The Manaverse

Adventurer's Guild - 2nd Floor

Granite City

Jut walked forward into the newly exposed testing room. It was large, but reminded Jut more of the training rooms back in the Penthouses with solid, stone walls and single hanging light fixture. There was a giant circle etched into the ground. There was also an operator bot standing in the middle of the circle who didn't react to Jut stepping inside.

"Hello. I am here to take the entrance examination, I think."

"Welcome, Adventurer Applicant Zoak. Please enter the circle."

The familiar, monotone voice made Jut feel a bit less nervous as he stepped into the circle and waited for further direction.

"Okay. Now what?" Jut asked.

"Now, we initiate the Monster simulation. As you have selected Support as your role, your goal will be to kill the Monsters. Your Support Role Skills use will be evaluated along with your over all performance. Are you ready to begin?"

"I am, yes." Jut said, drawing his sheathed sword that rested on his hip.

The bot raised its arms and the room faded into white. Moments later, Jut was standing in a field of wild flowers and grasses. He felt like he was inside still, but he couldn't see the walls any longer. On either side of him were two beings. Each was a copy of the operator bot, only they were wielding weapons. One held a mace and shield, similar to Brick while the other held a long staff like Isabelle's.

The bot who was administering the test had disappeared. It's voice echoed around Jut.

"Survive five waves of enemies to complete the test. You may resign at anytime. Good luck, Adventurer Applicant."

The grasses around Jut and his bot companions were waist high, making seeing the ground difficult. However, Jut saw enough movies to understand what the rustling and shaking weeds that seemed to move closer to him meant.

"On our two o'clock." Jut said loudly as he pulled out his small wrist buckler.

To his surprise, the Guardian bot followed his direction, it's head turning in the correct direction. Then it moved forward and held its shield up just in time to block whatever it was that was charging them.

Jut knew he should have looked to see what it was, but he didn't have time. Multiple clumps of grasses had started shaking as they approached the bot with the staff. So, Jut stepped in front of the bot, a black and red energy flowing over his buckler while blue and green energy swirled through and around his blade.

The grasses right in front of the little group parted and a furry creature sprang forth. It's claws were stopped by Jut's shield and the energy in his shield flowed into the beast. The hit made Jut slide a pace backward. He took a step and jabbed his sword forward. The tip pierced the Monster's side shallowly before it hopped back. This caused a small ripple of energy to flow into Jut as it gave him a stack of Haste.

Jut had never noticed the visual effects of his skills triggering in the dungeon. It was too dark and he had been forced to focus on the fights more. He wanted to look into acquiring a dark vision Skill if at all possible. He was glad to be fighting in the light, even if it was artificial.

Jut examined the feline Monster closely to see it's information. The cat was staring him down. He managed to get the window to appear, but it was only open for a second before the beast disappeared into the grasses again, taking it's info with it.

Cat - Monster, Lvl 0

The Stone Ranked Monster had differences from the Normal ranked ones of its species similar to the Human Monsters in the Dungeon. It's ears had well defined tufts of hair poking up and it's black fur looked much softer than its Normal Ranked counterparts. The Monster felt overall more solid and real, just like Ascendant Beings do after they Ascend to Stone Rank.

Using his Haste empowered speed, Jut moved to repeat the block on a second patch of rustling grass, which turned out to be another cat with tan fur. While he did see Consequence trigger, it wasn't because Jut managed to block the hit.

The tan feline had attacked lower and a bit wider than the previous one had. It's claws racked across Jut's leg which sent a sharp pain through him. He grit his teeth and counter attacked. He missed but managed to drive the Monster off.

The Guardian bot spoke. To Jut's mild surprise, the voice was different than the usual Operator Bot's. It was a bit deeper, but was still monotone.

"I will cover for you to receive healing."

"Don't bother." Jut said as he readied his blade. "I'm not bleeding too badly and I have plenty of HP. If you have any aggro Skills, would you mind using them now?"

Almost identically to Brick, the bot let out a yell. Jut felt the wave of familiar power increasing energy pass over him. All three of the rustling grass patches moved in on the Guardian bot all at once. The bot's surface became tougher looking just in time for the cats to strike it. The bot's HP bar moved down a quarter and Jut didn't wait. He used his Haste buff to its fullest and lunged in. He struck the same cat he'd injured earlier.

Unlike the Cat Monsters' Normal Rank counterparts, the felines all fled once more. Jut wasn't used to the enemies being smart enough to retreat. However, he didn't let it distract him.

After repeating different variations of this strategy on three or four more quick attack and retreats, Consequence only triggering once, Jut had to change what he was doing. He just couldn't get close enough to deal much damage and his ranged attack, Gusty Strikes, wasn't much better.

Jut shrugged and put his sword into his inventory and pulled out a spear he'd made last night. He reactivated Magical Strikes, Windy Steps and Consequence just in time to level the spear and thrust it forward at the latest Cat Monster's attack. The tan furred bastard who'd sliced him open took the tip deep in its throat.

The Monster died almost instantly. It was already badly injured, but Jut felt the spear make the attack easier to land. The best part was his shield was still available for when another cat took that chance to attack him. He wasn't well enough versed with his new weapon to get it into place to deal damage to his assailant but a blast from the healer took care of the problem.

