Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
There was still one hour left before the junior guard assessment.
Raymond arrived early at the assessment hall. It was already packed with people.
"So many people?" Raymond looked around and noticed that not only junior guards were there, but even some full-time guards had come to watch the fun.
"Don’t underestimate this exam. The Hanging Tavern has already set up betting pools. A lot of guards will put big money on you guys for fun," Hal explained as he handed Raymond a longsword.
"The blacksmith brought it over this morning. Take this sword and bring back first place!" Hal patted Raymond on the shoulder and watched him walk into the waiting area.
As soon as Raymond left, Milton and the other two gathered around Hal.
"You didn’t tell him you bet your whole fortune on him?" Milton handed Hal a betting slip.
"Telling him would just stress him out. I believe in him, and that’s enough." Hal put away the slip, looking confident. "By the way, how much did you three bet?"
"Everything we’ve got, of course!" Hilton chuckled, pulled out a small stool from behind him, and sat down.
"Hey, how much did that bootlicker Quentin bet?" Hal clenched his fists as he thought about Quentin.
"I know. That idiot bet on the other ten newbies. When the exam’s over, he’ll be crying his eyes out!" Milton waved his fist angrily.
When Hal heard how much Quentin had bet, his brow furrowed.
Logically, Quentin should know exactly how strong Raymond was.
But he still chose to bet on ten other strangers. That didn’t make any sense.
Unless Quentin was sure that those ten guys were way stronger than Raymond. But how could that be possible?
Hilton noticed that Hal was looking worried and threw his arm around Hal’s neck. "Relax! The head examiner this time is Officer Veronia. I heard she’s a disciple of the warden on the first underground level. There’s no way Marcus would try anything funny with her around!"
Just as Hal and the others were wondering what was going on, three officers appeared in the middle of the hall.
"Isn’t this batch of new recruits a little too big?" the lead female officer asked coldly. She wore a mask, so no one could see her face.
"You’d have to ask Marcus about that. From what I hear, even half-beasts can become junior guards here now." Grayson’s eyes locked onto a few tall figures in the crowd, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Don’t start trouble," Marcus shot Grayson a glare, then turned and bowed respectfully. "Officer Veronia, these half-beasts are citizens of the Holy Sword Empire. They’re qualified to serve as guards."
"Is that so? You’d rather use these creatures than good humans. How selfless of you!" Grayson was about to keep mocking him, but then he saw Marcus grab the hilt of his sword. He gave a nervous laugh and shut his mouth.
Veronia glanced at both of them and said firmly, "Whether they’re worthy of becoming guards of the Abyss depends on how they perform in the assessment."
With that, Veronia began chanting a spell. A huge space portal appeared behind her. "Now, the assessment begins!"
"Everyone taking the exam, line up and walk through the portal behind me."
"You’ll be randomly assigned to different guard teams. Your job is to stop enemies from breaking out the prisoners."
"If you can hold out for 24 hours and keep the prisoners alive, everyone in your team passes the first stage!"
Raymond stood in the crowd, feeling the energy coming from the space portal. His heart skipped a beat.
It was magic!
This female officer was a real mage!
As the space portal fully stabilized, a look of longing appeared in Raymond’s eyes. It was a longing for the power of magic.
I have to get into the core area of the first underground level!
Even better, I need to find a way to go deeper!
There must be even stronger prisoners locked up down there.
Maybe I can draw magic talents and magic skills from them!
With that thought, Raymond stood up straight and walked straight toward the space portal.
The moment he stepped through, everything went blurry.
When he came to his senses, he was standing in the middle of a camp.
The camp was small. Inside the shabby fence, there were only three tents and a prison wagon.
By the campfire in the center, an old man with white hair was tied up. He was dirty and messy, chewing on a tree branch as if he didn’t even notice Raymond.
"Looks like this is the prisoner I’m supposed to guard." Raymond checked that the old man’s shackles were tight enough, then turned his head to look at the sign at the camp’s exit.
- [Prisoner: Gregory. Black Iron Stage 20. Cultist. Murdered fifty-eight young boys and girls to perform an evil ritual.]
- [Mission: Guard the prisoner. Prevent the prisoner from escaping.]
