Chapter 6 - No Journey Has an Easy Beginning (1)

"Excuse me?" Andros said, going up to the lady at the desk on the second floor.

"Oh, hello! Am I correct in assuming that you are all here to register as adventurers?" The lady asked, tilting her head at us.

"Ah, yes!" Andros confirms, taking the trio's IDs and handing them to the desk lady. You see, we are all from a small remote village, so we don't know what is required for registration. Would you mind explaining it all to us?"

"Why of course! The test is quite simple actually, all you need to do is test your strength and abilities with a crystal ball that will test your aptitude for divine or cosmic power," The lady explained, pulling out three adventurer cards and a stamp pallet.

"Divine or Cosmic power? I'm sorry, but what is that exactly?" Rodion asked, puzzled at the new terms.

"Haha, similar to a clergyman's holy power, divine power is something you receive from your Divine sponsor or the Deity that you align with most, being a god or small deity like a spirit! And Cosmic power is something akin to Mana or Ki, it's pretty much your natural energy that you acquire yourself as you grow, or absorb through training!" She exclaimed.

"Ho? That's pretty cool! But I wonder why Father Davian never explained that to us," Valor commented, looking at Andros, but he just shrugged.

"Well, most people don't like to acknowledge that those concepts exist and only like to believe in the power of the gods," The desk lady added, then lined the adventurer cards up and opened the stamp pallet, "Now, please stamp with your thumb on the small box on the cards."

Andros, Valor, and Rodion stamp their thumbprints on the cards at the same time and all three of the cards glow a golden purple, signaling that they all have divine abilities.

Hearing something shatter, the boys' heads snapped up to look at the desk lady, who had accidentally dropped the crystal ball in shock at the three of them all having divine energy.

"Oh! My apologies! I was just quite shocked, I mean, I didn't expect all of you to possess it, much less at such a high attitude!" She exclaimed, going to grab a broom and dustpan to clean the crystal shards up.

"Is it unusual for a new adventuring group to all possess divine power?" Andros asked, curious why the desk lady would be so shocked, and she answered with a nod, which made him wonder…

"Oh, I hope that wasn't the only crystal ball you had!" Rodion worried as the lady put the shards into a trash bin.

"No need to worry, this isn't the first time someone has accidentally broken one, so the guild makes sure they are always supplied with extra," The desk lady consoled, going to open a drawer behind her, where about 20 more laid.

"Pfft- yes, quite an extensive supply!" Valor laughed, seeing the open cabinet before she closed it.

"Yes, yes…anyways, if all of you would please take turns placing your hand on the ball," She instructed, and Rodion went first. It glowed a shallow purple, "Great! You have a BB-rank! Excellent for a beginner!"

"Oh? That seems pretty high! But I thought there were only F, E, D, C, B, A, AA, S, and SS-ranks, did they decide to broaden out the range recently?" Rodion asked, puzzled at what he was told by his swordsmanship master, who was an old adventurer from the previous era.

"Originally, yes. However, after the end of the previous era, when King Othello of Samaria seized the throne and helped the king of the Aelite Dynasty until he betrayed him and claimed the kingdom's land. After that, he added the ranks to 'accurately' measure adventures' strength," She concluded, then motioned for Valor to go next.

"I see…welp, I guess that helps, but I wouldn't be surprised if that tyrant did it only to force the people of his nation to join the military if they were BB-rank or higher," Valor sighed, placing his hand upon the crystal ball, which glowed just a shade brighter than Rodions.

'Uncle…I knew he had seized father's throne through the coup, but I didn't think he would go on to seize others' thrones,' Andros thought, unaware of his younger twin trying to gain his attention.

"Andros!" Valor yelled, finally grabbing his brother's attention.

"AH! Sorry! I was zoned out, what were you trying to say?" He responded, giving Valor an apologetic look.

"It's alright, but apparently I'm A-Rank! Which is better than that dark-haired fool's next to us!" Valor chirped, putting his arm around his brother and glaring at Rodion.

"Excuse me, but at least I'm not some muscle head who thinks that brains are everything!" Rodion snapped back, causing Valor to gasp dramatically.

"Okay, that's enough you two! And congrats to both of you, but don't let your ranks get the best of you!" Andros lectured, before turning to the awkwardly smiling desk lady.

He smiled back at her with an apologetic smile, then placed his on the crystal ball, which glowed a lilac shade. He removed it sighing, knowing that his rank was lower than the peanut galleries behind him.

"Very good! You're a B-rank! But don't let that discourage you because it's lower than your friend and brothers, I'm sure you have something else that lacks for it!" The desk lady tried to assure Andros.

"Haha, no need to worry! I most definitely do, especially when it comes to brains! They say knowledge is power after all," He brushed her comment off, whispering the last part.

"Hehe!" She laughed back, "Anyways, there is one last examination. In the back will be an instructor to determine the kind of jobs you can request, as long as you all stick together to form a party it should work out smoothly!"

"Yes, I hope it does," Andros replied, then took his adventurer card and walked over to where the desk lady had instructed them to when they first began the signing up process, leaving his brother and "ex-rival" to their argument.

"Hey! Andros, wait up!" Valor yelled after him, jogging over to his twin who was trying to avoid getting caught in Tweedlede and Tweedledum's argument.

***

The trio had swiftly completed the tasks that the instructor had given them and were now sitting in the lobby waiting for Evander to finish up with his party.

Each task that the instructor had given them was quite easy, considering they were things that would be counted as their chores in the village they technically grew up in. 

So it was no surprise for the trio when their instructor told them that they were the ones who now held the record for the fastest completion of the class examination.

"So…When do you guys think we're going to get the list of classes that would fit us best?" Valor asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"We aren't going to," Andros commented with a bland tone, not bothering to turn his head to look at his companions.

