Kyle and the others waited on a couple of chairs inside the Fighter Guild.
The inside of the Fighter Guild looked quite barren.
'Usually, you would think they would have some drinks and a waiting room for customers or something,' Kyle thought. 'Guess customer service in fantasy land is not like customer service on Earth.'
Kyle imagined two armored warriors chatting beside a water dispenser.
'Yeah, that would be weird.'
The examiner was currently inside one of the rooms, talking to the Chief.
The others were just sitting in a couple of chairs placed at the side of a hallway.
After around ten minutes, the door opened, and the examiner looked at them.
"Dylan, you're first," he said.
Dylan stood up and nodded at the examiner before walking through the door and closing it behind him.
The examiner didn't follow and just waited outside.
A couple of minutes passed, and Kyle started to become a bit antsy.
'I fucking hate waiting,' he thought. 'Wish I could talk to Theodor, but if I suddenly start talking to myself, everyone will think I'm crazy.'
'Where's a smartphone when you need one?'
After around five minutes, the door opened, and Dylan walked out.
Dylan held the door open as the examiner went back into the office.
When the examiner closed the door, Dylan looked at the others.
Kyle could see that Dylan was quite excited but didn't know what to do with it.
'I can see that he is excited but doesn't think it's appropriate to share his excitement with us,' Kyle thought. 'He's probably a guy that pays a lot of attention to how he is perceived.'
'That's funny. Dude's as giddy as a little kid but tries to hide it.'
Less than a minute later, the examiner walked out and looked at Dylan.
"Congratulations," the examiner said while showing his first smile of the day. "Welcome to the Stark Brotherhood!"
"Thank you so much!" Dylan shouted back. "I won't disappoint you."
The examiner nodded. "Please, wait with the others."
Then, the examiner's smile vanished as he looked at Horatio.
"You're next."
Horatio stood up with a calm smile and entered the office.
Five more minutes passed, and Horatio walked out.
Compared to Dylan, Horatio's demeanor hadn't changed at all.
It was like nothing had happened.
'He seems to be confident and carefree,' Kyle thought. 'Dylan seems a bit more try-hard than Horatio.'
The examiner entered the office and came back out a minute later.
"Congratulations, Horatio," the examiner said with a smile. "Welcome to the Stark Brotherhood."
"Thank you," Horatio spoke politely.
Then, the examiner looked at Tracy. "You're next."
Tracy took a deep breath and threw a glance at Kyle before entering.
'Why do I have to be the last one?' Kyle thought with exasperation.
This time, almost ten minutes passed before Tracy walked back out.
Compared to Dylan and Horatio, she didn't seem excited.
But she also didn't seem disappointed.
As always, the examiner entered, and he only came back out after three minutes.
The examiner looked at Tracy. "The Chief will decide after meeting with Kyle."
"I understand," Tracy said.
Then, the examiner looked at Kyle.
"Your turn," he said.
Kyle took a deep breath and stood up.
'Fucking job interviews, man. I thought I would be past those after entering fantasy land.'
Kyle walked past the examiner and entered the office, closing the door behind him.
As soon as Kyle entered, he felt a shiver running down his spine.
The atmosphere in here was oppressive!
'Brah, I feel like I'm about to hear whether I get the Death Sentence or not.'
As Kyle looked forward, he saw a man leaning against the wall.
Surprisingly, there were no chairs or desks in this room.
The room was mostly empty. The only things Kyle could see were a couple of scattered pieces of ore, armor, and weapon parts.
When Kyle saw the man, his eyes widened.
"You're that guy from the fountain," Kyle uttered.
The fountain in the big plaza of Starkhold had a statue of a big man carrying a big axe on it.
The plaque just said that the name of the man was Karl Wendler.
Sure enough, the person in front of Kyle was a tall and stalwart man with long black hair.
He carried a huge axe on his back, and he looked at Kyle with narrowed eyes.
"This is an Early or Mid Grandmaster," Theodor said. "He might be able to win a battle against Sulfur, but I wouldn't bet on it."
The strongest person Kyle had seen before was the officer in the Big Bazaar, but this guy was probably even stronger.
Karl just kept looking at Kyle for a while.
Kyle just looked back awkwardly.
"That guy from the fountain," Karl slowly repeated.
"Yeah," Kyle answered, pointing behind him with his thumb. "You know, the statue."
"I realize what you meant," Karl answered evenly. "I was just surprised that this was the first thing you decided to mention. Why did you mention it?"
"I don't really know," Kyle said, rubbing the side of his head. "It just kinda burst out, you know?"
"Are you always this impulsive?" Karl asked.
"I guess?" Kyle answered with uncertainty.
Karl just looked at Kyle for a while.
Under the intensifying gaze of Karl Wendler, Kyle started to become more and more nervous.
His smile became nervous, and beads of sweat ran down his face.
As more time passed, the sensation of danger became more and more intense.
Kyle felt like he was about to be eaten by a Monster.
"Can you stop doing that?" Kyle asked.
"I'm not doing anything," Karl answered evenly.
"Yes, you are," Kyle said. "If you weren't, you would ask 'Stop doing what?' but instead, you said that you're not doing anything."
"Am I not allowed to look at you?" Karl asked with a dark voice.
"Am I not allowed to talk to you?" Kyle asked back.
"I didn't say you weren't," Karl answered.
"Okay, so, how's the weather?" Kyle asked, changing the topic suddenly.
"Why are you asking about the weather?" Karl asked.
"Why not? I thought this would be an interview, but we're not talking about anything. The weather is great, by the way. Nice and damp. It might rain soon. What's your opinion?" Kyle asked.
Karl looked at Kyle for a bit with furrowed brows.
"I like the sun. The current weather is not to my liking," he answered slowly.
"Ah, that sucks. Well, good luck next time," Kyle answered casually.
Then, the two of them just looked at each other for a while.
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