One could say, I re-entered the main hall of the Explorers Guild a more knowledged individual ready for this new world. I had a confident step in my walk as I made my way to the large teller area in the back to present the gold coin to the same redhead receptionist, and she smiled to make ready my registration.

I managed to get the redhead to fill out the needed paperwork with the truthful excuse I was not literate in their written form. She asked me a few pointed questions like my name, age, race, and occupational skills to which she wrote my answers to. Luckily none were privy to my past, so I had not need to spin a backstory on the fly. Afterwards I paid the gold fee, and I was registered with this guild.

Then she went over the rules. The guild makes ready the assignments to which its members can lay a claim to by request. Once the 'quest' is complete, the member then returns with proof of its verification to receive a flat 30% of its reward value. And there are no upfront payments. I almost cried out at the 70% cut the guild itself takes, but the redhead neatly explained as to the why of this arrangement-

"The guild ensures any assignment on the board is a legitimate one, and your actions are protected with special privileges. Also it is our coin on the line first. Rest assured - our workers always get paid, even if from our own pockets. And it is the guild that has to ensure the client gives back full compensation for any completed task."

"Also the guild does its best to protect our members. We won’t give you tasks more than what you are qualified to take, we provide free taxi services for certain tasks, and we help insure you. The guild believes this is worth the 70%.”

When the redhead put it like that, the 70% did seem like a pretty good deal. I was curious enough about the 'insurance' part that I had to ask, “How exactly am I insured?”

“Well... if you die, we will work on providing a resurrection," she flatly stated.

My eyes widened slightly. So resurrection is a thing in this world! Good to know, and this guild acts like a lifeline for their employees, which makes sense seeing some tasks would be dangerous gigs. It was like a life insurance but a better one because you could still collect. Suddenly, I felt a little chipper knowing If I overstepped during a quest, someone could theoretically bring me back from the dead. However I do have [Phoenix Heart], but I have no clue how that would even work here or if it did.

The bonus part of my registration came with the redhead preparing me a Status Card. It looked like a thin plastic sleeve the size of an old playing card. She held out a little needle prick saying all I needed to do was put a drop of my blood on it for it to bind to my status. After doing so, the bloody thumbprint I smeared on it was absorbed into the clear setting, and I watched as it literally turned into a magical photo ID.

I had no idea how to read this though. The only thing on it that I could make sense of was my headshot on the right. Everything else about it - from the embroidery on the edge, to the double symbol in the top left corner, to the label at the top in characters I could not read, and opposite to my portrait the confusing decagon of strange colored lines crisscrossing the other - was utterly foreign to me. What was this even saying?

I handed my Status Card back to the redhead hoping nothing too revealing was on it, and she almost immediately exclaimed out loud, "Adept Mage!?" This got the attention of many people in the hall.

"Miss..." I whined weakly, but the redhead had a fierce look in her eyes as though she was looking at me in an all new light.

"Tell me - what kind of class is this. Is it a rank-up?" she asked of me. I could hear various mutterings in the background of "never heard of that either".

I tried to ignore it as I tried to give some clarity to the confusion, "Well... it's a Magic Support class," thinking about the in-game category Adept Mage was under.

"You mean like a Priest?" The girl's eyes were widening. "How can you be a Priest class and not be associated with the Temples?" I could feel the chatter all around me now.

"Not exactly. It's more of a base class I was able to obtain... through study." I let out a little cough, panicking where this conversation was going to lead. Almost every eye in the hall was on me now, and even the other receptionists (4 now) were hovering behind the redhead taking glimpses of my new Status Card.

"You know, I am from Azora," I said in a confident voice, hoping this excuse would work as its other employs. But one of the older hostesses, whose brown hair was in a particularly fine bun, had to point out that my Homestead tab was empty-

"I don't think I ever seen it blank on a card before." The five hostess began to gossip some more about it while my mind worked furiously on a counterattack for this new tidbit. Atleast it didn't say - 'other world'. Then another pointed out how my 'Karma' diagram had the strangest patterns.

"Karma," I let out a weak voice. That was a thing here? My confidence from before was cracking like ice. I didn't play many games that used that system and what's more, I don't remember any 'karma' factors in the various fictional settings I was aware of.

"Yes," the same hostess continued. "Most people's Karma have two visible shapes intertwined with the other." The redhead had angled my Status Card downward so I could get a better look at the other's explanation.

