Kahari’s hair was still wet when he knocked on Bedora’s door. He didn’t have to wait long, as Nissa opened the door after only a few seconds, brush in hand. Both her and Bedora were in much more relaxed clothing than he’d ever actually seen from them. Bedora’s was less modest than Nissa’s but neither was particularly revealing. Shutting the door behind him, he stepped into the room. It was nearly identical to his, just a bit...bigger. More space, bigger bed, taller ceilings, everything. Maybe the rooms shifted to match the needs of their user? If so, he wondered what the rooms for the other tiers were like. The rooms were simple, but they had their own bathroom, a proper mattress, a mirror, and storage for a generous amount of gear.

It was the nicest room Kahari had even been in that wasn’t owned by his Aunt, so he imagined rooms from higher tiers were even more luxurious. A reward for the time and energy spent reaching the levels needed to be granted those titles. Kahari sat down on a simple stool, while Nissa and Bedora both sat on the bed, Nissa focused on brushing her hair, while Bedora waited for Kahari to be settled. Once he was, she looked up, and spoke.

“Your trial is tomorrow, don’t know when but they’ll call you when it’s time. While I have faith that you will pass, you should know what’s coming up.”

“Alright, what’s this trial like?”

“It varies each time, but there are three tests. First you must pass a basic exam to prove that you are of sound mind, body, and soul, sound enough to be here anyway. This is a simple medical exam, and spell. Second is a written test, this is delivered in the morning after the exam, that will determine you are intelligent enough to understand the Associations rules, dues, and structure. This is also simple, and basically just a comprehension test, not a memorization one. The last test is the one you will be summoned for. If you pass the written test, you will be marked with a rune. At your appointed time you are summoned to the Association arena to fight another nominee. One of you will die in this fight, though you get revived free of charge, not even reincarnation. Winning isn’t the goal, it’s just to test your fighting ability. You are matched with someone of the same level, and like you, they lack a locked class, so you should be on about equal footing.”

Kahari nodded, this was...actually easier than he expected. Though the fact that he could die was disturbing, if he’d be revived free of charge, it wasn’t entirely bad. That was even just if he lost. He thought about all this, wondering about what should be his approach for the fight, when Bedora spoke up again.

“All your equipment in the fight itself will be Association provided. You can select any armor, and weapons you desire, but no potions, poisons, or other such items are allowed. I would recommend you stick to light armor for the fight, even if you plan to train another armor in the time we have before we depart.”

“So as not to limit my mobility, or lower my defenses because I lack skill in the armor?”

“Yeah, you’re likely to be up against people that have had longer to prepare than you. Your actual battle experience bridges the gap, but hampering yourself with your equipment could cost you the fight. How you do is judged, if you pass you’ll finish registration, if not you can come back in a year and try again. Winner of the fight gets a little bonus too, though it’s different with every trial. A little reward for winning against an equal opponent, also a taste of how the arena works.”

“I’d ask how it works but...I think we can save that for later. For now I want to get some sleep, take care of the stuff I have to do tomorrow, and then Nissa said she’d take me to the archives so I can...I can find out what my parents did.”

“Touch the crystal by the bed to turn out the lights, and get some rest. You’ve earned it, we have...a lot of training to do before we attack. All three of us, not just you.”

Kahari nodded and stood up, turning to walk away. He stopped at the door, just before opening.

“Thank you...both of you.”

Before walking out without awaiting a reply. He did exactly what he said, after turning off the lights, he climbed into bed. It took him some time to fall asleep, but eventually he did. Drifting off into dream-memories of one of his past lives. It brought a tear to his sleeping eye, but he slept through the night with ease.

Kahari was awoken by a knock on his door. Grumbling, he climbed out of bed and fumbled in the dark till he found the crystal. Lights now on, he plodded to the door still yawning. Opening the door, he blinked at the two men standing outside the door, they both bore Association employee badges.

“Yes?”

“You are Kahari correct? We’re here to administer the wellbeing test, and leave the written test should you pass.”

“R-right, come in.”

Kahari left the door open, stepping to the side to let them into the room. They didn’t seem to care about anything but their jobs and gestured for Kahari to sit on the bed.

“This will take but a moment, just a few spells to make sure nothing disqualifies you.”

Kahari nodded and sat down on the bed. The two men each chanted, casting four spells each. After each casting, they compared the information they received, and after fifteen minutes, nodded.

“Alright, everything is in order. Turn the test in at the front desk, and we’ll summon you when it’s your turn in the arena.”

They left a small bundle of papers next to Kahari, and filed out of the room, off to perform some other task that remained unknown to Kahari. He picked up the papers, and with the attached pen, and moved over to the small writing desk. It took him longer than he thought to finish, some things were confusing to him. Overall though, he felt he understood enough to pass. After going over the test one last time, he stood and stretched. Getting changed, he carried the papers up to the front and turned them in, where he found Nissa and Bedora waiting. They’d known he’d have to come up here eventually.

“Took you long enough.”

Bedora waved him over. After being let out of the Association area, he noticed that they were both in casual clothing. Bedora was wearing dull greys and blacks, while Nissa had on brighter colors, especially green and red. They were modest clothes, not too fancy or revealing, in a style that was definitely Altesian.

“What’s up guys?”

“Crepes!”

