Chương 113: Chapter 109 - Merchant Exam 2

The room shifted around them, and the Hall of Valkyr disappeared. In its place stood a small temple structure with pale stone walls, a carved archway, and a teleportation pedestal beneath their feet. A few people had arrived just before them and were already stepping down from the platform, giving Chelsea and Passion a wide berth without needing to be told. Chelsea stepped off the pedestal and kept moving. Passion followed, still irritated and still worried.

Chelsea could feel it behind her, but she did not slow down to explain herself. She put on her dragon helmet, then pulled a brown cloak from her pouch and draped it over her shoulders. The fabric adjusted perfectly around the armor, settling into place without catching on the historic pieces beneath it. They stepped out through the temple archway into a busy square. Nordrak did not feel the same as Valhalla.

There were no Valkyr banners, no towering halls, and no servants lowering their eyes at every passing warrior. People moved through the square. Some glanced toward Chelsea and Passion, but the helmet and cloak gave Chelsea enough anonymity that no one immediately stopped what they were doing. Across the square, Chelsea saw the sign she had come for. She needed to do something nice for the card lady. She crossed the square without hesitation and entered the building.

A charming young front clerk looked up from behind the front desk and greeted them with a practiced smile.

"Hello Ladies, how can we be of service?" His eyes moved over their clothing, armor, and general appearance, and the smile faltered slightly. Their fashion choices leaned much closer to armed adventurers than ordinary visitors. Chelsea curtsied.

"Good morning. I need to take the merchant guild assessment."

"Oh certainly, will this be your first attempt?"

"Oh no sir, second attempt."

"Wonderful. Head on down to the door at the end of the hall. Ask a proctor there and they can assist you."

"Marvelous. Thank you so much." Chelsea turned down the indicated hallway with Passion still beside her. The hall was clean, busy, and better maintained than she expected. Voices carried from open rooms, and people moved in and out with ledgers, contracts, and bags of coin. They made it to the end of the hall and pushed open the door. The Nordrak Merchant's Guild was much more active than Junstruce's. The main floor was packed with people flowing in and out, some looking for work and others looking for employees.

Clerks called names from behind counters. Merchants argued over rates. Messengers waited near the walls with sealed documents in hand. Chelsea walked up to the counter.

"Hello sir," she said sweetly.

"I need to take the assessment."

"Sure thing," he said absent-mindedly, not looking up from the paper in front of him.

"Will you need a reader?"

"Oh, no sir," she replied.

"OK. Go sit over there with the others. We will pass out new registration forms momentarily," he replied. Chelsea remained at the counter.

"My apologies sir. I am already a member. I am trying for three more tiers on my A-rank." His eyes whipped up from his work.

"No, no apologies needed. Miss…"

"Wixx," she replied. The man stared at her for a moment.

"Miss… Wixx? As in Chelsea Wixx, the White Demon?" he asked.

"May I inquire if this is an elaborate joke?"

"No sir." Chelsea pulled out her guild card and placed it on the counter.

"I am impressed you've heard of me though."

"Heard of you?" he asked.

"You're a legend among the guild. More like a myth. A demon woman who crushed all records with perfect scores then single handedly increased the economy of Junstruce." Chelsea looked to Passion. Passion looked genuinely impressed by everything being said. The economy part appeared to be news to her, though Chelsea supposed it made sense. She had made a lot of investments across the whole kingdom, and money did not stay still once it started moving through the right places. Chelsea turned back to the clerk.

"Please, I would like my associate to take the exam too."

"Certainly," he replied.

"Right this way, head down this hall, second door on the left."

"Thank you," she replied. They went down the hall together. Passion waited until they were inside the small room before speaking.

"Chelsea, I'm not taking the exam."

"Sure you are!" Chelsea said.

"You never know, this Valkyr thing may end up not working out and you'll have to get a job as a flower seller or something. Though seeing you selling flowers would be super cute." Passion gave her a flat look.

"You know I can't read."

"I'll read for you." Chelsea put her finger to her chin and thought through the problem properly.

