Arthur POV: 

I patiently watched Noland conversing with Shane as he happily explained his goal and questioned Shane about when he was an adventurer. I subconsciously smiled realizing that Noland was making a great impression on Shane. He was a strong ally and a veteran adventurer. If we could get advice and information from him that would be invaluable. But deeper down I couldn't be happier as an older brother that Noland was able to socially connect with someone. However, this happiness left as soon as it came when I saw his Mana stats. 

"N...Noland" I barely choke out "I'm so sorry." My eyes acted like a leaky fish tank as drops of tears fell from my eyes. The pressure was too much and the tank shattered as my tears begin to fall uncontrollably at my futile effort to contain them in public. I instinctively held my head low as seeing Noland's reaction would reinvigorate tears.

"Wow, I never imagined my brother was such a big crybaby"

"N...Noland your card!"

"What about it. Seems pretty normal to me."

"Your Maximum mana level it's a C+!"

"Even though I'm not a bookworms like you, I can still read"

"You can't be an S-Rank adventure!"

"Why not? Is there some rule I don't know about that states that S-Rank adventures have a certain mana level?"

"No, but"

"Ohhh I get it, you think that just because my maximum mana level is only C+ I can't become an S-Rank adventure.I though you said you were smart cuz right now your being pretty stupid. "

"Huh"

"Something that small is never gonna stop me. If I had no limbs, I'll just fight with my mana, If I have no mana, then I'll fight with my fists, as long as I can breathe, I will fight."

"What if you can't make it."

"Then I will die the happiest man in the world."

I stopped my tears upon hearing that my brother didn't give up hope. I whipped my head back up and looked at him with firm resolve. I stared at him inspecting to scan for any trace of defeat. He bore none.

"Alright as your older brother, it is my duty to support you to the best of my ability. Every previous S-Rank adventure had at least a mana level of A+. Do you still want to pursue the impossible path of S-Rank?"

"Yes"

Noland POV:

I bowed my head towards Shane as I asked, "Please give me advice on how I can achieve S-Rank." I see my brother cutting his thumb and placing it on the same orb I used as he places down a 10-cent copper coin.

"To be completely honest with you S-Rank is impossible for you. In addition to you having a maximum mana level of C+ the cards are pretty much stacked against you in every other area." Shane sighed as he delivered the cold hard truth. "First, you're poor. This means you can't afford to get the best books, the best training equipment, teachers, elixers, and mana potions. You need these in order to attain S-Rank."

"Than we'll just go on enough mission in order to make money."

"It's not that easy. The curse of poverty is a cycle. Because you don't have any money, it hard to get stronger. And because of that it is hard to make money from quest."

"Oh I see. What else "

"You have the worst possible luck of also being an elementalist. Of the 3 types of magic yours is most dependent on Mana level. Some transmuters don't really need a lot of mana in order to use their ability effectively, and specialists are just special in their own right. Although they could be just as dependent on mana as elementalist they can also not really rely on mana. What puts the final nail in the coffin is that you aren't from a well establish clan."

"What does my family have to do with this?"

"Magic aptitude has a lot to do with genetics. Adventures born from prestigious clans often have superior magic. For example I was born from the Golden clan. My clan has spent generations cultivating strong metal users. My ability is to transmute the property of objects in a 2 meter radius into differnt magetic fields. I used this to change the direction of people's magic attacks and physical attacks as well as multiple other differen't abilities. However your card doesn't have your last name on it meaning that you don't come from descendants of a power clan."

"Well that was pretty demoralizing how do you think I can overcome this."

"I don't know. It's kinda like asking a average person to run a marathon. You may have the will to become S rank but if your mana levels aren't there it is near physically impossible. However I can give you tips from this old man. Try to form a team or join one so you can safely make enough money in order to reinvest into making yourself stronger, once you get enough money to hire a private teacher, although it might seem expensive it is the best way to get better at using magic and most important to be safe. As long as you survive you will get stronger don't throw your life away because of recklessness.  Remember there is no such thing as a one man army. Oh looks like your brothers results are out." 

Arthur, 15 years old, Inward and Outward mana user, Mana affinity: Transmuter Mana ability: Hard and Soft, current mana rating: D 

Maximum mana core potential: C 

Mana growth speed: C 

Mana mastery: D- 

Mana refines: E+ 

Current mana level: D- 

These results didn't surprise me at all because my brother was more for training his mind than his combat prowess. If he went to one of those schools we couldn't afford he would probably excel in every class except for P.E. His only redeeming quality was his ability. It had huge amounts of utility, versatility, and defense. This makes him great defensive support but if we are talking about how he could hold his own in a one-on-one. He could only beat an E-rank adventure. 

"Well I expected something like this from a nerdy bookworm." 

Arther ignored the comment before turning to Shane and requesting to continue to the adventure rank evaluation. 

"I'm gonna have to evalute you two separately unless you also want a group evaluation of your entire party,which cost extra."

"We didn't bring anymore money so..."

"Alright who wants to get beat up first"

"Ooh me, me!"

Shane beckons his hand towards me signaling me to follow him. I eagerly follow him along as he opens a door leading to a heavenly reinforced room. I see a small number of cracks staining the almost perfect-condition walls. The walls were all white and the only other thing the plane room had was a door labeled as the storage room and a soft, thick blue mat on the floor. Shane opens the entrance door and yells 

"Nelly hurry up we got a new member."