"I've heard of some people having a third mixed in. But, yours..." her voice trailed off as she knew not how to really explain the shape she was seeing. But I did - it was a single solid polygon with its crossing lines forming a 10-pointed star inside it. Everything about it was perfectly even but several lines were highlighted in a single color to form a fantasy-like decagram.

"I have no idea how to read this," another remarked.

"It doesn't look bad, I think," the redhead put in. "I'm not seeing any odd markers."

"So, that's a good thing," I pitched. All five gave me a cynical stare that made me shrink even more before the redhead continued-

"Well yeah. Otherwise we could not let you join the guild. We have a reputation to keep, you know." No, I really don't, but it seems I was a little safer than what I thought seconds before.

The bun lady added, "Still, I'd like the Guildmaster to see this when he gets in. Perhaps he'll know more of it." I really did not want to get on the boss's radar by way of this and on the very first day, but it looks like I will have to come up with a suitable backstory after all. With the last few admissions of the five receptionists, those behind me seemed to lose interest and their chorus turned into a jumble of odd topics not about me (I hope).

"Oh look," this came from the last hostess, a young lady with cropped up blonde hair clearly dyed a pale blue. "He does have a Homestead. It is just so faded you can barely see the word." Oh crap! What did it say? She was now pointing it out to the others.

"What is this," the one in the bun was holding the card now trying to angle it to get a better reflection. None could make out what they called, the strange scribbling. The redhead had it back as she was trying to make sense of it when I prompted to see the marking they were going over.

I was handed the card back and focused all my attention to the little spot they were pointing at before. Under my headshot was a little tab with a line tree setting, but next to it did indeed have a very faded series of lines that could easily be overlooked. To my horror, I actually recognized this word. It was in a strange Latin font, but it clearly read: Nippon.

Thinking fast, I looked back up to the receptionists whom were all gazing upon me and said with a shaky smile, "It reads as a location in the Azora region. It is written in a rather archaic form though."

"Elder script?" The bun lady questioned. She was clearly interested in knowing more. I wanted to face palm here, but I had to say more to get her off-track, yet I had no idea what this Elder script was. So-

"I think so. But even we don't use it much anymore. Nowadays - old words like these are used for decor." Please let that be the end of it. The older gal seemed to buy it for now as she nodded in absentminded fashion. Then she and the other three hostess turned and went back to their back station as though the little show with my Status Card was over.

"R-Rikku-san, may I have that back please?" It was the redhead who had a slight blush on her face as she asked for my Status Card. It was the first time she addressed me directly. I curved my lip and proffered my card in a loose grip. She took it back and began to trot a few things down with an feathered pen on the same sheet of paper that had all my answers to the questionnaire she gave me. The redhead must have been cross-checking everything I had stated in the verbal. With luck, nothing should be terribly conflicting now but the nagging problem could be for anything later.

The hostess neatly finished a minute later as she verified the Status Card and approved my registration. She said all it would need is the Guildmaster's seal of approval to finalize it so copies can be sent to the other branches. Apparently this Explorers Guild was a network and not a single enterprise.

I then asked her about taking up some job requests to which she came from behind the counter and walked me over to one of the large bulletin boards. I couldn't read the various postings that read like squiggly lines with dots to me but my companion seemed to have no trouble darting her eyes through the display. The redhead asked for a little more detail about how comfortable I was with my 'healing' capability, since during the little interview I told her I would prefer to take tasks as a healer or for collection quests.

I tried explaining it in relative terms as to not say anything too specific, and she pulled one paper off this board stating that the request was to heal the sight of a local nobleman's son who had suffered a terrible horsing accident. Then she moved us to another board where she pulled off two more. She said one request was to heal a couple farmhands who got tangled with a nasty mandrake root, and the other was to cure the boils off a young maiden.

We then made our way back to the counter where the redhead used some kind of stamp on the upper right corner and then wrote squiggly lines within its inked setting. She explained this stamp was a way they mark a request being queued while handing all three papers back to me stating this-

"This should keep you busy for atleast a week." I was about to ask "why it would take so long" but I didn't want to cause another scene so I kept my mouth shut. But I did ask the hostess about the reward values for each. She had me lay all three requests back out on the counter and pointed to each paper to explain: the reward with the nobleman's son was 500 dollars, the girl with the boils 300, and the two farmhands 80. I asked to borrow her feathered pen and made some personal notes on each paper.

