The Guild

Finally making some headway, Cassian now had to choose which line to stand in. The building was huge, a lot bigger than the anime portrayed it as. And there were multiple sections around. From what Cassian could tell they were reception, dungeon drops exchange, private booths, and so on. The reception section had a dozen lines going up to various staff members.

Quickly overlooking the staff member the brothers saw familiar faces. 

"Holy crap isn't that Eina?! And that's Misha! And Rose!" Nico was understandably over the moon. These were famous characters from one of his favorite animes, how could he not be delighted to finally see some named characters he loved in his previous world.

Cassian, meanwhile was feeling a bit weird. Seeing formerly fictional characters in the flesh, when they are actual, living, breathing people with actual lives, was a bit disconcerting, to say the least. But he shook it off, it was better to get over it and accept their new lives. Thinking of others as 'Characters' was demeaning. 

"Okay, which one do we choose, the loud overprotective one, the lazy slacker, the cold pessimist, or do we take our chances with someone else?" Cassian already knew which one he preferred, even with the unfriendly attitude, at least she was the picture of prefosionalism.

"You're not actually going to listen to my choice are you?" Asked Nico in a resigned voice. He knew his brother…

"Nope."

"And it's not Eina, is it?"

"Yep."

"Sigh, why though? Didn't you say she was overprotective? That means she'll care and help us as much as she can."

"Yeah, but she'll also forbid us from a lot of things and announce our business to the entire city block. I also don't want someone who says "adventurers shouldn't go on adventurers" as my adventuring advisor." Not that Cassian had anything against Eina, but she was just a bit too overbearing for his taste.

Nico nodded in understanding and agreed with the assessment. Though Rose being drop-dead gorgeous played a part in him being so accepting of it. Not that they were already choosing advisors, but there was a good chance, the person they talked to today, would end up taking that role.

After that, they stood in the line for 30 minutes before it was finally their turn.

"Greetings, how may I help you?" Rose Fannett asked with a bored, monotonous tone and a resting bitch-face that would draw admiration from all celebrities. 

"Hello, my name is Cassian and this is my brother Nico. We're new to Orario and came here to get citizenship. Also, I was hoping for some guidance on some matters, adventurer-related." Replied Cassian with a polite smile. The attitude suited Cassian just fine, as long as it didn't affect her professionalism, he couldn't care less.

"Hmm, very well, please follow me to a booth for more privacy." With that she headed off from the counter, only to be immediately replaced by another employee. The guild had numerous branches and employees within Orario, just to be able to keep up with the staggering amount adventurers. The main branch, where they were located now dealt primarily in adventurer matters, while some smaller ones dealt with civil matters.

"Please, give me the passes so that I can make a citizenship identification card." Rose told them after entering the booth. Cassian handed them over and watched Rose go about filling out all the papers for a couple of minutes. They had to fill some of them out themselves. Citizenship required more information than a temporary pass. Afterward, she handed the papers off to another employee and turned to the two.

"The Identification Card will be ready in about 10 minutes, what other matters did you wish to discuss?"

"We wish to be adventurers-" This was met with a quiet and annoyed mutter from Rose "Of course you do." Cassian ignored it and continued. "So I was hoping you could give us a rundown of the processes involved." 

"Fine, are you part of a familia yet?" Asked Rose with a grumble.

"Nope, we only got here today and haven't looked for one yet." Chirped Nico entirely too energetically, which seemed to annoy Rose even more, while Cassian was kinda starting to enjoy watching her hold back a curse or two.

"You will need to find one then, one cannot be registered as an adventurer without being in a familia and receiving a Falna. I will help you with familiarizing yourselves with the familia dynamics in Orario so you can make a pick and try joining them." With that, Rose hefted a massive book containing all the gods in Orario.

"Before we begin, I wanted to ask, is it possible to enter the dungeon without being adventurers?" That question drew a harsh glare from Rose, previous annoyance magnified tenfold.

"Entering the dungeon without Falna is a suicide, the monsters will turn you into mincemeat and spew you out!" Reprimanded Rose the two, who she saw as idiotic kids ignorant of the world and unknowingly rushing to their graves.

"I know the risks perfectly well Miss Rose, I don't have a death wish, especially I would not risk my little brother's life. Both of us have powerful congenital magic and have each defeated level 1 adventurers before." Cassian said resolutely. He didn't care about revealing the fact that they had magic, he had no intention of hiding it entirely and wouldn't be able to for long anyway. Although he would keep key details secret for now at least.

Rose's expression softened from her scowl from that. Hearing about their magic and victories calmed her, but it was the powerful care and love in Cassian's voice when referring to his younger brother that truly gave her a piece of mind. She knew from that, that Cassian would not foolishly throw his brother's safety in jeopardy in a fit of recklessness. Finally, with a resigned sigh, she explained…

"Yes, you can enter the dungeon as you are. The guild does not monitor who enters extensively, it would be impossible and impractical to do so with the sheer amount of adventurers. However, you will not be able to sell your magic stones, the guild only purchases them from adventurers. And selling them elsewhere is illegal."

