TBATE - Fated To Rule Together

[Rewrite In Progress] Chapter 18 - Evaluation

"A-Class adventurer Jasmine Flamesworth has requested this..." the clerk's voice trailed off as she eyed us cautiously. "...gentleman and lady to be taken in for a rank examination."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of who Miss Flamesworth is. You may wait outside, Mary." The slender man waved her away as he stood up from his seat. "Miss Flamesworth, how are you these days? I met with your father not too long ago."

Jasmine simply gave a terse nod, that barely resembled a bow, as the man approached us. Her expression had gotten sharper since coming into this room, but at the mention of her father, Jasmine's hands clenched into fists.

"Anyway, it is a pleasure to meet you." The man shifted his attention to me and Arthur, finally acknowledging our presence. "My name is Kaspian Bladeheart, and I am in charge of this branch. I take it that you both must have some sort of close relationship with Miss Flamesworth. Is there a name I can address you two by?"

His gaze darted up-and-down and side-to-side as he quickly assessed us. He then took a quick glance at Sylvie and Airies, but didn't linger on them for long. I had made Airies retract his flames, so he looked like a typical bond. He probably wasn't surprised by seeing them; seeing as this is common in his line of work.

"I go by Note," Arthur said beside me. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he got the name from the half note on his mask. Kaspian widened his eyes at Arthur's baritone voice. But he quickly regained his composure and nodded at him. He then turned his attention towards me and looked at me expectingly.

"You can call me Twilight," I said in a cheery voice. Why, you ask. Simple. It means that people will underestimate me and it would make it easier for me to defeat them when their guards are down.

"Yes! Well... Mr. Note, Miss Twilight, we will proceed with Miss Flamesworth here as your sponsor. Do you know how this will work?" He asked. We shook our heads and he began to explain what would happen. After he was done, the receptionist named Mary led us to our seats where we would wait for our turn to be evaluated.

"Please, sit down. There are quite a number of examinees today so if you would remain seated until the examiner calls your name, it'll really help speed up the process." The receptionist gave us one last quick bow before scurrying back down the rows of stone seats.

There was a battle happening when we sat down, so me and Arthur decided to analyse the examiners fighting style. The challenger's attacks and foot work were sloppy and unrefined. He looked like a child that was swinging his stick mindlessly without a plan.

Face red in frustration, the fighter bellowed, "Take this!" The fact that he had announced his next attack meant that he was either confident or he was simply an amateur. In this case, it seemed to be the latter.

"Idiot!" I whispered. The examiner just kept on dodging all of his attacks. If this was all that's going to happen, I might as well just go to sleep on Arthur's shoulders. But luckily, it seemed as if the examiner had seen enough and decided to end the battle.

"Your skills as a polearm wielder are non-existent and your battle senses are lousy... and that's me being nice. You depend too much on physical strength compared to your mana reinforcement, which throws your attack's balance off. It says you've just turned thirty-five but you're now only at the dark orange stage. I would normally put someone of your calibre at E-class but seeing how you have a fire affinity, if that little heater move you just did can even be called fire, I'll pass you as a D-class...barely." The scarred examiner's assessment was harsh and to the point, but I couldn't have agreed more with him.

Both of them left the arena and a woman with a witch's hat took the stage. "Next... Diane Whitehall," she said.

"Yes! Coming!" A woman on the other side of the stadium scampered down the rows of seats, nearly stumbling along the way.