The building which was almost empty few minutes ago, was now beaming with life. It was as if the half of the village came to the Guild’s building. The room was filled with so many voices that I could barely distinguish few of them and only because they were the loudest.

“Wh-what-t, what are those stats?!” Said a man closest to the orb.

“It can't be true, right?!” Shouted someone in the crowd.

“Infinite endurance and moreover half of the stats couldn’t be appraised! What kind of monster is she!?!” I heard a woman's voice.

“Do you really believe it? From what I’ve seen I can tell you that the orb has malfunctioned.” Someone shouted back.

“Malfunctioned!? I've never hea…” Someone wanted to retort, but was interrupted by a sound of the shattering orb, but the orb didn’t just simply explode. Pieces of the orb froze in midair. it was as if the time had frozen for each piece, only after few minutes pieces started to slowly dissipate into the light.

What was that?

“Unknown.” Hal replied.

Everyone was mesmerized, by this beautiful scene. No one dared to move or to utter any sound. If not for the fact that it was impossible for human to stand perfectly still I would have really believed that the time had frozen.

I decided to stand up and continue with my registration, because this unnatural atmosphere was making me really anxious. I used my both arms to support myself while standing up.

“Eeeh!” I exclaimed in shock.

Left hand! My left hand has grown back!

My voice was like an impulse starting the chain reaction. The previously silent room was again filled with countless voices. Fortunately no one has noticed that my arm has grown back or maybe they didn’t notice it was missing at the first place. I wasn’t the main topic of people’s conversation. They were talking about once in a lifetime opportunity to witness an event like this.

The crowd that was previously surrounding the orb and me started slowly dissipating. The people realized that they had still their own chores to do and since the event was already over, they had nothing to do here.

Soon the guild has returned to its formerly empty state

“Ms. are you alright?” The receptionist finally noticed my existence.

“I’m fine, but can we proceed with registration?” I asked.

“Are you sure? It’s the first time I’ve seen appraisal orb being broken.” He replied.

“Yes I am, but please can we proceed?” I asked again.

“I’m afraid it won’t be possible until we geeee…“ He was about to say no, but he suddenly stopped in mid-sentence after casting a glance at something behind my back.

I turned my head and saw Ember walking towards us.

“I’m glad that nothing has happened to you and I’m sorry I couldn’t help you earlier, but the crowd was too dense and I couldn’t break through it.” She said while smiling.

“I’m fine, I only had a little bit of bad luck, that’s all.” I replied.

“Good. I’m really glad that nothing has happened to you, but now because orb has shattered I’ll have to vouch for you, so Jahim can issue you a guild card.”

“Jahim?”

“Haven’t I told you before? Ahh… Nevermind Jahim is the receptionist you talked to before, so stay here until we’re done with all the paperwork.”

Ember then walked past him and whispered.

“May I have a word with you.”

“Yes ma’am” He whispered back.

“Please stay here. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” He said to me and followed Ember.

They’ve entered the room which had an “Guild Master” sign above the door, because I was suspicious of their behaviour, so after they vanished behind the door, I made sure that no one was paying attention to me and quickly followed them.

It shouldn’t be too hard to eavesdrop for me after I got my enhanced hearing, but I was really surprised, because I couldn’t hear even the slightest sound coming from behind the door.

Surprised I tried to open the door slightly, but when I stretched my hand to grab a door handle I noticed it was gone.

What the hell? Hal can you open the door?

“The door is surrounded by an unknown energy field. Further analysis required.” Hal replied.

Then analyze it.

After I said that, my left hand dispersed into a silver mist and surrounded the door. I was a bit surprised, but then I realized that because of a shock I didn’t notice that my left hand actually didn’t grow back. It was replaced by nanites.

I looked around to check if someone has noticed me, luckily the door was placed in such place that there was only one person that could see me, but he was looking in a opposite direction at the moment.

Hal how much longer are you going to analyze it?

“Estimated completion time: 29 seconds” Hal answered.

I got a little nervous after hearing Hal’s response, but I knew it was unlikely that the guy would suddenly turn around. Finally after 31 seconds Hal announced: “Analysis complete. Hardware and Software upgrade available. Applying update. Initializing system Reboot.”

Wait what!?

But before I could stop Hal I lost my consciousness.

Initializing Ego.

Ego initialization complete.

System reboot complete.

Upgrade complete.

As I woke up I noticed that I was still standing before the door to Guild Master’s Office.

Hal for how long I have been unconscious?

“47 seconds.” Hal replied.

Fortunately I wasn’t unconscious for a long period of time, but the mist has already managed to condense into my hand and the knowledge acquired from analysis was already in my head.

The barrier was actually supported by the some strange energy. Before the upgrade I wasn’t able to sense it, but this energy was actually omnipresent. There were places which had less energy, but there were no spot which was completely devoid of it. After taking a closer look at the movement of energy I noticed that the energy was actually forming a vortex with me at the center.

