Danmachi - Card Wizard

Chapter 4 - Ch.4 Ais Wallenstein

As he stared at the girl who had the same eye colour as him, she also stopped starring at the snack to look at Aidan with an expressionless face. She was wearing a green dress that showed her shoulders as her golden hair went down to her lower back. On her waist was a thin sword with a circular guard in a blue scabbard. Waiting this way for a moment, as they both stared at each other, her stomach growled once again.

Aidan, hearing this, looked at her for another moment before taking his third snack. He had already eaten the first and was currently eating the second one. As he handed it over, she looked at it for a moment before coming closer and taking it. She then nodded at him as thanks before she sat next to the only person of her age. ??

Aidan, looking at the girl who didn't talk much, relaxed as he turned back to his snack. As they were both waiting for the recruitment event to start, they looked at the adventurers talking together and bragging as some of them from time to time looked at the two kids and scoffed at them. However, nothing of it made a reaction appear on the two as the girl didn't seem to care while Aidan couldn't be bothered by such a thing. He only focused on his own goal.

As they ate their snacks in silence, the time passed slowly as more adventurers appeared on the training grounds. However, as more adventurers appeared, fewer people bothered to register at the recruitment booth. As Aidan looked at the man, he didn't seem to care as he only waited for another adventurer to come and write their information.

Five minutes later, as the both of them finished their snack, their stomach once again grumbled as the girl looked at Aidan, this time with a tinge of red on her doll-like face. Taking the container the bald man had given him for his snacks, he opened it to reveal the two remaining Jagamarukun, which was spiced mashed potatoes. Taking the both of them out, he handed one to the girl while taking the remaining one for himself. Anyway, with at most twenty minutes before the recruitment started, he would digest the food and not consume another. At most, he would go and buy some more after the recruitment if he managed to get accepted.

As they both went back to eating, another ten minutes passed until Aidan remembered to ask: "Did you register at the booth over there?" Only to receive a nod in response from the girl who sat next to him. Nodding back to her, he turned back his attention to the adventurers who were showing off all around.

As he thought he would have to wait in silence until the test, he heard the girl talk in an almost silent voice: "Why do you want to join?"

Turning to her: "To become strong. You?" He asked after answering her question. "To become strong." She responded as Aidan felt as if she saw him in a new light. "I'm Aidan." He said while looking at the girl. "Ais." She answered back as she showed a flash of a smile before she returned to her usual indifferent attitude.

Unknowingly to the two, while they were exchanging a few words, from a window of the Twilight manor, a pallum and a dwarf were looking at both Ais and Aidan.

"Do you see the kid I was talking about, Finn? It's the kid holding a sword almost as tall as him, next to the girl." Said the dwarf as he pointed towards Aidan.

"What is it that caught your eye so much?" Asked the blue-eyed pallum as he eyed Aidan from a distance.

"He has the determination and the will to become strong. I could see it in his eyes yesterday when I tried to intimidate him when I asked him questions. I'm sure of it." He said as he drunk from his flask.

"I see. Then, let's hope the boy can pass the two phases of the test." The pallum said as he frowned, looking at the two seven-year-old kid who stuck out like a sore thumb in a training ground full of grown men and women.

"I'm sure he will, hahaha." Answered the dwarf laughingly as the both of them made their way to the gates of the manor.

As Aidan and Ais were getting to know each other by asking a few questions one after the other, the gates of the Twilight manor opened as two men got out. One was a blond-haired pallum as he led the way, with a brown-haired and bearded dwarf following behind him. As Aidan looked at the two of them, the training grounds gradually quieted down.

Aidan was looking at the dwarf behind the pallum. He hadn't expected that the one who had told him the location of the recruitment of the Loki familia was a member of the Loki familia. However, it didn't change anything as Aidan believed in himself to succeed in the recruitment process.

"Alright. Orba. Who succeeded the first stage?" Asked the pallum as he looked at the big man who had been giving the registration forms.

