Ch 43 - The Brightest Light

In front of me stood the famous ceremony hall premises. It had an enormous oval-shaped building with adjacent rows of row-shaped buildings connected to it. There was just a little garden at the front followed by iron fencing covering the entire premises.

The city guards were prowling like a bunch of busy bees.

“So that must be the ceremony hall, huh.”

That place stood like a sore thumb, a sure place to conduct the ceremony.

My road wagon stopped about 500m away from the ceremony hall premises as no vehicles were allowed near the premises.

I got down from the carriage and I looked around. What I noticed was there was a long queue of boys and girls of my age heading towards the premises. Definitely must be fellow candidates heading for the ceremony hall as well.

I quickly made my way and joined the end of the queue.

In front of me stood 2 boys, one tall and the other a plump kid who was having a loud conversation. There was even the petite-looking girl who was standing beside them.

“Where did you get those robes from?” asked the tallboy.

“Oh, these? They are made from the skin of the raging stone goats that my dad hunted with his party members. Even my pants were made from them as well.” said the fat brat.

To his response, the tallboy had a smug look,

“That’s cool but check out my gloves. This was made by the paws of the wild menace lynx that my big brother hunted last month. It can even spring the claws whenever I want.”

Saying so the tallboy stretched his palm and small sharp fangs appeared from the tips of his fingers.

“Wow! That’s so cool.”

“Stop that!” Suddenly the girl exclaimed, “Why are you carrying such a dangerous thing around?”

“Why not?” asked the tall brat in an annoyed tone.

“Because we are heading to the ceremony hall! What if the faculty members saw it.”

“Nevermind that. Tanya, so what equipment are you wearing?”

“Me? Oh, I am wearing…”

The three friends continued the discussion of their equipment in detail.

These brats are in a different league.

They haven’t yet completed the ascension ceremony but were armed with adventure class gears already. This is what sets apart us commoners from the elite.

From the way they talk, their parents must be adventurers and have hunted a lot of monster beasts. So chugging out a few of these gears to their kids would be no big deal.

I stood behind them eagerly waiting for the queue to move forward. The queue was moving rather at a slow pace for some reason.

One thing I noticed was that most of the kids here knew each. They already had started making groups and banded together.

I don’t plan on joining any such friend circle for the time being. Making friends with kids wasn’t my strong suit. I was a loner even back in the demon realm, so I prefer to work alone.
The only thing I want right now is just for this ascension ceremony to go without any trouble.

“Tch, look at these pathetic peasants.”
Suddenly someone with a cocky voice shouted from behind.

I turned around and saw the mysterious speaker standing behind me who also had joined the queue for some time now.

There were about another three young boys who were dressed in flashy outfits.

They were dressed in linen clothes with red, purple, and green velvet fabric each. In their arms were jewelry-like bracelets and rings as if they had just robbed the jewelry store down the lane.

From the first glance, I could tell they were definitely the offspring of those scummy nobles for sure.

I know that nobles love to show off their wealth but what’s the point of wearing jewelry in the ceremony hall. This trio looked like a bunch of apes for sure.

They were truly an eyesore.

“What did you say?” suddenly the tall boy in the front asked.

His brows were knitted.

The way things were going, there seemed to be a fight about ensuring this place anytime now.
The trio from the adventuring family vs the flashy noble trio.

The noble guy dressed in red stepped forward.
He had a long pointy nose and narrowed eyes like a feline. From the looks of it, he was definitely the leader of this noble trio.

He looked at us with a contempt gaze like we were some dog shit on the sidewalk,
“You got wax in those ears of yours? I said you guys are pathetic peasants.”

I just moved to the side and pretended to be the air.

This got nothing to do with me. I already had my fill fighting with nobles.

The tall boy was agitated as he stepped forward,

“Why you-” but he was suddenly stopped by the girl.

“Stop it, Harry! Just ignore him.” said the girl.

She then turned towards the pointy-nosed noble,

“Jason, will you stop picking fights from the first thing we meet.”

So the pointy-nosed brat was Jason huh.

It seems both parties knew each other.

“Tanya, I had no plans on picking a fight but when I heard you guys making a deal of those measly gear, I couldn’t stomach it. Even my servants have better gear than that crap,” replied Jason with disdain.

“You bastard! This gear is a precious gift from my brother!” shouted Harry.

“Yeah! My parents gifted me my outfit this birthday! You better take it back” said the plump brat.

“It just shows your family is worthless as well. I use such worthless gear as fuel for my firewood at my house. Hahaha” laughed off Jason.