These were very good values since the lady Sage told me a gold coin of about 10 grams was worth roughly 100 of those silver dollars. Those silver dollars were worth 2 half-dollars, also of silver. Each half-dollar was worth 10 of the standard issue sized silver coin, also known as a dime. Gold coin (or piece) values are always calculated by weight. This is not done with the three silvers seeing as it has many different mints over the years and goes across all borders. The last used coin was a copper penny with it being a 37:1 ratio to a single dime. Pennies are called the pauper currency in this world, probably not a good connotation.

I learned from that conversation that it was the silver dime and copper penny being the norm for the lower caste, and the dollar values being tagged for the upper ends of society. Gold coins were rarely used in the marketplace save for the highest end of goods and services. And it was surprising to see the coinage of this world use the American system. It made me think there were others like me, from Planet Earth, somewhere in this world. If I got summoned here through a video game, then it is not much of a stretch to think others found themselves here as well.

I quickly jotted down some math on one the papers to see the total reward monies I would receive was 264 dollars after the 70% cut, if my calculation wasn't wrong. It would be a considerable value for living expenses since the lady Sage said the average peasant class would not net even a 4 gold wage over an entire year of work plus expenses. To me - it would be like getting a million yen off a single day's work.

However, there was one big problem. I had no idea where any of these clients are and told the redhead so-

"-um... I hate to ask this, but am I able to hire a guide to where these locations are?"

"Of course. This is one of the main services of our guild you know." Of course, an Explorers Guild would not be just about adventuring but travelling in the general sense. She continued-

"Do you have a travel preference?" To this, I had no idea how to answer her. If this was my world, I would think she obviously meant a car, subway, or boat ride but this was a magical reality. Heck, riding on the back of a dragon could be an option here for all I know.

"Can you list any options that are available, at this time?" Best bet was to learn what I could now. But to my surprise, she only gave me two options. One sounded like a cab ride and the other was using one of their Explorers to move around. I asked about that second option because it made no sense on its surface description.

"Explorers you know, the class. They have a [Field Walk] skill that can transport their party members with them over long distances." Ah, a group teleportation thing would be fitting for a profession that is into exploring.

"Do they not have Explorers in Azora?" The redhead cocked her head when she posed that question to which I had a ready answer-

"Probably, but I likely not met them. Most of our people have magic classes."

"I guess that is true for you Azorans," she seemed to concur before adding, "None of the guilds have a branch out there, so rarely anyone ever gets to visit those parts." Good to know. But the hostess pointed out, "Thing is - I don't know if we have a ready Explorer at this time, and their services can be quite expensive for someone new to town. Though, I can make a couple calls if you wish."

If they are expensive, then I will have to pass. So I answered, "Can you tell me more about these taxis?" Here I was given a list of various 'runners' that doubled as the proverbial taxi driver on the side. Most used horses where I would have to ride double. Seen a couple bad videos of that on the U-cubes, and kind of wanted to avoid that one. Some of the other taxis had what she called a pony, but it sounded more like a carriage. I chose this one since it was the closest thing to sounding like a comfortable ride-along.

"Please wait here, Rikku-san. I will go see who is available." I thanked the redhead as she walked over to a back table. I took a quick look around the guildhall, mostly to see if I was holding anyone up. Seems not as much of the room has emptied with only a couple groups situated at one of the floor settings. There were four other receptionists after all, and I only saw one attend a customer (or member) during this whole time I spent with the cute redhead.

I kept calling her redhead but I can easily find out her name. In a low voice I said, "[Scan]", and watched as her character window appeared in my inner eye:

Name: Genifer, Mangold (maiden)

Race: Hume

Class List

lv.16 Squire

lv.19 Villager

Stats

Strength - 26, Vitality - 30, Agility - 29, Dexterity - 27, Magicka - 26, Spirit - 26, Luck - 5

Skillset

Sword Hand (novice): 4

Feats

Charisma +2, Negotiator

Titles

n/a

So her name is Genifer. And she has 19 levels in Villager. Just to make sure, I used [Scan] on the other four hostess, and they had the class with a level count corresponding to their physical age. It was looking more and more likely everyone but me has this Villager class. Part of me felt left out like during team selections during PE.

Genifer was visibly talking to no one in particular but using a stone that was glowing. Curious, I used [Scan] on it, and it came up as a window in my mind: Message Stone, top grade, cast: [Message], with a disclaimer text in cursive stating connections not guaranteed. I recognized [Message] from other games as a basic and long range communication spell, like an old cellphone. So that stone must be a magic item, like the Ring of Stored Space, that can perform a specific task. I'll have to look to get one of these in the future, as it looks to be the closest thing to a teledevice this magical world might have.

