21 Alexia's Profession.

I walked silently behind Alexia, observing her blonde hair as it swayed gently behind her. Where is the wind coming from? Hmm, suspicious.

The hall of Kynburgh Palace was rather well decorated. Chandeliers of magnificent designs and colors hung on the ceiling, brightening the hall. The portraits of whom I considered to be past rulers and other members of the royal family were lined orderly, giving the hall a feeling of an ancient structure.

I came by a few servants, who gave me penetrating gazes as if to see what was inside my stomach. It was an uncomfortable experience.

Seems there are already many factions supporting each of the current ruler's offspring. The cats fight, but band together to end the rat… A phrase for my situation.

"Alexia," I called out for no reason.

"Yes."

"What if the test proves that I'm some monster?" I inquired in a carefree tone.

I don't know why I decided to bring up this topic. I'm not regretting, am I?

"You read a lot from the library, so I'm sure you know about Professions," Alexia uttered, not sounding bothered about my inquiries. "I'm a caretaker under the guardian Profession."

I could somehow understand the reasoning behind her words. Guardian is a main profession with caretaker being one of its sub-professions. So in essence, she is saying, "I'll protect you." Funny…

"Seems you don't recall how easily I dealt with those assassins."

"They are just Low Rankers, nothing much." She shrugged.

Assassins are part of the Lawless Profession, a main profession that caters to shady sub-professions like gangsters, thieves, and the like of them.

"Which rank exactly?"

I never got to interact much with outsiders, so I found it difficult to tell their exact ranks.

"Rank 9 Assassins. Their leader was a Rank 8 Assassin. He could have made it to a Rank 7, but he made a mistake."

"Seems he is not fated to advance."

After hearing about their ranks, I was kind of curious to learn about my caretaker rank. "What of yours?"

She didn't answer, walking over five meters in silence before she parted her lips. "Rank 7 Caretaker."

I was at a loss for words. If she was saying the truth, then the assassin stood no chance in the first place. He only had that artifact that sealed off the space as an advantage, which was clearly not enough to deal with an individual like Alexia.

"I know what you are thinking, 'How overpowered is she'? 'How does she possess such strength'?" She stated, abruptly stopping by a huge portrait.

"How…?"

"Though you claim to have read a lot, it seems you only read on superficial things. You didn't go deeper than knowing the Professions and their common perks."

Truly, I haven't bothered to run in-depth research on professions. I didn't see the need to do such a thing. After all, it would be better to experience it in a moment. Maybe a fight would do…

The portrait before us was one of the largest I've seen so far. It hung on the wall of the T-junction. We were supposed to turn right or left, but for some reason, Alexia chose to continue straight on. Not like I knew our destination, so I'll just follow.

"This is the depiction of a great ruler. He once lorded over this fortress." Alexia said in a solemn tone, touching the edge of the well-crafted frame.

At the moment, I could not tell what she was hinting at. "King Charles?"

"At least you could tell. Come on, let's go. We can't spend our time reminiscing over something we didn't witness."

Twitch

I don't recall joining you in that act, girl, so don't drag me in… I sighed, immediately following in her steps.

We ended up passing through different hallways, with Alexia trying her best to be a guide by explaining random stuff. We also could not avoid living beings, so I had to bear with that look throughout the long walk.

"We are here," Alexia stated, gesturing that I walked ahead.

Before me was a huge door made of gold—that was what I deduced from its appearance. The door size brought more questions to my mind about the way this fortress was built; if not that I was in the palace, I would have deduced this place was a forge for Giants or had something to do with them in general.

"Only the entrance leaves you in awe—I wonder what would happen when you see its interior." Alexia giggled, closing off her lips with a palm.

"Guess I'll faint from awe then." I lampooned.

My Pagoda is more beautiful than this place, I'm just perplexed by the structure size and how the palace can contain it so easily… I wanted to retaliate but decided to let her have this victory.

"Go ahead!"

Twitch

Now I feel like you are looking down on me, Alexia. Mind you, I'm not your ordinary kid… having no other choice, I headed for the door.

The intricate design on the door was amazing. A well-crafted piece indeed. If I were to guess, I'd say this looked like the elves' handwork; the gentleness and structure of the plant-like carvings were all I needed to support my theory.

On both edges of the door, stood two males clad in armor. They were about 2 meters tall, giving me the feeling of towering Giants. Are they descendants of the giant race? Or maybe some other race with a huge physique…?

I couldn't help but look back at Alexia, hoping she would give me some answers. To my dissatisfaction, she acted like she couldn't understand my plight… Now I remember, I was not told how she gained so much strength at this age.

"Don't tell me you are scared of them? They are just protectors to The hall of testing; they won't do you any harm."

She didn't seem to be the cunning type, I should not jump to conclusions about people's character without getting to know them better… After coming to a consensus, I moved forward, a creaking sound reaching my ears as I approached the handless door.

Time for me to see the outcome of this test of mine…