The Shaggy-haired Practitioner

[Third POV]

Once Klee and Shizu were done with the paper, they both return to the reception area and give it to the woman behind the counter.

"Here's the paper, miss~"

"Ah, thank you for- Oh my..."

As the woman begins to read Klee's registration paper, she seems to be bothered on the job that the elf girl decided on.

"Is there something wrong, miss?"

"Umm, young lady. Why did you choose the subjugation division? Would it better if it is gathering or exploration division?"

The woman questions Klee's decision to choose the most dangerous division among the three, and the elf responded to the question.

"Because I want to blow up monsters~"

Klee cheerfully told her answer to woman, which worries the not only the woman, but also the people within the guild who were listening.

Shizu on the other hand, looks like she doesn't care. But in actuality, she also worries for the elf child's safety.

'To think that Klee could say something like that. It's very concerning' Shizu thought to herself as she anxiously watches the cheerful elf child.

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While the people were gossiping about Klee, there are two men who were watching the elf child on the hallway. One of them is the guild master and the other one is a shaggy-haired man.

"Is that the girl you wanted me to test, Fuze?"

"Yes. However, please go easy on her, Jiggis"

"Seriously?"

As the guild master confirms the question, the shaggy-haired man was utterly confused due to the childish appearance of Klee. He doesn't believe a small child like her would survive the test.

"I know this sounds unbelievable but Kaval's party informed me that they saw Klee blew up a horde of monsters with explosive magic"

"Huh?! What did you just say?!"

The shaggy-haired man was shocked to hear Fuze's claims and he looks back at the elf child in disbelief.

'An elf child capable of using explosive magic? How preposterous, there's no way that this is true'

The man seems very skeptical and suspicious of the claims and wanted to be sure if the information was real. So, he decided to approach the elf child and settle the matter in his own hands.

When he confronted Klee, the elf child seems curious of the person in front of her. They stared each other in the eyes before one of them begins to speak.

"Umm.... Hello, mister. How can I help you?" Klee curiously asked, pondering why a random person approaches her.

"So, you're the elf girl named Klee, right?"

"Yes, I am"

"Then you're the one that Fuze wanted to be tested, correct?"

"Yes, he told me that I will be an adventurer if I do that~"

Klee cheerfully answered the shaggy-haired man's questions, which bothers him a little. He felt contradicted on whether he could trust her adorable demeanor or not.

"Anyway, my name is Jiggis and I will be the practitioner who will conduct the test, so prepare yourself, kiddo"

"Okay~"

Klee gleefully complied to the man's words, which charms him without his realization. Then his mouth involuntarily opens and then....

"So cute..."

"What was that, mister?"

"!!"

The shaggy-haired man was surprised that he said something unconsciously, which made him angry on himself for lowering his guard.

"N-nothing! Forget what I said and let's get moving, brat"

"Okay~"

He then prompted Klee to come with him somewhere and the elf girl happily complied before following him from behind.

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Meanwhile, Shizu was silently watching the whole conversation on the background. Her concerns towards Klee was increasing when she noticed that the shaggy-haired man was getting agitated.

She doesn't know what was the cause of his aggression but she prepares herself to protect Klee when something bad will happen.

Fortunately, the conversation was over and she watches them leave. Shizu decided to follow them in order to ensure Klee's safety.

"Hey Shizu, where are you going?"

However, a familiar voice calls out to her, which Shizu noticed. She looks at the direction of the noise and saw Eren approaching her, together with Kaval and Gido following from behind.

"It's you three, what are you doing here?"

"We saw you following Klee and that shaggy-haired weirdo. So, we figured that we should also come and see the show"

Eren responded to Shizu's question, explaining to her about their intension and the two men nodded in agreement.

"I see, then come with me you three"

"""Yes, ma'am""""

The three adventurers complied to come with Shizu and they followed her towards the place where the shaggy-haired man escorted Klee.

