Jenna White stood tall as she felt the different stares of the people around her.
Outwardly, she didn't seem concerned, but inside, she was sighing continuously.
'I don't know if they'll let me take the test alone, but even if they do, I'm not sure I can finish it. Sigh, I should have joined one of those groups...'
'But these bastards too. They all had strange thoughts when they invited me. Their intentions were clear when they looked at me with those horrible eyes.'
Between sighs, she decided to go and set up a tent on her own, as she would probably have to wait a few more days until the test began.
As she did so, a slightly familiar face came into her field of vision. Her face moved quickly and systematically toward the face that was now very close to her.
"Hello, Miss Jenna," Elliot greeted her.
She looked him up and down, glanced at his sides, and smiled when she noticed he had come alone.
"It's you. I didn't expect to see you here." She greeted him respectfully. "I'm sorry for approaching you so suddenly earlier. I didn't even ask your name, and I already expected you to sell me your weapon." She apologized sincerely after that, which surprised Elliot.
"I think I'm the one who should apologize. I rejected you even though you put all your effort into bidding, and I didn't tell you why. That's why I approached you."
"No, no. You have your reasons for rejecting it, and I understand them. Finding strength is the best thing for anyone. I really admire you a little because you can clearly see the path you want to take even before you start. Money tends not to be ignored by anyone, but you did. Even if you're rich, that's admirable." She smiled calmly and behaved kindly.
Elliot almost laughed out loud when he heard she thought he was rich, but that wasn't information he needed to reveal right now.
The thing was, the kind and calm way Jenna behaved made Rich and Chris, who were watching from afar, unable to believe it.
"Hey, Chris."
"What?"
"Is that girl really acting like that before him? I mean... She looks like she's nervous about talking to him... Is he some kind of great Young Master?"
"Who knows..."
As they talked and were in shock, trying to make sense of what was happening in front of them, they both saw that Elliot was having a great time talking to her, and after a few of minutes, they walked over to them.
When he arrived, Elliot smiled. "I've got the fifth member. I don't think it will be impossible to get seven or more." He acted as if nothing had happened or as if it were normal.
That left Rich in a state of shock.
'Did I underestimate him? I mean, he's indeed in much better shape than I... Even if he cleaned himself up, he could look like one of those great young masters from the big clans, rich, powerful, and handsome. But am I really that far behind?'
He couldn't help but look at Chris, who, despite being surprised, continued to smile calmly and politely.
'No, she rejected Chris too, I'm not that bad. Well... I'm not that bad.' Rich cleared his throat and approached Jenna.
"Hey, girl, looks like we ended up on the same team after all. My name is Rich, I'm the quiet one in the group, so you can call me Shy Rich, that's what all my friends call me."
Jenna looked at him and frowned. 'It's the guy who likes to talk too much again...'
He had approached her earlier to ask her out, and although his eyes were different from the rest of the idiots, this guy talked so much that he completely overwhelmed her and left her not knowing how to react. In the end, she turned him down because she found him annoying, and she didn't expect them to end up in the same group, so she felt a little embarrassed.
But before she could even respond, "Shy Rich" suddenly suffered a sharp blow to the head that made him groan.
"Who dares?!" he shouted angrily, but when he turned and saw Chris' angry face, he shuddered.
"Hehe..."
Chris brought a hand to his face in helplessness and decided to ignore him.
"Miss, don't bother with that guy, he's an idiot. I invited you rudely earlier without caring about your feelings, so I hope you'll forgive me. I'm the team leader; that idiot over there is the Speaker with Legs, Rich Ford. And he... Well, it looks like you already know each other."
Jenna nodded. "It's okay. I refused to join your group earlier because too many people were inviting me, and some were annoying. I judged you without meaning to, but I hope we can cooperate properly from now on."
Chris simply nodded and quickly moved on to the main topic.
"We should start making a tent for the night. With the materials they gave us, we should be able to make something big enough for a woman to sleep in."
"Right, where's the other member?"
"He should be looking for team members..."
As they spoke, Rich approached Elliot and admitted his loss, handing him $20,000 without saying much else.
And before nightfall, they finished setting up the tents where they would sleep for a few days.
...
Two days later.
A group of more than 200 Awakened Ones was gathered in front of several powerful people from the guild.
At this point, everyone had a group. Some groups were larger than others, but the smallest groups had five people, enough for the test.
All the awakened ones had documents in their hands and had already finished reading them. They were copies of the contract they would receive if they passed the test. This is because joining a Guild is not something you do just because you want to; there is a contract behind it that involves a lot of money and different types of treatment and situations, which depend on the awakened one in question.
These guilds are basically companies that hire you to kill beasts for them or to participate in official tournaments. They will always take a significant portion of what you earn, but in exchange, they will give you hunting grounds, training, dungeons, and amazing monthly salaries to keep you there.
No one knows exactly how the profits are divided until they read one of those contracts, and this varies depending on the guild. However, in this case, Broken Leaf follows the standard practice of most guilds: 60% of the profits from killing beasts go to you, and you receive a monthly salary, which, in the case of these individuals, can range from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, depending on the Awakened One, their skills, and their power.
If you participate in official tournaments, you are considered part of the Guild's Main Team, earning 70% of everything and having salaries of up to $2 million.
'Contracts like these are truly amazing. Even regular Awakened Ones who don't even have the ability to participate in small tournaments like the Tournament of the Star receive hundreds of thousands of dollars a month with my current level of strength. It's amazing,' Elliot thought after finishing reading the contract.
Minutes later, the powerful people of the guild began to speak.
"As you have already read the contract, I must tell you that the final salary you will receive will depend entirely on your achievements in the test."
"The test is simple. This is one of the entrances to the Open Dungeons of the Orc Wizards. You will have three hours to enter and bring us at least two Orc Wizard heads per person in each group. Those who do so in 2 hours will be approved immediately, but coming back with only 2 per person would be a shame if you can finish so quickly, as your salary will depend on the number of heads you bring back."
"If you last two and a half hours, you may pass, depending on the number of heads you bring me. Orc Wizards are dangerous because of their magic, but you don't need to worry too much since there are no Orc Warriors in this dungeon. If you coordinate well, you can do it."
"Now, you must be careful, because this is an Open Dungeon that is interconnected with other dungeons that have been opened or broken in the vast mountain meadow forests. If you go deep enough, you may encounter Orc Warriors or more dangerous beasts."
"Any questions?" The man looked at everyone listening once he finished speaking.
After waiting a few minutes and seeing no one asked, he smiled.
"Well, if you have no questions, I hope it's because it's clear to you and not because you're idiots." He looked at his watch after that.
"It's 1:00 p.m., and I'll be here until 4:30. You have all that time to hunt, but remember what I told you. The test begins immediately." As soon as he finished speaking, a gunshot rang out in the air, officially starting the test.
.