"Is this true?" Thea said, always the voice of reason. "It's too good to be true."

Arthur just smiled. "It's interesting," he said. "Is there such a barrier?"

Ravin didn't answer, but his eyes were staring at each building, as if determining whether they were real.

They remembered the rules they had received when they entered the premises. The interface was a lot like what they had in their status gems, so they had to assume this was a complicated rune they hadn't heard about yet.

"You can easily confirm it if you fight against monsters!" the goblins said, seemingly confident in themselves. It felt odd. Confident and goblin normally wouldn't be in the same sentence.

"They'll be blocked over there! Where the posts are!"

It was only now that they realized that the wooden poles were separated by a few tens of meters. It must've been the delineation of the territory and, if people had looked up or went up the trees, they might have seen them.

"People can also upgrade much more smoothly within our barrier than others," Ranran said with a smile. "We can attest to this, and we have at least 3 adventurers that can serve as witnesses, good sirs."

"What?"

One had to know the two of them were in the peak charged state. Another reason they were roaming around like this was to upgrade. Finding a place like this was…too convenient. It almost felt like an illusion.

In fact, Ravin, as well as the two guards, used their max senses in an attempt to figure out any changes or tricks they could've missed.

As for Arthur…well, he didn't bother. He knew the others would do it anyway.

He looked at Ignus, his brother's guard, and Thea, his guard. "Shall we take a look?" he asked. "There shouldn't be anything to lose, right?"

Ravin looked at him. "Nothing. Just our lives."

"Oh, brother, always the cynic," he said. "I, on the other hand, am just glad there's such a place~ Hunting with a proper bedroom and increased regeneration rates? At this rate, we might pass the clan tests faster than anyone in history!"

The two of them were born to the current patriarch of the Gidford Clan, one of the more prominent families of mages in the East-Southeast.

They had quite the strict training regime growing up, and it was how they reached the peak of Charged state at the young ages of 24, years ahead of most peers.

Upon reaching this state, each member of the younger generation would undergo a trial of sorts.

They had to kill 1000 awakened monsters within 1 week, each, which was only possible at their level because they each had (and were allowed to) have one fortified-stage guard.

The guards were not allowed to kill the monsters for them, but they could provide powerful assistance and ensure the younger generation's safety.

Generally speaking, a normal person could kill about 1 or 2 monsters an hour, including the rest time and the hiding time involved when fighting solo, and assuming that the battles were one-on-one. This would increase a bit when the person was skilled, but not much.

When fighting together with a decent team, the individual average would increase a bit, but also not that much. One also had to consider that it was impossible to fight for the whole day.

Hence, most examinees would only be able to accomplish the mission if they fought endlessly for most of the day, with some breathing time only if they were skilled enough or could strategize well. It was why their space runes were filled with potions, but even so, it would be tight.

To determine the accuracy of the result, an add-on to the status gem was installed.

It was called Kill Counter and would record the number of kills of monsters, divided according to their rank, and it had to be monsters they damaged on their own. If it had been greatly weakened prior—regardless of whether it was by their guards or not—then the add-on would not count it under them.

The reward would be a skill scroll, minimum at C-class, and even better depending on performance. Historically, the greatest skill received by the younger generation was a B-Class skill, inherited by their father.

However, there were actually three A-Class skills in their ancestors' libraries, all dedicated as rewards for excellent performance. Which young man didn't want to have a chance at it?

On the other hand, if they failed, they would do this every couple of months until they 'pass'.

Their punishment? Then the minimum scroll level would decrease in their next attempt.

Ravin furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him. "Our time is moving," he said. "We're already behind schedule."

Arthur shrugged. "If we fail, we'll just try again," he said. "How often can you encounter a place like this? We'll just find a good technique in auctions or something."

Ravin's eyes twitched, and he could only facepalm. Did this twin of his not know their allowance was also cut off during the test, and would extend until they passed—regardless of the result this time?

This meant if they failed, they'd be paupers until the next one, which was a few months forward. How could they afford the necessary potions by then?

"You're such an idiot," he said, sighing. "I don't understand how we came from the same womb."

"I'm a lovable idiot from the same womb," he said, as if the adjective nullified all insults.

"..." Sigh

Ravin wanted to say something more, just to slap some sense back to his brother, but then his nose whiffed of something otherworldly.

They had already entered the threshold of the inn, which was unexpectedly lovely, and could therefore smell the kitchen. Unconsciously, the two walked past the living room and looked over to the kitchen.

There was a man there who didn't seem to notice their arrival, just focused on his work.

He was extremely skillful. He handled the knife with swiftness, accuracy, and grace. The way he moved the pan, the way he stirred, and the rest looked unexpectedly elegant.

They blinked. An expert!

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