"Though, you can't write either so they will probably not let me write for you. I was really hoping to watch someone else take the assessment. We can always ask." Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Passion looked unconvinced, but the door behind them clicked open before she could argue. An incredibly old man entered the small room.

His back was straight, his clothing was simple and formal, and his expression carried the kind of serious no-nonsense authority Chelsea had originally expected from the Merchant's Guild. He glanced first at Chelsea, then at Passion, then back to the strange dragon helmet Chelsea still wore.

"Chelsea Wixx?" he asked. Chelsea removed the helmet.

"Yes sir. Sorry about the dramatics people aren't big fans of demons I hear."

"Quite. I am the guildmaster of this branch. You will both be taking the assessment?" He walked to a cabinet along the wall and opened one of the drawers. Passion gave Chelsea a look of confusion. Chelsea did not understand why she was confused.

"Actually, we want to ask about that. My friend here can't read or write. I assume I will not be able to write for her. Is that the case?"

"That is. If needed I have the authority to write the answers for her and read the questions if you'd like." Chelsea watched him pull three packets from the cabinet. He was not mean, exactly. The way he spoke sounded mean, but every answer he gave was helpful and direct. Chelsea could not quite put her finger on what sort of person he was.

"I can read them to her. She's used to the way I read things. And may we both use a few pieces of scratch paper?"

"Of course." He pulled out four pieces for each of them and slid them across the table. Chelsea sat down and arranged her things neatly in front of her. Passion sat more slowly, still watching Chelsea with the expression of someone being pushed into water while fully aware she could not swim.

"OK couple of things before we start. I have a unique demon skill that changes tools I use into fancy versions. Something about royal bloodlines not daring to touch mundane blah blah. Demon stuff. So the quill provided will change how it looks. This does not affect my quality of work. It really just becomes a fancier quill while I hold it." The guildmaster did not react with surprise. He only turned his attention to the quill in front of Chelsea.

"I will need to use The Eyes to determine the validity of the claim. Please pick up the quill in front of you." Chelsea did as directed. The quill changed at once. Plain material became shimmering gold, and tiny flecks of glittering light drifted from it before vanishing a few inches away. Chelsea paused to admire it. This was her first time picking up a quill since moving to Tier 4 of her third enhancement effect, and it was beautiful.

The guildmaster's eyes bulged for a moment before his expression returned to stern concentration. He held out his hand. Chelsea placed the quill against his palm while keeping her fingers on it so the effect remained active.

"Historic+3?" he asked.

"I see no added bonuses or effects. You are free to use it."

"Awesome. I'll take mine first then I'll read for Passion. Do you happen to have any hour glasses with shorter time increments? I'm going to try to beat my last record."

"We have a five minute one as well."

"Perfect please use that one and after the ten minute mark, please can you count the minutes out in your head? Trying to break fourteen minutes." The guildmaster sighed.

"Sure."

"Awesome. I'm ready." He slid the exam over to her.

"Ten silver to take both assessments," he said.

"Oh! Right." Chelsea pulled out a gold piece and placed it between them.

"This will be for both of our assessments. If you feel so inclined please donate all change to a local orphanage." Passion let out a snicker. Chelsea shot her a disapproving glance. The guildmaster took the coin without comment, then adjusted the hourglass beside him. He placed the exam face down in front of Chelsea and rested one hand near the timer.

"You may begin by flipping the assessment over. You will have four hours as you know. Your time starts when you flip it." Chelsea took a deep breath and dipped her quill. Then she flipped the assessment over. The questions were just as easy as the first time. This time, to save precious seconds, she did not even look at the multiple choice answers. She read each question, wrote the answer, and moved on. Nothing slowed her down. Nothing made her pause long enough to worry.

Her quill moved quickly across the paper, leaving clean lines behind while the golden shimmer hovered near her fingers. Passion watched from her own seat in silence. The guildmaster watched too, though Chelsea did not look up long enough to enjoy whatever expression he had. She finished the last answer and flipped the assessment back over. For one awful second, she almost turned it over again to check her work. She decided not to. What if she had made one tiny mistake?

