The densely packed stone road lit up by only torches and the light of the full moon still on top was crawling with people visiting all of the nearby buildings and travelling salesmen set up on the outside.

The diversity in the crowd was more than clear, yet it could be argued that it was not very diverse for a fantasy world considering the only race seen outside of a collar were humans. There was a distinct hierarchy between the rich and the poor. The less fortunate including even the average people stayed clear of those who looked well endowed and kept a close eye on them just so they can ensure they don't get in their way. The fear was more than clear in their eyes.

Still, a majority of the people themselves did not seem particularly rich. Most of them were wearing the regular rags expected of a medieval age citizen. Even in the midst of the night, the road was very lively with people conversing casually amongst each other, sellers and businesses advertising their services and strumpets enticing the male citizens rather aggressively and whisking them away into a brothel like succubi. But, even still, if one were walking on this particularly dense road, they would be very hard-pressed to find the regular street urchins more miserable than the poorest of the poor.

They were usually found next to the road torches that gave them the only heat outside of their filthy, thin rags as they pleaded for money. Their constitution were like sticks and the lack of fat made their faces look like ghosts or banshees. Most people felt disgusted looking in their direction or simply ignored them like pebbles on the road, but, there were some cordial souls that stopped to lend their aid.

There were no residential areas to be seen, only food markets, clothing stores, blacksmiths, alchemists, restaurants, strip clubs, along with other businesses selling their services to the public. It was clearly some sort of market district of a city.

In such an area was a very distinct and massive building that stood out far more than the rest. From the outside, it seemed grandiose, yet not so pleasant and clean. Bricks and marble pillars made up most of the building's outer structure, and a large sign at the top made itself be known. It was tough to see through the large, stained glass windows, but the thrilling, boisterous sounds from within could be felt outside.

Through the thick crowd, various armed and armoured figures stood out. Some of them were simply guards on duty patrolling the city while others were most definitely not. They did not seem as organized and unified— they seemed more like rogues and mercenaries. But, what did group them together was the fact that they were all headed in the same direction, inside that same large building.

The interior was just as expansive and well constructed as the outside, yet far dirtier, rowdier and less lavish than what was initially displayed.

Past the wooden swinging doors was a new experience. The ground and walls were made out of a mixture of stone and wood and the high ceiling was adorned with yellow-tinted glowing crystals that reflected off the marble path that led to the front desks and gave the room an abnormally warm tone.

Around the marble-laid path were many wooden tables filled with men that looked like they have seen their fair share of battles. Numerous maids were out cleaning as the men talked and split their alcoholic drinks and food all over the ground with no care in the world.

"Hey! Slut! Get me some booze! My cup ran out!"

"Yes sir! Right away!"

"Atta girl!" The man asking for alcohol laughed as he smacked the girl from behind, and despite the sudden contact, she was only slightly startled and dared not to talk back like it was something to be expected as part of her job.

Currently, the front desks were abnormally empty and the secretaries seemed to be simply lazing around looking deadpanned at all the chaos ahead of them.

"The guild should really reinforce the rules about the noise and eating… Everyone is here just to celebrate their victories at night, we barely get any new people to sign up..." Said one of them, leaning one hand on their desk.

"Well, at least it means we can relax at night, no one comes here this late anyways thanks to them..."

"You call this relaxing? I would rather be working if it meant I wouldn't have to deal with this all night!"

"Yeah… Why did they think it was a good idea to make this place for recruiting, eating, and as an inn?" a female secretary sighed at the all too common sight.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"They said it's to form a stronger community or something, I don't know…"

"Well… It does seem to be working… Kinda…" One of them panned a look at two men bullying one of the newcomers on a corner table.

That was when the swinging doors of the establishment waved open for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. The room was getting increasingly more congested and unruly to the point that they worried about the capacity.

"What's up with this? Why are there so many newcomers these days?"

"I think it's because of the recent attacks around the borders… Many cities were destroyed and raised to the ground so the people had to evacuate… Our city probably just happened to be the nearest and safest spot,"

"Yeah, makes sense…"

"..." They all sat back down on their seat and relaxed after a hard day of work. They doubted anything interesting other than the odd fight would happen but even then it was not their place to step in. Even if something else interesting did occur, they doubted it would be worth their time.

That was when one of the secretaries still in their post spoke in a tired voice as they stared at a single hooded man enter the building.

He stood at what seemed like a respectable 6 feet tall and wore all black, light armour along with a cloak that shrouded most of his clearly thin yet lean body. Still, that was not why he caught their attention initially, no, it was the fact that he wore a full, charred mask over his face, one so thick that the colour of his eyes could not even be made out.

