Near the stronghold exit, a young man with fiery red hair and a chiseled physique sat on a bench as the gentle breeze rustled his hair.
As he watched the students pass by, a heavy sigh escaped him, a manifestation of his profound frustration.
"No one wants as their guardian..."
Restless, Roro tapped his fingers impatiently on the bench.
He had been waiting at the exit of the stronghold for a few hours now, but no matter how many students walked by, they all avoided him like the plague.
"Your public image and reputation within the guild have plumted."
The current situation caused him to recall his guild master’s disheartening words which caused his tapping fingers to stop.
"I know you’ve been working hard to make up for your previous losses, but I can’t afford to put you on any important missions right now."
"But sir, I’ve already broken through to the Martial Master realm. Keeping out from higher ranked missions is just wasting the guild’s resources!" He had voiced his opinion. It was true that he had worked hard after the Star City disaster.
After figuring out his talent was not with the spear but with his fist, his training had advanced by leaps and bounds, and he had even managed to break through to the Martial Master realm within a short ti after the incident.
However, it didn’t seem like his hard work was enough.
"Sigh... I know, Roro. I know all too well... But many people have long voiced their dissatisfaction with you, and I can’t simply ignore it, lest I want my authority and reputation as the guild master to be challenged."
Rembering the haggard face of his Guild Master when he said that, Roro felt a little pained. He knew that he must have already done everything he could for him.
His Guild Master was a kind man and a loving father. Their relationship was only that of a Guild Master and his subordinate on the outside, but to Roro, the guild master was also the father of his beloved.
"I hope you can work on so smaller requests in the anti," he said. "Besides, Eliza has been feeling lonely since you’ve dedicated yourself to training. Take this opportunity to spend so quality ti together."
Rembering the warm smile his guild master had given him when he said that, Roro couldn’t help but release another sigh as he watched the students pass by.
Since there was nothing he could do about the current situation, he had just been obediently following the orders he received from the guild for the past few months. It was mostly low-level assignnts that even a Martial Apprentice could accomplish, but Roro still gave it his all despite this.
After the Star City incident, he had promised himself that he would never let sothing like that happen in front of him again. Thankfully, his efforts paid off, and he recently started getting assigned so more significant missions again, with his current mission being the latest.
The officials of the Academy had hired many high-ranking guilds for the sake of this exam, and Roro’s guild was no exception.
He was assigned to be one of the guardians responsible for protecting the students while they hunted in the field. However, it seems that he had underestimated how bad his reputation was.
Before he went to Star City, Roro was an extrely popular celebrity in the hunter world as one of the youngest and most talented hunters in recent tis. He had many fans, and a lot of them were also young students who aspired to be hunters.
That was why when his recent failures were exposed, most of the students in the Academy had heard about it. Despite him being one of the few Martial Masters assigned for this exam, no one wanted to take the risk of accepting him as their team’s guardian after knowing about his recent failures.
"Hah... There goes another group. At this rate, I’ll be lucky if even one student decides to talk to , haha..." Roro laughed dryly at his own joke as he watched student after student walk out of the stronghold gates.
"Hmm? I didn’t know there were fairies taking part in this exam..." Roro was surprised when he saw a new group of students arrive.
In fact, many hunters from the other guilds and passersby were also looking over curiously. The fairies were still a mystery to most people, having only been revealed to the public a month ago. That was why when they saw the translucent wings and gorgeous faces of the group, they all felt slightly amazed.
"The fairies certainly are as beautiful as the rumors. It seems like the world is becoming more and more of a bizarre place. It’s a sha that I won’t get the chance to observe them closer..." Roro whispered to himself in a self-deprecating tone.
As soon as he finished speaking, however, one of the students that was walking with the fairies seed to look over to him.
Looking at those deep blue eyes, Roro felt that they looked a little familiar but didn’t think much about it.
He received many passing gazes in the past few hours, so curious, so surprised, and so a little scared, but they all ended with them walking away, so he didn’t find the student’s sudden gaze strange.
However, after a few minutes passed and Roro saw that the student was still staring at him, he started to feel a bit comfortable.
