Adimir and the others had been traveling with the weapon caravan for over a day now and would soon be arriving at the city they needed to go to for Adimir to take the rank up exam. Not much of note had actually happened during the time they traveled with every single thing that came around to cause trouble be it dire animals or raiders were taken out by the guards with relative ease. This only cemented the desire to grow stronger as both individuals and a team for the hellhound's members.

The group as of right now were in a wagon discussing their payment with the leader of the caravan.

"Thanks to your spell we plowed through everything easier than normal. So, for that, we'll be paying an extra three silver coins on top of the agreed 15 silver coins." The caravan leader told them.

"That sounds like a fair amount for us," Mira replied. Just as they were about to get up and leave, however, the man gestured for them to stay.

"Wait I'd like you to have this token. If you show this to any caravan belonging to one of us, you should be able to procure a spot onboard even if you weren't hired." He said as he handed each of them a coin with the same crossed spears over a shield emblem as the caravan.

"Why are you giving this to us though?" Adimir asked with a suspicious. This suspicious look didn't escape the man's sight as he laughed.

"Simple. Because your detection spell is really convenient and if I can get you guys to travel with some of our caravans, I'm sure my boss will be pleased. Also, you can show that token to any shop belonging to us to get a chance to buy from our private stock of weapons we sell only to VIPs. Don't misunderstand anything though. Like I said I'm only doing this to build a good relationship with you because of your spell though." The man said to clear up Adimir's suspicions.

"I see. I won't be selling the spell to you just so we're clear. So, if your gunning for that you mind as well get rid of that train of thought right now." Adimir told him.

"Fair enough. If our caravan ever has an important shipment to deliver, we'll be contacting you guys to hire you aboard the crew. Anyway, it was good to meet a team of adventurers like yourself. I haven't introduced myself yet these past few days but I'm Nick. If you ever need a hand in town just look for our local shop here and ask for me by name and show your token. I'll be here for the rest of the week." Nick replied his expression briefly showing confusion as he tried to think up what a train was before brushing it off.

"Thank you for your kindness, Nick. I believe I speak for the entirety of the hellhound team when I say that we're thankful for your help." Mira said with her ever present amiable smile.

"Think nothing of it. It's all business after all." Nick said waving off her thanks. With their discussion concluded the three of them exited the wagon. By the time the talk ended, they were now at the city of their destination. Before they left, they had gotten paid so that wasn't a concern now.

"So this is the city where I'll take my rank up exam? I have to say the defenses are nothing to scoff at." Adimir said with a hint of admiration in his voice. Compared to the defenses of the town he first saw this city had the type of defenses that made it seem like they were preparing to fight titans.

The wall was easily 50 feet tall and had a steel gate that had two layers of steel bars to keep out invaders. On either side of the gate was an archer's parapet with enough room to house 20 or so archers.

"Of course, it is. This city's name is Elvenspire and it has a population of over 800,000 people I've heard. They need a good defense to keep a city of this size safe from the number of higher-ranked monsters that would be attracted to such a large population of people." Mira explained to him. Upon hearing the absurdly high population of the city Adimir looked at the defenses again in a new light.

"I guess magic must really help with the production of crops," Adimir mumbled thoughtfully.

"Come on enough standing around! Let's go and get a place to bunk at! We still have two days to prepare you for the test Adimir, and I intend to hammer into you the knowledge you'll need to pass it." Tauna declared interrupting the conversation Adimir and Mira were having. Tauna's gung-ho attitude about the rank up test proved to be infectious as even Mira had a small smile on her face.

"Alright alright let's go." Adimir relented with an amused smile. After getting through gate security the hellhound team managed to get a couple rooms at a local inn called the hound's lodge. Right now, however the group was inside the girl's room discussing the Rank up exam.

"So, what should I expect from the rank up exam?" Adimir inquired.

