There were five people as the examiners and one of the four would be on the stage for actual battles with the opponents.
One was the blue-haired [Rank-4] swordsman, the gray-haired (tier-4) water mage lady, another knight in full armor and a great sword as well as a helmet covering his face who was a [Rank-4] knight just like the other one.
A magic swordsman, someone quite rare, with red hair and a long sword on his waist.
But he was a (tier-3) mage and a [Rank-4] swordsman, so his overall strength was similar to the others, or just slightly more.
He was a mature man, just like the mage woman, and lastly, there was a short but muscular person with them, who was the most experienced and old among the people here.
He was a dwarf. A race of high intelligence and someone who was a senior executive who observed the potential recruits for the association.
They were here and now that they had heard the confidential examinees who would be observed by the branch master this time around, which was just the commonsense of course, they can't help their excitement.
And although the information given to them just stated the two were a water mage and an archer, the confidentiality meant as little information as possible.
They can only see what these two had to offer in the fight and all of them were excited to see their powers despite their young look.
Looks were always deceiving in this world, so instead of just gauging the strength with mere eyes, seeing what they can do was the best.
The young two of them were standing before them right now and all four of them could see, feel, and speculate things about them.
The girl with short brown hair and black eyes looked just normal but, there was something in those normal eyes that no one sitting on the pavilion had.
The dwarfs could even tell that there was something in the boy's eyes that not even the four of them with him had at this moment.
And this excited him more than them.
What's more... he was a dwarf. Someone who worked with fire, metal, earth, and knowledge every day.
His whole being's core was those things and he could feel those things from this person before him, too.
The fire, the charisma, the wisdom that few had, the strength that was honed with brutal experience.
He could tell just from his body structure and muscles that this boy... he was stronger than even what met his experienced eyes.
And the girl was similarly special.
Even though she was a mage and was going to use magic here, he could tell she was strong even while looking at her normal-looking cloth-covered arms.
Both of them were also using some good gear and, aside from the normal caves, he knew the other clothes were artifacts in the form of normal clothing.
Especially the boy's.
His artifacts, from the clothes, that black clock, and even the boots, were the most special among these things.
They were amazing, and the boy had already sensed his curiosity so, his eyes met this old dwarf and just a single look was enough for him to know he should stay silent.
So he gave him a knowing look, and they both nodded at each other, knowing things all too well.
And then, after this initial evaluation of the two, which was definitely more than just positive, the dwarf nodded at them and looked at the girl first.
"Why don't you start first? The mage lady here is also a water mage of (tier-4) so it would be ok, right?"
There was a warm smile on his face as he said that... which was totally the opposite of an average dwarf's normal behavior.
Dwarves in this world were beings of high intelligence.
They were proud creatures who considered their creations, the dwarven creations, as the best thing there could be.
They mostly looked down upon the other low-intelligence creatures and humans were naturally one of them.
Though they did admire the strength and proficiency of their fields, the warm look that this dwarf gave her was genuinely not something any average dwarves would have.
And the look he was giving the boy was even deeper than hers, so it became even more awkward for the boy as well as the impatient girl.
She just wanted to finish all this as soon as she could and go to the branch manager and taste the delicious chocolates he was famous for... aside from his strength, naturally.
She was excited so she didn't even hesitate and looked at the lady with long, bluish-gray hair and dark brown eyes.
The lady… was alluring as well as voluptuous.
She looked older even while being a mage but, she definitely was attractive.
And many males in this arena were just staring at her for as long as the others can remember.
But her beauty was nothing for the three other male examiners... only three, though.
The swordsman who was dissatisfied was definitely attracted to this person and the other three, even the two young ones as well as some experienced ones on the pavilion, knew this.
But the girl had no interest in any of this, so, just after greeting her, she walked up to the stage and went to her spot on the other side.
Her impatience surprised others as she was just a young girl, who looked just... normal in their eyes.
And even though the announcement was made with her name Uriel that she was a water mage, none of them were much excited.
They knew this would be a battle between mages so the weapon wielders were naturally not interested in this one and the mages were somewhat the same.
The girl looked young and there was no way they would be surprised if the opponent wasn't the mage of the twelve geniuses of the era or someone of a famous and similar higher rank.
This girl was nothing special looking and what's more, they couldn't even sense her Mana.
And though they couldn't see her status window, they just believed it was because of her high mental fortitude and their low-ranking skills.
They didn't think much about this fight and didn't even look forward to the possible unexpected things.
Most of the mages were (tier-3) anyway. What can a mere girl do against that strong (tier-4) woman?
The majority had these thoughts but, naturally, everything had exceptions.
Some, though very few, were definitely some who were looking forward to this fight in the hope of seeing something different.
Those were just the spectators but, the opposite situation was happening with the examiners.
The three males, including the dwarf, the armored knight, and the magic swordsman, were looking forward to this fight but, the one sword swordsman was still sitting on the back, staring at the normal-looking boy.
He did understand there was something different about the two of them and that the girl would perform better than he anticipated but, this boy, no... what would a young boy who used a bow could do against a swordsman?
How can a long-range weapon defeat the all-powerful sword which was a close-range weapon?
Why would they even send some archer to the ranking ground in the first place as the long-range weapon wielders always finish their rankings in the second test of stats and just some normal target practice?
This boy... what can he even do here? Against the knights and mages like them?
He would just cry and get hurt unnecessarily if anything.
And as young as he was... he didn't believe this boy could even come close to the natural reaction speed and movements of a [Rank-4] knight like him.
And naturally, his thoughts were natural and right from the point of view of a normal person or a normal adventurer.
But, he wasn't some normal person or adventurer in this place, and as he was new; they knew he wouldn't understand this thing just yet.
He was going to fight this young boy, this archer, anyway, so they knew he would understand things himself.
Instead of telling him, they naturally would choose to just let him experience the most unexpected things one had to witness as an examiner of the adventurer's association.
And he would start to know these things... just after seeing the fight that will unfold now.
A fight between an experienced water mage as well as this young-looking water mage of some low rank.
Everyone was excited but the boy, the one who came with her, was the only one who knew... this fight wouldn't even last for three minutes.
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