Karen

Leaving the Golden Ferry with my party and Lana once all the work was finished, we simply wandered around the area wondering where our next stop should be.

After a while we ended up wandering down several streets at random before finding ourselves in front of a large three-story building built like a manor but bearing a large signboard like a business. The building itself was cold gray blocks of and looked relatively unremarkable except for its signboard above to broad French style double doors.

'Adventurer's Guild' was writing in some bold and italic fancy font in black on the pale yellow wooden signboard, revealing what was usually one of the most important places or factions in any video game. The doors were still wide open and every few moments one or several people in various outfits or armor would come in or out of the building.

Through the double doors one could see a brightly lit white marble room that filled the front half of the building. The back half was separated by a long counter that stretched from one side of the room to the other. As well, the counter was divided into three different areas.

The middle counter space was dedicated to waiters and waitresses who were still working at taking orders, behind this area of counter one could clearly see a large and bustling kitchen space that stretched to the very back side of the building. To the left of this serving area was a walled counter area in which a dozen people were seated a working with people on our side of the counter.

Below the counter was a signboard that said 'Registration and Queuing', showing that this was were 'adventurers' would come to apply for missions or apply to join the Guild itself. On the opposite side of the serving area was a counter section similar to registration but their signboard below the counter read, 'Mission Review'.

From the name it seemed this was where normal people outside the Guild would post jobs for adventurers to collect herbs, hunt mobs, or anything they needed a strong arm to help with.

The floor space here was full of long bench tables at which only a few dozen people were scattered and eating or discussing quietly in groups. Off to either side of the room were two simply stairways leading up to the second floor from either the left or right ends of the building. The ceiling of the room sported a single gold chandelier in which shone dozens of bright white crystals.

Looking around after entering the room, I see that the walls to either side of the doorway were dominated by large wooden boards one which were tacked dozens if not a few hundred different mission posters with images and general information about the disclosed tasks.

The design of the building, processes, and everything else was fairly simple and common among games but instead of lacking the impressive feel of other aspects of Bygone Era I was suddenly overcome with a strong sense of nostalgia. In other games, this was where the famous rose to glory and the weak fell into obscurity. Many heroes' stories started in a place like this.

"It's been a while," I cannot help but say while taking a deep breath to taste the room. The smells of different foods and drinks were the predominant scents in the air but underneath there was the acrid odors of living bodies and emotions that piled up for days at a time. Most people would grimace as such a stench but for me it brought a sense of energy.

Curious at to why we were here, Lana suddenly asks, "Are we going to sign up for the Guild?"

Shaking my head briefly, I reply, "You're not. Such work is beneath a lady of your caliber and standing. It will just be me registering here in case I ever need to pick up some side jobs. Missions here reward experience as well as money or items and I'm at the point where I need experience more than anything else. At the rate I'm going, it would probably take a day or two of steady crafting in order to level up again."

"What if I wanted to sign up?" Lana asks suddenly, looking upset as if she were feeling left out. "I just had my levels reset, don't I need to get some experience as well?"

Reaching out to gently mess up her hair by rubbing her head, I say, "With my team or I around, you don't need to work for other people to get experience and level up. We can take you everywhere you need to go and keep you safe while fighting. These missions, you won't need them."

"Let's hurry up," Lil says suddenly, picking up the pace and walking ahead of our group who was stopped just inside the building and attracting stares from those inside. Clearly, she did not like watching me 'flirt' with Lana.

Shrugging to the confused and curious look that Lana gives me, I simply follow along behind the second youngest member of our party toward the registration counter. Since it was passed midnight there were only three people and one small group at the counter, leaving the other attendants free to do as they pleased while waiting on people to service. We simply walked right up to the closest attendant as one large group.

Smiling as if seeing large parties of people in fancy uniformed livery was normal, the young lady behind the counter says, "Good evening, everyone. Are you here to register your party or check a mission's availability?"

Taking the lead as if I had been addressed instead of the entire group, I say, "Good evening, ma'am, and I'm here to register as an adventurer. What kind of process am I looking at, here?"

Nodding once as if she had been proven right about something, the young lady reaches about under the counter while speaking, saying, "The process is fairly quick and simple, you merely have to fill out a basic information form and receive a stat measurement. If you could write one handed, you could get half of everything done at the same time."

"Oh?" I murmur softly, appreciating her attempt at some slight humor as she presents a charcoal pencil, a sheet of paper, and a large quartz-like orb on a small stand. Giving her a quick wink, I simply raise the pencil with Telekinesis and start filing out my basic character information requested on the paper while resting both hands on the orb.

Smiling a little more earnestly, the lady almost laughs as she says, "Y-you don't need to use both hands, sir, it will still take one minute even if you used a finger. At this rate, though, everything might be all done at the same time. If you don't mind my asking, do you have any specialties?"

