A few moments that felt very, very long later... The short, bald man finally looked up from his paperwork to acknowledge the trio. Stephan was holding his hand over Xavier's mouth while Bruce was holding him by the legs to prevent him from moving anywhere.
"Hmm... New faces, new faces! How may I help you young ones today?" The man's voice was quite nasally, and often he would sniffle after finishing a sentence.
Xavier took a deep breath, which Stephan felt because of his hand covering his mouth, and let go after Xavier exhaled. Bruce slowly loosened his grip on Xavier's legs and began to stand up while watching Xavier very closely.
Xavier cleared his throat and took another swift breath. "Yeah, we're new here. This is the Adventuring Guild, correct?"
"Says it right outside on the sign there!"
"Yeah! Can't you read?" The sock puppet chimed in.
Xavier's eyebrow twitched as a smile slowly formed on his face. "Yeah... I can, actually. Thanks." His voice was extremely strained.
"Well..." The man continued. "If you're new, would you like to register with the guild?"
"Yeah! That'd be great." Stephan quickly spoke from over Xavier's shoulder. Bruce gently pat Xavier's other shoulder a couple of times.
"Wonderful! It's always a pleasure registering new young folks." He pulled out three paper forms from under the desk and provided a quill with ink for each of them. "Just fill out these forms for me, please. I'll be back in a jiffy!"
As the man stepped away from the desk, he revealed that he was indeed the controller of the sock puppet, even if it was already obvious. By this point, the trio had finally gotten a look at what he was wearing. He was wearing simple blue mage robes. They were clean, but they were showing clear signs of wear.
The three turned back to the paper and writing tools. The forms were quite simple. All they asked for was a name and a class. Xavier wrote 'Xavier' and 'Mage.' Stephan wrote 'Gojo' and 'Warrior.' Bruce wrote 'Roswelle' and 'Artificer.'
Xavier took note of Bruce's class from the corner of his eye, considering he hadn't seen Bruce display any supernatural abilities quite yet.'
Roughly a minute or two later, the receptionist, alongside his inanimate friend, returned with a crystal orb. He placed the orb on the desk and slid the forms back to himself, quickly examining them over before pulling out three, what seemed to be, identification cards.
"One at a time, could you three place your hands on this orb for a brief moment?"
Stephan stepped forward first and placed his hand on the orb. After Stephan, Bruce did the same. And finally, Xavier's turn came.
He reached out his hand and placed it on the orb. A cold sensation swiftly passed through his body before he felt normal again. It felt as if the orb was analysing his entire being for a brief moment.
The short man quickly scribbled on the identification cards before handing them each to the trio, respectively.
"Welcome to the guild! That will be three tungsten comets for the registration fee, one for each person."
Xavier blinked at the man for a moment before letting out an awkward chuckle. "...Do you guys give change for golden suns, perhaps?"
The short man's jaw dropped.
━━━
Standing in front of the job board, the party scanned it for something that would pique their interest. Xavier was mumbling the requests to himself.
"Find a missing cat... Transport lumber... Eliminate slimes..."
Stephan was off to the side, zoning out while Bruce was also examining the job board.
"These are all so boring..." Xavier's body language clearly showed he was unimpressed by the requests posted on the board.
"How about this one then?" Bruce held out a request for Xavier to read.
"Lost Bard... A popular bard, Enzio, recently went missing in the town square during the night. The only information is that there seems to be a mysterious, but beautiful melody being sung at night that people disappear into... Discover the bard's whereabouts and uncover the mystery behind the melody. 10 tungsten comet reward." Xavier scratched his chin.
"Sounds somewhat interesting, right?" Bruce shrugged.
"Yeah, let's do it. I'll let the receptionist know..."
Bruce tapped a notice next to the board. "Don't worry about that. We just take the request form and hand it in with evidence of completion for our rewards."
"Oh, neat. Stephan..." Xavier turned around, and his voice trailed off. Standing there was not only Stephan, but an extremely tall and muscular man who was staring directly at the three.
"Newbies!" The man's voice expressed a powerful weight, though not hostile. His ash-colored hair was short, but very neatly kept. His tan skin exclaimed that he spent lots of time outdoors, under the beautiful, beating sun. His muscles were complemented by a tight shirt that he wore, and the iron leggings and boots he wore suggested he was likely a tank-class adventurer. The shield and battleaxe hanging from his back only supported this theory more.
Xavier's head hung low as he mumbled to himself. "We're so getting bullied..."
"What are your classes? I'm curious about the specialities of young adventurers such as yourself!"
Stephan gave the man a confident smile. "Well, I'm a warrior. My friends here are..." He pointed to Bruce first.
"An artificer."
"Yes! He's an artificer. My other friend here is a mage." He moved his pointing finger over to the gloomy Xavier.
"Aha! Quite the well-rounded trio you have here. I'm impressed, to be quite honest!" The man poked Stephan in the chest and held his finger in the spot he poked. "Young warrior, I challenge you to an arm wrestle!"
Xavier's head slightly perked up when he heard this. However, his facial expression seemed purely dumbfounded. He leaned over to Stephan's ear and whispered. "Stephan, I don't mean to address the elephant in the room, but..."
"I'll do it!"
Xavier face-palmed while Bruce began walking away towards the exit.
"Aha! Yes, young warrior! You display courage like a true warrior should." The man sat down at the nearest table and readied himself for the challenge. Stephan took a seat opposite him and took his hand to show he was also ready.
The man looked over at Xavier. "Young mage, would you be so kind as to count us down?"
Xavier stared for a moment before sighing and dragging himself to the table. "Three, two, one... Go."
Not even half a second later, Stephan was sent flying from his seat and off the table. He let out a hearty laugh before standing and offering a hand to Stephan. "Young warrior, you display a true warrior's heart! Courage to stand up to a foe you are outclassed by is proof enough! I hope to see you around more often. Ah, and where are my manners... the name is Alyoshenka Bohanna."
Stephan took the man's hand and coughed before wiping his face. "Yeah... thanks... My name's Gojo..."
"Nice to meet you, young Gojo! I bid you farewell, now. I have quests of my own to complete." The man walked away with a hearty laugh.
Xavier began walking to the exit, where Bruce was leaning up against a wall. Stephan followed shortly after.
Xavier cracked his fingers. "Let's go find a missing bard..."