Adventurers' Guild - 45
"Are you excited to become an adventurer, Marc?"
Marc looked at her and nodded enthusiastically.
"Mhm! I don't really know what I'll do after becoming an adventurer yet... but I'll be fine as long as Bell and Teacher Juro are with me!"
Bell and Juro glanced at each other for a brief moment.
Neither of them said anything.
But the small smiles that quietly appeared on their faces said enough.
...
A soft click echoed through the waiting area.
The light above the processing room door shifted from red to green, and a moment later, the door swung open. A man stepped out, thanking the staff before heading back into the guild hall.
Juro glanced at the glowing light.
"Looks like it's our turn."
He reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open.
The group entered the room, where three guild staff members awaited them behind a long desk, two women and one man.
The moment they noticed the two princesses, all three immediately stood and gave a respectful bow.
"Welcome, Princess Noria, Princess Brea. How may we assist you today?"
Brea smiled politely and gestured for them to raise their heads.
"There's no need for the formalities. We're only accompanying our friends today, so please proceed as usual. Don't mind us."
"Understood, Your Highness."
The three staff members resumed their seats.
Juro, Bell, and Marc sat down across from them with a sturdy wooden table separating the two sides.
One of the female staff members quickly reached for an extra chair for the princesses, but Noria gently shook her head.
"Thank you, but we're fine standing."
The staff member nodded with a small smile before returning to her seat.
Juro spoke first.
"I'd like to register as an adventurer, along with these two kids. They'd also like to become adventurers."
"I see." One of the women smiled warmly. "Very well. I'll prepare the registration forms."
The other woman looked toward Bell and Marc.
"Do both of you consent to registering as adventurers?"
Both of them nodded without hesitation.
"Yes."
"Mhm!"
The first staff member handed each of them a sheet of paper.
The form was surprisingly simple. It only requested their full name, age, gender, and type or attribute.
There were no questions about family background, place of birth, or personal history.
At first glance, it almost seemed too lenient.
But the Adventurer Guild had little need for that kind of information.
As everyone quietly filled out their forms, the male staff member happened to glance at Bell's paper.
His eyes paused.
"...All?"
He frowned slightly before leaning toward the woman beside him.
"What does 'All' mean under attribute?"
She blinked before taking a look herself.
"...I'm... not sure."
Curious, she quietly showed the paper to the other female staff member.
The moment she saw it, her eyes widened slightly.
She leaned closer and whispered back.
"It means they're capable of using every attribute."
The other two staff members stared at Bell.
"..."
For a brief moment, they couldn't help but look him up and down.
He was just a child.
Yet his registration form casually listed something that even veteran adventurers would find unbelievable.
Fortunately, years of guild training kept their expressions professional, and they quickly returned to their work without questioning him further.
Once the three forms had been completed, the first female staff member gathered them together.
"I'll go process these."
She stood and left the room.
The remaining male staff member also rose from his chair and walked over to a cabinet.
He returned carrying two strange devices and carefully placed them on the table.
The Adventurers' Guild didn't require excessive personal information during registration forms because nearly everything important could be verified through these two tools.
The first was a sturdy metal plate connected to a glass orb by a narrow tube. Inside the orb rested a thick black liquid that sat completely still. Another tube extended from the opposite side of the orb, linking it to a second device, a small green wooden slab, only about the size of a person's thumb.
The male staff member adjusted both devices before looking at Juro.
"Whenever you're ready."
Juro nodded and stepped forward.
Placing his palm against the metal plate, he applied a slight amount of pressure.
A thin stream of mana was immediately drawn from his hand, flowing through the tube and into the glass orb.
The instant the mana entered, the once motionless black liquid began to react.
Tiny blue particles shimmered throughout the orb, spreading like countless stars awakening within the dark liquid.
Juro lifted his hand from the metal plate.
One of the female staff members nodded before speaking.
"Next, you'll need to draw a small amount of blood from your thumb and press it onto this."
She offered him a small sanitized needle.
Juro glanced at it before smiling.
"I'll pass."
Instead, he raised his right thumb to his mouth and bit down just enough to break the skin. A tiny bead of blood formed at the tip of his thumb.
He then pressed it against the small green wooden plate.
To their surprise, the wood wasn't hard at all.
The moment Juro's thumb touched it, the surface softened slightly, allowing his thumb to sink in just enough to leave behind a clear fingerprint stained with blood.
A faint hum followed.
The tube connected to the wooden slab activated, drawing the blood through it until it reached the glass orb.
The instant Juro's blood touched the mysterious black liquid already mixed with his mana, the substance came alive.
The three mixtures began swirling together in slow circles.
His mana.
His blood.
And the strange black liquid.
