The evaluator was noting down the entire battle and was quite satisfied with the level of the novices who had passed. In front of him stood the five Dorian, Alaric, Lyssandra, Kael, and Arvanys.
'All of them are above average.'
There were several bodies scattered on the ground, some still alive and others dead. None of them had truly hesitated—at most Alaric and Lyssandra—and even then, when the moment came, they acted without faltering. With the other evaluators outside, he would have to hurry and make his offer first.
"My name is just Kurte. It's been a long time since I've seen novices like you, so this would be the card of our guild. We are called the Earth Dragons and ranked as the third strongest guild."
The guilds were formed only by mercenaries who didn't want to ally with any territory, having many orphans among them, so they were truly hated in some places—especially in Tianlong, which had tried several times to control them somehow.
Sensing an aura from outside, he could already feel that the other evaluators were angry at him for being the first. But it was their fault—who told them to choose him to lead this trial? Pulling out five cards, he handed them out. These cards bore the symbol of three brown dragons flying in a circle.
"Anyway, let's go—it's time to meet with the others and with our employer."
As they followed, Alaric saw the shadows he had noticed earlier standing outside the tavern. It seemed they had already sent the evaluations to their chiefs and were now trying to convince the novices to join their guilds in the future. Once everything was finished, everyone moved on to meet their employer. Behind them, Kurte placed his hand on the tavern and it disappeared without leaving a trace.
"You did well to arrive first, Kurte."
"Leader!"
Behind him, a man appeared with no expression on his face. Kurte almost jumped at the sight of his chief, as did the two behind him. It was always like that—his chief would appear out of nowhere, suddenly speaking and startling everyone.
"Thank you, Chief. Is there anyone who caught your interest more?"
"I'd say I was most interested in that Kael and Arvanys. They have an aura different from the rest."
"I'll try harder to recruit those two, then."
His chief nodded and vanished, leaving the three alone. Not wanting to waste time, Kurte quickly walked toward where the meeting would be. He too had noticed that those two had astonishing potential—the girl had a strange mana, and even if no one without the right ability could see it, he could tell she must have an absurd amount of mana. As for Kael, he had a physique superior to many second-circle fighters, which must mean he had trained a lot.
'Even so, I'll still keep an eye on the other three. Maybe someone more interesting will emerge among them.'
Arriving at a mansion, he entered and noticed the five novices sitting in a row of chairs. There were three rows, and in the other two sat the best two academies of the continent. It was incredible to think that the three who hated each other the most would be together for one mission.
'This won't take long. Once it starts, a competition over who will seize the core first will break out.'
Sitting up high with some mercenaries and academy professors, a little further away he noticed Virelle, who lately had been making a name for herself with her rapid progression through the circles. Just looking at her was enough to see she was strong—perhaps even capable of defeating him, since from what he knew, they were both at Circle Seven, so there might be a chance even though she was a prodigy.
"My name is Cristian Deymir… Thank you for accepting my request. I know it's not of much importance to you, but this core is very important to me."
A man with blue hair and beard entered, speaking calmly. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, so tired that you could say a mere breeze would knock him over.
"The person who stole the core entered a dungeon in desperation to escape. I had planned to send my guards, who were at Circle Four, but this dungeon had a rule that only Circle Two and below could enter. So I made a request to the best places I could think of, where the best would be—and that is why you are here."
Stepping forward, he projected an image through a stone showing what the core looked like. It had a beautiful appearance, being a crystalline blue with sculpted marks forming white flowers. It didn't even seem like a Nartheis core and made them wonder if it wasn't something more than that.
"I ask you, please, to recover it. I am determined to give a higher reward to whoever finds it first."
And with those words, without the man even knowing, he had sparked a competition between these three rival sides.
"Sir, may I ask why you want this core so much?"
The one who had raised his hand and spoken was Kai, who was sitting in the first chair of the middle row. Cristian looked at him with those tired eyes.
"My wife used to sculpt cores to make them prettier to sell and to see other people using them. This was the last core she sculpted before falling into a coma."
"I apologize for my companion's question, sir."
Valença spoke from the chair beside him while Kai scratched the back of his neck nervously, thinking he might have said something wrong.
"There's no need to worry, miss. You young people are curious… and I'd like you to remain that way. It reminds me of my son, who is at his grandparents' house."
He gave a weak but sincere smile and asked them to follow him, leading them to a table to eat. The professors and mercenaries also went there, with tables and food spread throughout the hall. It was a banquet, and they were meant to enjoy it. Sitting at a table beside the Astrong academy students, the novices ate peacefully—except for Kael and Arvanys, who seemed ravenous.
"It's been a long time since I ate someone else's food and thought it was this good. I think I'll ask for more…"
"I barely ate properly before, so I need to take advantage."
Seeing the two eat so quickly, Alaric shook his head and tried to eat the same way as Kael, hiding his face completely with his hood, while whispering with Lyssandra so quietly that no one could hear.
"I hope our disguise isn't discovered."
"Calm down, master, your plan is perfect."
"Yes, you're right."
In front of them, Kael's eyes glowed red for a moment, which made them fall silent, thinking he might have heard. But then he went back to eating quickly, which made them sigh in relief.