Reevaluation

While Lucas was waiting in his life capsule Mark headed to the FBH. He entered the building and looked over the receptions.

'It´s alright. Just walk over there and say that you booked a reevaluation. Nothing awkward will happen. It´s just a reevaluation.'

After encouraging himself he walked to the front desk.

"Yes?" asked the receptionist.

"I´m here for a reevaluation at 16:45."

"Alright, give me your ID card."

Mark handed over the card.

"Great, now we´ll have you wait for about 5-10 minutes. The waiting room is right behind those doors." she pointed to the other side of the hall.

"Thank you"

Mark then stepped inside the room he was in a month ago. He took a seat and waited. There were few other people waiting for their evaluation. They were mainly E ranks with an occasional D-rank.

After five minutes an old lady peeked out of the evaluation room. "Mr.Williams, come in!" she said.

'Not this old librarian again.'

He came in with the grimoire under his armpit.

"You see that giant ball, put your hand on that." said the lady next to a bunch of monitors.

Mark gladly obliged and put his hand on the ball.

"A-rank! You´re here for a reevaluation, right? Many people come here, but I remember the higher ranks. They don´t come every day."

"Yeah, I was here about a month ago."

"I remember!" she exclaimed. "You have that useless eye trick!"

"Yes, that´s me."

"Now put your hand into that thing and squeeze. You already know what to do."

Once again Mark did what she told him to do.

"D-rank strength, nothing changed there. So that must mean you got some new skill otherwise you´d be an idiot coming here. Are you an idiot Mr. Williams?"

"..."

"I´m just joking around. Now show me your skills!"

Mark opened up the grimoire, poured his mana into the first page, and when the magic circle appeared he started modifying the spell.

'Page 1, Stream of fire, temperature: 1500°C, range: 1 m'

"Where should I aim?" he asked.

"It´s irrelevant, just don´t shoot me. The walls are strengthened with mana crystals."

As Mark aimed his hand towards the ceiling he fired off the spell. The magic circle started spewing out dazzling white flames.

Mark himself was insulated by a barrier incorporated into the spell, but the old lady was not.

"Stop it, this is not a furnace!" shouted the woman.

Mark dispelled the magic circle and closed his grimoire.

"You´ll get an A-rank. Just get out of here. It´s hard to breathe."

Mark left the bureau in a good mood. He got his new license, Lucas hopefully won´t bother him anymore. What a good day.

[2 hours later]

A BMW parked in the high school parking lot.

Alexander Wright, the leader of the Viper guild got out and walked to the translucent barrier surrounding his son.

"What happened?" he asked concerned.

"Nothing serious, he wanted to fight his classmate and got trapped in this mess." Lucy explained the situation of her brother.

"That´s that temperament of yours." Alexander knocked on the barrier with his knuckle. "What´s the name of your classmate?"

"That´s the first thing you ask me?" said Lucas feeling offended by the lack of care from his father.

"You are fine. I can see that with my eyes. It´s just a harmless prank."

"Just get me out of here."

"Got it." Alexander pulled out a dagger from his holster and drove it into the barrier.

To his surprise, the barrier didn´t collapse because of the hole he just created. He then punched it with all his might, shattering the barrier to pieces.

"Who´s your classmate? Yuri Orloff?" asked Alexander in awe.

"His name is Mark Williams. Can we go home? I´m cold and hungry."

"Yeah, I´ll just look up your classmate." Alexander said with a phone in his hand.

He brought up the FBH website which made the records of all hunters public.

"Mark Williams, you say? He got his rank updated today. He´s an A-rank mage."

"Really? Show me!" Lucy said.

Alexander handed her the phone.

"Wait, I know this guy!" she exclaimed when she looked at Mark´s picture.

"From where?" asked her father.

"We met at a bus stop, a few days ago. He was coming back from a dungeon."

Alexander looked through the information provided by the FBH. "It seems he doesn´t have a guild yet."

"Then find him and get him to your guild." Lucy said with enthusiasm.

Alexander hummed in agreement. "I´ll certainly offer him a place in the guild. There are never enough capable mages and if he made this barrier then he is capable enough."

"Yes, rope him right in!" said Lucy.

"You know I still exist, right?" asked Lucas.

"Right! I got completely off track. We should head home. It´s getting late." concluded Alexander.

"I´ll go back to the dorm. Say hi to mom."

"I will. Have a good night."

"Bye!" said Lucas.

The Wright family then drove off the parking lot.

[At home]

Mark told his dad that he was at Drew´s place, which was not entirely false. He stopped there for an hour before taking the bus back home.

He did not really have a good reason to lie to his dad like that. It was just uncertainty. What if he didn´t approve of his ambitions as a hunter? He knows his dad, he isn´t like that. However, there was always the tiny possibility of what if.

Mark still lived under his roof so he had to abide by his rules. Telling it to his mom would be much easier. She probably wouldn´t even care that much.

How would his brother react when he finds out that Mark is an A-rank hunter. Will he be proud or concerned? Who knows?

'I really need to get out of school.'