After handing the registration fee to Charil, she smiled and set the coin aside before turning her full attention toward me.
"Now that you're officially registered, let me introduce myself properly," she said, placing a hand on her chest. "I'm Charil, one of the receptionists here at the Syler Guild. It's nice to meet you, Ray."
I smirked slightly and nodded. "Ray Leon. Nice to meet you, too."
Her gaze flickered to Master for a moment, who stood beside me with his usual unreadable expression, then returned to me. "Since you're new, I'll explain how the guild system works."
I straightened slightly, listening carefully.
"In the Adventurers' Guild, ranks determine an adventurer's skill level, experience, and access to quests. There are seven main ranks, or you could say classes, starting from the lowest, E-rank, all the way to the highest, SS-rank. Every adventurer begins at E-rank and progresses by completing quests and earning points based on their performance."
She glanced at Master again, but he remained silent, listening. After a brief pause, she continued.
"The ranks are structured as follows: E, D, C, B, A, S, and SS. Moving from one rank to another requires a specific amount of points."
Charil held up a finger and began listing the requirements in an authoritative tone.
"To advance from E to D, you need 500 points. From D to C, you need 2,000 points. From C to B, you need 10,000 points. From B to A, you need 50,000 points. From A to S, you need 200,000 points. And finally, to reach SS-rank, you need a staggering 1,000,000 points."
I raised an eyebrow at the last number. "A million points just to reach SS-rank? That's insane."
Charil chuckled. "Of course. SS-rank adventurers are the strongest in the world. Reaching that level isn't just about gathering points—you need to prove yourself through exceptional feats of strength, leadership, and survival."
I turned toward the Master with a knowing smirk. "That means Master has at least 200,000 points, huh?"
Charil laughed softly. "Oh, he has far more than just two hundred thousand points. He has around fifty hundred thousand."
Master simply crossed his arms and sighed. "That's unnecessary information."
I couldn't help but chuckle at how nonchalant he was about it.
Curious, I asked, "So, how exactly do we earn points?"
Charil leaned against the counter, tapping the wooden surface with her nails. "Every quest has a difficulty rank, and along with the listed rewards, it also shows how many points you'll earn upon completion. The harder the quest, the more points you get. Additionally, your performance during the quest can sometimes increase your rewards if the client is particularly satisfied."
Master, who had remained quiet until now, finally spoke up. "What kind of quests can our party take?"
Charil smirked knowingly. "Ah, right. You'll be working together as a team now. Your party rank is D."
Then, she turned back to me without giving him the answer. "Ray, listen closely because this is important. Just like adventurers, quests are ranked from E to SSS—the same as adventurer ranks. You can only take quests within or slightly above your party's rank, but anything too high is restricted."
She held up a hand, ticking off her fingers as she explained further.
"But that's not all. Beasts are also categorized in ranks, just like quests. The weakest ones start at E-rank, and then they go up—D, C, B, A, S, SS, and even SSS. Only the most powerful adventurers can face SS-ranked and higher threats. Beyond SSS-rank, there are Supreme Beings, and only the strongest SS-ranked parties can handle them."
I nodded, absorbing the information, but then something she had said earlier caught my attention. "Wait, you said our party's current rank is D?"
Charil smirked and pointed between me and Master. "Yes, because your party consists of both an E-rank adventurer, which is you, and an S-rank adventurer, which is your Master. When forming a party, the guild creates a balanced ranking to prevent unfair advantages. Since there's a massive gap between your ranks, we place you at a more stable D-rank starting point."
I frowned slightly. "So we can only take D-rank and C-rank quests for now?"
She nodded. "Exactly. This ensures you gain experience at a reasonable pace instead of jumping into dangerous situations beyond your capabilities."
Master sighed. "Fine. We'll start from there."
Charil grinned. "Good. That means you can already take on C-rank quests, which should be a decent challenge for Ray. I'll go ahead and prepare the list of available jobs for your party."
As she turned to gather the quest listings, I exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of my neck.
'So I'm officially an adventurer now, huh?'
Aur, who had been resting on my shoulder, finally spoke in my mind.
'Papa… all of this sounds so complicated.'
I smirked slightly. 'Yeah, but it's necessary. Guess we have a long road ahead of us.'
Suddenly, I felt a presence behind us. It wasn't just a casual passerby, the sheer weight of it pressed against my senses, setting off an instinctive alert within me.
Master and I instinctively turned around.
A tall man stood there, exuding a quiet confidence that made him stand out even in the bustling guild hall. His ocean-blue hair, slightly tousled yet undeniably regal, shimmered under the warm glow of the lanterns. Piercing blue eyes, sharp and calculating, studied Master with a knowing smirk.
Then, with a casual yet familiar tone, he spoke.
"How have you been, buddy?"
...
Master, who had remained mostly unreadable since our arrival, suddenly shifted. His usual composed demeanor cracked ever so slightly. I saw something different, genuine happiness.
Instead of answering immediately, Master glanced at Charil, the receptionist. "I will take a quest from the quest board," he said simply.