- (Anna’s POV) –

It has been 2 hours since I left the Earl’s office. We arrived at the house at 11:30AM so I had lunch 1 hour ago with Alice, Roland, and his wife Eleonora.

So, I’m currently in the room that I will borrow while I’m staying in this house and it’s the beginning of the afternoon.

I’m currently looking at my inventory to check if there is something useful for me in this world. Let’s see what I have inside.

I have 15436 gold coins (from the game) in total, I have my sword ‘Rosetta’, few others weapon that I can use depending of the situation like a bow, a spear, some knives and a few others weapon that are all quite high quality. I also have several magic items, many potions, and my alchemy kits, but nothing else.

When my real body died, I was inside the game killing some monsters, so I had only useful stuff for a battle. I was not the kind of players to keep useless thing in my inventory; when I didn’t need an item, I always sold it immediately. I don’t have any food because we didn’t need to eat in the game, and there was no ‘buff’ in this game.

Suddenly, I hear someone knocking at my door.

*knock* *knock*

“Yes?” (Anna)

“Anna-chan? It’s Eleonora, may I enter?” (Eleonora)

“Yes, of course!” (Anna)

Alice’s mother opens the door and she sits beside me on the sofa.

“Sorry for interrupting you, I would like to speak a bit with you if you don’t mind.”~ (Eleonora)

Despite her age (35 years old), she is quite the beauty, and she looks like she is 25. She has the same kind of appearance as those women who say ‘ara ara’ in a manga.

“I don’t mind, what do you want to speak about?” (Anna)

“First, I wanted to thank you for saving and helping Alice, me and my husband both love her a lot. But I mostly came because I want to get closer to you and know more about you. After seeing you at my husband’s office and at lunch earlier, you made a good impression on me and I quite like you.” (Eleonora)

“May I ask why…?” (Anna)

“Well, you are well behaved, the ways you walk, speak and eat is similar to most noble lady, you are very nice to my daughter and above all, you are not arrogant despite being strong.” (Eleonora)

“It’s kind of embarrassing if you keep complimenting me like this for something I don’t even do on purpose!” (Anna)

“Ara ara, it may sound normal for you, but it isn’t for most people. There are many bastards and arrogant people everywhere so it’s quite refreshing to see a pure and honest person like you.” (Eleonora)

See!!! She really said ‘ara ara’ !!

“I also wanted to tell you that if someone annoy you, don’t hesitate to tell me, I have a few helpful connections with influential people” (Eleonora)

“Oh, thank you, it’s reassuring to have someone I can count on when I’m alone in a foreign land. I plan to go out in town this afternoon.” (Anna)

“Ara? Where are you going?” (Eleonora)

“I’m not really tired from the trip, so I’m planning to register at the adventurer guild and sightseeing a bit around the town” (Anna)

“Oh really? You will need to pass a small test at the adventurer guild, and you also need to pay a small fee of 5 silver coins. Here is a bit of money that I prepared, I predicted that you would like to go to the town, there is a total of 20 silver coins inside.” (Eleonora)

She then gives me a small pouch full of coins. Wow, she is nice! But I don’t really like to take advantage of others so I will repay her for sure!

“Oh, you are very nice! I was a bit worried because I had no cash on me. By the way, do you know what kind of test it is for the adventurer guild?” (Anna)

“First, you will have to place your hand on a ball of crystal to determine your amount of mana, then you will have to do a battle against a veteran adventurer, but you don’t need to win, he will mainly avoid and defend himself while he tries to determine your level.” (Eleonora)

Oh, so it’s the famous ball of crystal from most fantasy novel! I wonder if it will explode when I touch it like with most OP protagonist. Haha~

“I understand, thank you for the explanation!” (Anna)

“When do you plan to go out?” (Eleonora)

“In about 10min I guess?” (Anna)

“Alright! I will inform everyone!” (Eleonora)

Uhh? Inform? For What?

She then leaves the room and I start to prepare to go out.

**********

10 minutes later, I’m ready to leave!

When I go out, I pass in front of the guard

“Have a good day, Anna-sama” (guard)

“Thanks!” (Anna)

I then start to walk toward the market; I want to see what they are selling before going to the adventurer guild.

“I’m selling some apples freshly picked! Come buy it!”

While walking, a seller shout in the street, I walk toward him.

“I will take one!” (Anna)

I pick up 1 silver coin from Eleonora’s purse and give it to him. He gives me back 70 copper coins. So, its prize is 30 copper coins, uhh

I asked Roland during the meal we had earlier, 1 silver coin = 100 copper coins, 1 gold coin = 100 silver coins and 1 platinum coin = 100 gold coins. A full meal for a commoner in a restaurant cost about 1 silver coin, one night at an inn cost approximately 3 silver coins. The monthly salary for an average working commoner is approximately 70 silver coins.

