Vroom!
Driving through the streets of the city on his motorcycle, Richard could well and truly appreciate the sight.
Everything looked so much better in the daylight. Much brighter too.
And there were much more people on the streets as well. Some going to their jobs, some setting up shop etc.
Richard rode for about thirty minutes before he got to where he needed to.
It was a ten-storey building, with a sigil on its front and a sign under said sigil that said: HUNTER'S ASSOCIATION.
The sigil itself was of a man holding a spear and shield standing opposite a horde of beasts and different monsters.
This was the building of the Hunter's association. He had asked for directions to this place earlier from the hotel staff.
He walked toward the building as the sliding glass doors slid open for him.
He smiled just admiring the technology. 'Is the demon continent this advanced too?' He wondered cause it would be a shame if the humans were the only ones enjoying this.
As he stepped inside the building, it felt like he had entered an entirely different world.
The place was more sophisticated than he had realised. There were different posts where people stood in line with a white card that had some information written on it.
They placed the cards on a smooth, glass-like panel that emitted a soft beep and briefly flashed with light.
In response, the small gate post clicked and slid open, granting them access to the inner areas.
And they walked inwards. 'Whoa.' Richard thought in his head.
He then walked towards what he assumed was the receptionist.
She was a lady in her late twenties, with black hair neatly folded into a ponytail, wearing a pair of glasses and from what he could see, a quite voluptuous body.
She raised her head from the sleek, screen-lit device on her desk.
A rectangular machine covered in softly glowing keys and an upright glass panel that displayed streams of information staring at him with her piercing dark eyes.
'A computer huh.' Richard thought inwardly. Another knowledge gained from his, Richard's memories.
"Welcome to the Hunter's association. How may we be of assistance to you." She spoke in a polite manner.
"Ahem. I'm here to register as a hunter." Richard responded in a polite manner.
The receptionist nodded her head before typing something on the device in front of her.
"Of course," she said smoothly, her fingers gliding over the glowing keys.
"Please proceed to the registration booth–Station Three. My colleague will assist you from there."
Richard followed the direction she pointed toward–a sleek, glass-partitioned cubicle where another staff member, a man in a tailored grey uniform and neatly combed hair, stood waiting with a professional smile.
As Richard approached, the man gave a curt nod and motioned to the chair across from his desk.
"Welcome. Please have a seat."
Richard sat down, feigning the nervous energy of someone doing this for the first time.
The man began typing rapidly on the computer before him.
"Let's begin with your details. Name?"
"Alex," Richard replied, with just the right amount of hesitation. "Just Alex."
"Got it. Age?"
"Fifteen," Richard said, coolly lying through his teeth.
The staffer's fingers didn't pause as he typed. "Town of origin?"
"Veroque," he replied instantly, recalling the name of a neighbouring town he'd heard of. And it was a town close to Began Hills.
There was a brief pause as the staffer seemed to cross-check something on his screen.
Then he looked up and nodded. "Alright. Now, for the final step of your registration."
He reached into a drawer and placed a small pedestal-like device with a shimmering crystal orb embedded in its center onto the table between them.
"I'll need you to place your hand on this orb. It'll read your mana signature and help determine your combat grade.
The higher your grade, the higher the requests you're allowed to take on."
Richard nodded and extended his hand, but just as his palm hovered a hair's breadth above the orb...
[Wait.]
The voice echoed in his head. He froze, blinking once. "What now?" He thought silently.
[I'm sealing most of your stats first.]
Richard narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
[Because you're supposedly a newly awakened fifteen-year old orphan who just came from a poor town.
Yet you've got the mana levels of a Grade 3 mage. If they pick that up, it'll raise too many red flags.]
"Tch. Stupid modern world with their background checks," he grumbled internally.
"Alright then. How much of it are you keeping? Also I'll need a breakdown of how the stats and the grades correlate at least."
[Later. I'm still working on the adjustments. Just stall for three more seconds.]
He sighed and kept his hand suspended in the air like someone second-guessing himself.
It must've worked, because the staffer gave a soft, reassuring chuckle.
"No need to be nervous," the man said. "It won't hurt. Just a quick reading."
[Done.] The system confirmed.
Richard then lowered his hand onto the orb.
Instantly, a soft hum filled the air, and the orb glowed a pulsing blue.
Then, just as the light was beginning to fade, Richard felt it. A wave of weakness crashed over him.
His body felt like it had suddenly dropped several kilos in strength. His limbs dulled, his senses dimmed slightly.
He despised the sensation. After getting a taste of a part of his former power, suppressing said power this much now felt wrong.
"Grade 5," the staffer announced, watching a number flicker on his screen.
'Grade 5,' Richard echoed internally, feeling the words like an insult.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting on his palm. He flinched ever so slightly.
"Oh, apologies," the staffer said quickly. "The orb collects a drop of blood at the end. Standard procedure.
Helps us store your information securely in our central database. Nothing to worry about."
"Right," Richard said through gritted teeth, schooling his expression.
A few minutes passed as the man finalised the registration. Then he slid a small white card across the table to Richard.
The card was similar to those he'd seen earlier, and it had his information printed neatly on it.
>Name: Alex
Age: 15
Town of Origin: Veroque
Grade: 5
ID Number: HX-2915734
"There you go. This is your official Hunter Identification card. Do not lose it. It grants you access to Hunter facilities and missions, and keeps track of your contributions.
If you lose it, you'll have to go through verification again, which is... tedious."
Richard nodded, pocketing the card and eyeing it for a moment. It was so small, but it carried a lot of weight in this city.
He raised an eyebrow. "How do I start taking requests?"
The staffer gestured toward the area beyond the access gates Richard had seen earlier.
"Just proceed through the scanning post with your ID card. That will grant you access to the request hall.
You can take missions from the computers there. Each mission is marked by grade level. You're only eligible for Grade 5 missions at the moment.
Once you've decided on a mission, click on said mission and swipe your card on the scanner attached to the computer."
Richard gave a short nod of thanks and stood.
As he walked toward the gateposts, holding the new card in his hand, he couldn't help but smirk slightly.
"Grade Five, huh? Fine. Let's play it weak for now. But once I climb up from the bottom, no one'll see it coming."
He placed the card onto the glowing panel.
Beep.
The gate clicked open, and Richard stepped through into the inner hall of the Hunter's Association.