They eventually, ends up in an arena-like facility and they saw the elf girl and the shaggy-haired man standing on the middle. Not only that, Fuze was also there, along with some few bystanders who were waiting for the test to begin.

"Hey old geezer, you're here to watch our cute elf buddy getting hurt?"

"Yeah, you could have just believed us and don't need to do this"

"Poor Klee, getting thrown in the lion's den, sniff"

*Bonk* *Bonk* *Bonk*

"Shut up, you idiots! I'm just making sure I could see her abilities myself, so behave yourselves and just watch the battle"

The guild master bonked the three adventurers and reprimanded them for their annoying remarks.

The three adventurers reluctantly complied to him while grunting angrily. Shizu on the other hand, was focusing her attention on Klee and hoping she will be okay.

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Meanwhile, in Klee's side. She was confronting the shaggy-haired man inside a large magic circle, patiently waiting for his instruction.

"Listen here, brat. This test will determine your strength and rank within the adventurer guild. You will start from the very bottom, which is the F rank. Are we clear?"

"Yes~"

The shaggy-haired man explains to Klee about the purpose of the test, in which the elf girl responded cheerfully.

"As long as you stay within this magic circle while defeating monsters, you will pass the test"

"Eh? But where's the monsters, mister?"

Klee ponders confusedly as she looks around the arena, searching for the monsters that the shaggy-haired man was talking about.

Upon hearing the elf girl's perplex answer, the man grinned menacingly as he raise his walking cane and slams the tip to the ground, causing a summoning circle to appear.

"I'm glad you ask, brat. Because the monster you're looking for is right here"

"Huh?"

"Come forth, [Hound Dog]"

*GRRRRRR*

As the summoning circle begins to glow brightly, a faint growl of a monster can be heard and then flesh begins to appear, creating a creature that looks like a massive wolf.

"Say hello to the [Hound Dog], Brat"

"Wow, that's a huge puppy~"

Klee was getting excited when she saw a huge dog appears out of nowhere, which annoys the man but he quickly regain his composure and he respond to the elf girl.

"Hmph, let's see if your cheerful demeanor will save your skin after this monster pounces at you, brat! Now, begin!!"

*AWOOOOO*

The Hound Dog howls menacingly at Klee as it begins to charge towards her. When she saw the monster approaching her direction, she quickly uses her [Bomb Creation] skill and create a relatively small bomb.

After that, Klee winds up her throw and she waits for the perfect opportunity. As the monster begins to pounce and opens it jaws wide, she hurls the bomb at the creature's gapping mouth before rolling away to safety.

*BOOOM* *SPLAT*

Finally, the bomb within the monster explodes wildly, causing the creature's guts and flesh to be splattered all over the place.

With the defeat of the monster, everyone who were watching within the arena were utterly speechless by the elf girl's total victory.

"Holy crap, Klee! That was brutal!"

"Yeah, the monster doesn't even stand a chance!"

"Oh my god! That was amazing!"

Suddenly, the three adventurers voice out their astonishment on the performance that Klee showed. The three of them cheered at her, showing their support to the little elf child.

'So, this is the explosive magic that those idiots were talking about? How marvelous...'

On the other hand, Fuze was utterly shocked to see the result of the battle. He was flabbergasted, unable to comprehend the elf girl's explosive magic in action.

Then there's Shizu, who was silently observing the battlefield. However, underneath that stoic exterior hides a woman who was both anxious and concerned about the safety of Klee.

'Thank goodness, she's okay. It's a good thing she was able to fight.'

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While the spectators within the arena were surprised by the aftermath, Klee was standing in the midst of the bloodshed in the battlefield.

'Note to self, chucking a bomb to the monster's mouth wasn't a very good idea. Urgh, monster's guts really stinks'

Despite having a cheerful smile on her face, she was feeling sick in the inside because the smell of monster guts and flesh splattered all over her surroundings.