The guild held a monopoly over magic stones. It was one of the primary ways they could maintain their position of power over Orario. However, drop items were different and could be sold anywhere. 'If we do not manage to find a familia quickly, we can fall back on that, to get drop items and sell it to a vendor, to keep up their living expenses.'

"Let's move on now. Judging by your inquiry, I can already guess you're looking for an exploration-type familia. And you having magic even before getting a Falna means that practically every familia will welcome you with open arms. Do you have any criteria for me to filter familia with?"

"Hmm, well the obvious would be trustworthiness. Considering the guild has extensive information on familia, I would be grateful if you gave us tips on which gods you would think are the best when it comes to personality and care for mortals. Also, a small familia would be ideal, with few to no members at all. We wish to build ourselves up from the beginning."

"An unusual request, but I've heard worse. At least, you're not perverts asking for familias with the most amount of pretty girls in them." Grumbled Rose, which drew laughter from both elves.

Over the course of the next hour, even after the ID and citizenship arrived, the three of them went through various familia and who would suit them the best. They finished up afterward and the choice between familias came down to three final candidates, each one vetted and vouched for by Rose.

"I guess we're done here for now. Thank you for your help, Miss Rose. Hopefully, we'll join with one of these familia and next time see you as adventurers." Cassian bid her farewell. She really helped them a lot.

"Bye Rose!" Nico, throwing manners to the wind, also said goodbyes.

"You're welcome, I'm glad I could help. Also, it's 'Miss Rose' Nikolaos!" Rose said sternly. Cassian couldn't help but notice her overly formal way of talking, especially with Nico. 'Is this her maintaining her distance from future adventurers? Especially Nico, since he's a kid. Well, I can respect where she's coming from. Seeing and knowing so many adventurers die must not be easy on the mind. It's natural to have built up walls.'

Anyway, it was getting late already, and he wanted to at least scout out one of the candidates before going home. The one they settled on, all sounded very interesting. As long as their personalities and morals meshed together, they would become members of their familia.

"I don't think she likes us very much." Said Nico a bit sadly as they were walking to their destination.

"Meh, she'll warm up to us." Replied Cassian, consoling him a little. 'I guess his first meeting with a familiar face was not as glamorous as his mind imagined. It will be good for him to realize that this a real world now and not an anime anymore.'

Currently, they were on their way to Daedalus Street, where the potential god was located. There is a reason why Cassian chose to observe this particular god first, was simple. From all the information Rose gave them, he could deduce that she was one quirky goddess.

Apparently, she had a hobby of being involved with orphanages, donating money to help them run, but most importantly she was helping the children gain education and find careers to decide the course of their lives. Rose didn't know why she was doing this, so she came to the conclusion that the goddess was just kind, but Cassian knew better…

While real-life mythology is not to be relied on in most cases, it can still give useful hints regarding gods. From that, Cassian could deduce the motives behind this goddess' actions. Crossroads. She was the goddess of crossroads, divergent paths one encounters to take them to various destinations. In this case, the crossroads in question were choices that altered one's path in life and shaped their future.

The goddess enjoyed spending time around orphans because she could help guide them in life and help them achieve prosperity by illuminating the right paths in their lives with a metaphorical torch. All of this perfectly aligned with her role as a sacred guide.

Perfect for the brothers. Not only did it show a good and kind personality, but also a resourceful and helpful one to guide them in their new adventure-filled life. Now, all they had to do was ensure that she was genuine about all of it and didn't have any nefarious intentions.

And so, Cassian spent the next 2 days secretly spying on her. With his enhanced senses, it was a simple matter to keep a large distance and remain unnoticeable, while intently observing her actions and deeds.

At the end of it, he was more than satisfied. He found no hint of malice in her actions, she genuinely cared for the children, and they loved her in return, until some slum thugs decided that orphan kids made a good target to rake in some quick Valis.

All to incur the goddess' wrath and have their chests caved in by blasts of mana. 

All of which further solidified Cassian's high opinion of her. She was not some squeamish and weak goddess that would cover in fear, and she certainly couldn't care less if scum lived or died. No, if someone crossed her, she was perfectly willing to show them her darker aspect.

Her ability to use magic was expected by Cassian but the confirmation was still very welcome. While the Arcanum of gods was sealed when they came down to Genkai, they still kept key aspects and some abilities from their primary domains. This would be immensely helpful to the brothers, especially Nico, as she could help them refine and develop their magic.

Now, two days later, after Cassian was fully satisfied and confident in his choice, it was time to confront their future potential goddess. To finally begin their journey as adventurers.

And that is how the brothers came face to face with one of the most formidable gods in mythology.

Hecate. The goddess of Magic, Souls, the Night, and the Crossroads.