“A-are these measurements mandatory?”

 

“I’m afraid they are young miss. However, there’s no need to worry about it. The guild won’t discriminate based on your level. And all information recorded here is confidential and will only be known by the guild and you.”

 

Seeing my still worried expression, the man’s expression softened as he said:

 

“If you’re worried about having a low-level, you don’t have to. Plenty of inexperienced youths like you sign up to become adventurers, and the guild makes sure to assign quests based on rank so as to not unnecessarily endanger our adventurers. Since you two appear to be capable of using magic. You’ll probably find a greater amount as well as more lucrative jobs available for you two than would be available for the majority of novices that walk through our doors.”

 

While I appreciated his supporting remark, what I was worried about at the moment was not my low-level, but the fact that my abilities could get discovered. Since I didn’t have enough time to think of a plan, I decided to buy some by asking:

 

“How does this machine exactly work? What does it do?”

 

“If answering such questions will assuage your concerns, then allow me give you a brief explanation.”

 

Taking a good look at the two of us, the man pointed to the equipment as he began explaining:

 

“This large crystal ball here is responsible for gathering your mana. Once it is gathered, it will decipher your mana signature as well as its density and separate it into ten different parts. These parts will will then travel to a corresponding mana crystal that is connected to it which will then produce a value for your stat. At the same time in which this is happening, the crystal ball will also match the unique signals given off by different skills and abilities that are present in your mana signature to tell us what abilities and skills you have, as well as their corresponding tier.”

 

Still attempting to buy a bit more time, I quickly asked:

 

“And why is it that the guild needs to do this?”

 

“The reason why we do this, is so that individuals who wish to become new adventurers but are already of a high level, won’t have to needlessly waste their time at a lower rank. The point of assigning ranks is for the safety of our adventurers, so it wouldn’t make sense for us to have people who are more than capable of taking care of themselves begin at F-rank. For the most part, those whose level is at least 100 will be allowed to begin at D-rank. While those whose level is upwards of 150 will start at C-rank. The reason we don’t normally allow people to join higher than C-rank is because starting from B-rank, many of the quests require that the adventurers have a trustworthy reputation which they build as they complete quests. Does this answer all your questions?”

 

“Y-yes…”

 

Having come up with a quick plan on the spot, I decided that my best opportunity would be to have Ailya go first. When he inevitably became distracted at her [Doppelganger] ability, I would use my [Soul Devourer] to stun him and have Ailya stab him with her knife and hopefully, we would be able to kill him without too much of a struggle and make our escape.

 

Transmitting my thoughts to Ailya through the bond we shared, I tried to convey the idea of the plan even if I couldn’t inform her of the specifics of it. Taking a look at her eyes after doing so, in which she nodded back to me in understanding, I turned to the man and asked:

 

“Is it okay if Alice goes first?”

 

“Sure, we could start with the young elf if you’d like. Here Miss Alice, why don’t you put your hand here for me.”

 

As Ailya followed his instructions and placed her hand on the crystal ball, I made my way over to his side as he said:

 

“Curious? It’s fine, come and see the results.”

 

With his permission, I stood right at his side as I saw a white piece of paper on which a pen attached to a mechanism began to move in a way I couldn’t comprehend as it copied down the results, showing:

Race	Elf
Level	14
Potential	3
Strength	12
Agility	13
Reactions	15
Dexterity	20
Endurance	9
Physical Resistance	6
Magic Resistance	14
Speed	14
Mana Control	51
Mana Capacity	78
Physical Skills	[Fencing I] [Prayer I] [Conviction I] [Augury I]
Magic Skills	[Illumination I] [Flash I] [Heal I]
Abilities	N/A

As I quickly looked at the stat sheet that was written down, I immediately noticed that neither soul skills nor soul abilities had been written down by the contraption. While I was still feeling relieved at the results, the man turned to look at Ailya with surprise as he said:

 

“What an incredible amount of skills for someone your age. You seem to have quite the talent for light magic young miss. Congratulations.”

 

Answering him with a respectful nod, Ailya softly said “Thank you” before giving me an inquisitive look. 

 

Knowing what she was thinking, I decided to let her know we would be putting off our plan as I turned to the man and asked:

 

“What does her potential mean?”

