[Luna POV]
We walked into the guild and up to Tomoe’s area at the reception. She greeted us as usual and then aske us to follow her for Soleil’s test. We went into the back of the guild building and found a large arena that looked like a colosseum.
“Spatial expansion?” (Luna)
“Yes.” (Tomoe)
“I didn’t think that it could be used on such a large scale.” (Luna)
“Really?” (Velvet)
“I meant by normal people.” (Luna)
“Oh.” (Velvet)
“Who will be testing me today?” (Soleil)
“Since you’re a mage, you will be fighting another mage. He is a C-rank that is close to B-rank. His name is Sid.” (Tomoe)
“Is there anything else I need to know about the test or my opponent?” (Soleil)
“The test will end when either of you lose consciousness or give up. You don’t need to win to pass, but you must show enough ability to qualify. As for your opponent, he uses lightning magic.” (Tomoe)
“I wonder how proficient he is, I haven’t seen anyone else use lightning magic before.” (Luna)
“Well at least I have experience training with you, big sis. As long as he’s not as good as you, then it will probably be an easy win.” (Soleil)
“I don’t think there is anyone as good as Luna when it comes to something like lightning magic.” (Velvet)
“True.” (Soleil)
“It’s good that your party members trust in your strength so much, Miss Luna.” (Tomoe)
“I am truly blessed. Though they aren’t pushovers either.” (Luna)
“I can tell. Miss Velvet is certainly strong and Miss Soleil, while I assume still somewhat low level, has had much more training than a normal adventurers her rank.” (Tomoe)
“True. She trained with her mother as well as with my father’s soldiers. I have also had some mock battles with her, so I would be surprised if she wasn’t at least able to take on a C-rank adventurer.” (Luna)
“I wouldn’t really call what we do a mock battle big sis. It’s more me just trying to dodge your one-sided onslaught.” (Soleil)
“I agree, you only hold back enough to not kill us.” (Velvet)
“What’s the point of a mock battle if there isn’t at least a little bit of a threat. Nothing you learn will stick if you don’t have something that beats it into you. No pain, no gain and all that.” (Luna)
“You sound like your dad when you say stuff like that.” (Soleil)
“By the way Miss Luna, you can use healing magic, correct?” (Tomoe)
“Yes.” (Luna)
“Will you act as after match healer for the few tests we have today? It will be treated as a designated quest.” (Tomoe)
“I don’t mind. I have a weeks’ worth of quests to catch up with anyway.” (Luna)
“Thank you. Miss Soleil, if you need to make any preparations you can, Mister Sid has not arrived yet.” (Tomoe)
“Right, can I ask one more question?” (Soleil)
“Of course.” (Tomoe)
“What are the rules on items like mana potions being used?” (Soleil)
“With the exception of poison, any items like that are allowed. It would be bad if the examiner passed out due to mana exhaustion during days with multiple tests and it wouldn’t be fair for only the examiner to use them, so things like that are allowed.” (Tomoe)
“Thank you.” (Soleil)
Soleil went over to the side of the arena and started to warm up a bit. About 30 minutes later, her opponent arrived as well as several other adventurers. Most of them moved to where Soleil was, and a few others went to where Tomoe was standing. Tomoe then moved to the center of the arena and addressed everyone present.
“Welcome all. I am Tomoe, vice guild master and the judge of this rank up exam. We will have all of you fight in one-on-one against a C or B-rank adventurer. You do not have to win, but try your hardest anyway. If anyone gets injured, we have someone with heling magic here to treat you. This goes for both examiners and examinees. First up, we have Miss Soleil and Mister Sid, please step forward.” (Tomoe)
Soleil stepped forward form one side of the arena and a guy with a Mohican hairstyle stepped up on the opposite side. I was struggling to keep my laughter in and I saw Velvet was the same.
“Good day, Miss. Let’s have a good and fair fight.” Sid said as he presented his hand for a handshake.
“Let’s.” Soleil replied while accepting the handshake.
They then increased the distance between them and waited for Tomoe to give the signal to start. When she did, I could feel the mana in the air begin to stir.
“This is less interesting than I thought it would be.” (Luna)
“How so?” (Velvet)
“His lightning magic level is low. I can tell that Soleil will end this quickly. Soleil can be considered a kind of genius because she can dodge my lightning attacks, even if they are restricted. He, on the other hand, is a normal practitioner of magic. Once he starts shooting off some lightning, you will see what I mean.” (Luna)
Velvet started to pay closer attention to the arena. The first person to make a move was Sid, he fired off a small lightning bolt in the shape of an arrow. Soleil easily dodged it and started to frown a little.