Wait! Hal you actually already started absorbing it?

“Affirmative.” Hal answered.

Hah. I’m getting pretty scared of your autonomy.

Absorbing energy from the air actually meant that I didn’t need any other power sources to keep nanites running. Although default recharge speed wasn’t extremely fast, merely 1% per hour, I could manually speed it up to 100% per hour or slow it down to zero.

After calming my mind down, I looked at the door again. This time I could actually sense the barrier that was surrounding it.

So this is magic.

Thanks to Hal’s analysis I knew which part was responsible for sound absorption. Every time it absorbed the sound it fluctuated a bit. I knew how to break the barrier, but I was afraid that it may alert them, so I discarded the idea. But then a better idea came to my mind.

Hal can you convert barrier’s fluctuations to sound?

“Affirmative.” Hal replied.

“... simply didn’t break. She must have had some sort of high grade anti-appraisal treasure.” I heard the Jahim directly in my mind.

“Then it is another reason why you must not offend her. Being in possession of such treasure means that she has a powerful background.” Ember replied.

“But I can’t issue a card when I’m provided with false details. It’s against rules.” He answered.

“Rules aren’t absolute. Sometimes you must make an exception.” She retorted.

“Ok, ok settle down. Let’s do like this: You will invite that demon girl here and after a private talk with her I’ll decide whether or not she should get a card.” I heard a third voice clearly belonging to woman.

Shit!

I swiftly returned to the place where they left me just before Ember and Jahim walked out of the Guild Master’s office. Ember walked to me while Jahim stayed next to the door.

“The Guild Master wanted to talk to you first, but I’m pretty sure that you’ll be able to get your card after talking to him.” She said.

“Why do I have to talk to Guild Master?” I asked, despite already knowing the reason.

“It’s just a standard procedure. Please follow me I’ll bring you to her.” She said.

I knew these weren’t standard procedures, but because I wanted to leave the village as soon as possible I didn’t question Ember and I simply followed her.

“Here, go through this door, we’ll wait for you outside.” Said Ember.

When I entered the office I was assaulted by a thick lavender smell. The room had furnitures made out of wood, but the office gave more of traditional than primitive feeling. There was a woman sitting behind the desk, but she didn’t look like a traditional clerk. She looked like a Veteran who survived countless battles. Her brown eyes were like two sharp swords that could pierce through your soul. Her gray hair didn’t make you feel she was old, instead it gave you a feeling that she was an experienced woman.

“Take a sit.” She said and pointed at the sofa chair.

After I sat down she immediately asked. “What brings a Primordial Demon to our humble village?”

Straight to the point eh? I’m tired of explaining everyone that I’m not a demon. I guess I’ll just play along and become a proud and aloof demon for them.

“Why should I tell you?” I replied.

“Because I’m the only one that can issue a card for you.” She then added.

“Let’s say that my transportation was interrupted and I ended up being transported to outskirts of your village. That’s all you need to know.” I replied wearing a cold expression

“I see... Then why do you want a guild card with your race faked? Aren’t you going to spy for demons?” Said Guild Master.

“Spy for demons!? What kind of person am I for you!? I would never lower myself to spy for these lowly beings! I don’t even need your card, I only find it convinient!” I exclaimed faking anger.

“I was only joking. Of course I’ll issue a card. I even have a one waiting for you under the desk.” She replied slightly nervously.

Wow, was it really that effective?

“I’ll let this matter go this time, but only if you hand over this card to me.” I replied with a cold voice.

After hearing my reply She sighed with relief and handed me a card.

“Here this is your card.” She said.

I looked at the card it was filled with similar values.

Name:

Rank: E

Race: Human

Age: 21

Resistance:

Affinity:

Endurance: S+

Magicka Capacity:

Agility: C+

Intelligence: A

Strength: E-

Wisdom: A

“Remember these are not your true stats. I only replaced unable to appraise with . Don’t worry it’s pretty common for adventurers to hide some of their stats, so it won’t be suspicious.” She explained.

“So you actually are not so stupid.” I was really getting into my roleplay.

“I’m glad you are satisfied.” She replied clearly suppressing her emotions.

“My business here is done.” I said and left the room.

Ember and Jahim were still waiting outside and after I left they quickly rushed towards me, but as soon as the Guild Master saw them through open door, she ordered them to come in.

“I’m sorry, but Guild Master wants to talk with me. I’ll be right back.” Ember said with troubled expression.

Don’t worry after he finishes talking to you I’ll probably be already outside the village.

Although I decided to leave as soon as possible I also decided to repay their kindness someday. I wasn’t a person who didn’t pay her debts.

The next sidestory will be from the Guild Master’s point of view, It will explain everything(Why the conversation was so short, why she agreed so soon, etc.).

Thanks to my English level writing this story is twice as much time consuming.