11 Adventurer License

Upon hearing Alfred's words, Alex felt the tension in his body ease quite a bit.

To the side, Alfred released a silent sigh as he muttered to himself.

'I can only hope the Lord can get help in time. From the looks of it, the Galephant is indeed heading in this direction, and with the speed it's moving it'll be here in less than 2 days.'

***

In the following few hours, not many eventful things happened.

Alex and Alfred departed after exchanging goodbyes when they made their way into the city. 

Usually one would have to pay a toll if they wanted to enter the city—luckily for Alex who had no money the guards simply let him in for free due to his vital information.

'I should have asked Alfred for directions before he left…'

Right now, Alex was wandering the streets in search of the mission hall where adventurers would converge to accept and turn in missions.

Since he had achieved his immediate goal of ensuring his most basic safety, he decided that it was time to figure out how to level up his soul core to E tier so he can become an Evolver and leave the Primordial Expanse again.

With no clue where to start, he figured that the mission hall would be the best choice.

And he had only just found the place after hours of searching the city.

Looking at the grand, five storey building sitting in the middle of one of the busiest districts, he knew he had probably come to the right place.

The unique insignia of the adventurers hung on a sign outside of the building, which he only recognised when Albert let him have a look at his pendant.

The mission hall was vibrating with life, long lines of people waiting at counters waiting to accept or hand in missions. There were even people on the sides conducting trades with each other, handing over glowing stones of varying sizes.

'I wonder what they are…'

He could only wonder how these people would react if they knew a B tier natural disaster on legs was coming here to wreak havoc.

Alex's curiosity only lasted a moment. He shook his head and moved over towards a counter with nobody lining up.

The receptionist was a woman with a neutral face, probably in her twenties.

"How can I help you sir?"

Alex already had a favourable opinion of this place, even the receptionists didn't waste your time more than they have to.

"I'd like to register as an adventurer."

Hearing Alex's request, the receptionist just grabbed a piece of paper and handed it over to him.

"This is the adventurer registration form, please fill in your name, the level of your soul core and any abilities you possess. The more specific, the better."

Alex chuckled and walked over to a bench and sat down.

'As if, I'm not stupid enough to give away my most important information just like that. Haha.'

He wasn't going to be specific like the receptionist-–or rather the mission hall-–wanted.

Instead he simply filled in his name, the level of his soul core and last but not least—no talent.

The only truths he put down were his name and the level of his soul core.

When he handed his form back to the receptionist, Alex could see the woman's gaze change from neutral to one of contempt. Even she was more talented than this wannabe adventurer.

She wondered how he had even managed to level up his soul core from F- to F tier, but that was none of her business.

She looked up to take a peak at who was so daring to become an adventurer with such little talent, and when she saw the marks on him, a cruel but knowing smile formed on her lips.

'A newbie outsider! And his marks are even still covering his face! He is practically screaming 'Look at me, I'm fresh meat!' everywhere he goes.'

She stamped his form and handed it back to him.

"Your information has been noted sir, if you could please follow the directions to one of our testing rooms to measure the level of your soul core. This is just to confirm that you are at the level you say you are on the form. After all, we don't want adventurers trying to get missions stronger than they can handle. I'm sure you can understand sir."

Alex frowned a little and reconsidered whether it would be a good idea to become an adventurer or not. He didn't know the rank of his talent but he was pretty sure it's something good.

Alex didn't want to expose himself so soon after arriving.

However after thinking about what the receptionist said, he decided to follow along to do the test anyway.

He was sure that there were many people like him in the Primordial Expanse, whether they were outsider or native, who wouldn't be happy if the adventurers guild exposed all of their secrets, and angering so many adventurers would only backfire in the end.

Hence, Alex decided to trust them this time.

When he arrived at the testing hall, the entire room was empty except for an alter holding a strange looking stone in the centre, with a middle aged man holding a clipboard standing next to it.

"Next!"

The man signalled Alex to enter after his turn came.

"Place your hand on the testing stone and remain still."

Alex did as the man instructed.

"Hand over your form."

The man was clearly following the standard procedure so Alex followed along.

"Please state your name, level of your soul core, and your talent."

'This place sure has a lot of checks and formalities.'

Alex simply repeated what he wrote down on the form back to the man and received a nod from him in response.

"Thank you, you can go back to the counter to collect your Adventurer Licence and access the mission board suitable for your rank."

'Huh?'

Alex was confused, wasn't he supposed to measure the level of his soul core?

"Sir, you said we're done but you haven't tested me yet."

*Sigh*

"The moment you touched the testing stone with your hand, your level was confirmed. F tiers like yourself produce no reaction from the stone. It only changes colour from E tier onwards."

The man replied to him as if he was reading a script. He had probably done this hundreds of times already.