Mila let out a long sigh, massaging her temples as she stared at the stack of parchments on the counter.

  Over the past few weeks, the number of foreigners seeking registration had tripled. They were deserters from the East, opportunistic mercenaries, and people who seemed to be chasing opportunity.

  With tensions rising in the East, Luminaris had become the destination of hundreds of refugees and mercenaries, and the Guild could not simply close its doors.

  Denying new registrations would mean losing essential manpower for the city's defense and, worse, leaving hundreds of armed, unknown individuals wandering the streets.

  The council's solution was to double down on caution.

  If they could not stop people from entering, they would be ruthless in evaluation.

  She pulled a thick parchment from beneath the counter and dipped her quill into the inkwell with more force than necessary. "Name?"

  "Vaelin."

  The quill moved swiftly across the page. "Very well, Mr. Vaelin. The cost for the initial test is ten silver coins. However, you may opt for a 'Rank Leap,' which costs one gold coin. If you fail, there is no refund. If you pass, your rank will be determined by the instructor's evaluation, up to Silver Rank. Which do you prefer?"

  "Rank Leap?" He murmured.

  Noticing his confusion, Mila explained slowly, the words flowing naturally. "The ranking system follows a progression, starting from Iron, then Bronze, Silver, and Gold. You would be registered as Iron if you do not choose a 'rank leap.'"

  Registered as Iron Rank?

  That was far too low.

  According to Elias, the attendant at the Ivory Haven, he needed something at least Silver Rank.

  But if there was an opportunity for a rank leap...

  Mark observed the movement around them before asking calmly. "Is the limit only Silver? Is there no test with Gold Rank as the limit?"

  The sound of the quill tapping against the counter stopped abruptly. Mila froze, slowly lifting her head to look at Mark.

  For the first time, she truly examined him from head to toe, processing the request with a suspicious gaze.

  Internally, she assumed Mark was just another impatient young man, overly confident in his luck and eager to cut corners for quick prestige.

  Gold Rank was not something one earned in a single afternoon just because they wished for it. The number of adventurers at that level in the city could be counted on one hand.

  She truly thought he was someone relying too heavily on his purse and abilities that likely had never been tested in true Gold Rank combat.

  He would not be the first to attempt something like this, and likely would not be the last.

  But Mila still had a job to do.

  "There is..." She replied, her voice more cautious now. "There is a Rank Leap with a Gold limit, but it costs five gold coins and is rarely requested."

  Before she could continue trying to dissuade him, Mark reached beneath his cloak. With a simple motion, he tossed a coin onto the counter.

  The metal struck the wood with a heavy, dry sound. The pale gleam of the piece—worth one hundred gold coins—made the receptionist freeze.

  A platinum coin.

  He was serious!

  Mila looked at the metal, then at Mark, her mouth slightly open for a moment.

  "Just prepare the test." Mark said, ignoring her silent judgment. "Money is not an issue."

  Mark truly intended to cut corners, though not in the way she imagined. And honestly, he had no intention of explaining.

  The sooner he walked out with a Gold Rank identification, the better.

  Mila hesitated, her expression shifting between conflict and apprehension, but faced with a platinum coin, she had little ground to argue.

  Biting her lip, she made her decision. "Very well." She stood, her expression now serious. "For this type of request, you must still complete the basic evaluations. Follow me."

  She hurried through a door behind the counter, and Mark followed.

  "You chose a turbulent time to register." She commented, opening a second door that led into an inner courtyard surrounded by stone columns.

  "Normally, an aptitude test is a simple formality, but with Solis' war alert, the Council of Luminaris has demanded stricter standards. We do not want spies or incompetent adventurers dying on the roads and blocking supply routes."

  She stopped at the center of the courtyard, gesturing toward the different sections of the area.

  Mark noticed they were not alone; in one corner, a group of young adventurers trained with wooden swords under the shouts of an instructor, and in another, a mage attempted to stabilize a magic circle etched into the ground.

  "The current test is divided into three stages." Mila explained, unrolling a parchment she had picked up without him noticing.