“Thank you for your patronage!” (Seller)

“By the way, do you know where the adventurer guild is?” (Anna)

“You continue to walk until the white building there, then you turn to your right and you will see the adventurer guild building in front of you.” (Seller)

“Thank you very much!” (Anna)

I then follow his direction and arrive in front of the adventurer guild. I enter the building and look at the interior.

Wow, so ‘fantasy- like’!~ There is some table where I see some people in armor drinking, and a trio of female receptionists behind a counter, some paper hanging on the wall and several people chatting everywhere.

I move toward one of the receptionists and say:

“Hello, I would like to register as an adventurer!” (Anna)

Someone that was beside me turn toward me after hearing my word.

“Uhhh?! You, an adventurer? Don’t make me laugh, little lass!

Ah… Getting bullied while registering… It’s so cliché! The receptionist ignores him and ask me:

“Is your name perhaps Anna?” (Receptionist)

“H-How do you know me??” (Anna)

“Oh! We received a letter of recommendation from Lady Eleonora stating that we should welcome and treat appropriately a lady with red hairs called Anna if she were to come register.” (Receptionist)

ELEONORA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING BEHIND MY BACK! It’s not like I need and like preferential treatment! I’m someone that like to prove myself with my own abilities!

The adventurer that was mocking me slowly back off after he heard Eleonora’s name, sweating. Haha, serve you right!~

“Well… Yes, it’s me, Anna” (Anna)

I give her the 5 silver coins fee.

“Please follow me, your test will be supervised by the guild master.” (Receptionist)

I follow her and we are going toward the second floor. The receptionist knock at a certain door and say:

“Anna is here!” (Receptionist)

“Ah, yes. I’m coming!” (??)

I can hear a deep voice from behind the door. Then a tall and muscular man with brown hair go out of the room, turn to me, and say.

“Hello Anna, my name is Geoffrey, I’m the Guild Master, I will be the one accompanying you during your test because you received a recommendation letter from a noble. Please, follow me.” (Geoffrey)

I follow him and he brings me to a room with a crystal at the center.

“This crystal ball will determine how much mana you have, please place one of your hand on top of it” (Geoffrey)

Here we go, the famous crystal ball. Will it explode like in some novel? Will it not detect anything? I place my right hand on top of it.

I can feel some of my mana going toward the crystal ball, I could easily block the flow since I control my mana perfectly, but I think it’s better if I don’t do anything, right?

The ball change to red, then orange, yellow, green, blue, purple (everything happens in a matter of a semi-second), then it suddenly explodes.

Ah sh*t, here we go again…

The guild master looks at me with his eyes wide open.

“Uhh, I think the ball was damaged before the test, I will find another one, please wait here.” (Geoffrey)

Damaged my a*ss, it’s obviously because it absorbed too much mana!

It seems like this crystal ball work like a catalyst, it attracts the mana like a magnet then change color once it absorbs a certain amount of mana.

The guild master suddenly come back with another crystal ball.

“Please put your hand again” (Geoffrey)

Well, it seems like it broke when it reached the purple color, right? So, let’s make it stop at blue to be safe then! But let’s do some experiment first, it’s the first time I touched a catalyst, I want to know what I can do with it.

I put my hand on the ball again but stop any mana from going to the ball, I look at the guild master and he looks at me strangely. I smile, then I put a little bit of mana, the ball become red. I put a little more and it become orange, then I pull back my mana and it became red again.

Yay! I’m completely controlling the color at will!~

I pull more mana and it become orange, yellow, green, then blue. Ok let’s stop here!~

I keep the blue color for 10 seconds, then I look at the guild master. It looks like he is deep in his thoughts, so I speak to him:

“It became blue, what do I do now?” (Anna)

“Oh, yes, sorry. You can remove your hand; the first test is over. Follow me for your second test.” (Geoffrey)

I follow him, and we arrive to a large room with some weapon on the side and training equipment. Some kind of room for training, I guess.

“Your previous test was to determine your ability as a mage and the second test will determine your level as a warrior, so if you are a mage it’s fine if you fail this second test. You will have to spar with a veteran adventurer, but you don’t need to win, we will simply judge your ability based on your movement, strength, speed, reflexes, and decisions. Your opponent will be me, I used to be a B-ranked adventurer before I became guild master.” (Geoffrey)

He stops for 5 second, then he speaks again.

“We will be using wooden weapon for this test to avoid hurting each other. You can choose any weapon from this corner of the room.” (Geoffrey)

I go to the corner of the room and take the sturdiest sword. I try to do a few swings to test the sword but I’m not happy at all… It looks like it will break if I move my arm too fast. Yup, it would definitely break.

I come back to the guild master and get in position.

“Are you ready? Then let’s start in 3…2…1…GO” (Geoffrey)

He said go but he is not moving, it looks like he wants me to attack while he only avoids and parry…

He is full of hole so I could beat him in a second, but he won’t be able to determine my level if I do that and he might say that I cheated or something, right? I also need to be super careful to not break the sword.

