Chương 43: Chapter 41 – F-Rank Assessment

Chelsea ended up walking out with eight dresses and a promise that Adriane's would be delivered to the inn that night.

"Call them a pre-celebration for the assessment," Chelsea said to Adriane despite the disapproving look she was getting in return. Adriane adjusted the stack of boxes in her arms.

"Is this what you meant when you had plans with that extra money?" Chelsea smiled innocently.

"Oh, come on. That's not fair. You're the one who called them whorish. I have to prove to you their superiority."

"I revised my comment only one of them is whorish," Adriane corrected.

"The red one." Chelsea glanced away for a moment, which answered the unasked question immediately.

"Of course you bought the red one," Adriane muttered.

"It looked good on me." Chelsea spluttered.

"That is not the point." Chelsea tried not to smile too hard at that. The fact Adriane's complaint was about the dress itself and not the purchase felt like progress. She fell into the 'luxuries are good' life pretty smoothly. She began taking the boxes from Adriane and shoving them into her pouch one by one as they walked. When Chelsea pushed open the guildhall doors, the room quieted almost instantly. The reaction this time was very different from the last few days. Before, the whispers had been about the demon.

Now they were split between fear of Adriane and curiosity about Chelsea wearing armor instead of her usual red and black dress. The silence only lasted a few moments before conversation slowly returned. Chelsea decided not to check in with Henry. Bea would absolutely make a scene if she did. Instead, she walked up to Miranda's desk while Adriane stood beside her. Miranda straightened immediately.

"Miss Wixx. Chelsea."

"Morning," Chelsea greeted politely.

"I'm here for the assessment." Miranda nodded quickly and handled the paperwork while trying very hard not to stare at Adriane. All around the hall, adventurers were preparing for assessments of their own. Some looked excited. Others looked sick with nerves. A few families stood together near the walls, offering encouragement to younger adventurers attempting their first rank. Chelsea and Adriane took an empty table while they waited. A short while later, the rest of the group entered together.

Both Bea and Dewey were participating in advancement assessments as well. Bea had mentioned she was close to C-rank, but Chelsea apparently underestimated just how close. Fiona walked with Dewey to the front desk. After he checked in, she wrapped him in a large hug and kissed him briefly on the lips before murmuring something encouraging to him. Then she left the hall. Dewey returned bright red and sat across from his sisters. Chelsea rested her chin on her hand.

"You two seem to be getting close."

"Are you jealous?" Bea asked immediately.

"Your little boyfriend seemed hurt you checked in at the other girl."

"Little boyfriend?" Adriane repeated, eyebrows crinkling. Chelsea sighed.

"Bea and Edgar are convinced the clerk and I are an item. We very much are not." She looked back to Bea.

"And no, I'm not jealous. Fiona isn't my type." Bea smirked knowingly but let the subject drop for the moment.

"If you are taking the assessment today, please listen carefully," a man in a guild uniform announced. The entire guild hall gradually quieted as conversations died off one by one.

"We are going to start our transports momentarily. We will hand out the cards to everyone taking the F-rank assessment first. When I'm done speaking, please come up and get your F-rank card. After that will be E-rank. We will continue this all the way up to B-rank since no one is taking the A-rank assessment. Further instructions will follow on the other side of the transport." Chelsea stood with the rest of the crowd and made her way toward the table.

There were far more people taking the F-rank assessment than she expected. Roughly forty or so younger adventurers crowded around waiting for their cards. Meanwhile, the seasoned adventurers around the hall had apparently decided this was entertainment.

"Try not to piss yourself!"

"Watch out for the horny goblins!"

"Don't die before lunch!" Laughter spread through the room. Chelsea heard one voice yell over the others.

"Don't let the demon eat all the assessment targets!" That got a bigger laugh than the others. Chelsea snorted to herself while a few nearby adventurers glanced at her nervously, unsure if she found it funny or threatening. Others taking the assessment were getting similar treatment. One poor boy got told his mother should have packed him extra bandages. Another girl was informed they would be happy to dig her grave. Honestly, it felt strangely wholesome.

Chelsea accepted her card and followed the rest of the F-rank group toward the back rooms of the guildhall. Eventually they arrived at a familiar sight: another large stone pedestal covered in glowing markings.

"We have a large group today, so we will have three proctors overseeing this assessment," the same guild official explained as he stepped into the room behind them.

"We will also be joined by a special guest." Chelsea looked back just in time to see Adriane wave enthusiastically at her from the doorway.

"Everyone, welcome The Silver Sword, Adriane Wixx," another proctor announced. The reaction was immediate. Whispers exploded through the room. A few people straightened their posture instantly. One guy nearly dropped his assessment card. Chelsea, meanwhile, felt heat creeping into her face. Nobody else had their older sister showing up to watch their test. One girl wearing worn brown leather armor leaned closer to Chelsea and whispered excitedly, "Can you believe she's actually here!?"

