"We will now start the registration procedure. Let's start with you three. Can I get your guild-certified cards?" Elina asked with a trained smile.
"Yeah, here's my card," Barren said first.
"Okay, now put your hand on the ball for verification."
When Barren placed his hand on the ball, a strange light began emanating from it. Letters started appearing within the light.
Barren Blackthorn (Male)
Rank: Gold
Magical Aptitude: Wind, Water, and Light
Kathleen was shocked—she had never seen anything like this in her life.
"Oh, impressive!" Elina said, her smile widening. "You're a gold-ranked adventurer."
"Let me explain this for our newcomers here," Elina added, noticing the surprised expressions on Theo and Kathleen's faces.
"When someone decides to join our guild, we provide them with a rank. The rank is very important because every single quest we offer comes with a rank requirement. Your party must have at least two members of the same rank or above to take on a quest of that rank."
"That means," she continued, "a party with two gold members can take on a gold-rated quest, even if the rest of the party members are lower-ranked. Additionally, there's a rule for parties with a single member of a much higher rank—like platinum or diamond. If your party has only one adventurer of a platinum or diamond rank, they can still take on that commissions."
"This applies to all ranks," Elina explained further. "The rule ensures that adventurers only take quests suited to their abilities, preventing overconfident adventurers from dying in battle."
"There are a total of six ranks as of now," Elina began. "Bronze is the lowest rank, followed by Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and the highest rank for now is Mythical. We determine your rank based on your mana and your experience with adventuring.
That means if you start with a Bronze rank initially, you can increase your rank by going on more adventures later. This is the basics of our rank system," Elina explained. "And I don't think I need to explain how magical aptitude works."
"No need," Kathleen said.
"And there's one more thing I'll add about our registration process," Elina said. "You can't register twice in our guild because when we register someone, we get their details directly from their subconscious mind. No matter how much someone has trained or done anything, this memory cannot be changed—it will always show the truth.". So, even if someone manages to change their outer appearance to look like someone else or uses transformation magic, the registration will fail."
"Think of it as your muscle memory," Elina continued. "When you touch something hot, your brain doesn't have to think about the process of moving your hand away from it—your hand does it without you even thinking about it. Or, when you learn through hard work how to swing your sword efficiently, you don't have to think about every swing. Your muscle memory and subconscious mind kick in, and you do it naturally without thinking about it."
"Ahh, I see!" Theo said energetically. "I want to join the guild and rank up. It seems so fun!"
"Yes, sure," Elina replied, "but let me proceed with them first."
"Okay," Theo said.
"Here's my card," Eddy said with the same serious expression.
"Put your hand on the glass ball," Elina instructed.
The same thing happened when Eddy placed his hand on the ball. A bright glow emerged, and then the words appeared:
Eddy Haynes (Male)
Rank: Gold
Magical Aptitude: Fire, Wind, Sentient Spell, Gate
"My god, you're a sentient magic user!" Elina said, shocked. "This kind of magic is so rare—even we don't see it very much."
"Okay, done. Now, put your hand on the ball, sir, and give me your card," Elina said to Simon.
"Yeah, sure. Here's my card," Simon said and placed his hand on the ball.
Simon Ashriver (Male)
Rank: Silver
Magical Aptitude: Water and Dark
"Okay, you can put your hand down now," Elina said.
"Now for you two, let's start your registration process."
"Let me go first, please," Theo said excitedly.
"Yeah, sure," Kathleen said, nodding.
As she said that, she started to take out a much larger ball from under her desk.
Kathleen thought to herself, Where is she taking all these things out from? Is there a big closet or something?
"Okay, now, sir, put your hand on this big ball for me," Elina said, still smiling.
"Yeah," Theo replied. As he put his hand on the ball, something different happened this time. The ball started to glow, but not as much as before. Then Kathleen noticed that the ball began to dim once again, and then... nothing happened.
"Should I take my hand off? Is it finished?" Theo asked curiously.
"No, the light earlier was showing your current mana level, which is very low, even compared to low standards. Now it's checking for any magical aptitude," Elina explained.
The words hit Theo like an arrow, and it made him visibly sad.
"Sorry, sir. I don't think you have any magical aptitude either," Elina said, shaking her head side to side with a sad expression.
"I knew that. I don't know why I thought it would change now," Theo said, his excitement turning to sorrow.
"Oh, wait," Elina said suddenly.
As she spoke, everyone finally noticed what she was pointing at. It was faint, but it was there—a brown light, very similar to the color of mud.
"What?!" Theo looked shocked.
The ball started to blink.
"Okay, now it's done. You can take your hand off, sir. You are registered with our guild now. Put your hand on this ball; it will generate your card," Elina said.
As she instructed, Theo placed his hand on the ball.
The ball started glowing once again, but not as brightly as before, and then words began to appear:
Theo Haynes (Male)
Rank: Bronze
Magical Aptitude: Earth
Theo said, "How is this possible? I've checked before by trying to cast an earth-based spell, but nothing happened. For my entire life, I've thought I didn't have any magical aptitude. So how is this possible?" Theo's voice was filled with joy, and tears started forming in his eyes.
"Ah, I think it's your low mana that's the cause. You've always had the earth aptitude, but because of low mana, nothing happened. For casting any spell, you need mana," Elina explained.
"That makes sense, actually," Barren said, nodding.
"Good for you, Theo!" Barren said as he slapped his hand across Theo's back, which caused Theo to stumble forward.
"We're happy for you, Theo," Simon added.
Theo looked in Eddy's direction, hoping he would praise him, but Eddy didn't say anything. He stayed silent as always.
"Miss, now it's your turn. Come to this side and put your hand on this bigger ball," Elina said.
Kathleen was feeling excited about getting her rank card, but she didn't show any of it on her face.
As she was about to put her hand on the ball, Eddy thought to himself, If she is Viola, this guild registration will come out blank, as you can't register twice. As he thought that, he turned his vision toward Barren and Simon. They were also looking at the ball very carefully.
Eddy realized they had caught on to it too.
As soon as Kathleen placed her hand on the ball, the ball started blinking as if signaling that it had completed its work—something they had already seen happen with Theo.
"Wait, is that supposed to happen?" Kathleen asked, looking toward Elina.
"No, it's not. Have you registered with our guild in the past?" Elina asked, confused, scratching her head.
"But still, if you had already registered with us, it wouldn't have responded to your touch. Strange..."
"Let's test it. Sir, can you put your hand on this big ball again?" Elina asked Theo.
"Yeah, sure," Theo said.
When he placed his hand on the ball, as the receptionist had said before, it didn't glow at all, proving that there was no issue with the device.
As this was happening, Barren, Eddy, and Simon were staring at Kathleen very intently.
Kathleen noticed their intense gazes, which made her uncomfortable, so she said, "Let's retry, then."
"Yeah, let's do that," Elina said, smiling.
But this time, nothing happened—just like when Theo had touched it for the second time.
"I think it's some kind of glitch or something. I think you were already registered the first time," Elina said, still smiling confusedly. "Here, put your hand on this ball."
Everyone was looking in Kathleen's direction, which made her even more uncomfortable, but she complied.
At this point, Theo had also caught on, so he was staring too.
When Kathleen placed her hand on the second ball, there was no light as before, but the same letters began to appear without any glow...
How can this be possible? That's impossible! That glowing light indicates your mana. The brighter its sign, the more mana you have. But it's not even lighting up dimly. Every human being has some mana. Some have very little, but they still have some. But this shows you have no mana whatsoever. Elina said, shocked out of her mind.
To be continued...