This was actually one of the last things listed on the paper that I had yet to get to, so I did not mind saying, "My specialties are acrobatic combat, primitive and magical craftsmanship, and intermediate to advanced magic use. As for magic, my favored combat magic is spiritual attacks but I am also proficient in the use of elements- including light and dark- Telekinesis, and Self-Enchantment. I can only get the basic uses of some of them, though."

Finally looking to the paper I was filling out as I spoke, the later starts to speak and then becomes suddenly silent.

At first she was looking toward the top, checking my name and highest graded title and then my face which was probably the sudden shock. However, under this followed my class which could be a surprise in its own right before listing my five highest leveled skills- which were all listed as max- and then some brief accomplishments and achievements. After this came all of the information I had just spoken.

The orb itself had not even done anything besides begin vaguely glowing with a pale blue light by the time the paper and I were done as well as the last few seconds passing in silence. At the very bottom of the paper, where I could follow her eyes back and forth from, was a single sentence at the bottom. 'PS I'm a Traveler'.

A few moments later when she finally stood up straight, she started to speak for the second time while gesturing toward the crystal ball that I had my hands on. A full minutes had just about passed and the orb just then finished shining with a solid pale blue color before a light projection rose up even through my hands.

This poor clerk suddenly found herself glued to the projection which contained my current character information and my current self not unlike what was shown in my own menus. The others were all either shifting about and looking around or softly clearing their throats to avoid laughing.

This was probably a situation they had all run into earlier in the day when checking back with their Guild trainers and turning in whatever quests they had been on during our trip. Now, the lady was so shocked that she was leaning forward over the counter while opening different aspects of my skills with nearly unrestricted access.

Finally, standing upright once again, the lady appears suddenly upset and exclaims, "Why has it taken you so long to get here?! Someone like you should have registered months ago! Do you have any idea what kind of paperwork they make US do for registrants like you? If you were already here you could have been registered at the start!"

"Uh…" I find myself mumbling dumbly as everybody in the building suddenly looks over in our direction with interest. "No, I had no idea, I'm sorry. And because I was under the impression that there was a level and stat restriction for classless applicants."

"See this?" She asks much more quietly, pointing to the very bottom of my application. "We've had dozens of you guys over the last week suddenly cropping up and making claims. When they actually passed their tests, we were flooded with even more of them and your applications are entirely different from this, now."

"May I fill out the proper paperwork instead?" I ask quickly, trying to salvage my reputation with the workers here. If I started technically working for the Guild and the people here hated me, I would hate working here. "I'm so sorry, I left for Winter Wood at level thirty and I only just got back. There was this… thing… I wrote about it here, so I have been gone for a few weeks."

"The orb shows us your existence age alongside your physical age," she says suddenly, pointing to the crystal ball. "You've only been here for twice that. Do you have any idea how much information you'll me required to put down. They want to know everything about you. More so for someone over level one hundred!"

"Should I… just not apply?" I ask a little uncertainly. "That seems like to quickest and easiest thing to do at this point."

Sighing while rubbing the middle of her forehead, the lady shakes her head and says, "No, you're already here and recorded. Come back tomorrow and you'll be able to meet one of our managers during the day."

"I have to meet the… I have an appointment tomorrow," I start to say but decide better halfway. "How about the day after? After that I need to do some other stuff out in the forest."

Narrowing her gaze suspiciously, the young lade looks at me sharply and asks, "What time tomorrow?"

"All day, probably," I reply while pointing to my race on the paper. "Important people are expecting me."

"One of our managers will probably be there," she replies, visibly relaxing a little by the slackening of her shoulders. The way she spoke almost sounded like a sigh, in fact. Did this lady know about the baron's meeting?

Since this was the baron of the region and the lady knew about it, then the manager that might be there was probably actually a guild leadership figure if not the head honcho. If they were going to be there, who all would I be meeting tomorrow?!

"What do I do for right now?" I ask suddenly, looking over my shoulder at the wall-boards covered in various kinds of mission posters. "Can I…?"

"Not you," she replies, looking around at everybody else in the party. "The rest of them are adventurers, they can accept missions for you until after you've been registered. However, you will only be able to receive monetary compensation."

"Thank you for your time," I say meekly, simply turning and walking away while fighting to keep my head up and eyes forward. I had been so looking forward to this and thought I was going to be able to show off and have a good time. However, they got mad at me instead and I was put on display in a whole new light.

To say that I was disappointed would have been an understatement. Taking my hand sneakily and keeping pace with me, Lana leans in close and says, "Don't worry, most of them are staring at me, now."

"And the rest now have a valid reason to hate me," I agree softly, sighing as we only made it halfway to the door at a normal pace. Then, hoping to recover some dignity, I simply muttered, "Flash," before using my own Flash Step to appear outside and off to the side of the entryway.

*