Chapter 4: Rank Up

Alice and Braydon spent the next few days taking two to four quests a day and ranked up after about a week of being in the guild. "Welcome back~! Have you completed your quest?" The clerk asked.

"Yep, that makes fifteen." Braydon said.

"Oh my, really~?" The clerk asked as Braydon placed the quest and horns on the desk as well as his card. Alice placed her card on the desk as well. "My, my, it appears you're all ready for the next rank, would you like to rank up now?" She asked.

"Both of us would, yes." Braydon said.

"Alright, I'll be taking your cards to the back, please wait here." She said as she brought their cards into the back room. After a few moments, the clerk came back with the guild master.

"So, you managed to rank up in a week." He stated gruffly. Braydon nodded.

"Indeed." Alice said with a bland tone.

"I see. In order to ensure you are ready, you will be taking a test, follow me." The guild master said as the clerk opened the back area for Braydon and Alice. The guild master walked into the back room and Braydon as well as Alice hesitantly followed as murmurs from the guild goers rose asking if they really managed to rank up in a week.

They followed the guild leader through the storage room and into another room. "This is a pocket dimension used only for those who can be considered extraordinary, it will be where your test is taking place." The clerk said.

The room is reminiscent of a colosseum with sand covering the ground and tall stone walls with seats that raise a layer with every new row from the center. The sound easily bounces and reaches even the farthest reaches of the colossal build.

Upon looking up, Alice noticed the roof is actually the sky. She tugged on Braydon's sleeve. "What?" He asked. Alice motioned for him to look up and he saw the same thing.

"I want to be capable of this." Alice said.

"That would take a lot of practice, missy." The guild master said.

"I suppose..." She said as she pondered a few possibilities. "I wouldn't know unless I try though." She said after a few moments. The guild master laughed.

"That's the spirit, don't let anything deter you." He said. After a few moments, he began explaining a few things. "Your test is to spar with me. You can go against me as a team or alone, I'll let you guys decide." He said.

Guild Master Leo's stats:

Health: 29

Mana: 9

Stamina: 176

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 7

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 6

Charisma: 3

Agility: 8

Luck: 3

Alice looked at Braydon. "What would you rather?" She asked.

"Solo." He said with determination. Alice nodded.

"I'll let you go first, it looks like you want to." Alice said as she stepped back.

"So it'll be the boy first?" Leo asked. Braydon nodded.

"Alright, Alice, please follow me to the seats while they spar." The clerk said as she reached her hand to Alice. Alice took her hand and was guided to a door in the colosseum wall which leads to the seating area.

Braydon and Leo went to opposing sides of the colosseum and prepared themselves. As Braydon mentally prepared himself, he observed his opponent. Leo is rather large, not in a fat sense, but rather in a muscular sense as well as his height, standing at about six foot three inches.

He has tanned skin and a piercing glare. His hair is short and black with a slight gloss to it coming from the reflection of the sun. "Ready? Begin!" The clerk said. Immediately, the both of them charged at each other.

Once they reached each other, Braydon started with a sweep kick, however, Leo jumped back slightly and feigned a right hook, then used a left jab, hitting Braydon's shoulder.

Braydon went back a couple of inches and quickly recovered as he threw a left roundhouse at Leo which barely landed. Leo stood steadfast as the hit landed and quickly responded with a sweep kick, mimicking Braydon's earlier movements.

"He's doing well." The clerk said as the battle raged.

"I guess. He isn't doing his best though." Alice said boorishly.

"What do you mean?" The clerk asked.

"You know that I am primarily a magic user, right?" Alice asked with a monotone voice. The clerk nodded. "I am a magic-user due to a large amount of latent mana and talent." She explained.

"I see. That does make sense, especially when considering your age, but what does that have to do with your brother?" The clerk asked. Alice looked at her as if she were dumb for a moment.

"We're siblings. He has a similar mana capacity. His talent isn't quite there, but the potential is. He could use magic to boost his physical abilities." Alice explained.

"I... I see." She responded. "So what you are saying is, he could easily win if he utilized his latent mana supply, right?" She asked. Alice nodded. "Now that I think of it, I've heard of a few groups of martial artists that utilize this method, but it usually takes a while to learn and requires a large amount of mana." She added.

"Indeed. If we put it in numerical terms, most mages would have somewhere between one hundred and two thousand mana by my estimate." Alice said.

"What about you?" The clerk asked.

"One hundred thousand." She said coldly.

"A-are you sure?" She asked. Alice turned to face the clerk.

"Do you want to find out?" She asked coldly as she held out her hand, palm facing up. Hesitantly, the clerk placed hers on top and Alice began to channel her mana into the clerk.

After less than a second, the clerk shrieked in horror as the densest mana she had ever felt flowed into her body. She quickly pulled her hand away and backed away a bit.

