Joining the Guild
After a few minutes of resting to allow the food to settle, Alex left the inn and headed straight towards the center of the town. It seemed that nothing had changed since the past two weeks that he was here. Not like two weeks could allow significant changes in the times they were now in.
The stalls on the side of the road, the merchants moving about with their carriages full of their merchandise, people moving from one place to another in search for certain products. Well, that's normal to see in the outer regions of a town. Only the center is well organized.
Walking around the streets, Alex had his mind wondering with different thoughts. He was wondering what was going on back at home. Were they even concerned about his presence at all? Were they looking for him? What would they do now that he had left them to make his life?
He didn't notice it but he was soon in front of a large building. It was like a huge hall, painted white. A three story building with an influx of people coming in and out of the building. Outside the building, there was a signboard written in bold, 'ADVENTURER'S GUILD.' Alex gazed at the writings and knew that once he got in there, his new phase of life would begin.
After a few moments of taking a deep breath and organizing his thoughts, he stepped into the building. The ground floor was filled to the brim with people wearing their combat gears. Both men and women had fierce expressions displaying on their faces.
At the right side of the hall, there was a big signboard and there was a large number of adventurers that had collected themselves there. According to what Alex believed, that should be where people take missions before going for approval from a staff of the guild. Some people took solo missions while others took team missions.
Alex not wanting to waste any more time walked over to a counter where there was a burner written 'registration'. The counter had a short line of five people. Apparently, they were registering as a team that would be doing team missions. According to the regulations of the guild, a team should not have less than five members. Joining behind the line, Alex waited patiently for his turn.
"What is your squad's name?" asked the female attendant.
"Flying dragons," replied a man who was in front of the counter. He had a red leather armor, arm guards and leg guards that matched it, a broad sword hanging on his back and a shield held in his left arm. Blue hair, squire face, tanned skin, blue eyes and a well trimmed bearded chin.
"Okay, am done here. Take thus form and fill in all the required details from your badge rank to your personal details and that of your team members," said the female staff as she handed the firm to the hunters.
After picking up the form, they moved to a desk not too far from where they were and began filling in the required details. Alex moved to the counter next.
"How may I help you?" asked the staff without looking at Alex. She was busy arranging some documents under her desk.
"I would like to register as a member of the adventurers guild," replied Alex. The lady raised her head and appraised Alex. She looked at him from head to toe then snorted and returned to organizing the documents.
After some time, she picked up a form and threw it in Alex's face. "Fill in all the required details," she said as she kept doing what she was on. According to her judgement on clothing, he should be one of those people coming from a small background. Thus, she paid no heed to him and treated him with a cold shoulder.
Alex didn't mind it though as he was already used to that kind of treatment. He moved to a side desk and began filling his details. Name, age, where from, combat style whether a warrior or a mage, power level and so on.
Upon completion, he returned to the counter and handed over the form with his complete details. When the woman saw that Alex wasn't an awakened, she was dumbfounded. A guy who hasn't even awaken and was trying to register as an adventurer? What a joke!
"Are you kidding me or something? You are not awakened and you still believe that you can fight monsters? You truly aren't serious are you?" asked the woman.
"Eeh, am I not allowed to register as an adventurer because I have not awakened?" Alex was dumbfounded. According to what he knew, everyone had a right to register as a guild member. But for one to not be expelled, he or she must finish at least ten missions within half a year.
The woman stared at Alex for a while before relenting. "Okay, whatever you do doesn't concern me. Here, take this to the next floor for testing and you will receive your badge there." she handed Alex the form and went back to ignoring him.
Alex walked towards the stairs and ascended to the first floor. The floor had less people compared to the ground floor. Although it had an open office layout, it still gave the staff personal space for conducive working.
He walked in and looked around. After finding where the testing was being held, he headed straight in. He was welcomed by an old man who seemed to be the one in charge of the tests. Although he had a fragile looking body, the presence he was emitting was closer to that of a rank 8. Even though Alex didn't have the capabilities of seeing through one's power level, he could at least compare to the pressure emitted in the presence of Simon.
"Hey kid, are you here for testing?" inquired the old man. Long beard reaching his chest, white hair, brown eyes and he was putting on a light green robe.
"Yes sir. I have been instructed to come here for the test. Here is the form," Alex said as he handed over the form. The old skimmed through the details for some time before looking back at Alex. Without further ado, he asked Alex to come in after which the test officially began.
"You see that blue orb right there? Just go ahead and place your arm over it. Don't remove it until after five seconds. Then move to the following one and repeat the same thing," said the old man.
Alex did as instructed and walked over to the orb and placed his hand on top of it. The warm sensation passed through his arm and then through his body. Five seconds later, Alex removed his hand and went to the next orb which was green in colour. He again repeated the procedure. The first orb was for determining physical statistics while the second was for personal details such as age, job class and so on.
After he was done, the old man went towards the third orb that was white in colour. He placed his hand in it and after a few seconds, a bright light emitted from it. After the light faded, there was a brown card laying there beside it. The old man then picked it up and then looked at the details on the card.
"Mmh, interesting." After saying so, he then handed over the card to Alex while he himself was still pondering on what he had seen. 'How can this be possible, he hasn't even awoken yet,' the old man thought to himself while observing Alex.
After receiving the card, the details displayed were as follows;
Name; Alex Faxel
Age; 15
Strength; 17
Agility; 14
Stamina; 19
Job;. ???
Level; Copper
Ability;. ???
Skills;. Light steps, Swirling winds
Proficiency;. Dual swords, dagger and bow
'What a pity, my strength is still so low,' Alex muttered in his heart. Had the old man heard what he was thinking, he would have made sure to beat up this stupid boy till his senses are back. Why? It's because Alex's physical abilities were much as compared to that of a person who hadn't awakened. It was compared to that of a rank 1 in late stages.