The window on the receptionist table is a simple square with the size that can fit three human hands at the same time. In front of the window is a single table, which seemed to be where adventurers wrote stuff and placed items.
Behind the window is the employee's desk. From what I can see, it's nearly filled with papers. I guess the employees are basically secretaries.
As the line slowly reduces, I can see the receptionist's face clearly. It's a short lady around her mid twenties, wearing what I believe is the employee's suit. Her black hair goes only until the neck. Her skin is somewhat chocolate and her bright red eyes with her thick eyebrows are somewhat scary. The employee's attires she wore are black, with a blue tie decorating her neck.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Office, how can I help you?"
She is surprisingly polite, which is so unlike her appearance.
"Yes. We are here to sign her up as an adventurer."
The knight lady spoke to the receptionist on my behalf. It does feel like having a henchman, but in reality, she just does it so I won't mess things up.
The receptionist lady understood the situation, so she just pulled out a paper.
"All right then. Let's start with the name."
The knight lady looked at me upon the question the receptionist gave.
Oh right, I'm supposed to answer.
"Rize. Rize Violet."
"Hmm... Weird name."
Excuse me? That name is sick as hell!
"Birth date? Origin?"
"Emm..."
"And... birth date?"
"I am… not sure."
She then stopped writing. I thought for sure I'm gonna get in trouble. But then...
"Ah, that's fine. We can look it up!"
She suddenly walked to the back.
Wait, you can look up your birth date?
She came back holding a wooden box. She opened it and took out... what seemed to be a tool, that looks nearly like a magnifying glass.
The shape looks exactly like a magnifying glass. But the glass in the middle is dark blue.
That is certainly not a normal glass.
"Okay. Would you please look straight at me."
She said in a cheerful tone. She is actually quite nice.
I looked at her face after she said that and as I stared at her, she raised the magnifier in front of her face. And as she stared at it, some black stuff was showing up on the magnifier's glass. No, those are symbols. A writing.
"Okay, got it! You were born on the 10th of Manusi, 17 years ago."
Holy shit…
First of all, not only did that thing somehow guess my age correctly, but also, how? That thing can read a person's age so easily??
From the sounds of it, it seems like this body is the same age as my old one. Which takes me to the question. What happened to my old cut-in-half body?
Also… was that thing using…
"M-Magic?"
"Yep! This thing is the magic identifier glass. It can read any data about you. Your age, gender, even your magic points."
Holy mother of dragons.
This is the world of magic. And I just witnessed that very thing, right in front of my eyes.
Holy shit.
The dream of all men, besides boobs, of course.
Magic. I'm so goddamn happy.
"Magic... points?"
She mentioned something, and it piqued more of my interest.
"Yes. The one thing we used to estimate our magic strength and abilities. This item also has the ability to check it."
"Let's continue with the signing."
The knight lady had to ruin it. She really wants to leave immediately. From her face, I can see that she doesn't like it here.
"Okay... then all you have to do is place your hand here, then I can immediately create your adventurer identification card."
The receptionist lady pushed a piece of glass to the table in front of me. Must be another magic tool to do something useful.
This is sooo cool…
I put my palm on the glass, and it suddenly brightened up. I feared that my palms would get burned to ashes, but after a few seconds, the glow disappeared.
"Thanks! Now, please wait for a while until this card is finished. After that I will call you in for the test!"
"Wait, test?"
"Let's go."
Seemed like the knight lady, Vane, knew I was going to ask more questions. So she pulled me backwards out of the line immediately so I wouldn't spend any more time here than necessary.
She pulled all the way to the outside, and now we are at the large road again.
"Ok, let me go here."
I asked her to let her hand go right by the office's entrance. I can see her face becoming cold again, but for some reason, I don't feel like she was angry at me.
"Honestly, let me ask the questions, will you?"
"Honestly, you shouldn't even be here."
"H-Huh…? Why?"
She lets out a sigh. In her eyes, I can tell she is being serious and spoke from her heart.
"Look at you. Fragile body, beautiful face, you can't even walk far. You are too weak to be able to become an adventurer."
O-Oh…
I wasn't expecting her to be so considerate…
"Go become something else. You can always learn how to cook. Guys love girls who can cook. Why bother being an adventurer? This very job that you wanted can actually kill you."
From what she is saying. She does have a point.
But, I won't rely on other people here. I have to find the answer on my own. If I am up against that ghoul, who the hell is even strong enough to face that thing?
My biggest guess is that the ghoul also comes from this place, this world. And that white chick is most likely the same too. So in order to find my answers, I will have to gain my own knowledge and abilities so I can beat that shitty ghoul's ass. And maybe, find a way back to my world. My home.
