To register as an adventurer, there was a small form to fill out with basic information, and the only two mandatory parts to answer were name and role. I ticked two; I could effortlessly become a wizard, and I was going to join the Warrior Guild anyway, so I chose warrior as well. The clerk looked at me like I was some ignorant idiot, but she hid her expression well. Too bad I was used to an office environment, so I could recognize those micro-expressions. They gave me a small metal tag, which looked suspiciously like military dog tags. It showed my name, roles, and adventurer rank.

The ranks of regular adventurers started from E, reversing to A, which was the strongest. However, all new adventurers began as rank F and could only advance to rank E after their first kill quest. It was to ensure the person would work well under pressure and in the face of death, and also to make sure they had the guts to kill an enemy without hesitating.

“A lot of adventurers don’t even make it to rank E,” Solina said as we strolled over to the quest board. The quests were stuck up with magic, as well as the words written on it. I assumed this was to protect the integrity of the information on the quest. We took three quests that were around the same area to the west of Perseverance.

There was a quest or two in black paper and white writing, which naturally shifted anyone’s eyes to it amongst the sea of white paper. “What are these? Why do some of them need so many people?” I asked.

Solina shook her head and first led me outside the ADAS branch. “Those are, well, those quests are on a very high difficulty level. Black quests could signify a few things.” She curled her fists and put her pinky finger up. “Insanely high difficulty, national level, or demons. If a quest checks any one of those boxes, then it’s called a black quest.”

“Difficulty, national level, and demons?” I rubbed my chin. “Explain.”

Solina dangled her arms and smiled weakly. “You really are trying to blend in, huh? Alright, alright.” She shrugged. “If the difficulty requires A-rankers, it’s a black quest. Example, if someone wanted you dead, that quest would definitely be a black quest. It would need a raid of A-rankers too.”

Hmm, a raid? Then, in this world, a lich is something strong enough to beat the strongest rank of adventurers. I’ll keep that in mind.

“Anyway,” Solina continued, “when something is national-level, it’s a black quest. That means it’s usually a quest from the government that involves other countries one way or another. These quests can be really easy, or really hard. A national quest just means you do work for the government. You could cause the worst war of mankind, or you could bring about the most peaceful times we’ve ever seen. It’s pretty important depending on the quest.”

Solina gulped, and took a deep breath. “As for the demon part, well…” She rubbed her neck. “They’re the rarest black quests. So, the human continent has several countries. The demon continent is one whole country that’s even bigger than our continent. The demons are particularly skilled with magic from birth and have bad relationships with humans because there was suspicion centuries ago that a demon killed a human king. Quests involving demons are rare because; all countries in the human continent must agree that the quest is necessary before it gets posted to ADAS quest boards, since it can mean a war with the demons that would jeopardize all the human countries.” She took another breather. “Understand?”

Not really. “Yeah, I got it.” Just, don’t mess with the demons. Simple enough. “So, what am I, then? A monster or a demon?”

She cachinnated quite loudly. “You’re a monster, of course. We’d definitely know if you were a demon; people would be dropping like flies from the miasma.”

Finally, we arrived at the Warrior Guild. Solina was a bit apprehensive, but she steeled herself and entered. The place was littered with weapons like axes, swords, maces, shields, spears, bows, daggers, and any object you could strike someone with.

There were a lot of weird stares from other warriors, and they weren’t admiration or respect. They weren’t even the look of staring at the odd thing in the room. It was almost like disgust. I paid it no mind for now and continued. Before we could register, there was a requirement test for aptitude – a simple spar.

A bald man, a bit darker in skin tone than Solina, picked up a sword and shield. “We don’t do cloak and dagger stuff here, with our actions, nor with our words. Young lady, do you know of the physical diff—”

“Dad! Just, test, her!” Solina insisted.

Huh? Dad? My eyes widened. Man, he aged real damn good!

He rushed in. Now, I was just a normal girl some days ago, so seeing someone charge at me with a real sword made me panic and I swung the Scepter of the Lich God and screamed. I heard a cracking sound; Solina’s father fell over and yelled in pain.

His forearm was broken. Fuck, what’d I do? I immediately cast Intermediate Heal and Pacify. My body froze up a little, hoping to goodness I didn’t mess up so badly as to lose the first friend I made. So, I looked at Solina. “L-Lina…”

She averted her gaze and clenched her fists. Finally, she stared up at me with eyes of admiration instead of hatred. Thank goodness. “That was amazing! How’d you do that?”

I shrugged. Can this thing be something else? I pondered, half-asking my grimoire. And of course, it floated up and gave me an answer. It reminded me that the scepter could be transformed into convenient forms. So, I turned it into a sword with a skull pommel and, black blade, and white rose petals running along the blade. This is good. I knew I could use it much more freely, unlike a damn staff. It was better for a warrior anyway.

Solina’s dad rolled his eyes. “Go ahead then, go register.” He stood up and patted his daughter’s head a bit roughly. “Remember kid, your word is the only real thing you own in this life.”

Solina pushed me along. “Alright Dad, don’t get all philosophical now…” She helped me register with the Warrior Guild as well. I’d desperately need the training they offered if I wanted to be any good with a sword.

After that, we got outfitted with proper armors, thanks to my Synthesis. She stopped to help me equip my armor. God, she’s cute. I unconsciously stared at her lips. That ass is so thick. It’s really to die for. “Do you have a boyfriend?”