Chapter 5 Oakfast City Adventures Guild

As Tommy entered the adventures guild he saw the place was full of people.

They seemed to be mainly split into three groups.

The first group was queuing up to be served at one of several counters that were being staffed by attractive women.

The second group congregated around several large notice boards that had paper pinned to them.

The final group was off to one side in an area that seemed to be some sort of bar or restaurant, where people were drinking and eating while talking and laughing with their friends.

Over on the far side of the entrance tha Tommy came through he saw two sets of stairs, one that led up while the other led down.

Tommy gave the room another quick scan before he joined a queue for one of the several counters.

As he was waiting for his turn in the queue Tommy noticed that one of the shady characters that had been following him through the city entered the adventures guild before heading towards the bar.

After a few minutes it was finally Tommy's turn and when he stepped in front of the woman that was serving his counter he got a decent look at her.

She had shoulder length hazel hair with green eyes and was very attractive.

"Welcome to Oakfast City Adventures Guild, I don't believe I have seen you before. Are you new in the city?"

"Yes I just arrived and I need to obtain a new ID." Tommy replied.

"ID?" The receptionist asked in a puzzled tone.

"Ah sorry my apologies, I need to obtain a new identification document." Tommy replied.

"Ah I see, of course I can help that won't be a problem, would you also care to register as an adventurer since you're here?" She asked in return.

"Can you explain exactly what an adventure is, please." Tommy asked politely.

The receptionist gave a puzzled look as Tommy heard a few individuals nearby chuckle in laughter.

"Sure I don't mind, though I have never met anyone who didn't know what an adventure was." She replied, returning to her professional smile.

Tommy returned her professional smile with one of his own before he said.

"I have an idea about the basics, such as an adventure takes jobs of the boards over there and completes them in order to claim the reward, after proving their worth they can then rank up, I just don't know the specifics."

Tommy blagged his way through that basic explanation from recalling what he had seen and read in those isekai stories he read in the past.

The receptionist nodded before saying.

"You got the basics correct."

"As a new adventure you will start at rank F."

"The rank ranges from F to A before becoming S, SS, SSS."

"You can take any jobs which are at or below your level, or one level higher than you."

"While the higher level jobs will reward you with more they also come with a penalty if you fail or quit them after accepting."

"Should you fail or quit them you will have to reimburse the guild double what is offered as a reward, this is put in place to prevent adventurers from attempting jobs they are not ready for."

"To advance in rank you have to complete at least ten jobs."

"However once you want to become rank C or higher, you will also have to complete a test set by the adventurers guild."

Being a member of the Adventures Guild means you can use the adventures hall's facilities in any town or City where there is an adventure hall present at a reduced cost.

"These facilities including, lodging, identification services, sale of goods to the adventure hall such as animal carcasses, training from the guilds instructors and other things."

Tommy nodded in understanding before he said.

"I see thank you for the explanation, how do I go about obtaining my identification and registering as an adventurer?" 

The receptionist smiled before saying.

We can do both at the same time, the adventure card you will receive once you become one will also act as your identification in the future."

"As for how to become one, I first need you to fill out a simple form and then take a couple of tests."

"What sort of tests?" Tommy asked.

"Nothing too crazy, the first is a mana quality test, while the second is a combat test against one of our instructors."

"While I'm fine with the combat test I'm afraid you will find the mana quality test pointless." Tommy replied.

"Oh why?" The receptionist asked with interest.

"I have no mana to test." Tommy replied with a shrug.

As Tommy finished speaking the room seemed to turn silent for a moment before everyone burst out in laughter.

Even all the receptionists behind the counter giggled at what Tommy said before his own receptionist said.

"That's impossible, every living creature has at least some mana in their body otherwise they would not exist."

"Even though most people in the world are incapable of using magic, they still have a small amount of mana in their bodies, only those with a large pool of mana can access it and become magic users." 

Tommy simply smiled in response before saying.

"You will learn the truth soon enough I guess."

The receptionist smiled before pulling out a form and saying.

"Please fill out your name, age and gender before passing it back to me… oh you do know how to write?" 

"I do." Tommy replied before grabbing a quill from the nearby ink pot and quickly filling out his details, after which he handed the form back.

The receptionist gave a once over before she said in a slightly surprised tone.

"Your name is Tommy Smith?"

"That's correct, is there a problem?" Tommy replied.

The receptionist shook her head before answering.

"Not at all, it's just a very unusual name." 

"That would be because I'm not from around here." Tommy replied with his professional smile.

"I see." The receptionist replied before saying.

"My name is Rizi by the way."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rizi." Tommy replied.

Rizi giggled again before saying.

"Just Rizi." 

Tommy nodded to show he understood.

Rizi got up from her chair and went over to the wall behind her that had many shelves on it before she grabbed what looked like a crystal ball with a cloth and brought it back to the desk.

Tommy looked at it curiously and as if understanding his curious look Rizi explained.

"This is a Mana Quality Sphere, it's used to test a person's man quality, all you have to do is place the palm of your hand on it."

Tommy nodded as he inspected the object.

[Mana Quality Sphere: Used to test the mana quality of an individual, but in your case just don't bother.]

Tommy sighed at the description before he placed his hand on the Mana Quality Sphere.

Everyone in the hall watched eagerly to see what result he would get.

However even after several moments nothing happened making everyone show confused frowns.

Tommy removed his hand before saying.

"Told you."

Rizi tilted her head in confusion before she placed her own hand on the sphere.

Immediately after the sphere started to glow and grew in brightness before stopping.

As it stopped growing in brightness Rizi removed her hand and those close enough to see saw the words Excellent appear inside the sphere before the brightness disappeared and it returned to normal.

"Wow Rizi you improved again." One of the other receptionists congratulated her.

Other people started to speak up either to congratulate her or to fawn over her.

Rizi however gave the sphere an odd look before looking back at Tommy and saying.

"Sorry Mr Smith but I will need to have the sphere tested before we try again, why don't we move onto the combat test for now.

"That's fine, and please just call me Tommy." Tommy replied.

Rizi smiled before she passed him his application form back and said.

"Take this and head down one floor before looking for a door that says' Testing Room, once there pass this to the instructor on duty and explain why you came'."

"If you pass, return here with the form and we will attempt the Mana Quality test again, I need to go have this inspected."

After speaking Rizi took the sphere in the cloth again before heading up the stairs out of sight.

Tommy watched her go before he took the form and headed down the stairs.

One floor down he left the staircase and headed down a long corridor that had doors on either side.

He eventually found the room that said 'Testing Room' on it and he entered inside.

Inside he found a large open room that had a desk next to the door.

A raised platform was in the middle of the room.

Around the edge of the room were many weapon racks containing different weapons.

A large stocky man was in the room and appeared to be doing something at one of the weapon racks as Tommy entered, however he turned around when he heard the door open.

He gave Tommy a once over before scoffing and saying.

"Why are you here brat?"