The next morning, Miri and Anne had arrived at one of the nearest guild halls, both to submit their forms for seeking guilds and applying for a solo license. In a way, both of these were similar processes Miri had to do back in her old life. Submitting forms to find a guild was basically no different from submitting resumes to find a job. Applying for a solo license was basically no different from applying for a driver’s license. Different worlds, same shit all over again. So much for an escapist fantasy.

  “Hmm, it says here that your name is ‘Miriam Caldwell’?” the receptionist asked, standing behind the counter and scrutinizing the forms with a discerning eye. He was a portly man with an exceptionally, almost comically, curly mustache. As he studied the forms, he would occasionally twirl one end of his mustache, which seemed to only make it curlier.

  “Yep, that’s right. Miriam Caldwell. But everyone calls me Miri. What about it?” Miri replied, leaning her elbow onto the wooden counter.

  “Nothing in particular,” the receptionist said. “I will make sure to process these forms for your request on seeking guilds to join. In the meantime, you may set an appointment to take the solo license test.”

  “What’s the earliest appointment you can give me?”

  “That would be today. About an hour from now.”

  “Okay, sure. Let’s do that.”

  The receptionist gazed at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure? This is a pretty demanding test, one that evaluates every aspect of your skills as an adventurer. Are you certain that you don’t want to take some time to make any sort of preparations first?”

  “Nah, no need. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. No point in delaying it any further. Let’s just get this over with.”

  “Hmm, very well then,” the receptionist said. “Young people nowadays are always so eager and impatient. You know, I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow in—”

  “In the knee? Yeah, I know,” Miri said with a cheeky smirk.

  “Wait, what?! How…how did you know?!”

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  “Heard that one a million times, bud.”

  If this story were to get an adaptation one day, Miri would turn to the camera right at this moment and wink at the audience, briefly breaking the fourth wall.

  The receptionist took Miri to what appeared to be some sort of training yard, one with various wooden dummies and archery targets scattered all around. At the edges of the area was a high-hanging balcony that acted as a sort of spectator section, where Miri could see Anne watching her from above, waving at her and saying “Good luck!”. Seeing the cleric cheer her on really lifted the redheaded mage’s spirits, giving her the motivation she needed to ace this test.

  “Alright, let me explain the rules. Here, you will see a set of specially designed runic-armor chest plates,” the receptionist said as he displayed five leather chest plates on a table, each with a different number of grey-stone runes attached to them, going from one to five. “In this test, you will be facing against enemies that will attempt to damage your chest plate, lowering the armor’s durability rating by a certain amount with each attack. Once the durability reaches zero, it will count as a death and you will subsequently fail this test.

  “These are the five options you get to choose for your armor plate, each with a different durability and a different weight. For these armor plates, the durability is directly proportional to the weight, meaning that the more durable a plate is, the heavier it is. The weight of the plates are as follows: 10 kg, 20 kg, 30 kg, 40 kg, and 50 kg.

  “You may choose to go for a light armor that would only break after a few hits or a heavy armor that can take quite a bit of punishment or somewhere in between. That is entirely up to you. After putting on the armor, you must reach the goal at the end of this test as quickly as possible. Failing to complete the test within the maximum time limit of 15 minutes will also result in a failure. The score of this test will be based on how fast you complete the test and what percentage of armor is left by the end of it.

  “Hmm, I see,” Miri said with a nod as she absorbed all the information given to her. “Quick question, will I be feeling any pain from the attacks while wearing the plate?”

  “These armor plates are specifically designed to simulate the pain of the attacks up to a certain level,” the receptionist said. “It is carefully moderated so as to not be too excruciating for the test taker. It’s nothing that a typical adventurer would not encounter in their day-to-day life within the occupation.”

  “Hmm, I see,” Miri said with a nod.

  The mage went to check on the armor plates, lifting them one by one to test out their weights. Given her playstyle, she definitely won’t be able to carry a whopping 50 kg plate, one that seemed more suited for a more physical-oriented class like a knight. On the other hand, she also didn’t want a fragile 10 kg plate, one that seemed more suitable for a class more reliant on mobility like a rouge.

  After considering her options, she decided to go for the 30 kg plate—the most well-rounded option of them all, providing the right balance of defense and mobility.

  After putting the plate on, Miri turned to the receptionist. “Okay, I’m ready.”