Chapter 359: Guild Examination

Ashton POV

Ashton liked his job. The guild gave him and his family some really nice benefits. It was also much less stressful than delving into rifts all the time. It let him relax and hang out with all of his friends.

They had a nice group at the guild. It was like one big happy family, and they spent a lot of time outside of work with each other.

Peralt was a unique town though. With them being so close to the boundary of the Endless Forest, it was inevitable that there were some interesting things happening within the town. Monster floods were always a threat and every so many years, there would be a new one.

The most recent flood had been quite bad even compared to previous years. There had been a larger number of new monster species and monster lords than in most floods. This had caused a huge conflict to ripple throughout the entire forest and dramatically affected those who were around it, like Peralt.

It was only thanks to the sacrifice of many fighters and adventurers that the damage hadn’t gotten any worse. He knew more than one noble house had been essentially wiped out by the flood.

Normally, there was an established hierarchy in the forest. Kings or leaders of various species all had their own territories, and for the most part, had an agreement with the humans. They knew as long as they didn’t go out of their way to hunt humans outside their territories, they would be left alone.

It was easier this way. There were many Tier 6 monsters out in the forest who were terrifyingly strong. There were even rumors of there being multiple Tier 7s hidden deeper in the forest.

These monster kings and lords were very different from most other monsters. They had actual intelligence that rivaled and sometimes even surpassed humans. This made it easier to negotiate with them or, at the very least, allowed for some type of communication.

The reason why the Empire allowed these lords and kings to remain was because they were the first line of defense when rifts broke open and monsters came out in hordes. Instead of having to use their own people to kill the monsters that flooded out of the forest into nearby towns and regions, the residents of the forest often took care of a large chunk of them. Meaning that the rest of the monsters were normally taken care of without too many problems. These monster lords didn’t mind this agreement either. They knew humans were using them to protect themselves, but they also used these breakouts to train their young.

It had only gotten so bad the last time because these lords and monsters were too busy fighting each other, so the monsters coming out of rifts weren’t being taken care of. This meant that humans had to pick up the slack.

However, they were still unprepared for just how many monsters came out of the forest. They couldn’t contain them and countless powerful beasts were allowed to roam to other territories, razing countless towns and innocents.

It was why this year everyone was serious in being prepared. So despite their normal relaxedness, his coworkers knew that these next few years could be the start of the new flood. Other organizations knew this as well and were preparing.

Although, to be honest, most of the people who lived in Peralt or around the area, were mostly simple folk who wanted a relatively peaceful life and to take advantage of the Endless Forest’s massive stock of resources. Peralt remained relatively unharmed during the last flood, their defenses were specifically made to defend against a flood unlike other towns.

As such, some of the citizens didn’t quite appreciate the level of the danger this upcoming flood could present.

On top of that, he knew places like Peralt were hubs for scions and nobles. As one of the managers at the guild, he saw more Tier 3s coming to the Endless Forest to train than he could care to count. Many of whom were children of powerful people.

Not as many as some of the defensive towns bordering the forest to the west, but there were still many who came out here.

It was why he had developed a certain knack for sensing who were hidden scions, who were weak, and who were actually strong.

For example, the girl he had just evaluated was definitely a scion and was strong on top of it. He could tell that she was hiding many of her abilities, but her skills were much too polished to be those of a common girl. Even her movement skill said a lot about her actual strength. She never used more mana than needed and was precise.

People could hide their flashy skills, but it was hard to hide habits that had been ingrained in their bodies. He also had a feeling that she wasn’t from the Empire. She could be from a family located in the Alliance or Corvus. Maybe even a smaller country further north.

She was easy to guess, but the boy in front of him was not. At first glance this black haired young boy was a newly advanced Tier 3. His first thought immediately went into feeling bad for the kid. It wasn’t uncommon to see kids his age try and get stronger right away without realizing that it would limit their path down the road.

But there was something off about the boy. He was too confident and too relaxed. Even the girl from before was a little anxious.

He checked the name written down on the form.

Julius Snow.

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It also said that he was a close combat fighter. But Ashton didn’t see any armor or weapons on the boy when he walked in, and he hadn’t taken any out when Ashton explained the evaluation process.

Which made him believe the boy was a barehanded fighter. Something scarce in this day and age. Sure, most people knew how to fight barehanded, but their primary weapon was usually some sort of blade or spear at the very least. Fighting monsters barehanded was usually not the best idea.

Ashton had learned that only the extraordinarily stupid or extraordinarily confident people used this style to fight. And for some reason, despite all evidence pointing toward the first kind, he had an inkling it might be the latter.

There was only one way to find out, though.

“Are you ready, Mr. Snow?” He asked the young boy in front of him.

He got a firm and calm nod in return. Still, no weapons or armor were taken out of the storage ring, which confirmed that he would be fighting bare-handed.