"Aidan, Ais, Kalos, Liza, Dain...". He continued until he named about sixty people. As the tall and muscular man talked, some of the previously bragging adventurers had their brows tightened as they couldn't hear their names. "That is all, captain." Said Orba as he finished reading the list of people who passed the first stage.

"Alright. Those who have passed the first stage come closer. For the others, thank you for your time. However, I'm afraid we won't be able to accept you into the familia. You are welcome to try again next time." He finished as the sixty or so people started to walk towards the pallum as he had instructed. Aidan and Ais followed suit as they went together.

"Hey! Why aren't we called as well? Why do two kids succeeded in the first stage while we, who are in the strongest of level 1 and people in the level 2, failed the test?" Shouted the man that had been bragging that he was different from the weak level 1 despite being a level 1 himself.

"Simple." Answered the dwarf as he looked at the pompous young man. "There was an instruction to fill the form upon arriving, and you didn't do it because you think you're better than others. We don't need such a thing in this familia." He said as he turned around again, walking to the training ground's center with the pallum.

"Euh? I only didn't have time to sign up yet since there were too many people. Why do you disqualify us because of your mistake of only leaving a single person to offer the forms?" Shouted another man as his face turned red from the shouting.

"Me too!" Shouted a couple of other adventurers as they weren't ready to accept their loss.

"That only means that you came too late. Now leave before I make you." Said the dwarf back as he turned around threateningly, scarring the young man who had no courage.

As he said so, the adventurers finally turned around while holding grudges since they knew that no matter what they said, they wouldn't accept them in the familia.

Aidan and Ais shuttled between the other adventurers as they tried to follow despite their small frames. As they finally arrived at the center of the training ground with the other successful adventurers, the two children found themselves behind everyone as they couldn't see anything due to their small frames.

Frowning slightly, Aidan patted Ais on her shoulder while pointing to the side. They then walked to the crowd's side to have a good view and understand what the second stage was. When they arrived, they saw that the two small men, the pallum and the dwarf were on the scene and were waiting for everyone to calm down before he started speaking.

"Firstly, congratulation on succeeding on the first stage. The second stage will be a battle in a team of two. You are a total of sixty-four people. You have two minutes to make your team." He said as he turned silent, looking at the adventurers who immediately searched for someone strong to become their partner. No one considered the two seven-year-old kids as they didn't want to have a burden added to them.

The moment the captain of the Loki familia finished talking, Aidan and Ais turned to look at each other, upon which they both nodded and turned back to look at the two supervisors of the recruitment process.

During the selection of their fighting partner, the two executives of the Loki familia looked at the adventurers. They were both amazed when they saw that both Aidan and Ais only needed a look to confirm their willingness to team up. They did not bother to think about whether the other would hold them down as they believed they would be able to win either way if their determined look was anything to go on.

Soon, the two minutes went by as some of the adventurers still hadn't found their teammate as they were looking for a powerful adventurer to become their partner. However, time waited for no one as the pallum started speaking again. "Alright, every team will select a captain and the captain will come and report their name along with their partner's. After which, you will stay quiet." As the muscular man, Orba, once again came with a paper to write the names.

Aidan gave Ais a quick look. She was also looking at him, and he nodded before he went to register their names himself since from his limited interactions, he knew that she didn't like to speak. As he made his way towards the strong man, he heard arguments from behind as the previous happy partners turned against each other to be the captain. They believed that being the captain meant that they would more easily enter the familia, and as such, none of them were ready to let go of the opportunity to be the captain. It didn't help that none knew each other and didn't care a bit about their teammate.

However, it was none of Aidan's concern as he stopped in front of the man and reported both of their names before going back to Ais's side as the two of them didn't speak as per the orders. Two minutes after Aidan had reported their names, another team captain came and declared his name and his partner's. The man had a red face due to too much arguing, and when he went back to his partner's side, the two started to argue again as his partner wasn't happy not being the captain.

As for the dwarf named Garreth and the captain of the Loki familia, Finn, they both nodded in their minds as they saw how both seven-year-old kids followed their instructions to the letter. Typically, they would have more problems with the children, but this scene proved that they had at least the right mentality and the drive to enter the Loki familia.