While we walk towards what I assume is the center of town I curiously try to take in everything and compare it to my vaguely remembered recollection of a town from before I became 10. (I can’t count anything after that since it was just all quarantined mage life to guarded and isolated palace life to hidden in the middle of nowhere with no outside contact with and knows how many feet under the earth prison life.) The city is just as lively as I remember cities were, with tons of people rushing off to who knows where. The biggest difference I notice is I don’t see a huge military presence, as was the case in the empire where the army stationed at big cities would double as the guard. In addition, the buildings here are built with wood as opposed to the stone the empire used, giving the town a more rugged look. 

Stopping in front of a tall, wide building Claire declares, “This is it, the closest Adventurer's Guild branch to Spirit Mountain. We’ll go in, line up and get everyone registered.” Turning to Lyn, she seriously adds, “Lyn, no matter how rude people are, please don’t fight them unless they throw the first punch. We probably are going to get some crap thrown at us for being a bunch of women registering together.”

Grinning, Lyn replies, “Oh no worries. I always let them have the first blow.”

We all turn to her, doubt visible on our faces.

“What? Of course I let them attack first, that way I can strike back however hard I want! Even if it's considered ‘too much’ I can just say I was scared and struck back when attacked, how was I to know they were weak!” 

All of us sigh, Claire declaring, “Oh well, let’s go in. Follow me, I’ll lead us to the receptionists.”

Entering through the double doors, we are greeted by a quarter filled tavern. The center of the room is filled with seats, with stairs on both side walls. Toward the end of the tables in the center of the room lies the bar, with a door behind the counter to what I presume is the kitchen. There are two desks on both sides of the bar, but not connected to it. Only the two on the left are staffed and we join the short line along the wall of the room.

Claire starts explaining, “Since this is the middle of the day, most adventurer’s are out on jobs. The people in front of us are probably people who have some request to submit. The job board is upstairs, along with some offices. Rumor says it used to be here at the tavern but was moved upstairs due to having too many adventurer’s take on quests they weren’t ready for while boasting and drinking at the table.”

“Next!” the leftmost receptionist calls to us. We approach the desk and I get a good look at the receptionist. She is a middle aged woman with a large scar across her cheek. Noticing my stare, she grins and replies, “Staring at my battle scar, eh girl?”

Blushing, I break my stare, shy replying, “Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Haha, no worries. I am used to little city girls gaping at the price for a youth spent courting death. So what is your request for today ladies?” 

Claire responds, “They are actually all here to register. I already am registered, and would like to sponsor them.”

Handing over her card, the receptionist reads it and is impressed, “Silver rank mage huh, guess I don’t need to tell you how dangerous adventuring can be, but I have to give them the whole spiel. Hearing it from the guild tends to shake more people out of delusions of grandeur.”

Turning to us, she begins, “So I know Miss Claire here probably tells you stories of wonder that made you want to sign up, and that she’s willing to sponsor you means she believes you’ll do fine. In case you’re wondering, sponsoring means she will accompany you on your first three requests, forfeiting the pay of being a higher ranked adventurer and accompanying you at your rank. This lets you skip the initial combat training you would have to do during your first month as a bronze rank before being allowed to take on combat missions. But this also means she shares the punishment alongside you should you fail requests. Which I should add comes with severe penalties, such as fines, rank reduction, a hit to your personal reputation, and for advanced request, imprisonment.”

She pauses, turning to look at each of us to make sure we are taking this seriously, before continuing, “There are five ranks of request, of which your rank as an adventurer is tied to. You are expected to be able to complete a request of your rank alone if needed. Typically a request is taken in a team, called a party, of which its rank is determined by the highest ranked adventurer. In either case, it is possible to take a request up to one level above your current rank. In fact, most parties regularly take requests one level above their rank.”

She pauses and pulls out a chart from her desk displaying the ranks with pictures next to each rank. “The request’s rank is based on its difficulty, bronze, being the lowest, to mythril, being the highest. All bronze rank requests are meant to be solo-able, and most have no expected danger. Such quests are often odd jobs around town, like being extra hands in building a house or repairing the walls, or going to harvest herbs in the nearby woods. Gathering requests can vary in level though, depending on where the material is being gathered. Iron rank covers things like lone wolves or small groups of goblins. Silver would be an actual pack of wolves or medium sized group of goblins. Bandits also fall into this category at the very least. Most escort requests are also this rank. Gold is tricky, as most of these requests come from nobles or the local government but the requirement is to be able to defeat mythril class monsters as a team. Creatures like hydras, drakes, and behemoths. Gold is effectively the highest rank, as none of these creatures can’t typically be defeated alone, but those who prove they can defeat them become mythril.”

She pauses, then seriously states, “But don’t even think about that stuff yet, you are just signing up and its delusions of grandeur that get many adventurers killed. In fact, most adventurers stay iron rank their entire career. Particularly skilled adventurers get promoted to silver, and the best of the best become gold. Mythril rank is for those monsters who will go down in history. In fact, there are only three Mythril rank adventurers in the whole world at the moment, The Holy Shield Theodorus, The Archmage Vildius, and The Lady of Lightning.”

I can’t help but look at Lyn, who somehow manages to keep a straight face. Or maybe it's just that she always seems smug so I can’t tell if she’s any different right now. 

The receptionist clears her throat, “So I am here to register you now, and you will all start at bronze. This is where I tell you to not underestimate any monster, regardless of the stories others tell. There are too many bronze rankers who die to iron ranked monsters on their first request. Not that you will have a problem having a silver rank mage by your side.”

Honestly, I feel like there is nothing that can realistically challenge us. I mean, we are the only team in history to not only have a spirit king, but two at that, one of whom is one of those legendary Mythril rankers. Looking over I see Claire has a funny smile on her face, probably sharing the same thought I have. 

Pulling out three blank cards made out of polished steel and a magic infused pen, she states, “Alright, so one of you ladies step forward so we can start making these cards. Going to have to write down your name, race, age, and preferred fighting style. After which I will activate the card to accept your mana signature. Once that’s all taken care of, you can come in tomorrow to pick up your cards, since we will need to let them sync up to the identification system, which takes a while.”

I step forward first, taking hold of the pen. It's the same design as the engraving pen I have, though this one has a small crystal powering the enchantment instead of requiring the user to power it.

I look up to her, “How do I imprint my mana signature?”

She grins, taking out a metal board with a six pointed star formation on it, each point adorned with a mana filled crystal “It’s easy, just place your card in the center and put your palm onto it. Even if you have no mana, every person has a unique reaction to mana, which has been termed a mana signature. Not to be confused with a mana wavelength of course, only mages have those.” 

I finish effortlessly, with Sif and Lyn finishing with no problems either.

The receptionist gives us one last piece of advice before we leave, “Miss Claire, I would suggest looking at the requests on the upper level to prepare them for tomorrow. Good luck everyone!”

Claire nods, and we follow her up the stairs. Before I can even find the job board I hear a voice call out, “Hey girls, haven’t seen you around here before. Let’s get to know each other, and I can help you all out.” Of course, here comes what Claire warned us about. I just hope Lyn doesn’t beat him up too badly.