The Adventurer Guild: Part 3
Rabina was small for an adventurer, but her spearwork relied on the agile movements unique to her rabbit beastwoman heritage.
She was still only a 5-star adventurer, yet her agility rivaled that of a 6-star.
The guild master swung his sword in a heavy arc, delivering a powerful strike.
Though the attack was heavy, it was also precise and swift.
Rabina dodged the blow with the nimbleness of her kind and immediately countered with a spear thrust.
Her eyes burned with seriousness and concentration.
The clash of sword and spear rang out across the testing hall.
When the guild master’s powerful attack struck Rabina’s spear, she realized how vastly inferior her strength was to his.
She understood that continued clashes would only work against her, so evasion was the key.
She had been forced to take a few hits with the spear, but her hands were already numb from the guild master’s overwhelming force.
For a moment she nearly dropped the spear, but sheer concentration kept her grip firm.
The guild master believed Rabina lacked raw power, yet with Tinia’s magic and her own agility skill, she would be more than sufficient for a 6-star rank.
“Here it is.”
“Is it failure?”
“Pass.”
“Waaah.”
Rabina was genuinely overjoyed.
After three long years, she had finally reached the same 6-star rank as her friend.
She pulled the Liria Gold Coin from her pocket and clutched it tightly in her fist.
Rabina could scarcely believe she was finally seeing Liria in person after only hearing about her in stories; her heart pounded.
Liria’s influence among adventurers had been enormous.
Eleas Coffee had dramatically increased adventurers’ survival rates.
From afar, Tinia watched Rabina pass and immediately descended.
“Congratulations, Rabina.”
“Thank you, Tinia.”
Tinia, who had accompanied her for the promotion test, was deeply grateful.
Her gaze also drifted toward Liria, who sat watching from the spectator seats.
“Tinia, you know Princess Liria is here, right?”
“Ah, yes. I forgot. Thanks.”
Tinia hurried to the spectator seats where Liria sat.
She had originally planned to greet Liria first, but the news of her friend’s success had made her forget.
She approached Liria and greeted her.
“Princess Liria. Hello, Silvia.”
“Tinia.”
“Mm.”
“Princess Liria has become an adventurer as well. Congratulations.”
“I am grateful.”
Liria had heard adventurer stories from Tinia and remembered her name clearly.
She had also learned that the rabbit beastwoman who received the Liria Gold Coin was Rabina.
She thought the pair suited each other perfectly, like blue flames.
“Princess Liria came to take the test too?”
“So it is.”
“Ah, suddenly I feel sorry for the guild master.”
Tinia felt genuine pity for the guild master who would spar with Liria.
At the same time, she was thrilled to witness Liria’s test.
Rabina climbed the steps to the spectator seats where Tinia waited and greeted Liria.
Though she did not know her, etiquette demanded she greet Tinia’s princess.
“Hello. Princess Liria. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Rabbit beastwoman.”
“Yes. I am a rabbit beastwoman.”
Rabina found the glimpse of Liria beneath the hood far too adorable.
But calling a princess cute was rude, so she kept her mouth carefully closed.
“Our princess is really cute, isn’t she?”
“Yes? Yes.”
Rabina answered shortly and bowed her head deeply.
She had answered without thinking.
She worried Liria might dislike it.
Beastmen faced discrimination from humans, and rabbit beastwomen endured it as well.
The label of “weakest beastman” was not easily removed.
She had reached the point where no one could ignore her anymore, yet the hardships of the past still haunted her.
Among all adventurers, the one who treated her without discrimination was Tinia.
Tinia always wore a happy expression when speaking of Liria.
One could see how deeply she loved Liria.
Other elves loved and cherished Liria too, even the dragons.
“It’s all right. Princess Liria is so kind.”
“Even so.”
“Princess Liria, may I show my friend your face?”
“I understand.”
Liria lowered her hood, and Rabina gazed at her with round eyes.
Exactly as Tinia had said, Liria’s cuteness was beyond imagination.
“Huu. She’s so cute.”
“Right? She’s incredibly adorable.”
“I only saw her in the gold coin, but seeing the real thing makes my heart race.”
Rabina had heard about Liria for ten years and finally met her in person, and she found her utterly lovable.
She had also heard that Liria had developed and decided to supply Eleas Coffee, which adventurers drank so often.
As an elf, Tinia could drink it freely, and she had received a great deal from Tinia as well.
Rabina felt deep gratitude toward Tinia and, when Tinia achieved 6-star, gifted her mithril equipment.
“Actually, I’ve talked about you a lot to Princess Liria.”
“Really?”
“When I mentioned rabbit beastwoman, she seemed very interested.”
“Really?”
Rabina wondered why Liria would take such interest in someone like her.
Tinia had never mentioned that Liria had ever shown interest in her.
So she had assumed Liria cared little for her, but that was not the case.
Suddenly she realized Liria’s gaze was fixed on her ears.
Was she curious about her long ears like an elf?
If so, she could understand.
“Liria?”
“Yes. Silvia unnie.”
“We must take the test.”
“Yes. Silvia unnie.”
Rabina realized Silvia’s identity as a dragon was unmistakable.
Only a dragon could have started as an adventurer forty years ago and reached 9-star rank in forty years.
Her appearance was that of a young woman in her late teens, so it was clear.
Dragons disliked revealing their true nature while adventuring during their hatchling days.
Because of this, they were only referred to as 9-star adventurers in adventurer circles and never directly mentioned.
“Then, let’s test with the mana measurement device. You must inject maximum mana for one second.”
The mana measurement device was the standard test given to new adventurers who had just joined the guild.
It measured up to 999,999 and allowed new adventurers to gauge their mana level.
Most new adventurers could only inject around ten mana for one second.
Experienced adventurers could manage over 1,000.
Liria followed the guild master’s request and poured maximum mana into the device.
The device displayed 999,999, and the guild master was stunned.
“999,999? Sorry. It seems the measurement device is broken. I’ll prepare it again.”
“It is not broken.”
“Sorry. I think I misread.”
The guild master could not argue with Silvia’s words and simply accepted it.
Since successfully space-moving to Earth, Liria’s capacity to inject mana at once had increased dramatically.
Even with existing devices, Liria’s mana could not be properly measured.
To Liria, 999,999 was nothing at all.
“How is it? Will you spar with Liria?”
“Please spare me, Silvia.”
The guild master realized he could not oppose Liria.
Magic power was proportional to mana consumption, and sparring against someone using nearly one million mana would mean being torn apart in an instant.
Only dragons or high elves could endure such mana.
“Amazing. As expected, Princess Liria.”
“Hehe. Liria is amazing.”
“It was worth going to Earth. Liria.”
“Silvia unnie will also go all out. Hehe.”
“Then I’ll try too?”
Silvia tested the device herself and, as expected, reached the maximum.
When Silvia had gone to Earth, she had not directly consumed mana, but she had surely left a huge impact.
Silvia rarely used over 10,000 mana at once, yet this was the first time she had used nearly one million.
Still, there was no mana shortage, and she remained energetic.
Rabina, watching from the side, could not hide her surprise.
“As expected, Silvia’s identity is… Ah.”
Rabina realized she had made a slip of the tongue.
Daring to reveal her identity to a dragon as a mere beastwoman.
She was in a situation where 9-star adventurer and dragon Silvia might express anger at her.
She seemed to be hiding her true nature, and she had poked a dragon’s weak point.
Of course, a top-tier dragon like Silvia had no such weaknesses.