  "First, Resonance Measurement. You will touch the Mana Monolith so we can measure your channeling capacity. If the crystal does not glow, you do not even enter the field. Second, the Reaction Test. Magical firing devices will test your reflexes and active defense. And finally..."

  She pointed to a heavy metal door at the far end of the courtyard.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  "The Combat Trial. You will face an Automaton Unit of Combat Grade. The objective is not necessarily to win, but to demonstrate your strength. The Rank you receive will depend on your cumulative performance across these three phases. The limit is Gold Rank, but if you qualify for Bronze, you will receive the standard plate. If Silver or higher, circulation privileges within the city begin immediately."

  Mark simply nodded, indicating he understood.

  Mila stopped before a pillar of black stone with a transparent crystal embedded at its peak.

  "We can begin with the Measurement." She said, extending her hand toward the pillar. "This is the Mana Monolith. Simply place your hand on the crystal and release a small amount of your internal energy."

  Mark looked at the crystal, feeling Pippin stir faintly beneath his cloak, as though anxious about the situation.

  The sun still caused that lingering discomfort, but before that small stone pillar, Mark felt a bitter irony.

  Releasing a "small amount" of his power was a concept he was practicing more often than he would have liked.

  Mark stepped before the pillar but did not extend his hand immediately. He looked at the crystal, then at Mila, maintaining a neutral expression.

  "Before we begin." He said, his voice echoing faintly across the courtyard. "What is the difference between this Monolith and the Mana Sieve used at the city gates? I was required to pass through one yesterday."

  Mila blinked, slightly surprised by the technical question, but answered promptly, adopting a more explanatory tone.

  "It is a common question for those from outside." She said, gesturing to the dark crystal. "The Mana Sieve at the gates is a passive security device. It only detects 'signatures.' It searches for anomalies, traces of curses, magical illnesses, or whether an individual is under concealment or illusion spells. It is a filter to prevent threats from entering unnoticed."

  'Oh?'

  Mark was somewhat intrigued.

  He had been wearing the [Threat Dissipation Cloak] to "filter" his intimidating aura and subtly alter his appearance, making himself appear ordinary to observers, and yet he had entered the city without issue.

  The same had happened when he suppressed his Blood Essence. Perhaps the Mana Sieve had a level limitation. Whatever the case, it did not seem as secure and effective as the receptionist made it sound.

  Or perhaps... he was the problem?

  Mila stepped forward. Lightly touching the side of the Monolith's stone, she continued.

  "This Monolith, on the other hand, is an active measurement device. It measures the density of your mana reserve and, more importantly, the speed at which you can expel and control that energy. A Silver Rank, for example, must make the crystal shine with a steady, clear light. If it flickers or fades, your channeling capacity is considered unstable."

  Mark nodded silently.

  The Sieve was a radar; the Monolith was a dynamometer. Yesterday, the Sieve had hesitated because he had concealed his Progenitor nature, something it could not catalog.

  Now, the Monolith would test the "voltage" of his mana.

  "I see." Mark murmured.

  He glanced at his palm briefly. His body felt his Blood Essence begin circulating faster in response to his thoughts.

  "Simply touch it, Mr. Vaelin." Mila encouraged, readying her enchanted quill over the parchment. "Feel the crystal and release a bit of mana."

  Mark extended his hand.

  The moment his fingers touched the cold surface of the crystal, he felt the device's immediate suction, as if the stone were hungry for any fragment of power he could offer.

  He began releasing his energy in precise increments, fighting against the aggressive flow of his own nature.

  The crystal, initially opaque, gained a faint orange glow, like a dying ember.

  "That is Bronze level." Mila commented, marking the parchment without much emotion. "The energy is flowing. Maintain a steady output now to prove you have control."

  Mark pushed slightly more.

  He focused on not shattering the monolith. The orange light shifted abruptly into a milky white, stable and strong. The stone pillar emitted a low, rhythmic hum.

  "Good... that is the mark of Silver Rank." Mila said, her voice now more attentive.

  She stopped looking at the parchment and fixed her gaze on the crystal. "It is a dense reserve, Mr. Vaelin. The light is clear. Most stop here."

  Mark did not respond.

  He was testing the limits of that "machine." He released just a fragment more of his will, feeling the Blood Essence pulse at his fingertips.

