Don't fool around at the adventurer's guild, please! part 3

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you take the test today mister Ryu"

"What do you mean by that Ebi? please don't joke with something like that"

I'm again troubled with my bad luck, while Bob, Luke and Sera were excitedly toying with their soulbound cards and trying out the basic features, I'm still stuck at the counter because my soulbound card seems to be defective.

"It's not a joke, I'm being serious. Before taking the test you need to properly charge your soulbound card. This is really important for different reasons but they main two reasons are we can't just let anyone in the guild so we need all the personal information it can provide us, the other reason is because we can't let someone who can't take proper responsibilities join the guild. If a kid is not serious about becoming an adventurer and doesn't charge their cards, we just can't trust them with our tasks. There are many wealthy kids that just want the glory that comes with the title and don't take the quests seriously, but I assure you that even the lowest rank quest can mean the life or death of someone"

"But I'm not a kid miss Ebi"

"I don't know about that, because you weren't capable of charging your card"

"I'm telling you, this card is defective! I kept it next to me at all times, it just won't charge!"

I did keep the card next to me at all times, it was just a short period and most of the time I was just sleeping, but since I was impatient to charge it I even slept with it. When morning came Bob and Luke had already unlocked some features, they were able to read their personal information and receive system messages on it, Sera's took a little bit longer but at least she was able to activate it.

My card, instead, seems to be completely dead. It didn't matter how much i tried, I just wasn't able to turn it on.

"Please miss Ebi, there must be something you can do!"

Sera, who stayed by my side at all times, begged on my stead.

"Don't worry miss Sera, you can take the test normally, but I can't let mister Ryu join the guild. I would have to take responsibility for him after all. I know this may seem harsh, but you would be surprised at the amount of people that become adventurers and die on their first month, I just don't want that to happen to mister Ryu and you should understand this."

"But he's really strong and reliable!"

Watching the beautiful Sera plead for me made me feel warm inside and, for a short minute I was envied by everyone at the guild.

"I don't really think so, I don't sense any strong energy coming out from mister Ryu which means he's rather on the weak side, and he can't be that reliable if he wasn't even able to keep his card on him at all times for a single day"

I was about to retort but she didn't give me the chance. Since we met Ebisu she looked like a clumsy and upbeat girl with a cheerful personality, but the clumsy part was the most noticeable. But now she looks really serious and determined.

"Before you say anything else mister Ryu, I've worked in the adventurer's guild for a long while and I have never heard of such thing ever happening before. Do you think a centuries old guild would fail to record something like that?"

"Well, you did say you don't allow people who fail to charge their cards on the first day join, correct?"

She nodded in response.

"Could it be that it may have happened before and it wasn't recorded because you guys didn't believe it?"

Ebi ponders for a minute.

"You do have a point there mister Ryu but..."

"Listen, I know for sure I kept the card on me at all times and it just didn't charge. I also noticed that Bob's and Luke's card charged up faster than Sera's. You may have never recorded something like a defective card ever existing before, but you must have noticed them charging at different rates! I don't mind if you don't allow me to join today, but once it charges would you please allow me to join?"

"I would have to ask my boss and... that would be a bit troublesome. I'm sorry mister Ryu but... hey! your card just went active!"

"uh? what!?"

The souldbound card on my hand started blinking on a blue light for a minute and then I was able to activate it.

Ryu (no class)(Healthy)

age: 17

Patron: Aruru

Race: Human

Birthplace: <unknown >

Strenght: low

Dexterity: average

Constitution: below average

Intelligence: average

Wisdom: Very high

Charisma: high

Resists: poison, cold, disease.

Skills: Observ, analyze, identify, consider, stealth, night vision, aim, fishing, carpentry, transmutation, alchemy, cooking [...]

Weapons: throwing, shooting, piercing, stabbing, blunt, sharp.

WHAT!? I'm only 17!?

Anne told me she was 19 and Helena is 21, this means I'm a lot younger than them. There was a lot of information I didn't know on my card, but what shocked me the most was to learn about my age.

"Uhm, excuse me, miss Ebi... There's information I didn't know about me before, but there's information I'm certain about that doesn't appear in here"

"Its only natural it doesn't show you the full list of your skills, most people have so many skills there's not enough space for everything to fit in a card that small. You'll be able to unlock a more advanced display later on, so there's no need to worry about it. Now please show me your card so we can proceed"

"Is there a way to hide some information?"

"Is there something you need to keep hidden?"

She glared at me with suspicious eyes.

"Well, not really, but since you said no one would be able to see my personal information I'm a bit confused about it"

"Oh, right, I forgot to explain, the card will show only what you want to show but there's no way to change information. It may not be accurate since it can only show information you know, even if you're not conscious of it but that's something for later on. The minimum requirement is to know your name, age, race and class, but you can show as much as you want and I can explain everything to you."

with that In mind I show my card to Ebi, who reads it carefuly. While reading she gasped a couple times and she murmured some stuff too. I don't know if she did the same with Bob and Luke, but It feels awkward. It's like having someone look at me while completely naked.

"Well, it's not that uncommon for people to not know the name of their birthplace so that's ok. Your friends too didn't know where did they come from so... but there's one thing I don't understand. Do you profess a religion mister Ryu?"

"I do not"

"Then, perhaps you joined a cult?"

"Not that I'm aware of, is there something wrong?"

"Well... this is a bit strange, there are many gods but I've never seen someone worship Aruru, I've never heard of that god"

"Uh? Is that going to be a problem?"

"Not really, it's just that it's not usual for someone to have a patron before becoming adventurers, it's even more rare for them to not even know about it. Anyways, since I don't know about your patron god I can't tell you anything about it. About your stats, your defenses and inmune system seem to be as weak as a newborn child, same as your friends, except for Sera, so watch out for sicknesses and weather conditions please. Everything seems in order so we can proceed to the test. Please come with me"

Ebi leads our group to the courtyard inside, its surrounded by the guild's building but it's quite spacious. It makes me wonder just how big is the adventurer's guild.

There are three groups of young adventurers training with some straw mannequins, they look to be close to our age and look a lot more like us than the rest of the adventurers drinking inside.

"So, what's the deal with these guys Ebi?"

"They are here to take the test mister Lorenzo. Listen everyone, this is mister Lorenzo, he's a C rank adventurer and works as an instructor in this guild, be respectful to him and listen to his comands. He is your superior, keep that in mind at all times. He will be conducting the test, so I'll leave you on his capable hands"

Lorenzo is a tall muscular man wearing light armor mixed with metal pads, he looks really strong, his skin is tanned and has a scar on his face, his hair is also a bit messy. He looks a bit like Ironwoods hunters, a mix in between a thug and a battle hardened warrior.

"Hey hey hey! Don't leave me out of it! I'm here too and I'd love me some fresh meat"

A wild looking woman gets close holding a two handed sword that looks like a huge kitchen knife, she grabs it with one hand and keeps it resting on her shoulders.

My first instinct was to look at her weapon and stance, but then I noticed... she's wearing light armor, as in very light armor. It barely even covers the bare minimum to not be able to say she's naked at all and she looks at us with a gaze that seems to say she wants to eat us.

A gulp was heard from everyone at our group.