"Huh? Why not?" Rodion questioned, uncrossing his arms and looking down at the seated Andros with confusion.

"Because there is no need to, I told them we don't need one. Having been told that there is a certain class that we are best for and one that suits us the least will only hold us back, especially when it comes to personal growth," Andros responded, looking at Rodion with a serious expression.

"I see…Hm, alright. I guess that makes sense," Valor admitted, holding his chin and nodding in a thinking manner.

"Well, now. Look at the muscles for brains actually having an intelligent thought for once," Rodion teased, putting a hand on his hip.

"Hey!"

"Wow! Good job, Valor! Looks like my baby bro is starting to grow up!" Andros jested, playing along with Rodion for once, which made him smile and chuckle in turn.

"Well excuse me! I'll have you know that I have intelligent thoughts all the time! In fact, it was my idea to go to the city with Evander and his party!" Valor shot back, standing with his hands on his hips.

"Hahaha, looks like you guys are teasing our poor Valor again, ain't ya?" Evander laughed, walking over to the trio.

"When are we not?" Andros said sarcastically, making Rodion and Evander laugh, while Valor put on a pouty face.

"You guys are always so damn mean to me!" Valor exclaimed, frowning and crossing his arms again.

"Hehe, sorry Valor. We don't mean any harm, we're just teasing you," Andros apologized with a slight smile, making all of Valor's annoyance disappear and instead be replaced with warmth.

"Aw! It's okay! Just know that if you do that again I expect another smile from my most handsome brother!" Valor demanded, crouching down and hugging Andros, making him sigh.

"Yeah, yeah. Now get off!" He exclaimed, standing up and frowning again. Andros was not one to normally like physical touch, but he can stand it when it comes to his other half.

"Hehe," the other half in question giggled, letting go of his older twin.

"Alright, even though you two brothers are so sweet, we best get going if we want to be able to snag some rooms at an inn," Evander interrupted, pointing out the window of the lobby and at the setting sun.

"Hm, does it usually get busy around here at night?" Rodion asked, tilting his head and raising an eyebrow.

"Well considering Belvedere City was built for adventurers and other kinds of guilds, it gets insanely busy for inns, especially since no one really bothers to buy a home here since mostly everyone is traveling all the time," Evander explained.

"Makes sense. Though with that said, we should leave right now, typically most people would go earlier to ensure they get a room," Andros cut in, using his common sense.

"Then let's hurry! We don't want to be sleeping out on the streets after all!" Valor joked, grabbing Andros' arm and making way for the door.

***

"My apologies, but it looks like we only have three rooms open, two with a single bed and the other with two beds," The innkeeper stated, unable to fulfill the party's request for four one-bedrooms.

This was the last inn available that looked actually decent, so it was their last hope. They had all hoped to get a separate room, needing their privacy and all.

"That's alright, luckily for us, we have a set of twins with us!" Rodion joked, tilting his head with a smug smile towards the two twins sitting on the lobby's couch.

Andros had started to get a headache from all of their running around, so he took a break on the couch while Valor sat next to him and lent him his shoulder.

"Okay, great! I'll need ten copper coins then, and no need to worry, you should have everything you need in there," The innkeeper assured them, smiling and laughing along with Rodion.

"Alright, here you are. Thank you so much!" Evander smiled back, handing the innkeeper the copper coins and taking the room keys.

"Of course! I hope you lot enjoy your stay!"

Rodion and Evander then walked over to Andros and Valor, who were still on the couch. Andros' eyes were closed until Valor saw them coming towards them and nudged him to open them and sit up.

"So, we have a bit of bad news and a bit of good news, which do you want to hear first?" Evander asked with a jesting smile, blinking his eyes at Andros, who looked annoyed upon hearing that.

"...We'll go with the bad news first," Valor answered for his brother, sensing that if he were to answer, he wouldn't word it so nicely.

"Okay, well the bad news is that they only have three rooms," Rodion blurted, closing his eyes to prepare himself for Andros to blow up with anger from exhaustion, but he just had the same tired expression, "...and the good news is that two of them are a single bed and the other is a two bed, so we took them hoping you guys would share a room!"

"Absa-fucking-lootly not." Andros said with a pissed-off expression and gritted teeth, "This guy sounds like a horde of Elephants passing by when he snores in his sleep, sorry to say, but Valor is the last person I want to sleep next to."

"...Oh, um, alright, then we'll give you two the separate rooms," Evander suggested, but was quickly shot down.

"Uh, no. You will be the one getting one of the single bedrooms, considering you paid for us," Valor commanded, a seriously straight face on.

"...Okay, then I guess one of you guys will have to share a room with me," Rodion smiled sympathetically.

"Haaa, for the sake of your sleep, I will. But! I want our room to be as far away from Valor's as possible!" Andros offered, though only on his condition.

"HUH? That's so mean! I want to be as close to Andros as possible, we have never been separated like this before! Our rooms have always been right next to each other!" He exclaimed, putting on a pouty face.

"In all of my 20 years of life, I have never gotten an actual good sleep, all because I had to room with and next to this dweeb, so if any of you don't want a storm accompanying you tomorrow, I suggest you listen to me!" Andros threatened.

"A-alright, then I'll take the room right above your guys' and Valor can be two doors down from me," Evander agreed hastily, not wanting to deal with tired Andros, knowing how demanding and mean he can get when he's like this.

"Hmph, good," Andros smiled, then grabbed his and Rodion's room key, handing Rodion his bag, then taking his own and grabbing Rodions hand to drag him upstairs, "Then we'll be going to bed now, goodnight."

"G-Goodnight everyone!" Rodion stammered, not turning his head, but the two left could see his ears turn pink, which made the duo turn to each other with a look of accomplishment.