The other two noble lackeys also joined in mocking them and laughed it off.

“That’s it! I am gonna punch that smirk off his face this instant,” shouted Harry.

“Oh, you wanna pick a fight! Bring it on!” said Jason.

“I am gonna bash in that beak of a nose of yours!”

“How dare you bring up my nose in between.”

“Guys please stop!” Suddenly the girl shouted as she stood in between.

“Why are you stopping me!” shouted Jason and continued to point at Jason, “He’s the one starting all this.”

“Well I wouldn’t have bothered to say this, only if you three had kept your mouth shut”

“This is my mouth. I’ll do as I please!”

The heated discussion started to get more intense as the words of war started.

In the heat of the moment, I slipped past the trio and joined the line ahead.

The queue in the back had started growing, meanwhile, the line in the front was almost empty.

I was actually standing in between the two-party in the queue.

So while they were busy arguing, I went forward quietly.

Jumping the queue is bad but it’s their fault for not going ahead.

They can fight and kill each for all I care, I just wanted to make my way to the ceremony hall on time.

The queue was moving ahead quietly.

But it wasn’t long before the adventuring trio finally returned. They somehow end up making peace with those noble trio. Damn it!

“You there! How dare you cut in the queue,” shouted Harry who was still annoyed.

Ah shit.
I thought they would surely end up fighting and killing each other.
So it was all bark and no bite, pathetic.

I just stood silently and blatantly ignored them as if I was deaf.

“You tomato head! I am talking to you,” said Harry angrily.

Now that he couldn’t hit those noble brat Jason, he was trying to take off his anger at me.

Wait for a second, he didn’t just call me name, did he-

I turned back glared at the brat angrily,

“What do you want?”

“Get out of the way! We were here first,” replied Harry.

“Yeah, stealing a place is bad.” added his fat friend beside him.

I just casually put my little finger in my ear scratching carefreely,

“Oh, I just saw an empty queue and I just walked forward. I did not forcefully capture your place. It's your fault for leaving your place like that.”

But Harry was adamant,

“Now that we have returned, go back to your place.”

Now his tone was annoying me.

“What do you take me for? I am not your pet dog of yours, so you can order me around. I am not giving my place. Now just shut up and leave me alone.” I replied in an annoyed tone.

“You also have an attitude problem, huh,” Harry started pulling his gloves and the claws snapped out of his finger, “It seems you have to be taught a lesson in a hard way.”

Is this little shit trying to threaten me?

I turned around and started cracking my knuckles.
I wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble but this guy just wanted an excuse to fight.

“Just because you have that armed with clawed gloves you think, you are the shit,” I replied.

“What did you just call me?” asked Harry as his smile became twisted.

“You got shit in those ears of yours. I called you shit, you little shit.” I replied with a brazen smile.

I thought that the adventurer kids wouldn’t be scummy unlike those arrogant noble brats but I was wrong.

Everyone in the line started gawking at us with anticipation.
A couple of my fists in the gut would be enough to put this brat to knock him out.

Harry aggressively started walking toward me,

“You bastard-”

Once again the girl from their trio stepped in-between and stopped Harry.

“Stop it! If you use that armed gauntlet on a fellow unarmed candidate, then you have to kiss goodbye to the mage title.”

Hearing that Harry suddenly stopped.
He bit his teeth while glaring at me.

Damn, out of this trio only the girl had some brains.
The other two are just dumb schmucks. Just because they have a little adventurer class gear, they think they already become an official mage.

“Hehe,” I laughed, “you should thank your dear friend for saving you from ruining your life.”

I waved my hand,
“Shoo, now. I have better things to worry about.”

“You there!” Suddenly the girl shouted.

“Huh?” I turned around.

The girl was glaring at me with shrewd eyes,

“Where are you from? And why are you wearing those monitor bracelets that are worn by the outer district candidates?”

Suddenly the candidates around me burst into a muttering frenzy.

“What bracelet?”

“I heard mama told me worn by the outer district rats”

“He is a rat? But he looks like a boy.”

“No clue.”

“He is an intruder!”

“Is he a thief? Should we call the city guards?”

That girl really is a piece of work!
She really had to announce my bracelet like that.

I tried hiding my bracelet by covering it with my hand so far. I only forgot to hide it when that idiot Harry started picking fights.

The crowd around me suddenly started becoming hostile.
Meanwhile, that sly girl had a smirk on her face.

