"That'll be 3,000 eris, please," the receptionist girl said, offering a polite smile as she extended her hand.
"Here."
I handed over the 3,000 eris needed to register, leaving me with only 1,000. Just as expected.
"Perfect! Now... give me a second, and I'll bring the magic crystal contraption needed."
Magic? Crystal? Will I finally witness some actual magic?! I'm so excited!
"Okay," I replied, doing my best to look composed—though I was obviously way too giddy to achieve that.
The receptionist ducked under the counter and rummaged around for a bit before taking out a really strange device. It looked like a large, turquoise orb in the center that seemed to float, held by some kind of metallic ring structure that circled around it—kinda reminded me of an energy coil.
She then pulled out a blank slate. Must be the so-called 'Adventurer's Card,' right?
Plam.
"Alright, Clara," She spoke as she placed down the contraption on the table. "Please hold your hands over the orb. It'll record your potential, and write it down into the slate to turn it into your very own Adventurer's Card. Here's hoping that you have some good luck, hm?"
I gulped slightly and did exactly that, unsure what to expect.
My hands hovered over the orb, which began to glow a bright cyan and caused a ray of light from below to start emanating. Letters and numbers began engraving themselves into the surface of the card.
So far, it looked normal and pretty damn cool to me.
Near the end, though... Just for a second, the color of the glow shifted. It glew a faint, feeble red that almost went unnoticed.
"What the...?" The receptionist murmured, leaning forward to see if anything was wrong.
...Did I mess up or something? Is red a bad thing?
"Is red something bad to get?" I asked, trying to sound casual. Secretly, though? I was hoping it meant I'd just unlocked some legendary hidden power only granted once every thousand years or something like that.
The receptionist shook her head slowly, still staring at the orb in confusion.
"No, it's just... I've never seen anything like this before. It always glows cyan for everyone else, so why did it just glow crimson? I'm just as confused as you."
Got it.
I've got a cheat, muahahahaha! Praise me, beckon to me, kneel before the future queen of broken stats and busted abilities!
...If my cheat is actually good, of course.
"Your stats, though... They seem to be normal. You have slightly below average strength at the number of 8, average dexterity at the number of 10, and—whoa, Clara-san. Your intelligence stat is bordering on high."
Huh? Really?!
"How high are we talking?"
She looked at me dead in the eyes, and read over the card once more.
"Thirty-six. You could easily become an Archmage, if you so desired. Your agility seems to be above average, sitting at 15. Luck is at that exact same number, but it isn't that big of a factor for an adventurer, so it wouldn't really matter. Your vitality... Oh, your vitality seems to be at 18!"
Huh. So only my strength and dexterity seem to be average... Guess I'll have to work on that.
"There's only one—actually, two unusual things about your Adventurer Card, Clara-san. There's usually quite a few classes to choose from when you're this versatile, right? Adventurer, mage, tank, and anything you could think of. But, one sticks out from the rest that I've never seen before...
What exactly is a Judge class?"
What the fuck?
"...I'm what?"
"I... have never seen this kind of class be in the selection before. In fact, it's not ever been recorded. No entries, no reference, no nothing in the Guild's archives, and they're massive. For something to be completely absent from them is very much unheard of. Not only that, your card seems to possess a weird, crimson bar—"
"Actually, can I have a look at the card?" I cut in, a little too quickly. No way I was letting her read out what was basically my trump card in this world.
She paused, a bit surprised by the interruption, then slowly nodded and handed it over.
"I was thinking that it would be better if you took a look at it yourself, too. Please help yourself."
I took it and brought it close to my face.
Let's see what we are working with.
[Name : Clara Aozora] [Age : 16] [Gender : Female]
[Class : Available!]
[Level : 1]
[Health Points: 406/406] [Mana : 1108/1108]
[Determination : 45.6%/100%]
[Experience Points : 33,7/100]
[Primary stats: STR (8), DEX (10), INT (36), VIT (18), AGI (15), LUCK (15)]
[Stat Points: 0] [Skill Points: 5]
[Active and Passive Skill List: None]
[Skill Shop: No available skills for purchase.]
[Monster Index: Open for details...]
...Come again? Determination? Is that really what the red bar is?
