Ascending Tiers

The night falls, Tiberius and his guild members are chugging alcohol like there is no tomorrow, they finally got their hands on the sword Wolfrim.

They even asked their local forger for its quality and it should be qualified as one of the strongest weapons in the entire city.

With this weapon, they could nurture another Tier C, boosting their combat might, sooner or later; they could stamp down their competitors.

When a drunken paladin with a huge build went outside for a wind, he suddenly saw a lithe figure of a shadow jumping around the buildings.

The next moment he knew, his head was spinning around before blacking out.

Splatter!

The paladin's body exploded like juicy pumpkin being squashed down with a giant's foot.

Veil then kicked the door before starting a massacre in the bar.

Bang! Slash slash slash!

Using only her arm imbued with sharp golden mana in shape of phantom of a blade, she harvested the lives of the Tyrant Warriors.

Upon seeing the commotion, Tiberius broke out in laughter because his guild members are turning into juice.

However, when he slightly sobered up, he realized that instead of juice, blood is spraying out from his allies' bodies as they turn into lifeless puppets one by one.

"!!!"

He could only break in cold sweat as he belatedly found out the identity of the attacker, the very woman that he kicked around like a plaything.

As he turns around with reddened eyes and tears slowly welling up on his eyes, he felt cold: extremely cold.

Shuk!

Veil brutally pierced her hand into Tiberius' heart to crush it.

As the owner of the bar goes down the stairs to check the commotion, all he sees is a river of blood from more than 40 Adventurers.

There is also a bag of magic essence on the counter with exactly 40 magic essences; it is as if it was a payment for the deaths on his bar.

"…" The owner helplessly sat down on a chair.

The next morning, a commotion broke out yet again on Onaross, now, on the center of the plaza, the head of Tiberius was hung on one of the statues with its arm out.

Veil, the source of this commotion, let Shiv use the Wolfrim; she refused to use the sword anymore because it put her friends in danger.

Just as when Veil is about to turn around and leave, Zach stopped her "Veil, please wait! You shall get tested for your tiers first before leaving, that way, you could still register all your achievements once you are gone."

Veil nodded quietly as they visited the city hall, this is where Adventurers would be tested through 3 phases to determine their tier.

First, 100 magic essences to prove one's ability to hunt their own monsters, this also serves as the payment for getting their tiers checked.

Second, a big crystal to measure an Adventurer's magical abilities and mana control.

Lastly, an Adventurer's strongest attack under their arsenal, this is to test if an Adventurer has an ability to cause chaos to another city, which shall not be permitted to do so without sufficient reason.

They must only use that attack against evil forces.

After arriving at the city hall, Veil presented her magic paper that could only be read by the Elves working at each city hall.

This serves as an Adventurer's identification card, this paper will serve as the record of their achievements and all important information regarding them.

The Elven woman then let them through the testing chamber after seeing that the next in line is Veil and Zach.

If an Adventurer is testing tiers, they could bring up to only one person with them to serve as a witness or such.

During the first test, another Elf stationed in the crystal sent a glance to the new arrivals Veil and Zach, they are next of the 24 Adventurers getting their own tests today.

After a dozen minutes or so, it is finally Veil's turn to measure her powers and mana control.

All the participants who have already took their own tests saying Tier D are smirking with mockery, even the next in line who just arrived the testing room could not help but shake their heads.

Veil, after hearing the Elf's instruction, slowly approached the crystal.

Vuinggg!

She stretched her hand out and envisioned mana submitting to her will, both her own mana and atmospheric mana in the room swirled around the crystal.

In this spectacle, everyone is dazed with astonishment and shock.

They could not believe that the person they are belittling can control mana to such extent.

However, what happened next is an even bigger shock.

Crack!

The crystal being used as a test apparatus suddenly cracked and slowly lost its glowing light.

It slowly pulsated before fading out and then the crystal exploded!

The Elf plopped down on his butt after seeing the extremely expensive crystal crumble before his eyes.

With the commotion, the manager himself checked the testing chamber, once he arrived; he was similarly stunned by the developments.

He slightly scratched his chin before speaking: "You are the very first Adventurer who has managed to achieve such results. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Veil. I came from the world above." Veil replied.

"I see… With the crystal breaking, we are sorry to inform you but we will not be able to fully determine your tier, however, I will personally facilitate the rest of your test to determine the extent of your abilities even if mana control is not included…" The Elven manager named Orzok slowly explained.