"First of all, it's not going to be easy. They usually do it differently each year, so our knowledge won't be enough to get you through the exam. For instance, for me, we were all abruptly dropped into the middle of a forest filled with monsters the guild captured and released in it." Mira told him.

"Seriously!? But what if a person dies?" He asked with a shocked expression on his face.

"They usually have silver rank advisors on hand to save a person if it looks like they're about to die. And if that happens, they are automatically failed. But even with that, there are still many deaths during the exam." Mira answered him.

"For me, I had to fight against a steel rank and at least manage to hit them five times before they hit me five times. It was a pretty tough fight." Tauna added on.

"What we can help you with though is practice. From now on we should do daily spars to get you used to fighting against humanoid opponents like with the hobgoblins. Just a bit more cunning. You're a mage so I'm not entirely sure what type of test they'll have for you since mages take a different test, but the spars should be enough to serve as training." Mira decided.

"Got it. So, who will I be facing first?" He asked the two girls. This question caused a dark grin to spread across her face. She then cracked her knuckles and then her neck.

"Me." She answered gleefuly. Mira then patted Adimir's shoulder.

"Good luck." She said with a solemn expression on her face.

"Hey hey! Don't say that like I'm about to die!" Adimir cried out his face morphing into one consumed by panic.

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Adimir and the other two went over to a nearby clearing just outside of town for their spar. Both Adimir and Tauna had their full combat gear on. The two had a distance of 20 feet between them and Mira was in the center 20 feet to the side so she wouldn't get caught up in the fight. He couldn't help but think that with Tauna's towering height from his perspective paired up with her gambeson armor, steel gauntlets and shoulder guards and the tower shield she had made for an intimidating sight. Tauna got into her fighting stance with her shield raised up in front of her.

"When I say fight the spar will begin. The first one to get three consecutive hits wins. Are you both ready?" Mira asked the two of them.

Both Adimir and Tauna nodded wordlessly.

"FIGHT!" Mira declared while backing up a couple more feet. Right away Adimir began his assault on Tauna. She was the type of fighter who excelled in both defense and offense and was very difficult to counter, but with her heightened senses as a beastkin, he knew that he'd have plenty of ways to turn this fight to his favor.

"Caeca mico!" He shouted while pointing the tip of his staff at Tauna while turning to look away. As soon as he finished the magic chant for the spell a blinding light erupted from his staff and Tauna who was looking directly at the staff to dodge whatever it attacked with cried out in surprise as she was blinded by the bright light.

Even Mira who was examining the fight carefully was blinded by the light. Only Adimir who looked away was unaffected and he seized the chance he created to push his advantage further.

"Exagitant venti!" Adimir yelled causing a powerful wind to manifest itself in front of Adimir and crash into Tauna who was still disoriented sending her onto her butt. The wind served as enough for Tauna to get her head back on as she stumbled back up to her feet and rushed him intending to close the gap before he could cast any more spells. However, he had already predicted this and used the same strategy that he used during his combat exam to become an iron rank.

"Luto artis murum!" Adimir murmured under his breath causing a 6-foot-tall and 10-foot wide dirt wall to appear in front of him. He then began to back up preparing to cast another spell. However out of his expectations instead of going around the dirt wall like Adimir thought Tauna would she instead rammed straight into it. The first charge alone nearly caused it to collapse as cracks appeared in the dirt wall. While it was only made of dirt it was still sturdy enough to block off most humanoids, but Tauna nearly breaking through it in one charge served as a testament to her ridiculous level of strength. Then the next instant the dirt wall collapsed as Tauna leaped forward with a battle crazed look in her eyes.

Adimir still was in shock about her breaking through his wall with such ease that by the time he recovered, she was already in front of him and placing a well-aimed kick on his chest. With that one blow, Adimir was sent flying 5 feet and had the air knocked out of him. Coughing and hacking he raised his hand as he tried to cast a spell only for a boot to step onto his arm preventing him from raising it. Then another one kicked away his mage book out of his reach and a mace was leveled towards his forehead.

