The young man stood in the center of the golden glow, looking more like a lost puppy than a legendary warrior. He scratched the back of his head, waving his hand in a stiff, jerky motion at the weeping crowd. A nervous, awkward smile plastered onto his face as he tried to shrink away from the sudden worship.

"A hero? Wait, is that a big responsibility? Because I really do not want that. I just wanted to get my license and maybe find a good lunch spot." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Maddy watched him from the shadows of the corridor, her eyes narrowing in disbelief. He looked messy, disorganized, and completely overwhelmed. He surely did not look like the savior of a nation. To her, he looked like a disaster in a fancy suit.

"Is he really a hero?" she wondered. "He lacks any dignity."

Curiosity finally won. Maddy focused her vision, activating her Divine Eyes to look past him. Her appraisal skill flashed a screen of data directly into her mind:

[Magic: 5,000,000 | Might: 5,000,000]

Maddy froze. Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared at the massive, impossible numbers. She recognized that level of power instantly. It was the exact same energy scale she saw every day back at the cave.

"Five million... T-That is the same as my children."

She looked at her trembling hands, her mind racing through the days of peaceful life she had spent in the cave.

"Am I... am I birthing SSS Rank children all this time!?" she gasped.

The thought made her head spin. She had treated them like toddlers who needed naps and snacks, but according to the Guild’s highest standards, her nursery was filled with world ending calamities. If this clumsy man was a "Hero" to the world, then her house was a fortress of gods.

"It is actually good that he is here. He is the perfect distraction. As long as he is standing there glowing like a sun, no one will spare a second glance at a ’failure’ like me. These people finally have something else to look at."

She tightened the grip on her wooden token. The SSS-Rank hero was currently drowning in a sea of praise and frantic questions, which gave her the perfect window to vanish.

Maddy turned away from the golden light. She needed to finish her own trial and explore more about this land. The world was much more dangerous and her family was much more powerful than she had ever dared to imagine.

She stepped into the next room. The air here was different from the first area it was hot and filled with the smell of flames and smoke but here the room was filled with the smelled of sweat and some blodd...

She stepped into the next room, and the atmosphere shifted instantly. While the first area had been thick with the scent of magical fire and smoke, this room hung heavy with the salt of sweat and... copper tang of blood.

Just as Maddy crossed the threshold, a loud crack echoed through the hall.

An examiner with short, gray hair and sharp eyes moved with terrifying speed. With a single, fluid strike of his wooden stick weapon, he disarmed the B Rank man from earlier. The heavy iron mace flew from the man’s grip, clattering across the floor and sliding several feet away. The man himself was sent stumbling backward, his chest heaving as he tried to regain his balance.

The gray haired examiner lowered his wooden weapon, his expression unimpressed.

"You have a decent rank, and your flame was bright. But you still need to practice more with that mace. Your form is sloppy and your grip is weak."

The B Rank adventurer looked down at his empty, shaking hands. He had expected to breeze through this part after his impressive fire evaluation.

"I cannot grant you a mastery mark for weapons or hammers today. Power without control is just a fast way to get yourself killed. Unfortunately, I will not pass you in this trial."

The B-Rank man tightened his jaw, his face flushing with a mix of shame and anger. He opened his mouth to protest, his hand reaching for his fallen mace.

"But my flame was—"

"Your flame does not swing a weapon."

The examiner interrupted, his voice cutting through the man’s excuses.

"In a real dungeon, a monster will not stare at your flames. It will eat you while you are busy being off balance. Come back next week. You need to be polished before you represent our God, Prometheus."

The man went silent, cowed by the sheer weight of the older man’s experience. He picked up his mace and slunk away, his pride completely shattered.

Nearby, a younger examiner leaned toward a colleague, whispering under his breath.

"He is at it again. So strict. Not a single applicant has passed his circle all day."

Maddy watched the gray haired man. He was not being mean; he was being honest. To her Divine Eyes, his movements were efficient and lacked any wasted energy. He was a wall that no amateur could climb.

"Next!"

The strict examiner called out. His sharp eyes scanned the line and landed directly on Maddy. He saw her small, dusty frame and the wooden token with F letter she held. Most people would have looked away, but he beckoned her forward with a slight tilt of his wooden weapon.

"You. F Rank. Step into the circle."

A ripple of laughter went through the room. If a B Rank powerhouse could not pass this man, a "village girl" with a coin sized flame stood no chance. Maddy felt the eyes of the other examiners on her, pitying her for her bad luck.

"Oh, this girl’s delusion ends here. She might have passed the first with that coin sized flame, but this is the real trial. I bet the receptionist told her to just go home; she should have listened."

"She’s in danger," another added, shaking his head. "That man... Sir Philip is going to send her flying into the next room without even trying. He isn’t just strict—he shows no mercy."

"Yeah, he won’t stop. He says every adventurer, even the ’failures,’ needs to know the weight of a real strike. Poor girl. It’s just bad luck she ended up in his circle."