- 14 - Rocks! New Beginnings, Sign Ups

The shop owner smiled, tirelessly as the stranger continued to choose between two identical jade stones. Blankly staring, my mind wandered to other places that weren't there. In the same shop. For the last hour. Looking at the same stones. 

He whined, holding the jade stones up to the window, "Ah. I can't decide. They're both so pretty." The stranger shuffled in place, a frown on his face.

"...Take your time, valued customer." The shop owner voiced; his spirit completely crushed from the line that paraded around the shop, waiting for the cloaked figure to choose a stone.

I was starting to wonder how "valued" we were.

Poor human. 

I stared at him in pity. Not as a lower life form, but as someone who understood his pain. The cause of this headache was the same cloaked stranger and two green rocks. Who would have thought?

Our saving grace from getting kicked out of the store was the navy velvet bag filled to the brim with gold coins. I don't know if it was a good thing or not. After all… it may be better if we got out of here. The line behind us had gotten longer, building up from the last hour with customers that only got more impatient as the time ticked.

From behind us, the voices only grew louder.

"Hurry up!" A woman yelled, holding a baby and necklace in hand.

"What's taking so long?" An older human shouted, both hands pulling at his remaining hair.

These cries from the back soared right over the stranger's head, as he picked up a magnifying glass from the counter to peek closer at the same rock. Like he had done five times already. It was like he was deaf to their pleas, only transfixed on his decision. The tool clanked on the glass, he sighed, letting his shoulder slump.

He faced me, with a frown showing from under his hood," What one do you think I should pick?"

I wanted to tell him that I didn't give a rat's ass about stones, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't help in this situation. Both jade stones were impressively vibrant, those surfaces polished and unique.

However, my pride as a dragon extended to collecting precious jewels. It was a trade hobby, something that was easy considering the raids that would be executed due to military campaigns. The jade in his right hand was larger and had slight discoloration on the bottom. The left one was small but wonderfully green.

To be honest.

They were both equally worthless, both in their unique little ways. I'd seen better pieces of coal from village fires.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" I leveled, grabbing both stones out of his hand and setting it back on the counter in front of the shop owner.

The shop owner looked up with a shred of hope, probably wishing that I'd pull this lunatic out of his establishment. With a quick glance, we met each other's eyes; an instant alliance formed. The terms and conditions? Remove this fool from the store.

He nodded, "Please, the choice is so hard!" So says the man who looked at rocks for an hour straight. I figured. 

Sighing, I slid the rocks to the owner, "Honestly, both rocks are complete garbage and I don't understand why you're wasting everyone's time trying to pick between them."

The shop went silent with shocked faces and dropped jaws. The only unaffected person was the owner, my co-conspirator. A small hope rose amidst this prolonged revelation, the stranger was stared at intently by star-eyed customers. They seemed to pick up the intention.

Now it was the waiting game, the store held its breath. I held my honest expression, not dropping my stance on the matter. Personalities like these ones were straightforward, you just had to play your cards right. And if I was right about this person then…

A breakthrough.

"I guess you're right," He sighed, picking up his coin purse and stuffing it into his cloak. A collective wave of relieved sighs and cheers erupted from the owner and fellow customers.

"Yes! Yes! My stuff is worthless!" The owner jumped in, zipping from behind the shop counter to rush the stranger to the door. He shoved the stranger out with a tap on the shoulder. I followed behind silently, hands in my pocket.

"I run a terrible business! That's right. You should try other stores!" The owner informed, a little too excited, before mouthing thanks to me and slamming the door shut.

The stranger let out a long sigh, sulking, "I'm sorry. I guess I took up all our time together." He apologized, noticing the sun close to the middle of the sky.

He says that like I wasn't forced into this.

That's right. I had been stuck watching this random person, swooning over rocks since early morning. Nor could I escape because of the threatening atmosphere of the other customers when I tried to take a step away from the stranger.

Their message was clear, "If we're having to be put through this, you are too." 

I looked up, pulling the map that Jamie had given me from my pocket. The first landmark was the post office, so… would I go left from here? Then turn right…right? Surely, it couldn't be that hard.

"Hello?" A hand waved in front of my face. The stranger stepped closer, focusing on the red dot showing the arena, "Oh. You're taking the army exams?"

I narrowed my eyes, holding the map out of his sight, "What's it to you?"

He waved his hands, his tone dumbstruck again, "Oh, I was just curious! I mean. I assumed you were some sort of fighter considering your appearance," He rationalized, pointing to the black attire that everyone seemed to be commenting on.

"Sure." I started to march away, hurrying into the crowd towards the arena. Jamie was probably waiting for me already.

