“Alright Miss Violet. Please place your hand on that glass ball so we can measure your magical aptitude.”

I said while opening the door to the magic aptitude test room. The seemingly clueless beauty titled her head and looked at the pretty boy she was with. I was dying inside at the smile he directed at her. His radiant smile is brighter than the sun, complimented with his golden hair and those golden eyes that seemed to shine within. His perfect glowing face paired with her eerie beauty.

Ahhhh! Who is she?! I thought her face was all she had, but that strength and she’s with that pretty boy! So unfair! Old man Guren will definitely get angry at us! And to get that muscle-head Ken to give her a rank B assessment!

“It’s to measure your magic. The earlier assessment was for your strength and combat skills, this time it’s for your magical aptitude.”

The pretty boy explained and urged her towards the room where the glass ball is with a reassuring smile.

Oh my dear light! Where were you all these years?! *sigh*

I felt my mask coming undone and hardened my expression back to shape.The opened room was the same as ever, it was dimly lit with a magic circle in the middle and a glass ball in a pedestal. Her head tilting and asking feels like it will make my mask fall off, I felt my facial muscle twitch with her every movement.

Calm down me! Don’t let this deceiving woman get the better of you! But why is she so pretty too?! No! There’s no way such a beauty exist! How can I get that hunk to look at me if you’re this perfect?!

“A crystal ball? Fortune telling?”

She tilted her head questioningly at the glass ball, not noticing the battle against myself. She looked behind and saw pretty boy staying outside, I urged her to come closer to the pedestal. I moved beside her and activated the magic circle using the glass ball to get it over with. With a soft hum of the magic circle, the glass ball started to float from the cushion it was sitting on.

“Please place your hand on the glass ball.”

She placed her hand on the ball. The ball glowed a dim white light and turned into a full blackness that seemed to glow brighter from within. An eerie scene enveloped the room, but the blackness was so bright it felt like the weird profound darkness would suck everything in.

“Wha—?!”

What’s this?! Pure blackness?! Is this her aptitude?! Is it broken?!

“P-p-please w-wait a moment!!!”

I stuttered running outside at full speed. I ran towards the stairs, I felt my non-existing muscles move forcefully as I pant when I reached a door. My destination was the guild master’s office.

Old man Guren! Please help! What’s with that woman?! She keeps breaking stuff!

I opened the door slamming it on the wall. I found a dumbfounded guild master sitting behind his desk signing papers. His tiny spectacles fell down from his nose and unto his lap.

The old elf’s face was filled with shock and though he was already 312 years old, he still looked like he’s still in his 30s.

“Sir Guren! There’s a woman! Hah! She destroyed the wall— umm… hah… yeah! Her glass ball was black! And… and..”

I tried to tell him what happened, but panic and tiredness gripped my lungs and throat. Words couldn’t form from my often articulate mouth.

“C-calm down Wilma. Take a breath.”

He picked up his spectacles and pushed it up his nose, brushed his greenish-yellow hair back and collected himself from my outburst. I relaxed and did as he said so.

“Now then, tell me.”

“We had a newcomer take the licensure exam and she was accompanied and recommended by an A-ranker and Mister Gallos. She…”

He nodded urging me to go on, I hesitated but nodded in return while thinking he’d know about the broken wall later anyway so might as well tell the old man about it now.

“She successfully got a B-rank recommendation from Mister Ken for beating him and breaking the guild wall near the training grounds.”

I saw the smiling face he wore twitch a little bit at those words. He was smiling but his eyes weren’t. A chill ran down my spine thinking that he’d go berserk again.

“Then…”

“S-sir Guren! That’s not all!”

I interrupted him right away and this time, it seemed like a vein was ready to pop from his temples saying 'that's not all, you say?!'

“Umm… she… the glass ball broke and only displayed pure blackness but glowed brighter than any aptitude test I’ve ever seen. I think she… broke… it—?”

I stopped. I looked up and the old man’s face looked even more shocked than earlier. His eyes were wide and his mouth gaped. His forehead was drenched in sweat and you could clearly see it dripping down.

Is the glass ball that expensive?! Do we need to take a loan… wait… WILL THE GUILD CLOSE DOWN?!

He stood suddenly and his chair creaked badly, falling backwards.

“A-are you sure?! Are you sure it’s pure black?!”

His calm demeanor turned to panic and his body shook slightly.

“Ye-yes…?”

Confused, I answered in a question. He hurriedly fixed himself and went towards me.

“Wilma.”

He held my shoulders and bent a little to level his eyes with mine. Then his dark emerald eyes trained their seriousness with mine.

“Keep this a secret from everyone.”

Unconsciously or rather, you could say because of the tension, I nodded frantically. He let go of me and went to the door.

“Now, where is this newly assessed hunter?”

He pushed his tiny spectacle up his nose and asked me.

What’s with this tension?! This is so out of character! Is the glass ball really that expensive?!

“She’s downstairs inside the magic aptitude test room.”

The often calm guild master now opened the door with trembling hands and went down with me following behind. I couldn’t help but worry about what would happen. I haven’t seen the old man this tense aside from when he’s angry, but right now he looks nervous for some reason. I felt my finger itch as I stopped the urge from biting my nails.

When we reached the room, we saw the pretty boy looking at the glass ball. A hunter's aptitude is supposed to be personal information but I guess it was also my fault when I left the door open for him to enter.

“I guess it’s dark magic?”

His dashing appearance never changed even in deep thought, or you could say he looked handsomely mysterious with his thoughtful face. Ah~… where did he come from? Please stay here…

“Greetings. I am Guren, the guild master of this branch.”

Old man Guren greeted the two who’re inside the room. The girl remained silent and bowed her head while the pretty boy smiled. He seemed to glitter when he heard the old man’s name.

“Guren the Forest Knight? It’s a pleasure to meet you! I’m Theo a rank A from Aurelis and this is…”

He turned to introduce the woman.

“…Violet…”

She said quietly, feeling unsure of her name. What’s with that?!

Guren acknowledged the introduction and cleared his throat while approaching the glass ball. He examined it and released my mana that activated it. He then instilled his own mana on the magic circle and activated it with more force than usual.

“Hmmm. Yes, Miss Violet is it? Please place your hand on it again, if you would. I wish to confirm something.”

He urged the woman to place her hand again on the glass ball. Does he doubt my abilities? I tried to glare at him but he brushed it and continued to watch over the woman. She nodded and approached the ball with more familiarity than her first try.

And as you may expect, the ball glowed with infinite blackness, much stronger than the previous. In the middle of the ball felt like a vortex that can suck in anything and everything.

“I-I see… I guess it’s the truth then.”

What d’ya mean the truth you old retard?!

I angrily stomped my foot and glared at the old elf. I felt under-appreciated because of this farce. And It seemed that it might continue for the days to come…