“Wasn’t that attack a little slow?” (Velvet)
“Now you see what I mean by low level. To the other people watching, that attack might have seemed relatively fast, but to us, it was painfully slow. You think that because your stats are closing in on S or S+ level and Soleil has trained with me quite a lot. It also helps that she has very good sense in battle, that’s why I called her a genius.” (Luna)
“So, I’ve finally started losing my common sense.” (Velvet)
“You practically lost it the day you met me. Now, you’re starting to abandon it due to your level of power. It’s better to just embrace it, it makes life so much more fun.” (Luna)
“Guess so.” (Velvet)
It was now Soleil’s turn to attack. She gathered mana in front of her and shouted “Fus!”
Sid was blown back and hit the wall behind him. He was knocked out on impact and that was the end of the match. Everyone but Tomoe, Velvet, and I were shocked.
“Guess I should go and do my job.” (Luna)
I made my way over to the unconscious Sid and started using my healing magic. He didn’t have any serious injuries, but I focused on his head just in case the impact gave him a concussion. When I was done, I moved him over to the side of the arena and laid him on the ground.
I moved back over to Velvet and Soleil. I could tell Soleil had a bit if a disappointed expression on her face.
“Cheer up Soleil, this was always going to be the result.” (Luna)
“I get that, but I was expecting more from someone close to B-rank.” (Soleil)
“I told this to Velvet earlier, but this is what commons sense is. To everyone else here, with some exceptions, that was a high level battle. You’re just too used to me, Velvet, and dad’s soldiers.” (Luna)
“Common sense is so boring.” (Soleil)
“I would say don’t teach Soleil things like that, but I can’t really disagree now that I understand the way you think in regard to common sense.” (Velvet)
“You also have to remember that I grew up watching big sis, Velvet. This just the first time I really had the chance to see just how abnormal we are.” (Soleil)
“I guess you’re right. Even your whole adventurer experience has been abnormal. I mean, no one’s first quest is to hunt a king monster.” (Velvet)
“I wonder how long the rest of this will take?” (Luna)
“Probably a while.” (Velvet)
“*Sigh*” (Luna)
{It’s alright Luna, you can just talk with me to alleviate your boredom.}
‘That’s true. I mean Velvet and Soleil are already in their own little world, so I wouldn’t get any decent conversation out of them.’
{You’re the one who wanted it that way.}
‘And I don’t regret it.’
I whiled away the hours of back and forth mock battles talking to Tamamo. I only really had to heal one person that managed to break their arm by breaking a fall incorrectly. The final fight ended a little after noon and all the examinees left the arena to raise their ranks.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” (Soleil)
““All right.””
It was then that Tomoe walked up to us.
“Thank you for your work, Miss Luna, and sorry that you had to pretty much waste half of your day. This was a relatively tame exam this time.” (Tomoe)
“It’s no problem, if anything this was good for my party too since we got to see what normal C-rank is like.” (Luna)
“I guess that’s true. If you don’t mind hearing my personal thoughts, parties like yours are the ones I enjoy working with the most. It spices up the monotony of my job when they appear.” (Tomoe)
“Glad to help then.” (Luna)
We all left the arena and waited for Soleil. Once she rejoined us, we left the guild to take care of and errands we needed to take care of. By the end of the day, I had a whole new wardrobe in my inventory and Velvet and Soleil got a pair of matching bracelets.
