Walking into the guild, Hector was welcomed by a familiar yet unfamiliar sight once more. There was a wide open hall, and on it, tables could be seen scattered around. While most tables were empty, probably due to the fact that it was rather late in the day, a few tables could be seen with what he imagined were adventuring parties, who were discussing about whatever it was adventurers discussed. Hector also saw the odd lone adventurer here and there, and thought he would soon be joining their ranks as well.

As he walked forward to where the reception area was on the backside, passing by walls covered with what he imagined were quests, Hector was feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness at the thought of becoming an adventurer Of becoming something that had only previously possible in a game. Reaching the empty window manned by a rather pretty looking woman with chestnut brown hair and matching eyes, Hector introduced himself saying, “Good afternoon miss, I uhhh wanted to sign up as an adventurer. Would I be able to do this here, or do I uhh, do I have to go to do this elsewhere.”

Having been awoken from her daydreaming by Hector’s abrupt introduction, the young woman discreetly shook her head in order to wake up and attend Hector. Taking a good look at the lean, rather well dressed young man, with an appearance as though he had never done any manual labor in his life, she felt that it was odd to see someone that wouldn’t stand out among the middle-class coming to the guild asking to join it. To her, he appeared as the son of a wealthy merchant, or other profitable profession. After all, how else would he be able to afford such high quality clothes and keep such a clean appearance. Because of this, she wondered what led him to decide to become an adventurer. Deciding it was not the time to get lost in her own thoughts again, she answered Hector saying, “Yes, I can handle the paperwork here.” Then, while reaching under her desk to open the drawer containing the application forms, she asked a standard question that she was sure was meaningless, “Can you read? Or do you need me to help you?”

“No, I can handle it.” replied Hector. Hearing this, the woman felt that her assumption about Hector’s background was on the mark. After handing the form to Hector, she asked him casually, “Why do you want to become an adventurer?”

Although the woman was trying to be discreet in her actions, Hector could tell from the resonance of her soul that she was unnaturally curious about him, and was even slightly attracted to him. Feeling that his investment into the charm stat was a good idea, Hector answered her question with some slight embarrassment, “Oh well, I uhh, I just needed a way to make money and… thought that being an adventurer would be a pretty good way to do so.”

Hearing Hector’s answer, the woman thought to herself that it wasn’t too convincing of an answer. Trying to pry more information from Hector, the woman asked, “Is that so? There’s quite a few ways to make money if you have to you know. I’m just a bit curious as to why someone who can read would choose to become an adventurer. Surely there’s better jobs out there for you?”

Deciding to tease the woman a bit, Hector responded playfully, “Is that a way to say I don’t look like I’m fit to be an adventurer?”

Although she could see that Hector was teasing her and wasn’t serious, she still felt herself get a bit flustered as she answered while waving her hands, “No-no-no-no I didn’t mean it like that. We’ve had plenty of people who looked the part even less than you pass through those doors-”

“Even worse than me?” interrupted Hector with an amused tone, “So you’re not denying it. I see, it’s alright, I know I don’t look anything special..” he continued, putting on a slightly hurt act,

Feeling herself get even more flustered, the young woman pouted as she responded, “Oh you know what I mean…” Then letting out a sigh, she decided to simply ask Hector, “Hey, why do you want to become an adventurer? You don’t look like someone who has to waste their time doing useless menial jobs, or even worse, risking their lives for a few coins.”

Not sure how to exactly answer her, since he couldn’t really tell her that reason was because he had seen adventurers in games and had wanted to become one as a result, Hector decided to tell her an answer with some truth to it after a bit of thinking, “Well the truth is that I use to make a living playing music. I mean, I still hope to, but right now I don’t have any of my instruments, or well anything really. That’s why I decided to become an adventurer, to make some money until I can get on my feet.”

While he was speaking, Hector was gauging the woman’s reaction and noticed that her attraction towards him decreased after learning he was a musician. Seeing this, Hector sighed inwardly as he thought to himself, ‘Yeah I get it, I’m just a simple musician. Sorry I’m not the son of a noble or whatever it is you were hoping I was. I won’t take it personally, but it does sting a bit.’