"Hurray~ That was fun~"

Not only that, she was trying her best to maintain her childish personality in order to keep her true identity hidden and prevent her facade to be exposed.

That being said, her lively nature not only makes her look innocent but it made some people uncomfortable and scared of the elf child.

"Mister, what's next? Is there more monsters to blow up?"

Klee curiously asked the shaggy-haired man who was being quiet for the past few minutes. He doesn't look angry like he normally would, but instead he was ecstatic due to what happened.

"Hehe, not bad, kid. I thought you would be just some weak little brat, but it turns out you are something else. And for that, I shall give you the next opponent"

The shaggy-haired man smirks after telling his thoughts to Klee and then he taps the ground with the tip of his cane, creating another summoning circle.

"Come forth, [Dark Goblin]"

The summoning circle begins to glow brightly and a dark-skinned creature slowly rises from the ground. The creature was equipped with a full set of armor and a sword on its hand.

With a mischievous smirk on its face, the dark goblin brandishes it sword and taunts Klee, trying to provoke her. This annoys the elf girl so much that she unconsciously uses her [Bomb Creation] skill.

"Well, what do you think, brat? Are you intimidated to this monster or-"

"His face looks so ugly and gross!!"

Before the shaggy-haired man could finish his sentence, Klee shouted loudly as she hurls the bomb towards the dark goblin.

*KABOOM*

As the bomb came in contact with the monster, it exploded so strong the dark-skinned creature got obliterated from existence, in which none of its body parts were spared.

Upon seeing the fight ended so quickly, the spectators including the practitioner himself were utterly surprised by the immediate result.

In spite of that, the three adventurers still cheered for Klee's victory, giving praises and words of encouragement to boost her morale.

Then there's the guild master, who was fascinated by the explosive magic that Klee displayed. He was quite astonished by what he is saw, causing him to believe the information about the elf girl.

And finally, there's Shizu who's still maintaining a stoic and calm demeanor while watching Klee's battle. However, in actuality she seems a bit bothered, not because of the elf girl's reckless action but rather the fiery explosion of the bomb she saw.

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Upon going back to the battlefield, Klee has finally calm down after she lost her cool in her previous test with the dark goblin.

She wasn't expecting to snap after the monster tried to provoke her, causing her to attack carelessly using her explosion magic.

'Damn, I almost lost myself for a second there. Curse that goblin, it is worse than a hilichurl'

Klee thought to herself, cursing the dark goblin for annoying her earlier. Eventually, the elf girl moves on from that encounter and focuses on what will come next.

"I'm sorry, mister. I got a little excited earlier~"

Klee apologizes to the shaggy-haired man for the inconvenience. However, the man appears to be more ecstatic than before due to the previous test.

"Hehe, it's alright, brat. In fact, I'm glad that you passed that test"

"Really? That is a relief"

"Of course. And for that, I figure we should skip to rank B and test you for real"

The shaggy-haired man informs Klee regarding about the rank skip. Upon hearing his word, the people who were watching were quite worried for the elf girl.

"Hey Jiggis, what the hell are you saying? Stop this at once!" Fuze reprimanded Jiggis, telling him to cease the test.

"The old geezer is right. Klee couldn't handle that rank"

"Yeah, she'll die if she takes that test!"

"That is absolutely crazy of you, shaggy hair"

After the guild master was done reprimanding, the three adventurers followed it up with their own rebukes. They do not approve of Klee doing the higher rank test in fear of her dying.

Shizu also doesn't agree of seeing a child facing a dangerous foe. Although she didn't voice it out, she was by their side, silently supporting the peers in their goal to stop the test.

"Shut it, all of you. You all wouldn't understand what it's like to test a powerful brat like her"

However, despite the cries of Klee's peers, the shaggy-haired man didn't waver and proceeds to tap his cane to the ground, creating one more summoning circle.

"Come forth, [Lesser Demon]!!"