The earliest rays of sunlight streamed in between vines of ivy, rousing the young elf from sleep. Anther threw off his blanket and sat up, curling his toes while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He hopped onto the floor, hurriedly got dressed, and took his medicine before running outside. The air was chilly and the grass was wet, but he became more awake in proportion to the discomfort he felt.

Just like Rybo said, the boy spotted Cherise on her way to the guild building.

“Cherise!” he called and waved.

The demoness stopped for a moment and turned around. “Anther?” A smile crept onto her face. “You’re up early. Are you that eager to register with the guild?”

He trotted over and skidded to a stop on the slick grass, his eyes going wide. “Eh? Register? I can?”

“Yes. The paperwork arrived late last night.”

The boy’s eyes began to sparkle, and he fidgeted eagerly, “Yes please!”

Cherise walked with him to the guild building, and he got to see the inside of it for the first time. Everything was neatly assembled from straight planks of wood and various metal fixings, with polished stones used more for aesthetic purposes than functional ones. Everything was very sharp and straight such that even the benches along the walls looked important. The most demanding of attention, though, was the cork mission board taking up the whole of the left wall, and the front counter in a direct line of sight from the entrance.

The building was insulated so that it was still dry and warm inside. Anther rubbed his hands together to clear the chill and darted his eyes around with unmasked curiosity.

Cherise didn’t pause at all, walking around and reaching behind the front counter for some papers. She placed them on the counter along with a reservoir pen.

“Alright. Come over and fill out your forms. You know how to read and write, yes?”

The boy’s attention snapped back to the task at hand, and he grinned. “Of course!” He took up the pen and looked around. “Um, where’s the ink?”

“The ink is stored inside the pen. Just start writing, and it will come out on its own.”

“Heeh?” he made a sound and tested the pen briefly, but ink really did come out. Anther filled out the forms in neat handwriting and passed them back to Cherise. She used a small metal clasp to fix them together and put them in a tray behind the counter, taking the pen back while she was at it. The boy pouted and looked longingly at it until the fancy utensil was out of view.

“I’ll help you make your badge now,” the demon smiled. She had worked at the counter for a while before becoming a junior inspector, so she was fully qualified to register somebody. The child would have had to wait for the building to officially open if she wasn’t. Hardly anyone was up at this hour.

Cherise fished a magic device out from under the counter. It had a flat and heavy base, connected to a glass lens and a red crystal by a metal rod. She took out a thumb-sized metal plate and set it in a groove on the base of the apparatus.

“Are you ready? I’m going to cast inspection on you now. It will feel a little strange, but it won’t hurt.”

Anther nodded and Cherise sent a thin strand of wild black mana into his body. A shiver traveled up his spine as his mana channels tightened and loosened unnaturally.

Ew, gross! The boy shut his eyes tightly while he endured. Cherise just waited patiently for her mana to return to her.

That took longer than usual, she thought when the black wisps started emerging. She directed the wisps to the crystal on the device, which started to glow. There was a fizzling sound, and a red beam of light shot out of the crystal. It was focused by the lens, cut through the air, and rapidly etched information onto the metal plate. The whole process took no more than three seconds.

Cherise smiled and picked up the plate. She slid it into a metal punch and pulled down on a lever, creating a tidy hole. After threading a string through the hole in the top, she offered it to the child with a smile.

“This is your explorer badge. You can tie it around your neck or anywhere else that’s convenient. Make sure you have it with you anytime you’re acting as a member of the guild.”

Anther took the badge and looked at it with shining eyes. It was fairly simple: it just showed his name and a series of odd geometric patterns. He held the badge close to his chest and smiled shyly. “Can you make two more?”

“We only provide replacements if the original badge is somehow lost or damaged.”

“Not for me," he shook his head. "Myla and Kasser need their badges.”

“The person needs to be present to get their badge issued. Now, please look at those markings,” Anther followed Cherise’s finger and took another look at the odd patterns on his explorer badge. “Those marks are a code that lets us fit a lot of information onto a small surface. You’ll learn to read it soon enough. Everything from your race and appearance to your magical and physical abilities is recorded there. Every now and then, as your abilities increase, it’s a good idea to get a new one made. Potential team members will know at a glance what you’re good and bad at if you show them that.”

“What does it say I’m good at?” he asked, nearly shoving the badge in the woman’s face while grinning excitedly.

Cherise pulled her neck back, the corner of her lips twitching. “W-well, you’re pretty good with a bow. Your support magic is pretty unrefined for an elf though,” her eyes drifted to the bottom of the plate. “Hm? How unusual. Looks like you have a hidden talent for divination.”

Anther pulled the badge back and looked at it curiously. “You mean like mother?”

“Is that so?” Cherise smiled. “Maybe you inherited it from her.”

“Mm, but I didn’t really understand when she tried explaining it to me.” The boy rubbed his head, “I’d rather be an explorer for now anyway. It’s official now, right?”

Cherise nodded simply. “Yes. Congratulations. Before you go, there’s one more thing I need from you.” She held up an egg-shaped, sky blue crystal, about the size of one finger joint. “Please put your mana into this mind stone. That will link the two of you together.”

Anther did as she asked and stared at the slightly luminescent crystal. “What’s it for?”