The young woman, hearing Hector call himself a musician but having issues finding a job, thought that there was something amiss. After all, while it wasn’t exactly a high paying profession for everyone, if he was a genuine musician he should still have some sort of income. Deciding to ascertain something she asked him, “Are you not a part of the Musicians Guild? And if not, why not sign up for it instead?”

Hector, not knowing that such a guild existed, responded with a surprised expression, “Oh! Is there one here! Do you know the location?”

Sighing inwardly at Hector’s reply, as him not knowing about the Musicians Guild meant he was most likely a simple bard or other street performer, the woman wrote down the direction for him before telling him, “Here are the direction to get there, it’s a bit far from here but you should have no problem finding it. However, I should warn you that joining the Musicians Guild is not as easy as you may think. They’re quite selective on who they allow to join them, unlike us.”

“I think I’ll be fine.” replied Hector confidently, “I’m quite confident in my musical talents.”

“Is that so…” replied the woman with a wry smile on her face, “Well, I wish you the best of luck. Now, if you need any help while filling out the form, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

With those words signaling the end to their conversation, Hector began filling out the form which simply asked for his personal information as well as his preferred job class and any other notable skills or abilities he wanted to share. Once he had finished filling it out, he passed it to the woman as she gave it a quick glance before casually remarking, “Oh, I’m older than you.”

“Really?” replied Hector, “You don’t really look it.”

With a small smile appearing on her face, the woman clarified, “Well it’s only by a year, so we’re basically the same age.” Then, putting on a more serious expression, she looked at Hector intently in the eyes and explained, “Now, I will be making your Adventurer’s card based on the information you have provided me. Your card will be made of a special material that reacts to your mana, so please don’t lose it as it’s quite expensive to replace. Also, the guild is not responsible for any injuries you obtain while completing quests, that includes death as well. So know that you are responsible for taking care of yourself. Now, your starting rank will be a beginners 7. If you want to start with a higher one, you can ask for an examination by a guild examiner and they can give you a more appropriate rank based on their evaluation. Also, if you don’t have any equipment to start with, you can always loan some from the guild and the guild will take a portion of your reward money until the debt is paid. If you run away with the equipment without paying back, know that you will be blacklisted by the guild forever and the guild will also press charges against you.” Then, taking a large breath of air, before letting out a big sigh, the woman continued, “Well, that’s everything. So, do you want to take the exam or have the guild loan you equipment?”

“No.” replied Hector with a wry smile on his face, “I think I’ll be fine as it is.”

“Alright then, I’ll go and make your card and be riiiight back in just a second.”

Getting up from her desk, the woman made her way to a room in the back before coming back 20 minutes later, not exactly in a second Hector thought to himself, with a clear colored card. Then, holding out the card and a pin, the woman said, “Now, if you could just put a drop of blood on the card, everything will be over.”

Obliging to her request, Hector pricked himself in his finger and allowed a drop of his blood to drip onto the card. Once this was done, the card began to shine in a rainbow color before settling down in a silvery grey color.

“Alright then Hector, whenever you put your mana into the card, or if you can’t use mana, your blood, the card will shine brightly. When someone else but you does it, the card will turn into a dark muddy color. As a result, this card will serve as a documentation for identification almost anywhere, so try not to abuse it if you don’t want to be blacklisted from the guild. Well Hector, that’s all for now. Do you want me to find you a quest that you can start with?”

Thinking about the offer, Hector shook his head as he replied, “I think I’ll head over to the Musicians Guild for now. Thanks for everything Miss…”

“Zoe. My name is Zoe Mr. Hector” replied Zoe with a bit of a smile on her face

“Well then Miss Zoe, till we meet again.”

“Goodbye Hector, and good luck.”

The two then waved goodbye to each other before Hector turned around and began making his way out, heading off to the Musicians Guild where he confidently believed he would be able to gain membership. After all, he was the god of music.