Chapter 29 – Flaming barbarian

Adam had been filling in the long form for both the girls for quite some time now.

"Done."

"You are done filling in the forms? Good." Mrs Bren's voice came from behind him.

Turning around he noticed Mrs Bren peering over his shoulder at the two forms on the paper. He had been too focused on the forms to pay much attention to his surroundings.

He had absolutely no idea when this lady had crept up on him.

"Ah, Mrs Bren… please don't surprise me like that." He said calmly and handed her the two freshly filled forms.

"I have been standing here for about five minutes now. You really need to pay more attention to your surroundings." She gave him a light tap on his head. Turning around she made her way to her desk where she deposited the two forms into a drawer.

"Come you three let's go to the celestial enlightenment stone." She led the way up the stairs to the same room that she had taken Adam to the time before.

'I would've noticed if any normal person would have walked up to me.' He was trying to figure out how Mrs Bren had snuck up on him. It was true that he was not paying his utmost attention to his surroundings but for her to stand behind him for 5 minutes without him even realizing…

Adam's senses were a lot sharper than the ordinary person since he was born. He attributed it to the passive ability of Enhanced Sensory. In combat, this ability would rise significantly but even outside of combat it was not negligible.

'It seems a guild is a place filled with crouching tigers. I shouldn't underestimate anyone here.' He came to the only logical conclusion.

Creak.

Mrs Bren pushed the door open to the room. The insides of the room were the same as they had been when he had gone in.

"So… which one of you two cuties wants to go first?" She asked with a sweet smile.

Both the girls looked toward Adam.

"It doesn't matter which one of you goes first. How about this? Elaine can go first and then Luna. Is that fine with you two?" He said after thinking about it for a bit.

"Alright." Not saying anything more Elaine strutted into the room as the door closed behind her.

After the initiation, Luna would be confirmed to have the darkness element. In the extra time of Elaine's initiation, Mrs Bren could ask which element she had gotten. Things would get very dicey then.

He did not want to stay too long at the guild after Luna would be confirmed with the darkness element. It was best to shorten that time as much as possible.

Just as he was worrying over this.

"She should be out in a few minutes. It is very rare to see people like little Adam who spend over an hour inside. Oh, I completely forgot to ask. This child next to you. She has a special constitution right?"

Ba Bump!

His heart sank to the floor. He had tried to avoid this conversation at all costs but it had still ended up happening.

Taking a breath he calmed down quickly. He could not show any emotions or say anything that would let the secret slip.

'It's not all bad. She has only asked if Luna has a special constitution.' It was basically impossible to tell a bodies constitution just from their physical attributes.

This could be seen from how the villagers in the girl's tribe had first tested Luna for the light attribute before they exiled them. Tools to test elemental attributes were very expensive magic tools. They must have placed their hopes on her having the light attribute. If she did, the whole village would have seen it as a blessing.

The elder who had taken them in, obviously would not have the funds to test the girl so he had always stayed guarded.

Even professionals like Ungads team hadn't found out about her until they brought her back and interrogated her.

"Yes, I believe she does." He replied in a calm tone.

"Has she been tested for an element yet?" Mrs Bren was just making casual conversation while they waited for the completion of the initiation.

She did not realize how much stress she was putting Adam through.

However, he was already prepared for this outcome. For her to ask this after the previous question was to be expected. It was what most people would do.

"No. this will be her first time." He could only do his best to maintain his usual demeanour and pull through this conversation.

"Oh, that's odd. Usually, tribes would jump at the opportunity to test babies with special constitutions. They are very rare after all." She gave a curious look to the silent Luna. Luna had been told before to let Adam handle the situation if this topic came up. So she only looked back and smiled as if she was completely ignorant of the matter.

This move by her was a stroke of genius as Mrs Bren who had been growing suspicious could not begin to get herself to doubt this ignorant looking child.

"I don't know either. They have had a hard past so I wasn't too keen on pushing them to tell me everything." Adam could not tell what had just happened so he just continued the conversation.

"I see. That is for the best. We will find out today anyway. There is no rush. I wonder which of the seven elements constitution she has." Mrs Bren said with expectation.

"Seven elements? I thought only the light and darkness element would give a person a special constitution." Adam's curiosity was peaked by her words.

"Hmm, what I'm about to tell you is classified information so don't go spreading it okay. You are only allowed to know this because the little one next to you has a special constitution." It seemed that she had 'let slip' her earlier comment on purpose to create a more intense environment for what she was about to say.

"Okay." Adam and Luna nodded obediently.

Mrs Bren seemed to be very satisfied with their response. She couldn't help but smile at the two kids in front of her.

"If someone has a high enough affinity with any of the elements they can exhibit special physical characteristics of that specific element. Of course, these physical attributes vary and it is very hard to tell what element they harbour just from it. The guild hides this information to make sure no one with a special constitution ends up exploited. Of course, every coin has two sides but I will not get into it for now."

