The measuring hall was a vast, circular chamber that felt more like a combat arena than an office. High above, a glass dome let in the morning sun, illuminating the dust motes that danced around three massive, glowing crystal pillars.
Sydney led me past a long line of teenagers, newbies with polished, unscratched armor and newly enlisted knights who looked like they'd never seen a drop of real blood. They were chatting excitedly, their eyes wide with the hope of a high rank. I felt like a shadow walking through a playground.
"This is the heart of the Bureau's grading system, Eirene, this is where you will get your status card."
Sydney explained, her voice low as she guided me toward the front, using her authority as a registrar to bypass the line.
"The crystals measure five core components: Magic, Magic Mastery, Battle IQ, Marksmanship, and Swordsmanship. The results are aggregated into a tier, ranging from D-tier for beginners all the way up to the legendary S-tier."
She stopped in front of the first pillar, which pulsed with a deep, sapphire light.
"The city's security depends on these readings. Since you're a gold-rank, the machine will expect a high output, but..."
Sydney trailed off, her eyes lingering on my missing left arm and the way my black coat hung loosely over my frame.
"Just do what you can, Eirene."
The rookies in line started whispering as I stepped forward.
"Who's the girl in the oversized coat?"
"Look at that scar... she looks like she crawled out of a grave."
"Is she really going to take the test with only one arm?"
I ignored them. I stepped up to the first crystal—the Magic pillar. In the past, my magic was stable, light, and focused. But now, I felt the Blood Curse roiling beneath my skin, the folded wings on my back twitching in response to the crystal's resonance.
I reached out my right hand. I didn't know what would happen when the machine tasted the darkness that had kept me alive in the cellar. I didn't know if I was still the Eirene the Bureau remembered, or if the machine would see me for the monster I had become.
I closed my eye and let my mana flow. The sapphire light of the pillar didn't just glow, it turned a violent, bruised purple, humming with a frequency that made the floorboards vibrate. The newbies behind me went silent. The test had begun.
"System Calibrating, wait a few seconds, Eirene. This will not hurt at all." Sydney said
The hall went deathly silent as the central crystal flared, not with the sapphire light of the Bureau, but with a blinding, ethereal white that seemed to pull the very air out of the room. The pillars didn't just measure my output, they pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat, diving deep into my marrow and the memories of the cellar.
The crystal's surface rippled like water, and suddenly, a sleek, glowing white card materialized in the air, floating before my eye. The onlookers gasped, crowding forward as the text carved itself into the light.
Status Card: Updated
Name: Eirene Rynd
Rank: Gold (Evaluation Pending)
Magic Power: S-rank
Magic Mastery: S-rank
Swordsmanship: A-rank
Marksmanship: A-rank
Battle IQ: D-rank
Job Occupation: N/A (Void)
Affiliation: LKBA (Branch 1)
A collective murmur of shock rippled through the hall.
"S-rank magic?" someone whispered.
"And she's proficient in both sword and bow with... with only one arm?"
But the loudest gasps were reserved for the bottom of the card. In the history of the Bureau, every adventurer had a path, Warrior, Mage, Assassin, Healer. To have a "N/A" label meant the system couldn't categorize the soul. It meant the power I held was something the world hadn't named yet.
I looked at the N/A and felt a bitter irony. In Allure, I was an Adventurer. In the cellar, I was a Victim. In the Callus Manor, I was an Executioner. None of those felt right anymore. The system didn't know what to call a girl who had died and clawed her way back to the surface using the blood of her enemies as a ladder.
Sydney leaned in, her face pale as she stared at the "N/A." She looked at my scarred face, then at the card, her hands trembling.
"Magic and Mastery at S-tier... that's Arch-Mage territory. But the occupation is blank. It's like the machine sees the power, but doesn't recognize the source."
I looked at the card, my heart sinking. The "N/A" wasn't a mistake. The system was looking for a human job, but I had been remade by a curse of blood and salt. I was a "Void" because the girl who had a job was dead.
Sydney quickly grabbed the card from the air, shielding it from the prying eyes of the shocked knights.
"Eirene, we're not done yet, we need to set your job occupation. It's rare, dangerous, even to have a status card look like this. It draws the wrong kind of attention, and the Bureau won't let you take contracts without a class."
"..." Dramatically raised an eyebrow
"There is another way to fix this. A deeper resonance test that can identify ancient or hidden lineages. Follow me."
I nodded, my boots clicking on the marble as I followed her. Behind me, the newbies were still staring, their whispers following me like a ghost. I didn't care about tiers or ranks. I just wanted the card so I could move through the city. I didn't realize that by trying to hide in the shadows of Caria, I had just set the entire Bureau on fire with curiosity.
The "Void" was walking, and Sydney was leading me straight into the heart of the Bureau's darkest secrets.
Sydney hurried me through the labyrinthine corridors of the Bureau, her footsteps echoing a frantic, uneven rhythm. She didn't look back, but her voice was a sharp whisper.
"An 'N/A' on a gold-rank status card... it's just a anomaly, Eirene. If the higher-ups see this without context, they'll classify you as a threat or a specimen. I have to take you to the only person who can manually override a soul-signature."
She stopped in front of a pair of heavy, ornate oak doors. My heart skipped a beat as I recognized the emblem on the wood. This was the Branch Chief's office.
Sydney knocked, her voice tight.
"Chief Anton? I have a specialized registration case. It's... urgent."
"Enter," a voice boomed from within.
It was a voice that commanded power, yet it carried a subtle tremor, like a man who hadn't slept for twenty four hours, just like mine in the cellar.
We stepped inside. The office was opulent, filled with the scent of expensive tobacco and old parchment. Behind a massive mahogany desk sat Anton. He looked haggard.
"Another traveler? What is the name? And why is this interrupting my… "
"She's mute, Chief, she can't speak. But she has her token. And her... her results." Sydney interrupted quickly, her voice trembling.
I stepped forward, the floorboards groaning under my boots. I didn't say a word, I simply slid the glowing white status card across the desk.
Anton reached out a hand to take it, his movements stiff. As his eyes scanned the results, the S-rank Magic, the S-rank Mastery, and the name Eirene Rynd, his entire body went rigid.
The card slipped from his fingers, clattering onto the desk. He looked up at me, and I saw his pupils dilate with a raw, primal terror. He looked at my scarred face, the eye patch, and the empty sleeve, but all he saw was the shadow of the man who had threatened to paint his walls with his brains less than twenty-four hours ago.
"Rynd… you're... you're his sister."
He looked at my hand, perhaps expecting to see a weapon there too. His hands began to shake uncontrollably, and he gripped the armrests of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white. The memory of Elias's cold, murderous gaze was clearly flashing behind his eyes as he looked at me, the deceased sister who had suddenly appeared in his office like a vengeful specter.
"Take... take a seat, Eirene, Please. Sit. I... I had no idea you were... alive."
He looked at Sydney, his eyes pleading for a way out of this room, then back to me. He was the Chief of the Bureau, a man of immense influence, but in the presence of a Rynd, he looked like a condemned man waiting for the axe to fall.
I sat down slowly, the black coat billowing around me. I didn't have a gun, and I didn't have a voice, but as I stared at him with my one cold, green eye, I realized I didn't need either to make him crawl.