“The only thing the two of you are missing now are rings.” (Luna)
“While I intend to get some one day, I think it’s still a bit too soon for that.” (Soleil)
“I agree. Not to mention I still need to contact mother about this.” (Velvet)
“Actually, she already gave you blessing when we first went back to Savanna’s capital.” (Luna)
“When?” (Velvet)
“After the both of you ran out of the room.” (Luna)
“And you don’t need to worry about my parents. Mom was originally going to help big sis set us up together and dad practically gave his blessing as we were leaving.” (Soleil)
“Then nothing is really stopping us, but I’d rather wait for a while. No need to rush things, we have nothing but time after all.” (Velvet)
“Very true.” (Soleil)
“Then we need to talk about our next objective, helping Soleil clear a dungeon.” (Luna)
“What can we do? We’ll at least be able to start out at floor 26, but it’ll take time to get through to the final floor from there.” (Velvet)
“Actually, since I got my third tail, I think I can teleport us to a least the 45th floor, but only if we start at floor 26. I don’t want a repeat of what happened when I teleported to Grey’s office.” (Luna)
“Was it that bad?” (Soleil)
“Imagine the feeling of walking through a slimy film that sucks away your mana like a starved animal after a piece of meat.” (Luna)
“So, you can only teleport us from that floor, or is it just the safest way?” (Velvet)
“I can teleport us there from here, but it will take more mana than I’m willing to spend for a dungeon dive. Going from the 26th floor will still be a little difficult, but nothing I consider dangerous.” (Luna)
“I see, then we should probably go tomorrow. We need to get the clear done fast if we want to have enough time to fill the quest quota for C to B-rank.” (Luna)
“Five floors will only take a few hours, but you are probably planning on getting Soleil’s levels up a little, right?” (Velvet)
“Yes. What level are you right now, Soleil?” (Luna)
“Level 23. The kobold king pushed my level up quite a lot.” (Soleil)
“Hmm. I didn’t want to have to do this, but we might need to power level you a bit.” (Luna)
“Actually, I asked Tomoe the other day about how dungeon clears work and she said that contribution isn’t measured. We can all just go down there, and you and I can take care of the boss.” (Velvet)
“I guess we can do that, but it doesn’t feel right.” (Luna)
“Then we do the method that Velvet suggested this time and we can clear a different dungeon the right way some other time, how about that?” (Soleil)
“Fine, I wanted to try something in actual combat anyway.” (Luna)
Author's Note:
Atmos: You really like doing things the proper way at the strangest times Luna.
Luna: I just wanted Soleil's first dungeon run to be a proper one, but getting her Grey's blessing takes priority this time. It's a conflict of priority over enjoyment.
Tamamo: It's like Soleil said, you can let her experience a real dungeon dive next time. It's in her best interest to clear this with the level she has right now.
Luna: I know.
Atmos: Would caking Grey help improve your mood?
Luna: Possibly, but make sure to do it when I see him next.
Atmos: Your wish is my command.
Tamamo: While I normally wouldn't advocate for something like this, but if it will improve Luna's mood, then it has my full approval.
Atmos: Then Operation: Yuna is a go.
[Luna POV]
We walked into the guild and up to Tomoe’s area at the reception. She greeted us as usual and then aske us to follow her for Soleil’s test. We went into the back of the guild building and found a large arena that looked like a colosseum.
“Spatial expansion?” (Luna)
“Yes.” (Tomoe)
“I didn’t think that it could be used on such a large scale.” (Luna)
“Really?” (Velvet)
“I meant by normal people.” (Luna)
“Oh.” (Velvet)
“Who will be testing me today?” (Soleil)
“Since you’re a mage, you will be fighting another mage. He is a C-rank that is close to B-rank. His name is Sid.” (Tomoe)
“Is there anything else I need to know about the test or my opponent?” (Soleil)
“The test will end when either of you lose consciousness or give up. You don’t need to win to pass, but you must show enough ability to qualify. As for your opponent, he uses lightning magic.” (Tomoe)
“I wonder how proficient he is, I haven’t seen anyone else use lightning magic before.” (Luna)
“Well at least I have experience training with you, big sis. As long as he’s not as good as you, then it will probably be an easy win.” (Soleil)
“I don’t think there is anyone as good as Luna when it comes to something like lightning magic.” (Velvet)
“True.” (Soleil)
“It’s good that your party members trust in your strength so much, Miss Luna.” (Tomoe)
“I am truly blessed. Though they aren’t pushovers either.” (Luna)
“I can tell. Miss Velvet is certainly strong and Miss Soleil, while I assume still somewhat low level, has had much more training than a normal adventurers her rank.” (Tomoe)
“True. She trained with her mother as well as with my father’s soldiers. I have also had some mock battles with her, so I would be surprised if she wasn’t at least able to take on a C-rank adventurer.” (Luna)
“I wouldn’t really call what we do a mock battle big sis. It’s more me just trying to dodge your one-sided onslaught.” (Soleil)
“I agree, you only hold back enough to not kill us.” (Velvet)
“What’s the point of a mock battle if there isn’t at least a little bit of a threat. Nothing you learn will stick if you don’t have something that beats it into you. No pain, no gain and all that.” (Luna)
“You sound like your dad when you say stuff like that.” (Soleil)
“By the way Miss Luna, you can use healing magic, correct?” (Tomoe)
“Yes.” (Luna)
“Will you act as after match healer for the few tests we have today? It will be treated as a designated quest.” (Tomoe)
“I don’t mind. I have a weeks’ worth of quests to catch up with anyway.” (Luna)
“Thank you. Miss Soleil, if you need to make any preparations you can, Mister Sid has not arrived yet.” (Tomoe)
“Right, can I ask one more question?” (Soleil)
“Of course.” (Tomoe)
“What are the rules on items like mana potions being used?” (Soleil)
“With the exception of poison, any items like that are allowed. It would be bad if the examiner passed out due to mana exhaustion during days with multiple tests and it wouldn’t be fair for only the examiner to use them, so things like that are allowed.” (Tomoe)
“Thank you.” (Soleil)
Soleil went over to the side of the arena and started to warm up a bit. About 30 minutes later, her opponent arrived as well as several other adventurers. Most of them moved to where Soleil was, and a few others went to where Tomoe was standing. Tomoe then moved to the center of the arena and addressed everyone present.
