Aeth: "Excuse me… what's happening? Why isn't the crystal reacting?"
Before he could finish, the guild receptionist quickly interrupted.
Receptionist: "Wait, sir! Don't worry — I'll call an appraiser right away!"
He hurried into a back room and returned shortly with a man known only as A — a professional appraiser.
Receptionist: "Here, sir. You need to check them."
The appraiser immediately placed his hands on the crystal ball and used Appraisal.
A faint blue screen appeared.
Man (muttering): "D-rank…"
Even though Aeth had concealed his stats, the man's mana drained far more than usual just to gather that much information. Exhausted, he stepped back.
Man: "Yes… both of them are D-rank."(He didn't mention how much mana he had spent in the process.)
Aeth and Ortho noticed the extreme strain on the appraiser but said nothing, keeping their composure.
The receptionist took the crystal ball, recorded the ranks, and updated the adventurer cards.
Receptionist: "Alright… your ranks have been set."
He handed the cards to the brothers.
Aeth glanced at his card. Ortho looked at his. Both cards showed D-rank.
Ortho (whispering, grinning): "Hehe… we're officially D-rank beginners now!"
Aeth (smiling faintly, whispering back): "Exactly… for now, let's play along."
The Serfend brothers examined their newly assigned adventurer cards briefly.
Aeth: "Alright… now, let's get a quest. We need money."
Ortho (grinning): "Yeah! Finally, a real adventure!"
Aeth: "Excuse me… can you assign us a quest? Something manageable for beginners."
Receptionist (smiling politely): "Of course. You can take D-rank quests, but to access C-rank or higher, you'll need to register as a full party. Single adventurers can only accept D-rank jobs."
Aeth (telepathy, to Ortho):We already formed a party, didn't we?
Ortho (telepathy, grinning):Yeah! But it's a party the system made. They can't see it, so let's just say we're forming a party.
Aeth (nodding slightly, telepathy):Then this should be fine. Let's tell them.
Aeth (aloud): "Okay! Can you register us as a party? It's both of us, and we have companions!"
Receptionist (smiling politely): "Of course. But who are your companions? I don't see Tamer Skill listed in your information."
Aeth: "Yeah… we don't have Tamer Skill. Our companions chose to live with us because we helped them — that's all."
Receptionist (smiling politely): "I see. May I check their status?"
Aeth: "They wouldn't like to be around other people, and we don't want others to know about them. Can you register them as one wolf and one fox?"
Receptionist (smiling politely): "Yes, sir. Why not."
Receptionist (smiling): "Okay, sir. You're now registered as a party. What would you like to name your party?"
Aeth: "SerfendBrothers!"
Receptionist (smiling): "Alright. You are now an official party! You can even access C-rank quests."
Receptionist: "C-rank quests can be checked on that board." (Shows them a board.)
Aeth: "Thank you!"
The brothers walked to the quest board and picked a quest to hunt wild bears.
They handed their quest papers to the receptionist.
Receptionist: "This mission has a deadline of ten days. Complete it before the time runs out."
Aeth: "Understood. Can you tell us where to find these bears?"
Receptionist: "It's a little far. On foot, it will take roughly one day. But don't venture too deep into the forest — beyond this area is dangerous."
Aeth: "Understood. We won't go deeper than you said."
Ortho (telepathy):Looks like the deeper forest is a hard place for normal people.
Aeth (telepathy):Yeah. Since we came from there, completing this quest will be easy for us.
The brothers left the guild and headed toward the village gate.
Ortho (telepathy):Big bro… someone's following us.
Aeth (telepathy):I know. For now, let's leave the village and handle this quietly.
They moved a short distance away from the village, ensuring no villagers could see them. Once they were far enough, they stopped.
Aeth (aloud): "We know you've been following us. Step forward and show yourself!"
Ortho: "Yeah! There's no need to hide anymore."
Aeth and Ortho signaled to Ors and Raika. Both emerged from the shadows, getting into ready positions, tails and fur flickering faintly with sparks of energy.
From the shadows, an unknown person stepped forward.
Unknown Person: "I see… you are far stronger than ordinary humans. I knew it… you're immortal humans. i can Even see through your low-level concealment, I can see your true strength."