"The ranks you're about to receive from the aptitude test are temporary," Katheryne said, eyes scanning the group. "They're only for forming balanced teams so that you can participate in the second phase of field work examination. Don't get too excited—or too disappointed."
A few hopefuls in the back exchanged glances. One of them, a tall young man with a blue scarf, grinned at his friend.
"Temporary, huh? I'm still getting an A," he muttered with confidence.
Katheryne ignored the murmurs. "After team assignments, you'll be sent to the Midsummer Courtyard domain in Starfell Valley. It's the standard site we use for new recruits. Nothing too dangerous—just slimes and hilichurls."
Sucrose, near the front, short and wearing thick glasses, looked visibly concerned.
"Wait," she said, raising a hand slightly, "we're actually fighting hilichurls?"
Katheryne gave a thin smile. "This is the Adventurer's Guild. Yes, there will be fighting."
Some of the recruits shifted their weight, suddenly aware of how real this was.
"Final rankings will be based on your aptitude test and how you perform in the domain," Katheryne continued. "Now line up. Aptitude test first."
The recruits formed a line, inching forward toward the small, glowing device set up near the exit. One by one, they stepped forward and placed a hand on the scanner.
A girl with twin braids went first. The device lit up faintly, casting a soft green glow.
"D-rank. Dendro alignment," said the examiner, without emotion.
The girl stepped aside, muttering angrily under her breath, "At least it's not E."
The next recruit—taller, clearly used to being the best in a group—stepped forward with confidence.
"I've got to get at least a B," he said. "My uncle trained me."
He placed his hand on the device. It blinked red briefly… then dimmed.
"C-rank. Pyro. Near average affinity."
The boy stared at the device in disbelief. "Seriously?"
More recruits moved through the line. Most were assigned D or E ranks. A few, however, drew confused looks from the examiner. When no glow appeared from the scanner at all, they were quietly marked as F-rank—failures. The worst part was the murmurs from the crowd.
"Someone got an F," a voice whispered. "Didn't even light up. No element detected."
One of the pale boys from the back lowered his head and slipped away from the crowd, saying nothing. Others just watched him go.
The crowd had been buzzing with quiet awe ever since Eula placed her hand on the aptitude tester and the orb flared bright blue—an unmistakable mark of an S-rank cryo. She barely flinched at the result, arms crossed, the same cold confidence written across her face as always.
Then Albedo stepped forward. Calm. Silent. He placed his hand on the device.
A golden flash. Another S-rank.
Gasps rippled through the room.
"Two S-ranks? Back to back?" someone whispered.
"That's never happened before... right?" another said, eyes wide.
Sucrose and Barbara stepped up next. Sucrose fiddled with her sleeves nervously as she approached, but when her hand met the orb, it lit a calm, steady green—B-rank, Anemo. Barbara followed, earning the same B-rank but in Hydro.
And then Aether stepped forward.
He said nothing as he placed his hand on the orb, his expression unreadable. For a moment, nothing happened—then the device began to shift, pulse, and swirl with color.
First blue—Cryo. Then gold—Geo. Then purple—Electro.
It didn't stop.
The colors cycled faster and faster, a storm of elemental light within the orb. Recruits began to step back cautiously.
"W-What's it doing?" someone asked.
Barbara clutched her staff closer. "It's reacting to... all the elements?"
Then the orb began to crack.
Albedo stepped forward instinctively, but it was too late—the aptitude device gave off one last bright pulse, then exploded in a small, sharp burst of light and glass.
"Unranked , unfortunately the guild will have to assign an F rank and later on re-do the test. We will however allow Aether to participate in the domain challenge," Katheryne said.