“As long as you keep it on your person, it will remember everything you know. If you should die while on a mission, someone can bring your mind stone back to the guild and we can revive you.” The demoness smiled, “That’s why it’s recommended that you always work in a team. As long as one person survives, they can bring all of your mind stones back to the guild.”

The boy’s eyes went wide. “Does that mean I’m immortal?!”

“No, no, no!” Cherise waved her hands. “Age and sickness can still kill you, and they’ll be preserved through the mind stone. Also, if you do too many bad or reckless things, the guild may choose not to revive you. The memory caster uses a lot of mana to function, so we can’t just use it as much as we want.”

For a moment, he had seemed disappointed, but the boy bounced back quickly. “It’s still really good to be able to revive people though, huh?”

Cherise let out a breath and nodded, “Yes, that’s true. There’s one more thing, though. If you’re going into a dungeon, you must leave your mind stone here at the guild.”

Anther tilted his head. “Why?”

“If you die in a dungeon, it will absorb you and all of your possessions. If your mind stone is absorbed, we can’t use it to revive you. Of course, since your mind stone won’t be with you, you won’t remember anything from inside the dungeon after you’ve revived.”

The boy didn’t seem to be listening to her. Instead, he was staring blankly down at his mind stone. “... Demon’s make really amazing things,” he muttered after a moment.

Cherise smiled at the child. “Would you like to see what the memory caster looks like?”

“Um, again?” he cocked his head. Cherise raised an eyebrow, so he quickly nodded. “Yes please!”

She led him into the back room, where a tall metal cylinder was standing. It was decorated with all sorts of technological components that the boy couldn’t begin to understand. Cherise smiled at it proudly. She reached to pull open the door and show him the inside but winced as a shock traveled up her hand.

“Shouldn’t it be off?” the boy gasped.

“It should be.” The demoness narrowed her eyes in suspicion and flicked a switch to deactivate the machine. Her eyes traveled to an aqua tank fixed to the side, noting how full it was. “Somebody’s used this.”

Could the machine have misfired? She would have to interrogate the guild staff later.

“Anyway, you place the stone into this slot here, turn this dial, and just wait a few seconds. Then, someone comes back to life. All thanks to that,” Cherise pointed at the mind stone in Anther’s hand. He looked down at it instinctively, then smiled like his face was cramped.

“Y-yep.”

Cherise frowned slightly. “Somehow, I thought you’d be a little more enthusiastic.”

The boy rubbed the back of his head. “Well, it’s cooler when you actually see it happen.”

She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. “I guess so. I ought to get to work now. Come back around lunch time and we should have some missions available for you to try. Some people will be here to register your friends as well.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later, Cherise.” The boy waved over his shoulder and trotted out of the warm and cozy guild building.

***Archimedes’ POV***

Finally, Archimedes had found the time to finish his second floor-puzzle.

As with the previous hallway, the floor had been dug out and filled back up, this time with a clear liquid that was actually a mild paralyzing agent. It wasn’t enough to drown a person--if they got out quickly--but it would definitely render them unable to hold a weapon. Many people would probably assume the hole was filled with water and try to swim across when, in reality, they were supposed to walk atop some transparent platforms just under the surface. The only hint to this puzzle was a wooden sign with a picture. It showed someone swimming while a person on the shore stood and watched. The thing was, if the shore in the picture was where people knew it to be, then the person would be swimming sideways rather than to the exit. A creative person might realize that the picture’s orientation was correct and infer that there was another path they couldn’t see.

“Thesia, on the off-chance someone starts to drown in this, pull them out, alright?”

“Yes, papa,” the violet Slime jiggled.

Meanwhile, Archimedes felt some powerful positive emotions and looked to the source. Alphio was bent over the paralyzing pond, staring with sparkling eyes. For some reason, Archimedes swelled with pride.

“Do you like this puzzle, Alphio? Indeed, as a tactical piece, restricting the movements of warriors on a floor where magic is impossible would cripple even the--“

“Is this what I look like?” the Mandrake asked, cutting his creator off mid-sentence.

“H-huh? Yes, that is your--”

“I’m so pretty! Even prettier than Mery! Lots prettier than Mery!”

“Hey!” Merina glared from her patch of sunlight, then smirked and folded her arms. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re pretty. Otherwise, why would the dungeon keep such an inefficient Mandrake around?”

However, Alphy didn’t appear to hear her over his own narcissistic thoughts, causing the girl to grit her teeth in anger.

“...I see. Good for you, Alphio,” Archimedes muttered in defeat and turned back to his work. “For the next one, let’s keep with the immobilization theme. Perhaps a hall maze filled with spider webs?”

“No!”

Archimedes looked at Merina, who was shocked enough that tears welled up in her eyes, though she made a furious face and tried to blink them away.

“Spiders are too creepy! No way! Put them on a different floor!”

“Is that so? Well, you might have a point. Alright, I’ll have them hide in the walls and ceiling when they’re not maintaining the maze.”

“You completely missed my point!”

“As for the trap--”

“Stop ignoring me! You’re doing it on purpose, aren’t you?!”

“Let’s keep it simple. If you cheat the maze by walking through the webs instead of solving the maze—in other words, if you break too many webs—the ceiling will collapse, and spiders will attack whoever survives being crushed by binding them with webs.”

Archimedes noticed that Merina had stopped complaining and turned to look at her. She was quietly sitting in her patch of sunlight, trembling and hugging her knees to her chest.

He ignored her and started digging out the next hallway.