What would I even use that for, and how do you even fill it up? Also, I seem to have pretty high mana reserves, along with high vitality. That must be the reason why I recovered so fast back when I worked at the mining job.
I don't even know if I should get the Judge class.
[The Judge.]
[DESCRIPTION: A role neither of hero nor villain, but of balance. You observe, and remember. You weigh the weight of the actions from those whO—▘▚▞▙ ▚▖⸸ #ERR_??]
[CLASS DATA ERROR]
Those who what? This stupid thing is glitched, and it doesn't even show the perks.
"This is... this is strange. Hey, can I somehow change classes later on?"
She blinked, still trying to make sense of whatever the hell was on this card.
"Of course, you can always change your class once you grow a few levels. Have you decided what class to choose yet?"
"Ah..." I scratched my cheek. "I really have no idea what to go for. Could you explain a little on what each class does?"
The receptionist visibly relaxed at the switch of topics.
"I would be happy to explain, Clara-san. You see, there are various classes, each with their own specialty. They all get their own perks and certain boosts depending on their role. An Archmage, for example, would have a boosted mana pool along with extra firepower, and a natural affinity for magic types, and any magical experience gained would also be boosted.
Crusaders have naturally high defenses, vitality and strength, and possess unique skills such as Taunt, and are especially good at swordplay and learning skills related to the sword, along with their own perks. The same goes for every class, the way you imagine it, and there's also, uh..." She pointed at the glitchy class on my card. "That thing."
"I see... What about the adventurer?"
"The adventurer?" she repeated, tapping her chin. "That class is more about versatility, and it's kind of a wildcard. You don't really specialize in anything and your stats see more or less equal growth, and skills aren't as powerful as they would be with their given class.
I'd say the one thing worth about being an Adventurer, is that you can learn just about anything as long as you have the skill points, and the connections to do it."
I mulled it over for a few seconds. That means I could learn swordplay, magic, trapping, thief skills, and anything else, but I also kind of want the fully-powered version of each skill.
Jack of all trades, master of none. Hm?
"...Don't tell me you are thinking of becoming an adventurer, Clara-san. You could easily become a powerful Archmage right away with your intelligence stat," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"I think I'm good. I can just change my class later once my level grows, right?"
"Well, you can," she replied, folding her arms with a sigh. "But I still think you shouldn't go for such a basic class. It'd be a waste of your starting stats."
"It'll be fine," I replied, looking back at my adventurer's card.
My class... Yeah, I'm definitely picking that. I'm not touching something as sketchy-sounding as a glitchy one.
[Adventurer]
[DESCRIPTION: A versatile and well-rounded class for those who choose growth over specialization. Able to learn any kind of skill—archery, swordsmanship, thieving, magic, you name it! All at the cost of being less effective than if being used by their respective class.]
[PERKS:]
[Global Experience Boost: Grants you a 20% boost in experience gained towards your level or skills.]
[Jack of All Trades: No weapon or armor restrictions, meaning you can equip just about anything—as long as you have the skill. It could be a mage's robes, a staff, a sword, a shield, anything!]
Huh. Not bad, not bad at all. Even if it has only two perks.
I'm picking this!
As soon as my finger went on the Adventurer class, it felt as if something began to change in me. Like one of those generic transformations in those fantasy shows—light flared from the card, and my hair fluttered from the sudden burst of wind.
That was probably in my imagination, though.
The light on the card cleared, and on the class part, the words locked into place.
[Class: Adventurer]
Nice.
"Congratulations on becoming an adventurer, Clara-san." The blonde receptionist looked back at me with a faint smile. "I look forward to your future exploits. Although... I still think you should've chosen another starting class."
"Maybe I should have, but I like having lots of options better, rather than just sticking to a few tricks."
"Fair enough. May the Goddess Eris guide your path," She gave a polite bow, maintaining her professionalism. "You'll find the quests posted on the board to your left. Feel free to take one when you're ready and set to go."
"Okay, thank you for everything, miss receptionist. I'll be on my way now," I said, offering a polite nod in return.
She gave a small smile. "Stay safe out there, Clara-san."
This world may be even more interesting than I thought.
My journey as an adventurer has now begun!