Ascension of the Draconians

Letting the thought rest for now I decided to watch the next match though none of them seemed very good.

Even more, applicants failed, and those who passed only got 50s or low 60s.

Seeing several people's faces fall as they realized they were below the top 15 was sad to see and several just walked away crestfallen.

I noticed a man standing near the exit hiding and speaking to them.

He explained that saw scouting students who failed this test and told them the 4th academy, of which he works, would be happy to have them. When questioned he did admit that it was suspicious for him to talk to them like this but he technically wasn't supposed to be there so he was hiding.

He said that they heard that only a few commoner applicants would be accepted here, so he offered a second option as the 4th academy was mainly common-born people.

Most of them said they would think about it but several refused and some accepted immediately.

I was glad to hear that they could attend an academy. These places are great at teaching their students about magic, alchemy, blacksmithing, fighting and many other skills that can't be learned on your own.

The fights took a long time and it started to get close to sundown. By now a large part of the arena was covered in shadows.

After some time we got to the last 2 fighters and all of us in the top 13 relaxed as there was no way for us to not get in but the other 2 were very tense. I was still in shock at how I technically am the second best.

Jack and the strange man in a black cloak remained silent the entire time hiding in the back.

It is kind of scary, if my scenes weren't as strong as they are, I would have forgotten and never remembered that he was there.

I couldn't tell what his race was as his face was covered but it was obvious he was male and had dark purplish hair.

The next match was the man in the cloak and Jack would be the last person to take the test.

"Up next Aaron Goldmane!"

I watched as Jack once again focused on this match. I quickly realized that this man was the final person Jack took an interest in.

Aside from me, it was Zek the kobold mage, Orin the Half-Orc Fighter, Araki the lizardman Archer, Aaron who seemed to be a rouge/assassin and finally Jack himself who seemed to be a spear fighter considering he had a spear with him. 

In total 6 people were above the rest of the applicants though I still couldn't figure out why I was one of them.

I watched as the gate opened and some boars came rushing out and almost impatiently charged towards Aaron.

Aaron didn't seem to move and let them approach.

The boars ran towards and tried to charge into him but they instead crashed into each other and Aaron was nowhere to be seen.

I stood up in surprise and tried to find Aaron. I didn't see him move, only the boars ran at him and collided with each other a few seconds later.

Suddenly from the ground, I noticed what should have been a boar shadow was a shadow in the form of a man. It was hidden by the shade of the arena but I could see a darker spot.

It was a strange thing to see especially as the side the shadow was on was pointing towards the sun and not away like normal.

I watched closely as the boars looked around trying to find Aaron but couldn't find anything.

Getting angry they started stomping around and spreading out to find him.

The shadow of Aaron followed the boar as it was attached.

When the single boar was away from the group an arm sprouted from the shadow holding a dagger and slit its throat instantly. The boar died instantly and the arm retreated into the shadows. 

I watched the shadow as it left the boar and turned into what looked like a dark puddle, a lot more noticeable than before but still hidden and quick enough that the boars didn't notice it.

One thing I did notice was that the puddle never left the shadows made by the arena and always chose boars that it could reach.

If none were available Aaron would emerge and cause the boars to charge at him and retreat back into the shadows.

The puddle attacked itself to another boar and the process repeated itself until all boars were dead.

"Aaron passes with 84 points!" the announcer shouted.

He seemed happy with the score, nodded and walked back.

Though the person who was now in 16th place sat back down and cried slightly but was comforted by one of his friends who failed earlier on.

Amazed by his magic I watched as he walked back to the viewing area and didn't say anything. he pulled out one of his daggers and started to clean it with a cloth.

Curious about Jack's opinion of Aaron and his preparing for his match I turned over to him but I noticed he was staring at Aaron with a look of worry and caution.

'Does Jack know something about his magic?' I thought as it was the only thing I noticed that could cause his reaction.

I noticed Jack mumble a few things to himself and turn away but still kept an eye on Aaron.

I glanced at Aaron and he either hadn't noticed Jack's reactions to him or just didn't care.

Either way, I was nervous.

Of the 6 people with high potential Jack mentioned, there are 2 I am worried about and the rest seemed so friendly I couldn't see myself interested in them aside from Jack any time soon.

I decided to try and see anything strange about Aaron that Jack noticed but I missed. I couldn't see anything strange but an odd scent was present on him I could tell what it was, though strangely it made me think of Jack for some reason.

But the oddest thing was what I heard.

Aaron was talking to himself in a hushed voice but it seemed more like a conversation with someone else that only he could hear rather than simply talking to yourself.

"I know you are hungry. I will take care of it later" he whispered.

...

"I will find you one, calm down."

...

*sigh* Once we leave the arena I will ok?" he said exasperated

...

"good now behave. The next fight is going to start." he finished his conversation after that.

It was then I decided that until I knew if he was crazy or talking to something I would avoid him at all costs, though how well that would go when classes started was something I couldn't guess.

I put the matter aside for now but kept my scenes up and watched as Jack got up and walked to the arena with his spear in hand along with a book with a black cover.

...

'wait- a book? why would he have a book with him?' I thought to myself in confusion.

"up next Jackson Dravos. Due to him being an adventurer, he will fight a higher-ranked monster."

I was surprised Jack was the first person who was an adventurer.

"Isn't he going to say his ranking?" one person asked confused

"They probably didn't for privacy reasons." another said

Confused I decided to steel my nerves and nervously asked "Um sorry to ask but I don't know much about adventurers. What is the ranking system?"

They both stared at me in confusion

"How do you not know the guild ranking?" one asked

Embarrassed I said, "I live in a small village that got very few visitors so I never learned much about them."

They took a second and just stared at me like I was some weird creature with 2 heads.

Seeing my distress Araki, though still tired, walked over and answered, while holding a sheet of paper and a pencil that he got from who knows where, and proceeded to draw everything to make explaining easier.

"The adventurer guild ranking is pretty simple and before I start Rank and class are used interchangeably so if I say one or the other it's the same."

I nodded and let him continue.

"The lowest ranking is F Class which is equivalent to normal people and those who just became adventurers. Most of the applicants here are the same as an F Rank."

"Then it goes up by one letter all the way to A Rank though most people can only achieve B rank."

"Why is that?" I asked curious.

Araki smiled and said "B Rank is the strongest you can get with training alone. A rank requires there to be something special about you." 

"Among each rank is also unofficial sub-divisions. They are just how adventurers judge who is stronger even if you are at the same rank."

"If you are on the weaker side of D ranks you are considered D- but if you are on the stronger side you are D+, and just D if you are in the middle. Most people don't try the rank-up exams unless you are a +."

"You forgot about S Ranks," one person said

"Oh right. S Classes or Super Classes are the highest rank someone can get. There are leagues above A ranks to the point that the presence of just one can stop an army from marching to attack a city."

I stared in shock as I tried to imagine how strong that could be and my grandfather came to mind as he was the strongest person I knew.

"Though, I should mention it isn't to the point that they would kill the entire army. They were just strong enough that they could damage the army so much that they wouldn't be able to continue and would have to retreat."

Araki clarified showing me they weren't as strong as I first thought.

"Yeah, but that only speaks about the weaker ones. What about the S+ rankers." one person said.

Araki tilted his head and nodded. "That is true but they are monsters on their own and way beyond what we could handle."

'nevermind! S Ranks are stronger than anything I could have imagined!'