“You know, I decided that if I ever summoned a Summoned Beast, the first place I’d go would be here.”
After leaving the academy, Aurora headed straight for the Adventurer Guild.
“I’m not from Rainbow City. I’m from a village a little ways away, and it’s not a very wealthy village. So, my parents had to push themselves to get me into the magic academy in this city, and I wanted to become an adventurer quickly so I could earn my own tuition and living expenses.”
Aurora, who was walking beside me, picked me up and told me the reason she came to the Adventurer Guild. Still holding me, she opened the door with a sword and shield relief engraved on it and entered the guild.
The Adventurer Guild was starting to get crowded, as it was late in the afternoon and adventurers were beginning to return from their quests. Aurora weaved through the burly warriors and robed mages, making her way to the reception counter. When she reached the counter, she took a deep breath and spoke to the receptionist.
“Oh, Aurora-chan! Could it be that you’ve contracted with a Summoned Beast!”
For some reason, Aurora was already acquainted with the receptionist. I later learned that Aurora had visited this guild to register as an adventurer as soon as she arrived in this city. However, she found out that summoners couldn’t register as adventurers without a Summoned Beast, and she went home with a very disappointed look on her face. The receptionist who helped her at that time was this very lady.
“Yes! This is him!”
Aurora proudly presented me, looking happy and confident. However, the receptionist’s face was twitching as she looked at me. Well, that’s understandable. Right now, I look like a cat.
“Ah, um, Aurora-chan? Is this… cat your Summoned Beast?”
“Yes, he is! His name is Mist!”
My master replied cheerfully, completely unfazed by the receptionist’s twitching face. I have to say, she’s a bit of an airhead.
Aurora was looking at the receptionist with a beaming smile, but the receptionist was taking out a thick booklet from a drawer and started looking something up.
It was probably the rules for registering summoners as adventurers. For a while, I watched the receptionist and the thick booklet in a staring contest, but it seemed she couldn’t find the answer she was looking for, and she let out a small sigh as she quietly put the thick booklet back in the drawer.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. It seems that black cat isn’t a monster, so I was checking to see if it was okay to register him as an adventurer.”
The receptionist looked a little apologetic.
“Eh!? Summoned Beasts have to be monsters?”
Aurora exclaimed in surprise at the receptionist’s explanation.
“No, I was checking to see if there were any such rules, but there was no such description. However, there have been no cases of people bringing animals… For now, since there are no rules against it, I think you can take the adventurer registration exam.”
“Exam?”
Aurora tilted her head at the receptionist’s answer. When a beautiful girl does that, it’s incredibly powerful. I was captivated by it.
“Yes, there is a practical exam to register as an adventurer. Adventurers often have to defeat monsters, so you can’t be recognized as an adventurer unless you have the strength to defeat at least an F-rank monster. Summoners need to take the exam with their Summoned Beast, so you must bring your Summoned Beast…”
I see, so having a Summoned Beast is a condition for taking the exam, and the condition for registering as an adventurer is passing the practical exam.
Aurora must have misunderstood that she could register as long as she had a Summoned Beast. ‘Alright, I, Mist, will do my best to help with the adventurer registration,’ I thought, feeling excited.
“I see… That’s right. You have to go outside the city to gather medicinal herbs, after all… I can’t let Mist do anything dangerous. I’ll wait until I can contract with another Summoned Beast.”
Unexpectedly, Aurora gave up on registering as an adventurer. This is bad. Now that I’ve heard the reason she wants to become an adventurer, I have to do something about it.
“Meow~”
I jumped out of Aurora’s arms and landed gracefully on the reception counter. Then, I looked firmly into Aurora’s eyes and let out a brave meow. The voices from behind saying “Cute!” were probably just my imagination.
“Eh, Mist? Do you want to take the exam?”
As expected of my summoner. She seems to understand what I want to say without using Telepathy. I nodded slowly to show my agreement.
“Miss, is the exam dangerous?”
Aurora, who understood my will, asked the receptionist, worried about whether I would be in danger.
“The content of the exam is a mock battle with a C-rank or higher adventurer. I don’t think anyone will die, but it’s an exam to test combat ability, so it’s not uncommon for people to get injured.”
Hearing the receptionist’s answer, Aurora looked into my eyes again. I firmly accepted her gaze and nodded.
“Mist says he wants to challenge it. I’ll do my best to cheer him on, so please let us take the exam.”
The look on Aurora’s face as she said that to the receptionist was more serious than I had ever seen before.
The receptionist led us to the training grounds attached to the guild. It seems that the registration exam will be held here. After waiting in the middle of the training grounds for a while, a muscular man with a lion’s mane-like hairstyle appeared from the back. Behind the man was a black wolf about 2 meters long.
“Are you the one who came to take the exam today?”