The sly girl stepped forward,

“You can just deny that it isn't the monitor bracelet. Now there’s no turning back.” said the girl while smiling innocently.

She’s a quite cunning vixen.

I guess, hiding behind the shadows is a bust.
One great man once said, ‘If you can’t live like the darkest of the shadows that no one has seen, then you must become the brightest of the light that no one would ever dare to look at.’

I took a deep breath as the hostile crowd started surrounding me,

“Heh. Yes, this is indeed the monitor bracelet and I am from the outer district. So what?”

The girl looked disappointed,

“You idiot, you shouldn’t admit such things”

Huh? What’s with her reaction?

“You!” suddenly the pointy-nosed brat, Jason made his appearance, “These vile adventurers are already occupying our district like parasites. Now worthless scums from the outer district are also daring to trespass in our district.”

Ah the nobles, the worst enemy of us peasants.

But violence isn’t the best solution so let's try to reason with them,

“Listen, I didn’t trespass-”

“Shut your mouth, you lowly scum! Your mere talking is polluting the atmosphere of this district that I am breathing now.” shouted one of Jason’s lackeys.

Attempt one is a failure.
But I shouldn’t give up hope. They may be arrogant noble shits but they surely would not try to pick a fight with me. After all, Emerald Lions are the ones backing me.

It’s better to resolve this matter with proper discussion.

I surely wouldn’t want to resort to violence and bring trouble to my parents.

So I take yet another deep breath,

“Listen, I am not intruding. I entered the noble district with the permission of Emerald-”

“Huh! You still haven’t bowed your head and apologized to us for your transgression! You outer district worms have truly no manners.” shouted the 3rd noble brat.

That’s it!

“Shut up! Could you let a guy finish talking!” I rebutted at the top of my lungs.

“That’s enough,” shouted Jason.

He suddenly reached out to his pockets and took out two pieces of rectangle paper with a thread tied to them. On the paper, there were mysterious runes written over it that I couldn’t decode.

“Jason! What are you doing?” asked the sly girl with a worried look.

His two noble friends of his were taken aback,
“Jason, you don’t have to waste those on his kind-”

I felt a really bad omen coming from that paper for some reason.

“Silence,” shouted Jason, “He shall pay for his insolence and this will be a grim reminder for others as well.”

He then grabbed the end of the tying thread of the paper.

My instincts were telling me to stop that brat before he could undo the thread.

As I was about to step forward, suddenly a man appeared in front of Jason and grabbed his hand, stopping him from unwinding the thread from the paper.

He was dressed in light iron armor from head to toe and a short sword hanging by the hip. From the looks of it, he was one of the city guards who was patrolling this area.

Everyone was stunned seeing him appear out of nowhere.
I didn’t notice him until he stood in the front.

“Young master, Jason.” said the guard in a stern voice, “Resorting to the usage of mana equipment near the premises of the Ceremony Hall is strictly forbidden.”

Even Jason was petrified but quickly came to his senses and shook off the guard’s grip on his wrist.

“Is that right? Well, I wouldn’t have to resort to this only if the city guards could do their job.” Jason suddenly pointed at me, “How could you let the lower class outer district candidate like him walk in the same queue as me, like we are equal? Not to mention he’s wearing that purple bracelet holder and not even the golden ones. Is the city guard security truly this pathetic. I am truly disappointed”

The mysterious city guard then turned his head towards me.

He had this lifeless eye as he stared at me.

Now what? Do I have to duke it out with the city guard?
Or am I going to prison for real?

But the city guard quickly turned his head back to Jason,

“Oh, that kid. He is in the clear. He is a golden pass holder.”

“What?” Jason was stunned.
Even the rest of the candidates were shocked.

Oh, what a shocker.

“That runt is a golden pass holder. By whose approval?”

“He belongs to the house of the Emerald Lions. Also, lieutenant Kieth personally escorted him in this district. So I would suggest you won’t cause any more trouble.”

“That can’t be,” said a shocked Jason.

“It’s true. Anyway, I would suggest keeping the queue moving ahead if you still wanna participate in this year’s ceremony. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

Saying so the city guard walked away going back to his patrol duty.

Now people were staring at me with awe.

“Hmph. That’s exactly what I was trying to tell you. But you didn’t listen.” I said.

“Just because you have the golden pass, don’t act cocky!” shouted Jason.

I turned around following the queue while scratching my ear carefreely,

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

The queue finally moved forward and I finally entered the ceremony hall premises.
There was a bit of questioning during my entry but the guards did allow me to enter without any problem.

Well, it is still too early to relax.