“Welcome all. I am Tomoe, vice guild master and the judge of this rank up exam. We will have all of you fight in one-on-one against a C or B-rank adventurer. You do not have to win, but try your hardest anyway. If anyone gets injured, we have someone with heling magic here to treat you. This goes for both examiners and examinees. First up, we have Miss Soleil and Mister Sid, please step forward.” (Tomoe)
Soleil stepped forward form one side of the arena and a guy with a Mohican hairstyle stepped up on the opposite side. I was struggling to keep my laughter in and I saw Velvet was the same.
“Good day, Miss. Let’s have a good and fair fight.” Sid said as he presented his hand for a handshake.
“Let’s.” Soleil replied while accepting the handshake.
They then increased the distance between them and waited for Tomoe to give the signal to start. When she did, I could feel the mana in the air begin to stir.
“This is less interesting than I thought it would be.” (Luna)
“How so?” (Velvet)
“His lightning magic level is low. I can tell that Soleil will end this quickly. Soleil can be considered a kind of genius because she can dodge my lightning attacks, even if they are restricted. He, on the other hand, is a normal practitioner of magic. Once he starts shooting off some lightning, you will see what I mean.” (Luna)
Velvet started to pay closer attention to the arena. The first person to make a move was Sid, he fired off a small lightning bolt in the shape of an arrow. Soleil easily dodged it and started to frown a little.
“Wasn’t that attack a little slow?” (Velvet)
“Now you see what I mean by low level. To the other people watching, that attack might have seemed relatively fast, but to us, it was painfully slow. You think that because your stats are closing in on S or S+ level and Soleil has trained with me quite a lot. It also helps that she has very good sense in battle, that’s why I called her a genius.” (Luna)
“So, I’ve finally started losing my common sense.” (Velvet)
“You practically lost it the day you met me. Now, you’re starting to abandon it due to your level of power. It’s better to just embrace it, it makes life so much more fun.” (Luna)
“Guess so.” (Velvet)
It was now Soleil’s turn to attack. She gathered mana in front of her and shouted “Fus!”
Sid was blown back and hit the wall behind him. He was knocked out on impact and that was the end of the match. Everyone but Tomoe, Velvet, and I were shocked.
“Guess I should go and do my job.” (Luna)
I made my way over to the unconscious Sid and started using my healing magic. He didn’t have any serious injuries, but I focused on his head just in case the impact gave him a concussion. When I was done, I moved him over to the side of the arena and laid him on the ground.
I moved back over to Velvet and Soleil. I could tell Soleil had a bit if a disappointed expression on her face.
“Cheer up Soleil, this was always going to be the result.” (Luna)
“I get that, but I was expecting more from someone close to B-rank.” (Soleil)
“I told this to Velvet earlier, but this is what commons sense is. To everyone else here, with some exceptions, that was a high level battle. You’re just too used to me, Velvet, and dad’s soldiers.” (Luna)
“Common sense is so boring.” (Soleil)
“I would say don’t teach Soleil things like that, but I can’t really disagree now that I understand the way you think in regard to common sense.” (Velvet)
“You also have to remember that I grew up watching big sis, Velvet. This just the first time I really had the chance to see just how abnormal we are.” (Soleil)
“I guess you’re right. Even your whole adventurer experience has been abnormal. I mean, no one’s first quest is to hunt a king monster.” (Velvet)
“I wonder how long the rest of this will take?” (Luna)
“Probably a while.” (Velvet)
“*Sigh*” (Luna)
{It’s alright Luna, you can just talk with me to alleviate your boredom.}
‘That’s true. I mean Velvet and Soleil are already in their own little world, so I wouldn’t get any decent conversation out of them.’
