The certification hall was smaller than Grey expected, tucked into the second floor of a Mech Tech guild building whose first floor had been stripped so thoroughly that several display cases were sitting empty.
Even the walls looked unfinished in places, old mounting brackets still hanging where equipment had clearly been removed recently, and Grey had barely stepped through the door before he heard someone complaining about exactly why.
"This is ridiculous. They used to be able to run three examinations at once."
The speaker was a broad-shouldered man with dark green hair tied behind his neck, sitting beside a woman whose metallic grey eyes hadn't left the testing chamber since Grey arrived.
Both had Vanguard Class certification requests hovering above the bands on their wrists, which made the irritated look they gave Grey considerably easier to understand when the attendant directed him toward the only active examination platform.
The woman crossed her arms.
