Ryan's bike came to a stop in front of one of the Channel's tallest buildings. It was a jewel of New Riverside's skyline, and the sort of building that tourists came just to look at from the outside.

  And to top it off, it was also the central examination site for the 'Heroics License'. This was the first step Ryan had to take to really become a 'Hero'. Not that he necessarily wanted that title, but he knew that it would help him, and allow him to help just that many more people. Ryan squeezed the bike into a slightly wider gap between two cars at the side of the road. Someone might get annoyed when trying to move their car later, but he really didn't care.

  All that Ryan had his eyes on were those massive doors in front of him. Once inside, though, he was quickly met by quite the crowd. There were dozens and dozens of people in here right now, and these were just the ones still standing in line. There must already be a lot of people in the actual examination hall.

  Today was a day for the physical and skill examinations. Later, Ryan would also have to take the written test, too. The order you took those in didn't matter, but you had to do them relatively close together, and if you failed any part, you had to wait at least half a year to retry. And only once you had passed all three other examinations, there was an in-person interview. Ryan had been studying for the written part for a while now, so he was pretty confident he was going to pass that, no matter how intense it was. The physical and skill examinations didn't worry him, either. All his main stats were at the superhuman level now, and even his additional stats were coming along decently well.

  His skills weren't even worth mentioning. They were more than good enough.

  Ryan joined the line at the very back, of course, but it all proceeded pretty fast. It didn't take that long until it was his turn.

  "Good afternoon," the clerk said, not even really looking up from the computer monitor in front of him. "Do you have your examination number?"

  "Right here," Ryan said, holding his phone forward. The clerk glanced at the number, and entered it into the computer. Just a moment later, a scowl appeared on his face. Pushing up his glasses, he sighed.

  "So you're that candidate?" he furrowed his brow, but continued typing something. "I see that you haven't taken any other section of the license examination yet, so we will need to fill out some standard information. Do you have your Awakened Registration Card with you?"

  "Of course."

  Ryan quickly handed it over, and the clerk typed some more as he scanned the card. "Is this information up-to-date?"

  "Ah, not quite. It's been a second since I updated my registration. I've levelled up a couple times since then, and my stats increased, too."

  Sighing, the clerk handed Ryan a tablet, and quickly asked him to fill out a document with the updated information. Ryan found the clerk's attitude a little annoying, but he could already guess what happened. There was probably some kind of note connected to his examination number that he was squeezed in last-minute.

  Ryan glanced behind himself. Although the line had moved forward so fast, there were still about as many people behind him as were in front of him when he entered. Luckily there were multiple clerks to take care of this stuff.

  "Level 16? You really do need to update your registration," the clerk said when looking at the filled-out document. He typed some more, and then looked up at Ryan. "When signing up, you didn't seem to have entered your specialization. Is this a mistake?"

  "Oh, no, it's not. I'm not specializing in anything," Ryan explained. "I'm a summoner, and though my contracts are leaning pretty combat-heavy right now, that won't always be the case. So I figured specializing wouldn't make much sense."

  "Mm-hmm. In that case, your examination might take a little longer, is that okay?"

  "Of course."

  "Then please proceed forward into the main hall through the door to your right," the clerk explained, still just staring at the computer monitor in front of him. "Your examination number will be called at some point and you will be guided through the process in there. If you need to change into different clothes, there are changing rooms connected to the main hall."

  "Great, thank you."

  Ryan quickly turned away, not minding the clerk's annoyed stare. However, he couldn't help but feel the eyes of the other employees on him as well. When he looked back, Ryan noticed that the clerk was actually whispering something to a colleague, all the whilst staring daggers at him.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  How annoying. They probably saw Ryan's last name and figured that he was just some rich kid who got pushed through into this on a whim. Well, Ryan did use Runar's connections to get a last-minute spot, but it wasn't like he would get any further benefits than that. The clerk probably just told his colleague to keep an eye on Ryan and make sure to judge him extra fairly.

  Though it was rare, there were cases where examiners were bribed to let someone through the tests without really earning it. The position of a 'hero' did come with a fair amount of prestige, after all. To prevent something like this from happening with Ryan, it was likely that he would have a few more people keeping an eye on him. Though, if Runar didn't pull something unnecessary, everything would be above-board anyway.

