Rika opened the door of the guild hall of the kingdom of Satirica and entered. Loki followed her and looked around inside the infrastructure. The guild hall was a massive dome with wooden tables and chairs scattered around. The adventurers sitting on the chairs darted their eyes on Loki, who was a new face.
"Lian! Ariel!" Rika screamed as she waved her hand at them.
From a distance were two human girls in their early twenties. The other one had long brown hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing circular glasses hiding her almond-brown eyes. She was wearing a thigh-length dress that showed her porcelain white legs, along with knee-length boots. She was holding an iron staff in her hands. She was the mage of their party, Lian.
Ariel, on the other hand, had back-length loosened straight blonde hair that swayed as she moved her head toward Rika. Her blue eyes switched between Rika and Loki who was walking with her. She had whiter skin than both Lian and Rika. She was wearing a hunter garb which covered a huge part of her body, but it could not hide the slender shapes of her body—rather, it complimented them. Dangling on her back was an iron bow and arrows. She was the ranger of their party, Ariel.
Rika and Loki reached the two.
"What took you so long, Rika?" Ariel asked but her eyes were drawn to Loki, standing silently while looking at them.
"My bad, but the important thing is I am here now," Rika said with a big smile. "Anyway, I brought my friend with me."
Loki put his hand on his chest and slowly bowed. "It is nice to meet you, my name is Loki Morningwood." Then, he smirked, which immediately took the full attention of Ariel and Lian. "I am a traveler."
"A traveler, I see," Ariel said and handed her hand to Loki. "My name is Ariel Satirica, it's nice meeting you too, Loki Morningwood."
Loki grabbed her hand and instantly felt the softness of her hand. 'Ah... So soft, it feels like I am holding a warm cotton.' He thought to himself. "Satirica? Isn't that the name of the kingdom... Are you by chance..." Loki said with his baritone voice and pulled his hand from her gentle grip.
"She's the youngest daughter of the king and the fourth princess of the kingdom of Satirica," Rika said. "And Ariel, Loki is here to register as an adventurer, and he wants to join our party."
"I see. Although my standing in this kingdom is common knowledge, I hope that once you join our party, you treat me as an adventurer—and not as a princess." Ariel said with a smile, staring at Loki's face.
Half of Loki's lips rose. "Then, we have an understanding."
"And Lian here is a little bit shy, but don't worry, once she knows you enough, she will show her true self," Rika said.
"Rika..." Lian shyly said. She raised her head and stared at Loki for a second, then put her gaze down again while playing with her fingers. "It is nice meeting you... Loki."
"She's my cousin," Ariel said.
"I would say that it surprised me to know that Rika is part of a party consisting of very important people," Loki said.
"Lady Milfy is a very influential person in this kingdom after all. The three of us have known each other since we were children and agreed to become adventurers—despite the opposition of our parents... Especially my father and Lady Milfy." Ariel said.
Rika chuckled and scratched the back of her head. "Now, before we go adventuring, let's have you registered first, Loki."
"Let's go," Loki said.
The four of them walked toward the registrar but Rika was the only one who talked to the clerk, leaving Loki, Ariel, and Lian behind.
"So, when did you meet?" Ariel asked, not even trying to hide the curiosity in her voice while looking at Loki's face.
"I met her and Milfy inside the forest of Echo Peak yesterday, they were in the middle of trouble so I helped," Loki said. 'Even though my ability was the one that caused the problem in the first place.' Loki thought to himself.
"I see," Ariel said, nodding.
"Loki, come here," Rika said, beside her was the clerk of the guild.
Loki walked toward them and stared at the thing the clerk brought out from the counter. A wheeled wooden table with a crystal ball in the middle.
The bunny girl clerk walked toward Loki and gave him a piece of paper. "I need you to answer this answer sheet before registering you to be an adventurer," she said.
Loki took the paper and grabbed the quill pen on the table. Then he answered the questions and once he was done, he returned the paper to the clerk.
The clerk read the information and slowly nodded. "Mister Loki Morningwood, 24 years old, and a traveler with no permanent address. I am assuming you are not planning to stay long in this kingdom."
"Yes. I am planning to stay for a while but not permanently." Loki answered. "Do I need to register in every kingdom to continue being an adventurer?"
"No. You just need to register once and your information will be transmitted to our main branch." The clerk said. "Now, Mister Morningwood, put your hand on that ball so we can read your magical power. So we can easily identify what rank we can assign you. The ranking can be from Class F Rank to Class S. And the quest that you can take is based on your rank."
"I see," Loki said and put his hand on the crystal ball. "I am also curious about my power level, this will give me an idea." He said and relaxed his body while staring at the crystal ball. 'I just hope I will get a high grade.' He thought.
His wish would be granted.
At first, the crystal ball lit up weakly, then, the light turned off. When everyone thought it was done, the crystal ball lit up again, and flickered very fast, like a broken light bulb.
"I think... There is something wrong with this thing." Loki said calmly.
All the eyes inside the guild hall darted to the crystal ball seemingly rampaging.
"It is shaking," Loki said as the wooden table started to shake violently while making an eerie sound. Then, Loki looked around and shouted, "Get the fuck down!"
Then, there was an explosion of white light that engulfed the entire area. Fortunately, the light was harmless to everyone and everything around it. It just released the overwhelming magic energy it received.
The moment the blinding light disappeared, what was left behind was Loki, who was crouching a meter away from the table, covering his face. He stood up while putting his hand down and wandered his eyes throughout the area. He released a sigh of relief upon seeing that everyone was fine.
Their eyes darted to the crystal ball, which was full of cracks—then, crumbled and fell apart. They darted their wide eyes at Loki as they realized what just happened.
"Loki Morningwood..." Said the clerk as she slowly stood up and wrote something on the paper before announcing it. "Class S Rank."