???

I take my adventurer card from Harold and … I don’t get it. My name is on it, but all the blank spaces where my class, my rank and all my skills should be are all full of question marks. In fact, it doesn’t even seem like they are written but rather like they are burned into the paper. And the edges of the card have been singed as well.

“W-what does this mean?” I ask Harold.

“Well, if you had failed your awakening, it would be blank.” Harold replies as he start writing in a notebook. “So, the ceremony definitely worked for you. Though even I have never seen anything like this. It is quite peculiar.”

Then the guards interrupt us to report their findings to Harold. They discovered no traces of trespassing anywhere.

"I see ..." Harold says as the worried look returns to his face.

While Harold is thinking I notice the magic circle, the one that's in front of the goddess's statue, lose its brightness to then remain only as a mark on the floor.

"Looks like the awakening is over." Harold says. "It'll stay like that for 6 months."

So that is why the awakening ceremony is held so few times per year, and why it is always in Riledo instead of another city.

“So, what now?” I ask.

Harold rubs his chin while he thinks for a moment.

“How about you stay in the castle for a while, for observation. Same as everyone who gets an A and B rank. That way we’ll have more time to work out what your unusual awakening implies.”

Harold takes me back to the room where I first met him. But rather than leave that room back to where the receptionist gave me my adventurer card, we take a left turn and exit through a different door. I was so focused on my awakening that I hadn’t even noticed that door when I first got here.

When I get into the next room, I see a group of young people that all resemble adventurers. They are surrounded by a couple of tables which have snacks and drinks on them. I quickly find Ryul over there. So that is where he went.

When Ryul notices me, he quickly walks over to my side.

“Darx, you’re here too.” He says nervously. “Good gods, Darx, I am freaking out.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“Look.” Ryul says and shows me his adventurer card.

On first glance, his card looks a lot different from mine. Everything is filled out, with letters that seem to have been written in ink. At the top is his name and next to that is his class, monk.

“Oh, you’re a monk. Congratulations.” I say.

“Under that.” Ryul says.

That is when I notice he’s got an A rank.

“A.” I say with a smile. “Hey, good job.”

“Darx, I have never trained in combat.” Ryul replies. “How on earth do I become an A rank monk if I have no knowledge of fighting? I don’t get it, man. I’m freaking out.”

I decide to help Ryul calm down by letting him see my adventurer card. At least it helps him take his mind off of his results. As we talk, we grab some of the snacks that have been served, as well as a few drinks. Though when Ryul grabs his first drink he breaks the glass. A servant quickly comes to explain that it's because of the new strength his rank provides him and he hasn't adapted to it yet. It seems to be very common to new adventurers.

After a while, we hear someone ringing a bell. Everybody turns to look and we notice it is Harold who is ringing it. Behind him stand 3 people. One of them I quickly recognize Kiara, the hooded woman who helped me with Kase at the castle entrance. To her right is a guy with red hair and to his right is a dark elf. Dark elves are rare in this kingdom, so I am quite surprised to see someone like her. Yet for some reason she seems familiar to me, but I can’t quite figure out why.

“Excuse me. Can I have everyone’s attention?” Harold announces.

“Alright, thank you all for coming here.” Harold says when it is silent. “You are probably wondering why you have all been asked to stay here instead of heading to the courtyard where the recruiters are. The reason for that is because the queen would like to keep you around for some extra training. Most of you have probably heard stories about untrained adventurers who receive A rank, then think they can take on the world and go for the hardest quest just to get themselves killed. It is our intention to prevent that by making certain each of you receives at least some basic training.”

I see. This must be what Amelia wrote about in her letters. Does that mean Harold expects me to have B or A rank?

“This training will only last a month. During which you will be treated as guests in the castle. You will be given a room, food and water. All at the cost of her majesty the queen.” Harold continues.

Well, at least Ryul won’t have to worry about spending his last silver for a while.

Harold then points at the three people behind him and says, “Behind me stand the people that will be your mentors. They will monitor you over the next month and help you become used to your new skills and magical abilities. Each of them is also a recruiter for a guild. If you impress them, they will offer you a chance to join their guild.”

Harold then takes out his notebook and starts flipping through a few pages.

