Ms. Zenearith's words were on point.
Although it didn't feel too good to be read like a book, Aster nodded before showing her the tablet's screen. "I want to choose this party." He said with a resolute attitude.
"Hmm? Let's see... Ah." She raised a short gasp as she smiled once more. "Hmm, well, you seem alright. I'll call your party member then. She should be here in three minutes, so just sit down at an open table while you wait."
"Alright."
Aster responded before grabbing his tablet and heading back to the table he was using earlier. Even then, he could still feel gazes turned toward his back. His being covered from head to toe could be one thing, but his small stature compared to the others was probably the main cause.
Even though his height, after the upgrade from Dr. Zell's laboratory, reached 1.82 meters, his height couldn't even reach the shoulders of everyone else in the room. In fact, he was a little smaller compared to even women, like Ms. Zenearith, who was about 1.9 meters tall.
Due to that, Aster was feeling small, both physically and emotionally. He pulled his hood deeper, keeping quiet in his corner while waiting, ignoring the jeers he could lightly hear coming from those around.
"Look at that guy; he's definitely weak!"
"Hahaha! Doubt if he can find any decent party to go with!"
"Wait, didn't that useless one appear here a few days ago too?"
"Oh, right! Hahahah! They could party together, two useless level ones, a pair made in heaven!"
"..."
They called Aster "weak" or "useless," which made his heart ache a little.
However, he didn't dare to fight back. One thing is that he's sure they're at a higher level than him. Two is that there's more of them and him alone. And three, he didn't dare waste his breath on a useless struggle.
'Even if I fight them, it's not like I'd level up.'
From his research last night, he discovered the concept of leveling up. It was explained that when adventurers kill monsters, the excess mana released after killing an enemy gets absorbed by their bodies, enhancing it and increasing their level after reaching a certain threshold.
Aster was looking forward to leveling up! He discovered that through the Adventurer's Card, he could "allocate" free stat points upon reaching the next level!
'If I increase my constitution, then my body should become healthier and better!'
He recalled being shocked upon seeing "2" as the value of his Constitution stat. It was extremely important to him as it was a stat related to health and stamina. As such, he plan to raise it up to a reasonable value first before increasing other stats.
"But with my starting point this low, I'd be quite a high level before I can add points to my other stats." He sighed.
*BAM!*
At that moment, the door on the entrance slammed in as an orange figure dashed forward at an amazing speed. "She must be in a hurry," Aster mused as he watched her go straight to Ms. Zenearith and ask.
"Miss Zena, is it true that you found someone who'd party with me?!" She exclaimed in a loud voice. "Where are they?!"
The receptionist rested her cheek on her palm as she smiled. "Fufu, calm down, Cassy. It's not like the person's going to run away. He's right there. Mr. Aster, please come over here!"
"... Huh?"
Aster moved to the counter as he was called, but as he did, he was staring at the woman who was standing there already.
She had striking orange hair and similar powerful, big, orange eyes. On top of her head, two long ears stood up in attention, telling him that the other party was a rabbit beastman. Aster stopped a meter away before asking Zenearith.
"Don't tell me, is this pretty lady the other member?"
"P-Pretty?!" The rabbit beastwoman, Cassy, blushed as she heard Aster's praise.
Zenearith, watching their exchange, smiled lightly before nudging Cassy. "As the one who created the party request, go introduce yourself first."
"Ah! R-Right! Ahem!"
Cassy cleared her throat before standing straight, placing a hand over the slight bulge on her chest, covered by the white cleric robe she was wearing, and introducing herself.
"I'm Cassandra Bright, a Rabbit Beastman Cleric! I can use Minor Heal 3 times a day! Pleased to meet you!"
As she finished her introduction, she quickly turned to gauge Aster's reaction. After all, usually, the other party would look at her in disdain after hearing she could only use 3 heals a day despite being a cleric.
A usual level 1 cleric had at least 10 heals, after all. Her being able to use not even half of that tells us that she had low wisdom and intelligence stats. In short, she's a "defective healer" from other's perspectives.
Aster, however, was unaware of such things. He did research things, but it's not like he can learn "everything" in just one night. He had to narrow down what he searched for to only those that he'd immediately need. Finding what "normal" was for each class wasn't included in that.
After hearing her introduction, Aster smiled behind his scarf before speaking.
"I'm Aster Mistral. I can't use magic, but I have a magic-carved seal that I can use to freeze things. I am pleased to meet you."
He was still not done studying how to use it, but his words didn't contain any lies. He "could" use it, after all, just that it takes time to concentrate first.
"Aster, is it... I remembered it! You can call me Cassy too, since Cassandra is a bit of a mouthful!" Cassy exclaimed with a bright smile.
"Got it, Cassy." He nodded. "Then, you can call me Aster, or Star, my nickname. Either is fine with me."
"Oh, then, I'll go with Star, since it's shorter!"
"Are you two done with your introductions?"
As if waiting for the perfect timing, Ms. Zenearith interjected. "Now, if you two really want to become party members, sign your names on this document." She explained. "As you know, this document is a magic contract, so its contents can't be broken, or else you'd face punishment."
Aster took it from her and began reading its contents. Cassy moved to his left shoulder and peeked over, reading it along with him.
Basically, it was just a normal contract for an adventure party. The main items were the equal division of loot among each member and the duration of 1 week. "Why one week?" Aster asked, curious.
"Ah, it's because it's your first time working together. It's like a trial version, and if you two synergize well, you can renew it for a longer duration. If not, you can split up early before things get worse."
"Got it."
As Aster answered, he quickly wrote down his name on one of the eight blanks. As he did, he turned to the back and passed the contract to Cassy. As she received it, she wrote down her name while smiling before returning it to Zenearith. "Here, Ms. Zena!"
After looking at the contract, she nodded her head and smiled. "With this, your contract is established. You can confirm it with your Adventurer's cards. Check the Party Members Column."
Aster did as told and checked. And, to his surprise, it really did show that "Cassandra Bright" was added. Seeing that, he couldn't hold back a smile.
"With this, we can finally go to the dungeon!"