Finally, after minutes of waiting, I finally had the chance to actually talk with a receptionist of the lodge. Waiting in line was hell, but what could I do? There were hundreds of adventurers inside the lodge alone, how many more that were outside adventuring?

Behind the counter was a man with long ears. His hair was a shade of gold running past his ears and down to his shoulders. His eyes were a similar gold. He looked young and effeminate.

How could I tell he was a man? There was no such things as ‘gender’ in the elven race. Depending on their mood, they changed their sex on who they liked at that time of their life span.

Also because he had a flat chest, so it was obvious.

“Yes? How may I help... you?” The elf peered his eyes close and looked at my face. “Do I know you? It feels like I do.” He said, more to himself, and placed the quill on his ears.

“First time we’ve met and already, you’re hitting on me? You’re unhinged, man.” I raised an eyebrow at this. I wonder, would my past reputation values with the factions have any bearing on this world? It may be why this elf had a thought.

The elf laughed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intent, although you do look pretty for a human. Are you half, by chance?” He asked and leaned forward, curiosity was clear in his eyes.

Of course my avatar... or rather, myself at this point, would be handsome. This was a perfected, idealized version of my teenage self. I poured so much hours to make this avatar. I do not regret losing those ten hours of my life.

I held back my tears.

“As far as I know, I’m a pure-blooded human.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Is that so? You’re quite the looker, very much to my taste. You know the value of those words coming from a ‘snobbish’ elf.” He said as he swept past his locks of hair behind his long ears.

“Dude, I appreciate it, but stop. You’re giving my goosebumps. Atleast turn to a woman first, then we’ll talk.” I said with a grin in a jesting tone.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask if this is valid.” I pulled out an emblem from my pouch. It was the Wanderer’s Lodge identification. It was made of adamantium and shaped into a shield with the crest of the lodge.

Madriel stopped for a moment, looking at the badge with intense admiration and took a peek at my face. He would do this a few more times before he managed to compose himself.

“Ah, I apologize. It’s been so long since I’ve seen an adamantium adventurer that I’ve never met. Would it be alright to verify it?” The elf asked, wiping away at his own sweat with a handkerchief.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“I came here to have that done, yes. It’s been so long, so I wasn’t sure if my status was still valid.”

The elf smiled and stood from his seat. “Very well. Please come with me, we’ll need your blood for verification.” He said and pointed at the room behind the counter.

I notified Nis that I would be something inside and that she should wait. If anyone came to bother her, it would be fine if she fought back if they tried anything... I just warned her to hold back.

There was a dangerous glint to Nis’ eyes when I gave her the okay.

“Behave, okay?” I had to leave with those words and followed the elf to the backroom.

It was a different kind of beast inside.

Even in the game, I haven’t been able to enter this place, so either this was part of obscure background information that I didn’t read from some developer, or this was created by necessity by the people of this world.

The room was quite small, but it had a charm like no other. Bookshelves line the entire of the walls, and even up to the ceiling. There was a stairwell that one could use to access the books above. The most interesting part however, was the brass construction in the center of the room.

The machine had a large opening on its center, and surrounding it where several limbs made of brass, with gears on each joint. All those limbs ended with a claw-like mechanism that made the construct look horrifying.

The elf placed the emblem on the center of the machine, and once he did, a receptacle appeared from underneath the construct. A small glass tube held by one more mechanical limb. The elf stood back, produced a small ornate needle from one of the tables in the room and passed it over to me.

“Prick your finger with the needle, then put the needle on the glass tube.” He instructed me and watched with great interest.

Needles were pretty much all my life when drugged up on medication in my past life, so it wasn’t hard for me to just stab my finger with it, which I did. The blood was quite excessive, but the needle started glowing red. I looked back to the elf and he only nodded.

I shrugged and placed the needle on the glass receptacle.

From there, the machine started to move. Many small mechanical pieces started to move independently of each other and started groping at the emblem within the center of the machine.

Outside of the machine, the external mechanical limbs started to move around the library, its claws whizzing past each book spine in the shelves, as if scanning them one by one.

It took a few minutes, but finally, the machine stopped erratically moving and it produced a book from the one of the shelves above. It presented it in front of the elf, and he happily took it from the claws. Once he did, the machine returned to its dormant state.

“You can get the emblem back.” He said, taking a seat on one of the chairs and reading through the book. “Give me a minute, I’m looking for your name. Immersed, isn’t it?”

I took the emblem from the machine and saw my name engraved on the back. Rather, it was the name of my avatar. So that’s how he knew. He never introduced himself though.

As if on cue. “Ah, right. Sorry. In common, my name is Madriel.”

Can he read minds?

“Ah, here it is. Yes, Immersed. Adamantium rank. Your date of application was... scrubbed out? But no matter, yes, I have verified your rank.” He said, closing the book and returning it into the claw. Once he did, the machine returned to its shelf.

“But, an adamantium rank, at such a young age too. Are you sure you’re not several hundred years old?” Madriel pursed his lips in thought. “Most adamantium ranks are long-lived, so forgive me for prying. I was... curious.” He bowed his head at me.

“No it’s fine... in exchange though, tell me all the procedures for the lodge. I’ve forgotten how they operate.”

Madriel smiled and offered me to take a seat on one of the cushy chairs. “Certainly.”