 

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that value for the moment, since until you’re around level 55 we are unable to accurately assess your potential. As for what it means, it gives a good indication of how you’ll progress as an adventurer and your expected level.”

 

Since I knew that the highest potential should be 10, and that it was determined by your highest soul ability or skill, I decided to ask the man in order to find out how much they were aware of as I said:

 

“And, what would be the highest level of potential?”

 

“Technically the highest potential would be 10, but this machine here only separates people into three categories, with the first being for people with a potential from 1-3, the second for those with a potential between 4-6, and the final one for the prodigies with a potential from 7-10. A proper machine that we have in another room would be able to give you a number from 1-10 that defines your potential, and your expected level could be calculated by taking that number and multiplying it by 50, although your theoretical max level would be double that,

 

Deciding that it would be a perfect time to get an understanding of how many powerful people were present in this world, as they appeared all too common to me, I asked:

 

“And how many people would belong to each category?”

 

“The guild believes that for all people, you’ll find 80% of the population in the first category. Around 19% in the next. And maybe even less than 1% in the last. You sure ask a lot of questions young miss, quite an inquisitive girl are we? Though I’m not reprimanding you for it, it’s good to see young people asking questions. Now, Is that all the questions you have for me?”

 

“Yes, thank you. It was all very informative.”

 

“Then, Miss Alice, here is your stat sheet for you to go over. As for you Miss Alex, would you like to have your stats read?”

 

“Yes, please.”

 

With that, I went to the other side of the table as I put my hand on the crystal ball, excited to see how the distribution of my stats were compared to what I felt they were.

 

Once the mechanical pen had stopped moving, I could hear the man say out loud:

 

“You two girls really are quite impressive for your levels. I can also see from your skills that you’re both quite determined and independent individuals. I could see why the two of you may have chosen to…”

 

“Mhmm?”

 

“No, nothing. Well then, with this, we are finished with your measurements.”

 

As he said that he passed me my stat sheet as I read: 

 

Race	Human
Level	12
Potential	3
Strength	9
Agility	9
Reactions	12
Dexterity	13
Endurance	10
Physical Resistance	6
Magic Resistance	13
Speed	10
Mana Control	41
Mana Capacity	91
Physical Skills	[Meditation I] [Mental Fortitude II] [Indomitable Will II]
Magic Skills	[Fireball I] [Flame I] [Fire Arrow II] [Fire Column II]
Abilities	[Sense I] [Tracking I] [Mana Eyes I]

 

Seeing how clearly skewed both Ailya’s and my stats were towards our mana control and capacity, I was certain that it was a good decision for the two of us focus on builds that utilize magic. As I was reading this, I heard the man say:

 

“I will now make your adventurer licenses, so if the two of you could infuse some of your mana in these crystals here that would be great.”

 

With that, the man passed each of us a clear crystal as he went to a machine in the back of the room and began working on what I’d guess were our licenses. After about 10 minutes, the man came back with two differently colored metal rectangles as he took our stones and placed them in a hole on the two metal rectangles. With this finished, he turned to us and said:

 

“Now, anytime you enter this guild or any branch for that matter, you just have to infuse your mana into this stone and it will prove that you are the owner of this card. This card here will serve as proper documentation in most areas, even other countries. So make sure you don’t take advantage of the privileges granted by being an owner of an adventurer’s license. The guild retains the right to confiscate the card from you and blacklist you across all of its branches, so try not to break the laws of the nation you are currently in. Is that understood?”

 

“Y-yes. Uhm, excuse me, why are our licenses different colors?”

 

“Ah, that’s because this lass here isn’t 17 years old. So until she turns 15 and reaches at least D-rank, or turns 17 at any rank, her license will remain green in color. We do this due to an old agreement when we negotiated with the countries we operate in to comply with their laws. Although the guild itself does not discriminate due to age, and this kingdom isn’t one that prevents those who are underage from accepting quests, there are some countries that don’t allow those underage from entering the guild, aside for those who meet the D-rank requirement. So try to keep that in mind when you travel elsewhere. Although for now, you don’t really have to mind it too much.”

 

“I see, thank you.”

 

“No, problem. I’m more than happy to answer any questions the two young misses have.”

 

Having received our new cards, as well as the papers containing our stats, the three of us began making our way downstairs as the man claimed that there were suitable jobs that he had recently received that beginners with our capabilities would be able to do…