Aptly dubbed as the town that rarely sleeps, Golden Vale is the extravagant name of the capital of King Khayil''s domain. It is a place where people go to relax, gamble their life''s savings, and indulge in days and nights of reckless revelry. Every form of entertainment that the denizens of this world would enjoy is found in this renowned location.


    While they were out buying armor, their mentor was also busy buying fancy clothes. They eventually met in one of the streets. Not to be outdone by the stylish outfits of Ethan and Ashley—Faye struts by with a dangerous yet alluring charm, her extravagant dress unapologetically accentuates her mature figure. The sheer beauty of the elf was commanding and otherworldly.


    Ethan felt an uncontrollable rush well up inside of him, his blood heated up to a degree where he felt his throat dry up. Having been in a long term relationship, there wasn''t another woman who had made him this


    thirsty aside from his ex. Although he tried to maintain his composure and tried to suppress his urges, he was left at the mercy of his reddening skin and rapid breathing. He became the embodiment of relentless flame, restlessly flickering under a gale wind. As if his body could no longer wait what his mind has already decided.


    Unable to hold any longer, Ethan tells Ashley, "I-I am going for a walk."


    Ashley, equally dumbfounded by the indescribable beauty of their elven mentor, replied, "She''s beautiful."


    "I know. I''ll be back in a jiffy."


    Faye basking in her own vanity, trips over a rock which momentarily shakes Ashley off from a dreamlike stupor. Faye composes herself and ask, "Where''s your professor going, young lady?"


    "He said he needed to take a walk."


    "Well, you should go with him, he looks like someone who''ll easily get lost. Don''t forget to have fun."


    "How exactly? Everything in this town costs money and we''re broke!" Ashley shuddered as she recalls how Tristan scammed them off of their money.


    "Aha, so that explains the fine clothe like armor. Lady, there''s nothing wrong with spending your life savings on fashion."


    "Is that an advice for me or more for you?"


    Faye fell silent with the sudden realization. She might''ve spent her life savings for fashion all in one day. I should probably take on another platinum ranked quest, she muses to herself. "ANYWAAAY, you should begun studying general topics and spells for your rank-up exam," Faye states, deliberately dismissing the previous topic. She hands her over two books, each containing the topics she mentioned before.


    "You know, for a pair of newbies, things have been quite easy for us. There''s the occasional life and death scenarios but so far, you''ve guided us to everything we needed to do. So… Thank you," Ashley says bashfully, genuinely grateful to their unexpected mentor.


    "I haven''t done much. It''s standard for mentors to help their protégés the best way they can, after all, the survival rate of practical examiners is quite low. This is why silvers are considered fully fledged adventurers," Faye replied with a heavy heart. "As much as we could, we''d like to make the lives of bronze adventurers an easy one. I have already lost a mentee before."


    "I… I''m sorry to hear that. I''ve heard rumors about the practical exams while adventuring on my own. It has deterred most adventurers from ranking up past bronze III."


    Faye nodded, "Indeed. I have no doubts you''ll pass the written exam, as for the practical one, you don''t have to take it. You''ll still get the ring upgraded even without the practical exam, perhaps another year—"


    "Parallax isn''t going to wait for a year. I''ve seen the Night Brigade fend off his forces night after night. By the time we take the practical exam following the safe route, those little skirmishes would''ve already scaled


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.to an all-out war," Ethan comes into view, his face still flushed with a slight redness and inadvertedly avoiding Fayes'' gaze.


    "Suit yourself," Faye noticing Ethan blushing leans over and flicks his forehead.


    "Awww!" Ethan blurted in surprise.


    "I''m old enough to be your great great great great grandma, take your mind out of the gutter."


    "I''m trying, okay?"


    "Good enough."


    Ashley chuckles heartily and passes a book to Ethan. The trio walked back to the tavern as Ethan was briefed about the two types of


    ranking exam for aspiring silver adventurers.