The blue glow gradually shifted, taking on a faint purplish hue as the mixture continued rotating inside the orb.
One of the female staff members gave a satisfied nod.
The male staff member stood up and retrieved another glass orb from a nearby cabinet, one already half-filled with the same black liquid.
Meanwhile, another staff member carefully detached the tubes from Juro's orb before lifting it away.
To Marc's surprise, the moment the tubes were removed, the orb remained perfectly smooth.
There weren't any holes.
Not even tiny openings where the tubes had supposedly been connected.
The remaining female staff member also disconnected the green wooden slab bearing Juro's bloody fingerprint before taking it away.
"Whoa..." Marc muttered under his breath. "How did she remove the tubes from the glass? It doesn't even have any holes..."
Even Noria and Brea tilted their heads curiously.
Bell smiled faintly.
"They're using a special type of glass."
"Special type of glass?" the three children asked in unison.
"I'll explain later." Bell gave Marc a small smile before nodding toward the table. "Looks like it's your turn."
"Ah! Right."
Marc quickly faced forward.
By then, the male staff member had returned carrying a fresh glass orb filled halfway with the same mysterious black liquid. He carefully connected both tubes to it.
At almost the same time, the female staff member returned with another clean wooden slab and attached it to the other end of the device.
Everything was ready again.
She looked at Marc and smiled.
"Your turn, kid."
Marc nodded and placed his hand on the metal plate.
Almost immediately, his mana was drawn into the device, traveling through the tube before flowing into the glass orb.
The moment it mixed with the black liquid, the orb reacted.
Tiny blue particles burst to life throughout the liquid.
This time, however...
The glow was noticeably brighter.
The three staff members exchanged brief glances.
"..."
None of them said anything, but the difference hadn't escaped their notice.
"Next, you'll need a drop of blood."
The female staff member held out the sanitized needle.
Marc accepted it with a nod.
"Okay."
He gently poked the tip of his thumb.
"….?"
No blood appeared.
He looked down.
His skin was completely fine.
Thinking he simply hadn't pressed hard enough, Marc tried again with a little more force.
Still nothing.
Not even the slightest scratch.
The staff members watched in mild surprise before one of them suddenly seemed to realize something.
"I'll be right back."
He quickly left the room.
Only a few moments later, he returned carrying another sterilized needle.
Unlike the previous one, however, this one's tip wasn't made of iron.
The very end of the needle had been crafted from polished obsidian, while the rest of it remained ordinary metal.
"Ooo... the tip looks shiny," Marc said as he accepted the new needle.
This time, he gently pressed the obsidian tip against his thumb.
A tiny bead of blood immediately formed.
"Oh! It worked."
He handed the needle back to the staff before pressing his thumb onto the small green wooden slab.
Just like before, the wood didn't feel solid.
It felt strangely soft, almost as though the surface had briefly melted beneath his thumb. His fingerprint, along with the drop of blood, was cleanly imprinted onto it.
A faint hum followed.
The blood was drawn through the tube and into the glass orb.
The instant it mixed with Marc's mana and the mysterious black liquid, the contents began to swirl once again.
Blue particles shimmered throughout the orb as the colors slowly blended into another faint purplish hue, the blue glimmer still dancing within the mixture.
"Looks good," one of the staff members said with a nod.
Juro reached over and gently ruffled Marc's hair.
"Well done, kid."
Marc couldn't help but grin.
"Hehe."
The staff members repeated the same routine, carefully disconnecting the orb and wooden slab before replacing them with fresh ones.
Soon, everything was prepared once more.
"Your turn."
Bell stepped forward.
Without hesitation, he placed his hand on the metal plate.
Just as it had for the others, the device drew a small amount of mana from him and carried it into the orb. The black liquid reacted normally, glowing with the familiar blue particles.
Next came the blood sample.
Bell accepted the sanitized needle, pricked his thumb in one swift, practiced motion, and pressed it against the wooden slab.
The process finished smoothly.
No hesitation.
No unnecessary movement.
Within moments, the blood had been absorbed, the contents of the orb had completed their reaction, and Bell was done.
"Thank you," one of the staff members said as they collected the devices.
"We'll process the results now. Please wait here for a few minutes."
Juro nodded.
"Alright."
The three staff members gathered the orbs and wooden slabs before leaving the room, quietly closing the door behind them.
Silence settled over the room for a moment.
Marc, however, had been holding onto a question ever since Juro's turn.
He immediately turned toward Bell.
"Bell, how does the tube connect to the orb without any holes?? When they removed it, the glass looked completely normal."
Noria and Brea looked at Bell as well, their curiosity obvious.
Bell smiled.
"The orb is made from a special material called Neriphion Glass."