Reincarnated as the Strongest Dragon

Chapter 7: Sidetracked II

After an uneventful flight home I landed in the alley close to the adventurers guild. I did consider going through the town gate but I forgot to register as an adventurer before this whole ordeal. Hopefully she will be preoccupied with other things and won’t ask about how she got into town.

I used [Concealment] and moved towards the adventurers guild. Now people should see me but not take notice of me, just a faceless background character. When we came close to the guildhall I cancelled the [Sleep] spell and shook her gently. I then cancelled [Concealment] as I pushed open the doors.

“Mira!” Liz shouted as she came running, Hanna quickly following behind.

"Wow Liz, I’m here as well, you know,” I said and made a pouty face.

“Mira, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Hanna followed up.

Did I just get completely ignored? Ouch, right in the feels.

“She should be fine,” I said and slowly put her down until she could stand on her own, "Just tired. She fell asleep the moment I took her in my arms.”

“Yes I’m fine, Just really could go for a few days of sleep.” Mira said, having trouble keeping her eyes open.

“Liz, can you take Mira to an inn or wherever you are staying? I still have some business here”

“What business?” Liz asked and gave me a confused look.

“Did you forget why I came here in the first place?” I said and pointed at Hanna, "I was going to register as an adventurer before all this happened.”

“Oh, right,” She said and turned, ready to leave, "I'm staying at the Blue Stallion inn, follow the street all the way to the end from here and take a right, you can't miss it.”

“Okay, I will meet up with you later,” I said and turned to Hanna, "Well then, do you have time for me now?”

“Ah, yes, of course,” She started walking to the counter and motioned me to follow. 

“Unfortunately our magitech device that makes new guild cards needs a new magic stone. We should get a delivery tomorrow or possibly the day after that.”

“Oh, so I can’t register today?” I asked as I sat down.

"I can register you with a temporary card. It has the subjugation tracker and functions as a form of ID, but it’s only valid for seven days. The information can be transferred to the permanent card when we're able to do so."

“That is fine with me as long as I can register.”

“The only thing we need is your name and for you to channel your mana into this card,” She said and held out a white card, "That will do until you get the normal card.”

I held up the card that was pretty much only a white card with my name and circle with a T in it. “Are all cards white?” 

“No, they change depending on rank. Temporary and G rank cards are white, F is Green, E is yellow, D is red, C is orange, B is silver and A is gold.”

“What about the ranks above A, do they stay gold?” 

“Ah, no, it’s so rare for someone to climb above A rank so they usually fall out of the normal introduction. S is mithril, SS is adamantite and SSS is orichalcum. I have never seen anything higher than mithril.”

“Okay, I will do my best to give you a new experience then,” I said with a grin.

“Hah, I’m looking forward to it!” She laughed and shot me that retail smile.

Probably think I'm joking, I will show you! Unless it’s a pain to advance? Liz said C ranks were considered veterans so maybe it takes forever.

“Speaking of, how do you advance to the next rank?”

“When you complete a quest you get points depending on the difficulty of the quest. After a certain amount of points you are eligible for a rank up. Keep in mind that failed quests subtracts points and if you fail enough quests you might get expelled.”

“So the only way to rank up is by doing quests?”

If that is true they better let me take the whole billboard at the same time.

“You can also earn points via monster subjugation. Your card will automatically track every monster you earn experience from and different monsters give different amounts of points. It’s generally harder to advance via subjugation only.”

“Why is that?”

“It is balanced so our adventurers will want to take on quests otherwise the guild would be in trouble. If you complete a quest to kill a monster you will get points both for the monster and the quest.”

“So the quickest way to advance is to take on quests and any bonus points you can get from killing monsters while doing the quest?”

Just what I wanted to hear! My [Biomagic Radar] picked up a few monsters that are probably worth a few points when I flew from my lair. Considering my rank I should probably just skip the quest and go on a frenzy in the area around my mountain. Won’t gain much by taking a quest to kill a few goblins.

“That is true,” She smiled at me and followed up, "But there is no need to rush your ranks, staying safe should always be a priority.”

“You saw me handle Julius and his friends didn’t you? I’m plenty strong.”

“About that, I was hoping to ask you a few questions?” she said, practically beaming with curiosity.

“Uhm, sure, if it’s something I can answer? We adventurers are a secretive bunch,” I answered reluctantly.

Wait, what did I just say? That was the case in the past but what about now? Did I just say something stupid?

“Yes I know, it’s generally considered bad manners to ask about skills and such but my curiosity is burning me from the inside.”

Phew.

“Sigh, go ahead then.” 

“How did you manage to break the sword?”

“I used a spell.”

“A spell that breaks swords, what spell is that?”

“Trade secret.”

“How did Blake and Grant get knocked out?”

“They ran into a barrier.”

“Barrier? Can you make invisible barriers? How?”

“Trade secret.”

“What spell did you use that made Julius talk?”

“Trade secret.”

“How did you rescue Mira so fast? You were gone less than an hour.”

“...”

“Let me guess, trade secret?” Hanna said with a grin.

“Hey now, you are basically telling me to get naked. At least buy me dinner first.”

Hanna jumped up from her chair and stared me right in the eyes. “Will you tell me if we go out for dinner?” 

Could this one bat for the same team? Or is she just super curious about my skills? It’s probably the latter.

“It probably wouldn’t reduce your chances at least,” I said with a smirk.

Hanna looked like she went deep in thought so I followed up, "So do quests, kill monsters and come back to get the proper card later? Anything else I need to know?”

Hanna came back to reality. “No that is all,” She said before adding, "Oh, right! The guildmaster was hoping you could come by tomorrow and answer some questions about the whole affair with Julius.”

“Yeah I guess I can pop by,” I said and turned around and started walking towards the exit.

Looks like it’s starting to get dark. Sure has been an eventful day… No reason to stop now!

I ducked into my new favorite alley and took to the skies.