The guild hall erupted into a fresh wave of cheers as Roland, magnanimous in his victory, slammed a heavy purse of gold onto the bar. "A round for everyone! The Argent Vanguard celebrates with Whitepeak tonight!" The roar of approval was deafening. Kaito watched as mugs were raised, and the atmosphere shifted from awe to raucous celebration.
It was the perfect distraction. While everyone was focused on free ale, Kaito finished his stew and approached the registration desk, his heart doing a nervous little drum against his ribs. Anya was there today, her warm, hazel eyes crinkling in a smile as he approached.
"Back so soon, Kaito? Here to register after all?" she asked, her voice a soothing balm against the noise.
He nodded, managing a small smile. "Yes. I'd like to become an adventurer."
The process was simple. Anya handed him a form. Name: Kaito. Age: He paused, then wrote "Twenty." Race: Human. Specialization: This stumped him.
[Sage, what is my specialization?]
[Proposal: List "Pacification Specialist." It is technically accurate and will account for the unique state of your monster core submissions.]
He wrote it down. Anya looked it over. "Pacification Specialist? That is a rare one. Well, with those cores you sold, you've already proven your capability." She stamped the form with a final thud and handed him a simple, worn leather badge with a single, bronze star. "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild. You start at F-rank, like everyone else. You can take quests from the F and E-rank boards. Come see me when you're ready to advance."
An F-rank badge. He held the small, insignificant piece of leather. He had passively absorbed an omni-elemental blast that could unmake a city. He could manipulate earth with a thought and was immune to every form of elemental energy this world could conceive of. And he was officially ranked below the man who wrangled stray cats for a living.
It was so absurd he almost laughed.
As he turned from the counter, badge in hand, a voice, cool and composed, spoke beside him.
"That is a remarkable staff."
He turned to find Seraphina, the A-rank mage from Roland's party, standing there. She had changed out of her travel-worn robes into a clean, dark blue dress, but her intelligent, sapphire-blue eyes were just as piercing. She wasn't looking at him, but at the Leviathan Staff in his grip.
"Thank you," Kaito said, his voice a bit tight.
"The material... it's not of this world, is it?" she continued, her gaze finally lifting to meet his. "I've studied every known mineral and magical wood. This is none of them. The way it seems to absorb the light... it's not just obsidian." She took a delicate sip from a wine glass she was holding. "My offer for drinks still stands. I find myself... intensely curious."
Roland, overhearing, clapped Kaito on the back, nearly making him stumble. "Don't look so nervous, kid! Seraphina only bites if you misuse a preposition in a magical incantation! Come, have a drink! You're one of us now, F-rank and all!" He laughed, a booming, genuine sound, and shoved a tankard of ale into Kaito's free hand.
Kaito stood there, trapped between the boisterous spearman and the intensely curious mage, an F-rank badge pinned to his tunic and a staff made from the bones of a forgotten cosmic leviathan in his hand. He had achieved his goal. He was an adventurer. And he had never felt more like an imposter in his life. The thought of seeing the beautiful clerks had been his lighthearted excuse, but now he was in deep water, and Seraphina's keen intellect felt like a searchlight probing his depths.
------
The tankard of ale felt heavy and foreign in Kaito's hand. The boisterous energy of the celebration was a wall of sound, but in the small space between him, Roland, and Seraphina, the air was taut with a different kind of tension.
Seraphina's question hung between them, her sapphire eyes fixed on him, waiting for an answer. Roland, for his part, just grinned, enjoying the show.
"Where did you get that staff?" Seraphina repeated, her voice a low, compelling hum that cut through the noise. "I am genuinely fascinated. The energy it radiates is... null. It doesn't resonate; it absorbs. I've never felt anything like it."
Kaito's mind raced, a blank panic. He couldn't say, *"I made it from the rib of a primordial leviathan after I consumed its essence."_
[Sage! What do I say?]
[Proposal: State that it is a family heirloom. It is a common, unverifiable, and socially acceptable explanation for unique artifacts.]
"It's... a family heirloom," Kaito managed, the words feeling clumsy on his tongue.
Seraphina's eyes narrowed slightly, not with suspicion, but with the keen look of a scholar presented with an incomplete text. "An heirloom. From a lineage of pacification specialists, perhaps?" she mused, connecting dots he hadn't even known were there. "Fascinating."
Then, she did something that sent a jolt through his entire system. She reached out, her fingers elegant and cool, and gently touched the staff. It was just a brush of her fingertips against the polished black surface, but to Kaito, it felt like a lightning strike. The point of contact buzzed. He could feel the faint, cosmic chill of the leviathan bone through her touch, and it was intimately connected to his own core. His grip tightened, his knuckles turning white. A hot flush crept up his neck, and he was suddenly, acutely aware of every inch of his own skin.
"If you ever consider selling it," she said, her voice dropping even further, becoming almost conspiratorial, her fingers still resting on the staff, "name your price. Gold, land, rare spell components... I would be a very interested buyer." Her gaze finally lifted from the staff to his eyes, and she offered a small, knowing smile, as if she could see the nervous flutter in his chest. "Think about it."
With that, she withdrew her hand, gave a polite nod to a bemused Roland, and melted back into the crowd, leaving Kaito standing frozen, the phantom sensation of her touch burning on the staff and the scent of her perfume-ozone and night-blooming flowers-lingering in the air.
Roland let out a low whistle. "By the gods, man. You've caught the eye of the Ice Queen herself. And with a stick!" He laughed, shaking his head. "Good luck. You'll need it."
Kaito finally remembered to breathe. He looked down at the staff, then at the F-rank badge on his chest, and then in the direction Seraphina had disappeared. He had come here for a simple registration and the hope of seeing a pretty face. He had gotten far more than he bargained for. He was an F-rank adventurer with a target on his back, not from monsters, but from the most intelligent and perceptive mage in the city, and he had no idea how to handle any of it.