As Kele kicked the instructor in the stomach his body actually lifted off the ground and flew several meters before crashing into one of the weapon racks before slumping to the floor again as the weapons clattered to the floor around him.

Tommy showed slight surprise at the strength Kele had just displayed.

The instructor coughed harshly for a few moments before managing to raise his head wheezing and ask.

“What the hell was that for guild master?”

“Vurth you bastard, you once again refused to test a new member didn’t you.” Kele replied angrily.

“You mean this little twig?” Vurth asked while pointing at Tommy before adding.

“Look at his body, he is so thin, he won’t survive five minutes out there.”

Kele frowned before saying accusingly.

“Am I also going to die within five minutes out there with my twig-like body?”

Rizi giggled hearing what Kele just said.

“Of course not guild master, everyone knows you're the strongest person in Oakfast City.” Vurth replied.

“Then explain why you're refusing to test our new member applicants, as it can’t be because of how thin they are, most of them are bulkier than me and Tommy here even managed to knock you out.” Kele demanded.

Vurth hung his head but didn’t reply.

Kele shook her head before saying.

“Pack your things and leave.”

Vurth looked up in surprise before asking.

“Guild master?”

“You heard me.” Kele replied with a stony face before saying.

“I have had too many complaints about you refusing to test new applicants and this is the final straw.”

“If Rizi did not come to see me about something else and inform me about Tommy, the adventures guild would have missed out.”

“Now grab your things and leave, you're fired.”

Vurth gaped at Kele while Rizi also showed a surprised expression.

“You can’t do this to me.” Vurth suddenly said before snapping his head towards Tommy and saying.

“Bastard, this is your fault.”

Tommy sighed before saying.

“I guess you get entitled pricks everywhere.”

Vurth growled in anger and just as everyone thought he would attack Tommy he turned on his heel and left but not before saying.

“I will see you soon, twig.”

After which he slammed the door.

There was silence for a moment before Kele sighed while rubbing the bridge between her nose and then said.

“Sorry about that Tommy, it seems he now holds a grudge against you.”

Tommy just shrugged in response as if he wasn’t bothered.

“Still you should be careful.” Rizi suddenly spoke up before adding.

“There have been rumors in the guild for a while now that Vurth has connections with some of the criminal organizations of the city.”

Tommy raised an eyebrow before asking.

“Why did you hire him then, also is the city’s state so bad that the guards allow organized crime?”

“It wasn’t me that hired him initially, it was the head instructor and to begin with he did a good job.” Kele began to explain.

“However after a while he started to cause issues like refusing to test people and I would have fired him sooner if he didn’t have a powerful backer.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Powerful backer?” Tommy asked.

“Breral Shag, of the Shag Dukedom, while having no real power himself, he is favored by his older brother for some unknown reason.”

“And without enough evidence that fat pig could cause me problems.” Kele said with a look of disgust on her face.

Tommy gave a knowing smirk before saying.

“I see, so about my application?”

“I will use my authority as guild master to authorize your immediate acceptance to the adventures guild.” Kele replied with a smile.

“Guild master, is that ok?” Rizi asked in surprise.

“It’s fine, Tommy has proved his combat ability by knocking Vurth unconscious.” Kele replied.

“What about the Mana Quality test?” Rizi asked while holding up the sphere.

Kele just smiled mysteriously before turning and heading towards the door while saying.

“Let’s go sort out your guild card Tommy.”

Tommy looked curiously at Kele before he followed behind her.

Rizi wore a confused expression as she followed the two out of the testing room.

***

“Here Tommy this is your adventurer's guild identification card, or just guild card for short.” Rizi said with a smile as she handed Tommy a small plastic card that was about the size of a credit card.

The guild card was fairly simple and split into four sections, held horizontally it had the Adventures Guild title along the top leaving a small section in the upper right corner where a square box held the letter F.

Below the title was Tommy’s basic information such as name, age and gender.

To the right of his personal info and below the square box with the letter F was a picture of himself.

“How did you manage to acquire a picture of me?” Tommy asked curiously.

Rizi smiled before pointing to a small square box that sat on one of the shelves behind the counter and said.

“That box contains a magical device called a ‘picture taker’, each counter has a small magical orb under it that allows us to activate it.”

“When we do, the picture taker will then focus in the direction of the orb used to activate it before taking a photo of the customer that is present there.”

(Sounds like a basic security camera, only it can only take still pictures instead of videos.) Tommy thought before asking.

“I have never heard of such a device, are they common?”

Rizi smiled proudly before saying.

“Not at all, while most adventure guilds have them, that's only because one of our employees invented them.”

“They are expensive to produce so only the rich such as royalty and nobles can afford to purchase them from the guild.”

(That’s good to know if I ever need to break into a rich person's house in the future.)

“I see thanks for telling me.” Tommy replied to Rizi with his professional smile.

“No problem.” Rizi replied happily before saying.

“So with your registration complete you can now accept jobs, remember right now you can only accept F and E rank jobs and if you fail or quit an E rank job you will have to reimburse the guild.”

“The jobs can be found on the job board over there.”

Rizi pointed to the notices boards with paper attached to them and as Tommy looked over again he noticed something that made him ask.

“Why do I only see job sections for ranks F to D?”

Indeed, the notice boards were broken up into three sections representing jobs for F, E and D rank but none higher than that.

“Oh that’s because the higher ranks are on the higher floors.” Rizi began to explain.

“The ground floor as you can see contains ranks F to D, while the second floor contains ranks C to A since you need to take a test for each of those rank increases.”

“What about the S, SS and triple S?” Tommy asked curiously.

Rizi grinned in a way that told Tommy she was waiting for that question before she said.

“That's because S rank and higher are special jobs that are not available all that often, when they are the guild master will give them out directly to those capable of doing them.”

“I will point out that while your D rank you won't be able to accept C rank quests because you haven't taken the test.”

“Likewise you won't be able to accept S rank when you're A rank because of S rank jobs' special nature.”

Tommy nodded in understanding and said.

“Thank you.”

“You're very welcome.” Rizi replied happily.

Tommy shook his head at how happy this girl was before asking.

“You said before that as a member of the adventures guild I can get a discount on using its facilities, correct?”

“That’s right?” Rizi replied before asking

“Did you have one in mind?”

“First I will need lodgings if there is a place you can recommend.”

“That’s easy, once you leave here turn left and follow the road past two intersections before you come to an inn called ‘Forest’s Rest’.” Rizi replied before adding.

“Tell them I sent you and you will get a good deal.”

“Ok, next I need to speak with a blacksmith regarding using their forge to make myself some equipment.” Tommy replied.

Rizi widened her eyes in surprise before asking.

“You want to use the forge yourself and not hire the blacksmith to make you something?”

“That's right.” Tommy replied simply.

Rizi went silent for a moment while thinking before saying.

“That makes things harder, most capable blacksmiths wont allow others to use their forge since it's their lifeline and how they make a living.”

“I can think of one who might agree, however….” At this Rizi looked slightly nervous.

“However?” Tommy asked curiously.

“However it will be expensive even if you can get his permission.” Rizi replied.

“Cost isn’t an issue.” Tommy replied thinking about the gold coins he had looted from the fat pigs caravan.

“It’s not the cost that worries me, it’s what he will ask you to do before he even thinks of letting you use his forge.”