All in all, the three Monsters fell quickly after Jut made the change. However, Jut didn't get any experience. Not the Skill improvement kind, anyway.

The four remaining waves were more of the same, the only difference being the species of Monsters. Dogs, Scorpions, Birds, and two Minotaur all fell before the test concluded. As Jut slid the mace back into his inventory, the original operator bot reappeared along with the blank, stone walls.

Jut couldn't get over the fact that, despite all the moving around he had to do, he never ran into a wall or the door. The blatant use of illusion magic had his mind spinning. Would crafters be able to build one of these training pods one day?

The operator bot spoke, breaking Jut from his train of thought.

"That concludes the enrollment evaluation. Your performance was acceptable. You showed decent use of your Debuff Skill and assisted in dealing damage. A question or two is needed to finalize the assessment. Why did you switch weapons so many times?"

Jut thought about his answer for only a moment, mainly so he could word it well enough.

"Each of the Monsters have weapons, based on the fight's circumstances, that made fighting them easier. The cats and dogs were too fast for us to be anything other than reactionary. So a spear seemed best. The same is true for using my wand on the birds."

"Understood. As with Magical Damage and Physical Damage, using one Weapon type or type of damage is usually preferred by Ascendant Beings and Magical Beasts alike. Not doing so reduces your damage potential. Does that not worry you?" The bot asked in a sassy way. How that was possible with the monotone, Jut didn't know.

"Not really. My job isn't to do damage." Jut said matter of factually.

"What is your job then?"

The simple question could catch some people off guard, but he doubted anyone he fought with would fail it. "I ensure my team can win, no matter the circumstances. Usually by filling in the gaps of the fighting, making things easier to fight, or by making my team better at fighting."

"Very good, Adventurer Zoak. You have passed. Please take this token to a receptionist downstairs to receive your Adventurer's Progress Plate."

Jut inspected himself. His clothes were scratched and torn. His limbs and chest hurt and he was missing some of his HP, floating at seventy-five percent. Overall, it made him a little frustrated. Could he have died in there? Or was there a fail safe? Was the Healer the fail safe? Did he fuck up by not taking advantage of the healer bot?

Entering the main room below, the hum of people talking hit him. The receptionist's lines were pretty short. Instead, it was the tables that filled the middle space of the room that were crowded.

From what Jut could see while he was waiting his turn in line, almost everyone sitting down had received a token. Those tokens were blank until it was their turn, then the room number they were assigned to would appear. Pretty easy and straight forward.

Jut's Adventurer's Progress Plate was exactly what it said on the tin. A small, credit card sized square of stone metal. It looked blank until he desired to see his information. Then it would appear as if it had always been there.

Name: Jut Zoak

AG Rank: F

Role: Support

This basic set of information was able to be projected above the plate. Other information, such as Monster's defeated, amount of rewards given, his Guild's name and the number of jobs completed were all accessible if he wanted them to appear.

Jut had to admit, it was worthy of being called an APP. He had to delay checking it out in earnest when the receptionist bot began spewing information.

"Starting today, you are able to take jobs from the boards marked F rank or D rank. Assignments on the far side are Adventurer's Guild jobs. The boards closer to the entrance are for Safe Zone or Civilian jobs. Rewards are collectable at any Adventurer's Guild building anywhere. The services on the other side of this location are now accessible with your Plate. Your Plate will be given it's own special Slot in your inventory. If you lose your Plate, you are required to reapply and take the test again, increased in difficult based on your Guild Lore and Rank. Do you have any questions?"

Jut had many, but decided to ask the only one that wouldn't likely cause another terms of service dump.

"What other repercussions could come from losing my APP?"

The receptionist seemed to hesitate for a brief second. As if it was looking up the answer or something.

"None. The Plate is only reactive to your Mana Signature."

"That's cool. Thanks for the information, as always. Have a good one." Jut said reflexively.

"You as well, Adventurer Zoak." The bot said with a small wave.

Jut blinked. Were the Adventurer's Guild bots just programed differently, or where they individuals? The SHop Bot hadn't been for forward or friendly like the ones here.

Jut joined Joy, Wendy, Isabelle, Truman and Diggy at a set of two stone tables. They were all eating different sandwiches that had to have been made by Crimson.

"Was it a hard test?" Diggy asked.

Jut shrugged as he took an open seat. "Maybe. Depends on what Role you want. Stone Rank Monsters, all level zero. Are Wendy and Truman taking the test?"

Both of the non-combat members of the guild each raised their blank tokens.

"Yes sir." Truman said. "Our secondary paths are combat paths after all. The Role is called Auxiliary. I figured earning some money on smaller jobs would make for a good back up plan."

"Fair enough." Jut said. "Gonna join the training and stuff?" He started showing everyone his Plate while they waited for everyone's numbers to appear.

"Eh, maybe a few days every now and then. I'm too busy figuring out this enchanting thing." Truman said. "Did you finish that mace we discussed? I'm eager to give it a shot."

"We're making progress on clothing enchants too." Joy added, jumping into the conversation.

Their shifting conversation did little to cover the slowly intensifying gloom brought on by the continuously ticking reminder that the world was going to change. Again.

They all went their separate ways a few hours later as eight newly minted Adventurer's.