"This round goes to Tauna!" Mira yelled declaring the winner. Adimir looked up at Tauna's smirking face and sighed.

"Hehe. It looks like your magic wasn't enough to beat me. But I have to say I like the light show you did earlier." She commended him.

"Yeah, thanks, I guess. Next time I'll make sure to beat you though." Adimir replied as he reached up his hand towards Tauna. Tauna grabbed his hand and pulled him onto his feet.

"We'll see about that." She said with a coy smile. Mira handed Adimir his mage book to him and patted his shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up over this loss. Tauna is pretty much a steel rank mages worst nightmare. She's very good at countering attack spells and can use brute strength to get past most defensive spells that apprentice mages have at their disposal." She disclosed to him.

"Huh. So, a bad matchup? Guess I'll have to put extra effort into beating you next round." Adimir decided.

"Well, you already got farther than any other mage has with that light trick. Can't say I've ever seen a mage use a spell like that before." Tauna clarified.

"Ah, the blinding flash spell. I made that one. I figured the next time we faced an ogre or something we could use that to turn the tables." Adimir told the two.

"That would explain it. So ready for round two?" Tauna asked him.

"Hell yeah!" Adimir replied in an upbeat manner.

(A few minutes later)

Adimir and Tauna just finished another spar. This time around she was prepared for the blinding flash spell, so he used some water magic to make a mud spot for her to slip in. Unfortunately, she recovered quicker from that than he had expected and sent him flying with a one-handed throw. After a short rest, Tauna switched out with Mira for a sparring match.

"Same rules?" Adimir asked Mira.

"Same rules." She confirmed while drawing her short sword and dagger.

Mira was wearing full gambeson armor with a steel shoulder guard for her right arm. He knew from experience that she used agility and skill when fighting, unlike Tauna who fought more like an actual monster with her brute strength. Because of this when it came down to it Mira was much faster than Tauna which would make her more difficult to hit with any slower attack spells. With this in mind, Adimir was going to have to think up a strategy to actually be able to land at least one hit to daze her before bombarding her with more spells.

He was after all desperate to at least win one match after being beaten two times in a row by a certain brutish girl.

"Ready? Set! Fight!" Tauna yelled starting the match. Instead of doing a verbal casting for his spell Adimir went with a mental cast to sacrifice power for speed. Right away a couple dozen five-inch long spikes jutted out of the ground in front of Mira to hamper her progress forward.

But once again it seemed that things weren't going his way as Mira ran through the spiked area easily avoiding the spikes with cat-like agility.

"Shit!" Adimir exclaimed as he fired off a barrage of stones from the ground below him at her. And yet she surprised him yet again as she did a front flip sailing directly over the stones, he shot at her and started running in a zigzag the moment her feet touched the ground. By now Adimir was firing off balls of clay at her trying with all his magical might to hit her even once before she got close to him, but by the time he fired off his third barrage of clay balls she already had her dagger at his neck.

Adimir's lower jaw dropped open as she was just a moment ago a good five feet away from him and now was already in front of him.

"Why the heck are you guys so monstrously strong!?" Adimir exclaimed. Mira moved her dagger away from Adimir's throat with the faint outline of a smile on her lips.

"That's because unlike mages who use their mana to use spells our mana is constantly strengthening our body 24/7. So, something like a backflip and other feats of similar levels of strength are easy enough for steel ranks to do." Mira answered him.

Adimir thought back to the fact that a steel rank is equal to the average soldier and couldn't help but shiver in fear. Wouldn't that mean the average soldier is basically a spartan in this world? Truly a terrifying world this place is. He definitely did not want to know what the spartan equivalent of this world was if that was the case.

"Again! This time for sure I'll land a hit on you!" Adimir insisted.

"Ok. Just don't get ahead of yourself. This is only training after all." Mira replied before she walked back to her original position.

