"Currently, I am unemployed, and I need money. Then, I saw the flier for this job and the pay was good. So, I applied for this job." A man with a long scar on his cheek answered the question.

The interviewer frowned, then he followed up with another question, "Do you have any experience in this kind of job?"

"Yes, once, I have been a guard for a n.o.ble's son party." The man with the scar then explained his duty.

Then, the interviewer asked several more questions in which the man with scar answered confidently.

"Well, then. You have pa.s.sed the interview process. You can go to the next test. In truth, we don't really need a mage, but who knows if the leader changed his mind. Here, take the proof for pa.s.sing the interview! Next!" The interviewer handed a paper with pa.s.sed stamp and called out for the next applicant.

The man with the scar was Auron. Using the tool that the intelligence division provided, he altered his face and voice for a bit. He gave a long injury across his cheek. Then, he also made his voice huskier.

Auron had come to the recruitment for the merchant caravan's guards. And, there were actually two tests each of the applicants had to pa.s.s. The first one was the interview test, which Auron just pa.s.sed. The second one was a skill test.

Auron was waiting for his turn to be called to take the test. After waiting for several minutes, his name was called, "Savage Sickle, come take the test!"

In the intelligence division, there was a tool to change the character's name. However, the device could not be carried outside of the intelligence division. Which was why every time the spy would go out for a mission, they would change their character's name once.

Then, they would a.s.sume the ident.i.ty given throughout the entire mission. After the spies finished their task, they would come back and changed their names again. Savage Sickle was what Auron chose among the ident.i.ty provided by the intelligence division.

Since he was called, Auron stood up and went to the test site. There was another fierce-looking man at the test site. He was the leader of this merchant caravan's guard and also the examiner for the test.

Auron handed over the paper with the pa.s.sed stamp to the leader. On the doc.u.ment, there was also Auron's ident.i.ty written on it. The leader read the doc.u.ment carefully. However, he frowned when he saw that Auron's cla.s.s was a mage.

"Mage..." The leader softly spoke.

"We don't need a mage so you can come back to where you are." The leader immediately rejected Auron.

Auron was panicked at the sudden rejection. He asked with a high voice, "You reject me without testing me?"

"Yes, We already have five mages, and we don't need more mages." The leader didn't hide the reason for his rejection.

Usually, for a merchant caravan, they didn't need a lot of mages. Five mages were already considered a lot. So, the leader didn't want to add more mages.

"Really?" Auron looked at where the mages resided. Then, he scoffed at them, "Weak."

Auron looked back at the leader and said, "You will regret it later. You just missed a stronger mage than what you have now."

After saying that, Auron started to walk out of the test site. The leader began pondering on what Auron's had said. He thought that he had to change the way he tests the applicant. Then, he stopped Auron, "Wait!"

"What you said had opened my eyes." The leader said.

Then, the leader announced, "Starting from now, the cla.s.s who had the spot filled will have to prove their skill by challenging one of the accepted. And, if they win, they could take the spot. However, you only have one chance to challenge."

"The one who had been rejected without taking any test before can partic.i.p.ate in this process once. To make this fair, after one person being challenged, the applicant cannot select that person until two rounds of challenge."

The rejected one immediately cheer on the new announcement. However, that was not the case for the accepted one. They resent Auron, but they could not do anything and just accepted what the leader had said.

The leader said to Auron, "You go first! Pick your opponent from that four mages."

Auron could choose his opponent from one of the four mages. He knew what the leader's mean. That one mage who could not be selected must be among the original members of the leader.

Auron didn't care about it since he only needed one spot. Then, Auron pointed at one of the mages, "I want him!"

Among the four, the mages that Auron selects was not the weakest nor the strongest. He was in the middle and should be a little bit stronger than Auron. However, Auron still confident of winning against that mage.

After a few arrangements from the leader, a duel arena was made. It was a 6x6 meter arena. There were only two rules, defeat your opponent inside the stage, and if you get out of the specified stage, you would be the disqualified.

Auron and the opponent he selected went up to the arena. A bunch of spectators was gathered around the stage. They consisted of the pa.s.serby or the other applicant who wait for their turn.

"You made two mistakes just now." Auron's opponent said.

"First, because of you, I have to undergo another test. And, your second mistake is you choose me as your opponent!"

Still maintaining his arrogant att.i.tude, Auron scoffed, "Oh, I am so scared..."

"Enough with the talk. Show me what you got!" Auron said.

The leader looked at Auron and his opponent. Then, he asked, "Ready?"

Both Auron and his opponent nodded, showing they were ready. "Then, let the battle begin!" The leader started the match.