Chapter 29 - Your Rank is…

<p>"Alright, Eniyala, you're all set! Your Rank is set to Blue. Congratulations!"<br/><br/> Eniyala was handed a small square, and when she inserts her Mana into it, a blue symbol glows faintly from within.<br/><br/> For the first time since I had met her, the girl was actually smiling. "Thank you," she says simply, moving aside for me to step up. The process was pretty simple, from what I had just seen, so I felt okay about it.<br/><br/> "Hello!" The receptionist said. It was a plain-looking girl this time. The receptionist from before had obviously ended his shift a short while ago. <br/><br/> "Are you registering as well?"<br/><br/> "That's correct."<br/><br/> "Perfect! Your name?"<br/><br/> "Uh… Klum." Although I'm embarrassed of it, I decide not to lie about my name, as it might complicate things. <br/><br/> After a few seconds of typing on her tablet, she nods. "Alrighty. So, first things first, I'll need to see your Statbook, okay hon?"<br/><br/> "Ah…" Alarmed, I share a look with Eniyala, who's clearly feeling the same. "Can I ask why? She didn't have to show hers."<br/><br/> "Oh, that's because a registered Orange Adventurer called to refer her here, so she was expedited through the process."<br/><br/> "That damn…" Mentally, I curse out Gaslion before I hang my head. "Just, promise not to freak out?" I ask the bright orange-haired girl, who tilts her head. "I don't think you have to worry about that. I'm sure I've seen far worse," she says with a light laugh.<br/><br/> With a shrug, I open my Statscreen, enabling Viewership for the woman in front of me by mentally selecting her.<br/><br/>[Espin has been enabled as a Viewer.]<br/><br/> As Espin sees the Statscreen materialize in front of her, she lets out a small shriek and pulls back in her seat. Since Eniyala was still a viewer, she saw exactly how everything happened, and quietly giggles at the other girl's reaction. I shot her a dirty look before peeking over the desk. "Ma'am, are you okay?"<br/><br/> "Why… why is it like that?"<br/><br/> "I thought you said you've seen 'far worse?'"<br/><br/> "Yes, not totally messed up! What is it?"<br/><br/> "Well, apparently I'm a Reincarnate… so it changed, I guess?"<br/><br/> "You're a Reincarnate?" She instantly perks up, pulling the screen closer to inspect. Tapping her finger on the Skills, she gasps. "There's the Reincarnate's Skill, alright. And a Sigil? You might really be something. I've never seen a Skill that can change a Statbook like this, though. It looks so… wrong."<br/><br/> I can only smile helplessly at her disgusted look as she continues appraising my stats. <br/><br/> As she looks at the Stat Points themselves, she frowns. "This doesn't add up. Why…"<br/><br/> "I get extra Stat Points sometimes," I quickly explain. "It just… happens."<br/><br/> This only causes the poor girl's frown to deepen. "Well, if that's the case, and considering how quickly Reincarnates progress, your Rank would reasonably be Green."<br/><br/> Both Eniyala and my jaws dropped. From what my Statscreen had told me, Green Adventurers were at least Level 21. That means she valued me to be at that level at Level 6. I mean, I had fought and won against a Level 34, but…<br/><br/> "Can't you just make me Rank Blue? I can't even win a fight against this evil lil lady," I complain, earning a glare from said woman. "Plus," I add, lowering my voice and giving her a small puppy look. "I've only been here in this world for a little over a week."<br/><br/> Espin seems shocked, but after pondering for a moment, she realized that this was pretty normal in the scale of weird shit she had just seen. "Alright. I'll list that due to lack of real experience, your Rank is to be lowered to Blue Rank."<br/><br/> I clap my hands over hers in victory, grinning. "You're an undervalued gem, you know that?" <br/><br/> Espin blushes slightly as she taps away at the tablet, and I can hear Eniyala's eyes due to how loudly she's rolling them. I ignore the azure girl as Espin pulls out a few items. The first is the same small black square Eniyala got. It was roughly the size of my palm, and as I insert Mana it glowed blue, just like my new companion's. <br/><br/> The second thing she handed me was what looked like a piece of sandstone, the same size and shape as a poker chip. Instead of having those odd designs, it simply had a picture engraved on one side of it, of half a man. The other half seemed to be in the midst of disappearing. I raised my eyebrow slightly as Espin explains. "It's a Skillchip holding a Skill called Skill Hermit. If you insert your Mana and accept the prompt on your Stat… thing it should give you a Skill that hides yours from Skills like Analyze, as long as it is the same or higher rarity of the Skill used. The cool thing is that items that reveal Skills will show no Skills at all!"<br/><br/> My grin is almost devilish as I think of the old man. "Oh? I may have heard of a Skill like that," I reply innocently.<br/><br/> She nods. "It's important that you have it, as you're a fresh Blue Adventurer with…" She looks around before holding up two fingers and whispering. "Two Unfound Skills." She straightens up, returning to normal. "So, you're getting it free of charge."