Chelsea smiled awkwardly and nodded as if she were just as surprised. The transports began shortly afterward. Groups stepped onto the pedestal one at a time before disappearing in flashes of light. Adriane casually cut ahead of Chelsea and went through first. Chelsea sighed. Overprotective… Completely overprotective. Still, she stepped onto the pedestal after her and felt the now familiar sensation of the teleport. A moment later she appeared in front of a dense forest. No Bodarex this time.

Tall trees stretched overhead while morning light filtered through the branches. The air smelled damp and earthy, and somewhere deeper in the woods she could hear birds calling. The rest of the group slowly filtered through behind them until everyone had arrived safely.

"This is so exciting," Adriane said immediately. Her eyes were practically glowing with nostalgia.

"I remember my first assessment so fondly." Chelsea barely had time to respond before Adriane started checking over her equipment.

"Do you have everything you need?" she asked.

"You have your spear?" Her fingers moved to the buckle beneath Chelsea's chin, adjusting the helmet strap for the third time that morning.

"Yes," Chelsea said with a laugh she couldn't quite suppress.

"This is the mothering thing I was talking about the other day."

"Oh, I am not," Adriane dismissed immediately, waving her hand.

"I'm just excited to be here for this." Chelsea gave her a look. Adriane ignored it completely.

"Now, pay very close attention to everything they say," Adriane continued.

"If you don't do exactly as instructed, you could fail. Then you can't take another assessment for half a year."

"That seems harsh."

"It is harsh," Adriane replied.

"Which is why you're going to listen carefully." Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Chelsea smiled despite herself.

"Okay, I think that's nearly everyone. I'm going to head to the card table over there." Adriane suddenly pulled her into a tight hug. This was rare. Adriane almost never initiated hugs. It was always Chelsea.

"Good luck, Chels. You've got this. Do your best."

"Will do," Chelsea promised with a nod. Adriane released her and calmly walked toward one of the nearby tables where several officials sat organizing cards and documents. The moment she was gone, Chelsea felt eyes on her. A lot of eyes. Damn near every eye.

"Uh," someone finally stammered nearby, "h-how do you know The Silver Sword?" Chelsea looked over calmly.

"Sister." The reaction was immediate.

"What?"

"No way."

"She's serious?" Chelsea tried not to smile too much. Earlier this week, the attention embarrassed her. Now though? Now it felt a little nice.

"Are you the one who told my brother off?" a weirdly pretty blond girl in an absurdly vibrant purple mage robe asked as she stepped closer.

"He said he offended you while you were filling out your application, and you embarrassed him in front of the whole guild." Chelsea thought for a moment.

"Oh," she realized.

"Is he the one I threatened to bite his dick off?" The blonde girl snorted loudly enough several people turned toward her.

"That's him," she confirmed, laughing.

"Damn, I wish I was there for that." She looked Chelsea over curiously before gesturing vaguely at her horns, wings, and tail.

"So are you a real demon? Or is this," she motioned toward her again, "an aesthetic choice?"

"Yup, full-blooded demon," Chelsea replied easily.

"How about you? Human? Or…" She looked the blonde over more carefully. There was something slightly off about her. Not in a bad way. Just enough to make Chelsea think there was another race mixed in somewhere.

"The name's Ivy," she said with a relaxed smile. Her blond hair fell into her face again, and she brushed it back with practiced annoyance.

"I think we might just end up becoming friends."

"Chelsea," she replied with her usual smile. Ivy's eyes drifted briefly toward Adriane at the card table before returning to Chelsea. Before Ivy could ask more questions, the final proctor jumped down from the transport pedestal and addressed the group in an announcement sort of way.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your first step in becoming adventurers." A few nervous claps spread through the crowd. Most of the participants looked too tense to celebrate much.

"Today's examination will take place inside these three forests." He gestured toward the massive wooded areas surrounding them.

"We will be broken into groups, each with a different proctor. Each forest has a different task. You must complete each task to move to the next forest." Chelsea crossed her arms and listened carefully.

"There is no time limit for each task, but you must complete all three by sundown. You are not required to check in with the proctors before moving to the next forest. Any questions so far?" Several hands immediately shot up.

"Will we go in one at a time?"

"What will we have to do?"

"Can we team up?"

"All great questions," the proctor answered patiently.

"You can team up, but you are not to attack another adventurer. This is not a test of how well you can mug someone." That earned a decent laugh from the crowd and loosened some of the tension.

"You will all enter at the same time," he continued.

"As for what you're collecting: In the north forest, you will each need to collect one boar tusk." Chelsea mentally noted that down.