  The main hall was pretty damn big, and filled with tons of people. Giants, Avians, Goblins, Orcs... this was an incredibly diverse space just in terms of bodies, and with that, the abilities they would all show were going to be just as diverse. It was truly a shame that the actual tests were held behind closed doors. Ryan got giddy at the idea of seeing these folks' skills in action. But it was also good; it wasn't like Ryan really wanted to openly show off the spirits abilities.

  He quickly went and changed. Though frankly... he didn't quite know what to change into. Ryan had stopped by his place to pick up one of the spirit outfits for the skill examination. Since classes were so diverse, it was allowed, and even encouraged, for examinees to make use of items as long as the examiners were able to inspect them to figure out how much of the performance they made up.

  However, in the end... Ryan brought multiple outfits. Not all of them, but the Urban Knight, Urban Witch, and Urban Jester outfits. He also brought some other items, like Gregor's machines.

  For now, Ryan changed into the Urban Knight outfit. He would change later to show that his own style could adjust to different situations, supported by these outfits.

  It wasn't exactly a formal point that people were judged on, but someone's 'image' was often pretty important. It was essentially their brand. A lot of people in heroics didn't care about it and just did the bare minimum to show that they were in fact acting as a registered hero, but others really went... deep into the 'hero' image.

  The heroics initiative started a couple decades ago, inspired by things like comic books. To turn vigilantes into something that the state could actually control and keep track of, they took this relatively well-known image, something that a lot of folk clung to pretty heavily. They basically made 'super suits' for themselves. Ryan didn't hate that idea either, though he would never really wear a dedicated suit like that. The clothes that Silvia made were close in concept, but they also had a purpose beyond just 'looking cool'.

  But at the end of the day, as long as Ryan could get the right people to hear about him, he didn't care. He somehow had to become a recognisable figure amongst the 'hidden folk'. And for that, he had to become a recognisable, and trustworthy, figure in the first place.

  Then, with his full name being known to people, the hidden folk would realise that he was a member of the Aglecard family, and as long as Ryan did and said the right things, he would be able to let them all know what he was really doing all this for.

  "Number 479, please come to examination room 23." Ryan perked up when he heard his number being called, and quickly hurried over to the room with his things in tow. The examination room itself was of course also big enough to account for anyone that might need to be tested, so it felt a little empty.

  A number of people were sitting at a table on the other side of the room. One of them was the person that the clerk whispered something to earlier.

  "Ryan Aglecard?" She asked, and quickly nodded.

  "That's me."

  She looked up from her notes and stared at Ryan. "Do you happen to be affiliated with the Aglecard Foundation?"

  "Yes, I'm the nephew of the current head of the foundation."

  The examiner raised her brows slightly. She clearly didn't expect that. "I see. Are you aware that–"

  "I was squeezed in last-minute because my uncle pulled some strings, yes. Clearly everyone else here is aware of that as well, so there's no reason to tip-toe around it." Ryan smiled and put down his things.

  The head examiner seemed surprised that Ryan was so straightforward about it, but she didn't seem to mind. "In that case, we can get started right away. Let's begin with the physical examination, first. Since you didn't select a specialisation, you will have to go through a complete check-up. We ask that you please go through these individual tests without using any of your skills. If you possess any skills that passively increase your abilities at all times, please let us know."

  Ryan thought about it for a moment, though he wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "It's not exactly a skill, but recently a sort of 'synergy' between me and one of the spirits I have with me formed. One of his skills slightly affects me now, and it passively increases weapon proficiency."

  Immediately, the examiners started talking amongst themselves. "And you say that this isn't a skill?"

  "Yeah, it's not. I was just in my basement with the spirits one day, taking care of some chores, and a notification told me that I was now partially affected by Maximus' skill," Ryan explained with a smile on his face. There was a reason why he was being this honest; it wasn't always the case, but a lot of the time one of the examiners had skills related to seeing truth. It was usually the one that was in charge of item inspections as well. They wouldn't ask any super invasive questions, so Ryan didn't have to worry for the most part, but it was also not a bad idea to not give them any reason to ask any more questions in the first place. Whether there really was anyone here that could really tell lie from truth was irrelevant, really.

  The examiner, composing herself, continued. "I see... we will keep that in mind and test the performance of that skill in the later tests. For now, we will start with the basic stat-related tests."