The Mysterious Black Magician

Inside the barracks, some people were sitting on the chairs that were surrounding the tables placed near the walls and windows.

Most of them were wearing the uniform of Middle Region Magic Academy. Yman believes that they were junior or senior trainees.

A pub on their left side caught Yman's attention. They were selling some drinks and food. He never had a thought that there would be such a pub inside this place.

He also noticed some of the senior and junior trainees that were fixedly staring at the flat screen located on the right side of the counter. But for some reason, they were staring at it without really doing anything. Their deities were beside them. Some were floating while some were sitting on their shoulders or on their heads.

Some people that already inside just sent a glance towards them when they stepped in.. Then returned back their sights to where they were originally staring awhile ago.

Their images barely reflected in the dusted white tiled-floors that turned yellowish. A big ceiling fan was rotating slowly on the ceiling. And lights were on but barely lighten up the inside. The walls painted in maroon below and yellowish on the upper, and some posters of monsters, hot chick, old paintings, and etcetera were pasted on it. The chairs, desks, and tables were in uniformed dark brown color.

Yman noticed the weird ambiance inside the barracks. Everyone that was inside was having solemn expressions.

"What an unhealthy atmosphere is this..." He mumbled. For some reason, the tiredness he felt at the moment had multiplied inside this room.

<Partner, don't you think we are lost?> Sistela who was sitting on his shoulder asked him.

Yman forced a smile and said, "I don't think so." Although he knew why she asked it. Looks like even Sistela also noticed the weird atmosphere.

"Y-Yman, d-do you think the atmosphere is kind of listless?" Chloe who was standing beside him also noticed that something was amiss and whispered to him. Her deity Jazz was sitting on her hands while raising them at her chest level.

<Chloe! Chloe!> Jazz sitting on her hands called Chloe's name, maybe she felt nervous.

Chloe gently massaged her deity Jazz while saying, "it's alright, Jazz."

Yman nodded at Chloe and said, "don't mind it, let's go and ask at the counter."

"Yeah, he's right, let's go," Bob agreed to him and followed after him to the counter. Chloe nodded and followed after them.

"Uhm, Miss..."

The three directly went on the counter and Yman called out to one of the clerks. But none of the clerks seemed to hear him. They were still busy doing something. Although the room was not even that noisy it was as solemn as someone had passed away.

Only the guys in the counter that making some noises from their works of placing some things in order or scrutinizing some objects.

"....."

<Partner, louder.> Sistela whispered on him.

He wondered if his voice was just too low. He cleared his throat and he called out again for the second time. Now he intentionally made his voice louder to make sure that all people inside would hear him.

But...

"....."

|Wth,| Yman exclaimed in his mind after noticing that he was intentionally ignored.

<.....> Sistela and the others were speechless.

He narrowed his eyes to see if these people were some kind of robotic dolls or what.

But however he looked at them. They seemed to be human. Even the other people around had such unbothered faces.

Bob and Chloe also noticed the odd situation.

At the corner of Yman's eyes, he noticed a silver bell on top of pieces of paper on top of the long flat surface of the counter.

He took it and shook it twice which reverberated and blew away the solemness of the atmosphere inside.

Because of the sound caused by the ringing bell, he successfully took the clerk's attention. But they were staring at them with indifferent faces.

<Ehh! They look scary!> Sistela exclaimed.

<Chloe! Chloe!> Jazz called out her owner's name again, might be feeling scared.

<Hmph!> Bob's deity just snorted like a boss.

|What kind of unusual situation is this?!| Yman inwardly screamed.

One of the clerks after noticing the three new young faces had stopped his work and took off the gloves on his hands. Then, he walked near the counter which in front of the three.

The clerk forced a smile on his face after seeing the young man in front of the counter was having a tired face and looks unhealthy. And also, they look scared for some reason. His force smile turned into a chuckle seeing their reaction.