"Very well, let's proceed then." Veil scanned her surroundings.

Everyone was still dazed, even Zach has his mouth still hanging wide open.

Only when he saw Veil walk with the manager did he close his mouth and hurriedly followed.

After arriving on a slightly smaller room, the manager gently tapped on another crystal found within the room.

"This is a simulation crystal which works similarly to World Crystals, this is where we will conduct your final test, show me your strongest move, Adventurer!" Orzok caressed his white beard in excitement.

Veil nodded as she entered the simulated state, another crystal then projected the events inside the simulation into a flat surface in the wall.

Vuimmm!

Veil then opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of a desert, with seemingly an endless horizon stretching beyond her eyes.

With nothing to disturb her, she stretched her right arm sideways and then overhead.

Posing to use the Divine Technique, she controlled her mana with much ease onto her hands.

Shortly after breathing out, a gigantic golden phantom of a sword extended from her hand.

"!?" Orzok almost vomited blood from shock.

Veil then stepped forward with her left foot for a better posture before slashing her hand down imbued with massive amounts of mana.

Third Divine Technique: Transcendental Severance!

The projected image of the simulated world in the testing room blurred in and out as if it is breaking down.

After a dozen seconds, the projected image went back as it showed a massive fissure stretching wide on the empty desert, also stretching up to hundreds of yards.

Veil almost separated the entire desert with a single attack.

Orzok with two other Elves stared in silence, this is the first time they have seen a human wield this much power.

As soon as the simulation is over, Veil regained the senses in her body, when she turned to look around, only silence filled the room.

Orzok even suspected that Veil is a higher lifeform from the above world checking the situation in the Underworld.

However, her mana is definitely of a human's, he then approached the girl and asked: "Adventurer, where have you learned such a devastating skill?"

"It is provided through guidance by the Seraphim Azazel, one of the five members of Pentagram." Veil declared calmly.

"The P-Pentagram?! The great Azazel?!" One of Orzok's staff fell down on the floor.

"It seems you are beyond our imagination, Adventurer. Even the Elves' Hero known as Riveria has not gain the recognition of the Seraphim. It is due to the fact that Riveria chose not to accept the guidance of the great Azazel." Orzok explained.

Upon hearing Riveria's name, Veil's heart felt a stinging pain, however, she does not regret saving Riveria even if this is the price she is paying.

"What is the reason for her not accepting the guidance?" Veil curiously inquired.

"The great Azazel likes setting deals you know, but she is absolutely fair with her terms."

"The Seraphim proposed to Riveria that in exchange for her Divine guidance, Riveria would let the Seraphim harvest a Fruit of Life from the World Tree."

"However, when Riveria heard that the great Azazel wants to go to the World Tree, she immediately declined and left without gaining a single knowledge from the library."

"From then on, she achieved all things on her own, until she was officially recognized as a Hero, with the title Alvan Argonaut." Orzok explained with tears on his eyes.

"I understand, but why are Elves such as you went here in the Underworld?" Veil asked again.

"It is part of our mission to provide service for the various races born into this world. Without the Elves' management of Adventurer system, this world will plunge into pandemonium."

"This is also why we are conducting such tests from the whole Underworld with Elves' like us managing." Orzok answered truthfully.

Veil only listened quietly.

"With the Elves stationed on every city within Zekerion, every Adventurer regardless of their race has followed our rules."

"Also, when we determine their strongest attacks, we would leave marks on them without their knowledge, in order to respond to them when they are about to use the said skill for something evil."

Before one of Orzok's staff could stop him from revealing this information, he lightly waved his hand.

"I am letting you know of this because my hunch tells me that you are somehow connected to Riveria."

Veil felt a stinging sensation in her nose as tears are about to fall from her eyes.

"Now, Adventurer, I will update your magic paper, even without knowing the extent of your mana control, just the fact that you received the great Azazel's guidance is enough for me to determine your tier." Orzok smiled brightly.

Veil pulled out the magic paper folded under her cloak and passed it to Orzok.

Upon receiving the magic paper, Orzok nodded as he chanted Elven magic to change the writings on the magic paper.

Vuish!

With a gentle sound of finishing his incantation, Orzok wiped the tears that formed in his eyes before giving the magic paper to Veil.

Orzok then snapped his fingers to display Veil's updated magic paper information onto the wall.

Name: Veil

Race: Terran-Human

Affiliation: None

Mana Control: S

Combat Level: S

Tier: B