"I want to take this Quest!"
That was the words Christa said to the guild receptionist when she suddenly placed a piece of paper, printed with a Quest that she took from the quest board. Yes, she followed the two people she was stalking inside the Adventurers' Guild. The interior looks just like any normal Adventurers' guild - Rectangular shaped tables, two rectangular chairs placed on each side of the tables, a liquor cabinet that is full of different kinds of wines, a stairway that leads to the second floor where private information or important missions such as raiding are being discussed, some green plants placed on certain places in the guild and a wall of bricks surrounding them.
The receptionist took a glance at the request paper that seemed to be a job only Emerald or Diamond ranked adventurers could take - A mission to slay a Demon that mysteriously appeared and is attacking remote villages.
"Uh... this request can only be taken by an adventurer whose ranks are Emerald or Diamond. And, you haven't registered yourself as an adventurer yet."
This was the first time that Christa left the forest and went to a city. With Angelika, an Adventurer who forgot to teach her how things work in the world of adventurers, of course, the news of a ranking system did not reach her.
Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Amethyst, Platinum, Emerald, and Diamond. These are the ranks that determine the adventurers' status based on their feats and their strength. Adventurers can climb the ranks by either taking quests until they meet certain criteria to rank up or by achieving a great feat that will make their ranks leap to higher ranks than normal. Additionally, adventurers who are Copper to Gold ranks has five divisions, with this system, only the adventurers who reached the second or first division of a certain rank can take difficult yet, appropriate quests for their respective ranks.
But before the receptionist tends to the registrant's paperwork, the registrant must undergo an evaluation in which their physical and magical capabilities are going to be tested and evaluated. Depending on the result, the adventurers will get one of the eight ranks. While most adventurers received the three lower ranks, there are extremely rare cases where adventurers received the Emerald rank right after their evaluation.
"Then, I'll register now."
"Alright, please follow me."
The receptionist directed Christa to the Evaluation Hourglass, an hourglass that is almost the size of a man with a Spherical Shaped Crystal placed right in the middle between the bulbs. And a base that is full of carvings that seemed to be magic letters.
"Just place your hand in the crystal and release your power into it so the Evaluation Hourglass can determine your capabilities."
"Alright."
Just like what the receptionist instructed to Christa, she placed one of her hands to the crystal. The other adventurers who are sitting from their chairs have begun to give their attention to the girl who is about to undergo her evaluation. This is how most of the party of adventurers is formed. Whenever there's a new adventurer undergoing the same evaluation test, those who are looking for a new member will take their opportunity to watch the test. If the new adventurer got the same rank as them, they'll immediately invite them to join their party. However, if the new adventurer did not meet what they expect, they'll simply just move on and wait for a new adventurer to be evaluated.
The second her hand touched the crystal, Christa released both her magic power and energy. Then, the crystal started glowing light and an image of a clockwork spinning and circling around the bulbs have appeared. At the same time, the carvings on the clockwork's base have also started glowing with light as a magic circle appeared both at the top and the bottom of the hourglass.
Everything seemed going smoothly until a sound of something cracking could be heard in the adventurers' guild.
"What's that sound?"
"Sounds like something cracking."
It was actually the sphere that Christa puts her hand on. The whole Evaluation Hourglass continues to have cracks in every part of it - From the crystal itself, the bulbs, and to its base. It's as if it already reached the full capacity of the power it could take and the power inside is desperately trying to find a way out. Eventually, the hourglass could not hold the power any longer and it explodes.
"What the heck?!"
"What happened to that hourglass?"
"A malfunction?"
'I haven't even reached half of my power... maybe I should've held back more.'
The adventurers who witnessed the sudden explosion were all surprised and was left speechless. Some thought it was because of a malfunction or due to it being old and was never replaced since, while the others think it's because the hourglass could not measure Christa due to her being ridiculously strong. The guild master heard the commotion and decided to come to the reception hall. There, he saw the Evaluation Hourglass shattered across the whole reception hall.
"What happened here?"
"We have a new adventurer undergoing an evaluation when the Evaluation Hourglass suddenly exploded... We thought it was some kind of an error..."
The receptionist pointed at Christa as she responded to the guild master.
"Is that the girl that undergo the evaluation."
"Yes, Guild Master."
"H... hello."
The guild master glanced at Christa as if he was measuring her, just like what an Evaluation Hourglass is supposed to do.
"Replace the hourglass with the spare one in the back. I'll do the evaluation myself."
The receptionist then calls the other staff to replace the broken hourglass.
"Oh! The Guild Master himself will evaluate her."