"Are you... The witch of the north?" She asked hesitantly with fear. Alice looked at her with a confused expression.

"Who is that?" She asked.

"You... Don't know?" The clerk asked as she calmed down. Alice shook her head.

"I don't. Honestly... I've noticed people tend to avert their gaze from me, but I assumed that it was because I released a large amount of mana over a simple insult, even if it wasn't intended as one." Alice said reflectively.

"I see... Well, the witch of the north is a character from a myth of a time long past. She has white hair and pale skin, her eyes were red as blood and she was said to have started as just a simple adventurer, but after various events, she became twisted. She started killing and didn't stop. Eventually, she gained the title of the demon lord, and a hero was summoned to kill her."

"Oh, I see." Alice said.

"That's... All you have to say after hearing that?" She asked.

"What did you want me to say?" Alice asked gruffly. "Oh, how horrible, I never want to be associated with her! She was a monster, oh how horrible!" She said with a mocking tone.

"Well, usually people would be a bit more distraught over being compared to an individual who committed mass atrocities..." The clerk said.

"I wonder why that is..." Alice said as she pondered a few things. "Well, let's continue watching." She said as she changed the topic.

(Back to where we were in the fight....)

Braydon hopped slightly to avoid the kick and barely managed to dodge. Once he landed, he threw a basic jab which Leo easily dodged and grabbed. Once Leo had a grip on Braydon's arm, he pulled forward, pushing him off balance.

Quickly, Leo turned around and kicked the back of Braydon's knee, pushing Braydon onto the ground. "Alright, I've lost." Braydon said as with his face in the ground

"Right, then, you pass." Leo said. Braydon used his arms and puched himself onto all fours, then turned over and sat on the ground.

"You sure? I didn't manage to beat you, after all." Braydon said.

"This was a test to ensure you can manage the next rank despite only having been here a week." Leo said.

"Ahhh, I see." Braydon said. "Well then, good match." Braydon said as he stood up and offered Leo a handshake. Leo shook hands with Braydon, then Braydon was lead to the seating area and Alice was lead to the colosseum.

"I won't be going easy one you, missy." Leo said.

"I see. Then neither will I..." Alice said. She quickly put hr hand up. "Actually, never mind, that's a lie." She said. Leo laughed.

"You've quite the humor." Leo said. "Alright, Irene, start it." Leo said.

"Right! Ready? Start!" The clerk said. The moment it started Alice disappeared from everyone's view and appeared behind Leo, quickly sweeping his feet bringing him to the ground.

As Leo attempted to turn around, Alice generated an ice spike and pointed it at Leo. Once Leo had turned around, his face was greeted with an ice spike less than two inches away.

"I've won this." Alice said coldly.

"I concede." Leo said. Alice dissipated the spike, then yawned and stretched. "Did you teleport?" Leo asked.

"No." Alice said.

"Then what did you do?" He asked.

"I walked quickly." Alice said as she walked away.

"Walked quickly?" Leo mumbled with disbelief.

Once Alice got up to the seating area, Braydon walked over to her and karate chopped her head lightly. "Oi, don't break people's ego's just because it makes your life simpler." Braydon said.

"Ow, ow, ow." She said as she lightly winced. "I didn't! I made sure it was swift and that he knew the gap between us, that won't hurt anyone's ego!" Alice said defensively with pain.

Braydon sighed. "Imagine how you would feel as a thirty-year-old man getting defeated by a ten-year-old girl in less than three seconds." Braydon said.

"Ah, no! That wasn't supposed to happen!" Alice said as she jumped off of the wall of the colosseum into the arena. She quickly went to Leo. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude!" She said.

Braydon jogged down from the seating area and joined the conversation. "Sorry, she just doesn't realize how aloof she tends to seem. She doesn't mean anything bad, but her tendency to look for the path of least resistance tends to get to people. So again, sorry." Braydon said with a slight bow.

Alice looked at Braydon and copied his motions. Leo laughed. "It's fine. I just didn't expect such a small girl to be able to defeat me so quickly." Leo said. "Well, anyway, let's go get you two your new rank cards." Leo said as he motioned Alice and Braydon to follow him out of the room.

Braydon and Alice followed him out and were directed to wait in front of the desk. "As you likely already know, each of these receptionists must now follow your orders for the next month no matter what they are, so long as it isn't to increase your rank, take from the guild, or things like that." Leo explained as he pointed to the clerks.

"That's correct. Each of us clerks will be informed of this. There are a total of ten clerks, myself included." Irene said as she pressed her breasts up like usual. "That does include you both, by the way, anything goes. Giving up our money, homes, public nudity, sexual acts, public sexual acts, having us wear something specific, anything." Irene said.

Braydon looked at Alice. She gave a light smile. "Go ahead, I'll wait." She said lightly.