Solar Mage

Chapter 20: Registration

I take a look at the form.

***

First Name:

Last Name:

Age:

Class:

***

Hmm... It's a lot shorter than I imagined.

"Is there something wrong, sir?"

Looks like I was unable to hide my emotions.

"Oh- there's no issue, I just thought the registration form seems a bit short, doesn't it?"

She takes a stance of pride and stands proud.

"The foundation of the Adventurer's Guild is that anyone who wants to join can join without discrimination. The more adventurers there are, the greater the force humans have against monsters! There are some who wish to keep their identity a secret- if it means that they will continue protecting the weak, then we will respect their wishes!"

"... "

"What an honorable mission!"

"I know right! I started working here because of my admiration for adventurers that my father always told me about!

Ah, I've shown an unsightly side to myself.

My face turns red after the realization.

"Ahem, I'll fill out the form now."

She slightly giggles.

"Tehee- there's nothing to be embarrassed for, it's nice to see someone with as me. Please take your time."

I begin to fill out the form.

If there's no need to put my name, I can just leave it blank. Hehehe- I'm going to be so mysterious. Age- 15. Last question, my class?

Suddenly, a loud scream comes from in front of me.

"AAAAHHH!!!"

God, what the hell was that?

I pull the registration form away from my face and see Amy on the floor crying again.

"sob- My candy- sob- it's gone! sob-"

She says as she holds up the stick, the remnant of a former lollipop, while she continues to cry.

She's like an immature child again, does she have split personalities?

"I'll get you more candy the next time I visit, okay? So please stop crying."

I give her a smile that a parent would give to their child to cheer them up.

"You promise?"

She begins to wipe her tears off her face.

"Yeah, I promise."

"Okay, then I'll trust you this time."

She begins to get up.

Gosh, children are so troublesome. If I ever have any-

My face turns as red as fire when out of nowhere, an image of Isabella smiling pops into my mind.

A-ahem, let's just answer the last question. My class, should I put a swordsman or mage?

I finish the form and hand the form to Amy.

"All finished?"

"Yep. By the way, I thought that there were adventurer ranks which were based on your swordsman or mage stage, why didn't the form ask me about that?"

"Oh, a new rank system was created about a year ago and replaced the old one. It was changed because many talented new adventurers who were of high stages died because they had no real combat experience."

"So now, all adventurers start at rank F. In order to advance to the next rank, you need to obtain merit points that can be obtained through successfully completing quests. After you get the necessary amount of merit points, you can take the rank exam where you will be tested by an A rank adventurer. The way to advance past A rank is unknown, at least to me, but it is believed to require a tremendous amount of merit points. Oh, and you don't need merit points to advance to E rank, we just need to see that you have mana.

"Wow, you are quite knowledgeable despite acting so immature."

Wait, did I say that out loud?

I gulp before glancing at her

She smiles at me without saying anything.

Phew, she must not have heard me.

"Haha, thanks for the compliment, I get that a lot."

Nevermind she heard me.

I laugh nervously.

"Hahaha, sorry I let it slip out of my mouth for a second there."

"It's fine, I'll let it go this time because you gave me candy."

She cheerfully says, before she grabs my shoulder and her mood changes again.

"But only because of the candy. Do you understand?"

Hieek- how can someone be so terrifying when they're talking about candy!

I nod my head up and down quickly

"Good, now let me take a look at your form and afterwards, you can take the exam to become an E rank."

"A-alright..."

How can someone change the mood so quickly?

From the moment she looked at the form, I could see the confusion on her face. Then, it seemed she gained a realization and began to look at me with eyes full of pity.

Why are you looking at me like that? I don't need your pity!

She looks even more confused after she puts the paper down.

"I thought you were a swordsman or some type of warrior, you managed to completely immobilize that D rank Adventurer's arm just by holding it. But you were a mage? How can a mage perform such physical feats?"

Ah, I shouldn't show my strength if I'm trying to act like a mage. Why do I keep forgetting?

