Chapter 141: She Was a Fairy...

The lady placed the score slab on the counter before taking the silver container. "Once a new member has officially passed the entrance requirements, the Guild’s Mana Powder is used to imprint the crest. You’ll stand inside the formation while the powder is activated."

Zishan looked down. There was indeed another formation beneath his feet. The Thousand Echoes Guild seemed incapable of doing anything without drawing circles somewhere.

"So where does the tattoo go?" he asked.

"Nobody knows beforehand."

Zishan’s head slowly rose. "W-What?"

"The location is random," she explained. "The powder reacts to the Mana of the person receiving the crest. Once the reaction begins, you’ll feel heat somewhere on your body. That’s where the crest will appear."

Zishan stared at her. "So again, let me be clear, the crest is tattooed on your skin randomly?"

"Yes."

"And there’s no fixed position at all?"

The employee shook her head.

Zishan thought about that information for several seconds longer than anyone expected him to.

His eyes narrowed. "Wait..."

The lady looked at him.

"If it’s random... then..." Zishan slowly glanced toward Ernest. "Did some of them have their crest on their butt cheeks?"

Ernest’s mouth twitched.

Zishan wasn’t finished. "Or even on their priv—"

"Can we just proceed to the Crest Imprinting, Sir Zishan?"

The lady’s face had turned red.

Despite looking like she was already somewhere in her thirties, the woman was a certified virgin, and this particular part of explaining Guild registration had always been one of the things she hated most whenever somebody decided to ask too many questions.

"Let’s just do it, Sir Zishan," she said.

"But I’m genuinely curious." Zishan did not want to let it go.

"You don’t need to be." The lady sighed.

"That means it happened before, doesn’t it?"

"Sir Zishan."

"Okay, okay. I give up. I understand. I understand."

Zishan lowered Ollie from his shoulders and let the boy stand beside Elinox before walking to the center of the formation.

The lady lifted the silver container. "Once the Crest Imprinting starts, don’t leave the circle until the process is complete."

"How long does it take?"

"Less than a minute."

"If it’s less than a minute, why couldn’t you just stamp the thing on my arm or something? Something simple like this should have been done simpler."

The lady ignored him and poured the Mana Powder into the center of the formation.

Instead of falling onto the floor, the powder stopped in midair.

Zishan raised his brows.

A current of Mana ran through the markings beneath him, and the powder spread around his body in a widening spiral. Thousands of tiny particles began circling him from his feet upward until they formed a faintly glowing column.

Zishan looked around. "Again, why is this so flashy?"

"Please keep your arms slightly away from your body."

He followed the instruction. Then, the Mana Powder rose higher as the formation beneath him pulsed.

For some reason, his body started turning along with it. Not fast enough to make him dizzy. It was a slow, smooth rotation, and the powder followed every movement while tiny streaks of light scattered around him.

Zishan’s face gradually became blank.

A long-forgotten meme from Earth somehow played inside his head.

’She was a fairy...’

He wanted to punch whoever designed this process. "Do I really need to turn around like this?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It helps distribute the Mana Powder evenly."

"Why do I need to look graceful while doing it?"

The employee paused. "I... don’t think looking graceful is technically required."

"Then, why do I feel like I’m about to transform into something shitty?"

Ernest covered his mouth.

Zishan caught him. "Are you laughing?"

"No."

"You clearly are, old man. Don’t even deny it."

Elinox lowered her face slightly. Even her shoulders moved once.

Zishan stared at her in disbelief. "Even you?!"

A warm sensation suddenly appeared along his left forearm. "Oh."

The warmth became heat, not painful enough to make him pull away, yet strong enough that he could feel something forming beneath his skin.

The powder surrounding him gathered toward that area.

Lines gradually appeared.

A four-pointed star appeared first, with a smaller diamond-shaped star glowing at its center. A broken circular ring formed around it soon after, before a much larger mark swept across the entire crest.

It looked almost like a long feather or a stylized wing, curving from the lower side of the circle before stretching upward into a sharp point. Several smaller curved sections branched along it, giving the mark a layered appearance while leaving parts of the circular ring visible behind it.

Once the imprint was complete, the crest settled against Zishan’s skin in dark blue and silver. The silver portions carried a faint sheen whenever Mana passed through them, while the deeper blue sections remained darker underneath.

The remaining powder lost its light and fell harmlessly onto the formation.

Zishan lifted his arm. "So this is it?"

"The official crest of the Thousand Echoes Guild," the lady said. "Your membership has now been recognized and is now official."

Zishan turned his forearm several times.

He had to admit it looked good. "So after all that spinning and glittering Mana..."

"Mana Powder."

"Whatever. After all of that, this thing doesn’t shoot beams, protect me, teleport me to the Guild, or anything?"

"No."

"Does it at least prove my identity?"

"It can be used as one form of Guild identification."

Zishan stared at the crest. "So basically you could’ve just stamped it on me."

The lady’s smile strained. "The Crest Imprinting is a tradition."

"Ah." Zishan nodded as if everything suddenly made sense. "So it’s flashy for no reason. But thank the Goddess of Cupcakes! At least it did not appear on one of my butt cheeks or on my little brother—"

Ernest grabbed him by the back of his clothes before the employee could respond. "Your registration is finished. Stop bothering her."

"I was only asking questions," Zishan argued.

"You were about two questions away from making her quit," Ernest said. "Miss, can you give him his badge? The one with the lowest guild member rank, Mote."

The lady said nothing about his remark and just tossed the badge to Zishan. Which, in Zishan’s opinion, made Ernest’s accusation suspiciously believable.

They left the counter soon after and returned to the Guild hall as he carried his badge in one hand. Zishan kept looking at the crest on his forearm while walking, occasionally twisting his arm to see whether the silver sheen would appear again.

Ollie had returned to his shoulders. "Big Brother has a drawing!"

"It’s not a drawing. It’s just a very sophisticated Guild tattoo."

"Drawing!"

"..."

"Fine. Well, technically, it is indeed a drawing."

They eventually reached one of the large boards pinned along the Guild hall walls. Compared to the others, this particular board had far fewer people standing in front of it.

Zishan noticed that almost right away. "Why is nobody here?"

Ernest gestured toward the board. "Read."

Zishan stepped closer.