Chapter 21:

Chapter 21: Rank Assessment

SOLARIS: Journey Through Another World

When the month ended, Alice and co returned to Yrviral. Her proficiency with her Stars had gotten better, but everything hurt. The training was rough, Lucy obviously held back, but he made sure to use enough power so that it was a challenge. Unfortunately, when she got back, the armour the smith lady was working on was taking longer than she had thought and would be a few more days. She also reunited with Cleo, and they spent some time catching each other up on what they were doing. Cleo apparently did really well, she learnt a ton of things, as well as some new spells, and she planned on going back sometime soon. Alice introduced Selia, and the two of them hit it off wonderfully.

" I guess now we don't need Arthur if we have you!" Cleo said, Selia was happy but confused. Alice had been meaning to ask, " If you don't already have one, you could join our team." Alice offered to Selia, and like when she gave her the voidcores, she looked like she was gonna cry. Selia gladly accepted, and they had a team hug(despite what Alice said). Clair cleared her throat to get the girls' attention so they could discuss what they had really come for.

" Since it's three of you now, I'll include Selia in the rank assessment. The assessment will take place in three days in a perpetual dungeon out on the outskirts of Yvrial." They decided it was time to take the rank assessment. Alice was confident in reaching diamond this time around. She used the three days to rest her body so she would be ready, and when the time came, they returned to the guild building.

" Good Evening, my name is Elizabeth. I will be assessing you three along with Vice-guild master Clair," greeted Elizabeth, who was the lady who had been working the front desk. Like when she first met Clair, she was wearing the adventurer guild's uniform. Light gray pants and a dress shirt, underneath a chestplate, she wore black-framed glasses, and her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She led them at the front to the perpetual dungeon, she wondered if it was gonna be the same one.

" How exactly do you guys rank people? It can't be just from watching them fight?" Alice asked Clair, she was curious if the rankings were accurate, and if so, how? If it were done by just watching, then she'd be impressed. Clair pulls out a dull sphere, " This here accurately measures the strength and power of an Adventurer. We, as assessors, watch and make sure the device works. Additionally, almost everyone who works as an assessor possesses a skill that enables them to assess a person's potential. Paired with the sphere, it can give us a rank." Clair explained, Alice had noticed before, but Elizabeth's eyes were different, they had strange patterns in them. They arrived at a large open field, and the perpetual dungeon portal sat a couple of feet from them,

" I understand this is where we are taking the assessment, but why's he here?" Alice pointed at Arthur, who looked annoyed at being there,

"He's here as insurance, just in case an anomaly occurs," Clair said reassuringly. They didn't need him, Alice could definitely handle whatever the entropy throws at her. Clair was the first one to step in, followed by Alice and everyone else.

The dungeon was vastly different from what Alice had thought it would be. She just assumed it was gonna be like a warped version of the field, but this was more like the room she was in during the ascension quest. Elizabeth pulled out her dull sphere and a clipboard, while Clair simply had the dull sphere. Ahead of them was a futuristic-looking enemy. It was a yellow name, Guard mech, level 100. Again, like last time, when Alice stepped close enough, it woke, and multiple more guards appeared, all of them level 100.

" Whenever you're ready, begin," Elizabeth said. There seemed to be about 50 or so of them, so it should be simple enough. The armour set wasn't the only thing Alice had asked for, pulling out of her inventory was a blade handle with a small amount of a blade attached. She had thought of this idea during the fight with the stone monkey, and the premise was simple. She channelled her ice into the handle, using the voidcore as a base. She can form a blade of ice, and thanks to her seclusion training, her ice became more durable. They got to it. Cleo focused on attacking this time, saving her support for later. Soon enough, they were able to clear the room and advance. The next couple of rooms were less fighting-based and more puzzle-solving. They were progressing well through the dungeon, and so far, no signs of anomaly corruption. The final room was much like all the others, only it was much larger, and at its center was a relic or something. The boss was a larger, stronger version of the guards from before, it sat at level 120. Cleo applied buffs to them, and Alice could feel the difference from before. Surprisingly, her ice blade has been holding up well, showing no sign of breaking anytime soon. Selia provided support from a distance using her bow. She fired a magic arrow at the giant's arm, piercing it and lodging into the wall behind it before chains erupted from the shaft and wrapped around the pierced arm, immobilizing it. This was one of the few new things she had learnt during the seclusion training. Alice swept her blade, causing a trail of ice spikes to follow, slicing through the giant but not killing it. Like almost every other monster she's fought, it can regenerate. How creative. But this was good, she now had an excuse to try her new move! Putting the iceblade away and drawing her regular blade, she positioned herself carefully.

" Stand back and watch, I'm about to end this," she said, grinning. Keeping the blade steady and aimed at the giant, she focused.

" Star blessed: Second form, Starburst!" With one powerful thrust of her blade, a large laser of energy was emitted from the tip of her blade, piercing the giant and digging a hole into the wall. When it ended, the giant's glow faded, and it dropped to the ground.

-DUNGEON CLEARED-

-LEVEL UP-

Clair and Elizabeth stared in amazement and shock at Alice's new move, she was taking in the moment. " Wah, that was insane!" Cleo jumped into a hug, followed by Selia. After managing to push them off, the trio waited to hear their assessment. " You all did well. Cleo and Selia proved excellent support, and Selia has proven to be more than that. As for Alice, she-" Before Alice could hear her feedback, something warm pinned her stomach fast, and launched her hard into the far wall, forming a crater on impact. It didn't hurt that much, she was able to stagger to her feet to see that the others had been pushed back well past the middle of the room. The disciples of the Valued One. The one who had attacked her led the group, he wore a different colored robe as opposed to the others. Based on his red name, he must've been either an archbishop or higher. " It seems we were right, you are here," Spoke the leader, " Fourth Apostle, pleased to meet you, Alice Callen." Creepy, but alright, I guess this would further prove her skills as a diamond rank Adventurer. Selia provided cover fire as she ignored the Fourth and targeted his underlings first. Selia would stop the Fourth from trying to attack her by constantly shooting at him. Cleo was on standby in case she needed help. This shouldn't be too difficult.

-MAIN OBJECTIVE-

PARTAKE IN THE ADVENTURERS ASSESSMENT AND OBTAIN A RANK

Reach Level 900

REACH DIAMOND RANK IN 5 MONTHS AND HAVE ARTHUR JOIN YOUR TEAM

PREVENT THE DISCIPLES FROM BRINGING THE VALUED ONE

THE STARS BECKON YOU, ANSWER

-SIDE OBJECTIVES-

BEAT THE FOURTH APOSTLE(0/1)

PROFILE: ALICE

LEVEL 61

ATK:223

SPD:227