First test

The line was long enough that from the time Atlas formed until he reached the entrance to the wall, about an hour had passed.

Several times he thought about just turning around and going to do what he had come to the city to do, but he finally decided to wait.

When he finally left the city, he could see that, on both sides of the entrance road, there were dozens of carriages parked along with dozens of people working on various things. There were also horses… or creatures similar to the horses that Atlas knew, grazing while they rested.

Atlas looked curiously at all the people around. From mages to mundane people they wore a uniform with a silver emblem on the chest. While the uniform of mages was mostly black with white touches, the uniform of mundane people was the other way around, mostly white with black touches.

But what surprised Atlas the most was that the clan was not simply made up of humans, but of all races of which there were even some that he had never seen before.

Humans, Elves, Dwarves, beast people, barbarians, there were even some races that Atlas couldn't even recognize.

The Elherud kingdom was a human kingdom, but that did not mean that other species could not enter the kingdom, it simply meant that the majority of the population were humans, which is why Atlas was surprised to see such a high population of other races in the nomadic clan. 

As he looked around, the line began to get shorter and shorter. Atlas moved slightly out of line so that he was in front.

He saw a wooden table and two mages belonging to the clan who were sitting talking to the first person in line. The man was human, his hair was short black and he had glasses that gave him the air of an intellectual.

While the woman was also human, but her cheerful attitude stood out quite a bit compared to the serious man next to her.

It seemed that the two were in charge of the interview, but from what Atlas had seen of those who had already done the interview, they did not give the results immediately.

The clan was supposed to be stationed outside Bleakrun until the end of winter, which meant they would be there for about two more months.

While he waited patiently in line, an elf mage from the clan approached each person in line and handed them a sheet, including Atlas.

"Please read the requirements before proceeding to the interview"

Atlas looked at the paper and began to read it.

The requirements were many, but quite simple, which would not be a problem as long as no one were not a wanted criminal, a noble in order of capture, an infected mage, a monster from the abyss taking human form... or a minor under 15 years old.

Atlas squeezed the sheet and a wry smile formed on his face.

"I wasted an hour of my life for nothing…"

Atlas sighed, and let go of the sheet, letting it fall to the ground. Without thinking much more, he left the line and turned around to re-enter the city.

Those in line gave him strange looks since they themselves had read the requirements. But Atlas simply ignored everyone's gazes and continued walking.

However, he didn't take more than five steps when he felt someone grab his arm. He immediately went on guard, but did not make a hasty move.

'I cannot move…'

Atlas turned his head slowly to see an elf around two meters tall grabbing him. The elf wore a black uniform, but she was different from the others.

Her uniform, instead of having pants and a jacket, was a tunic that reached to her knees and revealed her shirt as a whole.

Atlas swallowed unconsciously.

Even feeling his surroundings, he had not felt the elf approach him, but right now he could feel her. Furthermore, the elf's grip was not normal at all, Atlas knew that, if he tried to struggle, his arm would seriously be crushed.

"Hilur! I told you not to be so abrupt!"

Atlas suddenly heard a deep voice and looked at the dwarf who was approaching them. Like the elf, the dwarf also had a black uniform, but it was only a long tunic that covered all of his legs except for his feet.

As soon as the dwarf spoke, the elf released Atlas, who massaged the place where she had grabbed him.

"He would have left if I hadn't held him" the elf said in a neutral tone, almost as if she had no emotions.

The dwarf simply sighed and approached Atlas.

"I'm sorry for all the inconvenience we caused you"

The dwarf smiled at Atlas, who simply raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"…Can I go?"

The dwarf nodded, but before letting Atlas go, he put his hand in one of his pockets and handed him a piece of wood with something carved into its surface.

"You passed the first test, the second test will be taken next Saturday, I hope you come"

Atlas looked at the piece of wood without understanding what was happening.

"Uh? But…"

"Minor details, we hope to see you next Saturday"

Without saying more, the dwarf turned around and the elf followed closely behind him. Around him, the people who were waiting in line were as surprised as Atlas, and not wanting to cause any more problems, Atlas quickly left the place.