  The white light of the crystal mutated suddenly, turning into a vibrant gold, almost solid, casting the shadows of Mark and Mila against the courtyard walls.

  The sound of the monolith shifted from a hum to a tremor that could be heard from afar.

  "Gold..." Mila whispered, her eyes wide as the radiance illuminated her face. "The glow is... it is perfect. You may stop, Mr. Vaelin. You have reached the Gold Rank mark."

  The moment she spoke the word, Mark withdrew his energy as if shutting off a high-pressure valve. The golden glow vanished instantly, leaving only a fading afterimage.

  He pulled back his hand, adjusting his cloak over his shoulder.

  If he wished, he could have continued to see how far he could go, but since his goal was a Gold adventurer identity, there was no need to cause a scene.

  The monolith remained warm to the touch, emitting faint metallic crackles as it cooled.

  "Is it enough?" Mark asked, his voice calm, without any trace of fatigue.

  Mila took several seconds to recover. She looked at the crystal, then at the parchment, and finally at Mark.

  That test usually exhausted most candidates, who finished sweating or gasping for breath.

  But he seemed merely bored.

  'Monster...'

  "Yes... more than enough." Mila stammered, her quill trembling slightly as she wrote. "Few achieve the golden glow with such stability on their first attempt. You... you possess an impressive reserve, Mr. Vaelin."

  She cleared her throat, attempting to regain her professional composure, but now there was respect mixed with instinctive fear in her movements.

  If before she thought him foolish for attempting a rank leap, now she was certain she could not have been more wrong.

  "Let us proceed to the second stage." Saying so, Mila gestured toward the center of the courtyard, where several devices were positioned. "The Reaction Test."

  Mila led him to the center of the courtyard, where four metal pillars with floating crystal cores were arranged in a circle.

  She stopped at the edge of the marked area and looked at Mark's heavy cloak, which seemed impractical for agile movement.

  "Mr. Vaelin, for this stage, you may remove your cloak if you wish." Mila suggested, quill ready over the parchment. "The reaction test requires full mobility. The mana shots are fast and, while not lethal, can cause serious bruising if you fail to move in time. The cloak may limit your reflexes."

  Mark merely adjusted the cloak, feeling Pippin shrink back and cling tightly to his tunic beneath the fabric.

  "It will not be necessary." He replied curtly. "You may begin."

  Mila did not insist. "The test escalates progressively. The crystals will fire spheres of pure mana at random intervals."

  She activated a mechanism on the side of one of the pillars. "The objective is to evade or block as many as possible. For Gold Rank, we expect an evasion rate above 90% at high frequency. Beginning in three, two, one..."

  BANG!

  The first shot came from the pillar to Mark's left.

  To him, the projectile seemed to move in slow motion, a mass of bluish energy dragging through the air. Mark made the slightest sidestep, feeling the displacement of air pass millimeters from his shoulder.

  BANG! BANG!

  Immediately after, two shots came from opposite angles.

  To Mila's eyes, Mark looked like a phantom gliding between lines of fire.

  He deliberately restrained himself, keeping his movements within what an elite human could plausibly achieve.

  If Mark used his true speed of 40,000, he would be impossible for those machines to hit, but he needed that identification without causing more commotion than necessary.

  The cloak, which Mila had assumed would be a hindrance, barely stirred.

  Mark rotated his body with precision, allowing the projectiles to pass close, yet never striking him. The sound of the shots echoed rhythmically across the courtyard, hitting the protective walls behind.

  After two minutes of a barrage that would have left any ordinary adventurer exhausted and drenched in sweat, the crystals dimmed and ceased rotating.

  Mark stood exactly where he had begun, without a single drop of sweat or accelerated breath.

  Mila looked at the magical counter at the base of one of the pillars and let out a disbelieving sigh.

  "Zero hits. Evasion rate of 100%..." She wrote quickly. "Your trajectory reading is flawless, Mr. Vaelin." She closed the parchment with a complicated expression before pointing to the final door.

  The reinforced metal one.

  "You have passed the first two phases with perfect marks. Now, only the Combat Trial remains."