Three days passed. During that time, Laurel's wound healed enough for him to move normally, and Maya regained consciousness with no memory of how Beto had rendered her unconscious so quickly. Nelson spent the time reviewing his own performance, analyzing where he'd gone wrong.
Tomorrow was the day they would receive their adventurer licenses—if they had passed. But today was the tournament final: Itachi versus Beto.
The arena was packed to capacity. Both finalists had displayed abilities that seemed to transcend normal fighting, and the crowd was eager to see which of them would prove superior.
Itachi and Beto stood facing each other in the center ring. For the first time, both fighters seemed to acknowledge each other as equals.
"We both know that trying to outsmart one another wouldn't work," Itachi said, his voice carrying across the suddenly quiet arena. "So this will be a battle of pure strength."
"I agree," Beto replied, his voice deeper than expected, still muffled by his hood.
Beto had brought a naginata with him—one identical to Maya's weapon, though clearly not the same one. In a move that mirrored Maya's earlier strategy, he threw the naginata at Itachi, attempting to catch him off-balance.
But Itachi was ready. He caught the naginata mid-flight with one hand, spun it once, and in the same motion, pulled out a playing card with his other hand.
The card sliced through the air and cut across Beto's chest, drawing a line of blood that made the crowd gasp.
The referee started to move forward, ready to call the match and declare Itachi the winner.
"The fight isn't over," Itachi said sharply, stopping the referee in his tracks.
Everyone stared as Beto, who should have been collapsing from the wound, instead reached up and pulled back his hood.
The crowd's collective intake of breath was audible.
Beto was a dark-skinned man with stark white hair and intricate wolf tattoo covering his back. Scars crisscrossed his face and neck, suggesting a lifetime of combat. And most impossibly—the wound Itachi had just inflicted was healing before their eyes, the skin knitting back together until only a faint red line remained.
"Now we fight properly," Beto said, dropping into a combat stance.
Both fighters looked at the coordinator of the tournament, who stood frozen in shock at what he'd just witnessed.
"Three minutes," Itachi proposed. "Hand-to-hand combat. Winner is whoever lands the most clean strikes."
The coordinator, realizing this was the only way to finish the match without more bloodshed, quickly agreed. "New rules! Three-minute sparring match! Winner determined by points!"
What followed was the most intense three minutes of combat anyone in the arena had ever witnessed.
Itachi and Beto moved like forces of nature, their strikes too fast to follow clearly, their movements fluid and precise. Itachi's technique was surgical—every movement calculated, every strike aimed at maximum efficiency. Beto's style was more primal—raw power tempered by experience, each blow carrying enough force to end the fight if it landed solidly.
When the three minutes ended, both fighters stepped back, breathing hard.
Beto was completely unmarked, his earlier wound fully healed and no new injuries visible. Itachi, on the other hand, had several visible bruises and a split lip.
But the judges' decision was unanimous.
"Winner by points: Itachi!"
While Beto had defended perfectly and landed several solid hits, Itachi had connected with nearly twice as many strikes, his superior speed and precision giving him the edge in a points-based competition.
The crowd erupted as Itachi was declared the tournament champion.
The next morning, Laurel and Nelson made their way to the Adventurer's Guild branch with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Today they would learn whether they had passed the examination and earned the right to call themselves adventurers.
The main hall was crowded with the twenty-one candidates who had completed the combat portion of the exam. Jude, the head examiner, stood at the front with a stack of materials.
"Out of twenty-one candidates who completed the final examination," Jude announced without preamble, "seven have passed."
He began calling names.
"Itachi. Maya. Nelson. Laurel." He paused, then continued, "Kaito. Kenji. Sato."
The three identical triplets who had been part of the mysterious four stepped forward alongside the others. Laurel noticed that several candidates who he thought had performed well were not called—a reminder of just how rigorous the guild's standards were.
"Those whose names were called, step forward to receive your credentials," Jude instructed.
Itachi and the three triplets were each handed a small metal card—their official adventurer licenses, embossed with the guild crest and their information.
But when Nelson, Laurel, and Maya stepped forward, they each received something different: an envelope and a QR code printed on a slip of paper.
"What's this?" Maya asked, voicing the question on all their minds.
"Scan the code," Jude said simply.
They each pulled out their phones and scanned the codes, which prompted them to download an application simply titled "Adventurer App." Once installed, the app displayed their information, but with one significant difference from a standard license.
**Rank: Beginner**
"You three showed promise," Jude explained, "but you lack the foundational knowledge necessary for full licensure. The beginner rank gives you limited access to guild resources and low-level missions. You have one year to advance beyond this rank."
"And if we don't?" Laurel asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
"Then your membership is revoked, and you'll be removed from the organization."
Nelson frowned. "What do we need to do to advance?"
"Complete the mission that's been assigned to your app," Jude replied. "Report back here when it's finished, and you'll be eligible for a rank promotion exam. Check your applications—you should have received the details already."
The three of them looked at their phones. Sure enough, a new notification had appeared:
**New Mission Available: Same Location**
"Same location?" Maya muttered. "What does that mean?"
Jude's expression gave nothing away. "You'll figure it out. That's part of the test."
As the meeting concluded and the candidates began to disperse, the seven who had passed stood together for a moment. Itachi and the triplets examined their licenses with satisfaction. Nelson, Laurel, and Maya stared at their phones, trying to understand what this "beginner" designation really meant.
"Looks like we've got work to do," Nelson said finally.
Laurel nodded, his mind already racing through possibilities. They had made it through the examination, survived Grimm Island, and earned at least a conditional acceptance into the adventurer's guild.
But the real journey, it seemed, was just beginning.