Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian stepped into the Alchemist Guild's hall, where a faint medicinal fragrance wafted toward them, refreshing their spirits.
There were not many people in the hall, only a sparse handful quietly attending to their own affairs.
As though they had heard the footsteps, several people looked up and glanced at the youth with the enormous black ruler slung across his back, nearly dragging on the ground, and the girl beside him. A flicker of confusion crossed their eyes before they lowered their heads and resumed their work. Reception was not their responsibility.
Standing in the somewhat deserted hall, Xiao Yan was just about to find someone to ask about the procedures for obtaining an alchemist rank badge when a woman in a pale green dress hurried out from behind a service counter and quickly approached him.
"Judging by how unfamiliar you two look, this should be your first time at our Black Rock City Alchemist Guild, right?"
The woman in green came to stand before Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian, smiling as she spoke.
"Yes." Xiao Yan looked over the woman before him. Her bright eyes and white teeth made for a pleasing sight, lightening one's mood by several degrees. He smiled and replied, "It is indeed my first time here. I came to take the alchemist rank assessment."
"Oh? You are an alchemist as well?"
The woman in green was visibly stunned. Her beautiful eyes swept over Xiao Yan's young, even somewhat childish face as she asked in astonishment.
"That's right. I'm here to take the Third-Grade Alchemist assessment."
Xiao Yan nodded and raised a hand. A blood-red flame rose from his palm.
"Summoning a real flame... Could he be a Fourth-Tier Alchemist?"
The instant the blood-red flame appeared, the temperature in the