As he wondered as to what he had done wrongly to the young girl, Valyr could not help but take a look around him, quickly noticing that a great portion of the passersby had stopped and taken a look at what had unfolded earlier. Noticing this, Valyr found it natural, recalling that the young girl's voice was somewhat loud when she hastily said farewell to him.
However, when he continued to look at the passersby, he soon noticed that some of the passersby shifted their gaze from him when they noticed he was looking at them. As for the remaining passersby, the expressions on their faces varied from nonchalance to curiosity, to even disappointment. Though, just like what Valyr felt earlier from the young girl's actions, once these passersby noticed the other passerby avoiding Valyr's gaze, they could not help but have slightly confused expressions on their faces, wondering if Valyr was someone popular or something.
Feeling as if he had stayed there for long enough, Valyr swiftly continued walking along the streets, prompting the crowd that had formed around him and the young girl earlier to disperse as if nothing had happened in the first place. Nevertheless, rather than thinking about the quest or the titles while on his way to find an inn, what occupied his mind at the moment was the incident earlier.
"Did I do anything distasteful before entering the city? After all, that would be the only logical reason why those people decided to avoid my gaze." Scratching his head in slight confusion, Valyr eventually stopped in front of an inn that spanned three stories, quickly heading inside to rent a room for himself in the meantime.
Fortunately, unlike those passersby who avoided his gaze, the manager he talked to in order to obtain a room in the inn was similar to the others, saving him a ton of headache as he headed up his room, just as he was told that dinner for all guests was going to be served a couple hours from now.
Entering the room he had rented while staying in Clossbay, Valyr was quite surprised with how lavish the amenities in the room were. Lying on the king size bed found at the far end of the room, his train of thought could not help but deviate back to what had happened earlier, thinking about the reactions of the young girl and some of the passersby.
"Well, I'm pretty sure I haven't broke any rules or did anything distasteful that would warrant such a reaction. On top of that, my reputation in the city is neutral. There's no reason for them to have that kind of reaction." Muttering out his thoughts, the gears in Valyr's mind continued to spin as he eventually thought of something he hadn't considered. "Now that I think about it…"
"Does it have something to do with the fact that I'm from a noble clan?" With this thought in mind, Valyr felt like this was the most plausible reason why he was treated that way. After all, he had experienced his fair share of mistreatment under the noble and royal clans in his past life. In fact, avoiding a noble's gaze was the tamest kind of reaction one could get in that situation.
As he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. However, there was thing about the whole situation that felt off. "How did they know I'm a noble in the first place? After all, I haven't told anyone my name in this city yet."
Naturally, Valyr pondered over this question for quite some time, coming up with a few answers that seemed plausible. But in the end, he discarded all of them, thinking that he would find an answer to this question eventually.
…
After eating a sumptuous meal for dinner last night, Valyr felt incredibly energized once he woke up, going through his usual morning routine before heading down to the inn's ground floor. Once there, he headed towards the dining area, getting a plate of breakfast, which was complementary with his type of stay in the inn.
Then, once he was finished with breakfast, he left the inn and made his way to the Combat Training Hall at a leisurely pace. Arriving in front of its entrance sometime later, Valyr could not help but let out an inward sigh of relief as its entrance was wide open for anyone to enter. Thinking that he was now one step closer to getting the titles he needed, he entered the hall, only to be greeted by a wide lobby, with counters that had attendants behind them in the dozen.
Seeing as the hall was already bustling even though it was still early in morning, he let out an awkward smile as he queued up on one of the shorter lines. Fortunately, those that came before him only had minor problems to resolve, allowing him to be in front of the attendant less than ten minutes later.
"Welcome to the Clossbay Combat Training Hall. How may I help you?" With a light and cheery tone, the attendant on the other side of the counter asked Valyr this question.
"I would like to get tested on my proficiency with the spear, as well as my overall proficiency in combat." Nodding in response, Valyr opened his mouth as the attendant jotted down the information she was hearing on a piece of parchment.
After jotting down a few more notes, the attendant brought a thin tablet before infusing a bit of her mana into it. A minute or so later, the attendant looked back at Valyr. "Is this your first time entering a training hall of any sort?"
"Yes. Is there a fee I have to pay?" In response, Valyr nodded before asking a question.
"That would be correct. Please pay 10 silver coins." Hearing those words come out of the attendant's mouth, Valyr went ahead and grabbed 10 silver coins from the satchel Wells had given him back then before placing them on the counter, to which the attendant grabbed before placing the coins at a spot behind the counter.
Nodding soon after, the attendant infused a bit more mana into the tablet she held before asking Valyr a couple questions. "Your full name?"
"Valyr Zeihardt."
"Class rank?"
"Rank 1."
"Alright." Infusing a bit more mana into the tablet, the attendant eventually placed the tablet to the side before looking at Valyr and giving him a nod. "An identification badge shall be made with the information you've given us, and you can use this in other training halls you may visit in the future."
"As the badge creation process takes a while, you can go ahead and head through that corridor there to have the tests you wanted done. I've already notified the people who will be doing the testing. Your designated room shall be at the end of the corridor" Hearing these words, Valyr nodded and thanked the attendant before heading in the direction that the latter pointed in, eventually arriving in front of the door at the end of the corridor.
Taking in a deep breath, he then went ahead and opened it, his sights being greeted by something he didn't expect to see this early on.
