Chapter 58: Registration

Finn looked at his father like he was still waiting for someone to tell him this was a joke.

Registering as an adventurer had never felt like something he was allowed to seriously consider.

Going into the dungeon had already been more than enough. He had wanted to fight something, prove that his class was not completely useless, and maybe bring something worthwhile home if he got lucky.

Becoming an actual adventurer was different.

Finn knew what registration meant.

The experienced adventurers he heard about in the village did not simply wander into dungeons hoping to find something valuable. The Guild assigned exploration requests when new floors were discovered or when information about a dungeon needed to be confirmed, and those jobs paid well.

Sometimes very well.

Registered adventurers could also accept the smaller requests posted throughout the Guild. Missing livestock, monster sightings, gathering materials, escort work. Even ordinary townspeople could submit requests when they needed help with something they could not handle themselves.

All of it paid.

Then there was loot.

Finn had heard enough stories about merchants offering half of what an item was worth to inexperienced adventurers who did not know any better. The Guild was different. It appraised dungeon drops at established rates and bought directly from its registered members.

No guessing. No arguing with some merchant over whether a monster hide was actually valuable.

Finn was still far away from taking full advantage of any of that, but the thought alone made his chest feel light.

This could actually become something.

He turned toward the receptionist with a grin. “Hello. I’m Finn. I’m here to register.”

The woman behind the counter smiled back.

“Then we’ll get you started.”

She pulled a sheet of paper from beneath the counter and placed it in front of her.

Finn immediately straightened.

The receptionist glanced between him and his father before dipping a pen into a small bottle of ink.

“Name?”

“Finn.”

She wrote it down.

“Age?”

“Nineteen.”

More writing.

“Current residence?”

Finn gave her the name of their village.

The questions continued for several minutes. Most were simple enough. Whether he had registered with another Guild before. Whether he had any outstanding criminal charges. Whether he belonged to a mercenary company or military organization.

Finn answered no to all of them.

Then the receptionist reached the next line.

“Class?”

His excitement dipped slightly. He had known the question was coming, but saying it here felt different from saying it at home.

There were dozens of adventurers around him, real ones. Finn glanced briefly toward his father before looking back at the woman.

“Unproven Hero.”

Someone nearby laughed. Finn’s face heated immediately.

He turned slightly and saw a man standing several feet down the counter covering his mouth with one hand. His companion elbowed him, though the grin on his own face was not much better.

Finn quickly looked back toward the receptionist.

She was staring at him. Not laughing. Just staring.

“Unproven Hero?”

Finn nodded.

“Yes.”

The receptionist lowered her pen.

For a moment, he wondered if she thought he had made it up. Then she leaned down and pulled a massive leather-bound book from beneath the counter.

It landed with a heavy thump.

Finn blinked. That was by far the largest book he had ever seen.

The receptionist opened it near the middle and began flipping through the pages.

“What is that?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Class registry.”

Finn leaned forward slightly. There had to be thousands of names inside. Some entries took only one line, while others had entire sections filled with smaller notes.

The receptionist continued turning pages, moving farther and farther through the book.

Finn began feeling increasingly uncomfortable. The man beside them had stopped laughing. Even his father seemed curious now.

Eventually, the receptionist reached the final few pages. Her finger moved down one column before finally stopping.

“Oh.”

Finn swallowed.

She looked up at him. “That class really does exist.”

Finn wasn’t sure whether that was comforting.

The receptionist looked back at the ledger. “We only have one recorded instance of an Unproven Hero.”

His eyes widened slightly.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

She tapped the page. “Which must have been you.”

Finn nodded slowly. His father had told him about bringing him here after the village appraisal returned a class no one recognized. Apparently, the Guild had never found another one.

Finn scratched the side of his cheek. “I’ve never heard of anyone else having it.”

“I can see why.”

She returned the enormous ledger beneath the counter and picked up her pen again.

“Very well.”

The remaining questions went much faster. When she finished, the receptionist dried the ink before folding the paper in half.

Finn watched as she continued folding it until the sheet had been reduced to a small square no bigger than two of his fingers.

She placed the folded paper onto a flat metal plate and struck it once with the tiny silver hammer. Light burst across the counter, making Finn jump as the paper disappeared beneath the glow.