Bedora had a large smile plastered on her face as she said this, and grabbed both her companions by the wrist and tugged them outside. Nissa pulled her hand free, and Kahari tried, only getting free once Bedora let him.

“We’re going to get crepes, and then the two of you are going to stop by the archives while I sell off our collected materials.”

“You promised to pay.”

“And you’ll pay me back if you like it.”

“Right…”

Nissa sounded doubtful, she wanted a good cake not whatever concoction Bedora was going to feed them. For his part, Kahari had never had much access to sweets, they were a festival only kind of thing, or some fruit. This would be something new to him, though he looked forward to it. He just wished the circumstances that had brought him to Ixul were better. Still, he was getting ever closer to his goal, a little break to recharge before continuing to train wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

The crepes as it turned out, were quite tasty. Even Nissa liked them, so with only a slight grumble, she handed over the money she’d promised Bedora. Kahari pulled out some coins of his own, but Bedora just shook her head.

“You need to save that pocket money of yours. Consider it a gift for making it this far. Not many have to deal with so much in such a short time, at least in these calmer parts of the world.”

They talked as they walked, a leisurely stroll. The area they were in was a bit more upper class than Kahri was used to. Proper shops, though stalls were dotted here and there, they mostly sold souvenirs or treats, the kind of thing tourists or passersby might be interested in. This street had tailors, restaurants, a bakery, and even a small used book store, though it looked like it didn’t see much traffic. All the things that sold magic items, scrolls, potions, weapons, and so on were closer to the Association and inns, clustered near where the people that needed them most could find them easily.

Slowly the trio started to split apart. Bedora wanted to go look at new equipment, and see if there was anything new on their targets. Meanwhile Nissa took Kahari back to the Association.

“You wanna stick close to here, it’s rare but sometimes they’ll come looking for your combat test the day you put in the written one. We’ll head to the archives after your test. Just relax, maybe hang out with the other newbies. See what comes up.”

With that the ‘young’ fairy girl turned and went her own way. Kahari didn’t pry as to what she was up to, but he did go back into the Association. He had to go through getting checked in again as he wasn’t even a bronze adventurer. Once back inside, he made his way back to a little common area, not many people were here. A few bronzes and a silver or two, most of the people were like Kahari. Prospective members that were waiting to take their test. Until they had a badge and were members, most of the building was off limits to them.

All in all there were eight of them here, counting Kahari. Assuming that was all of them, that meant there’d be four matches tomorrow. Besides Kahari, there was another boy about his age. Blonde hair and deep green eyes, well groomed with pale skin. Probably a noble or merchants son, and likely not the heir, so he was becoming an adventurer to build his name in another way.

He sat away from the others, not seeming to care about meeting people that might not even get in. Next there was a girl with light green skin, and hair made of leaves. Nymphs weren’t a common sight in these parts, so she was the center of the conversation. Without their equipment it was hard to tell what their jobs were, but Nymphs like most Fae races preferred magic.

Next to her was a small goblin boy, who seemed to be familiar to her. Goblins tended to with Dwarves for hill and mountain territory, and his grey skin said he’d lived most of his life underground. Goblins were one of the more common Fae races, clever little people that were good with money and earth.

A girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail had muddy boots propped up on the table. She was nearly as large as Bedora, but had fair skin, and icy eyes. She laughed loudly, a tankard of ale in one hand, and a meat skewer of some kind in the other. She seemed to be swapping stories with an older man next to her. A little bit of grey crept into his beard, but he was still fit, and his eyes full of energy. Not everyone became an adventurer when they were young. A fair amount of soldiers, mercenaries, and guards joined up after they left their old jobs.

A quiet girl, smaller than the others had her hood up, and spoke quietly, mostly just listening to the others. Kahari never saw her eyes, but she had platinum hair that reached her shoulders and cascaded out from the hood. The last member of the group, besides Kahari himself, was a common sight around Seras. A large man with round bear ears poking up from the top of his head, and thick brown beard on his face. He wasn’t from Sok, but Kahari was used to the Beastkin these days.

As soon as Kahari had taken a seat a plate of food and a tankard of ale was pushed into his hands. The group besides the blonde boy was welcoming of new members, and for the most part was listening to the girl from the icy plains and the older man swap stories of various encounters. A Barbarian, a Guard, a Marionettist, a Tinkerer, a Seer, and another undecided sat at the table. The Blonde Boy hadn’t even told them what he was, so they just ignored him, didn’t seem he cared about friendships so much as he wanted his badge. The Barbarian and the Blonde Boy were both high enough to be Gold, so they’d be facing each other. The Guard and the Seer were both set to be silvers if the test went well, the rest of them were Bronzes.

Bronzes always fought first, as the arena crowds got thicker the later in the day it got, the best fights were saved for the larger crowds. That meant Kahari was up against the Marionettist, Tinkerer, or the other Undecided. He wasn’t sure what they were all capable of, but they all seemed capable enough. He smiled and laughed. Eating and drinking with them till it was time to head to bed. He’d spent all day here, not that that was unusual. Bedora and Nissa had come to check on him, they seemed to know a few other people hanging about, though not any of the other newbies.

Kahari drifted off into sleep, wondering what the day in the arena was going to be like. That night he was assailed by images of dark and light haired sisters, one with red eyes, the other golden. Images raced through his sleeping mind, but by the time morning came, the images had long since been forgotten. Only a sense of something strange on the horizon remained.