"In the east forest, you will need to collect three thistledews. It's a common herb, but you need to identify and collect it without destroying its seed pod." That one sounded more annoying than dangerous.

"Lastly, in the west forest, the largest, you will collect a letter from the card table and deliver it to the lone cabin in the woods. They will hand you a completion card as proof." That was it? Chelsea had expected something much more intense.

"If you do not know what a thistledew looks like," the proctor continued, "you can go to the card table, and they will show you a picture along with helpful descriptions and techniques for gathering it. Please take all gathered items to the card table for verification once complete." The simplicity of the assessment honestly surprised her. These boars sounded dangerous for normal people, but compared to everything she'd already dealt with? This felt almost relaxing.

"These boars may be the first things some of you have fought," the proctor warned.

"They are weak but proceed with caution as they will attack. I don't want to lose anyone during this assessment, please." That quieted the group again. He looked around once more.

"Any more questions?" Chelsea slowly raised her hand. The proctor looked exhausted already.

"Yes?"

"Can we complete these tasks by any means necessary, as long as it doesn't negatively affect other adventurers?" Several nearby people turned to look at her. The proctor narrowed his eyes immediately. He looked toward the card table where Adriane stood watching with open amusement written across her face. Then realization hit him.

"You can't pay other adventurers to complete your tasks either," he replied flatly.

"Aside from that, you're good." Chelsea grinned.

"Got it." The proctor slowly turned his head toward Adriane again. Adriane had given up pretending to be professional and was openly laughing now.

"This group will start at the north forest," a woman called from behind them while gesturing toward one of the wooded paths. Another proctor led a second group toward the boar forest while Chelsea and Ivy's group were directed toward the delivery task.

"Your assessment begins… now!" the lead proctor shouted. The reaction was immediate chaos. Chelsea watched her entire group sprint straight toward the card table, along with about half of the herb gathering group. Chelsea, however, stayed exactly where she was. The proctor noticed almost immediately.

"Uh, Miss Wixx," he called carefully, "the assessment started."

"I know." Chelsea nodded casually.

"Gotta do something real quick." She stared off into space for nearly a full minute without moving. Several nearby adventurers exchanged confused looks as they ran by. Then Chelsea nodded to herself.

"All good. See you in a bit." She casually walked toward the now mostly empty card table.

"Good afternoon, ladies," she greeted the proctor and Adriane politely with a curtsy.

"Can you show me what thistledew looks like?" The woman seated beside Adriane blinked at her.

"Miss Wixx," she said slowly, "you're on the delivery quest first."

"I know, but no use coming over here twice." Chelsea smiled pleasantly at the two women.

"Not that I don't love seeing your two lovely faces." The older proctor gave her an amused look while Adriane just shook her head fondly. Adriane picked up the illustration card for the herb and held it out for Chelsea to inspect. The plant was strange-looking enough that Chelsea doubted she would mistake it for anything else. It had a long pale-green stalk with several dangling seed pods hanging from thin stems like oversized berries.

"And cutting the bottom of the stem should suffice?" Chelsea asked.

"Yeah," the woman answered, though she glanced sideways at Adriane as if checking whether Chelsea was always like this. Adriane only shrugged helplessly.

"Okay." Chelsea nodded.

"I'll take that note for the cabin now." The proctor handed over a card roughly the same size as the teleportation cards. It was thicker than normal paper and had a strange symbol stamped into the corner.

"Thank you so much for your assistance," Chelsea said politely before another thought occurred to her.

"Hey, am I allowed to butcher the boar? I might get hungry." The proctor blinked once.

"If you think you'll have enough time."

"Awesome!" Chelsea beamed.

"And lastly, can I see your hands?" That got matching looks of confusion from both women. Even Adriane looked lost. Still, they both held out their hands. Chelsea carefully took each one and gently placed them on top of the stacks of assessment cards as if arranging pieces on a game board. Then, without explanation, Chelsea stepped back. And took flight. The sudden gust of wind sent several loose papers fluttering through the air while nearby adventurers shouted in surprise. Chelsea climbed rapidly into the sky.

Flying in her adult body felt completely different from before. Easier. Smoother. Her wings caught the air naturally now instead of fighting against it. She still wasn't graceful compared to a bird, but compared to the crashing disasters of her child form, this felt incredible. Her increased flight skill probably helped too. Chelsea soared over the forest canopy, scanning the landscape below. Endless green stretched beneath her until finally she spotted a break in the leaves.

A small brown rooftop sat plainly visible inside the clearing. Found it. She angled downward and landed outside the cabin with significantly more dignity than she possessed a week ago. Chelsea walked up and knocked. An older man answered the door, looking mildly surprised.

