Hanma was walking down the same road as he has been doing for the past two years ever since moving out of the village. The relaxing sound of trees rustling in the wind on one side, and the gorgeous view of the wind blowing over the grass on the other. The road was placed parallel to the forest until it branched off eventually where one path would actually split into the forest and the other would lead to the city he was heading to. The sun was currently rising and it’s a first that he actually woke up this early for a long time. After all, he couldn’t sleep because of what happened yesterday.

After arriving in the city he went straight to the Explorers Guild. It looked like a bigger version of an Inn and was three stories high. On the first floor, you had the run of the mill cafeteria and reception every guild has. On the second floor would be temporary housings and on the third, you had offices for the people who worked here. Everybody would know to stay away from the third floor since it was practically branded as treason to go up there if you did not belong. Some things in this world have very strict rules and everybody would abide them for their own sake. It didn’t mean that breaking all rules was strictly seen as treason, but the guild has had their troubles in the past with individuals who felt like they could just barge in any given moment. Let’s just say there were made example of.

“Ah. I’m too early aren't I.” He muttered to himself when he stepped inside. The reception clerk wasn’t sitting behind his desk yet. It would probably take a while seeing he was this early.

Only two souls could be seen sitting at a table chatting to each other. One of them was a big guy with very gigantic muscles. His clothes were way too tight for his build. But most importantly it was wearing a big greatsword on his back. He recognized it right away since it had his mark stamped into it. Well, his family mark actually. It was his father who made that sword.

One of the reasons he never came close to the guild was because of that. His father was a well-known blacksmith who made lots of weaponry and armor for explorers. And especially in this village since he’d be willing to give the locals a discount.

The other person was a total stranger to Hanma. He looked very bland. Not someone you’d think would be an explorer. He had farmer clothes on after all. He then remembered you didn’t have to be an actual explorer to simply enjoy a meal here.

The bulky men looked over to Hanma’s direction once he stepped inside. “Tiny? Is it you? It’s been ages!” The man jumped up and walked over to his direction. Saying it had been ages would have been an overstatement, but it had been a while.

“Hey, Gronk. How are you?” A fitting name for his appearance. The guy resembled a lot of an oversized woodcutter.

“Good as ever! I came back from a dungeon near Alterra. A big one that was, took a whopping forty-six of us to clear that one. Luckily we lost no-one! All thanks to our healers of course. The extra bunch of explorers we picked up along the way were terrible at coordinating with us. They made lots of mistakes and took lots of blows.”

It was probably you and your ‘bunch’ who suck at coordinating with outsiders. Hanma thought to himself.

“Glad you made it back safe. Will you be staying for a while?” Hanma only asked because he could maybe convince Gronk to come along while he’d try and clear the Cairn Mine Dungeon.

“For a week probably. I will be helping my friend there on the farm for a bit. Harvest season is upon us after all! Oh and now that I think of it. My sword could use a polish. You still open for business?” Gronk thought this may have been a good way to get a discount. He would have gotten one seeing how generous Hanma always is.

That's too bad, could have really used him.

“Actually, I’ll be closing down for a while. I will be taking the trainee exam in two days.”

Everybody could sign up for the exam regardless of past and status. Some people were discouraged because of how brutal it can be on the unprepared and were advised to take some lessons and training.

“Oh really now?! Your father would have been proud, Tiny! I am sure of it.” Gronk said loudly with a big smile. Gronk always smiles but this one was particularly big. “Will you be partaking the Hunter or Survival exam.”

“Survival of course. I’m better at surviving than killing monsters after all. Seven days alone in a forest is long, but nothing compared to actual fighting.” Hanma could feel some hesitation in his words. It’s not that he was scared of the exam. Moreso of what followed if he passed. He wasn’t obliged to do anything but going into a dungeon was still a big step for him.

“I am sure you’ll come out unscathed. It looks like the receptionist is ready to see you. Good luck Tiny!” While the conversation was happening the receptionist took place behind the desk. Gronk walked back to his seat to continue stuffing his meal down his throat.

“Welcome, how may I help?” The receptionist was a small man with an oddly weird curled mustache and his hair was combed all the way back. His face looked rather funny but also very comforting. It was probably one of the reasons he got this job.

“I would like to register for the upcoming exam.” Hanma raised his voice a bit. He was a bit nervous, it was his first time after all.

“Hunting of Survival?”

“Survival.”

“Alright, what’s your name?”

“Hanma Foji. I own the blacksmith out of town.”

“Of the Foji family? We have a celebrity in our midst I see. Aiming to become a Wandersmith like your father?”

Hanma had not expected that question at all. A Wandersmith was a blacksmith who would go on expeditions. They would tend to broken or damaged gear and fix them or replace them. This was no easy task and bringing a forge inside a dungeon was not possible. Wandersmiths used other means of forging. They had these small red crystals called Fire Charges. These, when thrown in a pile of wood or coal, would ignite and set it on fire. They would also at the same time release a magical compound that would greatly increase the duration of the fire. Their tools weren’t light either and they would need a flat and hard surface to work on. Most Wandersmiths knew a bit of earth magic for this exact reason. They could strengthen and flatten stone to serve as an anvil. Usually, they carried a steel plate with them which they would iron to the flat surface or if none were available in the ground. Because this was such a hard job a Wandersmith was very sought after and paid very well.