I waited patiently as Genifer looked to use the Message Stone to make two more 'calls', but it seemed she didn't get a hook as my escort. The third call looked more promising since it lasted less than 30 seconds before she smiled to set the stone in an ornament setting. She then walked back over to me to say-

"Got a pony for you. His name is Rogers, and he is one of our best runners. He can get you most places in the countryside within a couple hours time. He said he'll be here in about 10 minutes."

I half bowed to the hostess, "Arigato gozaimasu. For all the assistance here."

"Don't mention it. One last thing, your Status Card. I need to seal it to your hand." From a pullout behind the counter, Genifer took out the smallest of branding irons. However, its edge looked sharp.

"Can I ask... what you mean by seal?" I wasn't liking the look of this considering I had to prick my thumb to activate the card itself.

"It's easy enough. This little brand will make a small cut on your hand. This stamp will act as the base of a blood seal where can hide your own Status Card within your person. So you always carry it with you and can't be easily stolen."

"So... it becomes like a part of you?" I think I was understanding the concept here.

"Correct. And it is not actually physically in you, per say." Genifer explained, "Your Status Card more or less dissolves into the seal itself. That way you can just present your hand to a receiver to activate its function." This is sounding more like a magic microchip.

"Question: could I put this seal somewhere else, like the back of my shoulder, or my foot even?"

"You could... but I would not recommend it." Her tone got a bit dark.

"Would it be for a bad reason?"

"Not by design." Genifer laughed a little as she said, "Look, Status Cards are used as identification in most nations hitherto. Can you not think of any reason why you would want the ID seal on your hand and no where else?"

Not really but saying that outright would make me look like a dunce. Of course looking at the redhead with a blank expression, as I was now, was probably just as stupid. However, I found a different route to answer her.

"Could I just not bind it at all then?" I thought I was clever with this retort until Genifer said-

"But what if you lose it?"

"Couldn't I just get another one made then?"

"Nay," was her flat answer. She further iterated, "Your Status Card is a unique item and bound to you. Only one can be active at any given time." I guess this restriction would make sense, and then I came to the answer why.

"These cards have a spellblock to prevent it from being altered or recast?" It was less a question than realizing the only reason this item would have such a built-in protection.

"Correct," Genifer nodded. That was when I realized why I would want the ID seal on my hand and no where else. It was the most expendable part of the human body. If someone really wanted to steal my Status Card and had you cornered, then it would be better just to lose a hand.

"Correct, again." Gennifer beamed me a pretty smile as I told her its reasoning. "So, left or right? Most people pick their opposite hand." I settled on my left as well, holding it out so she could put the seal near my thumb. Funny thing was, she had a hard time getting the little devil on it.

"Why is your skin so tough?" The redhead continually edged it around and around but the cut just wouldn't take hold. Of course, it was damn uncomfortable as she dug the brand deeper and deeper into my hand. Finally, she managed to get enough of a penetration that my blood just pooled around its sticker as she pulled away.

"I'm so sorry." Genifer was looking quite perturbed. "I didn't mean to be so rough, but the blood seal needs a clean slit all around for the card to take root."

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I can heal it later right?" The redhead dabbed the little wound with a cotton pad then pressed on it hard, but she shook her head to my inquiry.

"It would be best to save any healing on it until after the binding is complete. I've heard of people using healing magic after a creating a seal, only for their card to pop back out. Then you will have to do it all over again. Best wait a couple hours first. Or tonight if you still have the mana."

"I'll do that," I replied watching the white pad become half red from trying to stem the flow. It really wasn't that bad, easily a cut that would scab over within a week's time. After another minute, Genifer pulled the pad off to rub a smelly alcohol ointment on it. Then she placed my Status Card over my cut thumb and said-

"Okay, say the words: Status Seal." Doing just that, I watched as my Status Card literally dissolved from her hand in a few seconds and into the little wounded area. My hand barely felt a tingle. That could be from the throbbing sensation though. Genifer then took a little blue crystal out and placed it around the finished seal. It glowed in the palest of color and a hologram of my Status Card appeared right above it.

"Illusionary effect," the redhead said with a wink.

"I see," I retorted with a knowing smirk. "Again, thank you, Miss-".

"Genifer. Genifer Mangold." She said with a bow of her head.

"Pleasure to meet your acquintance, Genifer-san." I returned with a nod.

"Likewise, Rikku-san. Welcome to our guild."