"Are you three one of the fledglings?" The clerk wearing a polo shirt of white color and black pants asked them. He wore eyeglasses on his eyes and his short black hair was a little messy. Based on his figure, Yman assumed that he was in the mid-'20s.

"Yes!" Bob's voice was slightly louder while Yman and Chloe nodded their heads only. Even their deities were nodding as well.

"Is that so, ah, sorry about the messy place. Everyone was kinda busy putting things in order. We just reopened and much cleaning needed to be done," the clerk apologetically stated.

Yman was wondering if how this place used to be closed. What are the seniors and juniors trainees doing without the barracks? Weren't they supposed to do some missions to increase their grades? And it was stated on yesterday's test that every trainee would be doing the quest for the entire 3 years as some additional source of their income and also their grades would be greatly affected by it.

"Oh, sorry for being a bother in your work, sir," Yman said his sorry. Bob, Chloe, and their deities just remained quiet while listening to Yman and the clerk.

"Ah don't mind it. I believe you came here to acquire your first mission, right?" The clerk asked them which they nodded.

"In that case, you can place your dominant hand on that screen." The clerk told them while pointing on the screen located at their left side about a hand reach away only. It was on top of the long flat table of the counter.

Yman noticed that it has the same screen size from yesterday. He then asked Sistela to resonance with him. But...

"Ah, wait! You don't need to use your mana. Just place your hand and wait after the screen light turned into bright green." The clerk suddenly said when he noticed Yman was about to use resonance with his deity.

"Ah, I see. Thank you for telling," he said. |So it is much simpler than yesterday.| Yman thought.

The clerk nodded and Yman placed his hand on the smooth surface of the screen.

After the screen lights turned into green, the process was finished and Yman was presented by an identification card and a badge. This protocol was to assure that he was registered in this academy. This was connected to yesterday's events.

In that ID card were some of his information and a pin number. The badge was used to identify him as the barracks member. And Yman felt this ID was a magical tool also.

Maybe it automatically registered their ranks. There was even a record of:

Mission Succeeded: 0

Mission Failed: 0

And there's even, Total Gained Points: 0 GP

Not long after him that Bob and Chloe had finished too.

The clerk gave them a slight briefing about the barracks and the missions.

The three went into the mission screen and inserted their ID card in one of the slots below the screen. Then, they scanned the beginner's mission. Beginner's mission was usually rank bronze. And has the lowest difficulty rate.

"I'll be taking this one!" Bob toggled on the screen and he clicked 'select' on the choices with the title: Rampaging Mad Pig!

After taking his card, Bob noticed the word on the backside, it says:

Current Quest:

Title: Rampaging Mad Pig!

Quest Rank: Bronze

Details: Kill 5 mad pig within 1 week.

Rewards: 100 GP

Status: ongoing...

Remaining Time: 167hr: 59min: 12sec

Bob waited for Chloe and Yman to choose their mission. A moment later, Chloe also chose her mission.

Current Quest:

Title: Thief Blue Beak Bird!

Quest rank: Bronze

Details: Kill 5 blue beak bird within 1 week.

Rewards: 100 GP

Status: ongoing...

Remaining Time: 167hr: 59min: 50sec

Yman was having a hard time choosing his mission. He needed to find a more suitable quest for himself. But no matter how he scanned on the mission screen. Nothing was good for him. He was looking for some Pale Toad missions. But he could not find even one. Not even slime was there.

There were Evil Horned Bunny with a difficulty rank of Bronze, but when he checked the details, it said that this bunny was quite agile and able to use the paralyze effect by shooting their horn to the target.

Yman sighed. He was not proficient enough in using his Rapid Leap skill. So these bunnies were deadly for him. And the paralyzing effect was scary.

He needed an enemy that was not so agile and not so strong.

<Partner, that one!> Sistela who was sitting on his shoulder pointed on one of the missions on screen.

Yman glanced at where she was pointing. The title said: Gross Evil Rats!

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