"What happend?"

"..."

Silence befell the room, the armed men looked at each other unknowing what to say.

They just got here after hearing that someone was assaulting a member of the association, but apparently, things werent as simple as they looked.

The one who question Danzel a moment ago stepped in the front and pointed at the employee.

"Master Nevvan, we were informed by this member staff that an assault was happening."

The elderly who went by the name of Master Nevvan turned his head towards the staff, his gaze asking for confirmation.

Being looked at by Nevvan, the employee gets nervous before nodding his head.

"I-Its as he said! That guy with the black armor was taking the entrance test and he was asked to stop h-he continued his assault that went towards a life and death fight. I-I acted according to the protocol, Master Nevvan."

Staring at the employee for good three seconds, he stretched his arm and said.

"Give me the paperwork of that guy."

"Ah, yes!"

Given the paperwork that Danzel answered to Nevvan, he started reading it slowly and thoroughly.

And after two minutes of awkward silence between those two groups, Nevvan turned around and faced Danzel.

"Letum Danzel? Is that your name?" The old man asked Danzel.

"Yes..." Danzel nodded in confirmation.

"Mhhm, strange name."

`What do you mean by strange name!? Letting go of the urge to curse at the old man, he stayed silent so as to not provoke him.

Though he didnt know what status he had, he was at the very least a higher ranking person compared to the others behind him.

Oblivious to Danzel's thoughts, Nevvan said with a serious tone.

"So whats your part of this story?

`Oh? Taken aback of actually letting him explain himself, he shrugged his shoulder before explaining in detail what happend.

Though they were some screws removed right and there, the main essence of the story was there.

Which theme then helplessly defending myself against the one pulling a real weapon on a spar, which by sheer luck and determination managed to punch the guy to the face twice, hitting him with my elbow to the nose and swinging my shield mercilessly at his jaw to the point of almost killing the guy.

Although the half part of that story was removed, I was sure that they got the main essence of it.

After hearing my explanation together with the so-called `evidence, the armed men couldnt help but turn towards the employee.

A cold sweat came running from his back as all the gazes fell upon him.

Panicking, he pointed at Danzel and started screaming with anger.

"Lies! Everything he said was a lie! Dont believe him!"

"Silence" Though Nevvans voice wasnt loud, he sounded as if what he said was near their ears.

"F-Forgive me, Master Nevvan..." The employee said with his voice growing weaker as he continued speaking.

Waiting for silence to conquer, he gazed at Danzel.

"So back to you Mr...Danzel? The papers say that you are a 2nd-tier knight. Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Mhhm, strange indeed," Nevvan said as he walked closer towards Danzel

Witnessing the old man walking closer he felt alarmed, but he didnt show it to the outside.

As body language could sometimes speak louder than words, standing confidently by your statement was key.

With Nevvan now standing 2 meters away from Danzel, he looked at him from head to his toe, having a surprised expression on his face.

"Indeed, you are indeed in the peak of the 2nd-tier, fighting off against someone at the lowest height of the 3rd-tier wouldnt be possible..." Moving his eyes towards the trail of [Gale Mana Blade] that had been created he showed a smile.

"If we were to consider your ability too..."

Staring at the lying-down Karl, Nevvan moved closer to him to take a look.

"Who is this?" Nevvan asked.

"He should be Karl Heston who recently joined the staff as an instructor and sparring partner for the test, Master Nevvan"

With a frown on his face, Nevvan turned around and glanced at the employee.

"What is that man doing here? I remember putting him be a sparring partner for tomorrow, not today."

"I-I just-" The employee's face was getting paler by the second, as he felt a bad proportion coming towards him.

"Enough, the Durendal association is of no need of unobident staff."

Hearing that, the employee felt like salivating.

Realizing the meaning behind his words, he subconsciously made a step back.

What happend though shocked everyone inside the room.

Nevvan raised his staff towards the direction of the employee, and after a short light blue light came from the staff as quickly as disappeared.

The skill [Greater Sense Danger] of Danzel activated never stronger than ever before, which surprised Danzel.

If it werent for stopping himself from moving, he would already be running towards the opposite direction of that dreadful feeling.

He glanced around to see from where the feeling was coming from.

But his attention was shortly moved towards a shattering sound.

With his whole body turning pale, the moment his foot touched the ground cracks started to appear.

They started from his foot to his leg and from there on the cracks moved through his whole body.

And under the gazes of everyone, the employee shattered into millions of pieces of ice.

The only thing that remained was a pile of colored ice in the place where the employee was standing at.

Once again, silence befell the room.

In a single moment.

The man was killed in a single moment.

The only thing that hinted that this Nevvan was the one who did it was the light that his staff let out.

If it werent for that, no one in here would know how the man died.

The guy who was turned into ice probably didnt even realize how he even died!

`I couldnt see it... Danzel was equally shocked.

He couldnt understand what had just happend in front of him.

He sensed neither mana being generated nor being traveled at the employee.

That very fact shook Danzels understanding of magic from the roots themselves.

`How did he manage to cast a spell without using some sort of energy!? Is it a technique of one being of the higher tier?

He racked his mind of how he was able to do it.

Or rather, how he was able to achieve a feat like that.

But every possible theory that he had on his mind was quickly crossed out.

One except one...

`Its the same'

Something that was used instantly without using any mana.

He knew a single skill that was capable of that.

The skill [Mindmare] that this Dark elve once used on him had those effects.

He forced himself to believe that this was a skill and no spell by itself.

Because if that were a spell of that elderly guy, he couldn't possibly imagine how anyone was capable to fight against that.

As it bewildered Danzel.

It terrified him as much.

'Magic is terrifying...' He thought internally.

Removing his gaze at the pile of ice, he looked at Danzel with a look of a fragile old man.

"I will have to apologize to Mr...Denzel for seeing this. You already passed the test and will be placed as a lower 3rd-tier ranked mercenary and being able to accept mission according to your rank."

"You may leave now." Nevvan pointed at the door.

Though Danzel would have liked to complain of saying his name wrong, the current him wanted to get as further away as that old man.

He simply nodded and made his way towards the door.

As Danzel was about to leave, the old man with a smile on his face said.

"You have a great taste in choosing your rings"

Freezing for a second, he pretended not to hear it and just went to the receptionist table to meet up with the two ma- I mean friends of his.

*****

Moving to his room, Nevvan seethed down on his chair while being in deep thought.

"To think that someone of the 2nd-tier will be holding a [Ring of Spatial Storage] with hi."

"Though his size wasn't in my taste, it's really rare to see one of those..." Nevvan said as he glanced at the communication device to his side.

"Sigh...better save that sorry." Activating the communication device.

"What service would you need this time, Master Nerrav." A voice sounded from the communication.

Getting closer to the machine, he said.

" Go investigate about the guy called Lerum Danzel. I want to know every single thing about him the following day. The chance of him being a spy sent by Berum is quite high." He said towards the communication device.

"Understood."

With the light of the communication device fading away.

Looking outside the window, he sighed.

"Let's hope that he isn't from Berum." Glancing at his staff, he shook his head.

" It would be a shame to kill...."