They had just arrived and entered Greymerrow. After finally crossing passing underneath the gates, Jeremy spoke up "Ok guys, I don't know about you but, I'm willing to kill for a decent meal right about now."
"I don't think that food was that bad," replied Aadam.
"Try living off that slop for several weeks, then tell me your opinion bout it," retorted Jeremy.
"Point there. Ok, I didn't really plan this far ahead so I have no idea what to do now."
"If you need some quick-cash you can try the guilds. That's where we get our missions from," interjected Frank.
"Thanks, can you care to give directions"?
"All right, just follow me. Jeremy, I'm going to go ahead and turn in the mission. Harpie's tonight?"
"Sure. You're buying though," said Jeremy before heading off.
"Goddamn you swindling pig" muttered Frank under his breath. Turning to Aadam, he said "Better keep up kid," before heading off into the streets.
Rushing to catch up, he followed Frank through a maze like structure, weaving in and out of the interwoven streets.
Frank eventually led him to a massive building, looming over all others. It's massive steel doors came off a feeling of intimidation. A variety of creatures walked in and out of the building, surprising Aadam.
"Hey Frank, what are those"?
"The guild doesn't discriminate, not like the others. Many species take up work with the guild in order to earn a living."
"How does this all work"?
They entered the building. "Okay, first thing you need to do is go to that counter over there and get registered. Hey Marianne!"
"Hey there yourself Frank, now what's here you got?" replied Marianne.
"New kid. How much you bet?"
"You know you shouldn't be doing that Frank!" cried Marianne indignantly.
"Screw it. Get him registered will ya"?
Turning to Aadam, Marianne said "Oh you're a young one. Okay I'm going to give you some forms for you to fill out over there, come return them when you're done and I'll fill out the rest."
"Nah skip all that boring stuff, he's another one," interjected Frank.
"Blackhall"?
"There another one?" asked Frank sarcastically.
"I wouldn't be surprised, organizations been sprouting up faster than we can weed them."
"I ain't going to complain. More work means more pay."
"Frank, you got to understand that somethings brewing. Might not be good."
"I know. Trust me. Anyway, let's get this kid readied up."
"Oh my, excuse me. My apologies. Anyways, so since you're a special case all I need is your name, age, and for you to take a couple examinations," Marianne apologized, turning to Aadam.
"It's all right. Well my name's Aadam and I'm 24."
"Okay, now that we got that filled out I'm going to need you to follow Bryce over there to take your exams," she pointed to Bryce.
"Come here kid," Bryce beckoned for Aadam to follow him.
Bryce led Aadam to what appeared to be a training room, filled with various equipment.
"Okay, so to get you started off we're going to need to examine your ranking and where you stand as well as your potential. So for starters I'm going to need you to punch that Forotron over there as hard as you can," he said as he pointed at a machine resembling that of a punching bag.
Aadam walked over to the machine and punched it, meeting a surprising amount of resistance. Turning towards Bryce expectantly, he asked "Now what?"
"Oh sorry, my apologies. I'm going to need you to punch it several more times to get a better idea of your strength to make sure the results are consistent."
Turning back around, Aadam punched the machine again, not damaging the machine in the slightest. Facing Bryce now he asked "Are we done here?"
"Yea, you want to know your results now or later"?
"I'll take them later if you would."
"Sure thing. Now follow me again and I'll get you suited up here."
Bryce walked over to a suspicious looking orb. He then began to inject his mana into it, causing it to glow a vibrant, azure hue.
"All right, I'm going to need you to draw your mana into the orb now to measure your potential."
Listening to Bryce, he drew he mana into the orb causing it to turn to a bright white
Turning to Bryce he asked "What does that mean?"
"It seems like you have pretty decent potential. Nothing to brag about, but nothing to scoff at either. You seem to have an affinity towards nature perhaps. The colors the orb turns to really depends on which deity is overlooking your ceremony."
"So which one was watching"?
"No one knows, they'll typically reveal themselves when you reach a certain level of strength."
"Okay, thanks. Can I know my results now."
"Sure, give me a minute first and I'll fill you in. Gotta drop of your results first so you can get your ID faster."
He turned the corner, walking into a room. From the outside one could only hear the mechanical whirring of machines as the results were evaluated and the ID was printed.
Bryce appeared again, "It'll take some time to finish so let me explain your results while we wait. So you can exert approximately 52 kilograms when you punch, much stronger than the average human, much stronger than your normal human. Weaker than pretty much everyone else though. You got decent potential so if you play your cards right you can probably live comfortably for the rest of you life. But without a doubt, you're lacking."
"Wait, so how can I impr-."
"Hold that thought. Seems like it's done." He walked inside and retrieved Aadam's ID for him.
"Here you go, take that to Marianne and you should be set. Okay, well i'll be off I got others waiting ya know"?
"Wai-," Bryce had already walked off.
Turning around dejectedly, he made his way back to Marianne.
"So I got my ID now. So what do I do know"?
"Well since you're a F rank you can take some of the lower missions. Here take a look."
"Wait. What do you mean by rank"?
"Oh sorry, forgive me. I forgot you're new to this, you see rankings is what we use to determine the strength levels of the members of the guild. By accumulating points by completing missions one can eventually rise in rank. Or if you complete something significant you can take the Crimson Trial to test your luck at a promotion. Based off the results, you're a F rank right now. So that means that you're one the weakest of the guild, thus you won't get as many benefits. Also the rewards you can get from the missions you complete are pretty limited. I'll suggest completing some missions to start you off."
"Thank you for explaining, now what mission do you suggest I take"?