I move toward him slowly (slow for me, maybe not for him) and swing my sword toward him. I’m doing my best to not break the sword, it’s quite hard you know!~. He manages to parry my attack, but his arm is trembling. Come on, I’m not even using 1/10 of my strength you know?~

I think he understood that he has to do his best if he doesn’t want to lose so he is trying to attack me now. I stop attacking him and I dodge everything effortlessly with minimal movement, sometimes I parry aswell. After 10 seconds of dodging and parrying, I think that he has an idea of my level of combat, right ?~

I take some distance, then I dash toward him faster than the last time, I instantly go behind his back and point my sword at his neck.

“I-I lose.” (Geoffrey)

“What do I have to do now? When do I know if I am accepted in the guild?” (Anna)

“*cough* Y-you are accepted, w-welcome to the guild! Let’s go back to my office to talk about the details.” (Geoffrey)

I follow him and we arrive where we first meet, he sits behind his desk and I sit in front of him.

“Alright, do you know the different rank that an adventurer can get in the guild?” (Geoffrey)

Well, it should be similar to every novel I have read.

“I think I know, but please explain to confirm if what I know is correct.” (Anna)

“So, the highest rank is S rank, then we have A, B, C, D, E and F rank with F being the lowest. I was a B ranked adventurer before I became guild master. In this country, there is no S ranked adventurer, but there is 1 or 2 in some other country. There are about 11 A ranked adventurers in the country, and a bit more than 100 B ranked adventurers. However, there is only 1 A ranked adventurer and 5 B ranked adventurer in this town, but the A ranked one went to the capital for a quest, so he is not here currently. However, the majority of the adventurer are D or E ranked.” (Geoffrey)

Wow, it’s extremely useful to see where I’m situated. So currently I’m the strongest adventurer in this town since I could easily beat this former B ranked, right ?~

I’m also curious to see the strength of those A and S ranked adventurers, I hope that I can meet and fight one one day. While I think about that, he continues

“There is also a ranking for monsters, they are also classed with a letter. It goes from F rank to SS rank. For every rank, you need an entire party of 3-4 people of the same rank of the monster to defeat it safely. For example, to safely subjugate a C ranked monster, you need a party of 3 or 4 people also ranked C. For S and SS ranked monster, since there is no S rank adventurer in this country, it’s a national crisis where adventurers, knights, royal knights and royal mages are mobilized. Fortunately, it happens very rarely.” (Geoffrey)

“What’s the rank of an orc?” (Anna)

“An orc is a C-ranked monster, so you need a party of 3 or 4 C-ranked adventurers to kill it safely, or 1 B-ranked adventurer.” (Geoffrey)

I see, so you need one Geoffrey to kill those weak mobs, right? Well, let’s stop thinking about it.

“About you, the most I can offer is D-rank. I know that your strength is worth at least B since you could beat me, but I might receive complaint if I move you at a higher rank. D-rank is already above average to be honest and it often takes years to reach it. Some people might still complain but both of your tests were perfect, you beat me, and you also received a recommendation letter so it should be fine.” (Geoffrey)

“Alright, I’m ok with it, thank you for the explanation!” (Anna)

“Good! Your guild card will be ready for tomorrow morning, you don’t need to do anything else.” (Geoffrey)

“Alright, I will take my leave then!” (Anna)

I stand up, then I go out of the office.

Well, I only became D rank, but I guess it’s fine, it’s still better than starting F rank.

I’m not like those stupid novel protagonists that want to hide their strength, so they stay at a low rank. What’s the point of staying at a low rank? You can’t do certain quest and you also gain less money! I want to live my life doing whatever I want, not being stressed to wake up everyday to work to gain enough money to eat!

I then go out of the adventurer guild.

****

- (Geoffrey’s POV) –

It has been 1 minute since Anna left my office.

WHO THE HELL IS THIS GIRL???

When I first met here, I was wondering if such a young and delicate lady really wanted to become an adventurer!

Then she placed her hand on the crystal ball, the color changed every 0,1 second then it exploded! I was a bit confused, so I brought another one and then she puts her hand on the ball and… nothing happened! Then the first color came, the second, and then it was the first again!!!

WHAT THE HELL, SHE WAS LITERALLY TROLLING MY CRYSTAL BALL!

The last color was blue, but I know that she could go higher, it looks like she could easily control the color! How much mana she really has? No one will know. But even then, with a blue color you could join the royal mage!!

Then we had our spar for the second test.

WHAT THE HELL, SHE WAS LITERALLY PLAYING WITH ME!

I never felt as much humiliated as today!! She was dodging everything easily, and it even looked like she was thinking about something else at the same time. Then she suddenly moved so fast that I could only faintly see her, and I lost instantly.

I knew it, she could have beaten me since the first second of the battle, but she held back…

Her movement and swordplay were perfect. She had no hole in her posture.

What a humiliation…

I better not anger her if I want to live!