- [Assessment Participants: Raymond, Ralph, Bobby.]
...
"Two more teammates?" Raymond thought for a long time, but he didn’t know either of those junior guards.
Were they planted by Marcus again?
What exactly was he trying to do?
Just as Raymond was wondering, two space rips appeared one after another in the middle of the camp.
Thump!
A young man landed flat on his face.
"Ouch! My handsome face! That mage’s teleportation spell sucks!" The boy got up covered in dirt, cursing Veronia under his breath.
Then a young girl walked out of the portal. Her skin was fair, her fingers were soft and delicate-she didn’t look like a junior guard at all.
"So this is the Abyss Prison’s assessment space? It’s just as gloomy as the rumors said!" The girl looked around, excitedly pulled out a memory stone, and started recording everything around her.
Raymond looked at the two young people and furrowed his brow.
One was a noble young master, and the other was a rich man’s daughter. How did they manage to sneak in and become junior guards?
Just then, the boy noticed Raymond. His eyes lit up. "Hey! You’re the prison guard here, right? Come over here and watch that old man! If he escapes, I, Ralph, will hold you responsible!"
Raymond ignored Ralph and started checking the terrain around him.
Then the girl noticed the sign. She looked at Raymond and smiled. "I’m Bobby. You’re Raymond, right?"
Raymond glanced at her. By now, she had already taken off her standard junior guard leather armor and put on a mage robe.
"You’re a mage?" Raymond squinted, more confused than ever.
A mage, coming to the Abyss Prison to take the junior guard exam? What was this, a game?
"Me and this idiot-oh, I mean, this big idiot Ralph-are both first-year students at the Empire’s Magic Academy." Bobby explained patiently.
It turned out they had heard that the Abyss Prison held many evil and powerful mages.
They wanted these mage prisoners to be their private tutors and teach them magic knowledge.
"That’s right! That way we can save a lot of silver coins and use them to buy magic potions and magic gear." Ralph said proudly.
When Raymond heard this reason, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
These two idiots had come all the way to the Abyss Prison to find tutors just to save money.
They had a death wish!
"What kind of magic can you both use?" Raymond asked seriously.
Ralph suddenly flashed a proud smile. "I can use cleaning magic! Grease spell, foam spell, drying spell, and dust removal spell-I’ve mastered all of them."
Raymond held back the urge to yell at them. He turned to Bobby calmly and asked, "What about you?"
Bobby shrugged. In her left hand was a magic book, and in her right hand, a magic wand. "Don’t look at me like I’m the same as that idiot. I know way more than him. I can do a lot of magic! Light spell! Invisibility spell! Fireball spell! Those are all my specialties."
"Not bad," Raymond nodded, then bent down to pick up some branches. "By the way, who brought you two here to take the exam?"
Ralph and Bobby looked at each other, then both handed Raymond a flyer. It read:
- [Breaking News! A legendary mage is living in seclusion inside the prison! We are looking for kind and hardworking mages to serve as guards. You will be taught necromancy, curse sorcery, and dark magic! Entry fee: 10 silver coins.]
Raymond read it and gasped.
He was a hundred percent sure these two had been tricked.
10 silver coins was 10,000 copper coins.
These two young mages could work as junior guards in the prison for a hundred years and still never make that much money.
Raymond shook his head. He had terrible luck getting stuck with these two weirdos.
But to get first place in the exam, Raymond still left the camp on his own. "I’m going to scout the area. You two watch the prisoner. Don’t let him escape."
Ralph watched Raymond’s back fade into the distance and spat on the ground. "Tch! Just an ordinary junior guard, and he dares to talk to me like that. I’m a noble, after all!"
Bobby stood beside him, rolling her eyes. "You idiot, didn’t you notice? The way he walks, his smooth and graceful steps-it’s obvious he’s a noble too!"
"Really? But he’s not a mage. Why would he come to the Abyss Prison to be a guard?" Ralph looked confused.
Bobby shook her head. She couldn’t figure that one out either.
Just as the two were gossiping about Raymond, Gregory, who had been sitting by the fire chewing on a branch, suddenly let out a creepy chuckle. "Nobles? Nobles are good! Noble boys and girls are even better for sacrifices!"
...