"Oh, I just imbued my hand with some mana, that's all haha."

She stares at me intensely.

Please just buy it!!!

"If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, we're not supposed to pry into our advdnturer's business anyway."

"Here's your temporary adventurer's card. We don't give official ones unless you're an E rank. This is just used so that you can take the advancement exam."

She hands me a piece of wood with the Adventurer's Guild stamp on it.

I stare at it with a look of disappointment.

It just says Name: Nameless and Receptionist: Amy. Carved into the wood by knife. How cheap, all the more reason to rank up.

"Alright, thanks for your help Amy. But I have one last question."

"Ask away, Adventurer."

All my excitement is returned to me.

She called me an adventurer! I'm really an adventurer now!!!

I try to hide my excitement.

"A-ahem, what rank do I need to be to enter the Zidden Dungeon?"

"To bring up the Zidden Dungeon, you must be trying to find the hidden room in the dungeon right? I'm right, aren't I hehe."

Darn, she's spot on once again.

"That's right."

Well, to enter any part of the Monster Territories as an adventurer, you need to be at least E rank."

So I need to take the exam after all. I hope I won't have to wait too long.

I sigh without noticing.

"Is there a problem adventurer?"

"Oh, I just hope that the waiting list for the exam won't take too long."

"Are you in a hurry? The line is pretty long."

Should I tell her? Gah, whatever, if she can help me skip the line then it doesn't matter.

"I can't tell you the details but a life's man is at stake."

"I understand. I can help you get a faster exam and skip the line let me just try to find this-"

She rummages through her cabinet under the booth and takes out another stamp. A yellow one.

"Aha! I found it! Give me your adventurer ID."

I hand it to her and she tightly presses the stamp onto it.

"There, show that to the examiner and they should let you go next."

I was careless, I can't waste any more time.

"Thank you for your help Amy. Let us meet again once this is all over."

I say as I grab my ID back from out of her hands and start walking away.

She jumps over the booth, grabs my shoulder and pulls me back.

"When you brought up the Zidden Dungeon earlier, were you planning on going alone? Even if it's an E rank dungeon, it would still be dangerous for you to go alone, without a party. You should join a party or hire some help since it's your first time in a dungeon!"

"How can I trust a party of strangers, who I just met to not steal the reward of the hidden room from me? A man's life is at stake here!"

"Your life is also at stake! All the reckless kids your age thought the same and died because they overestimated their own abilities and died!"

Tears start to appear and run down her face in her anger. More genuine tears than the childish ones she cried earlier.

"Just like my stupid older brother! I could've stopped him that day when he told me he wanted to raid that dungeon alone, but I didn't."

Her anger fades away as tears continue to fall down her face.

"I was the one who encouraged him to try to do it by himself. I told him it would be so cool- if he could conquer a dungeon alone- sniffle- like the adventurers in the stories- sniffle- I waited the entire day, for him to come back and tell me about his adventure that day but he didn't come home that day, or the next, or the day after that- sniffle- now it's been four years since then, and here you are, someone the same age as him who looks exactly like him!"

"I can't make the same mistake twice, I won't lose my older brother twice. I won't let you go by yourself so join a party, or- or- I'll take that card back from you! Promise me that you'll join a party, promise me!"

How disheartening. So the reason why her brown eyes were red before was because of constant crying. She must have felt so much guilt and regret that she cries every single day because of it.

And the reason why she was showing me her childish side must have been because she wanted to experience her days as a kid without responsibilities and ignorance with her brother four years ago again. This child is so... pitiful.

If she thinks of me as her older brother, then I will think of her as my younger sister. And how can an older brother turn a blind eye to his sister's sadness and let them cry alone?

I grab her shoulders and smile confidently.

"I won't die and leave you alone again, little sis,"

She stops crying and her eyes light up.

He looks so much like him...

"But if you're that worried about me then I guess I can take a party with me. I promise I'll return safely."

She smiles with genuine happiness for the first time between us.

"You'd better not die, or I'll kill you! hehe"