“Let’s see. Darx, would you mind standing over here.” Harold says as he points to a place close to him.

I walk over to the spot Harold has been pointing at. Then Harold calls out the name Leona. From amongst the crowd, the girl with the cat ears from earlier steps out and comes to stand next to me. So that is her name.

I hold out my hand and say, “Hello again, Leona.”

Leona doesn’t shake my hand, but still says, “Hi.” Then she crosses her arms in front of her chest.

Next Harold calls out the name Shalia. The person walking to us is another girl. A human this time, but one with pink hair and her eyes are just slightly different from what I am used to. I think I’ve heard of such people before. Supposedly they live a Duchy in the north west. A different race of humans that are called Asians.

“Hello, Shalia.” I say while holding out my hand.

“Hello, Darx.” Shalia replies and shakes my hand.

The next name Harold calls is Miranda. This time it is a girl with dark skin that walks over to us. Like Shalia, she too is a different race of humans, but one that seems to live in the Duchy of Jendayi to the south west, close to the coast. I greet Miranda the same way I did for Leona and Shalia and she too shakes my hand.

The following name that is called is Gerald, a guy’s name. But instead of walking over to our side, the guy stays where he is and protests against Harold’s decision.

“You don’t expect me to team up with a beast-kind, do you?” He says. Is he referring to Leona?

“Do you have a problem with that?” Harold asks?

“Dude. What if she goes all feral and claws my eyes out? You can’t trust those animals.”

I will admit that Leona has been on the cold side mostly, but I haven’t seen any signs of her being unnecessarily violent.

While Harold is thinking about how to respond, Ryul raises his hand and says, “Harold, sir. I have no problem being in a team with Leona. So, if Gerald doesn’t want to, I’m willing to take his place.

“Alright then, Ryul. Thanks for volunteering.” Harold replies.

Nice, having someone on my team that I already know is going to make my stay a lot more fun.

“And the last one is Wendy.” Harold then says.

When Harold calls out Wendy’s name, a redhead with freckles comes out to join us. Her clothes seem old and cheap and it looks like her hair hasn’t been washed. Maybe she wasn’t able to pay for a caravan to take her here and had to walk all the way to Riledo? Like with all the others, I greet Wendy and shake her hand.

After that, Harold starts grouping up the others. A few of us start whispering to each other and I notice Wendy sneaking off to the tables to grab another something to eat.

When Harold is done sorting us, we are comprised of 3 teams. That is when he turns around and tells the mentors they can start picking teams.

I see Kiara turn her head in my team’s direction and then she says, “I would like that group there.”

“Oh? You don’t usually pick out a team so quickly, Kiara. Why the change?” The dark elf mentor asks.

“They simply seem like an interesting group to start with.” Kiara replies. “Nothing special.”

After that Kiara walks up to our group.

“Alright, people. We’ll be heading to a different room now.” Kiara announces. “Feel free to grab some food if you’re still hungry, it’ll take a while and I don't want you getting hungry.

All of us take Kiara up on her offer and grab a snack. Wendy instead pushes a small snack into her mouth and starts eating it, then grabs a bigger one in each of her two hands.

Kiara then heads out of the room and we follow her. She walks us all the way to a room which has a lot of chairs, a large map of the city on the wall, a mannequin with a white cloth over it and a whole bunch of other stuff. Kiara tells us to take a seat, which we do.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate all of you for doing well on your awakening.” Kiara compliments us. “The reason you are here is because you have already done well and we want to help you maximize your potential.”

Kiara’s voice is soft and calm, much like how she spoke to Kase earlier.

"As Harold has already told you, you will be staying here for a whole month. Your first week shall be with me. Next week, one of the other mentors will take over and the week after that it’ll be the third mentor. This way each of us three will be able to observe you for a bit. The last week, you will be given a chance to choose your own mentor. At the end of the month, the mentors shall officially hand out invitations to whichever of you that we feel is worthy of joining our guilds. Some of you may receive multiple invitations, others may receive no invitations at all. It depends on how you succeed in proving yourselves. Is that clear?”

Everybody simply nodded.

“Good. Let’s introduce ourselves then.” Kiara says.