The stranger rushed to my side, pleading once again," Wait. Wait! Do you want me to show you where it is?"

I made no move to slow down. Instead, I persisted on, trying to lose him.

"No. I know where I'm going. Now, didn't you promise to leave me alone if I accompanied you? The deal is done. Leave." I reminded him, nearly knocking a man out of my way.

"Damn Kid!" A voice faded into the distance, I paid no attention to it. Onwards, I went.

The stranger continued to pester me, his voice now hesitant, "Are you sure you know where you're going? You're heading to the arena, yes?" He asked, nearly in a light run to catch up to me.

"Yes. Now go away." I rolled my eyes, pushing him away with my hand. I couldn't understand why out of all people, he chose to bug me—this noble pest.

He ran up again. This time his voice was more urgent, "You're heading the wrong way!"

I stopped, turning around with my eyebrow raised, "…No, I'm not."

Honestly, I had no idea. I had no single clue where I was even heading.

He nodded, his stare confirmed his statement. His arm outstretches pointing in the opposite direction, "But...You were supposed to turn there."

"Was I?"

"Yes."

"I see…"

******

We rounded a bend, that exposed the grand entrance of the arena. Hoards of participants chatted amongst themselves, eying anyone that passed.

The stranger handed the map back to me, "And we're here!"

I crinkled the map in my hands. They should had make this kingdom less cumbersome to navigate. It wasn't my fault that I needed help from a local. No, it was using my resources. That was a skill. Besides, it's not like I was lost…

I wasn't lost.

"I suppose," I responded, looking past the crowd to spot Jamie sitting on the ledge of a small fountain. I walked over, pushing past the crowds of participants to where he sat.

He looked up, glancing at the cloaked stranger behind me. Jamie stood up to greet me, passing over a paper, "I already signed you up. Check to make sure it's right."

_____

Participant Name: Asta

Age: 16

Classification: Combat Examination 

EXAM NUMBER: 553

_____

All the information looked right, but I wasn't picky; they were all lies in the first place. I guess they didn't require a lot of information. With this lack of knowledge, anyone could sign up. But I assumed only a few would pass.

"You got it all right." I held the paper, moving to Jamie's side.

He tapped my shoulder, "And this is…?" Jamie waved, awkwardly, at the stranger that stood in front of us, smiling.

Oh, right. I nearly forgot about him.

I shrugged.

"Actually, I don't know."

As he had done before, Jamie tried to cover for my bluntness. It was a trait that I noticed during our interactions. If anything, Jamie was one of those humans that learned to talk his way through life.

He reached out a hand to the cloaked stranger, "I'm not sure how you got stuck with him," glaring towards me, he continued, "But I'm Jamie. This is Asta, if he didn't tell you already."

The stranger met this handshake firmly, revealing his porcelain hand from under the cloak. It must have never seen a day of hard work. Jamie seemed to pick up on this even if he made no move to comment on it.

"You can call me Edwin. It's a pleasure to meet you, Jamie." The stranger's tone was more serious and cordial.

I scoffed. This human… 

"So, I assume you live in the kingdom?" Jamie asked, making casual conversation while I lounged behind him.

Edwin laughed lightly, "You could say that. My family works quite heavily in the kingdom. I assume this means that you both traveled here for the examinations?"

Jamie nodded, "I ran into Asta, and we ended up accompanying each other. He's only sixteen, so he decided to take the exams with me."

A gasp. "You're sixteen?" Edwin stared up at my tall figure in shock.

"Excuse me?" I scowled.

He apologized again, explaining "I just figured you were older than me."

Please. Wasn't this the same person that looked at green rocks for most of the morning? Like he had room to judge me.

"Oh. I'm seventeen but I'll turn eighteen in the next week. How old are you?" Jamie jumped in to save the situation.

"…Ah. I'm nineteen, just turned it so I'll be twenty in a year."

The atmosphere turned awkward, despite Jamie's best attempts to save it. Suddenly a miracle occurred in the form of sound magic.

A mumbled speaker announced, "ALL PARTICIPANTS REPORT TO THE ARENA! AT THIS TIME ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE TO ENTER THE ARENA."

"Ah, that's our cue. You're not entering with us, right?" Jamie asked, already pulling me along towards the entrance.

Edwin shook his head, "Nope. There's no way I'd participate in examinations."

"Ah, all right. It was nice meeting you then. Maybe, we'll see you around the area." Jamie waved goodbye, leading us to the wave of examinees heading toward the arena.

It was a faint whisper, too soft for anyone to have heard it. With my ears, I picked up the silenced amusement from Edwin, a seemingly innocent comment.

"You'll see me around, soldiers."