Chapter 4 — The Guild Test
The Border Guild hall was louder than Renn expected.
Voices.
Metal clashing.
The smell of sweat and oil.
Adventurers and hunters filled the massive stone building. Some laughed. Some argued. Some trained.
Renn walked beside Lira, feeling dozens of eyes on him.
"Don't stare," Lira said quietly. "They can smell weakness."
Renn swallowed.
At the center of the hall stood a raised platform. A large man with a scarred face waited there, arms crossed.
"That's Commander Brakk," Lira whispered. "He runs the Border Guild here."
They approached.
Brakk looked Renn up and down.
"This him?" Brakk asked.
"He killed a Ruin Hound alone," Lira replied.
Brakk raised an eyebrow.
"With what? Those thin arms?"
Renn felt heat rise in his chest.
"The light," Lira added.
Brakk's eyes sharpened.
"So. Another one."
He pointed to the platform.
"Test him."
Two guild members stepped forward.
One with a shield.
One with twin short blades.
"Rules are simple," Brakk said. "Survive one minute. No killing."
Renn stepped onto the platform.
His heart pounded.
One minute.
That's all.
"Begin."
The shield fighter charged first.
Renn barely dodged, the impact cracking the stone floor.
Too strong.
The blade user came from the side.
Renn raised his arm.
Light flared.
CLANG!
The blade bounced off a glowing barrier around his forearm.
Gasps spread through the hall.
Renn felt the drain immediately.
"Don't waste it…" he thought.
He stepped forward, light flowing into his legs.
Fast.
He slipped past the shield and tapped the man's back with a light-charged palm.
Not a blast.
A push.
The fighter stumbled and fell.
The blade user attacked again.
Renn ducked.
He focused.
The light condensed into his fist.
He struck the ground.
A shockwave threw both fighters back.
They rolled and stayed down.
Silence.
Brakk checked a crystal timer.
"…One minute."
He looked at Renn.
Then he smiled.
"A pass."
Murmurs filled the hall.
"A Light-User…"
"He's strong…"
"That control…"
Brakk stepped closer.
"You're not trained. But you're dangerous."
He pointed at Renn's chest.
"That power will make you enemies."
Renn met his gaze.
"Then I'll get stronger."
Brakk laughed.
"Good. Because starting today…"
He turned to the hall.
"We've got ourselves a new problem."
High above the guild hall, hidden eyes watched through a glowing orb.
"Confirmed," a cold voice said.
"Light-User. High potential."
Renn felt it.
The world closing in.
But he didn't step back.
He stepped forward.