He agreed in the end, and he found out that the next exam was in two days. In that time, he should rest well, and he also asked them to focus on their tasks, and there was no need to bother with him for a while.
He knew they were busy and that they were plenty distracted with his personal issues. He really couldn’t find the conscience to bother them anymore.
That said, lying down on the bed and then looking at the relaxed state of his sister on the sofa, it was only now that he remembered that he ignored one of the mission rewards!
[Growth Type Weapon (B)]
[Information: A weapon that evolves through long-term use. It may assume any form suited for the wielder’s needs, provided that the transformation retains the original mass.
Bonus effect: Has a high chance of ignoring defense. Efficiency, sharpness, varies according to the wielder’s level.]
Oh?
...
The adventurer exam was held two days later, and he barely reached the cutoff because he was so engrossed with his new weapon (which he probably would have to practice using more before using it in actual battles).
Fortunately, Marcus did not forget and dragged him out. The exam was only held once a month, so if he missed this, then it would be a pity.
He definitely couldn’t stay if he missed it. His Inn was still unstable. He also needed to figure out how to hatch his sister soon. Even if there were no missions and probably no dangers for her, how could he not look forward to seeing her?
Anyway, he queued up along with the other applicants, and Marcus and the rest were kind enough to clear their schedules to accompany him.
There were plenty of advantages in joining an Adventurer team that he knew of, the most important of which, in his opinion, was access to information and networking.
Another was the contracts. He couldn’t use contract stones in every one of his future transactions, right? Not everyone had relatives in the Mercenary Guild and that much excess money!
So there was no reason for him not to join.
"The exam itself costs 500 danas," Marcus said, running him through what to expect as they walked.
"And you can retake the exam until you pass, though naturally there has to be a time gap between retakes. Not to mention, even if it’s not too expensive for us, 500 danas is still about 2 full days of salary for the commonfolk."
"The exam would check your current level, combat abilities, and survivability," Leiah continued, and Finn nodded, though his eyes were attracted by the street markets set up.
He should get to know the prices of goods in this world a bit more. He passed by the markets when looking for his sister (who was sleeping on her cushion in his inn room), but how could he have the mind to remember those details at the time?
"FINN! Are you listening?"
"Ah, yes, of course."
"If you can pass these three, then you’re good to go," Marcus said. "Considering what we have seen, you should be fine if there are no accidents."
Finn was feeling lucky lately; he was worried it’d run out, so he didn’t dare be complacent. "What about levels?"
"The minimum rank is awakened tier 1, and you’re already tier 3, so it should be fine."
Most would start to try as soon as they awakened, even if they were only teenagers. After all, not to mention the money, there was a prestige to the profession, and becoming an adventurer (or a mercenary, for that matter) was a guarantee that, as long as you’re alive, your life would indeed be better.
Of course, most young people would need several tries to pass and save up so they could afford to pay the trial fee each time.
Anyway, Finn was hoping to pass on the first try. He didn’t want to wait another month!
...
The first test would be sparring sessions, in which they had to defeat two enemies within the same rank, with a maximum difference of one tier.
They borrowed the Town’s sparring area, which consisted of three similarly-sized sparring rinks that could be rented for events like this one.
The adventurer exam happened once a month during the last week of the month, so it could be said that the town was bustling with an event every moon.
For this test, the examinees were given one token each. Whoever could legitimately obtain 3 tokens by the end of the first exam would pass the round.
They were also asked to treat the token as an ’extra life’. The examinee was allowed to lose what he had, but if they were to lose a fight again, then they’d be disqualified.
Finn’s first enemy was, fortunately or unfortunately, a young lad who seemed to be in his early 20s. He was a man named Milo, and he had curly orange hair and freckled cheeks.
Both used a Class E weapon because it was required. The Guild provided an arsenal of Class E weapons for the testers to use.
This was in order to properly gauge the strength of the person, without the ’cheat’ of someone using a superior weapon. The examinees were given the choice themselves as well, as long as it was within the E-class equipment room.
This was why if the weapon broke midway, they’d have no one else to blame but themselves. This part was also to test the examinee’s judgement in choosing equipment.
Milo was only Awakened tier 2 and seemed to have a cowardly disposition. In normal cases, dudes like this wouldn’t become adventurers. They’d prefer jobs within the territories, whatever they were.
Of course, he could also be the type to exclusively pick the easy territory missions. Finn didn’t judge them. If he had a choice of living well and living safely, why wouldn’t they want to take it?
That said, it did pose some concerns, especially during Aphelion months, because how useful could dudes like that be?
Finn was hoping the man would prove his bias unfair, but he didn’t.
When the lad held up his sword without much confidence, Finn had an inkling that he might not necessarily have wanted to be here.
Finn did not plan to use his skills unless absolutely necessary, when he found out that having so many was unusual, and it seemed like there really would be no need for it this time.
Although he had only been here for a month, he had been fighting hard for most of those days, okay?
He would absolutely not lose to people who didn’t care to grow stronger!