"I see… I understand that perspective, but I apologize. I have… my reasons for doing this."
I said to her firmly, this time showing my full confidence. Seeing this, the knight lady let out a sigh.
Vane seemed to have given up. She lowered her head for a while and then raised them again.
"All right. Don't say I didn't warn you. Then I guess, this is where we part ways."
She turned her body towards the road behind her.
"S-So early?"
"My work is to guide you until you have issued an identification card. Now that it's being made, I can take leave."
"Oh, I see… I understand. Thank you so much, miss Vane."
I let out my right hand for a handshake. She has helped me a bunch without her realizing. Me being blind about everything in this world, what she just did, I couldn't forget her.
I also want to thank her for being considerate about my well being. To care about a random stranger like that, not just anyone can do that.
She is… a nice person.
"Call me Vane. Good luck with your future endeavors, Adventurer."
After the handshake, she nodded and turned around to leave.
Damn, she is so cool… I hope we get the chance to see one another again, someday.
I went back inside and waited by the entrance. After a few minutes, the receptionist lady called for me, saying that my card was finished.
"Here you go, this is your card."
The receptionist lady gave me a card that's made out of glass. It made me confused as to how this is not plastic.
The card is just a simple identification card, but it seemed to be of a much higher quality than any card back in my world. It looks like it's made out of glass.
No wait, magic glass?
It says my name, age, origin, and on the right is a black square with a symbol written in white that I couldn't understand. By the way, all these are written with symbols that I don't recognize. I'm basically just guessing what they probably meant.
"Oh… and I heard there is a test?"
"Yes, there is. To become a fully fledged 'Red' ranked adventurer, you have to take a test."
"Hmm... Can you give me more details?"
"Well, for starters, the test normally will take place in the arena, but currently the arena is being renovated. So instead, in the back, there is a small training area. The test will take place there instead of the arena.
All you have to do is spar with the tester, and let him decide whether or not you are worthy."
"Oh..."
I have to fight?
The only experience I have of fighting someone is when I punch my bully in the face, during the second year of junior school. After that, we got into a slight quarrel, then the teacher came and stopped the fight. By the time he came, I was already crying.
Haha, come to think about it, that was so pathetic.
"Don't worry about anyone else seeing you during the test. There weren't that many applicants nowadays. Because we normally reject them since the arena is being renovated. But since you are a special case, we can do the test right here and now!"
She must've seen my worried face.
So people don't take the test now? Can I also ask for a delay?
Wait, no. She clearly said I am a special case, since a knight brought me in. I guess things can't be delayed.
"I see. Then, what do I need for the test?"
"A strong mind and will?"
"Oh... so... when can I take the test?"
.
She took me to the back arena immediately. There wasn't anyone else beside me at the receptionist desk, so she asked her friend to switch with her for a while, while she guided me to the test arena.
The back arena is quite spacious. The ground is a tough dirt, while the walls are from the houses and buildings surrounding it.
At the side of the arena, there's a space with multiple racks of weaponry. I can see swords, axes, basically all medieval weapons. I studied the weapons rack, and it looks like some of the weapons I recognize are from the old medieval times.
This is more like an outdoor barracks than an arena. Then again, the actual arena is being renovated.
There is already a person here. Judging from his massive body size, I am assuming that he is the tester that the receptionist lady mentioned.
He was polishing his huge sword when we came in. He seemed to be alone here, at least until we arrived.
By the way, that guy is huge. His muscles are nearly as big as my new head, and his whole body is almost two meters tall. It seemed like he was quite old, like around the early thirties. But who knows, looks can be deceiving.
He stood up when me and the receptionist lady came in. As he stood up, the packs on his naked chest grew bigger and bigger. His brown muscle skin and his bald head reflected the sunlight towards me.
He lifted his huge gigantic sword to stand it up by piercing the ground. He doesn't seem to wear anything but pants and a few belts on his chest.
Tch! I'm jealous of those muscles.
The big guy looks at me with confusion, but I know that he understands what is going on.
"Another one?"
Surprisingly, his voice is quite soft. But he spoke it in a tough tone, so I can tell he is definitely not some chicken.
"Yes. She came with a knight, so it can't wait. Please be nice to her."
Wait, what do you mean be nice?
"If I am nice, she won't fit to become an adventurer. Sit down, Klane."
It appears the name of this receptionist lady is Klane. I'll bear that in mind.
The receptionist lady, also known as Klane, went to the seat the tester sat before and sat down. She gave me a thumbs up with a serious face, while I just gave her a smile.
I turned my gaze back to the big guy. He had his giant sword on his shoulder and looked at me like I'm some sort of ant.
From this situation alone, I can already tell what kind of test this is.
I… will have to fight him.
"Grab a weapon, little lady!"