Thud! THUD!
The shields trembled violently, as if trying their hardest to stay in place.
DA! DA! DA!
The continuous strikes on the shields became faster and more violent, creating a gap between the perfect trap.
Ronnie's eyes widened. He clenched his fists so hard that blood started to pool on the ground.
But the strikes kept growing stronger.
Kirin was visible now, which made Johan breathe a sigh of relief.
Her hands, legs, elbows, knees, and head were covered in pure Aether, striking all the shields at their weakest points simultaneously.
Her body moved so fast that she was everywhere—hitting everything at once.
Crashhh!!!
All the shields started cracking, big chunks of metal flying all over the basement, destroying walls.
Suddenly—
The metal started flying extremely fast, making Johan use his slime shield to absorb the heavy attacks.
Kirin's punches and kicks still kept hammering the metal pieces, sending them crashing into the walls even harder.
"Oh shit!!" Sweat appeared on Johan's forehead.
A 3-ton part of one of the shields was headed directly for the roof—more than enough to make the whole building collapse.
'Guess I have to use gravity magic…' he sighed. He didn't really want to draw any attention, but they needed a hunter's license to enter the Doomsday Trial—hence the drama.
Just as he prepared an anti-gravity spell, his eyes widened to the limit.
'Ravenata… what the fuck does she wants!?'