    ––––––––––––––––––––


    The afternoon was warm as the busy streets bustled with food and entertainment. Performers of all shapes and sizes adorned the streets like birds with colorful plumes– painting a canvass with a lively jubilation, art, and music. Ethan wistfully sees all this from the tavern balcony while Ashley sat on the table beside a piping hot tea. Using their renowned mentors'' name Faye Asfalis– who is a patron and a regular of the best tavern in Golden Vale, the duo was given a voucher to enjoy the various amenities the place has to offer for a span of two days— just enough time before the silver rank exams officially begins.


    Holding the book on one hand, she gets off the table, lies down the elongated chair, walks around, climbs the railing, swings around the poles that support the balcony eaves– all while mumbling spells and information; this was her way of memorizing the contents of the book. Her body just as active as the thoughts that race through her creative mind.


    "Professor?"


    Ethan does not respond.


    "Hey, elf fanatic!"


    Again, no response.


    "I- lov–, no way I''m saying that."


    Ethan remained as motionless as a brick.


    "Helloooo? Anybody home?..." Ashley speaks directly at Ethan''s face.


    "Yes of course! Who is it?" Ethan responded as he reaches for an imaginary door knob and subconsciously opens it, only to be awoken from a trance-like stupor.


    "Woah, that was weird," Ashley says while raising an eyebrow.


    "Oh, sorry. I could get really immersed while reframing and storing memory," Ethan replied.


    "What''s gotten into you? Aren''t you supposed to be studying?"


    "Indeed I am. It''s a method called Memory Palace. We each have a different way of studying, although the concept is just the same."


    "How so?"


    "The way a person usually remember things is by associating it with something, for you, that means overloading your memory with senses, that''s why you move around, smell, see, and touch a lot of things. You remember


    better when you involve a lot of your senses."


    "And how does your memory palace work exactly?"


    "Oh it''s like putting stuff in a house that I can enter anytime I please, if I need something, like an information about a spell for example—I''ll just go inside and take it out."


    "Weird."


    "–But effective, I always ace my exams this way."


    "What happens when there''s no more space in a room? And won''t you sometimes get it mixed up?"


    "Oh that''s easy. Just open another room and leave it there. Now that I think of it, I started with a room, now I have an entire palace to


    myself," Ethan chuckles clearly proud of his accomplishment.


    "Meh, sounds too complicated. Besides, does it really work?" Ashley, unconvinced fires off some questions:


    "What''s the capital of Aetherland?"


    "Golden Vale, geez gimme something difficult."


    "What is King Khayil known for?"


    "For splitting the Translucent Sea, the area remained split to this day."


    "What''s the incantation for hurling a ball of exploding fire?"


    [ Lexical Reservoir 119 / 120 ]


    "Βολ?δα (volída)" Ethan answered excitedly unknowingly encoding the fireball script.


    "Dispel it!" Ashley screamed panicking.


    "I CAN''T"


    "What do you mean you can''t? Quillmancers can dispel wheatever they encoded! Hah! That''s basic knowledge!" Ashley grins convinced she found a flaw to Ethans'' memorization strategy.


    "I knew about it, I''m telling you that I CAN''T."


    A flash of realization suddenly dawned over Ashley. Recalling the times she tried to summon using lines from literature and fails to focus every single time. That means, Ethan has a weakness too, he can''t undo his own spells. None of those mishaps are a coincidence she thought to herself now understanding secret nature of their limitations.


    Not wanting to release the spell on the streets, Ethan raises his arms up high and throws the ball of fire into the air just a few moments before… BOOM! A resounding explosion in the sky silenced the festivities for a moment, everyone looked over their direction.


    Ashley''s quick thinking saved them as she yelled, "That''s all folks! Thank you for watching the show!" a round of applause came from everyone, some townsfolk threw gold coins at them, while others threw flowers believing they just finished a street performance.


    Both of them decided to spend a bit of time for introspection and reflection as they compare and analyzed each of their capabilities. They weren''t as strong as they thought they were, and how having limitations that could backfire on them during the practical exam, they needed to find ways to mitigate the effects of these newfound weaknesses.


    "We should probably have a practical exam of our own before the actual exam," Ashley mutters.


    "Agreed, we only have two days left. There should be a place where we could test these out," Ethan replied, his hand was shaking, but his eyes shed a glint of excitement.