Adam did not need her to explain. The two sisters were a good example. The tribe only knew that the light and darkness element had special constitutions so they only checked Luna for the light element then made their assumption.

If they knew that she could also have the other five elements would they have still exiled her? This was a question that did not have an answer as time could not be reversed.

Luna's eyes lit up when she heard that she had other possibilities.

"however there are some race's with very high affinities to a certain attribute and it shows. For example, the Lava golem race that resides in the Dwarven volcanic plateau. Said to be descendants of a monster and dungeon golem lineage, they are innately born with fire elemental bodies. Their characteristic of shoulders that emit flames and flame hair is a very good indicator."

"Now that you know that all the elements can provide special constitution bodies… Which element do you think this little one has?" She once more focused on Luna as if she was trying to find out everything about her.

"I'd say the wind or light attribute. But this is only because of the colour of her hair." Adam pretended to guess.

"I was thinking the same!" Mrs Bren chimed in.

An animated conversation ensued with Mrs Bren afterwards.

When the door finally opened, a beaming Elaine rushed out and jumped in front of Adam.

Adam was just about to let a sigh out and relax after that stressful conversation had ended when Elaine popped up centimetres away from his face.

Her shimmering light golden eyes locked gazes with him.

"Guess!" That's all she said and she started bouncing up and down on her feet.

"Let me guess… Hmm, If it's you then…." He started thinking up of the best combination to poke fun at her. He took his right elbow in his left palm and stroked his chin. Pretending to be thinking very seriously.

Luna knew exactly what Adam was doing so she giggled and made her way into the room. She was sure her sister would explode the second their young master spoke, so she got away quickly.

The door to the celestial enlightenment room closed behind her.

"Tank class with the fire element. A true barbarian set up." He said then gave a high and mighty smirk to this girl who was right in front of him.

He was expecting a punch to come his way but nothing happened.

Opening his closed eyes, he saw a completely stunned Elaine with a gaping mouth. She was looking at him like he was a ghost.

"H..ho...How did you know?!" Elaine stammered out.

"Huh? I was right?" He himself was surprised. Soon he began to laugh.

"Haha, so you really did become a complete barbarian. Just as I had predicted." He was still a little annoyed by her messing with his sleep this morning. Now that he had a chance to tease her, he took full advantage of the situation.

'Is it petty of me to make fun of her like this?' He thought to himself. 'No! this is justice! Mans sleep is sacred. It is a fundamental essence of life that deserves to be given its due respect through long hours of uninterrupted sleep. All hail the gods of slumber!' If anyone heard the crazy ramblings that were going through his mind right now, he wouldn't be too far off from being sent to a mental health facility.

He took his sleep way too seriously.

"Hmph. You make fun of me now but when you need me I won't protect you! I'll be super strong… you'll see." She had come out with the intention of being praised but instead, she had given him ammunition to tease her.

She folded her arms in front of her and stared daggers at him.

"Okay. Okay! I'm sorry. I went too far. Your choice was really good. You will be a great help when we go into the dungeon." Her words had snapped him out of crazy land.

The fire element was known for being explosive while the Tank class was known to be a fortress that protected. Combining the explosiveness with a fortress-like body was a great combination. She would be a nightmare to monsters even if they attacked her en masse in the future.

"Really?" She looked at him a little unconvinced.

"Yes, of course. We will all train together." He had truly been a bit unreasonable to her the whole day. She had a way to annoy him but he could not help but like her when she acted like this.

"Okay! I'll forgive you then. I have one condition though…" She became energetic again.

"As long as it isn't anything too hard to do." He was intrigued by what she wanted.

"Lift your hand young master." She maintained an eager look.

Not knowing what she wanted, Adam lifted his hand slightly.

Swift like the wind, Elaine's two hands grabbed his hand and interlocked fingers with him. She then stood beside him quietly with a blush on her face.

"You… Is this going to become a habit?" He really didn't mind though. As long as she would forgive him with this. Plus she also seemed very happy doing so. He did not mind indulging her a little.

"So what if it is? It is fine yes?" Her big eyes looked at him pleadingly.

"Ugh, alright." He could not refuse when she looked at him so innocently. These girls had gotten attached to him and he had promised to be their protector. He also wasn't the least bit averse toward the two. In fact, he felt very close to them from the first time he met them.

Mrs Bren watched the two bickering amongst themselves with her heart melting from the sweetness of their innocent interaction's.

Creak.

The door opened once more. Luna had taken around the same time as her sister.

But unlike her sister who had rushed out, she stepped out slowly. There was a smile plastered on her face but Adam could tell something was wrong.

Elaine who was holding his hand also had a hint of worry flash through her eyes.

Adam walked forth, with Elaine matching his steps. Coming in front of Luna he didn't know what to say.

Luna came close to him just like her sister had and said: "Guess!"

A smile was on her face but Adam was close enough to see the unshed tears in her eyes. He knew that she was putting on this act so that Mrs Bren wouldn't find anything suspicious.

He let out a short sigh.