"Hey, what's up with the guy in the mask? I don't see many masked people these days…"

The volume of the room clearly dampened a few decibels at his arrival and conversations started about the new guy as they smiled drunkenly and sized him up. He was most definitely special.

Most people would not bat an eye at any newcomer. What made this man more interesting and garnered the attention of most was his mask and the fact that he was going to sign up at night rather than in the morning like a normal person. Most newbies would be too scared or annoyed to enter at night to sign up. It was a well-known fact that the nighttime was reserved for partying and celebration, not to mention the fact that all the workers would be too tired after an entire day of work.

The other secretaries stood out of their seats and lazily took a peak.

"Oh, that guy does seem kinda interesting… You think he's an assassin or something?"

"I don't know… But, if he is, I'm not sure why he's joining here instead of an assassin group…"

"Hey… You think he's coming our way?"

"Yeah… Seems like it… He probably wants to sign up. Jenny, you can take him, you're the newest one here so it will be a good experience with talking to the unorthodox."

"Ugh, you're just saying that because you're too lazy to do it yourself!"

"Maybe…"

"Fine! But you have to take over for me for the rest of my shift! I'm going home after this!"

"Deal! Now do it,"

"Okay, okay I will!"

Jenny might have seemed indifferent on the outside but that could not be farther from the truth. She was worried, more than she thought she would be.

She took a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She looked at her reflection on the marble floor and fixed her long, wavy, cyan hair. Then, she looked down at her work attire and skirt and made sure she was presentable. It was rather hard to see her bottom half due to her bountiful chest but she was more than used to it by now.

Being as professional as possible was a big part of the job and she did not want to lose it, especially after working so hard to just narrowly get it the other day. This was her first step to climb up the ladder of command and become the head secretary of the establishment which would be quite the achievement, especially for someone like her.

"Hello… Is someone here? I want to sign up…" She heard an abnormally deep, masculine voice come from the front desk that almost caught her off guard.

She once again took a small pause to steel her nerves, readjusting the muscles on her face before she spoke with a bright, cheery smile on her face. "Coming!"

She strolled over to the desk where the man stood and looked him in the mask which was oddly even worse than looking into his eyes.

"Welcome to the adventurer's guild, sir! How can I help you today!"

"Hello, I am here because I want to sign up."

"Oh! Wonderful! Are you already familiar with all of the rules or do you want me to state them?"

"I've already read up on most of that. Don't worry."

"Oh great!" Her smile grew brighter. "It seems like you've already made up your mind! If you want to proceed with the sign-up process, please place your hand on this crystal and you will be all set!" She looked down and pulled out a blue glowing crystal from a drawer and placed it on the table.

"Wait, what is that? And, do I not need to take any exam to prove my strength or anything? How will you assign my rank?"

"Oh," she casually chuckled. "There will be no exam necessary, all adventurers will start at the lowest rank, copper, and work their way up by completing assignments and quests given by the guild! All I need from you to sign up is your hand on this crystal to confirm who you are! That will be all! But, by doing so you agree to bind yourself to the guild's rules! Of course, you can choose to opt out later, but joining back with the guild after that will be very difficult! So, what do you say?" She continued smiling through all of that as she pushed the crystal closer to the man ahead.

She held her hands together and patiently waited. The man was sure taking his time thinking, it was to the point that her nervousness was slowly taking over and she began to show slight visible sweat. But, that was when he finally spoke after what felt like forever in her mind.

"Okay, I'll do it. Sign me up."

"Oh! Great! So, please put your hand on the crystal and I'll see what I can do,"

"Mhm," He nodded and did as he was told, placing his hands on the crystal that suddenly began to glow upon him touching it.

And, not too long after, a projection of pure mana appeared. The projection was almost empty, which was not a very uncommon sight. All it meant was that he had no criminal charges or big achievements tied to his name. Firstly, she needed to do was write down that he was now a registered copper rank adventurer of the adventurer's guild.

"Almost done!" She smiled and reassured the man who still had his hands on the crystal.

'Now, all I need to do is check his n-name and congratulate him on his registratio—PFFFFF'—*Cough* *Cough*

*Cough* *Cough*

But… This time was different from all the others as her eyes shot completely wide and she began to cough uncontrollably with a sudden pain in her chest and a twitchy smile on her face.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine… Sorry…" She spoke trying to control her breath only to cough slightly once more, her face turning red like she was holding something in with every fibre of her being and only slightly managing to suppress it and keep herself under control. But, it did not take too long for her to somewhat get her breaking act together and speak once again.

"Hello, O-on behalf of the adven… A-adventurer's guild… I-I would l-like to thank you f-for joining… W-welcome to the... Adventurer's guild… B-b-b-b… BallsDeep69…"