’Why is he staring so hard... Is he even looking at ? He seems to be looking a little bit over my head.’
As Roro wondered what he was up to, he saw that the student started to walk over to him.
....
’I didn’t predict that he would be here too...’ Looking at the shining golden fate above Roro’s head, Lake felt a little nostalgic after seeing his old acquaintance.
A few minutes ago, he had arrived at the stronghold exit, only to hear a familiar voice mutter sothing under their breath. When he looked over and saw the Roro, he was a little surprised.
He didn’t pay much attention to who the hunters that would be protecting them were, as he felt that they didn’t play that big of a role.
The hunters were only there to protect them in case of danger. So long as students could handle themselves during the exam, the hunters didn’t have to do much.
Since Lake didn’t plan on putting himself in any danger that he couldn’t handle, there was no need to think too deeply on who to choose as his team’s guardian.
However, after seeing Roro and his golden fate, Lake suddenly had a change of thought. If he could get the luck and destiny of soone with a golden fate besides him, Lake felt that his hunting operation would be a hundred tis smoother, even if all they did was stand there.
It was also a good chance for him to start up his Golden Fate Farming Operation he had planned a while ago but didn’t get a chance to start.
As he thought of this, he looked through Roro’s fate, wanting to figure out what he had been up to in the past few months, but what he saw caused him to sigh.
Although he knew that competition was fierce and jealousy was common in a workplace such as a guild, Lake didn’t expect Roro to suffer such a heavy setback despite his increase in strength.
If Lake was the Guild Master, knowing the benefits that soone with a golden fate could bring to a team, Lake would have ignored all criticism and assigned Roro to all high-level operations.
At this thought, Lake took a glance at Kate. From what he observed, the Blackheart Guild was far better in this regard as the mbers were more united and under complete control of the Guild Master, which was also one of the reasons for their ranking in the top ten among the thousands of guilds.
As Lake walked in front of Roro, he extended a hand towards him. "It’s nice to et you, Mr. Roro. I assu you’re a part of the guardian program for the exam?"
As Roro heard Lake’s words, he shook his hand and took the chance to observe Lake as well. Lake’s body had lost considerable muscle mass since he established his Mana Heart, so he looked quite weak and skinny, but the rich mana flowing through him made Roro think otherwise.
’With that level of mana, he’s probably at the peak of Mid-Rank Apprentice. Is this really a first year student?’ Roro was slightly startled after sensing Lake’s mana flow after having shaken his hand.
However, despite his doubts, Roro still replied to Lake, "Indeed."
"Then it wouldn’t be a problem for you to be my team’s guardian, right?"
’He’s the leader?’ Roro was surprised when he heard Lake’s question. He thought it would’ve been one of the fairies considering the current relationship between the two races, but he didn’t ask further.
"Sure," Roro agreed. "Are you leaving now, or do you still have preparations to make?"
"All preparations are already complete. I’d like to leave now."
"Alright. As per the rules, I won’t interfere with your hunting unless your life is in imdiate danger, so you’ll be in charge of leading the way."
Lake nodded his head before turning to face everyone else. "Let’s get going."
"You still haven’t told us your plan?" Iris asked again with an irritated look when she saw Lake prepared to walk out the stronghold gate.
’He hasn’t consulted with his team yet?’ Roro frowned as he also heard Iris’ question.
He could see that the blue-haired fairy wasn’t the only one that was confused in the group.
’This group’s already off to a bad start if that’s how he’s leading it...’ Roro thought to himself.
Lake didn’t pay much attention to them as he continued to walk, "There’s a pack of wolves that resides in the hills to the east. We’ll be heading there first."
"We’re going to be hunting wolves?" Sylph, who had been unusually quiet all this ti, finally spoke up.
"Hmm, not quite..." Lake replied with a mysterious expression.
Kate, who saw Lake’s expression, suddenly had a shiver crawl up her spine as she had a far deeper understanding of Lake’s character compared to the others.
’This exam involves our lives, he wouldn’t try to pull sothing crazy knowing that, right?’
As Kate’s face turned slightly pale at the thought, the group completed the final checks and finally left the stronghold.
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