It seems that this lion-man is the examiner. And the black wolf standing next to the man is a Dark Wolf that I had seen in the forest before. It should be a C-rank monster, so this man must also be a summoner. He looks like a warrior who is very good at melee combat, though.
“Yes, please take care of me.”
While feeling overwhelmed by the appearance of the muscular man and the pressure emitted by the Dark Wolf, Aurora clenched her fist and bowed politely. She has a mental strength that is hard to believe for a girl who was just acting like a natural airhead.
“Ho, you’re quite the gutsy lass to be able to greet me without flinching even after receiving my and my partner’s intimidation. The young ones these days are all talk, and they run away as soon as they realize their opponent is stronger than them. It looks like I’ll be able to have some fun for the first time in a while!”
The lion-headed, intimidating man grinned. Just that alone was enough to make not only young people but also grown adults run away.
Looking at Aurora, her face was clearly stiff, but she didn’t avert her eyes from the intimidating man.
“My name is Gouken. I’m a C-rank summoner, as you can see. This is my partner, Black. As you can see, he’s a Dark Wolf. So, if I was called here, that means you’re a summoner too, right? Why don’t you bring out your partner?”
Huh? What does he mean? I’m standing right next to Aurora, but he doesn’t seem to notice me?
“My name is Aurora. I came here because I really want to become an adventurer. And my partner is already right in front of you.”
Ah, it seems that Aurora is a little angry at Gouken’s statement. It’s probably because I wasn’t considered an opponent. Even so, not only her words and attitude, but also the feeling that she was angry somehow reached my heart. Is this what they call the bond between a summoner and a Summoned Beast?
At Aurora’s words, Gouken looked around and finally noticed me at Aurora’s feet.
“…………” (Eh, is this cat your partner?)
“…………” (Yes, is there a problem?)
If I were to add dialogue to their silence, it would be something like that. Gouken had a look of disbelief, and Aurora was glaring at Gouken as if she was about to bite him.
“To me, it looks like a black cat, but whatever. Let’s get started… (Geez, I thought I was going to have some fun. But why is this lass so confident when her partner is a cat?)”
Unable to bear the silence, Gouken was the first to speak. I couldn’t hear the last part of his words very well, but I kind of understood what he wanted to say.
“Mist, let’s do our best!”
My tension skyrocketed at the unprecedented happiness of being cheered on by a beautiful girl. People were gradually gathering around us. It seems that even a registration exam is enough to pique the interest of adventurers.
Of course, I can’t go all out in a situation like this. However, if I don’t show a certain level of skill, Aurora-san won’t be able to become an Adventurer. It seems like finding the right balance will be difficult.
Aurora-san and Gouken-san stepped back, and I moved forward to face the Dark Wolf, Black.
“Grrrrrowl…”
Black growled as if telling me to come at him. He probably thinks I’m a black cat too. He’s giving me the first move with the余裕 of a strong opponent, is he? Well then, I’ll gladly accept the offer. But before that, let’s appraise him. That way, I’ll know how much I need to hold back.
Race: Dark Wolf
Name: Black
Rank: C
Level: 41
HP: 186/186
MP: 132/132
Attack Power: 166
Defense Power: 128
Magic Attack Power: 129
Magic Defense Power: 127
Agility: 135
Skills:
Roar Lv7
Dark Magic Lv10
Dark Resistance Lv10
I see, I see. This guy is one I need to hold back on quite a bit. No magic, then. Even with a 5th tier spell, I’d kill him in one hit. Let’s have a gentle, slow melee fight.
While I was thinking about that, I heard Aurora-san’s incantation from behind. That’s the “Summoned Beast Enhancement” that Summoners can use at the 5th tier. If I remember correctly, it increases stats by Lv × 1%. Aurora-san’s Summoning Magic level is 5, huh? A 5% increase is pretty subtle. It doesn’t make much of a difference whether it’s there or not, but it’s support from a beautiful girl. I’ll gratefully accept it.
“Summoned Beast Enhancement” is a Skill that any Summoner can use. Despite that, Gouken-san doesn’t seem to be using it. When I appraised him earlier, Gouken-san’s Summoning Magic Skill level was 16. That means he can increase stats by 16%, and he should be able to use the 4th tier “Transfer” and the 3rd tier “Steal.” These Skills have the effect of transferring one’s own HP and MP to a Summoned Beast, or conversely, stealing them from a Summoned Beast.
Well, I guess that means he thinks he can handle it without using those Skills. That’s a big misunderstanding, but even if he goes all out, it won’t be much, so whatever. More importantly, I need to concentrate all my nerves on holding back.
Alright, it seems like Aurora-san’s enhancement has taken effect, so shall we start the fight?
I gently pushed off the ground just a little and approached the Dark Wolf, Black.