{You’re the one who wanted it that way.}
‘And I don’t regret it.’
I whiled away the hours of back and forth mock battles talking to Tamamo. I only really had to heal one person that managed to break their arm by breaking a fall incorrectly. The final fight ended a little after noon and all the examinees left the arena to raise their ranks.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” (Soleil)
““All right.””
It was then that Tomoe walked up to us.
“Thank you for your work, Miss Luna, and sorry that you had to pretty much waste half of your day. This was a relatively tame exam this time.” (Tomoe)
“It’s no problem, if anything this was good for my party too since we got to see what normal C-rank is like.” (Luna)
“I guess that’s true. If you don’t mind hearing my personal thoughts, parties like yours are the ones I enjoy working with the most. It spices up the monotony of my job when they appear.” (Tomoe)
“Glad to help then.” (Luna)
We all left the arena and waited for Soleil. Once she rejoined us, we left the guild to take care of and errands we needed to take care of. By the end of the day, I had a whole new wardrobe in my inventory and Velvet and Soleil got a pair of matching bracelets.
“The only thing the two of you are missing now are rings.” (Luna)
“While I intend to get some one day, I think it’s still a bit too soon for that.” (Soleil)
“I agree. Not to mention I still need to contact mother about this.” (Velvet)
“Actually, she already gave you blessing when we first went back to Savanna’s capital.” (Luna)
“When?” (Velvet)
“After the both of you ran out of the room.” (Luna)
“And you don’t need to worry about my parents. Mom was originally going to help big sis set us up together and dad practically gave his blessing as we were leaving.” (Soleil)
“Then nothing is really stopping us, but I’d rather wait for a while. No need to rush things, we have nothing but time after all.” (Velvet)
“Very true.” (Soleil)
“Then we need to talk about our next objective, helping Soleil clear a dungeon.” (Luna)
“What can we do? We’ll at least be able to start out at floor 26, but it’ll take time to get through to the final floor from there.” (Velvet)
“Actually, since I got my third tail, I think I can teleport us to a least the 45th floor, but only if we start at floor 26. I don’t want a repeat of what happened when I teleported to Grey’s office.” (Luna)
“Was it that bad?” (Soleil)
“Imagine the feeling of walking through a slimy film that sucks away your mana like a starved animal after a piece of meat.” (Luna)
“So, you can only teleport us from that floor, or is it just the safest way?” (Velvet)
“I can teleport us there from here, but it will take more mana than I’m willing to spend for a dungeon dive. Going from the 26th floor will still be a little difficult, but nothing I consider dangerous.” (Luna)
“I see, then we should probably go tomorrow. We need to get the clear done fast if we want to have enough time to fill the quest quota for C to B-rank.” (Luna)
“Five floors will only take a few hours, but you are probably planning on getting Soleil’s levels up a little, right?” (Velvet)
“Yes. What level are you right now, Soleil?” (Luna)
“Level 23. The kobold king pushed my level up quite a lot.” (Soleil)
“Hmm. I didn’t want to have to do this, but we might need to power level you a bit.” (Luna)
“Actually, I asked Tomoe the other day about how dungeon clears work and she said that contribution isn’t measured. We can all just go down there, and you and I can take care of the boss.” (Velvet)
“I guess we can do that, but it doesn’t feel right.” (Luna)
“Then we do the method that Velvet suggested this time and we can clear a different dungeon the right way some other time, how about that?” (Soleil)
“Fine, I wanted to try something in actual combat anyway.” (Luna)
Author's Note:
Atmos: You really like doing things the proper way at the strangest times Luna.
Luna: I just wanted Soleil's first dungeon run to be a proper one, but getting her Grey's blessing takes priority this time. It's a conflict of priority over enjoyment.
Tamamo: It's like Soleil said, you can let her experience a real dungeon dive next time. It's in her best interest to clear this with the level she has right now.
Luna: I know.
Atmos: Would caking Grey help improve your mood?
Luna: Possibly, but make sure to do it when I see him next.
Atmos: Your wish is my command.
Tamamo: While I normally wouldn't advocate for something like this, but if it will improve Luna's mood, then it has my full approval.
Atmos: Then Operation: Yuna is a go.