What if the whole trip ended up wasted because she wanted a slightly better time? What if she had moved too quickly and missed something obvious? She forced herself to look up. The guildmaster was watching the hourglass.

"Time," she said. He held up one hand without looking away from it. Chelsea sat perfectly still while the remaining sand emptied. The room felt much quieter now that her quill had stopped moving. When the last grains fell, the guildmaster sat back and began doing some sort of calculation in his head.

"Miss Wixx, your official time I will be marking down is nine minutes forty one seconds." Chelsea felt her smile try to become real for half a second. The guildmaster took the assessment from her and walked to the door. He opened it just far enough to call for someone named Gordon. A younger man appeared a moment later, and the guildmaster spoke to him quietly in the hall, keeping his voice too low for Chelsea to catch more than a few indistinct sounds. Passion leaned back in her chair and stared at Chelsea.

Chelsea kept her hands folded in front of her and tried not to think about the questions she had not checked. Nine minutes and forty one seconds was wonderful, assuming she had not made some ridiculous mistake. If she had written one wrong answer because she was being prideful about her time, she was going to be furious with herself for the rest of the day. The guildmaster closed the door and returned to his seat. He slid another assessment across the table toward Chelsea.

"Miss Wixx, if your answers come back as accurate as I assume they will, that was a true honor to witness."

"Oh stop." She smiled. Again, the expression felt forced.

"I was excited to finally take another one." The guildmaster accepted the answer without commenting on the strain behind it. He turned his attention to Passion's packet and placed it in front of Chelsea instead of directly in front of Passion.

"Right, for her exam, you will read the questions. She will verbally give her answer which I will record. If I assume you are trying to give away answers while reading I will cancel her examination and no refund will be issued."

"Understood."

"Her time will start when you flip the test over." Chelsea looked to Passion.

"Passion, I know you don't want to take this. But if nothing else it will make me really really happy!" Passion's jaw tightened. She looked at the assessment, then at Chelsea. She clearly wanted no part of this, but after yesterday, telling Chelsea no seemed to take more strength than she had available.

"Fine. Start whenever," Passion said half annoyed but she couldn't tell Chelsea no. Not after yesterday. Chelsea adjusted the scratch paper in front of Passion and slid the quill closer to her.

"OK, before we start. Use the paper in front of yourself to visualize all of the numbers. Whenever I say a number, draw that many apples, or slabs of meat, or servicers. Whatever you want to use. If I say the number 2 then draw 2 of whatever. Got it?" Passion sighed.

"Yep." Chelsea placed one hand on the corner of the assessment. The guildmaster set the twenty minute hourglass upright and waited.

"First question." She flipped the test over, and the guildmaster turned the hourglass at the same time.

"Two plus four." Passion looked up at Chelsea with open frustration.

"Seriously?" Chelsea gave no reaction. She could not smile. She could not encourage her. She could not raise her eyebrows, nod, or give any sign that the question was easy. For the next twenty minutes, Chelsea was only the reader. Nothing more. Passion stared at her for another second, then looked down at the paper.

"Fine uh…" She began drawing figures on the sheet in front of her, pressing the quill harder than necessary.

"Repeat the question again?"

"Two plus four." Passion drew two more figures. Then she leaned over the paper and counted the total number carefully.

"Six?" Neither Chelsea nor the guildmaster confirmed or denied it. The guildmaster wrote down the answer. Chelsea kept her face still and moved on to the next question. Thirty minutes later, she understood why everyone believed the assessment to be grueling. Taking it had been easy. Watching Passion take it was painful in a way Chelsea had not expected. Passion made several mistakes through the course of her answers, and Chelsea noticed each one the moment it happened.

Every time, she had to sit there and do nothing. She could not correct her. She could not soften the question. She could not change her tone to point Passion toward the right answer. But Passion was trying. She was not rushing. She was not treating it as a joke. She drew her little marks, counted them, crossed some out, started over when she confused herself, and answered each question with more seriousness than Chelsea had expected from someone who had insisted she was not taking the exam.

Chelsea sat straight, read each question clearly, and let Passion fight her way through it.