In the afternoon, Lin En arrived at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild on time.
Katheryne was standing behind the counter organizing documents when she saw him arrive and nodded.
Lin En looked over and saw a familiar figure leaning against the wall, flipping through a booklet. His silver-gray hair stood out in the afternoon sunlight.
"Just one assessment and you get five thousand Mora?"
The man flipped through the booklet, his tone somewhat shocked.
"Yes, the association pays an assessor five thousand Mora for each novice assessment they complete."
Katheryne replied.
Hearing the voice, Lin En paused, took two quick steps closer, saw the face clearly, and blurted out instinctively.
Wow! It really is you, Aunt Zibai!
Zibai stopped flipping through the booklet. She slowly turned her head, her expression changing from shock to a dark expression.
Who are you calling "Auntie"?!
Then she recognized the speaker and was startled. It was him! Wasn't he supposed to be with the Ruler of Death, defying the Heavenly Principles? What was he doing here?
Zibai immediately demonstrated his ability to change his expression, saying something.
"Forget it, I won't stoop to your level."
She closed the booklet and placed it on the counter, crossed her arms, looked Lin En up and down, and asked in a low voice.
"Why are you back again?"
Lin En scratched his head.
"It's a long story, but anyway, I'm back, a little short on cash, so I'll take on a commission to earn Mora."
Zibai stared at him for two seconds, then looked behind him to make sure no one was there before asking.
"Where is that other one? Didn't they come along?"
"While resting at the hotel, Katheryne said she couldn't register."
Zibai's eyes flickered, but she didn't ask any further questions. She turned to look at Katheryne, her expression returning to its businesslike state.
"Everyone's here, let's go."
Katheryne nodded and handed a commission form to Zibai.
"An abandoned mine in the west of the city, Hilichurl camp, approximately four to six. The assessment objective is primarily to clear the camp, observe the adventurers' combat abilities and adaptability, and provide assistance should any unexpected situations arise."
"OK."
Zibai put the list away and said to Lin En.
"Follow me."
The two left the port and walked along the path west of the city toward the mine. Ahead was a path that Lin En had never taken before, which should be the map of the Blackcliff Forge before it was opened.
Zibai walked ahead, his pace neither fast nor slow, using the booklet in his hand as a fan.
Lin En, standing beside her, sensed the awkward atmosphere and started a conversation.
Are you still helping out at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?
"Yes, Mr. Zhongli told me to walk around more and not stay in the hall all the time."
Zibai didn't turn around, and continued...
"And this is the first order we received today."
"That's quite a coincidence."
Zibai glanced at him sideways.
"You're quite the smooth talker."
The mine was located behind a low hill in the west of the city. The entrance was small and surrounded by weeds and pebbles.
Lin En took out his dark red longsword and gripped it tightly in his hand.
Zibai stood a few steps away from the cave entrance. Seeing the sword piqued her interest, she took out her booklet and pen, leaned against the rock wall, and adopted a casual posture.
"I'm going in?"
"Go inside. I'll keep watch from outside."
Zibai picked up his pen and added a sentence.
"Don't blow up the mine. If the assessment report says 'damaged terrain,' the association will not only deduct money from your pay, but also from mine."
"Knew."
Lin En crawled into the mine, adjusted his eyes to the darkness, and walked further in by the light coming through the entrance.
Before long, they heard the muttering of Hilichurl. Looking inside, they saw four Hilichurl huddled around a broken pot, cooking something they couldn't identify. A drafty tent was set up nearby, and several sticks and shields were scattered on the ground.
That's it?
Lin En suddenly realized that the request was simpler than he had imagined.
The Hilichurl were clearly panicked when he rushed in.
Lin En first swung a Stone Stele with his left hand, knocking down two Hilichurl, then followed up with a sweeping slash of his longsword in his right hand, the wind of the sword sweeping over the remaining two and splitting their wooden shields in two.
A Hilichurl got up and charged at him, wielding a stick. Lin En dodged to the side and used his left-hand Anemo to knock it away.
The whole process took less than ten seconds, and all four Hilichurl were lying on the ground.
Lin En dusted off his hands and was about to go back to report when he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from deep inside the mine.
He peeked inside and saw several pairs of crimson eyes approaching from the darkness.
"Besides?"
He paused for a moment, stunned.
A dozen or so Hilichurl emerged from the depths of the mine, each a size larger than those outside. Leading them Anemo Samachurl wielding a wooden stick.
Lin En took a step back and shouted back towards the outside of the cave.
" Zibai! How come there are more than a dozen more!"
He remembered that the commission only stated a few, so how did so many suddenly appear? Solving it wouldn't be difficult, but with an appraiser present, why bother doing it himself?
Zibai, who was resting with her eyes closed, slowly sat down outside. She wanted to take this opportunity to teach Lin En a lesson.
"Evaluation details added: Fighting an unexpectedly large number of enemies, good luck."
"Can't you come in and help out?"
"I'm an assessor, I don't participate in combat. Figure it out yourself."
Lin En sighed and looked back at the group of Hilichurl charging towards him.
"In that case, I remember that if the assessor doesn't help after the accident, you won't get Mora, right?"
"What!"
Zibai immediately opened his eyes, grabbed his sword, and rushed in.
The Pyro Samachurl began his ritualistic dance, wielding a wooden stick, while several Hilichurl stood in front of him, shields raised to block his path.
"Alright."
He activated his Anemo to dodge the tornado thrown by the shaman, slammed his left hand against the shield with Stone Stele, breaking up the Hilichurl ' formation, and then slashed down two of them with his longsword in his right hand.
The shaman unleashed another tornado, Lin En didn't dodge this time. He simply slashed it away with his sword and took advantage of the opening to rush forward. He kicked the shaman in the chest, sending it flying into the group of Hilichurl behind him. Then, he slammed a Stone Stele into the ground, blocking most of the passage.
The remaining Hilichurl were also dealt with by Zibai.
Within seconds, the mine fell silent.
Lin En walked away, panting, his clothes covered in dust, and a small piece of cloth that had fallen from the Anemo Samachurl still clung to his hair.
Zibai stood beside him, scribbling away in the booklet with a pen, without even looking up.
"You've exceeded the time limit. The cleaning was supposed to take ten minutes, but you took eleven."
"This takes less than ten seconds in total, how come it took eleven minutes?"
Lin En was a little dazed; he had only been inside the cave for a minute.
"Time was started from the moment we arrived at the mine."
After Zibai finished writing, he closed the booklet with a mischievous grin on his face.
"However, the fight was relatively clean, without damaging the mine structure. That's quite clever of you, so I'll give you a bonus point to make up for it."
Lin En took the evaluation form she handed him and glanced at it. It was covered with dense annotations, and the last line read:
Overall assessment: Passed.
Let's go.
Zibai put the pen away.
"Go back and report. Five thousand Mora in hand. A free lunch."
The two walked back along the way they came. After walking for a while, Zibai said...
"Next time you take on a commission, if Ronava can't register, just find someone to form a team. The association's rules are a bit lenient on team members."
Lin En paused for a moment, then grinned mischievously.
I'm going to tell Ronava what happened today!
"What! Wait, I'll give you half of Mora."
If Lin En tells Ronava, will she come after her later? Zibai shook her head, deciding to pay up to avoid trouble.
"That's more like it, a free lunch."