Volume 1 Chapter 14 And Then The Flowers Bloom
On the day of the promotion exam.
Adventurers gathered in front of the training ground in the western part of town.
There were quite a few spectators, and I decided to watch the exam as one of them.
"Rose, are you nervous?"
"Y-yeah, of course. I heard a lot of people fail every time, and if I don't get promoted, I'll be a bother to Mr. Roezé..."
"Well, don't worry about that. Just take it easy. You'll be fine, I'm sure."
While chatting casually with Rose like that before the exam started...
"Oh, you really came!"
A girl with long golden hair stepped out from the crowd and called out to us.
Freesia, the leader of the party Rose belonged to, seemed to have come to tease us as promised about taking the promotion exam.
"I thought you'd run away because you were scared of losing."
"I'm not running away! I'll definitely make you apologize for saying bad things to Mr. Roezé!"
Just like before, Rose replied confidently.
As we were having that exchange, a figure appeared in the center of the training ground.
A woman with deep blue long hair.
Dressed in a black jacket and white shirt, she seemed to be a staff member just like Ms. Terra.
The blue-haired woman stood in the center of the training ground, looked around at the adventurers and spectators, and raised her voice.
"Now, we will begin the rank 4 promotion exam!"
With her powerful voice, the surroundings fell silent immediately.
Taking advantage of that silence, the blue-haired woman continued.
"I am Alium, the one in charge of this exam. The content of this exam will be a mock subjugation using my power."
"Mock subjugation?"
I tilted my head at the unfamiliar exam content.
Using the power of a guild staff member for the exam was something I had never heard of, so everyone naturally leaned in to listen to Ms. Alium's voice.
"[Summon]──[Flare Bambi]!"
As Ms. Alium chanted that, a red light burst from her right hand.
It gathered in the center of the training ground and soon transformed into a familiar silhouette.
A deer monster with flames bursting from its tail to its back──Flare Bambi.
"My job class is 'Summoner.' With summoning magic, I can create monsters using my own magic and make them fight. This time, the test is to battle this summoned beast, and those who can defeat it will pass."
"Wow, a summoned beast hunt..."
I thought it was a pretty rare test.
The promotion exams change every time.
They could involve exploring dangerous areas, hunting designated monsters, or even mock battles with the examiners.
Naturally, the higher the rank, the tougher the exam gets, and I've faced failure many times before.
I can't even remember how many times I've taken it, but even with all that experience, I've never seen a summoned beast hunt.
It's probably a unique test for this town, thanks to that guild staff member, Ms. Alium.
"The monster is generated by my magic, so it doesn't matter how you defeat it. The summoned beast is created to be as strong as a 4th-rank adventurer. Basically, I can control it freely with my instructions, but just in case, any injuries or accidents are your own responsibility."
If that person can freely change the strength of the summoned beast, then it makes sense to conduct a fair test.
It can clearly determine if someone has the potential to become a 4th rank adventurer.
"The time limit is ten minutes. Anyone who can defeat the designated summoned beast alone within that time will pass. If you escape the designated training area or any other cheating is discovered, you will fail, so be careful."
With the explanation done, the promotion exam finally began.
The tests were conducted in groups of 4, progressing in the order of the applications submitted beforehand.
Rose had barely managed to apply for the exam yesterday, so she ended up being last in line.
Until her turn came, she decided to watch the exam from outside the training area.
"[Summon]──[Invisible Cow]!"
Ms. Alium used summoning magic to call forth 4 summoned beasts for the test.
They took the form of large cows.
It seems that Ms. Alium's summoned beast is actually based on a real monster.
Just like the Flare Bambi from earlier, the monster summoned this time is also a real species called the Invisible Cow.
This monster looks a lot like a cow and has a special ability to turn its whole body invisible.
While it's invisible, it sneaks behind its opponent and charges at them with a powerful rush to take them down.
If you know that its invisibility wears off when it moves too much, dealing with it isn't that hard.
But for the inexperienced 5th rank adventurers, it's going to be tough.
"Alright then... let the test begin!"
As I feared, the first 4 people started fighting their summoned beasts, and within about 5 minutes, they all gave up and came out.
Those people failed, and the next participants entered the training ground.
Once again, all 4 of them were toyed with by the Invisible Cow's invisibility and gave up before getting seriously hurt.
"This is impossible! Are 4th rank adventurers really facing something like this?!"
More and more people continued to fail, and within about 30 minutes of the test starting, 20 people had dropped out.
The test isn't particularly hard, so I didn't have any strong feelings about it, but I was more curious about Ms. Alium.
How can she summon 4 such powerful beasts at the same time?
It's clear that they are quite strong themselves.
I wonder how strong a monster has to be to be recreated with summoning magic?
Just as my thoughts were drifting in another direction, suddenly there was a cheer around the training ground.
"Wow, that girl is amazing!"
"She took down the summoned beast in less than a minute..."
Looking over, in one of the divided training areas, a girl was making the Invisible Cow disappear.
With her long golden hair flowing, that girl was...
"Freesia All. You pass."
"Thank you very much."
The first name to be etched in the list of passers was that of Freesia.
She wore a triumphant smile and turned her face towards Rose.
She really talked a big game, and it seemed she was stronger than the other participants.
"Ms. Freesia's job class is 'Alchemist,' and she combines various materials with her alchemy skills to create unique tools for battle."
"Oh, that's a pretty rare job class."
Instead of fighting with weapons or magic herself, she battles using the tools she creates.
I wonder if she can also make tools for healing or buffing her allies? Well, putting that aside, not just Freesia, but her 2 companions also passed the exam without any trouble.
Gradually, more and more people started to pass.
However, the wave of failures continued, and most participants were struggling against the transparent cow monster.
"Look at that. Even adventurers over level 10 can't do anything against that exam."
Freesia, who passed the exam early, approached us with a relaxed demeanor.
"I wonder if Ros-Ros, who's been active for a year but only reached level 3, can take down that monster?"
"...You won't know until you try."
"They say it's too late to cry after getting seriously hurt. Some people already seem to have painful injuries."
Looking around, I could see several participants with fresh wounds, tears in their eyes.
Using that as intimidation, Freesia continued to threaten Rose.
"It's a hassle to wait for your turn, so wouldn't it be better to just give up and bow your head? Someone like you, a dropout, can't possibly pass the promotion exam with just a week's effort, and the examiner would prefer to finish the test quickly and relax."
"..."
Rose didn't respond to the provocation.
She just continued to wait patiently for her turn.
"Well, if you're motivated, that's fine by me. But we'll be sure to have a good laugh watching you get rolled over."
Just then, it was Rose's turn, and she was called by Ms. Alium.
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