Yasuo had a depressed look on his face on his way to town.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked him.
Yasuo sadly looked her way. "How old do you think I am?"
"You're younger than me for sure... twelve?"
The depression sunk in deeper.
"What'd I say?"
—
At the entrance to the town there was a tall iron gate. The entire city was encircled by an even-higher brick wall fifty meters tall.
There were six guards near the gate with spears in their hands. They were covered in leather and iron armor.
"State your business."
The girl spoke up. "Um, we're just here to become adventurers! We mean no harm!"
Yasuo had a mischievous look on his face. "Yeah right," he thought, "Wait until I get used to this world, I'll conquer this entire nation."
The guards eyed the both of them down. "Very well."
They stepped aside as the gates slowly opened.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Alverus."
Yasuo's face lit up with excitement as he scanned his surroundings. In the far back of the town was a grand castle. The other buildings were made out of a deep red-orange colored brick.
The girl Yasuo was with marveled at the sight. "It's beautiful! Isn't it, um... oh right, we never gave each other our names! I'm Rieko!"
"I'm Yasuo." He was impressed with the town as well. Even though he came from a far more advanced society, this was still a sight to behold.
The guild of the town was relatively close to the city entrance. The duo went inside.
It was a relatively large building. The first thing they saw upon entering were the tables and chairs all over the room. It was like some extra-large café of sorts. All kinds of people were sitting down having a drink, reading, or just conversating. Beautiful waitresses served the tables.
One of the waitresses came up to Yasuo. She gave him a slight bow. "Hi! I'm Mogi! Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild of Alverus! What can I do for you two today?"
Yasuo appeared innocent on the outside. ("Woah, who's this hot chick? She's gorgeous!! Long pink hair, slim build, and a cute voice? Gold mine!!")
"I'd like to become an adventurer please!" Rieko said enthusiastically.
"You too?" Mogi asked. She was looking at Yasuo.
He paused for a moment then nodded. "Sure, why not?"
Mogi started walking to the back of the room. "Follow me then!"
She took them to a room with a dark oak table in the center. She took out a roll of paper and spread it out. It was yellowed but blank.
"What's this for?" Yasuo asked. ("Going by stereotypes, our power is going to be tested to determine our ranks. This confirms that this world really does come with some mysterious powers.)
Mogi smiled sweetly. "It's the Sacred Page! It's a one-of-one artifact measures your level of soul cultivation. It'll also determine what rank you'll begin with. Oh, and before we begin, are you two in a party?"
"Party?" Yasuo asked. ("I knew it. It's exactly as I thought it was.")
"She means if we're going to be working together." Rieko said.
Mogi nodded. "Being in a party is beneficial to all members. You both will start at the same rank, and that rank will be a good sign to other adventurers that you may want to recruit!"
"Sounds fun! Want to?" Rieko asked.
Yasuo nodded. "Sure. I need as much help as possible." ("A good sign? To who? Fodder level two single dads?")
Mogi held her hand out towards the paper. "Well, go ahead. Just place your palm in the center."
Rieko put her hand on top of the paper. White wispy trails of energy flew out of the page.
Some text burned itself into the paper on the far right side.
{ Tier 1 Basic Earthly Realm
Affinity: Light, Wind
Weaknesses: Dark, Stone }
Mogi smiled and nodded. "You're average for a starter, not too bad if you ask me! As you continue working as an adventurer you'll be able to cultivate and grow stronger so don't worry."
Yasuo was completely unimpressed. "She's complete garbage..." he thought.
The text on the page disappeared. An identification card formed on top of it.
Rieko picked it up. She brimmed to the top with excitement.
Yasuo took a peek. "You don't have a family name?"
Rieko looked at him halfway. "You're joking right? Don't you know that family names are reserved for nobles? What land do you come from really?"
"Let's not talk about that. I'll just go ahead and get my rank."
He placed his hand on the page. White sparkling light flew out of it. The text burned into the page with a different intensity than before.
{ Unknown
Affinity: Unknown
Weaknesses: Unknown }
Yasuo half-smiled. "Didn't expect that one…" he thought.
Mogi seemed confused. "Huh. That's odd. It looks like your soul is too complex for the scroll to register it." She started flipping through the book pages. "That's fine. If I recall the only way that your power wouldn't register is if you're a..."
She dropped the book. "No way…!! A god?!!"
Rieko took some steps back. "Wait… really?! You didn't say anything about being a god!!"
Yasuo picked up his card. "I didn't think it was all that important."
"Let me see that." Mogi said.
Yasuo handed her his card. She took a look. "Oh Yasuo? You have a family name?"
Rieko took another few steps back. "You're a noble too?!"
Yasuo waved his hands defensively. "No, no not at all! I'm not a noble I swear..."
Mogi tilted her head. "I've never heard of the family name Oh... but this is his real name. You can't trick the Sacred Page. I don't know how a kid like you can be a god but..."
"I'm sixteen!!" Yasuo intersected. ("Get it right lady, or I won't treat you kindly in the future.")
Rieko took even more steps back. She gasped. "You're sixteen?!! What other surprises do you behold?!"
"Don't act so surprised!!" Yasuo yelled.
Mogi put her hand to her mouth. "This is unreal..." She handed his card back.
"What's so crazy about gods? They rare or something?"
Mogi looked at him. "You're the first god this land has seen in a hundred years. This is actually a super big deal!"
Yasuo smirked.
"What's that degenerate look on his face?" Rieko thought.
Mogi tapped both of Rieko and Yasuo's cards. They turned to a shiny golden color. "I can start you two off as gold adventurers at the highest. Yasuo, by yourself you'd of course be the highest rank but I have to take consideration for your party members."
Yasuo nodded. "Yeah, that's fine!" ("Yeah right, I'm ditching this girl as soon as I get a good reason to.")
Mogi sent them off as gold adventurers.
—
Yasuo and Rieko sat at a table, examining their new adventurer's cards. Rieko was eyeballing Yasuo closely.
"Something up?" he asked.
"What does it feel like to be divine?"
He shrugged. "Dunno yet. I guess we'll see."
"So you wanna find a job to do?"
Yasuo looked around the guild tavern. "Actually I'd like to find more party members. Two isn't enough. All things considered we still need two more people to give us a good balance." ("At least give me someone with actual standing around here…")
"For a rookie you're awfully reliable." Rieko said.
"Well now that I've gotten the gist of it all, it's just your average guild. Our party has only two members, so it's just common sense at this point."
Rieko rested her head on her right hand. "You're right, but where are we gonna find members? I'm sure just about anyone'll join when they hear that you're a god, but I feel like we should be a bit more careful in choosing?"
Yasuo nodded. "I thought the same thing." He stood up. "But actually I just remembered that I'm dead broke and have nowhere to stay, so we should probably do some sort of work today."
They walked up to the bulletin board where jobs were posted.
"What about this one? Runaway pigs. Find them all and bring them back to me. Careful, they bite." Rieko read.
Yasuo frowned at the remark. "That sounds terrible. Ooh, this looks fun!"
He grabbed the paper off of the board and read the description. "Dangerous Mystical Cave. Guarded by a wild beast. Strong adventurers needed. Go at your own risk."
Rieko shrieked. "It says 'go at your own risk'!! That means we could die in there!!"
Yasuo folded up the paper and pocketed it. "Don't be such a wimp. That makes it all the more worth to go! We'll be fine, it only said wild beast. How hard could it be?" He started marching out of the guild.
Rieko's mouth was still hanging open.
Yasuo shrugged it off. "Let's get a move on!"