"Did we start earlier than scheduled?" he asked.

"I have a delivery for you." She handed over the card. The old man accepted it and immediately exchanged it for another marked card with a different symbol etched into the front. Chelsea tucked it into her pouch.

"Thanks." The door shut, and Chelsea launched herself back into the air again. The thistledew forest was less dense than the others, but not enough to see the ground clearly from above. The thick underbrush and hanging branches obscured most of the forest floor. So much for spotting herbs from the sky. Chelsea flew deeper into the woods anyway, aiming well beyond where she thought most of the other adventurers would search. If she was going to do this, she might as well avoid competition entirely.

She landed lightly between several trees and immediately spotted one of the plants.

"Oh, that's convenient." The pale dangling seed pods matched the picture perfectly. Using the tip of one sharpened nail, she carefully sliced the stem near the base without disturbing the pods and tucked the herb into her pack. One down. Chelsea jogged through the woods looking for another. After nearly thirty yards without spotting anything, she began realizing the plants were much rarer than she initially expected. Three minutes later, she finally found another growing beside a moss-covered rock.

"Yes." She pumped her fist once before collecting it. Rather than continue searching normally, Chelsea took to the sky again and flew roughly a hundred yards to the side, hoping distance alone would improve her chances. She landed, searched for another minute or so, and finally found the third thistledew near the roots of a fallen tree.

"Perfect." Chelsea secured the final herb and immediately took off again. One boar. That was all she needed. As she crossed into the north forest, she could hear adventurers yelling to one another below through the wind rushing past her ears.

"Over here!"

"Careful!"

"Left side!" Chelsea smiled to herself. Good. They were teaming up. That was smart. As she drifted over the trees, a flash of brown fur caught her eye below. There you are. Chelsea slowed her momentum with several strong flaps and hovered above the clearing. The boar rooted around beneath the trees completely unaware of her presence. She drew her broken spear shaft. Then folded her wings. Chelsea dropped from the sky like a stone. At the last second, she angled the spear downward.

The tip punched cleanly through the boar's skull with enough force to pin the creature briefly to the dirt before she yanked the weapon free. The beast died instantly. Title acquired: The Bird of Prey (minor) Chelsea blinked. A new title? Interesting. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to inspect it properly. Business first. She crouched beside the corpse and used the blade of her spear to pry both tusks free. She only needed one but could be something cool to scrapbook later.

Blood coated her gloves and dripped onto the forest floor. Chelsea briefly considered butchering the animal further. But honestly? Boar organs just weren't very good. Perfectly edible. Just disappointing compared to the really good stuff. She took to the air again and flew back toward the central clearing. By the time she landed a short distance from the card table, someone else was already standing there bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath. Ivy looked up as she approached.

"You finished the delivery too?" The blonde asked between heavy breaths.

"I did." Chelsea gave her a suspicious look.

"Ivy, that was really fast. That thing was deep in there."

"Wind magic," she explained proudly before immediately returning to gasping for air. Chelsea stepped up to the table and began unloading her assessment items. The delivery card. Three thistledews. One boar tusk. The second tusk remained hidden in her palm behind her back.

"What!?" both Ivy and the proctor shouted at the exact same time. Chelsea blinked innocently.

"What?" she asked. The proctor snatched up the herbs first, inspecting the seed pods carefully for damage before checking the tusk.

"You already completed all three sections?"

"Yup." Adriane slowly stood from beside the card table looking far too pleased with herself.

"Yeah," she announced casually.

"We're heading to the E-rank assessment." Several nearby adventurers slowed, turned and stared openly now as they transitioned from the boar quest. One of the younger examinees looked like he wanted to argue that it was unfair somehow but thought better of it after noticing who Chelsea's sister was. Behind her back, Chelsea wiggled the second tusk toward Ivy. At first she looked confused. Then realization dawned on her.

Ivy's eyes widened slightly before she casually reached behind herself and smoothly took the tusk from Chelsea's hand without drawing attention. Chelsea looked forward with the expression of someone who had absolutely never committed a crime in her life. The proctor pinched the bridge of her nose as she totally saw what just happened.

"I'll need approval from the lead proctor," she sighed.

"Sorry, Adriane, but we still have protocols. If you want to speak with him directly, he can authorize it."

"Will do." Adriane immediately turned toward Chelsea.

"Chelsea." Chelsea obediently followed after her sister a few steps before stopping suddenly.

"Oh! Wait." She turned back around.

"Can we grab the cards for the E-rank assessment now? That way we don't have to come back again." The proctor stared at her for a moment before simply handing over the next assessment cards without argument. Chelsea gave her another curtsy. At this point, Chelsea suspected everyone had collectively decided it was easier to just cooperate with the Wixx family.