The ill intent was subtle, but Rayven felt it for sure.
However, as he tried to sense it once again, it had completely disappeared.
"Ahem… Young boy, are you looking to register?" The female receptionist asked after Rayven kept his silence.
"Y-Yes!" Rayven replied as he turned to her. She seemed approachable with her kind smile, and it was no wonder she was given the task to welcome the adventurers.
It would indeed feel a lot better to be greeted by such a woman.
Anyway, it seemed that it was easy to realize that he was here to register, seeing how young he was. Furthermore, she probably recognized all the regulars of this guild.
"There is a one-time registration fee of five silver coins…" she said while sliding a form across the counter.
"Once paid, you'll receive your adventurer's plate, and you just need to pass one quest. After that, you can immediately begin taking on ranked commissions."
"Quest?" Rayven repeated.
"Yes… You'll only be required to complete a probationary quest, depending on the profession you have to confirm your ability."
Rayven gently nodded. This was a lot easier than he thought, and he couldn't help but feel worried about the Adventurers Guild's method of testing people.
Still, this was a good condition for him…
Rayven then filled out the form.
He wrote his name and noted that he was an Initiate Mage, then paid the silver coins.
"Ohh… Are you a Specialist? Enchanter? Or a Combat Mage?" The receptionist asked.
"I'm a Combat Mage…" Rayven said in a low voice. He already knew that Specialist Mages were mostly those mages who would only research to improve spells, runes, and other stuff.
Still, with Mana Flick alone, he felt conflicted calling himself a Combat Mage.
Thankfully, the receptionist accepted it just like that.
"Good… Since you also have a combat profession. You can have your probationary quest immediately, Mr. Rayven Holt." She said with a smile as she added to the Combat Mage on the form.
Just like that, the receptionist swiftly handed him a small iron plate, showing his rank, the lowest Copper Rank.
It was so easy. They would actually just accept anyone who would pay them five silver coins. However, Rayven also understood the guild. After all, if they weren't skilled enough, they might just stay as a copper-ranked Adventurer doing low-level quests forever.
"This will serve as your identification tag. For your probationary quest, you'll be paired with other new recruits or placed under the supervision of a guild-appointed adventurer. Your performance will determine if you pass the probation and retain your rank, or if we should promote you to a higher rank. Still, if you perform badly, it may result in expulsion." The receptionist said.
"Of course, that rarely happens. Just make sure not to kill people on your side or injure your allies, and you should be fine even if you fail.
"Understood," Rayven said, gripping the plate.
The receptionist nodded at this. "Good. Then wait in the lounge over there together with other recruits. Someone will come to brief you shortly."
Rayven moved to the waiting area, where a few others like him, fresh-faced and tense, sat with their new plates in their hands. They should be around 16 to 18 years old.
'Three newbies like me? What a timing…' Rayven mused as he didn't expect that there would be another group wanting to become adventurers.
He sat down and waited like everyone else.
This was it. Unlike the Mage Association, there would be no crystal to expose his lack of mana, no theory questions to make him look like a fool.
All he had to do was use the Coinbound System when the time came.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps.
A man wearing worn leather armor entered the lounge.
This man looked imposing with his scarred face. But after seeing the newbies, he smiled and showed his kind nature.
"So these are the rookies? You all have Combat Professions, right?" the man said. His eyes swept over the group before settling briefly on Rayven. "Hehehe. Let's see how long you last."
The man clapped his hands once to get their attention.
"Alright, listen up. Your probation starts today. You're coming with me—straight to the outskirts of the new dungeon."
Rayven's eyes widened slightly.
The dungeon?
At this time, the receptionist finally introduced the man.
"This is Captain Efren… He'll be supervising the probationary quest for today's batch of recruits."
Efren couldn't help but feel excited. It had been a while since he had done this…
"Listen well. I don't care about your backgrounds, your talents, or your excuses. Out there, hesitation means death. Prove you can follow orders and pull your weight, or don't bother calling yourselves adventurers." Efred said while looking at Rayven and the three other newcomers.
'Ugh… Is this going to be alright?' The receptionist thought, as she wasn't sure Efren was the right person to give them the quest. However, there weren't any other available proctors since they were all busy with the new dungeon.
She could only pray that the new adventurers would pass…
"First… I need to know about your skills. I only know that we have two blade users, one bow user, and one baby mage. Tell me a few things about your skills." Efren said.
This time, Rayven looked at the two blade users.
The first was a nervous youth with tanned skin and calloused hands. He must've been practicing the blades for many years.
There were also two short blades at his waist… "Yes! I'm Dennis... I use two short blades as my main weapon."
Beside him was another sword practitioner. He was quite tall and had a longsword wrapped in cloth. "I'm Tristan… I'm practicing Northern Badger's Sword Style."
Then, the next one was the bow user.
"Name's Luke," he said simply when Efren glanced his way. "Used to hunt to feed my village."
"Good," Efren grunted. "You'll be the eyes. Don't miss."
Finally, his gaze turned to Rayven…
"And you… a combat mage, huh? Hmph. We'll see if you can actually cast when something's tearing at your throat. I'll see you about your skills later…"
'Ha?' Rayven was stunned and confused as he felt the subtle hostility from the man.