Adimir realized that this time around he'd need to do something to hamper her senses if he wanted to stand a chance at defeating Mira, but in a way that would still allow him to target her with his range spells. That was his only chance at defeating a fighter like Mira. With this in mind, Adimir attempted his first mixed element spell. By massing the water molecules in the air and heating them up into steam he blanketed the small area that they were fighting with a layer of obscuring steam.

He could already tell it was changing the battlefield to his advantage as he was only able to see five feet ahead of him before the steam became too thick for him to see farther. Adimir activated his mage eyes and began to silently creep to the left. Inside the mist, he could see Mira slowly walking forward with her head darting around trying to catch a glimpse of him or one of his attack spells. Unfortunately for her, he was still a good 20 feet away from her. Resisting the urge to giggle Adimir set about in one of his specialties. Altering the battlefield.

Using the last bit of mana inside of his magicrystal staff he began to make the topmost layers looser to increase the tripping hazard. It seemed; however, this action didn't go unnoticed by Mira as she slowed her pace and started to pay more attention to the ground below her. Tch. How perceptive of her, but it was already far too late for her by now. With this Adimir's trap was set and now he'd be able to make her dance to his own tune. He then used his own mana to gather up five clumps of loosely packed dirt and began to float them five feet away from him to his left.

Doing this took a degree of concentration and he was forced to stay still and allow Mira to approach him slowly but surely, but he was able to look past that to win. Just as Mira was eight feet away from him the dirt clumps, he floated away from him were sent flying towards Mira. The first three were slashed apart by Mira's sword and dagger before she dodged the last two with that absurd agility of hers. But he accomplished his goal as she turned her attention towards where the attack had come from and darted forward while brandishing her blades.

All like he had hoped. Adimir's lips curved into a sly smile as he gathered up the mana he had into his hands and began blasting bolt after bolt of lightning just in front of Mira. The lightning bolts crashed into her causing her body to convulse as she crashed into the ground. They weren't anywhere near strong enough to actually harm a person, but they had enough of a punch to stun someone like a taser would. Not taking any chances Adimir slammed his staff into the ground and shouted.

"Ligat lapis!" And with those two words, four stone restraints emerged from the ground and pinned down Mira by her ankles and wrists.

Then with another spell, Adimir pushed away from the steam that had been blanketing the area till then. Walking over with a smug expression on his face Adimir looked down at Mira.

"Looks like I've managed to pull a win this time." He said with a pleased tone. Mira shot him a glare before shooting daggers at the stone that was restraining her limbs. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could say anything a loud outburst of laughter emerged to their left. When they looked forward, they saw Tauna holding her stomach as she laughed.

"You got taken out so easily! I told you that strength was important! I'd be able to tear those stone restraints right out of the ground and keep fighting!" She claimed with a cocky grin on her face. Mira rolled her eyes and ignored her opting to look back to Adimir.

"Ah yes I'll free you now," Adimir said before the stone restraints crumbled away allowing her to get back up. She rubbed her wrists before standing up and patting Adimir's head.

"Good job. Can't say I expected that. You certainly are well suited to using traps to deal with your enemies." She complimented him and offering a supportive smile. She then turned to Tauna.

"Your still too much of a brute in my opinion. Your strength wasn't of much use when facing something stronger than you like that ogre now was it?" She reprimanded Tauna who on the other hand became flustered and seem to have struggled with coming up for something to say back before her shoulders sagged as she relented.

"Well, I think that was enough training for now. Let's go get something to eat. Replenish our energy a bit." Mira suggested.

"Sounds like you finally had a great idea!" Tauna agreed as she bounced back from her sullen mood at the mention of food.

"I am rather hungry. So, I'm game if your buying. You did lose the last spar after all." Adimir replied with a coy grin.

"Ooh, he's right about that one. So, Mira you buying?" Tauna asked eagerly hopping aboard at the prospect of a free meal.

"Fine, I'll buy. But nothing too expensive." Mira relented to the their pestering.