<br/><br/> I thank her, but she's not done. The final object she pulls out is another squarish object, and I know what it is immediately. <br/><br/> "This is a Manaphone. It has the Adventurer's Line in it to call anytime, as well as my personal Line if you have any more questions. Since you're new and don't have access to one yet, we'll provide you with one." She seems a bit embarrassed about her phone number, avoiding eye contact as she hands me the phone. Eyeing it, Eniyala steps forward, bumping into my shoulder with hers. I stumble a bit, and of course my foot snags on the ground and I go tumbling. Quickly taking over the space, the fiery ice queen stares down the plain girl, who cowers slightly. "I haven't had access to one either, you know," the girl says, a fiery look in her eyes. "Can I get one? And am I special enough to get your personal Line too?"<br/><br/> The orange girl nods meekly, typing something in her tablet before handing another phone to her. I stand up with a groan, and the receptionist gives me a pleading look. "Well, you've been amazing, so thanks, Espin," I say. "We'll get going—"<br/><br/> "Actually… while the Skillchip is free, the Manaphones have a charge of 5 Gold each." The girl wrings her fingers, pulling them apart and pushing them together as she looks at us nervously. Already knowing the answer, Eniyala whips her head towards me, her hair flying about as her head spins. I've already anticipated the move, holding open my empty pockets with a small shrug. She sighs, pulling out a small pouch. Transferring 10 Gold from a cube in her pocket to the pouch, she slides it over on the desk to pay the lady. She smiles shakily, waving to us. "The Adventurer's Business thanks you. By the way, there's a tournament about 5 miles east. It's held in the city of Galeise, and it's a pretty big event for Levels 25 and under. Even if you don't win, the top ten placements get some pretty nice rewards, I've heard."<br/><br/> I give her a small smile, nodding. "We'll definitely check it out. Thank you."<br/><br/> Eniyala walks briskly towards the door, ignoring me pointedly. "Hey, did I make you jealous because of my limitless potential?" I joke, catching up to her. She doesn't respond, walking towards the back door. As she puts her hand on it to open it, I try again. "Eniy—"<br/><br/> BAM!<br/><br/> The door swings open, throwing Eniyala's small hand back and slamming into my face. I slump to the floor, tasting colors, as Gaslion strolls through the door with Raeki on his shoulders. "Heey, there's my girl!" He roars, bringing justice to his mane of a beard and his build. "How was registration? Was your Rank disappointing? Are you ready to just stay home with me?"<br/><br/> As my vision clears and my brain tries to process the trauma it just experienced, I try to process how Gaslion is even walking. I look to see a rolled up pant leg, and metal lines woven tightly into the shape of his lower leg and foot. It glows a light blue underneath the woven metal, and I understand subconsciously that it's not only attached to his leg, but his Manaflow as well. Still, that can't be cheap, and is probably only offered to him because he had the Mana pool to handle it. He's still missing an arm, and it's not long before he explains why.<br/><br/> "No, my Rank was exactly what I expected: Blue. What the hell is that?"<br/><br/> "What's hell? And it's my new leg! Pretty expensive, so it's just this for now. You got 5 more Gold on you?"<br/><br/> As Raeki explains to his papa that hell is where bad people go, and how I sent the bad man there, Eniyala unhappily coughs up more Gold, glaring at me as if it was my fault. <br/><br/> Gaslion then stares at me with his good eye. "And you? You a Brown Rank? I mean, you can't be more than Level 10."<br/><br/> Feeling my irritation set in, I was about to hold my tongue. Flashbacks of dealing with that damn boss in my past life sent my emotions boiling over the edge, however, and I regrettably opened my mouth.<br/><br/> "Ah, well, they wanted to push me right up to Green Rank even though I was only Level 6. But, I felt bad for leaving your daughter behind, so I insisted they drop me to Blue."<br/><br/> Bright blue flames ignite on the ends of the man's long hair, curling them up in the air. Eniyala steps between us with a look of exasperation in her eyes. "Yes, he almost became a Green Rank. No, he didn't stay lower for that reason. Anyways, we're heading to the next town over. You and Raeki stay here; whatever I win I'll send back to you for your metal arm, alright?"<br/><br/> Gaslion looks like he wants to argue, but he decides he loves his daughter more, and the flames extinguish themselves. "Fine," he mumbles, pouting. It didn't last long, as Raeki boops his nose, and they run off to go play. <br/><br/> "You could have more concern for your life, you know," she notes condescendingly. I scoff, brushing her off as I walk towards the door.<br/><br/> "Meh," is all I say as I leave to prepare for the short journey.</p>