By the time the light faded, the paper was gone. A small silver identification plate rested in its place, and Finn immediately leaned closer.

Two lines had been engraved across the front.

FINN

UNPROVEN HERO

Beneath them sat several much smaller markings that he could not immediately understand.

The receptionist picked it up and held it toward him.

“Your adventurer identification.”

Finn accepted it carefully. The metal was warmer than he expected.

“Don’t lose it,” she continued. “You’ll need it whenever you accept Guild work, submit verified dungeon information, or buy and sell through Guild services.”

Finn turned the plate over in his fingers. His name was really there. For some reason, that made everything feel much more real.

He was officially an adventurer.

The receptionist folded her hands on the counter. “That will be two silver coins.”

Finn stopped smiling.

“Two?”

“Two silver.”

He looked at the small identification plate again then toward his father. He did not handle money often. There was rarely much reason for him to, but he knew what two silver coins meant.

His father reached into the pouch hanging at his side.

Finn watched him empty the remaining coins into his palm. A few silver pieces and several coppers.

His father counted them carefully. His mouth tightened.

“I’m a few copper short.”

Finn’s stomach sank.

His father looked toward the receptionist. “I can bring the remainder in three days.”

The woman’s expression softened slightly, but she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I cannot accept that arrangement.”

Finn looked down at the identification plate still resting in his hand.

“It must be paid in full before the registration can be completed.”

His father nodded slowly. Finn already knew what that meant. They had sold grain and vegetables. Most of that money had gone directly to the blacksmith.

Now even what remained was not quite enough. Finn curled his fingers slightly around the metal plate.

“It’s okay,” he said quickly. “We can just come back another time.”

His father looked at him.

Finn smiled. He tried to make it convincing. “It’s not like I need it today.”

Before his father could answer, the large doors behind them opened.

Finn barely paid attention at first but the noise inside the Guild changed. It did not disappear completely but lowered enough for him to want to turn around.

A young woman had entered. She looked only slightly older than him though it was difficult to tell.

Everything she wore was black.

Her dress was fitted through the waist before spreading slightly beneath it, with dark fabric layered over her shoulders and arms. Even her boots were black, and her long hair fell almost to her waist, just as dark as the rest of her clothing.

Finn stared. The clothes looked expensive. Not flashy, just expensive. For a moment, he wondered if she had come from a funeral.

Did someone in her family die?

It would explain the clothing but it did not explain why half the room had suddenly started watching her.

The woman seemed to notice but based on her reaction she also seemed used to it. She continued walking without acknowledging any of them.

Finn heard someone whisper nearby.

“That’s her.”

Another voice answered.

“The Hexweaver?”

“The one who found the bracelet.”

Finn’s attention sharpened. He looked toward her again and found a silver bracelet resting around one wrist, catching the light each time she moved. Even from across the Guild hall, he could tell it was beautiful.

The whispering continued.

“She found it inside that new dungeon.”

“Second floor, supposedly.”

Finn’s eyes widened.

The dungeon?

His dungeon?

Well it was technically not his dungeon. But the one near his village. Another adventurer leaned closer to the first.

“I heard her party kicked her out before she even left.”

“Why?”

The man lowered his voice.

“Black magic.”

His companion grimaced.

“I heard she cursed one of them to get the bracelet.”

Finn frowned then another voice joined in. “I heard the party threw her out after the boss fight.”

“Same difference.”

“Not really.”

“She’s looking for another group now.”

The first man laughed quietly. “Good luck to whoever agrees to that. I wouldn’t want a Hexweaver standing behind me.”

His companion glanced toward the woman. “Especially one that already got kicked out once.”

They moved away from the counter. Finn watched them go before looking back toward the young woman.

He didn’t know much about black magic or curses, but he didn’t get the feeling that she was someone who would do something like that. If anything, he was impressed she was skilled enough to make it to the second floor.

And if she really had found that bracelet inside the dungeon—

Finn looked at it again. The excitement flooded him. She had reached Floor 2. Not only that, she had found something that apparently half the Guild knew about.

She must be really strong.

Finn glanced down at the silver adventurer plate still resting in his palm, then back toward the bracelet. There were things like that inside the dungeon near his house.

Still, he had barely managed to defeat one sheep.

He had a long way to go.

Lilith sighting!