“Not really.”

“Oh, okay then. Here are your registration papers. Look it over with care and sign your name at the bottom.”

Hanma read over the papers. They were mostly guidelines on how the exam would work and some lines about the guild not being responsible for any damages. This included the rare chance of dying.

The survival exam Hanma was signing up for was one of the two exams available. In this one, the trainee was blindfolded and dropped in a forest. You could only take the blindfold off if you could hear a horn blow. At that point, the trial started. From there on out the trainees had to survive for seven full days. Unlike the Hunting exam, there weren’t any monsters running loose since they would be carefully taken care of before it would start. Once those seven days were over they had to find their way back to the entrance and they could collect their badges. That was all it took to become an explorer. If you could not survive this simple task then becoming an explorer was simply out of the question.

Surviving in a forest isn’t that big of a task compared to the hunting exam where you were faced with actual dangers. Of course, there were animals in the forest which could be threats. Bears, boars, and stags. But if you could circumvent those animals it was nothing compared to fighting actual monsters.

Granted if you could fight then going for the Hunting exam would be much faster. It really depended on how fast you could slay and find them with the maximum amount of ten hours. Garth took nine hours to finish his.

“Here, all signed.”

“Thank you, here is your wooden badge. We’ll see you in two days. Do you know where you need to be?”

“Yes, all there on the papers right?”

“Indeed. Good luck!” The man handed the papers back to Hanma and also gave him a wooden badge. This badge was a symbol of a trainee. Only with the badge, one could participate in the exam.

Hanma decided to visit the old man. The stone was near the road back anyway.

“Back again are we? Not enough ore? It’s not my fault when you screw up the smelting process. So don’t be getting angry at me like the last time.” The man chuckled a little. He can still remember the first time Hanma came to buy ore with his father’s recommendation. He screwed up the refinement process and blamed it all on him!

“Hello, old man. No just came to chat again. You’re the only one I can actually bear to speak with. The rest is either overly enthusiastic or they’re a moron.” Hanma sighed and placed his hands on the counter to rest his body on.

“You know, you should really stop calling me old man and by my real name. Philip is fine.” Philip had become used to being called an old man but that did not mean it was to his liking. That’s when he suddenly looked down at the hand of the young man. “That ring! I see you finally started to wear it. What made you change your mind? Finally got sick of having to guess the status of your tools and materials?”

“Status? All I know is that the ring holds a message from my father to me. And what changed my mind I’d rather keep to myself.”

“Yes, status. It’s an Appraisal Ring after all. Don’t you know? And what’s that about a message. Show me.”

Hanma concentrated on the ring and after a second or two, the message was displayed hovering above the ring.

“An Appraisal Ring showing messages? That’s new to me. How did he manage to…. oh my I think I know. Could you hand it over for a second?” Philip took some tweezers out of a drawer and Hanma handed over the ring. Philip took a close look at it and started spinning the round around in the tweezers. That’s when he noticed a darker spot in between where the opal sat in the gold. “Aha! Found it, to think your father really succeeded in changing a material’s appraisal information. He never ceases to amaze me, even in the beyond.”

Hanma still did not understand what was happening at all. It knew what the word appraisal meant but what had that to do with the ring? Philip took a little shard of metal out of the ring and laid it on the counter.

“That small piece of metal there contains the message your father made for you. You see, this ring can appraise the value of objects and will give you information about it. That’s what the letters normally form. But your father altered the information this piece of metal would give. He must have magically inscribed it. If people were only half as smart as that man, the world would be such a better place.”

“How do I appraise an item?” Hanma took the tiny shard of metal and put it in a small bag. He then took the ring and put it back on its finger. He tried focussing on the ring again but the message did not appear. It seems the old man is right.

“Hold on.” Philip said as he walked over to a piece of stone. He picked it up and set it down. “Now, place the opal on this piece of stone, and do what you did to make the message appear.” Hanma put the opal on the stone and indeed. The blue liquid gas like substance formed.

Iron ore. 15% Purity. It can be processed into wrought iron.

“Does this mean the ore only houses a small amount of iron?” Hanma was amazed at what just happened. He could tell the amount of iron that he would get out of ore and started to wonder what the ring could tell him about all sorts of things.

“Exactly, although fifteenTake good care of that young man. It is something rather special. But be aware, significant use can tire you out. The amounts of time between rests depends on the person.”

“Thank you, Philip! I won’t forget this. I’ve got to head home now but I’ll come back before I leave!” Hanma started hastily walking back.

“Leave where? Where are you going?” Philip did not quite know what that meant.

“The exam! I enrolled!” Hanma had already gone around a corner but Philip had heard him.

“It seems like he’s finally starting to fulfill his destiny. You'll look after him from up there won’t you, Harman?”