‘Kill me!’ George thought as he racked his brain to answer the questions on the written test. Reading was already a challenge for him and now he was being asked to differentiate between herbs he had never heard of before. He’d rather face a hundred mana beasts and do it all over again than sit here and write about how best to treat a wound inflicted by a venomous mana beast. He wasn’t even aware of mana beasts until just yesterday and now he’s being quizzed on the snapping turtle beast and Dire mana wolves. How was he to know how to extract the mana core? How was he to know how to cleanly butcher one? His dad had always taken care of preparing the pig at the start of winter and it hadn’t been very long since he even got to help.

George massaged his temples, chewed on the testing pencil, squeezing whatever he had out of that noggin of his. 

The room was packed to the brim with people. Some looked like they had steam coming out from the top of their heads. Thankfully, George wasn’t the only one feeling the pressure. The sound of pencils scratching against paper with the occasional scrapping of chairs only fueled his unease. Was this the life of city folk? This sure was tougher than anything he had to do on the farm. 

“How amusing. Something trivial as this is challenging to you?” Fafnir sneered in his head. “If you want, say the magic word and I’ll gladly help you.” 

George clenched his jaws tightly. 

“Nope, I can do this myself.” He whispered quietly which made some people look at him as if he was a nutjob. 

What was the crucial ingredient in potion making? How would he know that? What is the most forbidden thing an adventurer could do? Killing people right? That’s—That’s generally forbidden. Right?

“Alright pencils down.” The examiner said as his assistants came to collect their papers. “What’d you get on question 10?” He heard a person whisper. “I don’t even remember.” Another replied. 

All the examinees rushed out into the hall. Each complaining about how hard the test was while some snobbish looking people held their heads up high, feeling superior because they didn’t struggle. George meanwhile wasn’t looking great, the written exam had taken a lot out of him. As expected, becoming an adventurer is no easy feat. Experienced adventurers’ must have mastered the art of survival and who knew you needed extensive knowledge of plants and navigation. Truly, adventuring is an arduous task not many are capable of. 

“Next up is the endurance run right?” George overheard someone saying.

“Yeah, I heard terrible things about the previous batch. Apparently less than 5% that applied made it.”

The crowds of people continued to murmur as they all headed towards the next test. Soon, they were all gathered around an enclosed dirt path. George’s heart thumped, cold beads of sweat formed on his face as the words of the passersby sunk in. The others around him weren’t doing any better, they all had pale faces. 

“You know, if you want. I can help you George.” Fafnir whispered. “Just say the word.”

“No, what are you playing at? If you wanted to, you could have already taken over my body.” He whispered back.

“But that’s not fun at all. No, I want you to submit to me on your own accord. That is what I, a merciful lord, grants to her most valued subject.”

The crowd’s murmurs died down as some dressed in leather armor appeared suddenly in the middle of the dirt path. She inhaled deeply and then shouted. “The second to last test will have you run until I’ve stopped running.” She informed them, pausing before declaring again. “You can get smarter and build bigger muscles but you can’t train spirit. Some of you here are not cut out for this. You know who you are. Save us the headache and drop out.”

Drop out? Before he had a chance to prove himself? NO. He had as much right to be here as the next guy. She can’t just tell them to drop out before they even tried. He was pretty sure everyone else felt this way. 

“I can’t go through with this afterall.” 

“I knew I shouldn’t have come.”

“At least I tried right?”

Much to George’s dismay, nearly a quarter of the examinees opted to drop out. “You cowards!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. “Giving up before you even tried! Where’s your honor?” He said, placing a fist over his chest. “Don’t take adventurers lightly! You sorry excuses of—”

“That’s enough! You, spiky haired kid. Another outburst like that and I’ll personally disqualify you. If anything it’s people like you who aren’t cut out for this.”

Everyone went silent. George’s ears burned hot as he felt half enraged and half humiliated. 

“That was quite the show. George, your stupidity never ceases to amaze me.” Fafnir laughed next to his ears. “But you’ve left quite the impression on these people. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if you’re the first to fail and not to mention, your examiner looks like she’s just itching to kick you out after that stunt you pulled. You’ve bitten off more than you can chew, little mouse.”

George’s jaws clenched hard enough for visible veins to pop out from his forehead. They were wrong. All of them were wrong. Adventurers were heroes. They just were. He balled up his fists, clenching until his knuckles turned white. He was going to prove them wrong. They’ll see. 

The examinees gathered on the dirt road. Some stretching while some were too nervous too. The whistle blew and they were off. George sped up, passing the other examinees in an excellent burst of speed. He kept running while others lagged behind. Serves them right. ‘That’s what they get with that half hearted resolve.’ He thought to himself.

They finished one lap, then another, then another. This was easy. He was just right behind that sorry excuse of an examiner. This wasn’t too hard, this was easy. A light breeze. The 10th lap went by and the examiner showed no signs of stopping. What’s wrong with her? Was she a monster? She barely broke a sweat while he was over here drenched from head to toe. Why wasn’t she stopping yet? Was she doing this on purpose?

The others were now passing him, smug smirks on their faces as they sneered at George. Now he was the one who was lagging behind.

The 20th lap passed and more than half of the examinees had dropped out, collapsing right on the ground out of exhaustion. George, meanwhile, was nearing the end of what he could take. He would have collapsed during the 15th lap if his spite and adrenaline hadn’t kept him going. Was this it? Could his resolve only carry him this far?

By the 30th lap, less than 10 people remained. Most of which could barely move, yet the most determined of them all, George was crawling. If his legs can’t take it anymore, he’ll use his arms. He’ll scrape by his teeth if he has too. There was no way he was stopping.

The examiner finally stopped and against all odds, George remained, scraping by the gums of his teeth. 

“Alright. You all passed.” She said reluctantly, her arms on her waist. “Martin! They are all yours.” She yelled as all of a sudden, a huge burly, bald man crashed down from the ceiling. 

A wave of goosebumps immediately shot down his back. Every hair on his body stood up on ends. His instinct was telling him to run away but he couldn’t. His body was beyond the point of exhaustion.

This man had the same fear inducing presence as the mana wolf did back in the forest. The atmosphere grew more and more suffocating. Other examinees who still could move helped each other up and backed themselves away, leaving George alone on the floor. So what? He didn’t need them. He wouldn’t want help from spineless cowards who didn’t have honor anyways.

Fafnir at this time was very silent but he could feel her unease gnawing away at the back of his mind. She was scared? George didn’t even know if there was anything that could scare a dragon. He felt a cold sense of dread twisting in his stomach as he locked eyes with the bald man.

‘Don’t look away. Don’t look away.’ He told himself as if he was the least bit threatening sprawled out on the floor. 

“Get up.” He suddenly heard an unfamiliar voice. “Don’t make me regret helping you.” She continued, helping him onto his feet, flinging his arms around her neck for support. 

“Thank you—” 

“Save it. You can thank me all you want after this is over.” 

The bald man did nothing. He didn’t even move a muscle, He didn’t even blink.

“You all.” He began, his voice commanding respect. A foreboding sense of dread washed over George. The next words to come out of his mouth would decide his future.