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Mira sighed regretfully as she looked at the three platters of roasted chicken and the two plates of gecko steak that were set on the table. She then forked over 3 silver to the waitress who had a beaming smile upon her face.

"You know when I said not too expensive, I meant something that didn't cost me three whole silver coins to buy," Mira said with a scowl on her face.

Both Adimir could only offer her a sheepish smile. Tauna, however, didn't even do that much as she tore off a leg from the roasted chicken and started gorging herself completely disregarding manners. Both Adimir and Mira this time scowled at her. Noticing this, she stopped eating for a moment and swallowed what she had in her mouth.

"What? Ladies gotta eat right?" She said before continuing to feast to her heart's content.

Adimir cut a slice of the gecko steak and took a bite. Surprisingly the meat tasted similar to the steak back on earth. It was only a tad bit chewier, but it was practically bursting with scrumptious juices.

"This stuff tastes surprisingly good. Is this really gecko meat?" He asked. Mira looked up from her own serving of gecko meat and nodded.

"Yup. A lot of the beast type monsters are used as a source of food for restaurants. Gecko meat is pretty common, but we bought some of the better quality so it's a bit pricier than usual. Of course, buying so much doesn't help with the price." Mira answered before shooting another glare at Tauna who ordered most of the food that was on the table.

Tauna merely shrugged off the glare as she finished eating another chicken leg. Wait for another chicken leg? Glancing at the three plates that had the chicken on them he discovered that half of one of the chickens was already eaten. Adimir gaped at the amount of food Tauna ate. He only took a few bites of his steak while she was already done eating half of an entire chicken. Mira noticed what he was looking at and tapped his shoulder.

"She's a ravenous eater. Probably because she needs a lot of nutrients to fuel the growth of her strength. She actually still is growing despite her age. Surprising I know. I'm not sure how she managed it, but she did." Mira explained to him. After wondering where all that meat went to once she ate it, he brushed it off and focused on eating his food.

When the three finished up their meal they decided to go rest at their rooms for the rest of the day. This gave Adimir an opportunity to begin experimenting with magic once again. However, instead of carnomancy, he decided he'd try inventing new magic to help him combat warrior types. Namely a flashbang spell. That way he could deafen, blind, and disorientate his enemies. But for this, he'd also need to invent a personal protection spell to prevent himself from being affected by his flashbang spell since he didn't have any or know of any specialized gear to defend against this type of spell.

So, he set to figuring out his new spells. For the flashbang spell itself, the blinding light part was simple enough as he already had the blinding flash spell to draw from. There was still the part about figuring out how to make a bang loud enough to deafen people though. He knew that sound waves were created by vibrating the molecules in the air so all he'd really needed to do was make those vibrate fast enough to make a loud noise. But as the saying goes, easier said than done.

As for the sound dampening to protect himself an air gap would be the most effective method. Since sound waves used air as the transfer method then if one had a gap between the air, you'd be able to deafen noises. This was one of the things soundproofing technology did. Put barriers between the noise and the ear to soundproof. As for protecting against the blinding flash part of his spell he should probably just close his eyes and use mage eyes instead of his normal eyesight. And so, with an overall idea of what he should be doing Adimir went to work on creating a new spell for the spars he'd be doing tomorrow.

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Meanwhile in a backwater tavern filled with shady people two men were huddled in a table in the corner of the establishment speaking in hushed voices.

"So, did you get the package?" One of the two men asked the other.

"Yes, I have the package. It's waiting in the drop site. Is the pay in the agreed-upon drop site?"

"It is. It's a pleasure doing business with you as always."

"The pleasures all mine." The second man responded before abruptly leaving.

Soon after another man this one easily 7 feet tall sat where the second man was sitting.

"We got it?" He asked.

"We've got it." The first man answered in a hushed voice.

"Good. Then chaos shall ensue very soon. The plan must succeed." The giant of a man said.

"Indeed." The first man agreed. The two then left the bar separately with the second leaving five minutes after the first.