"The Guild Master evaluates adventurers more accurate than the Evaluation Hourglass, this might be good!"
'Seems like this Guild Master guy is an incredible person...'
Christa thought to herself as she watched the people getting worked up from what is going to happen. The guild master approached and spoke to Christa...
"Show me your power."
"Alright..."
'This time, I'll try to hold back a bit more.'
A few moments after the guild master evaluated Christa.
"I think I held back a bit too much..."
Christa spoke in an underlying tone as she watched the silver dog tag swaying left and right while her hand is holding it close to her face.
Inside the Adventurers' Guild, where Christa was in the middle of being evaluated by the guild master himself. Just like being evaluated by the hourglass that usually takes only a minute or two, the guild master only stared at Christa to measure her strength. It didn't take long before the guild master had finished measuring her.
"In terms of both raw strength and magic, you are fit to be in silver."
The Guild Master spoke as if he was disappointed at the result.
"Silver? The third lowest rank?!"
Most of the adventurers who came to watch the evaluation, the ones who thought that the cause of the hourglass to break was her immeasurable strength were left in disappointment.
"I thought she was another one who will get a high rank right after the evaluation."
"I guess it's only because the hourglass got really rusty and reached its limit."
After that, the adventurers went back to their usual routine - Sitting on the chairs, chatting with others, taking missions, and going out.
"I was hoping to get a high rank so I can get some really good quests but, I broke that Evaluation Hourglass so I couldn't bring myself to ask the Guild Master to reevaluate me."
She then wears the dog tag around her neck like a necklace. She looked at it hanging on her neck before letting out a sigh.
"I guess I'll just go and finish some quests to rank up and get the highest rank."
"You're going to take a quest?"
"Ah?"
A voice of a man spoke to Christa. When she turned her face forward, a man and a woman can be seen standing and facing towards Christa. It was the two who Christa followed to the Adventurers' Guild.
The man can be seen wearing a headband that circles from his forehead to the back that which hides a portion of his silver hair, brown long sleeve shirt with leather white gloves and a black gauntlet, brown pants that fits with the shirt altogether with a pair of brown leather boots, and a sword sheath hanging on his back. While the woman is wearing a mix of brown and white sleeve dress that extends to her thighs with a belt on her waist and another one circling from her right shoulder to her waist, then a breastplate, and a pair of brown heels while her black hair only extends to her shoulders. One could tell that the design on their clothes matches the other.
"Uh... yeah. I'm going to take a quest."
"You were evaluated as a silver 1st division, right? We saw you being evaluated by the Guild Master himself."
"I heard the Guild Master only evaluates Adventurers who are certain to get high ranks. But I guess everyone makes mistakes."
The girl laughed and Christa awkwardly did the same.
'Are you trying to say that the Guild Master mistakenly thought I'm someone who will get a high rank after breaking that hourglass?'
Christa told to herself as the two continue to speak.
"Hey, since we three have the same rank, why don't you join us."
"Join you? A party?"
"Yes. We got a quest to kill and destroy a goblins' nest nearby a remote village and having another person with us would be a great help."
'Eh...? Goblin might be the weakest monster I've ever encountered before. Although they gave me a hard time back in the day.'
Christa was disappointed. Of course, there's nothing she can do but do a quest that seemed easy enough for her alone. Because if she does nothing, she'll never be able to climb the ranks. And so...
"Well, I guess I got no choice. Alright, I'll join you."
"Thank you, you'll be a big help. We will set off immediately."
After that, all three of them immediately embarked on their quest to kill and destroy a goblins' nest.
Meanwhile, inside the Adventurers' Guild, at the Guild Master's room. A receptionist came in to report to the Guild Master that the shattered pieces of the Evaluation Hourglass have been removed from the reception hall and have replaced with a new Evaluation Hourglass. Then the receptionist spoke about what happened a bit ago.
"I still can't believe that the Evaluation Hourglass suddenly blew up. I was pretty sure we are doing daily maintenance for it and have not seen any sign of it being on the verge of collapsing."
"It was that girl that broke the hourglass."
"The new silver ranked adventurer? Isn't it impossible for a low-rank adventurer to destroy the Evaluation Hourglass to pieces? You're the one that said only someone who is in the level of a Diamond rank can do it, Guild Master."
"It's true. However, when I looked at her, I can tell that she is incredibly strong. Still, she decided to hide it for whatever reason."
"She's hiding her power, huh? what a strange adventurer."
"But what's more strange is when she hid her power right after being evaluated. It happened so fast that it feels like she's not hiding it on purpose. It's like she didn't do it by herself. It felt like something is hiding her power for her."