Immediately a short girl runs into the room to join us. Her height tells me she is 13 however her face confirms that she is thirtyish. She comes in wearing a black and blue elegant robe with a comically large witch hat with a yellow stripe at its base. Under the robe are a pale white shirt covered by blue and black leather armor and a black skirt. Her pointy black boots and her flowing golden hair paint a majestic air. She wielded a wooden staff taller than her with a pure crimson spherical mana crystal in the center with magical incantations etched all over the wood. Her flat chest and pretty resting face raised an air of elegance.

"The fuck you say to me baldy, I told your dumbass to stop calling me that. You ain't my daddy you can't tell ME what to do.I'll take as long as I god damn want." Instantly my image of Nelly as an aristocratic lady dressed in mage attire vanished. At least she hella drippy though. Wait, why did I think that what does drippy even mean? It must be the same force that takes over me earlier to say strange things to my brother. 

"Watch your language we have a kid here." 

"If he ain't shorter than me, he ain't a kid."

"Ahem, I apology for my vulgar coworker. She's a transmuter who specializes in shielding magic. And unlike other shielders her shields coat your skin and wouldn't be intrusive to our fight. This doesn't make her shield magic any weaker though. "

"Wow, that's amazing how strong is she, and is she also from a clan like you."

"A-class transmuter coming from the Rian clan."

"Are you retarded or are you already getting dementia. How many times have I told you not to mention my clan idiot. They disowned me and I disassociated with them and I want it to stay that way."

"If you're so strong why did they disown you" 

"None of your business brat. I'm just here so this dumbass can assess you with out feeling bad for giving a little kid a booboo."

"I'm not that easy." I retort as I get into a fighting stance. 

"Let's see what your made of noland."Shane responded getting in his own stance. "The winner of this spar will be determined by who ever barrier breaks first. The barrier will break once someone lands a good strike to your opponent without them blocking ganted it is strong enough."

The match unofficially begins once nilly cast a barrier spell on both of us. 

I watch Shane as he stares back at me. An A-rank adventure wouldn't leave his sides open on purpose. This had to be bait. If he can control magnetic fields then he can misdirect my attacks. Unless assuming he was lying about his ability. I analyze him as he is standing observing me Giving away not a single bit of information eh? This guy is definitely a pro. 

I make the first move to reinforce myself with my mana. Channeling a small amount of lighting mana into my brain to stimulate it. I only reinforced my limbs because of the barrier protection.  Strangely enough, he doesn't seem to be doing so. I load my weight on my back leg and sprint forward.  He doesn't move an inch as I count down the feet until 3 meters to his ability. The moment I enter the radius I fake a left pivot as he dashes to the left but then instantly shift it to the right as I dash to his side. I throw out a right hook to the stomach but he blocks with his arm resulting in him flying backward as I land on my outside leg. I then push in his direction feinting a left punch to the face as he raises his guard because he hasn't recovered to dodge the punch. I instinctively go in for the gut left hook, but he dashes to the left as he circles around me. He tricked me into thinking he raised his guard because he hasn't fully recovered. 

He releases a relentless barrage to my side with my only option to duck under the barrage as leaping back would leave me vulnerable. He does a low leg kick as I block with my arm then drop my arm and do a leg sweep. He jumps as I do a leg sweep and stops his barrage I place my hands on the ground and use one of my legs to stabilize as I kick up aimed at his chin with my other leg. He blocks it with his palm as he uses the other to grab my ankle. He yanks me up like a chain as the world blurs. I see his leg come towards my head as I block it with my arm. I then release my lighting mana into his arm grabbing me as I break free from his weakened grip. I go for the go in for at the same him he accelerates his other leg to my head. I concentrated all my mana into my left arm muscles to speed up my punch. My fist connects first as his barrier, mere milliseconds before mines. His barrier gives a satisfying shatter sound signaling I won as mine echoes not long after. 

"Congradulations you won."

"It wasn't a real victory, You didn't use any of your abilities or even mana."

"Still it is a feat to be proud of."

"Holy shit. Who raised the little monster?" Nelly asked with a surprised look. "What are you, 14? How do you have tramenduce battle experience, intelligence, and technique. Not to mention your comparable to baldy not using mana." 

"I am not bald yet just loosing a few strands of hair. Leave me alone."

"I atcually just turned 12. I train everyday and fight people by going to a fight club in the city in order to spar. I am one of the main members and have been there for 4 years."

"The brats probably bottom of C rank or  top of C- rank."

"Lets give him C- rank because people will already be outraged if we rank him anyhigher."

"Ok Noland, I under the name and honor of the golden clan offically grant you the title of C- Adventurer. You can take a rank revaluation once every year on march 24 the same day as today your first evaluation. Differnt ranks give differnt benefits in the guild. A C- rank adventure will allowed to have a 3 month grace period of no completed quest before they will be kicked out. If you get kicked out you can reaply for adventure during anytime. A general rule of thumb for your rank is that you can take on quest of 1 letter grade lower than your current rank. For more information please check out our article 3 section 7b of the adventures handbook."

"Is that something you are required to say?"

"Yes, but allow me to personally congradulate you on attaining such a rank from a young age. Noland, a C- Rank adventure recruit, you are now one of us. "