The dust in the guild hall slowly settled. The receptionist stood up, adjusting her crooked glasses and brushing purple crystal dust off her vest. She looked at the smoldering crater on her desk, then at Alferd.
"That crystal," she said, her voice shaking only slightly, "cost fifty gold coins."
Alferd winced. "Put it on my tab?"
She sighed, massaging her temples. "Sir, because you destroyed the assessment tool, we have no verified data on your abilities. Guild Regulation Section 4, Paragraph B states: 'Any applicant who cannot be measured due to equipment failure or anomaly must begin at the lowest tier.'"
She pulled a small, dull metal tag from a drawer.
"Congratulations," she said deadpan. "You are now an F-Rank adventurer. Your class is listed as 'Unknown.'"
"What!" Elara slammed her hands on the counter, making the poor receptionist flinch. "This man is a catastrophe class entity! He vaporized a Dread Wolf! You cannot make him an F-Rank!"
"It's the rules, Squire," the receptionist said, stamping a piece of parchment. "Until he proves otherwise by completing quests, he is a rookie. He can only take F-Rank commissions."
Alferd took the tag. It felt cheap and flimsy.
[Item Acquired: Guild Card (Rank F)]
[Status: Official Nobody]
"It's fine, Elara," Alferd said, pinning the tag to his shirt. "I prefer low expectations. Less pressure."
He walked over to the quest board. The F-Rank section was mostly chores: finding lost cats, cleaning sewers, and gathering herbs.
One paper caught his eye.
[Quest: Slime Control]
[Target: Eliminate 10 Blue Slimes in the West Meadow.]
[Reward: 5 Silver Coins.]
"Slimes," Alferd grinned. "Classic. I can handle slimes without blowing up the continent. Probably."
He ripped the paper off the board and waved it at the receptionist. "I'll take this one."
Elara looked at the paper and slumped her shoulders. "A slayer of wolves... reduced to popping jelly monsters. The indignity."
"Hey, five silver is five silver," Alferd said, walking toward the door. "Come on, Squire. Let's go poke some Jell-O."
As they left, the entire guild hall let out a collective breath they had been holding. The receptionist stared at the broken crystal remains.
"Unknown class..." she muttered, picking up a shard. "Just what kind of monster did we just let in?"